You don’t have to be old to be wise. In fact, one can be advanced in years and still be a fool. Still, we’re inclined to think that “with age comes wisdom.” Actually, with age comes experience. Hopefully the older a person gets, the wiser he becomes, since wisdom is the right application of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7)
If you were asked to name a few wise young people in the Bible, you would likely mention characters like Daniel, Samuel, David, Ruth, and certainly Jesus (Luke 2:42-47, 52).
But one young adult that might get easily overlooked is Elihu.
Eli who?
Elihu, that’s who!
He was the youngest of Job’s friends who came to visit him when Job was undergoing tremendous suffering. (I wrote about Job in another recent post titled “The Unexpected Book.”) Also present were three other friends of Job: “Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him” (Job. 2:11).
Unfortunately, their attempts to help Job only made matters worse, because they misdiagnosed Job’s spiritual state, misapplied theological truth, and mistimed their reproof — all of which led Job to say, “miserable comforters are you all” (Job 16:2).
The whole time these inept counselors were talking, Elihu sat in silence.
But in chapter 32, Elihu breaks his silence because he “burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men he burned with anger” (Job 32:2-5). Elihu was so hot, he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. So he says to them,
I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
I said, “Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.”
But it is the spirit in man,
the breath of the Almighty,
that makes him understand.
It is not the old who are wise,
not the aged who understand what is right.
Therefore I say, “Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.”
(Job 32:6-10)
Elihu does just that. First he rebukes Job’s three friends for failing to refute Job’s arguments and to come up with a good answer for him. Then Elihu chides Job for seeking to justify himself rather than God. Elihu then proceeds to affirm God’s justice (Job 34:12), extol God’s greatness (Job 36:26), and proclaim God’s majesty (Job 37:22-23).
When Elihu finishes speaking, God breaks his silence and answers Job directly (Job 33-41). Humbled by the Lord’s rebuke, Job admits that he spoke out of ignorance, and he acknowledges God’s infinite power and wisdom. Job confesses, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
Having dealt with his servant Job, the Lord then turns his attention toward Eliphaz the Temanite and says, “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7). God reiterates their failure in the next verse: “you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has” (Job 42:8).
Can you imagine Elihu sitting there, listening to the Lord speak? First he reprimands Job. Then the Lord rebukes Eliphaz and his two friends. Surely Elihu is next! One can imagine him sitting there, his heart racing and his body quaking, as he anticipates a divine tongue-lashing.
But the rebuke never comes. Elihu’s words sat well with God, because they were cloaked in wisdom.
You don’t have to be old to be wise. But you do have to walk with the Lord in the light of his Word. Do that, and you’ll have something worthwhile to say.
A wise man speaks because
he has something to say.
A fool speaks because
he has to say something.
Which statement best characterizes you?
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise” (Psalm 111:10).