Dusk over the gray ash heap, looking north: a young man in a red head cloth sits on the ground a few paces from a small wrapped figure, one thin bar of cloud on the far horizon, the sky above calm and going from pale gold to deep blue.

The Book of

Job 33

Elihu speaks, first speech, now to Job by name. Job has not replied. Elihu presses what the friends barely touched: pain may be God speaking.

33 verses≈ 4 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

1–3The testBlameless, stripped of everything, and his cry
4–14Round oneThe friends speak; Job answers
15–21Round twoMy Redeemer lives
22–31Round threeThen wisdom, and Job's last defense
32–37ElihuA younger voiceChapter 33
38–41The LORD speaksOut of the whirlwind
42The endJob prays and is restored

Elihu Rebukes Job

Elihu

“But now, O Job, hear my speech,

and listen to all my words.

Behold, I will open my mouth;

my address is on the tip of my tongue.

My words are from an upright heart,

and my lips speak sincerely what I know.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Elihu

Job 33:4

Elihu

Elihu

Refute me if you can;

prepare your case and confront me.

I am just like you before God;

I was also formed from clay.

Surely no fear of me should terrify you;

nor will my hand be heavy upon you.

Elihu

Elihu

Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

and I have heard these very words:

‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean, with no iniquity in me.

Yet God finds occasions against me;

He counts me as His enemy.

He puts my feet in the stocks;

He watches over all my paths.’

Question

Quick question

Elihu has been listening closely.

What does Elihu say he heard Job claim?

Elihu

Behold, you are not right in this matter.

I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

Why do you complain to Him

that He answers nothing a man asks?

Elihu

For God speaks in one way and in another,

yet no one notices.

Elihu

Inside a black goat-hair tent at night a man sleeps on a woven mat, seen from behind, one arm flung out, a dying clay lamp beside him and a sliver of stars through the tent flap.

In a dream,

in a vision in the night,

when deep sleep falls upon men

as they slumber on their beds,

He opens their ears

and terrifies them with warnings

to turn a man from wrongdoing

and keep him from pride,

to preserve his soul from the Pit

and his life from perishing by the sword.

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Elihu

Elihu

A man is also chastened on his bed

with pain and constant distress in his bones,

so that he detests his bread,

and his soul loathes his favorite food.

His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his hidden bones protrude.

He draws near to the Pit,

and his life to the messengers of death.

Reflect

In one way and in another

Elihu says God speaks and “no one notices.” Has a hard time ever turned you back from something? Write it down. Then write down someone’s pain that you should not explain.

Elihu

Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times, to bring back his soul from the Pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

Elihu

Elihu

Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

But if you have something to say, answer me;

speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.

But if not, then listen to me;

be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”

The way back, as Elihu tells it

Whiteboard

In Elihu’s account pain can be a warning sent to bring a man back, not only a sentence. True of God’s ways, and still not the reason for Job.

Pray

Thank God that He speaks. Ask for ears to hear Him when things are hard. Thank Him for the Mediator who gave Himself as a ransom. Pray for anyone near despair today.

You’ve experienced

Job 33

0 of 42 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Job 33:4

or swipe left