Job 33:19 - 34:9 - Can God Speak Through Suffering? (Session 35)

In this verse-by-verse Bible study of Job 33:19–34:9, Reasoning Through the Bible explores one of the hardest but most important questions in suffering: can God use pain to get our attention and draw us back to Himself? Elihu argues that God may use physical pain, weakness, and affliction to humble a person, expose spiritual need, and turn the soul away from destruction. 

This session carefully explains the balance that must be maintained. Not every sickness or suffering is a direct punishment for personal sin, but suffering can still become a means through which God teaches, disciplines, and refocuses His people. The discussion shows how Elihu differs from Job’s other friends by not merely blaming Job, but by pointing to the character and purposes of God. 

The episode also highlights the remarkable language of ransom in Job 33 and connects it to the larger biblical teaching that God provides redemption for sinners. It then turns to Job 34, where Elihu begins correcting Job’s claim that there is no profit in following God. This becomes a deeply practical reminder that the Christian life is not about physical comfort first, but about spiritual life, relationship with God, and the fruit of the Spirit. 

Topics in this episode include:

•  Job 33 explained 
•  Job 34 explained 
•  can God use suffering 
•  discipline and pain in the Bible 
•  ransom and redemption 
•  spiritual awakening through suffering 
•  why follow God if the righteous suffer 
•  the fruit of the Spirit 
•  God’s purpose in affliction 

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

Transcript

Job, Elihu, And The Hidden Gospel

0:16

Welcome back to Reasoning Through the Bible. We're glad you're with us today. We've been studying the book of Job as we go through these books, chapter by chapter, and we go through them slowly and carefully. I'm sure by now you've noticed that in every part of the Word of God we can find great truths. There's great treasures, there's great gold, silver, precious stones hidden in every one of these chapters of the Bible. That's why we need to go through them all very carefully. And if you've been with us as we've been going through Job last time, we found out that Job's friend has been giving basically a gospel message that's tucked back here in Job chapter 33. He told us that God will speak in the world, but the world is asleep and headed for destruction. But God will send a messenger, an angel, with the word of God that will bring us back from the brink and will change our hearts. And it's interesting that we can find the gospel message way back here in the book of Job in this great poetry that we see. Job's friends, if you've noticed as we've gone through the book, gave messages that were really not focused on God. It was focused on their interpretation of Job's life. One of them claimed to have gotten inspiration from a vision in the night. That was his source of truth. One of the others claimed that his wisdom was passed down from ancestors or passed down from elders in the past. So he had tradition as a standard of truth. And neither of them really had the truth that came from God. Elihu here is telling us that he is focused on what God says. So Elihu has been responding not with trying to find the cause of Job's suffering, but rather he explains the character of God and how Job should respond to the suffering that has been given to him. And I think we can take great truths from this. In this next section, Elihu starts giving a description of how God can work through physical pain and suffering and how we might react to physical pain and suffering. So let's go ahead and dive in.

Reading Job 33:19 To 33

2:35

Steve, can you start at Job chapter 33 and read verses 19 to 33? A person is also rebuked by pain in his bed and with constant complaint in his bones, so that his life loaths bread and his soul food that he should crave, his flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones which were not seen stick out. Then his soul comes near to the pit, and his life to those who bring death. If there is an interceding angel for him, one out of a thousand to remind a person of what is right for him, and he is gracious to him and says, Free him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. Let his flesh become fresher than in youth. Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor. Then he will pray to God, and he will accept him, so that he may see his face with joy, and he will restore his righteousness to that person. He will sing to the people and say, I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it's not proper for me. He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life will see the light. Behold, God does all these things for a man two or three times to bring back his soul from the pit, so that he may be enlightened with the light of life. Pay attention, Job, listen to me, keep silent, and let me speak. Then, if you have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I would take pleasure in justifying you. If not, listen to me, keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.

