Commentary on the Book of Job part eighty nine

                                         Job 32:1-22

In chapter 32, a young man named Elihu voices his opinion. Unlike Job's false comforters who dogmatically assumed that Job had to suffer because he was guilty of doing something wrong, Elihu was an honest searcher for truth. The key to understanding the method Elihu used in his search for the truth can be found in Job 32:8. Elihu rightly believed that God had created a good spirit for man, and that by hearing the inspiration that God gives through His image in man, man can gain a better understanding about the nature of God. But where Elihu went wrong was that he failed to take into account the fact that Satan had injected evil into man's being which caused his good spirit to sin which, in turn, clouded man's conscience and caused him to come to false conclusions about God's nature. Elihu's failure caused him, like all other searchers for truth who ignore God's complete revelations, to come to both true and false conclusions about God's nature. Elihu depended to much on his feelings about God instead of simply opening his heart for greater revelations from God, as Job had done.

Job 32:1 provides a perfect example of how God sometimes allows His Word to report how people feel or think about particular conditions or situations instead of the actual facts about them. Job's three friends accused Job of being righteous in his own eyes; that is, self-righteous. But they misunderstood that which Job spoke about his righteousness. Job freely admitted that he was a sinner in Job 7:20 and 9:20. Furthermore, whenever Job spoke about his own righteousness, as in Job 6:29, he always meant the righteousness that God had put into his image when He created him. God called Job a perfect man because he assiduously practiced the righteousness that God had put into his living image. But Job knew that his righteousness, which had been stained by sin, was not good enough to be accepted by God as he admitted in Job 9:20-21. For this very reason, Job looked for a daysman; that is, a mediator who could bridge the gap that his sin had caused between him and God and make him absolutely right with God. Job 9:30-33. God revealed to Job in Job 19:25-27 that He had such a Redeemer for him who could absolutely perfect him and someday bring him into the very presence of God. Job accepted his Redeemer by faith knowing that He would absolutely perfect him and make him acceptable with God. Job 23:10.