Job 32:2 - 33:18 - God Speaks, But No One Notices (Session 34)

In this verse-by-verse Bible study of Job 32–33, Reasoning Through the Bible reaches a turning point in the book as Elihu enters the conversation. He is angry with Job for justifying himself before God, and angry with Job’s three friends because they condemned Job without answering him well. This session explores what Elihu gets wrong, what he gets right, and why his first words matter so much. 

This study also deals with practical Christian wisdom: how to respond when angry, why age alone does not guarantee wisdom, why flattery is dangerous, and why believers must measure all counsel by the Word of God rather than by personality, confidence, or volume. Elihu speaks with sincerity, but also with a very high opinion of himself, and that tension gives believers a needed warning. 

The second half of the episode turns to one of the most important themes in the passage: how God speaks to people. Elihu says that God speaks, but people do not notice. He describes people as spiritually asleep until God opens their ears, warns them, and turns them away from destruction. This becomes a powerful explanation of conviction, awakening, and the way God uses His Word to call sinners to Himself. 

Topics in this episode include:

•  Job 32 explained 
•  Job 33 explained 
•  Elihu enters the book of Job 
•  anger and self-control 
•  wisdom and age 
•  flattery and pride 
•  God does not owe explanations 
•  how God speaks 
•  spiritual awakening and conviction 

Reasoning Through the Bible is a verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry committed to careful exposition, biblical context, and faithful application.

Transcript

Where Job Stands So Far

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Welcome back to Reasoning Through the Bible. We've been reasoning our way through the book of Job. Up to now, we've seen that Job has been declared right before God at the beginning of the book. God approached Satan. Have you considered my servant Job? And we saw that everything was moving smoothly and in God's control in heaven. Meanwhile, on earth, there was pain and suffering and chaos. So some of the lessons that we've learned is that we should not question God, that he knows best, and he will bring things into our lives as he wills. And if we just trust him, then we can see his glory come into our lives in the end. And we also saw some very false views of God from Job's friends. They should have just backed off, closed their mouths, and just remained silent. We saw Job that has been begging to be face to face with God so far in the book.

Elihu Arrives With Burning Anger

SPEAKER_01 1:13

We've reached a turning point here in Job chapter 32. We're going to meet a new person today that hasn't been in the book so far. If you have your copy of the Word of God, open it to Job 32, 2 and follow along as we read the introduction to Elihu. Steve, can you start Job 32 and read from verse 2 down to the end of the chapter?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

But the anger of Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned against Job. His anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, yet they had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, his anger burned. So Elihu, the son of Barakel the Bozite, spoke out and said, I am young in years and you are old, therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak, and increased years should teach wisdom. But it is a spirit that is in mankind, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. So I say, listen to me. I too will tell what I think. Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your skillful speech while you pondered what to say. I also paid close attention to you, but indeed there was no one who refuted Job, not one of you who answered his words. So do not say we have found wisdom. God will defeat him, not man. But he has not presented his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments. They are dismayed, they are no longer answer. Words have failed them. Should I wait because they are not speaking, because they have stopped and no longer answer? I too will give my share of answers. I also will tell my opinion, for I am full of words. The spirit within me compels me. Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, like new wineskins, it is about to burst. Let me speak, so that I may get relief. Let me open my lips and answer. Let me be partial to no one, nor flatter any man, for I do not know how to flatter. Otherwise, my maker would quickly take me away.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

This is the introduction to Elihu. He tells us there that he has waited his turn, and now it's his turn to speak. And he's requesting, even insisting, that he get a chance to talk. We learn some things about Elihu in this chapter. In verse 2, it says he is mad, angry at Job. And the next verse, it says he is angry at the three friends

How To Respond Without Regret

SPEAKER_01 4:07

also. So I think that's one of the first lessons that we can learn is that what should we do when we have true anger? The people that study such things tell us that when we get very emotional, such as anger, then the hormones start to run in our bodies. The brain is hindered. We are physically incapable of thinking straight when we get very, very angry. And oftentimes that's when, if we'll notice, when we are the most angry, we say things to loved ones that we would not normally say in cold blood. So, Steve, what kind of things can we do on a practical basis to kind of prevent ourselves from saying things in anger that we would regret later?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

We could take the advice of James, and we should be slow to anger. And we should also think about what we're going to say. That is one thing. Stop, pause, think about what we are going to respond to others. In business, I learned in responding to someone who was making an accusation against me of whatever the situation might have been at the time, to not just fire a response email back off to them right away to construct the email, then to close it down and to go and think about it. Go have lunch, come back in the afternoon, read it. And sometimes it was even better to let it go overnight and then open the email up again the next morning and read through it. Through that process, there were many times that I never sent the email. I reconstructed it to be more positive and to actually address the issues that were raised and not take it to a personal level. So I think that's the first thing that we should do is when we get to a point of anger, many times it's based upon emotions and it's not based upon what the other person is actually addressing. So I think that's the main thing that we should do is pause, wait, and then think about it and respond in a way that addresses the issues and the facts and not respond in an emotional way.

