So, What About Elihu?

The wonderful thing about reading scripture is that you discover something new every time. God truly speaks to us through His Words. I had one of those experiences recently as I was finishing the book of Job. I am sure you have heard of Job from the Old Testament. For those of you who may not be familiar, Job was a righteous man who worshipped God faithfully. He had much good fortune. He was wealthy; he had a beautiful family and he was well respected by those who knew him. He did good deeds and he seemed to have wisdom that he was happy to share with others. Then, one day, Satan came to speak with God. God bragged about His servant Job, how righteous he was, but Satan dared God to test Job’s faith and see if he remained righteous. God allowed Satan to afflict him, but not kill him. The ensuing verses illustrated Job’s suffering.

Jobs children were killed, he lost all of his wealth and he suffered with horrible sores from head to toe. Job endured terrible suffering and everyone he knew was either dead or wanted nothing to do with him. Then 3 of Jobs friends, who were older gentlemen, decided to go see Job and attempt to comfort him. They were so taken aback by his appearance; they found themselves at a loss for words. They sat with Job for 7 days and nights without saying a word. Job continued to lament and question why he was being made to suffer. He cursed the day he was born.

Each of the friends attempted to make sense of what was happening to their friend. One tried to say that Job must be guilty of something, because the innocent prosper. He urged Job to confess whatever guilt may be hidden within him, but Job insisted his groaning was justified. Another friend warned Job to repent of his arrogance, because God’s ways are just and He always punishes the wicked. Job then raged about how there is no mediator between God and man and how unfair it was that he could not adequately defend himself before God. He also spoke about the unfairness of how the wicked prosper and he, who is righteous, is made to suffer.  Finally, the other basically tried to convince Job that things could be a lot worse. Job responded with more complaints, although, in spite of the fact that he questioned God’s purpose for making him suffer, his faith remained and he continued to hope that God would deliver him. He also became frustrated with his friends who were merely placating him and had no real idea about what they should say to Job to comfort him.

Now, in non-clinical terms, Job continued on with his pity party. He questioned God’s motives. He insisted that he was righteous and did not deserve what was happening to him. He lamented about the lack of wisdom in his friends. He railed against everyone and everything. The fact remained, however, that Job was a righteous man, but he was trying to figure things out with his finite human brain rather than really trusting that God did in fact have a purpose for all of this.

Then entered Elihu. It is funny how when I speak to people about the book of Job, everyone remembers Job and they even remember the 3 friends, but no one seems to remember Elihu. The ironic thing is that Elihu is very significant. He was a young man who listened to everything Job and his friends had to say, but God had given him a wisdom beyond his years. After respectfully allowing his elders to finish speaking, he was finally moved to speak. Elihu chastised Job for trying to justify himself instead of trusting in God’s perfect wisdom and judgement. He rebuked the older men who, for all of their years, definitely lacked wisdom. Then this young man proceeded to teach Job and the others that wisdom does not come from age, but it comes only through God’s lessons for us. He spoke about how sometimes God allows us to be afflicted to grab our attention. He explained how God has a perfect justice and we cannot possibly fathom His ways, nor should we try to. To do so is pure arrogance and God wants us to be humble. Only in humility can we be taught. He continues by extolling the greatness of the Lord.

If Job thought Elihu’s chastisement was bad, what he received from the Lord Himself was much worse, but it sure did the job. Job was humbled as he was never humbled before. He felt ashamed that he was leaning on his own understanding, when in fact, he did not have as much wisdom as he had thought. God then rebuked Job’s friends, because everything they said to Job was really not accurate. He ordered them to make an offering and Job to pray for them. God still loved Job and still saw him as righteous, so he restored to Job double what he had taken.

Now comes the question; so what about Elihu? Why was there no more mention of this very wise and righteous young man who ended up teaching his elders a very valuable lesson and who prepared Job’s heart for his encounter with God? Elihu’s words were so profound to me. He spoke of how everything we experience is for a purpose and, rather than questioning God, we should be looking for the lesson. He taught the very valuable lesson of humility and how any wisdom we have is granted by the grace of the Almighty. The lessons Elihu taught us are as important as the lessons we have learned from Job. To me, Elihu was God’s mouthpiece. Yet, we do not hear about him again.

What then can we conclude? My take is this. I have always said that wisdom does not come with age; age comes with age. Wisdom comes from our experiences and the willingness to learn from them. Elihu’s words absolutely confirmed that. He was young, but God gave him a wisdom that far surpassed his elders’. Although they had years under their belts, they did not acquire much wisdom. Elihu was able to receive God’s wisdom because he remained humble. Humility is the state in which our egos do not get in the way of learning and being grateful. I believe Elihu was not mentioned again because a humble person does not need recognition or accolades. A humble person does what is right regardless of whether anyone sees it. Elihu was not mentioned or singled out by God in any way, yet he served as His mouthpiece and he served an essential role in Job’s repentance and ultimate restoration. The next time you read about or speak about the story of Job, please do not forget the wise yet humble servant Elihu. He has shown us the wisdom for which we should all strive. God bless!