Elihu Nailed It

Job’s three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence. Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. He was also angry with Job’s three friends, for they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job’s arguments. [Job 32.1-3]

It seems to me that Elihu 'nailed it' here. The basis for Elihu's rant was twofold:

1. Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him
2. Job’s three friends ...made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job’s arguments

So, it seems Job simply could not admit his humanity and possibility that he could have sinned without even being aware of it (Elihu addresses this specifically in Job 34.31-32: “Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned, but I will sin no more’? Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?"

Then, it furthermore seems that Job's friends were mostly just running their mouths with no wisdom in their words. In other words, Job's friends were all talk, no substance.

The thing that makes me believe Elihu was right is that, in the end, God does not rebuke Elihu as He did Job and his specific "three" friends. 

I am kind of wondering if perhaps Elihu may have been the author of the book of Job. No further mention is made of him after his rebuke of Job and the three.

I think for me the most difficult thing to grasp about the book of Job is found in the torrent of words by Job and his friends. The main thing to remember is who got rebuked by God and who didn't. Job got rebuked. Job's three friends got rebuked. Elihu did not get rebuked.

So, if I am going to give much credibility to anyone's words from the story of Job, I will go with Elihu's.

Father, help me to rightly discern the story of Job. I know it is important even though it has been misunderstood for centuries.