The Book of Job

Word Study

"speaketh," Hebrew yedabber (יְדַבֶּר) from dabar, to speak, declare. Job had lamented that God would not answer him, that heaven was silent (Job 30:20). Elihu counters with a vital truth: "For God speaketh." The verb is the ordinary word for plain speech, and it is in the form of continuing action. God is not silent.

"once, yea twice," be'achat uvishtayim (בְּאַחַת וּבִשְׁתָּיִם), in one way and in two, repeatedly, in more than one manner. God speaks not once only but again, and by more than one avenue. Elihu goes on to describe those various ways: through dreams and visions in the night (v15-16), and through the chastening of pain and sickness (v19), all designed "that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man" (v17), to turn men from destruction.

"perceiveth," yeshurennah (יְשׁוּרֶנָּה), regard, notice. Here is where the breakdown happens: "yet man perceiveth it not." The problem is not that God is not communicating, but that man is not listening, or does not recognize God's voice when it comes. God is always speaking to us, through His Word, through His providence, through the whispers of conscience, through the trials that get our attention when comfort could not. The issue is whether we have ears to hear. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15). Job felt God was silent; Elihu suggests that God had been speaking all along, and that even Job's suffering was, in part, a voice from God he needed to perceive.

Explanation

Job lamented that God would not answer him; Elihu counters with a vital truth: "God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not." God is not silent; He speaks repeatedly, in more than one way, but man often fails to perceive it, through dreams, through the chastening of pain, to turn men from destruction and hide pride from them. God is always speaking, through His Word, His providence, conscience, and even trials that get our attention when comfort could not. The issue is whether we have ears to hear (Matthew 11:15).

Gospel Focus

"God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not", the God who has always spoken in many ways has, in these last days, spoken His final and fullest word in His Son. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). The various ways Elihu describes, dreams, visions, the voice of affliction, all pointed forward to the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, in whom God has spoken most clearly of all. And this places on us a solemn responsibility to hear: "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh" (Hebrews 12:25); "how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). The tragedy is not that God is silent, but that "man perceiveth it not", people have ears yet do not hear, eyes yet do not see (Matthew 13:15). The Gospel is God's clearest speech, and the Spirit opens deaf ears to receive it, "my sheep hear my voice" (John 10:27). So do not say God is silent; ask rather whether you are listening. He has spoken in creation, in conscience, in Scripture, and supremely in Christ. Perhaps even now, through the very trials you find hard, He is speaking to draw you to Himself. "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). The God who speaks once, yea twice, has spoken His Son; blessed are those who perceive it.

Word Study

"gracious," Hebrew yechunnennu (יְחֻנֶּנּוּ) from chanan, to show favor, be gracious. This is one of the most striking passages in the entire book, and it turns on grace. Elihu describes a man near death, drawing close to the pit (v22), and then deliverance comes through two provisions. First, "a messenger... an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness" (v23), a rare mediator who declares to the man what is right, standing between him and God. And then God is gracious, showing unearned favor to a man with nothing to plead.

"the pit," shachath (שַׁחַת), the grave, the pit of destruction. This is where the dying man was headed, and it is what the deliverance reverses: "Deliver him from going down to the pit." The whole scene is a rescue from the very edge of the grave.

"ransom," kofer (כֹּפֶר), a price of redemption, a covering, the payment that delivers. And here is the wonder: "I have found a ransom." Kofer is the great word for a redemption price, the payment that covers and delivers, and God Himself is the one who provides it. Elihu could not have fully understood what he was describing, but the Spirit of God was pointing, across the centuries, to the very heart of the Gospel: a Mediator, one among a thousand, indeed the only One among all, and a ransom provided by God to deliver sinners from the pit. Job had longed for a daysman (9:33), a witness (16:19), a surety (17:3); here Elihu speaks of an interpreter-mediator and a God-provided ransom. All these longings and shadows would be gathered up and fulfilled in one Person: Jesus Christ, the Mediator who is the ransom.

