S5: Day 152: Job 34–36

Summary

Podcast Summary: A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace – S5: Day 152: Job 34–36

Date: June 1, 2026
Hosts: Shelby and Scott

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Episode Overview

This episode explores Job chapters 34 to 36, focusing on Elihu’s extended speech to Job and the problematic way he interprets suffering and God’s justice. Shelby and Scott discuss how Elihu’s words, though containing truth about God, are ultimately misapplied and used to make faulty accusations about Job and his circumstances. The hosts emphasize the dangers of speaking with spiritual overconfidence and highlight the importance of humility and compassion in understanding and applying Scripture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Elihu’s Theological Assertions and Their Limitations

[00:49 – 01:37]

• Elihu makes several true statements about God:
  • “It’s impossible for God to do wrong and for the Almighty to act unjustly.”
  • God “shows no partiality, sees all that we do, and...punishes the wicked.”
• Scott: “A lot of true things about God are said by Elihu, by the Friends. The problem is that these true things are often weaponized against Job and end up painting an inaccurate picture of God.” (00:49)

2. Misapplication of Truths about God

[01:37 – 02:10]

• The flaw lies in Elihu’s assumption that life is always fair and, therefore, suffering must be a direct result of personal sin.
• Scott: “His theology demands that Job’s suffering must be connected in some way to sin, like the Friends do...Elihu’s saying it might be more preventative, exposing tendencies in Job now so they don’t become a bigger problem later. Still, though, the connection between sin and suffering is there, and that’s the problem.” (01:37)

3. Elihu’s Audacity and Self-Confidence

[02:10 – 02:43]

• Shelby and Scott discuss Elihu’s boldness in claiming complete knowledge:
  • Scott: “Elihu says, ‘There is still more to be said on God’s behalf. Indeed, my words are not false. One who has complete knowledge is with you.’ Wow.” (02:32)
  • Shelby: “Big statement.” (02:41)
• Elihu tells Job his suffering is disciplinary and that prosperity will follow obedience. He warns Job: “Be careful that you don’t turn to iniquity, for this is why you have been tested by affliction.” (approx. 02:53)

4. Lessons from Elihu’s Errors

[03:17 – 04:06]

• Scott: “Don’t be an Elihu. As God’s creatures, let’s just have the self-awareness that he lacks…Let’s just be careful not to speak where Scripture is silent. Like all of Job’s counselors, the tendency to need to have an answer for everything…As Christians…we just have to be content with mystery.” (03:17–04:06)
• The hosts caution against overconfidence in spiritual discussions and urge listeners to stay humble and not claim more knowledge than Scripture provides.

5. Personal Application: The Call to Humility and Compassion

[04:06 – 04:40]

• Shelby: “As much as I want to give Elihu a hard time, I see myself in the pride of his words…A takeaway for me today is remembering that I desperately need the Lord’s help so that love and compassion and humility may be what mark my speech and not pride…Maybe my takeaway here is just a prayer: Lord, help me. Help me to speak with humility. Help me to speak with love. It can be hard at times, and I really need the Spirit to work in me to help me with that.” (04:06–04:40)

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Memorable Quotes

• Scott: “A lot of true things about God are said by Elihu, by the Friends. The problem is that these true things are often weaponized against Job and end up painting an inaccurate picture of God.” (00:49)
• Scott: “Don’t be an Elihu…Let’s just be careful not to speak where Scripture is silent.” (03:17)
• Shelby: “I see myself in the pride of his words…I desperately need the Lord’s help so that love and compassion and humility may be what mark my speech and not pride.” (04:06)

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Important Timestamps

• [00:49] – Scott explains how truths about God are misapplied in Job.
• [01:37] – Discussion on Elihu’s unique yet still flawed perspective.
• [02:32] – Scott quotes Elihu’s audacious claim to complete knowledge.
• [03:17] – Key lesson: Don’t be an Elihu; embrace humility and mystery.
• [04:06] – Shelby’s personal reflection and prayer for humility.

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Final Reflection

The hosts wrap up by expressing gratitude for the study and urging listeners to resist overconfidence when interpreting God’s ways. They invite everyone back for the remaining chapters of Job, hinting at the powerful themes yet to come.

