Young, Brash Elihu
Like the first winter's cold front invading the warm Fall air of the southern plains, Elihu charges into this discussion with no concern for the sagacity of his friends. He disparages teh speech of both Job and his poor comforting friends: Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar. However, like that first shot of northerly air, his boldness and brashness is not born of stale condescencion. Instead, it is the neregy of clear air and refreshing thoughts.
Job has asked why he has suffered this evil? His friends response, surely you have sinned for bad things happen to the evil. However, both we and Job (recall the beginning of Job in which God brags on Job's rightousness) know they are wrong. Job, more right than his friends, calls them foolish and claims that it is God's fault...and we know he is right.
But then, enter Elihu. This younger servant to Job's friend has been sitting in the background as he hears Job, Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar, pontificate and castigate. He has bit his tongue and can hold it no longer.
Elihu's response to Job's question is a non-response. He ridicules the answers of Eliphaz, Zophar and Bildad. He mocks the haughtyness of Job. Elihu does not say why Job is suffering but rather inquires how Job will respond to the situation. Elihu's answer emphasizes teh profundity and omniscience of God. How does Job dare expect to communicate with God about this issue? Note, Elihu never chastizes asking nor the validity of Job's question. He simply points out that sometimes we "open our mouths in vain" and "multiplieth words without knowledge." His counsel to Job is to see this situation as something he can learn from and something God can empower him through.
When all is said and done, we see that Elihu is right. Recall that at the end of the book, after God comes down to meet with Job and answers his call for a debate that Job echos Elihu's council: "Thus I have spoken of that which I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to behold." Furthermore, God explicitly chastizes Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar as "not speaking right" of Him and requiring Job to offer up a sacrafice on their behalf. Elihu is notably left out of this condemnation. This brash servant operating with the brash confidence of youth saw through the questions and saw that sometimes, despite the validity of the question, the answer is one we neither can comprehend nor the one we desire.
The truth, like the season's first cold front, can be both invigorating and biting at the same time. Thus it seems young Elihu speaks.
Created over 3 years ago
