The Book of Job

Word Study

"far be it," Hebrew chalilah (חָלִלָה), a strong expression of abhorrence, "God forbid," profanity be far from it. Elihu affirms a truth that stands at the foundation of all faith, and he does it with a cry of holy horror. Chalilah recoils at the very thought that God could be unjust. It is unthinkable, abhorrent, impossible.

"wickedness," resha (רֶשַׁע). "Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness." God cannot do wrong; it is contrary to His very nature. "He is the Rock, his work is perfect... a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

"iniquity," avel (עָוֶל), injustice. The parallel word narrows the charge to unfairness in judgment, which is exactly what was at stake in Job's case. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). This is the bedrock on which the sufferer must stand: whatever we cannot understand about God's dealings, we may hold with absolute certainty that God is never unjust. Elihu rightly rebukes any suggestion that God had wronged Job, and here he speaks truth, even if he presses it too hard against a man who, in his agony, had said some rash things. The point stands, and it is our anchor: God will never do wickedness. When His providence baffles us, we do not conclude that God is unjust; we trust that His justice is at work in ways we cannot yet see. "The LORD is righteous in all his ways" (Psalm 145:17).

Explanation

Elihu affirms a foundational truth: "far be it from God, that he should do wickedness." The word chalilah is a cry of holy horror at the very thought that God could be unjust, it is unthinkable, contrary to His nature (Genesis 18:25; Deuteronomy 32:4). This is bedrock for the sufferer: whatever we cannot understand about God's dealings, we may hold with absolute certainty that God is never unjust. Though Elihu presses it too hard against a man who had said rash things, the point stands as our anchor: when providence baffles us, we trust that God's justice is at work.

Gospel Focus

"Far be it from God, that he should do wickedness", the perfect justice of God is not set aside by the Gospel but gloriously upheld, for the cross is where God's justice and mercy meet. If God simply overlooked sin, He would not be just; but at Calvary He punished sin fully in His Son, so that He remains "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). God did no wickedness in saving us; He satisfied His own justice. And here is a wonder: the perfectly just God allowed the one perfectly innocent Man to suffer the punishment of the guilty, not as an injustice, but as the supreme act of substitutionary love, with Christ's full and willing consent. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). So the justice of God that Elihu defends is our deepest comfort: because God is perfectly just, our sins, laid on Christ, are fully paid, and He will never demand payment twice. And because God is perfectly just, every wrong done to His people will be answered, "vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19). When we suffer what we cannot understand, we rest on this: the God who cannot do wickedness is working all things according to His perfect justice and love, proven for ever at the cross. Trust the Judge who will always do right, and who has already done right by you in Jesus Christ.

Word Study

"eyes," Hebrew einav (עֵינָיו). Elihu grounds God's just judgment in His perfect knowledge: "For his eyes are upon the ways of man." He adds, "There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves" (v22). "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3); "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).

"the ways," darkhei (דַּרְכֵי). God sees the whole road a man travels, the settled direction of his life. This is the ground of His just judgment: because He sees all, He judges rightly, never on partial evidence, never deceived, never mistaken.

"goings," tza'adav (צְעָדָיו), steps, footsteps. Not only the road but every individual footfall along it. Nothing is hidden from God; no darkness is dark enough to conceal a deed from His sight. This truth is a two-edged sword. For the worker of iniquity, it is a warning: your hidden sins are not hidden from God, and there is no darkness where you can escape His sight. But for the suffering saint, it is a comfort: God sees your affliction, sees the injustice done to you, sees your tears in the night, and will judge rightly at the last. The all-seeing eye that terrifies the guilty reassures the righteous. God misses nothing, and therefore His judgment, when it comes, will be perfectly just.

Explanation

Elihu grounds God's just judgment in His perfect knowledge: "his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings." God sees every step of every person; "there is no darkness... where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." Because He sees all, He judges rightly, never deceived (Proverbs 15:3; Hebrews 4:13). This truth cuts two ways: a warning to the worker of iniquity that no sin is hidden, and a comfort to the suffering saint that God sees every wrong done to him. The all-seeing eye that terrifies the guilty reassures the righteous.

Gospel Focus

"His eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings", the all-seeing God is the God who sees us fully in Christ, and this is both our conviction and our comfort. Before the Gospel can be good news, we must know that God sees our sin; there is no darkness where we can hide it, and the pretense of secrecy is folly, "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). But the same all-seeing God, who sees every sin, sees also the blood of His Son that covers the sins of all who trust Him. He who "seeth all his goings" is the Shepherd who sees His lost sheep and seeks it, the Father who saw the prodigal "when he was yet a great way off" (Luke 15:20) and ran to him. And for the suffering believer, the all-seeing eye is tender comfort: the God who sees all sees your trouble. Hagar called Him "Thou God seest me" (Genesis 16:13); "the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry" (Psalm 34:15). Nothing you endure escapes His notice, and nothing done against you will go unjudged. So live openly before the God who sees all: bring your sins to the light of His mercy in Christ, and bring your sorrows to the One whose eyes are upon you in love. The all-seeing God is not a distant spy but a watchful Father, who sees to save, to comfort, and, in the end, to set every crooked thing straight.

Word Study

"quietness," Hebrew yashqit (יַשְׁקִט) from shaqat, to give rest, quiet, tranquility. Elihu declares the absolute sovereignty of God over peace: "When he giveth quietness." The verb describes the settled stillness of a land at rest, and it is God's to bestow. When God gives peace, it is a peace the world cannot take away. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

"make trouble," yarshia (יַרְשִׁעַ), condemn, disturb. "Who then can make trouble?" No power in heaven or earth can disturb the rest God grants, and no enemy and no circumstance can overturn it.

"hideth his face," yaster panim (יַסְתֵּר פָּנִים). The other side of the same sovereignty: if God withdraws the sense of His presence, no one can force Him to appear. When God, for His wise purposes, hides His face, as He seemed to do with Job, we cannot compel Him to reveal Himself; we can only wait in trust. And this sovereignty extends over both the great and the small, "whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only." God rules the destiny of empires and the peace of a single soul with equal ease, so that not one detail of our lives escapes His rule. The God who cannot do wickedness, who sees all, also sovereignly gives peace and orders all things, and His peace, once given, no one can take.

Explanation

Elihu declares God's absolute sovereignty over both peace and trouble: "When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him?" If God grants rest, no power can disturb it; if He withdraws His presence, none can force Him to appear. And this rule extends over the great and small alike, "a nation, or a man only." When God gives peace, it is a peace the world cannot take (Isaiah 26:3); when He hides His face, we can only wait in trust. Not one detail of our lives escapes His sovereign rule.

Gospel Focus

"When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?", the peace that no one can disturb is the peace of God given to us in Jesus Christ. He is the Prince of Peace, who says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:27). This is a quietness the world cannot give and cannot take away, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). Because Christ has made peace with God by His blood (Colossians 1:20), we have a settled quietness that no trouble, no enemy, no trial can finally disturb, "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress...?" (Romans 8:35). And even when, like Job, we feel God has hidden His face, His sovereignty is our security: the God who orders all things, "whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only," is working all for our good (Romans 8:28). The hiding of His face is never final for His children, for Christ endured the true hiding in our place, and now God's face is turned toward us in favor for ever. So in the storms of life, we rest in the sovereign Giver of quietness, whose peace, once given in Christ, no power in the universe can take away. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).