He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne doth he even set them for ever; and they are exalted.
Elihu is speaking for God, and here he turns from man in general to the righteous man. God never takes His eyes off him — and that steady look both corrects him and keeps him.
One writer finds the heart of the chapter in a single change of word.
"He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous." That is the great point of this chapter. In chapter 33 it was "man," but here it is "the righteous" man that He looks at with special care. God disciplines man to win him to Himself. He disciplines the righteous man far more strictly, to keep him right. God has justified that man, and the result must not bring dishonour on Him. It is a terrible thing when one of God's people goes wrong.
Does this close watching put a believer's salvation at risk? One writer says it does not.
Notice next the government that God exercises over His children. He warns them by His word. If they do not listen, He steps in with power to stop them, so that He can bless them. In God's dealings salvation is never in question. He looks upon His children, and chastens those whom He loves. The people the Holy Spirit speaks of in Job are called "the just." God does not withdraw His eyes from them. He also says to Israel through the prophet Amos, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2).
The same writer names what each of the two chapters deals with.
In Job 33 God corrects inward things; He corrects an attitude, to turn man back from his own purpose. In Job 36 it is actual failure — discipline for real faults: "the Lord disciplines the one He loves." The Lord has laid His hand upon me, and I must bow. It may not be for an actual sin. It may be an attitude He wants to correct. He has something for me to learn; there is something wrong, so He puts His hand on me in discipline.
Elihu names the poor in one line and kings in the next. One writer asks which of them God is watching.
"He gives right to the poor. He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them." It does not matter whether they are the poor or kings on a throne. They all come under the eye of God.
Another writer asks how such a standing can last for ever. His answer points away from the believer.
God never takes His eyes off them in Christ. "He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them forever, and they are exalted" (Job 36:7). It must be so. Once God sees the poor, guilty sinner as righteous in Christ, He never takes His eyes off him in Christ. So that sinner must be established for ever, because Christ is established for ever. If Christ is exalted for ever, then the believer in Him is exalted for ever.
One writer points to Israel's years in the desert, then to trouble in a believer's own life.
He kept them depending on the word of God to guide them. At the same time He did not let the cloth of their coats wear out. He thought of everything for them. "He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous" — there is not a moment when He is not thinking of them... I am not only rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. I am also glorying in troubles, because God is not withdrawing His eyes from me in them.
One writer holds this verse up against the cross.
Yes; marvellous to declare, God did this. God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. His ear is always open to the cry of the needy. His hand is always stretched out to defend the weak and the helpless. Yet He, even He, turned away His face from His own beloved Son, and for the moment refused to hear His cry.
- The eye — God never looks away from the righteous, not for a moment.
- The narrowing — chapter 33 deals with man; this chapter deals with the righteous man, and deals with him more strictly. God will not let the man He justified bring dishonour on Him.
- The limit — this watching is God's government of His children. It never puts their salvation in question.
- The throne — poor and kings alike come under that look. The standing it gives lasts for ever, because Christ is established for ever.
- The exception — the God who never withdraws His eyes from the righteous turned His face away from His own Son and refused, for a moment, to hear His cry.
And if, bound in fetters, they be held in cords of affliction,
Elihu has just said that God never takes His eyes off the righteous and lifts them as high as kings. Then, in the same breath, he says these same people are sometimes bound in chains. The verse holds two opposites together: God's constant care, and God's willingness to bind.
The "if" of this verse is not about criminals getting what they deserve. It follows the promise of God's watchful eye. It describes the very people He is watching. These writers quote a translation that says "fetters" where the ESV says "chains."
He went on to praise the way God, who is perfect in knowledge, deals both with the wicked and the righteous. From the righteous He does not withdraw His eyes. That is, He keeps watch over them always, and in the end He exalts them as kings. Yet He may first allow them to be "bound in fetters" and "held in cords of affliction." Poor Job was in that very state at that moment. And if He does allow this, it is for a purpose, as verses 9-11 show. Notice, it is the righteous who are dealt with this way. Even an Abraham and a Job, though righteous, were not sinless. God aims His discipline at such people, rather than at those who shut God out of their lives.
The binding is not the end of the matter. It has an aim.
