Wisdom of God’s Work and Grace

Job 33:19-33

19 "Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
20 So that his life abhors bread,
And his soul succulent food.

21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
22 Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.

23 "If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
24 Then He is gracious to him, and says,
'Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom';

25 His flesh shall be young like a child's,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
26 He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.

27 Then he looks at men and says,
'I have sinned, and perverted what was right,
And it did not profit me.'

28 He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit,
And his life shall see the light.

29 "Behold, God works all these things,
Twice, in fact, three times with a man,
30 To bring back his soul from the Pit,
That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

31 "Give ear, Job, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.
33 If not, listen to me;
Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."

Elihu continues to correct Job by pointing out how God works among men.  He talked of discipline by painful health problems, wasting away until a man welcomes death.  However, a mediator might come from God to him to demonstrate that God alone is truly upright and righteous, and then show grace to deliver him from destruction as if ransomed.  This is a picture of Christ as our Mediator who ransoms us from the pit of Hell and judgment.  He spoke of a renewal as if made young again, reminding us of a new birth in Christ.  This renewed one prays to God and finds His delight in them, as well as joy in the one made anew.  God’s word here speaks of renewing righteousness to man also, which righteousness we have in Christ alone as reborn children of His.  In verse 27, it appears to describe repentance and remorse for sin and the dead end of such living, continuing with redemption and coming to the light in the next verse, much like we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light as 1 Peter 2:9 says.  The summary is that God does all these things to rescue man from the Pit, to give light and life (John 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:10) to those He rescues.  Elihu Ends his exhortation with a plea for Job to listen to what he had been saying, and to respond in order to be justified in the sight of God.  If he had nothing to answer, then he was advised to remain silent to listen further and gain wisdom.  We then should learn from similar corrective exhortation by considering the grace and reconciliation in Christ and not our own self-righteous justification.  He must be the focus of our wisdom, the grace and delivering work of Christ and His wisdom from examples and commands and exhortations of the scriptures.  This is the wisdom of God’s work and grace.