In Job 32–37, Elihu prepares the way of the LORD, kind of like John the Baptist does Jesus. In both message and tone, Elihu sets the stage for the appearance of Yahweh. Recognizing how Elihu and Yahweh speak in tandem at the end of the book, helps me more clearly hear the wisdom Job offers to readers. Let me explain.

God Doesn’t Pervert Justice

Elihu’s critique of Job mirrors the LORD’s critique of Job. Elihu summarizes Job’s speech this way:

For Job has declared, “I am righteous, and God has deprived me of justice.” (Job 34:5).

This summary parallels Job’s own words in 27:2, where Job says that God has “deprived me of justice” (חַי־אֵל הֵסִיר מִשְׁפָּטִי) and “I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go” (Job 27:6).

In 34:12, Elihu repeats the problem with Job’s perspective: God does not act wickedly or pervert justice (לֹא־יְעַוֵּת).

When Yahweh appears and addresses Job directly, this is the heart of his critique, too:

Will you go so far as to put me in the wrong? Will you declare me wicked so that you might be righteous? (Job 40:8).

This question from Yahweh is a striking diagnosis of what Job has done throughout the book. The language behind “put me in the wrong” (תָּפֵר מִשְׁפָּטִי, Job 40:8) is used repeatedly in other parts of the Old Testament to speak about people breaking God’s covenant (פרר often in conjunction with ברית in Gen 17:14; Lev 26:15, 44; Num 15:31; Deut 31:16, 20).

In Job 40:8, Yahweh is essentially saying, “Job, you are accusing me of breaking my own covenant, being unfaithful to my promise to humanity, and especially Abraham’s family, to be a caring Father.”

Elihu prepared the way for Yahweh to appear and address Job directly.

Tone and Imagery

Job 40:8 is, however, just one verse in the midst of many. Most of the surrounding verses in Yahweh’s speech have to do with his power over the intricacies of nature. This too was a major features of Elihu’s speech, especially chapter 37. In Job 37, Elihu begins ranting — so I imagine it. He rants like a wild, on-point prophet, fire in his eyes, about to explode because he sees and feels the truth so clearly — about Yahweh’s power over thunder (vv 1–3, 5), lightning (4), torrential rains (6–8), windstorms and cold (9–10), clouds (11–12, 14–16), heat (17), the sky (18), and the sun (21–22).

In this way, Elihu prepares the way for Yahweh to take up chapter after chapter of pointed, rhetorical questions directed at Job’s limited perspective. Job has focused his own experience of the world beneath the sun. Elihu and Yahweh refocus the perspective on the manifold ways in which (1) Job doesn’t grasp all that happens beneath the sun and (2) he doesn’t consider that Yahweh’s action and purposes that extend far beyond our limited, beneath-the-sun perspective.

Elihu set the tone for Yahweh’s speech by focusing on Yahweh’s power over all the mysteries of creation, above and below the sun.

Refocusing on Listening and Repentance

Recognizing the way Elihu prepares the way for Yahweh provides clarity as to where the reader should focus. The entire book forces you to ponder suffering, God, and justice. As the book comes to a close, where should you land? What should you focus on? Once you see the close parallels between Elihu and Yahweh, you are in the position to listen to them together. Elihu’s speech becomes infused with Yahweh’s authority, and their messages blend together.

There is one aspect of Elihu’s speech that I want to highlight here. Elihu’s refocusing emphasis on listening and repentance. Elihu speaks repeatedly about listening and repentance as the focal point. Job’s objection to God has been, “You don’t respond, and you deprive me of justice,” but in 33:12–26, Elihu says that God in fact does often speak to people, but they are unwilling to recognize his speaking.

For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it. In a dream, a vision in the night, when deep sleep comes over people as they slumber on their beds, he uncovers their ears and terrifies them with warnings, in order to turn a person from his actions and suppress the pride of a person. (Job 33:14–17, CSB)

Because of the way Elihu and Yahweh speak in tandem here at the end of the book, I’m inclined to put more weight on these words. Elihu doesn’t speak like one of Job’s three friends. He’s the one that prepares the way for Yahweh. I’m not suggesting that Elihu and Yahweh speak with identical authority because even John the Baptist’s message wasn’t one hundred percent on target with the reality of Jesus’s advent. John was skewed a bit towards focusing on the imminence of judgment, in contrast to Jesus. John prepared the way faithfully (Matt 3), but he also wasn’t fully aware of who the one coming after him would be — “Are you the one or should we look for another?” (Matt 11).

Elihu seems to be more in-sync with Yahweh here. Elihu’s words quoted above emphasize the following:

• God does speak to people frequently, in contrast to Job’s objection.
• God speaks in subtle ways that people frequently ignore it.
• The purpose of God’s speaking is to turn people from their ways.
• The goal of God’s speech is to turn people towards humility and away from pride.
  

Elihu and Job refocus the attention on listening more carefully and turning towards humility, rather than accusing God of evil.

“In one and in two”

I want to point out one more observation that I think supports the idea that Elihu and Yahweh speak in tandem here at the end of the book. In 33:14, the CSB helpfully translates this way:

For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it.

“Time and again” is a good, idiomatic translation of the following: כִּי־בְאַחַת יְדַבֶּר־אֶל וּבִשְׁתַּיִם לֹא יְשׁוּרֶנָּה. Here is a more literal, less-English way to say it:

For in one God will speak, and in two he will not recognize it.

God speaks “in one” and “in two.” This fits the way God responds to Job in chapters 32–41. God speaks to Job “in one” named Elihu and “in two” by appearing himself and speaking to Job from the whirlwind.

Conclusion

I’ve never before seen the close parallels between Elihu’s message and tone and Yahweh’s appearance to Job. Recognizing the way they speak in tandem helps me more clearly hear the wisdom this book has to offer. Together, Elihu and Yahweh encourage readers to listen more carefully for Yahweh’s voice because he often speaks and we don’t recognize it. They encourage readers, like the Lord in Luke 13:1–5, to always reflect on hardship and disaster as a prompt to personal repentance. Finally, Elihu and Yahweh encourage readers to embrace humility and silence (and faith) rather than accusing God of being unfaithful to his covenant.