Thy Strong Word — Job 36: Elihu Warns of God’s Judgement

Imagine standing at the foot of a mountain as a storm gathers overhead. The sky darkens, thunder rumbles in the distance, and a mighty wind begins to howl. You feel small—insignificant—before the raw power of nature. This is the kind of scene Elihu is building toward in Job 36. He’s not finished speaking, and now he shifts his focus to something even greater than God’s justice: God’s overwhelming majesty and wisdom. He wants Job to stop looking at his suffering through the lens of personal injustice and start seeing it as part of God’s greater purpose. Elihu is setting the stage for what’s coming next—the voice of God Himself. But before that moment arrives, he has one more argument to make: The Almighty is beyond our reach, but He is not beyond our trust.

The Rev. Mark Loder, pastor of St. James Luth. Ch. & School in Howard Lake, MN, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Job 36.

Why do the righteous suffer? That’s the burning question at the heart of the book of Job—one of the most profound and challenging books in all of Scripture. From a Lutheran perspective, Job’s story isn’t just about a man enduring unimaginable hardship; it’s about wrestling with God’s will, grappling with well-meaning but misguided advice, and ultimately finding comfort in God’s grace rather than human understanding. As Job’s friends offer simplistic answers, Job demands the truth, and God’s response reminds us of His infinite wisdom and mercy. Through it all, we see glimpses of Christ—the truly innocent sufferer—who redeems our pain and points us to the cross, where suffering meets salvation. Join us as we journey through Job, confronting tough questions about faith, suffering, and God’s mysterious ways with hope grounded in Christ alone.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Job 36

Elihu Extols God’s Greatness

36 And Elihu continued, and said:

²“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
    for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.
³I will get my knowledge from afar
    and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
⁴For truly my words are not false;
    one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;
    he is mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶He does not keep the wicked alive,
    but gives the afflicted their right.
⁷He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
    but with kings on the throne
    he sets them forever, and they are exalted.
⁸And if they are bound in chains
    and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹then he declares to them their work
    and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.
¹⁰He opens their ears to instruction
    and commands that they return from iniquity.
¹¹If they listen and serve him,
    they complete their days in prosperity,
    and their years in pleasantness.
¹²But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword
    and die without knowledge.

¹³“The godless in heart cherish anger;
    they do not cry for help when he binds them.
¹⁴They die in youth,
    and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
¹⁵He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
    and opens their ear by adversity.
¹⁶He also allured you out of distress
    into a broad place where there was no cramping,
    and what was set on your table was full of fatness.

¹⁷“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
    judgment and justice seize you.
¹⁸Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
    and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
    or all the force of your strength?
²⁰Do not long for the night,
    when peoples vanish in their place.
²¹Take care; do not turn to iniquity,
    for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
²²Behold, God is exalted in his power;
    who is a teacher like him?
²³Who has prescribed for him his way,
    or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember to extol his work,
    of which men have sung.
²⁵All mankind has looked on it;
    man beholds it from afar.
²⁶Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
    the number of his years is unsearchable.
²⁷For he draws up the drops of water;
    they distill his mist in rain,
²⁸which the skies pour down
    and drop on mankind abundantly.
²⁹Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
    the thunderings of his pavilion?
³⁰Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
    and covers the roots of the sea.
³¹For by these he judges peoples;
    he gives food in abundance.
³²He covers his hands with the lightning
    and commands it to strike the mark.
³³Its crashing declares his presence;^[a]
    the cattle also declare that he rises.

Footnotes

Job 36:33 Hebrew declares concerning him

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.