Read Job 32:2—33:33
Elihu … became very angry with Job for justifying himself
rather than God.
Job 32:2
Job had claimed that God was wrong, and the three friends couldn’t
prove that Job was wrong! Elihu was disgusted at the three friends’ failure.
“It is easy to fly into a passion—anybody can do that,” wrote
Aristotle. “But to be angry with the right person to the right extent
and at the right time and with the right object and in the right way—
that is not easy, and it is not everyone who can do it.”
Elihu promised Job that God would radically alter his situation if
only he would humble himself. If he would confess his sins and admit
that God had punished him far less than he deserved (Job 33:27), Job
would move out of the darkness into the light and gladly bear witness
of God’s redemption (v. 28).
Job 33:31–33 suggests that Elihu wanted Job’s response, but at
the same time Elihu wanted Job to keep quiet! Elihu didn’t want to
stop talking. But Job didn’t reply because he was waiting for God
to speak. What Elihu thought about him or said to him made little
difference to Job.
Job had taken his case to a much higher court, and when Elihu
finished speaking, the Judge appeared.
Something to Ponder
Do you think anger ever affects your ministry to others? In what specific ways?