Who is Elihu?

Elihu introduces himself as the youngest of those talking to Job. Beyond that, we don't know much about this guy.

The Lord in chapter 42 doesn't say anything good or bad about him, like He does to Job and his 3 friends. He just kinda disappears.

Elihu says some apparent good things, but there might be some little hints that maybe something is amiss with him. I have heard some say that he is Satan, and I've heard others say he is a Christophany (appearance of Christ in O.T.)

I honestly don't know what to think about him, but I suspect he is very important. I'd be interested to hear what others think about him.

Interesting that you bring this up.
I do not have an answer to give you; however,
(I wish I could remember where) I heard this somewhere a few days ago........
I can not remember what I was listening to, but the same point was made about neither good or bad was said, he was there and then "disappears".
Just think that's interesting that something/someone so seemingly small, overlooked and missed by many would come up 2x's within a short time period for me.
This will be interesting........................

I'd suggest starting with the meaning of his name, and then examining his speech to see if it lines up with the truth about God as revealed elsewhere.

I actually just heard someone mention this on a radio Q/A show last week I think...they called in and mentioned it offhandedly and the hosts (who usually have on point answers to everything just sort of ignored it). Possibly the main question was more important.

@Godsgirl83 some CSN broadcast is where I heard it.

There are few "mystery characters" that I wonder about in the word. I consider these "side quests" of a sort. Not pivotal to our mission here generally speaking but specifically it could matter a lot to an individual believer depending on what the Lord has called them to.

I am now curious enough to read all of Job. I'm not sure if I ever have to be honest, even though prior to this post I would have been pretty confident I had read through it. I tried at one point recently but I kept skipping the other people during the responses because they seemed like "wise men" to me and the Lord's response at the end is like...well why allow something clearly in error into my mind?

There's more to it though so ty for bringing it back up.

interesting......
I haven't had the tv on in a while, so it wouldn't have been there that I heard it......
I was listening to a christian teaching on youtube....... I just can't remember which one, it was an older sermon .....

The only one that was straight up with Job and told him he was being self righteous.

Yep. Sometimes people need someone like that.

None of Job's friends really understood why God brought all those calamities on Job. The reasonable assumption for their time was that God punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous. It is only in the New Testament that we see that the righteous suffer greatly, while the wicked enjoy life.

Elihu was clearly upholding the greatness, the righteousness and the justice of God. But at the same time he was falsely accusing Job of wickedness. However Job admitted his ignorance about God and His ways, and that was the truth.

God had already called Job a righteous man, so when his friends assumed that Job was devastated because he was wicked, they made false accusations. But Elihu is just Elihu, neither Satan nor Christ. And Noah, Daniel, and Job are singled out by God in Ezekiel as the three truly righteous men who would escape divine judgment.

Radio...I don't watch TV

I didn't realize they did a TV thing

Since God called Job righteous, it is obvious that he was NOT self-righteous. Had you suffered what Job suffered, you might has said some things which should not have been spoken. But Job was truly puzzled by his tremendous calamities for absolutely no reason. And many of us would be in similar circumstances.

What does that last sentence even mean? This concept has run away with me to some really "curious" places.

I do agree with your second post though. People don't always understand the depths that the Lord will take some people to because they haven't ever been there. This kind of thing allows me to trust in his sovereignty more than anything else as the God who sees. It just gets confusing when you focus on it too much. My life follows like that sometimes and it just doesn't make any sense. It's something I'm not really prepared to speak about yet. Essentially, there are allowances based off the situation that you are in...Cursing the Lord is clearly off the table (Ty Job ) Other than that? I've gone through so many mental places some shake my trust. Some cause me to question my faith. They don't seem to last very long but it does grow me and cause me to dig into scripture in a way I can't see how I would if they didn't occur. I praise him for that.

Sorry if that was a tad vague.

Wasn't he a character on that old 70's show, Mork & Mindy?

dunno if they do...... i mostly read and watch/listen to stuff online
Got me curious enough to go back and check y history and relisten to everything from the past week, lol but that will take A LOT of time........

Sometimes some things are just mysteries to us no matter how hard and how much we research them (the mysteries of life).

One day we'll know in full though, just like we are known in full now.

Until that day comes, just embrace it!

I did not really want to get into this in detail, but kindly read and study Ezekiel 14:12-20. The context is the wickedness of Israel and God's judgments which would follow.

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. I generally avoid that.

Who ever he was, it seems he showed Job he wasn’t an enemy because of affliction.

With friends like those, who needed enemies?

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hi Karraster - thanks for the link. It's been a long time since i read Job. In the past i found it rather daunting and this article is a rather thought provoking distillation of the story to consider. Also some of the readers comments of this article have been intriguing.
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First and foremost we should realize God counts all who have faith and trust in Him righteous, even though we all have many and varied faults. Job was righteous the same way we are, through the mercy and grace of God. The proof that Elihu had the discernment to identify Job and his three friends problems is the fact God did not require repentance from him as He did from the others.

I would offer . It reminds me of the son of man walking in the cleansing fire with three others in the book of Daniel .

God agreed with Elihu's interpretation as two walking together in perfect harmony and then Elihu disappears. Lesson in humility for Job.