Job 34: 1 – 37
Just A Spoonful Of Sugar Makes The Medicine Go Down
1 Elihu further answered and said: 2 “Hear my words, you wise men; Give ear to me, you who have knowledge. 3 For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. 4 Let us choose justice for ourselves; Let us know among ourselves what is good. 5 “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice; 6 Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ 7 What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water, 8 who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men? 9 For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’ 10 “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. 11 For He repays man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way. 12 Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice. 13 Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him over the whole world? 14 If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. 16 “If you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words: 17 Should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn Him who is most just? 18 Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked’? 19 Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of His hands. 20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; The people are shaken and pass away; The mighty are taken away without a hand. 21 “For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. 22 There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23 For He need not further consider a man, that he should go before God in judgment. 24 He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, and sets others in their place. 25 Therefore He knows their works; He overthrows them in the night, and they are crushed. 26 He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others, 27 because they turned back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways, 28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted. 29 When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—30 That the hypocrite should not reign, lest the people be ensnared. 31 “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastening; I will offend no more; 32 Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’? 33 Should He repay it according to your terms, just because you disavow it? You must choose, and not I; Therefore speak what you know. 34 “Men of understanding say to me, wise men who listen to me: 35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge, his words are without wisdom.’ 36 Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, because his answers are like those of wicked men! 37 for he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.”
Who knows where the above topic came from? If you said it was from the movie ‘Mary Poppins’ and a song by Julie Andrews you win a cookie. You might have guessed the right answer but I am sure you are puzzled as to why I brought this up.
Having grown up and lived in the Philadelphia area all my life I can state without a doubt that no real Philadelphian would ever rightly sing or say –Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. It just ain’t in us. We would never use the same type of kissing up to get someone’s favorable attention.
The majority of us also would not use the flattery that Elihu uses. Look at what he says to his other traveling companions.
1 Elihu further answered and said: 2 “Hear my words, you wise men; Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.
In other words ‘Hey, you amazingly intelligent guys, I know that you have outstanding intelligence and can easily understand my point of view. You guys are so smart and have so much wisdom I have no doubt you understand and are in agreement with what I want to say to Job.
For you out of towners I want to enlighten you on a couple of other statements you will not here people from Philly say;
1. ‘How bout dem cowboys?’
2. ‘Some of my best friends are ‘Mets’ fans’
3. ‘I’ll take my cheese steak with mozzarella and onions’
4. Oh, I’m running late so I think I will take [Pick one] Route 676, The Blue Route, The Boulevard, The Schuylkill, The PA turnpike, any Philadelphia road
5. I’m sure you can park there – They won’t ticket you
6. Now son even though they are not Eagle’s fans we can still be nice to them
7. Don’t worry there isn’t any construction on 95
8. A blizzard coming? No problem - they clear our streets right after it stops snowing.
3 For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.
After setting them up with his smooth talk he now appeals to their judgment. The ear of the judicious tries words, whether what is said be true or false, right or wrong, and he that speaks must stand the test of the intelligent. As we must prove all things we hear, so we must be willing that all that we speak should be proved.
4 Let us choose justice for ourselves; Let us know among ourselves what is good.
He does not pretend to be only one with extreme insight, nor undertake to say what is just and good and what is not, but he is willing to join with them in searching everything out. In other words he is asking them to compare notes and communicate their reasons about what is good and what is not.
He recites the words which Job had spoken, as nearly as he can remember.
5 “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, but God has taken away my justice; 6 Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ 7 What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water, 8 who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men? 9 For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’
Job had insisted upon his own innocence. He had said, I am righteous, and, when urged to confess his guilt, had stiffly maintained his plea of, ‘Not guilty’
Elihu in a mocking way says, Look at this guy. Who does he think he is? Where does he get off scorning us and God? All his life he spent with ungodly people, not in all situations did he always associate with them, but in his opinion he showed favor to them
In chapter 16 we learned that Job had despaired of relief and concluded that God could not, or would not, help him. He had charged God with injustice in his dealings with him, that he had wronged him in afflicting him and had not righted him. As a direct effect of this thinking, Job said that there is nothing to be gained in a life totally commuted in seeking and loving God.
10 “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. 11 For He repays man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way. 12 Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice. 13 Who gave Him charge over the earth? Or who appointed Him over the whole world? 14 If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, 15 all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
Sometimes we have to attend some social or business visits that we would much rather prefer having dental surgery without any Novocain. The irritating host says ‘I am glad you could make it.’ To which we respond, “I am glad to be here.’
Such a host would be Elihu. He had originally remarked that he wasn’t going to verbally beat Job up like the other three had. Yeah, right!
In this chapter Elihu explains to Job that God did him no wrong in afflicting him, nor punished him more than he deserved. I am totally grateful that our God Is Perfectly Good. He neither can nor will do a wrong thing. He Is El Shaddai —Almighty God The All-Sufficient One, and therefore He cannot be tempted with evil.
