Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Job 35 Devotional

Nothing Added to God

Elihu tells Job to look up at the heavens and the clouds high above (35:5). If Job sins, what does that do to God? If he is righteous, what does God receive from him (35:6-7)? Human wickedness and goodness affect other people, Elihu says, not God (35:8). Eliphaz had said something similar (22:2-3), and God himself will later ask who has ever given him anything that he must repay (41:11).

Elihu then notices something about people under oppression. They cry out for relief, but no one asks for God their Maker, the one who gives a song even at night and teaches them more than the animals (35:9-11). Whatever we make of Elihu's verdict on Job (35:16), these lines point to something true. Paul told the Athenians that God needs nothing from human hands, since he is the one who gives everyone life and breath (Acts 17:25). Coming to him is not a matter of offering what he lacks, but of receiving what he gives.

To think about: In what ways do you approach God as if he needed something from you, rather than coming to receive?

About Job 35: Elihu on What Righteousness Gives God

Elihu charges Job with claiming to be more in the right than God and with seeing no gain in avoiding sin. He argues that human sin and goodness cannot harm or enrich God, that the oppressed cry for relief without seeking their Maker, and that Job speaks to no purpose.

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