When Suffering Gets Our Attention

4:10

In this section, Elihu starts explaining how God can use physical ailments, physical pain, or at least physical uncomfortable situations to teach us things, to speak to us through the suffering. And he gives a list. He starts to go through here and he talks about several things, including pain. He talks about being bedridden. He talks about losing appetite and a lack of interest in spiritually uplifting topics. All of these are things that can happen to us in our physical lives in this fallen world. Elihu is saying a very difficult message that the natural man just really doesn't always want to hear. Elihu is saying that God can speak to us in the suffering. Verse 19, a person is rebuked by pain. He then goes through a little thought process, the next verse, so that he will reduce the physical desires, such as for food or sexual appetites. Verse 22, that the person will recognize that he is near death. And then verse 23, therefore a messenger from God that will remind us what is right. So there's a logical pattern here of a person that can be rebuked by pain. And then God can use that to send us a message that our flesh is weak, our physical desires are really not the things that are going to uplift us in our spiritual life. Therefore, we need someone to tell us about the word of God and bring us back towards Him. In summary, Elihu is saying here that God will send suffering sometimes so that we can learn to deny our bodily appetites that pull us away from God into sin. The uncomfortable fact that all of us need to learn is that when we are happy, healthy, wealthy, and life is good, then we simply do not focus as much on God, but let some problem or pain or suffering come along and suddenly our thoughts are directly on God. The description here is about physical health, but I think the larger message is about our spiritual health.

Discipline Without Blaming The Sufferer

6:33

So, Steve, do you see other things out of this passage or is there a balance to what he's saying? I'm right in line with what you've been talking about, Glenn, is that Elihu is taking a different approach from his other friends. And we've seen that Elihu says, I'm the youngest among you. I've listened to you and I've held my tongue out of respect for you. But now I'm going to tell you and take a different approach just to what you're saying. Elihu is showing that he in many ways is wiser, even though he's younger than the other friends, because he is focusing on God and God's understanding and attributes, some of the things. Now we'll go through here, and there might be some things that we disagree with the conclusion that Elihu makes, but I'm in agreement with you. He has taken a totally different approach. Rather than condemning Job and saying, Job, it must be something that you've done. He's really using in this section here and in the next couple of chapters, talking that God really probably has something here to teach you, Job. And if he's got something to teach you, then that's what you should be paying attention to, is trying to get the message that God is trying to teach you out of all of this. Is it true that God will get our attention by using physical ailments or physical suffering? I didn't think that that will happen from time to time. And it's done in such a way for us to come back to God. He wants to have a relationship with us. We've talked about God's discipline many times. And that's what happens sometimes is that we get out of line for this reason or that. Now, I do think that sometimes God will do that. Does he do it all the time? No, maybe not. As every sickness that we see that people have, is it due to God inflicting that on them in order to get their attention? No, I don't think that we could say that either. That goes back to what his other friends were saying is that you must have done something wrong because God only inflicts the people that are doing something wrong. But their approach, Glenn, isn't in order to bring Job back to God. They've been saying you're doing this in order you to repent, for you to change your mind, for you to acknowledge the sin that you've done. And we've talked several times about all of that, that Job is innocent and such. But I do think that God will discipline us from time to time to bring us back to Him. And then there's other times whenever it's a consequence of the things that we've done, and it's nothing that God is doing. We've brought it upon ourselves with the type of behavior that we have lived many times. In this section, starting in verse 19, he talks about somebody being in physical pain and then in the following verses losing their appetite and our flesh wasting away, and then his soul comes near to the pit. I'm just curious about this and fascinated really about this connection between our spiritual health and our physical health. Is it true that our spiritual situation with God can then in turn affect our physical health and the way we feel and the way our bodies are physically healthy or not? I believe in a general sense, that's somewhat true, in that just like we have any type of relationship, if we're strained in that relationship, then we're going to have different feelings about it. There might be a sense of distance between us and that person that we have a relationship with. We don't feel good about it. There's something that's amiss regarding that. And I think that that can happen between us and God. Anytime that we get into a situation like that, it's not because God has moved, it's because we have moved away from God. And I do think that puts a strain on our spiritual relationship with God. And of course, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit that indwells us, and we have scripture that even tells us that the Holy Spirit will groan on our behalf because of our behavior and the things that we're doing. So, yes, I think that our relationship can be strained sometimes whenever we're out of step with God. And I think that that in itself will help drive us back to God because if we're really wanting to have a relationship with God, then we're going to want to have a healthy relationship. And a healthy relationship is one whenever there's no secrets, there's no distance between it, there's no issues, none of that. We want to worship God and bring that healthy relationship back with Him to restore our spirit, so to speak, into a healthy spirit. So again, the flow of thought in this passage is that suffering will come and our physical ailments will sometimes remind us of our spiritual condition, that we are wandering from God, and it will get our attention and focus us back towards Him, how much we need Him. And it speaks in here that verse 22, our soul will come near to the pit. That's death. It reminds us of how far we get from God when we sin. The next verse, God will then send an interceding angel, somebody that will come and remind us of the word of God that will bring us back towards Him. Such a great message in here.

