Job 36

Job 36:1

36:1-12 In Elihu’s fourth speech, he professes to draw from deep truths to defend the justice of God and to explain suffering. The Lord is eminently just in dealing with the wicked and the oppressed as well as the righteous (vv. 7-9), whether they are kings . . . on the throne or prisoners in fetters. If righteous men have acted defiantly, He seeks to bring them to repentance by convincing them of their . . . transgressions. If they obey and serve Him, He prospers them. If they don’t, they . . . perish by the sword and without the knowledge of God. 36:13-21 If Job had been submissive and contrite, the Lord would have delivered him out of his dire distress, but because he was stubbornly self-righteous, he suffers the same judgment as the hypocrites. Elihu warns him that if he continues, he will suffer a fate from which a large ransom will not deliver him. (Verse 18 is a needed warning for sinners in all ages.) 36:22-33 Because God is all-wise, Job should magnify Him. His greatness is seen in His control of the rain, clouds, thunder, and lightning. We cannot fully understand the magnitude of His providential dealings, but we know that they portend grace to His people. Andreae wrote long ago: The same storm which on the one side is sent upon the lands for punishment and destruction is at the same time appointed on the other side to bless them abundantly, and to make them fruitful. Thus even the severest judgments of God are ever to be regarded as at the same time a source out of which divine grace distils forth.