Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Today, Elihu finishes the speech we started reading yesterday, and I am so glad that's behind us.

I used to really like Elihu because it kind of felt like he was on

Job's side when he started rebuking the other three friends, but the more I studied this book,

the more listening to him felt like a broken record. Even though he started off a little more humble

yesterday, he's become far more self-assured the longer he talks, growing harsher in his rebuke of Job and even

bordering on cruelty. In 36-2, he claims to be speaking on God's behalf, and in verse 4, he refers to

himself as perfect in knowledge. Wow, those are some pretty big claims to make. Just like Job's

other friends, the hard part about weeding through all of Elihu's words

is that a lot of what he says about God is true.

For example, in 35-1-7, he points out that neither our sin nor our righteousness

affects God's position or perfection.

That's true.

He tells Job that his righteousness in particular can't be

used for bartering with God. That's true too. But where Elihu goes wrong is in assuming that

Job was trying to use his righteousness as a bartering tool. In chapter 36, Elihu points out

that godless people cherish anger. I have this passage underlined in my Bible.

I thought it was interesting because in the first sentence we read about Elihu, we read that

he is angry. Now, certainly there are a lot of good things to be angry about. God is angry at sin,

for instance. That's righteous anger. Being angry at sin and oppression

aligns with godliness. But if we're honest, most of the things that we get angry about

are selfish, which means it would be unrighteous anger. And when you think about what it means

...