Age, Respect, And Real Wisdom

SPEAKER_01 6:15

We also know from this passage that Elihu is younger than the other people in the conversation. So he has waited his turn out of respect for the older people. Younger people should indeed show respect to their elders by waiting their turn and seeking the wisdom of those that are older. Too many times young people go off on their own thinking that they are wise when they really need to evaluate the wisdom of their older people. But here, Elihu says something that is actually quite wise. If we look at what he says, starting in verse seven, I thought age should speak and increased years should teach wisdom. So he's recognizing that he, as a younger younger man, he should indeed wait his turn. But he says, but, verse eight, it is a spirit that is in mankind and the breath of the Almighty that gives them understanding. And so that I think is a true statement in the sense that we can learn from God. And I have seen in working with various ministries, there are indeed some very wise young people. Why? Because they are steeped in the scriptures and they've learned scriptures sometimes better than their elders. Verse 9: the abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. And the way I always found easy to remember is some people have 30 years of experience, and some people have one year of experience 30 times. They never seem to learn from their mistakes. Just because you're old doesn't automatically mean that you're wiser. So, young people, you should indeed give some respect to the old people, but measure their statements by the word of God. And the word of God is what makes us wise, not the numbers of gray hairs on our head. The word of God and the spirit of God within us is what can give us wisdom. And Steve, when I when we talk about that, what kind of thoughts go through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

What you just said there is wise in itself, that because someone is elder, we should listen to them as to what they say, but we should also temper it, think about what they're saying, ponder it. Because just because they're older doesn't mean that what they're telling us is factual or truthful or wise. And we should think about it that way. We should listen to them, give them respect, but at the same time, we shouldn't just automatically take what they say as being something that we should take action on or something that we should think is the right thing, especially whenever we're dealing with theological or doctrinal things. What we should bounce that off of is scripture and not just based off of what they might say.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

In this chapter, Elihu is saying, I've waited my turn. Now I'm I'm very anxious to speak. And he gives some rather descriptive language here. In verse 18, I am full of words. The spirit within me compels me. He feels like he just can't wait anymore. And in verse 19, behold, my belly is like unvented wine, like new wineskins. It's about to burst. When you're making a fermented thing like wine or beer, it puts off a gas. And if you don't vent it, the container will explode. As my roommate found out in college when he tried to make beer in his closet, it exploded. So here, Elihu is saying that he has just this pressure within him that he just has to speak.

Flattery, Motives, And Red Flags

SPEAKER_01 9:48

And in verse 22, he promises not to flatter anyone. I don't know how to flatter, otherwise, my maker would quickly take me away. We should always be cautious when someone tries to flatter us. The old saying is, flattery will get you everywhere. Well, oftentimes when somebody comes up to us trying to butter us up or trying to compliment us too much, then watch out. They have something that they're trying to get out of you. He seems here from this chapter to have an attitude about him, and his attitude does not sound promising. Anyone who tells us that he is wiser than everyone else usually is not. At least that's what I've found out to be the case. That goes through chapter 32, which is basically just Elihu's introduction saying, Hey, I've waited all this time. Now it's my turn to speak.

Elihu’s Confidence And Self-Righteousness

SPEAKER_01 10:42

In chapter 33, we see the first of Elihu's statements. I'm reading now. However, please hear my speech, Job, and listen to all my words. Behold, now I open my mouth, my tongue in my mouth speaks, my words are from the integrity of my heart, and my lips speak knowledge sincerely. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Refute me if you can. Line up against me, take your stand. Behold, I belong to God like you. I too have been formed out of the clay. Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you. You have in fact spoken while I listened, and I heard the sound of your words. I am pure, without wrongdoing, I am innocent, and there is no guilt in me. Behold, he invents criticisms against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks, he watches all my paths. Now, Steve, here Elihu seems to be very sure of himself, does he not? What kind of clues do we get here about his confidence?