In verse 11 Elihu is correct when he says that our Holy God ministers justice to all. The standing rule of distributive justice is to give to every man according to his work. Our Lord has said to the righteous, it shall be well with them; and to the wicked, it shall be ill with them. While it may seem that good works done in Christ Jesus our Lord’s Name go unrewarded now, and sins persisted in now go unpunished, yet there is a day coming when our Holy Ruler God will fully render to every man according to his works.
Everyone must know without a doubt that God will not do wickedly. Let it be far from us that we should entertain the least suspicion of it or say anything that looks like charging him with it. Let us also take to heart that all the mess of the world is our fault. As you know the book of Genesis teaches us that our Great and Generous Master gave our ancestor Adam the earth and all that is in it as a gift. Adam lost it by his sin and Satan took over. Yet we are eternally grateful that our Wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ legally took it back by the price He paid at Calvary.
It is certain that the government is His, and He does according to His will in all the hosts both of heaven and earth; and therefore He is not to be charged with injustice; for shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Stop and think about this point - How shall God either rule or judge the world if there be, or could be, any unrighteousness with him? Our very breaths are in His hand. He Is responsible for sustaining all life. Any time He ever would ever want to stop mankind in our tracks we would immediately cease to exist.
16 “If you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words: 17 should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn Him who is most just? 18 Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’ and to nobles, ‘You are wicked’? 19 Yet He is not partial to princes, nor does He regard the rich more than the poor; For they are all the work of His hands. 20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night; The people are shaken and pass away; The mighty are taken away without a hand. 21 “For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. 22 There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23 For He need not further consider a man, that he should go before God in judgment. 24 He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, and sets others in their place. 25 Therefore He knows their works; He overthrows them in the night, and they are crushed. 26 He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others, 27 because they turned back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways, 28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted. 29 When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—30 that the hypocrite should not reign, lest the people be ensnared.
Having just passed through the most horrible political election in my lifetime verses 16 and 17 ring so true - 16 “If you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words: 17 should one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn Him who is most just?’ You see from the Presidential candidates all the way down to the lower township nominees they are many such people.
Elihu here addresses himself more directly to Job. He had spoken to the rest as men of understanding; now, speaking to Job; he puts an ‘if’ upon his understanding: If thou hast understanding, hear this and observe it,
The Righteous Lord so loves righteousness that, in comparison with Job himself, though a perfect and upright man, might be said to hate right. Elihu questions - shall you Job pretend to direct God or correct what He does? Shall such unrighteous creatures as we are give legal advice to the righteous God?
Here on earth it would be absurd and unbecoming if someone would say to a sovereign prince, Thou art wicked, and to judges upon the bench, You are ungodly. This would be looked upon as an insufferable affront to majesty and to magistracy; no king, no prince, would take it. How absurd it is then to say so to God—to impute iniquity to Him, Who, having no respect of persons is never tempted to do an unjust thing! Rich and poor stand on the same level before God. Your wealth has no impact on our Holy God Who owns all the heavens and the earth. Job, now that he was poor, should have as much favor with God, and be as much regarded by Him, as when he was rich.
If our Holy God decides; even the mighty man, the prince, though ever so honorable and formidable among men, shall, if God speak the word, be taken away off of his throne and out of the land of the living; he shall die; he shall pass away. What cannot He do that has all the powers of death at His command? Please notice the suddenness of this destruction: In a moment shall they die. It is not a work of time, with God, to bring down His proud enemies, but, when He pleases, it is soon done; neither is He bound to give anyone a warning. It can happen at any time the Lord so chooses - 20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night. There isn’t one person alive who can overpower Him.
His eyes are upon the ways of man; not only are they within reach of His eye, so that He can see them, but His eye is upon them, so that He actually observes and inspects them. He sees us all, and sees all our goings; go where we will, we are under His eye; all our actions, good and evil, are regarded and recorded and reserved to be brought into judgment when the books shall be opened. Nothing is or can be concealed from him: In addition, there is no darkness nor shadow of death so close, so thick, so solitary, so remote from light or sight as that in it the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from the discovering eye and avenging hand of the righteous God.
As verse 23 points out our God Is righteous, and, in all His proceedings, He goes according to the rules of equity. Even when He Is overturning mighty men, and breaking them in pieces, He will not lay upon a man more than what is right. When He breaks mighty men, He sets others in their place, that will rule better, or, if they do not, He overturns them also in the night, or in a night, so that they are also destroyed. Our Merciful and Gracious God designs these new rulers space to repent however if they follow the same wicked path of their predecessor, He will deal swiftly with these wicked men also.
Verses 27 and 28 give us the reason what these wicked people were like - these unjust judges, whom God will justly judge, neither feared God nor regarded any other person. They were rebels to God: They turned back from Him, cast off the fear of Him, and abandoned the very thoughts of Him; for they would not consider any of His ways, took no heed either to His precepts or to His providences, but lived without God in the world. This is at the bottom of all the wickedness of the wicked, they turn back from God; and it is because they do not consider, not because they cannot, but because they will not. From inconsideration comes impiety and then immorality.
