Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.
After twenty-nine chapters of argument, Job's three friends fall silent, and a fourth man speaks at last — in anger. His wrath burns two ways at once, and the first reason sums up the whole book: Job put his own case above God's.
Why a new voice was needed
The long debate had reached a dead end. One writer traces the deadlock to two fixed positions:
C. H. MackintoshHe could see nothing wrong in himself; and they could see nothing right. He was determined to maintain his integrity. They were just as determined to pick holes and find flaws. There was no point of contact at all — no common ground of understanding... In short, a completely different kind of ministry was needed, and Elihu is the one who brings it.
The man behind the names
The verse gives Elihu's family line, and each name carries a meaning:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHis name is full of meaning. Elihu means "my God is He." Barachel means "the Blessed God." Buzite means "the rejected One." Ram means "exalted." These names find their fullest application in our Lord, whom Elihu represents in his work as mediator.
His family puts him just outside the chosen line, yet near it:
William KellyHe belonged to the family of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. He was not strictly part of the chosen family, but he was closely connected to it, like Laban and others.
Two errors named in one breath
Elihu names one fault on each side. One writer notes how much ground his few words cover:
C. H. MackintoshHere Elihu, with remarkable force and clearness, seizes upon the very root of the matter on each side. In two short sentences he sums up the whole long discussion of twenty-nine chapters. Job justified himself instead of justifying God. They condemned Job instead of leading him to condemn himself.
Another writer weighs the two charges side by side:
Samuel RidoutElihu's anger is stirred in two directions. He is angry with Job for failing to glorify God by owning His righteousness, and with the friends for clinging to their accusations when they could not give a single proof.
Justifying self, condemning God
The words "rather than God" set up a choice that reaches far past Job:
C. H. MackintoshNothing matters more morally than to see this. Whenever we justify ourselves, we condemn God. And when we condemn ourselves, we justify God... The moment the soul breaks down in true self-judgment, God rises before it as a Justifier, in all the majesty of His grace. But as long as self-defence or self-satisfaction rules us, we stay complete strangers to that blessing. It is the deep blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness without works. The greatest folly anyone can commit is to justify himself, since God must then charge sin against him. But the truest wisdom is to condemn yourself completely, for then God becomes the Justifier.
One disease in four men
Job's facts were right. His self-defence was still the wrong move, and the same root held his friends back:
William KellyHe did justify himself. The chapter we have just read is self-justification from beginning to end. What he said was true as a matter of fact. But it was completely out of place in a question about God's dealings, and about why this great affliction had come upon him... What was it that hindered these three friends from understanding him? The same thing that hindered Job — self. Self was not judged. Self is one of the greatest difficulties in the way of a Christian.
Anger that is still on Job's side
Elihu's anger targets something in Job, not Job himself. One writer compares it to the anger of Jesus:
Charles StanleyElihu was for Job; but he was not for his self-righteousness. This is what he was angry at. When the blessed Jesus walked this earth, nothing made Him as angry as the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. It filled Him with indignation... Yet though Elihu was so grieved at Job's great mistake, his heart still yearned over him.
Another writer reads Elihu's late entrance as a picture of Christ:
Leslie M. GrantSo the Lord Jesus did not come on the scene until late in the world's history. Men were first given time to state all their opinions about why God allows suffering, even in people who were not guilty of wrongdoing... Now the true Mediator between God and men has come, and every question is resolved in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
- Self — the root problem in all four men was self unjudged. Job defended himself, and his friends defended their accusations.
- Swap — Job justified himself instead of justifying God. The friends condemned Job instead of leading him to condemn himself.
- Cost — whoever justifies himself condemns God, and God must then charge sin against him.
- Exchange — whoever condemns himself justifies God, and God then becomes the Justifier.
- Mediator — Elihu's anger is against self-righteousness, not against Job. His name and his timing point to the one Mediator who answers every question.