Job 33:8 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, Elihu especially charges Job with saying things that dishonored God’s justice and goodness. He is not repeating gossip. He says he heard Job say these things himself, in front of everyone present (Job 33:8). If he had only heard it privately, he might have hoped it was not as serious as it sounded. But since Job said it openly, it was proper to correct him openly too. People who sin publicly should be rebuked publicly. When we hear words that insult God, we should speak up against them. What we hear wrongly said in our presence, we are responsible to challenge, for the Lord says, “You are my witnesses.”

Elihu says Job had spoken as if he were completely innocent (Job 33:9). Job had not used those exact words. In fact, he had admitted that he had sinned and was not pure before God. But he had also said things like, “You know that I am not wicked,” and “I will hold fast my righteousness,” and Elihu sees those as the basis for this charge. It was true that Job was a blameless and upright man, and not the kind of man his friends made him out to be. But he should not have pressed that point so hard, as if God had done wrong by afflicting him. Elihu may also have been unfair in making Job sound as if he claimed to be free from all sin, when Job really meant he was upright and not guilty of the great crimes his friends accused him of. But people who speak quickly and carelessly must expect to be misunderstood. They should have been more careful.

Elihu also says Job spoke as if God were harsh, always watching for his faults and seizing every chance to accuse him (Job 33:10, Job 33:11). Job had said things like, “He finds reasons against me,” and “Do you not watch my sin?” (Job 14:16, Job 14:17). He had also said, “He counts me as his enemy” (Job 13:24; Job 19:11), and “He puts my feet in the stocks,” meaning God had shut him in so he could neither fight nor escape (Job 13:27). He had also said, “He marks all my paths” (Job 13:27). Elihu takes these words as complaints that God was acting against Job unfairly.

Elihu’s answer is that Job was wrong to speak this way, and he ought to humble himself before God and take back those words by repentance (Job 33:12). He says, “In this you are not right.” This is milder than the charge made by Job’s other friends. They said Job was not righteous at all, but Elihu only says that in this matter, and in these words, Job was wrong. Job was not dealing fairly with God. To be just means to give each person what is due. We are not just toward God if we fail to admit that all his ways with us are wise and good, and that he is righteous in everything he does. Elihu also means that Job was not speaking like a righteous man in this instance. He was not denying Job’s character overall, but he was saying that Job’s words did not match that character here. Good people can still speak badly at times. We should tell even a good person when he has gone wrong, and we should not flatter him in his faults or angry words. But we also should not build a full judgment about someone’s character from one bad moment or a few careless words. We all stumble in many things, so our criticism must be fair.

Elihu then gives Job two reasons to see that he had spoken wrongly. First, God is infinitely greater than we are, so it is foolish to argue with him. Elihu says in one plain truth, “God is greater than man.” Job himself had said many true and wonderful things about God’s greatness, his unstoppable power, his sovereign rule, his awesome majesty, and his endless being. Elihu tells him to apply those truths to himself. If God is greater than man, then he is certainly greater than Job. That should make Job ashamed of his bitter and foolish remarks, and it should humble him before God. This one truth, if we really think about it, is enough to silence our complaints and our objections against God’s providence, his wise ordering of our lives. God is not only wiser and stronger than we are, so that arguing with him is useless. He is also holier, more just, and more good. Since those are the highest excellences in God’s nature, it is unreasonable to find fault with him. He is surely right.

Second, God does not have to answer to us (Job 33:13). Why should Job keep contending with him? People who complain against God are really bringing a case against him and calling him to court. But why would anyone do that? What reason could there be? It is a foolish thing for weak, sinful creatures to fight with a God of perfect wisdom, power, and goodness. It is like clay arguing with the potter. God is under no duty to explain all his actions to us. He does not have to tell us what he plans to do, how he will do it, when he will do it, or by what means. He is not required to defend every decision to us or answer every question we raise. His judgments will justify themselves in the end. If we cannot be satisfied with them, the fault is ours, not his. So it is bold and sinful to put God on trial, as if he had to prove himself to us, or to ask him, “What are you doing?” or “Why are you doing that?” He does not explain all his matters, though he does reveal enough for us to know what is proper, as Elihu goes on to say next (Job 33:14). Still, there are secret things that belong to God alone, not to us.