The Ransom Idea And Jesus

11:56

And then in verse 24, it mentions there, I have found a ransom. It says the interceding angel will come and say, Well, free him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. And that word ransom reminds us of one of the ways that the theologians explain how Jesus paid for our sins. It's called the ransom theory of the atonement. Atonement just means Jesus paying for our sins. It's called ransom theory simply because there's a payment and an exchange that happens here. Several times in the scriptures, it talks about people being sold as far as their sinning and they're selling themselves. Ahab, quote, sold himself to do wickedness in 1 Kings 21, 25. The people sold themselves to do evil in 2 Kings 17, 17. Several times in the book of Judges, it says the people did evil, so the Lord, quote, sold them into the hands of their enemies. Therefore, God describes how he pays the price of ransom for his people to buy them back. He says, quote, I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death in Hosea 13, 14. And this same ransom idea is brought into the New Testament. 1 Peter 1, verse 18 and 19 say we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. We are bought back with the blood of Christ. 1 Timothy 2, 5 says, Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. So there's this idea of being ransomed. This is why we can say that Jesus paid for our sins. Steve comments on that. We also have over in Matthew 10, 28, Jesus himself says, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So he even himself has declared that his life was given as a ransom for the many. So I think it's a great thing that we have God Himself in Jesus Christ, his son, that came and paid that ransom for us. I remember the book of Hosea, God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute. And she ended up doing what prostitutes do, which was ended up selling herself in to other men, which ended up making her as a slave that Hosea went and bought back. So there's this idea of ransoming people as buying them back. We have sold ourselves under sin, and therefore Jesus paid the price to buy us back. And his blood is sufficient to cover all of our sins. In this last part of this chapter, verse 25, it says, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor. That's the picture of when we return to God, when our soul is replenished by God. It is returned to our youthful vigor, so to speak. Sin has corrupted us. God can regenerate our spirit and restore us to relations with him. There are three things that were corrupted in the early chapters of Genesis that God is ultimately going to restore. He's going to restore our spiritual relationship with him through Jesus Christ. He's going to restore creation. God regenerates creation at the end of the book of Revelation. And he's going to restore the nations. God judges the nations and restores his righteous kingdom. So Elihu here has been closer to the truth than his friends are, but he is using this wonderful passage to remind us that physical suffering can bring our attention back to God and be a picture of our spiritual condition before God. The pain and the suffering reminds us of our bodies are weak, our souls are weak, in need of regeneration and returning to God. So sometimes that's the lesson in our pain and suffering. Next in chapter 34, Elihu continues his speech to Job.

Reading Job 34:1 To 9

16:22

Steve, can you read the first nine verses of Job chapter 34? Then Elihu continued and said, Hear my words, you wise man, and listen to me, you who understand. For the ear tests words, and the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right. Let us understand among ourselves what is good. For Job has said, I am righteous, but God has taken away my right. Should I lie about my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without wrongdoing. What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water, who goes in company with the workers of injustice, and walks with wicked people? For he has said, It is of no use to a man when he becomes friends with God. The first four verses of this chapter are Elihu just merely saying, Let's judge what Job is saying. He's never at a loss for words. Remind us of many politicians, never at a loss for words. So the first four verses are just saying, okay, now let's turn to what Job has said. He had been talking about how God uses things and how God speaks to us. Now he's going to turn to what Job has actually been saying. In this chapter, he's going to evaluate two things that Job has said. Verse five, Job has claimed that God has been unjust. Job more than once said God was not just in how he was dealing with Job's suffering. Secondly, in verse 9, Job says that pleasing God is of no benefit. If you remember, Job was saying a couple of different times that even though I'm following God, I still have faith in God, it's not going to help me any. Therefore, that's the two things that he's going to address whether or not God has been unjust, and whether faith and pleasing God is of benefit to us or not. In verse 7, Elihu is recognizing that all of the arguments that the three friends gave Job, Job just drank them like water. None of it sank in. It ran off his back like water off a duck's back. None of the things which the friends said had any effect on Job. Verse 9, Elihu is saying that Job is wrong when he says that following God is of no help to a person.