Explanation

This is one of the most striking passages in the book. Elihu describes a dying man delivered through two provisions: first, "a messenger... an interpreter, one among a thousand," a rare mediator who shows the man what is right; and second, God's gracious word, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom." The word kofer is the redemption price that covers and delivers. God Himself provides a ransom to rescue the dying from the grave. Elihu could not have grasped all he described, but the Spirit was pointing to the heart of the Gospel: a Mediator, and a God-provided ransom.

Gospel Focus

"Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom", here, in the ancient book of Job, is the Gospel in shadow, and its substance is Jesus Christ, the Mediator and the ransom in one. He is the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5), the true "interpreter, one among a thousand," indeed the only one among all, who alone can stand between God and man. And He is Himself the ransom that God found and provided: "the Son of man came... to give his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28); "who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:6). The kofer, the redemption price, was paid not with silver or gold "but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). What Elihu glimpsed dimly, the New Testament proclaims in full sunlight: God, in grace, looked upon dying sinners bound for the pit, and provided the ransom Himself, His own Son, that we might be delivered from going down to destruction. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Ephesians 1:7). The God who says "I have found a ransom" is the God who "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). There is deliverance from the pit, not because we found a way, but because God found a ransom. Come to the Mediator, trust the ransom He has paid, and be delivered from going down to the pit into the light of the living.

Word Study

"be favourable," Hebrew yirtzehu (יִרְצֵהוּ) from ratsah, to accept with favor, be pleased with. Elihu describes the blessed result for the ransomed man: "He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him." The verb is the word used of God accepting a sacrifice. The man once bound for the pit now has his prayers received with pleasure.

"see his face," wayyar panav (וַיַּרְא פָּנָיו), behold God's face. More than answered prayer, the ransomed man is restored to intimate fellowship, his face lifted to behold God's own. This is the goal of all redemption, that the delivered soul should be brought back into the presence and favor of God, "enlightened with the light of the living" (v30).

"with joy," bithru'ah (בִּתְרוּעָה), with a shout of joy. Not quiet relief but a shout, the noise made at a festival or a victory. Elihu's picture reaches its climax not merely in escaping the pit, but in seeing God's face with joy, the very thing Job's suffering had seemed to take from him.

"render," yashev (יָשֵׁב), restore, give back. The word is one of restoration, giving back what was lost, not conferring something new. God "will render unto man his righteousness," setting him again where he belongs.

"righteousness," tzedaqah (צְדָקָה). What is restored is right standing itself. This is the fruit of the ransom: not only rescue from death, but restoration to joyful communion with God and to righteousness. And it points to the ultimate end of the Gospel: the ransomed of the Lord beholding His face for ever in unshadowed joy.

Explanation

Elihu describes the blessed result for the ransomed man: restored to intimate fellowship with God, his prayers accepted, beholding God's face "with joy," and God "will render unto man his righteousness," giving him back a right standing. This is the fruit of the ransom: not only rescue from death but restoration to joyful communion with God. The one near the grave now sees God's face with joy, the very thing Job's suffering seemed to have taken from him. It points to the goal of the Gospel: the ransomed beholding God's face for ever in unshadowed joy.

Gospel Focus

"He shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness", the fruit of Christ's ransom is exactly this: restored fellowship with God, and a righteousness given to us. Because Christ paid the ransom, God is "favourable" toward us, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1), and we "have access by faith into this grace" (Romans 5:2). The righteousness God "renders" is not our own but Christ's, "made unto us... righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30), "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ" (Romans 3:22). And the crowning joy is to "see his face with joy," the very thing Job longed for and could not find. Through Christ, the ransomed draw near to God now with joy, "we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:11), and shall behold Him face to face at the last: "they shall see his face" (Revelation 22:4); "in thy presence is fulness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). The dying man of Elihu's vision, ransomed and restored, seeing God's face with a shout of joy, is a picture of every believer redeemed by Christ, brought from the edge of the pit into the light of the living, clothed in a righteousness not his own, and destined to see God's face in everlasting joy. This is what the ransom accomplishes: not a bare escape, but full restoration to the joy of God's presence, secured for ever in Jesus Christ.