Job 36:7 | KingComments | STEP | In Elihu begins to speak words that ascribes righteousness to his Maker as he said in . In amazement he exclaims that God is mighty and that Godliness or wickedness are not indifferent to Him. That combination is very rare among people. Mighty people almost always despise those who have no power. God is not like that. God is mighty, but that doesn’t mean He despises the insignificant man. For the might of God lies in “the strength of understanding”. The word ‘understanding’ can also be translated as ‘wisdom’ or ‘reason’. It means that His strength lies in His love, His wisdom, His mind. Love, wisdom, reason underlie everything He does in His might. That is what makes Him so admirable! His wisdom is mighty and powerful. This is expressed in His knowledge of the wicked and the afflicted ( ). He knows who is a wicked person and what to do with such a person, and He knows who the afflicted are and what to do with them. He does not let the wicked live, even if he seems to prosper and grow. He gives justice to the afflicted, though everything seems to be against them. Job is an afflicted one, so he may know that God will heed him and give him justice. The righteous may experience that God takes His eyes off him, that He does not see him (this is so with Job). But God does not withdraw His eyes from him ( ). Elihu says this in a way that shows that this is impossible to God, for His full interest is in the righteous ( ). He keeps a constant and close eye on him and watches him, even though the righteous may not always experience it. God knows that the righteous suffers and gives him His full attention. In the end He will place the righteous “with kings on the throne … forever”. Then He will lift them out of all misery and exalt them to a place of honor and reign that will never end. He will do this in the future ( ). We see this in a way in the end of the Lord with Job ( ; ).

‏ Job 36:7

God Does Not Despise Any

In Job 36:5 Elihu begins to speak words that ascribes righteousness to his Maker as he said in Job 36:3. In amazement he exclaims that God is mighty and that Godliness or wickedness are not indifferent to Him. That combination is very rare among people. Mighty people almost always despise those who have no power. God is not like that. God is mighty, but that doesn’t mean He despises the insignificant man. For the might of God lies in “the strength of understanding”. The word ‘understanding’ can also be translated as ‘wisdom’ or ‘reason’. It means that His strength lies in His love, His wisdom, His mind. Love, wisdom, reason underlie everything He does in His might. That is what makes Him so admirable!

His wisdom is mighty and powerful. This is expressed in His knowledge of the wicked and the afflicted (Job 36:6). He knows who is a wicked person and what to do with such a person, and He knows who the afflicted are and what to do with them. He does not let the wicked live, even if he seems to prosper and grow. He gives justice to the afflicted, though everything seems to be against them. Job is an afflicted one, so he may know that God will heed him and give him justice.

The righteous may experience that God takes His eyes off him, that He does not see him (this is so with Job). But God does not withdraw His eyes from him (Job 36:7). Elihu says this in a way that shows that this is impossible to God, for His full interest is in the righteous (Psa 34:15a). He keeps a constant and close eye on him and watches him, even though the righteous may not always experience it. God knows that the righteous suffers and gives him His full attention.

In the end He will place the righteous “with kings on the throne … forever”. Then He will lift them out of all misery and exalt them to a place of honor and reign that will never end. He will do this in the future (Rev 3:21 ; Rev 20:4 ; 6 ; Rev 22:5). We see this in a way in the end of the Lord with Job (Job 42:10-17; Jam 5:11).