Job 32:11

Elihu waited patiently while Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar worked through their arguments. He paid close attention to everything they said. He would not speak at all until the three friends had fallen silent and Job too had finished his words. And it was true: not one of the three could convince Job or answer the problems he had raised.

He had, as we say, heard both sides out. He let them wear themselves out and say everything they had to say. Elihu had waited until Job had spoken, because the others were older than he was. This was lovely moral order. It was surely the way of the Spirit of God.

In those days people felt strongly that younger men owed respect to older ones. Being a man of God strengthened that sense instead of weakening it. Compared with Eliphaz and the rest, Elihu may have entered much further into the mind of God. It seems clear that he did — further than Job himself, and further still than the three friends, the "very old" men he speaks of. But until they had fallen completely silent, with not one word left to say against Job or for themselves, Elihu stayed in the background.

His silence acknowledged what was owed to age, to the elders, to the older men. He did not refuse their natural claim out of pride or a rebellious spirit. But he would not sacrifice the truth, or the rights of the Spirit, to anyone. If the elders did not speak according to truth, no one owed their words any regard.

The moment the Spirit of God enters the scene, age stops being the question, because He can speak through the old or the young. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." This is always true. It was true for the patriarchs; true for the prophets; true for apostles; true for us; true for all.

He had listened carefully to everything they said, and not one of them had convinced Job or given him a real answer. Just look back at the speeches of Eliphaz. They begin in a lofty, dignified way and end in brutal accusations. Bildad's words run the same way, though not as harsh. Zophar makes fierce declarations. All of this shows how right Elihu was in what he said.

Why did God silence them? So that they could not say, "We have found wisdom." God would humble them for their pride in thinking they held the answer that escaped Job. They could not defeat Job, for Elihu says, "God may vanquish him, not a man." Elihu knew Job needed defeating, but no man could do it — neither the three friends nor Elihu himself. Whether we realise it or not, we all need God to gain the victory over us.