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This episode offers practical and spiritual wisdom, urging listeners to approach Scripture—and one another—with humility, compassion, and a readiness to admit the limitations of human understanding.

Transcript

[Scott]

Foreign.

[Shelby]

Hey, this is Shelby and Scott. We are going to be in Job chapters 34 through 36 today. We know that life gets busy, and so if you hit Follow, you hit subscribe, you'll get an automatic notification when there's a new episode. Maybe. We hope that's a reminder to you to jump into Scripture on days that are even pretty busy. We try to keep these episodes short so that you can do your scripture reading. You can, can do the study material. We can break it down for you. But, Scott, Job, 34, 36. We heard from Elihu yesterday for the first time. He had a different angle than the rest of Job's Friend, but still not a super helpful angle. What do we hear from Elihu today in these chapters?

[Scott]

So I really appreciated how the study day today started about how it's possible just to have enough knowledge to be dangerous. And, you know, I think that's a really important reminder as we've been walking through Job, because a lot of true things about God are said by Elihu, by the Friends. The problem is that these true things are often weaponized against Job and end up painting an inaccurate picture of God. And chapter 34, I think, is a really good example of this. Like he says, Elihu, it's impossible for God to do wrong and for the Almighty to act unjustly. Amen. That's 100% true. He says that God shows no partiality, sees all that we do, and that he punishes the wicked. He says that God rules the world and justice.

[Shelby]

Yeah, those. I mean, those sound like true statements, right? Like I would agree with those.

[Scott]

Yeah, same. Yeah. And they're all very true. But again, like the Friends Elihu, his assumption seems to be that life is fair. And so his theology demands that Job's suffering must be connected in some way to sin, like the Friends do. It's just a little bit different angle for Elihu. Like we said, the Friends kind of thought Job's suffering might be a response to some evil committed into the past, whereas Elihu's saying it might be more preventative, exposing tendencies in Job now so they don't become a bigger problem later. Still, though, the connection between sin and suffering is there, and that's the problem. So he kind of calls out Job's claims to innocence in chapter 34. In chapter 35, he says it's pointless for Job to even talk about being innocent. And then chapter 36, he again makes this point that suffering, Job's suffering is disciplinary. It's preventative. And Shelby, I love the audacity of this guy. Listen to this. Elihu says there is still more to be said on God's behalf. Indeed, my words are not false. One who has complete knowledge is with you. Wow.

[Shelby]

Big statement.

[Scott]

Big statement. This guy's certain. He's like, look, what I'm saying is 100% unfiltered truth. And effectively God has bound Joseph Job with chains and told him what he's done. And now Job's job is to listen and heed God's correction. If he does, he'll be prosperous once again. But Elihu's worried Job is not going to do any of this. He says, be careful that you don't turn to iniquity, for this is why you have been tested by affliction.

[Shelby]

Wow. So, yeah, he's coming out just guns blazing against. Against Job. Any thoughts here? As the other thoughts as we wrap

[Scott]

up these chapters, my big thought I wrote down was just don't be a lihu and don't be a lihu. You know, like, let's as God's creatures, let's just have the self awareness that he lacks. Like, he claims to have complete, accurate knowledge, which is a bold claim. Let's not do that. God has revealed a lot about himself absolutely in his Word. And let's cling to those truths. Let's cling to what God revealed about himself in Scripture. By all means, let's just be careful not to speak where Scripture is silent. And I think that's a warning for us. Like, let's avoid like, like all of Job's counselors, the tendency to need to have an answer for everything. Like as Christians, as creatures of an infinite God, we at a certain point, we just have to be content with mystery.

[Shelby]

Yeah, I think a big takeaway. As much as I want to give Elihu a hard time, I see myself in the pride of his words. And I. I speak over confidently all often as well. And so I think a takeaway for me today is remembering that I desperately need the Lord's help so that love and compassion and humility may be what mark my speech and not pride really is a lot of what's happening here. And I struggle similarly to Elihu in that. And so maybe my takeaway here is just a prayer. Lord, help me. Help me to speak with humility. Help me to speak with love. It can be hard at times, and I really need the Spirit to work in me to help me with that. So. Okay, thank you so much for walking us through these chapters. Just a couple more episodes left in Job and we're getting to the very best part, and we'll continue on tomorrow.