Why then affliction? These "righteous," whom God cares for, are at times "bound in fetters, held in cords of affliction." Is it a contradiction of what Elihu had just said? To Job it had been a contradiction, because he failed to see the possibilities of evil in his own heart. His pride was as real a transgression as the flagrant evils the friends falsely charged against him. God's object was to lay bare the hidden evil of man's heart, to open his ear to His warnings, and to turn him from pride. If they bow to this, sooner or later their sufferings will pass — even in this life. If not, they must be disciplined to the very end, and struck as if by a swift arrow from His hand.
Chains normally mean anger. These mean something else.
Here Elihu, speaking on God's behalf, lifts the veil. He allows them to be bound in fetters and in sorrow's bonds. He, the righteous God, does this to show them their deeds and to uncover their transgressions. Those transgressions have their source in the thing God hates — pride. The afflictions of the righteous reveal His love and kindness, not His wrath and displeasure. He wants to instruct them by suffering.
Chains might make a believer fear that his place with God has slipped. One distinction rules that out.
It is most important not to confuse two things. One is the believer's standing and salvation in Christ. The other is his walk and the discipline he receives from his Father. As to his standing in Christ, as we have seen, it is established for ever. To make that depend in the least on his works would be to deny the grace of God. But how much does depend on his walk with God! Not earthly prosperity — not worldly pleasures. The nearer we walk with God, the less we shall have of these.
Job's record was not the problem. What he had been doing since the trouble started was.
Job 36 presses another point on Job — if he looks at things from God's side, he must see His righteousness. Job ought to understand that "He withdraws not His eyes from the righteous." "He opens also their ear to discipline." "He delivers the poor in his affliction." Here is where Job had failed. He had been busy justifying himself instead of having his ear opened to discipline.
Writers differ on where Job's fault lay. Some point to a pride he could not see; others to what he said once the trial began.
Job's previous life had not been a life of iniquity. But his bold criticism of God was certainly iniquity, little as he realised it.
The pain the fetters cause is not wasted. God works with it.
You have sinned, and the fetters and cords made you cry out. And remember, the believer cannot touch sin without great bitterness of soul. Well, God uses that very bitterness in restoring the soul of the failing saint... This word shows you that if you were not a real child of God, but a hypocrite in heart, you would not have all this bitterness.
- Watched, then bound. The fetters come to the people God never takes His eyes off; being in chains is no proof that His care has lapsed.
- Bound to be shown. The binding exists to uncover hidden evil — pride above all.
- Shown in love. A righteous person's affliction shows God's kindness teaching him, not His anger punishing him.
- Discipline touches walk, not standing. Salvation in Christ is settled for ever; what these cords address is the daily walk.
- Crying out is the good sign. Job's failure was self-justification instead of listening. The bitterness that makes a believer cry out is what God uses to restore him. Bow to it, and sooner or later the suffering passes.
Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions, because they have increased.
Elihu, one of the speakers in the book of Job, has been speaking on God's behalf. Here he explains why God sometimes binds righteous people in fetters and cords of affliction, and what God shows them once they are bound.
This chapter is about the righteous man, not the wicked one. One writer marks the shift:
"He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous." That is the great point of this chapter. In chapter 33 it was "man," but here it is "the righteous" man that He looks at most closely. God disciplines man to win him to Himself. He disciplines the righteous man far more strictly, to keep him right — so that justifying him does not end in dishonour to Himself. It is a terrible thing when one of God's own people goes wrong.
Being righteous is no protection from the fetters:
Notice that it is the righteous who are dealt with this way. Even an Abraham and a Job, though righteous, were not sinless. God aims His disciplinary dealings at people like these, rather than at those who shut God out of their lives.
God declares two things: the man's work, and his transgressions. A close rendering of the Hebrew shows how it describes them:
Then He shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have grown mighty; and He opens their ear to the instruction, and tells them to turn back from what is worthless.
Another writer names the root of those transgressions:
He allows them to be bound in fetters and in the bonds of sorrow. He does this so that He, the righteous God, may show them their deeds and uncover their transgressions. Those transgressions spring from the thing God hates: pride. The afflictions of the righteous reveal His love and kindness, not His wrath and displeasure. He wants to teach them through suffering.
