Can Job or indeed anyone claim to be righteous before God? Can we live even for one day without breaking any law? Can we live without violating anyone’s rights intentionally or inadvertently?
Beginning from the next chapter – Job 32, Elihu gave a fiery defence of God’s righteousness. It’s no wonder why. His name means “my God is He”. In Job 33:8-30, Elihu counters Job’s claim to righteousness and God’s willingness to make us see our wrong by getting our attention in mainly two ways by constantly speaking to us (this mostly falls on deaf ears). In the event this doesn’t work (which is most times), He disciplines us and hopefully, this should get most people’s attention.
The pain often makes us realise our need for a redeemer, a saviour – God Himself. At this point, a person’s rebirth hopefully takes place. Elihu articulates God’s Justice and power in chapter 34. He is a fair Judge. Verse 21. He is a fair judge because He watches what everyone does -in the open and in secret. Nothing and no one is hidden from God’s view. He is not just omnipotent, He is omnipresent. Truth is, we are oblivious to most of the things we do. (An advert to reduce domestic violence was aired for some time, it showed a couple looking at a couple arguing with each other, only that, the couple observing was the same one arguing. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing – a very ugly side of themselves. They concluded it couldn’t be them. The commercial had the effect intended and produced the outcome required – the couple changed.)
Stand aloof from your intentions if you can, you’ll be amazed how ulterior most are. This should make us think and do as Elihu advised in verses 31 and 32. In verses 35-37, he finished off his defence by stating that Job had only aggravated his condition by insisting on his innocence and blaming God. He is right – “all have sinned and fallen short of His glory.”- so deserves punishment. Accepting this, is a good thing, a good start. We all have fallen short of God’s very high standard of living. If it already wasn’t tough enough to live a “moral and just” life based on the 10 commandments; Jesus, through the sermon on the mount, revealed that we had all fallen (well below par) foul of the laws we claimed to have kept so well. Elihu, acting as a defence lawyer as it were (not that God needed one) continued his speech in chapters 33 and 34 of the book of Job.
To be continued