On Job

I just finished reading Job.

Elihu is my favorite character. He is young, sees the folly of his elders, and enters the fray full of words and wind to vent.

Some see Elihu as a misguided fool. I take Elihu to be a wise and positive character, since he is not singled out by God at the end (42:7), and his speech in chapter 37 is almost identical to God's own in chapter 38. Job's other friends assail him and assume he must have sinned. Elihu also challenges Job, but more temperately, by questioning the words Job has spoken in their hearing.

The narrator gives a rare and important interjection in 32:1-5 - an interpretive key to the book.
Many assume that Job must have always spoken rightly throughout the book, since God vindicates him at the end. This ignores 42:6 - Job repents! Job was blameless before, not because he never sinned, but because he repented. Same at the end of the book. We see Job falter under God's heavy hand, but come forth as gold because he repents at the end. Not because he is so wise throughout.

So remember that God in the Lord Christ always offers you a future and a hope. The pathway forward is humility, pursuit of wisdom, and repentance. No matter what stupid thing you've done, God will justify and prosper you in the future (before death, or after), if your heart is ordered rightly before Him.