God speaks to a person while he is bound, because that is when he will listen.
When God allows people to be bound in cords of affliction, His object is to get their ear. He then tells them where they have transgressed and acted defiantly. That gives people the chance to listen and to turn from iniquity. Job's earlier life had not been a life of iniquity. But his bold criticism of God was certainly iniquity, little as he realised it.
One writer sees the same principle in Manasseh, a king of Judah:
They refused to hear the word, so they had to feel the rod. Manasseh, as suited such a monster of evil, was brought in chains to Babylon.
Job's friends had accused him of open crimes, and they were wrong. Elihu points to something Job could not see in himself.
In Job's case it had been pride, because he failed to see the possibilities of evil in his own heart. That pride was as real a transgression as the glaring evils his friends wrongly charged against him. God's object was to lay bare to man the hidden evil of his heart, to open his ear to His warnings and to turn him from pride. If they bow to this, sooner or later their sufferings will pass — even in this life. If they do not, they must be chastened right to the end.
This passage is easy to misread, as if a believer's acceptance with God hung on his behaviour. One writer draws the line:
It is most important not to confuse the believer's standing and salvation in Christ with his walk and the discipline he receives from his Father. His standing in Christ, as we have seen, is established for ever. To make that depend, in the least, on his works would be to deny the grace of God. But how much does depend on his walk with God.
Elihu's teaching is true, but it reaches only as far as he could see.
Of course, Elihu cannot go beyond the present life. No one had yet lifted the veil that hung between the present and the future. With the added light we now have, we can speak of "this light momentary affliction," even if it lasts a lifetime. Suffering for righteousness' sake, for Christ, is not a cloud and darkness. It is "the Spirit of glory and of God." Elihu could not speak of this.
- Bound — the fetters and cords in this chapter fall on the righteous, not the wicked. God disciplines the man He has justified, so that justifying him brings Him no dishonour.
- Shown — in the affliction God first shows the man his own work and his swollen transgressions. The root He uncovers is pride.
- Heard — the showing aims at the ear. Those who refuse to hear the word must feel the rod, and the trouble becomes God's instruction.
- Uncovered — Job's sin was not the crime his friends imagined. It was a pride he could not see, and God used affliction to bring that hidden evil into the light.
- Unshaken — this discipline touches a believer's walk, never his standing. His standing in Christ is settled for ever.
And he openeth their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.
Elihu is still speaking "on God's behalf." He has just described people bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction. This verse shows what God is doing inside that trouble. He is not just punishing. He is opening an ear and giving a command.
Why does God allow the affliction at all? One writer explains what God is after:
God delights in blessing the righteous. But the righteous, like the unrighteous, will meet trials. That was true of Job. What does the trial do? It brings out what is actually in the heart. When God allows people to be bound in cords of affliction, His aim is to get their ear. He then tells them where they have transgressed and acted in defiance. That gives them the chance to listen and to turn from iniquity. Job's earlier life had not been a life of iniquity. But his bold criticism of God was certainly iniquity, though he barely realised it.
Who is this discipline for? One commentator draws a clear line:
As I understand it, this is not a question of God bringing the unconverted into His favour. It is the discipline of the converted under His good hand. It is the ways of God, and the righteous government that He maintains with His own. But even such might slip aside. Alas! who does not know it? As God from the beginning dealt with souls to convert them, so He dealt with His own to lead them on and to correct them. The discipline of His saints, then, is the chief subject of this chapter.
Why are the righteous bound at all? One writer points to something the sufferer cannot see in himself:
These "righteous" people are the objects of God's care. Yet at times they are "bound in chains, caught in the cords of affliction." Does that contradict what Elihu had just said? To Job it did seem so. He failed to see the possibilities of evil in his own heart. His pride was as real a transgression as the terrible evils his friends falsely charged against him. God's object was to lay bare to man the hidden evil of his heart, to open his ear to His warnings, and to turn him from pride.
