Daily Scripture Reading Job 34:24 - 35:16
For all of human history, humans have asked why we exist and how we find meaning in life. When Elihu spoke to Job, he expressed a variation of that question: Since God is the all-powerful, all-mighty, self-sufficient Creator, why does it matter how humans behave? Since God is self-sufficient, can we do anything that either harms or benefits Him? Does our sin actually hurt God? Does our obedience really help God? Although Elihu did not articulate the correct answer to those questions, there is an answer.
We are in the middle of reading the 19th section of Job. This section contains Elihu’s pronouncements concerning all the pain and tribulation Job had experienced. Elihu expressed his belief that God shows no partiality, He sees all the steps of men, and He can easily take the mighty away.
Job 34:24 He breaks in pieces mighty men without searching anything out,
And sets others in their place.
The pronoun “He” refers to God. In verses 24-28, Elihu captured God’s sovereignty, His ability to do anything He wants.
Job 34:25 Therefore He recognizes their labors,
And He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
Job 34:26 He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,
Job 34:27 Because they turned aside from following Him,
And had no insight from any of His ways;
Job 34:28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted.
Job 34:29 So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him?
He is above both nation and man altogether,
Job 34:30 So that godless men would not rule
Nor be snares of the people.
Job 34:31 ¶ “For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastisement;
I will not work destructively anymore;
Job 34:32 Instruct me what I do not behold;
If I have done injustice,
I will not do it again’?
Job 34:33 Shall He repay on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore say what you know.
Job 34:34 Men with a heart of wisdom will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
Elihu claimed that anyone with wisdom would say what Elihu was about to express in verses 35-37.
Job 34:35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without insight.
Job 34:36 Job ought to be tested to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men.
Job 34:37 For he adds transgression to his sin;
He strikes his hands together among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’”
Elihu claimed anyone with wisdom would say that Job speaks without knowledge and multiplies his words against God.
Job 35:1 ¶ Then Elihu answered and said,
Job 35:2 “Do you think this is according to justice?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
Look at the second line of verse 2. Elihu accused Job of saying he was more righteous than God. Job claimed to be righteous, but I am not aware of a time Job claimed to be more righteous than God.
Job 35:3 For you say, ‘What use will it be to You?
What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’
Job 35:4 I will respond to you,
And your friends with you.
Job 35:5 Look at the heavens and see;
And perceive the clouds—they are higher than you.
Job 35:6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?
The questions in verse 6 were rhetorical questions. The implied answer is that God is so big and powerful that humans cannot harm God no matter how much we sin.
Job 35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?
The implied answer to the question in verse 7 is that God is so big and powerful that humans cannot possibly do anything that benefits God.
For all of human history, humans have asked why do we exist and how do we find meaning in life. Elihu’s questions relate to that quest. The Bible lists many things humans should and should not do, but if God is the all-powerful, all-mighty, self-sufficient Creator, why does it matter how humans behave? If God is self-sufficient, then He does not need us, nor can we do anything to harm or benefit Him.
The answer is our free-will gives us the ability to love God. Inanimate objects cannot love God. All the stars, constellations, comets, planets, and moons declare the existence of God, and God may derive pleasure from gazing on His beautiful creation, but His inanimate creations cannot love Him back. Only created beings who have a free-will, who can choose whether or not to obey God, have the ability to love God. Therefore, the benefit to God of our obedience is that obeying Him tells God we love Him while disobedience lets Him know we don’t love Him.
Job 35:8 Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
And your righteousness is for a son of man.
Elihu believed righteousness and wickedness only affects our fellow humans.
Job 35:9 ¶ “Because of many oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm of many oppressors.
Job 35:10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs of praise in the night,
Job 35:11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
Elihu claimed humans do not seek their Creator when they are oppressed.
Job 35:12 There they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil men.
Job 35:13 Surely God will not listen to an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty perceive it.
Job 35:14 How much less when you say you do not perceive Him,
The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
Job 35:15 And now, because He has not visited in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression well,
Job 35:16 So Job opens his mouth vainly;
He multiplies words without knowledge.”
The Bible lists many things humans should and should not do, but if God is the all-powerful, all-mighty, self-sufficient Creator, why does it matter how humans behave? If God is self-sufficient, then He does not need us, nor can we do anything to harm or benefit Him.
The answer is our free-will gives us the ability to love God. All the stars, constellations, comets, planets, and moons declare the existence of God, and God may derive pleasure from gazing on His beautiful creation, but His inanimate creations cannot love Him back. Only created beings who have a free-will, who can choose whether or not to obey God, have the ability to love God. Therefore, the benefit to God of our obedience is that obeying Him tells God we love Him while disobedience lets Him know we don’t love Him.
Do you ever feel life is completely futile and meaningless due to the fact that God is so big and powerful, humans cannot possibly do anything that helps or harms Him?
Why would God desire humans to demonstrate our love for Him?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”