Day 152. Job 35-38

We don't need to give close attention of Elihu's windy speech—most of the ideas in it we have heard before.
He tells Job and his companions that God is not affected directly by either sin or righteousness—"Your wickedness affects others like you," he says, "and your righteousness, other human beings" (35:8), but not God. He stands above all that, and regards it with detachment. God does not answer "an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it" (35:13)—the prayer of the self-righteous is ignored. And "how much more" those presumptuous enough to say they "do not see" God, or their case is before him, and [they] are waiting for him" (35:14), as Job as said on many occasions.
He may say that he is "timid and afraid" (32:6), but the young man Elihu displays more than enough self-assurance when he says, "Truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you" (36:4). He restates the fundamental principle of traditional wisdom—God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, implying that Job certainly has sinned, and that is the reason he is suffering as he is.
But his suffering is not simply punishment; it is a way in which God deals with sinners to open "their ear by adversity" (36:15). Elihu says that Job is obsessed with "judgment and justice" (36:17)—this is true, he is indeed "seized" by the need for vindication and consumed by the injustice of his punishment. And Elihu warns Job not to let his anger "entice [him] into scoffing" (36:18), not to "turn to iniquity" because he has been "tried by affliction" (36:21). This suffering is intended for his instruction. No one can tell God anything—"Who has prescribed for him his way?" Elihu asks. Instead in the face of suffering you must surrender and God will teach you whatever lesson you need to learn by whatever means he chooses.
We can only let God be God. And Elihu then goes on to extol the divine majesty of God, which is so far above human comprehension we cannot begin to grasp it, let alone challenge it. God's glory is manifested in the wonders of nature—in the summer lightning storm and in the blast of the blizzard. As Job's three friends did earlier, Elihu uses the glory and majesty of God as a way to defeat Job's demand for justice. God is too great and wonderful to be questioned by mere human beings, who are weak and foolish by comparison--"Can you, like him, spread out the skies; hard as a molten mirror?" he wants to know (37:18). The answer is "no." "Around God is awesome majesty," and from the majesty of God and his mastery over the natural world and the elements, Elihu deduces that God must also be "great in power and justice" and "abundant righteousness he will not violate" (37:23). But this, of course, is exactly Job's problem—if
God is "great in power and justice," why does he inflict suffering unjustly—because he can? The question isn't—Is God majestic and powerful? Of course he is. The universe testifies to that. The question is—Is God trustworthy? Is he righteous? And Job is no longer able to take that for granted, as he once had.
We have the sense that this debate would go on forever—with Job and his critics working at cross-purposes--if God did not step in and speak to Job "out of the whirlwind" (38:1). It is the personal address that Job has been wanting all along, but God does not justify himself. Instead he defines himself in opposition to humankind. 'Were you there when I created the world?' he asks Job, but does not wait for an answer, because the answer is, of course, no. The answer to all God's questions is "no," because he is not mortal. Mortals are always "no." God is always "yes." Were you there when I "shut in the sea with doors" and "made the clouds its garment?" God asks (38:8-11). The tone God adopts in speaking to Job is mocking, just short of contempt. Who are you to question me? It is I who ask the question. And notice that human beings are nowhere mentioned in the litany of questions God asks. God's concern is focused upon
the maintenance of his vast creation, and only peripherally with mankind. He finds delight in his beautiful and complex work of creation, and expresses pride in being the one who "laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy" (38:7).
God does not answer Job's question about unjust suffering, nor does he explain or apologize for being the indirect cause of it. He simply reaffirms that he is God—and Job is not.