The fetters look like displeasure. Elihu says they are the opposite, and he ties the outcome to whether the person listens:
He allows them to be bound in chains and in the bonds of sorrow. He is the righteous God, and He does this to show them their deeds and to uncover their transgressions. Those transgressions spring from what God hates — pride. The afflictions of the righteous show His love and kindness, not His wrath and displeasure. He wants to instruct them through suffering. If they listen and learn the lesson, they will spend their days in prosperity. They will end their life on earth in peace and pleasantness.
An open ear and a busy self-defence cannot live in the same person. One writer names this as Job's failure. He follows an older wording, which reads "discipline" where the ESV has "instruction":
In Job 36 another point is pressed on Job: if he looks at things from God's side, he must see His righteousness. Job ought to understand what God does. He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. He opens their ear to discipline. He delivers the poor in his affliction. Here Job had failed. He had been busy justifying himself instead of letting God open his ear to discipline.
Does this discipline put the believer's salvation at risk? One writer answers:
We must be careful not to confuse two things. One is the believer's standing and salvation in Christ. The other is his walk, and the discipline he receives from his Father. As to his standing in Christ, as we have seen, it is established for ever. To make that depend, in the least, on his works would be to deny the grace of God. But how much does depend on his walk with God.
- Bound — the cords of affliction are not random. God allows them so that what is in the heart comes into the open.
- Shown — before He commands anything, God shows the person their work and their transgression. That includes a pride they never counted as sin.
- Opened — the ear is His target. Affliction is the tool He uses to get a hearing.
- Commanded — the call is to turn back from iniquity. Job's mistake was to keep defending himself instead of listening.
- Restored — those who listen end their days in prosperity and peace. What is at stake is the believer's walk, never the security of his standing.
If they hearken and serve [him], they shall accomplish their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
Elihu speaks for God about the righteous when trouble binds them. Here he names the outcome once the lesson lands: a promise with a condition, and a prosperity worth defining.
The verse turns on two verbs. One writer renders them as hearing and serving, and sets the promise beside its opposite:
If they hear and serve, they end their days in good, and their years in pleasantness. But if they do not hear, their soul passes by the dart, and dies for lack of knowledge.
The whole statement is a fork in the road:
Obedience is the path of good and joy; not listening is the path of ruin in every way.
This promise is not an offer to strangers. It describes how God deals with those who already belong to Him:
Here, I think, this is not about bringing the unconverted into God's favour. It is the discipline of the converted under His good hand. It is the ways of God, and the righteous government that He maintains with His own. But even such people might slip aside. Sadly, who does not know it? And here we see that from the very beginning the ways of God were essentially what they are now.
The condition here answers what the affliction came to expose — an evil the sufferer never saw in himself:
These "righteous" people are the objects of God's care. Yet at times they are "bound in fetters, held in cords of affliction." Is this a contradiction of what Elihu has just said? To Job it was, because he failed to see the possibilities of evil in his own heart. His pride was as real a transgression as the outright evils the friends falsely charged him with. God's purpose was to lay bare to man the hidden evil of his heart, to open his ear to His warnings and to turn him from pride. If they bow to this, sooner or later their sufferings will pass — even in this life. If not, they must be chastened to the end, and struck as by a speeding arrow from His hand.
Elihu is not speaking in the abstract. This door stood open for Job himself:
Was there not, even at this time, an opportunity for Job to prove such blessing true? Yes indeed, and Elihu wanted it for Job. And Job did eventually experience such prosperity, for he did listen when God spoke to him.
The affliction itself has a motive:
The afflictions of the righteous reveal love and kindness, not His wrath and displeasure. He wants to instruct them by suffering. And if they listen and learn the lesson, they will spend their days in prosperity. They will end their life on earth in peace and pleasantness. It was a call to Job to acknowledge this. It is also a prophecy that he would soon find it out. When God has accomplished His purpose with him, his end would be peace and prosperity.
A believer reading this today may hear a promise of comfortable circumstances. Commentators warn against taking it that way, and against letting a verse about walk unsettle a settled standing:
It is most important not to confuse two things: the believer's standing and salvation in Christ, and his walk under his Father's discipline. As to his standing in Christ, as we have seen, it is established forever. To make that depend, in the least, on his works would be to deny the grace of God. But how much does depend on his walk with God. Not earthly prosperity — not worldly pleasures. The nearer we walk with God, the less we shall have of these. Look at the Apostle Paul, and all who will live godly lives in this present evil world.
