link Bottom link Table of Contents link Index to Key Themes link Burning Coal link New Wine Online

open bookCommentary on
The Book of Job

Chapter Thirty-three: Ransom


chapter linkback chapter linknext

[top]

In a Dream or a Vision

Job: chapter 33
1 Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words.
2 Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.
3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
4 The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
5 If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.
6 Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.
7 Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.
8 Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
10 Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy,
11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.
12 Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.
13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
20 So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:
26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.
27 He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
29 Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
31 Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.
32 If thou hast anything to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.

33 If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.

Elihu speaks directly to Job: ‘I am a man just like you, made by the breath of God’ (33:4), ‘so you can argue against me’ (33:5). “Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead” (33:6), referring to Job's request for an arbiter (9:32-34). He continues, claiming to stand in on God's behalf, yet being mortal, ‘you need not fear me’ (33:6).

Elihu begins to quickly sum up Job's major arguments towards God: “Behold He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths” (33:10-11, NASB).

Chambers notes there are two types of submission. The submission of fatalism and the submission of faith. He contends that Elihu is demanding that Job submit to his fate and accept that he is wrong, God is right. Whereas Job's submission is that of faith: ‘this isn't adding up; but, though He slay me, I will still trust in His character of justice and mercy’ (Chambers 1990, 114).

God Speaks Once or Twice

Elihu counters Jobs arguments, “Behold, in this thou art not just... God is greater than man” (33:12). His argument leaps ahead without filling in the gap. Because God is greater, it is wrong to conclude that God is inventing sins, counting you as an enemy or punishing you. These presumptions cannot be supported without knowing God's purpose.

Elihu continues, “Why do you complain against Him?” (33:13, NASB). ‘God doesn't answer complaints’ (33:13). ‘He may well have spoken to you in a dream more than once’ (33:14-16); the implication is that Job wouldn't hear. Elihu in intimating that God has already spoken to Job, trying to turn his behavior and to keep him from pride (33:17-18). This is probably true.

If verse 18 seems a little awkward, the word translated as a weapon, here and in chapter 36, verse 12, i.e. “perishing by the sword” is now thought to mean a canal or body of water (Scheindlin, 211). Thus the NET Bible renders the verse, “He spares a person's life from corruption, his very life from crossing over the river.”

A second way that God speaks to us is through our afflictions or ‘chastening’ (33:19). Physical afflictions can be linked directly to spiritual afflictions: stiff necks (Deut. 31:27: Acts 7:51), hard hearts (Deut. 31:27; Mark 10:5), poor eyesight or blindness (1 Sam. 3:2; Job 17:5; Acts 9:8; Ps. 69:23), infirmity (Ps. 69:23). The reasoning is running backwards: since sin can cause afflictions, and afflictions indicate sin. This is not necessarily so. The disciples reason in the same way, asking Jesus, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). Jesus answers, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). Job's case is very much the same. The works of God will be made manifest in Job.

Since we are building to God's directly fingering Job's pride, all-be-it a seemingly righteous self-effacing pride, let us note that both Elihu here and later (33:17, 35:12, 36:9 & 17) and Job (31:25) are well aware of pride as a sin. They are convinced that they have taken steps to keep from pride, and I don't doubt that they have. In our current culture of ‘pride’ movements and initiatives it is easy to get carried away with believing in the positive energy of self-affirmation and forget just how devastating it can be, most particularly in our relationship with God. Both Job and Elihu by their righteousness are hearing the Holy Spirit and confounding the devil, but they are both confounded themselves as their self-righteousness blocks them from entering the holy of holies.

Elihu has already edged into suggesting that God has some complaint against Job, even though he speaks in the third person, of “man”. He speaks of chastening in terms of afflictions that exactly match Job's current condition (33:19-22).

I Have Found a Ransom

Elihu then addresses the call for a mediator (9:33) suggesting that often (“one out of a thousand”) God sends a messenger to interpret (33:23 & 29), and to save a man from the pit (33:24 and 30). Opinions vary widely on just what Elihu means by a messenger. Some feel Elihu is referring to himself, some to Messianic prophecy, but the context seems to indicate a angel or an ‘angel-interpreter’ (Barnes, note to 33:23). Penn-Lewis suggests that the original Hebrew for ‘interpreter’ here means “to treat as a foreigner” and the same word is used for ‘ambassador’ as in Isaiah 43:27 [‘teacher’ in the KJV], (Penn-Lewis 1996, 147; Also, Strong, H3887). Elihu emphasizes the great difference between our understanding and God's by suggesting that we are foreigners. The NASB calls these mediators ‘angels’. Because of our fall from grace, someone must stand between us and God.

Elihu is not meaning to reach this far. Barnes argues, “it seems probable that Elihu, in this passage, by the messenger which he mentions, referred to someone who should perform the office which he himself purposed to perform – some man well acquainted with the principles of the divine administration; who could explain the reasons why people suffer; who could present such considerations as should lead the sufferer to true repentance; and who could assure him of the divine mercy” (Barnes, note to 33:23). Barnes notes that this view most closely matches Elihu's character and purpose here. An indication of angelic or especially messianic intervention would lie outside of his description, “He shall pray unto God, and He will be favorable unto him” (33:26)

Whether he means it or not, Elihu says some remarkable things here. In fact, I am sure he is dumb to his insight. Elihu places in the mediator's mouth, “I have found a ransom” (33:24). He clearly prefigures the eternal mediator, Christ Jesus, who will become the final ransom. The mediator prays to God, God will hear and restore the man to righteousness (33:26). God will look, and “if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right... He will deliver his soul from going into the pit” (33:27-28). This is the solution to sin: repentance plus the mediator's ransom equals deliverance. Then, the redeemed “will sing to men... He has redeemed my soul” (33:27-28, NASB).

Elihu addresses Job rudely, as if he were not his elder: “hold thy peace, and I will speak” (33:31). He opens the floor to Job: “If thou hast anything to say, answer me” (33:32), but not surprisingly Job declines to comment. Job has finally gotten enough wisdom to quit sparring with men and wait for God. Elihu continues at a fresh pace. Jesse-Penn Lewis suggests that the heat of chapter thirty-four represents Elihu's lapse from speaking in the Spirit into his own ‘self-sensitiveness’, owing to Job's refusal to comment (Penn-Lewis 1996, 157). Vicchio comments, “The LXX, perhaps because of Elihu's arrogance or verbosity, deletes vv. 31b to 33” (Vicchio 2020, loc. 7849).


chapter linkback chapter linknext
*All Bible quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.



link Top link Table of Contents link Index to Key Themes link Burning Coal link New Wine Online
Copyright © 2003 Wm W Wells.