Job 34:10 - Meaning and Application

Elihu’s aim is to reconcile Job to his suffering and calm his troubled spirit. In the previous chapter, he showed that God did not mean Job harm by afflicting him, but intended it for his spiritual good. Here he adds another point: God did Job no wrong in afflicting him, and he did not punish him more than he deserved. If the first point did not satisfy Job, this one should at least silence him.

Elihu speaks to everyone present: “Listen to me, men of understanding” (Job 34:10). In other words, if they are wise, they will agree with what follows. His main claim is simple: the righteous God never does wrong to any of his creatures. His ways are fair, even when ours are not.

He states this truth clearly in both negative and positive form. God does wrong to no one. He cannot do wickedness, and the Almighty cannot commit evil (Job 34:10). That would go against the perfection of his nature and the purity of his will (Job 34:12). God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not twist justice. He neither can nor will do what is unjust or deal harshly with anyone.

He will never bring punishment where there is no sin, nor punish beyond what is right. If anyone appeals to him or if he gives a final judgment, he will look at the facts and not show favoritism, because that would be to pervert justice. He will never wrong anyone, and he will never deny anyone what is due. Heaven itself will soon declare his righteousness. Because he is God, infinitely holy and perfect, he cannot do wrong, just as he cannot lie, die, or deny himself.

Though he is Almighty, he never uses his power the way powerful people often do, to support injustice. He is Shaddai, God all-sufficient, and so he cannot be tempted to evil (James 1:13). His power is never separated from holiness. He ministers justice to all (Job 34:11): he will repay a person for what he has done. Good works will be rewarded, and evil works will either be punished or paid for. Sooner or later, in this world or the next, every person will receive what matches his ways.

This is the rule of fair judgment, to give each person according to his work. Tell the righteous it will go well with them, and tell the wicked it will go badly with them. If faithful service now seems unrewarded, and sins now seem unpunished, the day is coming when God will fully repay every person according to his deeds, with added weight because of the delay.

Elihu says this with confidence: “Yes, surely” (Job 34:12). It is a truth no one should deny or question. It is something we can accept as settled, that God will not do wickedly. He also speaks with strong disgust at the idea of the opposite: “Far be it from God” that he should do evil, and far be it from us to suspect him of it or say anything that sounds like accusing him.

He then gives two reasons. First, God’s rule is absolute. “Who has put him in charge over the earth?” Or, who has appointed him to direct the whole human race? He alone governs the kingdoms of men, and he does so by his own authority. No one has handed this rule to him.

Since the government is his, he does whatever he pleases among heaven’s armies and on earth. For that reason, he cannot be charged with injustice. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25). If there were unrighteousness in God, how could he rule or judge the world? (Romans 3:5-6). The one who has such unlimited power must also have perfect purity.

This is also a good reason for us to submit to all his dealings with us. Shall not the one who disposes of the whole world dispose of us and our affairs as well? God does not receive his power from anyone else. His authority is original, just as his being is original. If he were not perfectly just, the whole world and all its affairs would quickly fall into confusion.

Earthly rulers have someone above them, to whom they must answer, because they are capable of doing wrong. But God has no one above him, because he cannot do anything that needs to be corrected. Since he is an absolute ruler, we are bound to submit to him. There is no higher power to appeal to.

Second, God’s power cannot be resisted. If he set his heart on man to contend with him, much more if he set his heart against man to destroy him, there would be no standing before him. If he dealt with people by sheer sovereignty or by strict justice, no one could endure. Man’s spirit and breath would soon be gone, and all flesh would die together (Job 34:15).

Many people behave honestly only because they lack the strength to do otherwise. They do not do wrong because they cannot get away with it. But God is able to crush anyone quickly and easily, and yet he does not use arbitrary power to crush anyone. That must be traced to the unchanging perfection of his nature.

We see here what God can do with us. He can quickly bring us back to dust. He does not even need to take a special action to do it. If he simply withdraws the support of his providence by which we live, if he gathers back the spirit and breath that came from his hand at first and still remain in his hand, we die at once. It is like an animal in an air pump when the air is removed.

We also see what he may do with us without doing us wrong. He may take back the life he gave, of which we are only tenants by his will, and which we have also forfeited. So long as he keeps it going by his mercy, we have no reason to complain of injustice, even if other comforts are taken away.