The same words then describe a different kind of wealth:
Would you have days of spiritual prosperity, and years of heavenly pleasures? Then let go of everything that does not fit a Christ rejected by the world and glorified in heaven. Seek whole-hearted, obedient service to Him. Depend simply on the Holy Spirit, and put no confidence in the flesh.
- Fetters — The affliction just before this verse targets hidden evil: the pride the sufferer cannot see in himself.
- Ear — God's goal in binding is to open the ear; the verse begins where listening begins.
- Serve — Hearing must become obedience and service. The other road Elihu names is ruin, not a smaller blessing.
- Own — This is God's government of His own people. It is how He deals with a soul that is already His, not how He brings anyone into His favour.
- End — Job proves it: he listened when God spoke, and his end was peace and prosperity. Commentators differ on how earthly that prosperity is.
But if they hearken not, they shall pass away by the sword, and expire without knowledge.
Elihu has been describing a God who binds the righteous in affliction to open their ear. Verse 12 is the dark half of that picture: who perishes here, and how can death be the end for someone God is teaching?
The chapter is not about bringing outsiders into God's favour. Its subject is what God does with those who already belong to Him.
Here, as I see it, this is not a question of bringing the unconverted into God's favour. It is rather the discipline of the converted under His good hand. It is the ways of God, and the righteous government that He maintains with His own. But even such might slip aside. Alas! who does not know it? … The discipline of His saints, then, is the chief subject we find in this chapter. … It is not, of course, that every word of the chapter applies only to His saints. But just as in the New Testament we find warning words about those who deceive in the middle of a record of privileges belonging to His own, so it is found in the Old.
Another writer states it without hedging.
In chapter 36 it is expressly the righteous man who is dealt with.
Both halves of the verse describe where a settled refusal ends. The sword need not be literal, and the ignorance is self-chosen.
On the other hand, those who failed the test by refusing to obey the Lord would "perish by the sword." If not by a literal sword, then certainly by "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Since they refuse knowledge, they "die without knowledge."
Affliction here has an aim. It is God's way of exposing what a person cannot see in himself.
God's object was to lay bare to man the hidden evil of his heart, to open his ear to His warnings, and to turn him from pride. If they bow to this, sooner or later their sufferings will pass — even in this life. If not, they must be chastened right to the end, and be struck as by a swift arrow from His hand.
If the verse is about the righteous, a question follows: does obedience keep a person saved? Commentators answer by keeping two things apart.
It is most important not to confuse the believer's standing and salvation in Christ with his walk and discipline at the hands of his Father. As to his standing in Christ, as we have seen, it is established for ever. To make that depend, in the least, on his works would be to deny the grace of God. But how much does depend on his walk with God. Not earthly prosperity — not worldly pleasures. The closer we walk with God, the less we will have of these. Think of the Apostle Paul, and of all who are determined to live a godly life in this present evil world.
The warning is still serious. What is at stake is life in this world, and Job hears where his course leads.
Job is warned that persisting in proudly accusing God can only end one way — death. It is a question of the present life. Job is warned against the "sin that leads to death" (1 John 5:16), though of course without the full light of the New Testament. There is clearly a chastening of the people of God that goes on to death, because of their failure to judge themselves.
Yet that outcome is not fixed while the discipline is still running. Others can step in.
There are cases where discipline is in progress and might end in death (Job 36:7-12). But the intercession of the saints may be the means of blessing. In the administration of God's government in the church on earth, it may turn aside the threatened evil. Under this government, the sins would be forgiven, the life of the failing person spared, and the soul set right.
- Ear. Affliction is God opening a person's ear. Verse 12 is the ear that stays shut.
- Righteous. The chapter's main subject is God's own people under His government, not outsiders.
- Refusal. Those who die "without knowledge" die that way because they refused the knowledge God offered.
- Standing. A believer's place in Christ stands for ever. What hangs on obedience is his walk and his days on earth.
- Reprieve. Discipline heading toward death can still be halted. Prayer may spare the life and set the soul right.