They are injurious and oppressive to the poor, wrong them, crush them, impoverish them yet more, and add affliction to the afflicted, who cry unto God, make their complaint to Him, and He hears them and pleads their cause. Their case is bad who have the prayers and tears of the poor against them; for the cry of the oppressed will, sooner or later, draw down vengeance on the heads of the oppressors, and no one can say that this is more than right – Amen to that!
Our Holy and Majestic God has an uncontrollable dominion in all the affairs of the children of men, and so guides and governs whatever concerns both communities and particular persons, that, as what He so designs it cannot be defeated, and so what He does it cannot be changed
As you know in the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14 this fantastic verse – “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” If God give outward peace to a nation, He can secure what He gives, and disable the enemies of it to give it any future problems. If God give inward peace to a man only, the quietness and everlasting assurance which is the effect of His Righteousness, neither the accusations of Satan nor the afflictions of this present time, no, nor the arrests of death itself, can give trouble. What can make those uneasy whose souls dwell at ease in God?
Our Mighty God Is wise, and careful of the public welfare, and therefore provides that the hypocrite will not reign, lest the people be ensnared. These evil men and women aim to reign; the praise of men, and power in the world, are their reward, what they aim at. It is amazing that they sometimes make use of religion as a cloak and cover for their ambition and by their hypocrisy come to the throne or Presidency. Our Great God knows the eminent danger people are in when hypocrites reign. They are likely to be ensnared in sin, or trouble, or both. Power, in the hands of these children of Satan, is often destructive to the rights and liberties of a people. If God has mercy in store for a people, He will either prevent the rise or hasten the ruin of hypocritical rulers.
31 “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastening; I will offend no more; 32 Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’? 33 Should He repay it according to your terms, just because you disavow it? You must choose, and not I; Therefore speak what you know. 34 “Men of understanding say to me, wise men who listen to me: 35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge, his words are without wisdom.’ 36 Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, because his answers are like those of wicked men! 37 For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.”
In these remaining verses, Elihu instructs Job what he should say under his affliction, isn’t that nice of him? He directs Job to humble himself before God for his sins, and to accept the punishment of them – ‘I have borne chastisement’ Isn’t it a truth that many of us that are chastised do not bear chastisement well, and so, in effect, do not bear it at all. After pouting and doing all forms of anger we come to our senses and own our sin. For complete peace us penitents, if sincere, will take everything well that God does to us, and will bear chastisement as a medicinal operation intended for our ultimate good.
In truth we know that we should be willing to know the worst of him or herself, and particularly, under affliction, desires to be told why God is contending and what He designs to do. To complete our repentance it is not enough to be sorry for our sins, but we must go and sin no more, and, as here, bind ourselves with the bond of a fixed resolution never more to return to the sin
In verse 33 Elihu goes on to try to reason with Job concerning his discontent and uneasiness under his affliction. We are ready to think everything that concerns us should be just as we would have it come about; but Elihu here explains that it is absurd and unreasonable to expect this -33 Should He repay it according to your terms, just because you disavow it?’ He advises Job to remember that everything in up to our Holy Ruler. For it is proper that everything should be according to God’s mind, and not ours; for He Is The Creator, and we are creatures. He Is infinitely wise and knowing; we are foolish and short-sighted. He Is in one mind; we are in many. So, Job what are you going to decide to do?
In verse 35 Elihu cannot say that Job is without knowledge and wisdom; but, in this matter, he has spoken without knowledge, and, whatever his heart is, his words were not well thought out. What he said to his wife may charged against himself (He speaks as one of the foolish men speak) and for the same reason, Shall we not receive evil as well as good at God’s hand?.
Elihu now appeals to the other 3 men in which he had just kissed up to. He would have the matter thoroughly examined, and brought to an issue: "My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end. If any will undertake to justify what he has said, let them do it; if not, let us all agree to bear our testimony against it.’’
So, in a hurtful way Elihu wants Job’s troubles be continued till he be thoroughly humbled, and his proud spirit brought down, till he be made to see his error and to retract what he has so presumptuously said against God and His providence. Let the trial be continued till the end be obtained.’’
There are three mean spirited charges thrown at Job
1. That he has taken part with God’s enemies: His answers have been for wicked men; that is, what he had said tended to strengthen the hands and harden the hearts of wicked people in their wickedness, he having carried the matter of their prosperity much further than he needed. Like the father of Gideon said ‘Let wicked men, like Baal, plead for themselves if they will, but far be it from us that we should answer for them, or say anything in favor of them.’
2. That he has insulted God’s friends: "He clapped his hands among us; and, if he be not thoroughly tried and humbled, will grow yet more insolent and imperious, as if he had gotten the day and silenced us all.’’
3. That he has spoken against God Himself, and, by standing to what he had said, added rebellion to his sin.
Do you think this tirade of insults would be better accepted by Job is Elihu ended by singing –just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down?
