Job 33:1-33

33:1 | Young Elihu turns from addressing all four men to addressing Job alone.

33:8-11 | In summarizing Job’s argument, Elihu recalls Job’s claim of sinlessness. Here Elihu is not accusing Job of claiming to be without original sin. Rather, hi is rightly understanding Job’s assertion that he has not committed a transgression that warrants the suffering he has endured.

33:15-18 | Elihu suggested that perhaps Job had missed some of the ways God speaks, beginning with dreams. That OT reports prominent dreams in the lives of Joseph (Gen. 37:40-41) and Daniel (Dan. 2:4-12).

33:19-28 | Elihu’s words here to Job agree with the gospel presented in the NT. Similar to much of what Paul wrote in his letters, a ransom is necessary to secure a person’s redemption and to avoid the deserved judgment (Rom. 5:6-11).

33:19 | God also speaks through suffering. Although not true in Job’s case, sometimes suffering is for disciplinary purposes (Ps. 30; Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:5-13).

33:23-26 | Some scholars argue that Elihu was presenting himself as the mediator Job needed (9:31-33). Even if this were the case, he was not the mediator Job sought. Job needed an intermediary who could be a ransom for him. Christ alone is qualified as that ransom – for Job and for all people (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

33:24 | The Pit is death and all its effects – not just physical death but spiritual death.