Job 33-35

So Job's critics have been silenced and Job gave a three chapter speech summarizing his innocence. This speech was a summary of most of Job's earlier speeches in that it glorified himself and criticized God's actions in even allowing Job to suffer.

After this a fourth different critic answers Job AND his critics:Elihu. Elihu is different from Job's former critics in that he answers Job's actual words and focuses on God's greatness rather than Job's sinfulness.

I doubt that Elihu would be very compelling to modern humanist understanding. His message is similar to Paul's "Does the clay have the right to judge the potter?" This goes against modern sensibility which rarely says but fully rests upon the idea that human understanding is capable of the deepest insights and no level of knowledge is beyond human wisdom.

Elihu responds concerning God

If he set his heart to it
and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to the dust

this will be continued in Job when the Lord shows up to answer Job "Were you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?"

It is not pleasant for man to think about the brevity of his life or the limitation of his understanding. I remember an old Star Trek, Next Generation where Cpt. Picard in his debate with Q asserts that Q's problem with humanity is its potential to be like a God. Certainly that is Nietzsche's perspective, though he wouldn't use that particular word.

To which I boldly reply: "Nuh uhh."