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Well, one of the first things we see here in verse three is he says, My words are from the integrity of my heart, and my lips speak knowledge sincerely. So whatever he is about to convey, he is convinced that he is speaking from his heart and he is sincere about what he's talking about. I think we see part of what Elihu in the previous chapter, he's upset with Job's other three friends because they went back and forth with Job. And out of that exchange, an answer wasn't given. They came to no conclusion. We can go back to all the previous sessions where we talked about that, the false accusations, everything else that the three friends had with Job. Elihu here is saying, I'm going to talk and I'm going to give you sincerely what is based on my heart. You should listen to it because this is what it's coming from. It's from a place of sincerity.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

I think that's what he's really trying to say is he's coming from a position of sincerity. And he does indeed have somewhat of an attitude. And verse five, refute me if you can, but he's trying to mainly reassure Job. I'm not here just to argue with you. I'm really legitimately trying to impart some wisdom. However, Elihu claims to be righteous. Verse 9, he says he is pure without any wrongdoing, innocent and without guilt. Steve, is anyone pure and innocent as Elihu claims to be?

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Not in our own doing. No, we're not. We've talked about that before. Our righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. So, no, we cannot say that anything that we have done, we can claim to be righteous on our own. But if we are a believer in Jesus Christ, we can declare that we are righteous in the eyes of God as long as we make that declaration that it's through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sin debt that he has paid for us.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Now, here in this section, if we really look at what Elihu is saying, he has this great self-confidence. He says, I'm pure and I'm coming across, I'm not going to flatter you. He has a lot of statements about himself. He seems to have a very high opinion of himself. Steve, when people come across to us like that, if we meet someone and they have this opinion of themselves, like they're very wise and they're very intelligent, how do people like that come across to us when they speak?

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Well, we classify those people, at least in the state of Texas, as somebody that's full of themselves. That's what you're describing. Somebody that thinks so much about themselves and thinks about what they talk about and what they say. Everybody should listen to it because of who they are. I've heard other people put it the way, I'm going to give you the benefit of my education. So those type of people, sometimes you look at and it has the opposite effect. This person is full of themselves. Therefore, do I really need to listen to what they have to say? Sometimes you look past that and you actually realize this person actually is talking about something that has some knowledge and we should listen to them. Other times we come to the realization that they really don't know what they're talking about, and it's just all bluster as they talk and how they think about themselves.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

My friend, most people don't want to know how intelligent you are or how much you know. And if you or I come across to other people as I think I'm very smart and wise and intelligent, we come across as very offensive. They're usually not as smart as they think they are. My friend, even if you do know more than someone else, it's better to remain silent and wait till they ask us. Most people don't want to know my opinion. I've found out over the years. Now, the next passage, we really get into some of the meat of this.

God Does Not Owe Explanations

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Steve, can you read verses 12 and 13?

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Behold, let me respond to you. You are not right in this, for God is greater than mankind. Why do you complain to him that he does not give an account of all his doings?

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Elihu here says that Job and the three friends have been treating God as if he were a man. We could approach a man and say, explain to me why you're doing what you're doing. Elihu is saying we can't approach God that way. We should not complain when God doesn't give us answers. That's his accusation. And I think he's got a wise point here. We should not approach God with the same reasoning as we would somebody down here on earth. Somebody down here on earth does something that we find questionable. We can go to them and say, please explain yourself. Laihu is saying, why do you complain to God? You can't go up to God and just demand that he give you answers. Steve, have we ever been guilty of believing that God thinks like a regular human being and he owes us the justification like a regular human being? Have we ever been guilty of that?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

I remember listening to a pastor one time that said, whenever we become saved, that we have a checkbook in heaven and that we have all the blessings that God wants to give to us. But in order to get those blessings, we have to write those checks. And that when we write that check through the words that we say and the things that we decree, that God is then bound to cash that check for us. That's something I actually heard preached from a pulpit one time. That's very arrogant to think that way. And it's not a right response. We should have a response of awe because God has sent his son and the price that he paid and the sin debt that he paid, the grace and mercy that has been extended to us. Our attitude should be one of thankfulness, grateful for what God has done for us to provide this way of redemption for us to have eternal life and have a relationship with him. So we certainly shouldn't ever get to the point that we are arrogant in our thinking and demanding of God to give us things. We're not here for God to please us. We are here in order to worship God and to do the things that God wants us to do with our fellow mankind.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

And I would agree, we cannot be guilty of approaching God and thinking that he thinks like a man or reasons like a man, and we cannot demand answers of him like we would a man.

