Job 35

Job 35:1

Job, a servant of God An EasyEnglish Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Job

www.easyenglish.info Keith Simons Words in boxes (except for words in brackets) are from the Bible.

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Chapter 35 Elihu continues to discuss the speeches A man’s behaviour does not affect God v1 Elihu added:

v2 Job, tell me whether this is fair. You said to God, ‘I am innocent.’ v3 But you also said to God, ‘God does not benefit from my good deeds. And I do not benefit if I refuse to do evil things.’

v4 I shall answer you and your friends. v5 Look towards heaven! Look at the sky! See the clouds! v6 If you are evil, your behaviour does not affect God. Even if you are very wicked, your behaviour still does not affect God. v7 If you are good, God does not benefit. God receives nothing from your good works.

v8 Your evil actions only affect people like you. And your good actions only benefit other people.

Chapter 35

Verses 1-3

In other words, Job was saying, ‘God does not care whether a man is innocent or not. I thought that God would help me because of my good deeds. But in fact, I am suffering as an evil person deserves to suffer. So when I did these good deeds, I was wasting my time.’

Elihu disagreed. This was a stupid attitude. Job’s words were like the words of an evil man.

Verses 4-7

Christians do not do good deeds in order to impress God. And we do not pretend that our actions will change God’s attitudes. Whatever we do, God remains the same (Hebrews 13:6). God is always good. God is always kind. God is always fair.

Perhaps Job imagined that, because of his good deeds, he would never have to suffer (Job 29:18-20). If so, this idea was wrong. Many Christians have to suffer. But they can still be joyful (happy), because God is their friend (1 Peter 1:6).

Paul wrote a joyful letter, called the Book of Philippians, while he was in prison.

Some people imagine that they can earn the right to go to heaven by their good deeds. But the Bible teaches that this idea is wrong (Ephesians 2:8-9). Heaven is God’s gift. To go to heaven, we must confess our evil deeds to God. And we must invite Jesus into our lives.

Verse 8

It seems as if Job had forgotten the reason for his good deeds (Job 29:12-17). Job did these things because he was a servant of God (Job 1:8). A servant carries out his master’s work. And Job was doing God’s work.

Every Christian should do good deeds, because we are servants of God (James 1:1).

We should do the things that God wants us to do (James 2:14-19).

Nobody who helps other people is wasting their time. But somebody who does evil things causes other people to suffer. Evil people complain, but they do not respect God v9 People suffer greatly. They cry for help when their rulers are cruel. v10 But nobody calls to God, although:

 God made us all;

 God gives us songs that comfort us at the saddest times;

 v11 God teaches us more than the animals;

 God made us to be wiser than the birds.

v12 But God does not answer the cries of such people because they are proud and evil. v13 God does not listen to the hopeless cries of these people.

Verses 9-13

In Job 24:1-12, Job spoke about the poor people who were suffering because of their cruel rulers. And Job complained that God was not helping these people. Elihu’s answer to Job was in two parts:

 Perhaps those poor people did not deserve to suffer (Job 34:23-28). Whenever they cried, they prayed to God for help. Elihu believed that God would often help such people (Job 34:28). God listened to their cries. So God would punish their cruel rulers.

 But perhaps those poor people were evil (Job 35:9-13). They were too proud to pray to God. They did not realise that God is good. They were not grateful for all God’s good gifts. Instead, they were angry. And they complained. God would not listen to their hopeless cries.

Job had not thought about this. He imagined that poor people would always be innocent. He heard their cries. So he supposed that they were praying. He did not imagine that they might be opposing God. When Job complained, Job did not respect God v14 Moreover, God does not listen when you complain, Job. You say that:

 You do not see God. He has vanished!

 God is your judge. But you must wait until he has time for you.

 v15 God never punishes evil men.

v16 And all these ideas are nonsense. Job spoke these words without knowledge of the reality.

Verses 14-16

Job too had been complaining about God. Job was not thanking God for his good gifts. Instead, Job was constantly arguing that he himself was innocent. He was constantly insisting that God should help him. Job was acting as if God deserved blame for Job’s troubles. This was a terrible error.

God was good to Job (Job 35:10-11). God made Job’s body (Job 10:8-12). At the saddest times, God gave music to comfort Job (Job 30:31). God taught Job things that the animals did not know (Job 28:8). And God taught Job to be wise (chapter 28).

God had not vanished (verse 14)! God was with Job. God knew about Job’s troubles. And God cared.

Job did not need to wait until God had time for Job (verse 14). God can act as judge at any time (Job 34:23).

God punishes evil people (verse 15). Job himself realised that they would have to die (Job 27:13-19). And Job also learnt about hell (Job 26:5-6).

So Job needed to learn more about God. And Elihu was ready to teach Job.

© 2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

October 2005

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