Why Follow God When We Hurt

18:49

So, Steve, if the righteous are going to have suffering in this world, and that's one of the lessons of this book, then of what use is it to follow God? That's often a question that people that are experiencing suffer ask. Why is it that we pray to God whenever we have something like this tragedy that is in my life that has affected me or my family or a friend? Why is it that we even pray at all? Is God even listening to what we're saying? And Elihu addressed a little bit of that in the previous chapter. The thing is, we need to keep our focus on God. I think that's kind of what Elihu is also trying to do. And by keeping our focus on God and who he is, what he has provided for us, then we can look past any type of suffering that we're experiencing today. And I think that's just really a general approach that we have to take. It doesn't mean that we stop praying, that we stop petitioning God or interceding for friends of ours or for family members for healing or for the suffering to go away. We don't stop doing it. We don't stop the communication with God. But at the same time that we continue and think past it, I think of David whenever he was pleading with God regarding his son between him and Bathsheba. David was just beside himself. He wasn't eating. The servants were concerned about him. He was in such distress because he secluded himself and was petitioning God. Yet the child died anyway, and we see David do what? He gets up after the child passes away and he starts then living life again and praising God. So I think we can take a lesson from David regarding that. If we ask the question, if we're gonna be righteous and still suffer, then why follow God? Then we have to realize that the Christian life is not about getting more money, being able to run faster and jump higher. It's not about physical benefits or monetary benefits. Being a child of God is about spiritual benefits. Following God is about spiritual benefits. Now it's true that following God's ways will help us to not spend money foolishly. And so in that sense, we'll we won't waste the money that we do have. We won't do as many things that are detrimental to our body. So, in that sense, then we'll be healthier. But that's not really what the Christian life is all about. The Christian life is about the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the spirit is only obtained through a relationship with the one true God. Those are the reasons why. It's a love relationship. We don't marry a spouse so that we can get more money or be able to run faster and jump higher. Therefore, we don't love Christ because of those things either. We love Christ because of who he is. And sometimes God will send some reminders down to make sure we realize why we are following him. Are we only following him because he gives us nice presents on our birthday? Or are we following him because of who he is? And in this passage we just read, verse 9, Elihu points out that Job was claiming it is of no use to a man when he becomes friends with God. Elihu is pointing out that it is wrong for Job to claim that following God brings no benefits. Job has said it's no profit to pray to him back in chapter 1, verse 25. So Job is not being punished because of his sin. What was wrong was Job's response to the suffering when it did come. The suffering was there to help build this love relationship between Job and God, not because of getting some sort of physical or monetary benefit. So, Steve, why do we then follow Christ? It's not because of trying to avoid some sort of physical suffering. It's really because of who he is and focus on him. That's the reason, not because I get some sort of feel-good benefit out of this. Am I right? I think you're exactly right. And that's the reason why that we do follow Jesus. We believed in the promises that he has made and we believe in the resurrection. All of that, again, points to something beyond this life that we're living today in this body. Those are the benefits that we're going to see. That's the time that we're going to really truly understand what is going on and the reasons why we might have gone through some of this. We're in a falling world. Things are going to happen in a fallen world with fallen people. But again, looking past that and following Christ and what you just got through saying, the spiritual benefits, that is what we should focus on and continue to

What Comes Next In Job

24:02

keep. That's what's going to give us peace ultimately. We'll stop here for now because of time, but be with us next time. We're going to keep following this man, Elihu, and he's going to talk to us about God's righteousness and how God acts with us and treats us because of his righteousness. We will learn things about the very nature and character of the Lord God Almighty. And I'm sure you'll want to hear that as we continue to reason through the book of Job. Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.