How God Speaks And Wakes Us

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Next, Elihu explains how God speaks to people. He gives us a clue here on how God reveals himself and reveals his word. Starting in verse 14, Elihu says this indeed, God speaks once or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people while they slumber in their beds, then he opens the ears of people and horrifies them with warnings, so that he may turn a person away from bad conduct and keep man from pride. He keeps his soul back from the pit and his life from perishing by the spear. Here, Elihu is describing at least one way how God speaks to mankind. In verse 14, God speaks once or twice, but no one notices it. We know that God has spoken in the Bible, but does the world notice what God says?

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Well, the atheists and skeptics like to talk about the hiddenness of God. They put forth this argument that because of there's evil in the world and these things that are happening and God isn't doing anything about them, therefore there is no God, because if there was, he would do something about them. But in reality, God has done things about evil in this world many times through people. It's just the people don't acknowledge that. Or whenever he does address evil, then they want to complain about the way that he addressed evil. So we need to keep those things in mind that there is a God, he has provided for us a way of redemption, what I just got through talking about. If somebody wants to ignore that or deny it, that's exactly what Elihu is saying here. God speaks once or twice, yet no one notices it. You can't help somebody that doesn't want to receive a gift that is being given to them. Just because they don't receive it doesn't mean that the gift isn't there for reception.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

The Bible is indeed the word of God, and he has spoken, and he has given us great truths, great treasures in the Bible, but yet the world passes it by and pays no attention. God speaks and the world doesn't notice. We can find these great truths here in Job because he's trying to communicate to us that we have this great treasure, and the Christians should not be like the world. We should realize the great value we have in our hands when we hold a Bible. God speaks once or twice and no one notices it in a dream and a vision of the night when deep sleep falls on people. Now, I find here that what he's describing is the way that God would reveal himself to people. God speaks, they didn't notice, they're asleep. So what does he do with the Christian? He goes and wakes them up. He goes and wakes us up, he opens our minds and our ears, wakes us up and gives us the word of God. So, with that, this description of being asleep, when it comes to the topic of the word of God, is the natural man in the world, is that man asleep? Is that woman asleep before they come to Christ?

SPEAKER_00 21:37

In a sense, they're asleep, Glenn, than that they're not paying attention to God or want to know anything about God. They're just living their life. They're trying to make their way and do the things that they think is right in their own eyes to build up equity in a house or the things that they have in a family. They're pouring their life out in that family, and they're not. Taking into account anything that's going to happen after they pass away. They're not taking into account an afterlife. What's going to happen then? So, in that sense, yes, they're asleep. They're not paying attention to God or who he is or what's going to happen to them in the afterlife. They're just living for today, not really thinking about tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

So, again, this passage here is describing how God reveals himself. God has spoken, and people ignored it. They're asleep in their beds. So, what does he do? He rouses them out of their slumber. He raises their attention and opens their ears. That was the next verse. He opens the ears of people and horrifies them with warnings. What happens to the lost person that is spiritually asleep? God intervenes, opens their ears. What did Jesus do with the deaf man in Mark 7:32? He opened his ears so that he could hear. Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So we are asleep, we are deaf. God has to come in and wake us up, give us our hearing, and open our mind so that we can understand the scriptures. And when we do, we realize that we are sinners. And what do we do? We become horrified. Oh my goodness, I've been sinning all this time. I'm headed towards judgment. Verse 17 Once we hear the word of God and become convicted of our sin, God's word can turn us away from sin. It says God's word can open our ears, convict us, save our souls, to turn us away from destruction. It says he keeps his soul back from the pit and his life from perishing.

Conviction, Rescue, And Closing Appeal

SPEAKER_01 23:39

So this passage tucked way back here in the book of Job has this man Elihu giving us the fundamentals of the gospel message, is that God has spoken and the world is asleep. They are asleep in their beds. God has to come in and open the hearing and give us the word of God. When we do, we realize that we've been violating his laws and sin and we are horrified. But he does this. Why does he give us the word of God and have the Holy Spirit convict us of sin so he can pull us back from the brink and change our behavior and set us on a right path before him? Oh, how tremendous are these wonderful truths in the word of God.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

If you're listening to us today, God is speaking to you. Not that it's us that's doing God's speaking, it's his word doing the speaking, the scripture. That's why we go verse by verse through scripture, is because that is what God has left us to know him better. If you're listening to us and you're listening to what we're teaching, you're listening to God's word through his scripture. We ask you to pay attention to it and heed. Is he opening your ears? Is he getting your attention, or are you staying asleep?

SPEAKER_01 24:51

And with that, we'll stop for today because of time. But be back with us next time. This man Elihu has some other very important things to say. And we're going to continue to reason through the book of Job. Thank you so much for watching and listening.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

May God bless you.