In light of the main message of Job and in view of a comprehensive biblical model of counseling, we can conclude that: Elihu was wrong about God, wrong about Job, and wrong to focus exclusively on confronting Job while never comforting Job. Elihu’s God is Sovereign, but not a Shepherd. Elihu relates to Job only as a sinner, not a sufferer.

I’ve spent the past several months reading the Bible cover-to-cover seeking to discern the Bible’s teaching on traumatic-suffering and embodied-souls. So far I’ve studied Genesis 1 to Psalms 150. I have over 400 pages of single-spaced typed notes.

I have eighty-five pages of notes on the Book of Job alone. As part of my study of Job, I’ve collated over four dozen examples of poor counseling from Job’s miserable counselors. I hope to summarize that material into a couple of blog posts at some point in the future.

Like others, I’ve wondered where Elihu (Job 32-37) fits into the picture. Is he a worthy model of a wise counselor? Or, is he a prime example of how not to counsel? Or, perhaps he is a mixture of both good/wise and bad/foolish counsel?

In Eric Ortlund’s book on Job, Piercing Leviathan, He notes that some commentators have assessed Elihu positively, while others have evaluated Elihu’s counsel negatively. Ortlund then lists about a dozen reasons why he sees Elihu’s counsel as unwise and unhelpful.

Christopher Ash, in his book, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross, notes that “almost every commentary is skeptical about Elihu, critical of his views, his tone, and his character. Such a widespread agreement among critics should not be lightly jettisoned…” (327). Yet Ash disagrees with the majority of commentators. He then lists about half-a-dozen reasons why he sees Elihu’s counsel as wise.

While I was preparing to write and post this blog, I saw a blog post by James Fields at the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors: Wise Counsel from Job’s Counselor, Elihu. As the title suggests, Fields provides a positive assessment of Elihu’s counseling, listing seven areas of fruitful counsel.

Interestingly, while God confronts Job’s three miserable counselors, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and while God affirms Job (Job 42-7-11), God ignores Elihu. God never mentions Elihu—for good or bad, as wise or foolish, as a positive or negative model of biblical soul care.

So what do we make of Elihu from a biblical counseling perspective? As we seek to answer that question, we want to do so through two important grids, perspectives, or lenses:

• Grid #1: What is the main message of Job?
• Grid #2: What is a comprehensive model of biblical counseling?

Grid #1: The Main Message of Job—How Do We See God in the Midst of Our Suffering?

I could write a book on Job, traumatic suffering, and our view of God. But this is a blog post, so I’ll seek to be succinct. Job is not just about Job. It is not just about suffering. It is not even just about God.

Job is about how we see God in the midst of our suffering. Job is about the lens through which we view God as we face suffering. Job is about facing suffering face-to-face with God our Sovereign Shepherd.

Job’s three unwise counselors spoke wrongly about God.

• They saw God as a Great Sovereign, but not as a Good Shepherd.
• They saw God as all-powerful, but not as all-loving.
• They saw God as just, but not as loving, gracious, compassionate, merciful, kind, giving, forgiving, and redeeming.
• They saw God as a harsh Judge, a cruel Tyrant, not as a forgiving and giving Father.
• They saw God as a works-oriented God, not as a grace-centered God.
• They mistook God’s shepherding for condemnation and judgment.
• They saw God as a petty, “tit-for-tat,” vindictive, childish God who only gives good to us when we are good; and always gives bad to us when we are bad. They saw God as being an immature child who says, “You hit me first; now I’ll get back at you!” “You started this; I’ll finish it!” “I do get mad, and I get even!”
• Because they misunderstood God, they misunderstood suffering. They said suffering is always caused by sinning. According to them, every sufferer is always suffering because of their direct personal sin.

In Job 38-42, God reveals Himself to Job in all His infinite fullness (view this post to see over forty biblical couplets of God’s Holy-Love). The God of Job, the God of the universe, is:

• Our God of Holy-Love.
• Our Shepherd-King.
• Our Sovereign Shepherd.
• Our Good Shepherd and Gracious Sovereign.
• Our Affectionate Sovereign.
• Our God of Holiness and Grace.
• Our God of Compassion and Justice.
• Our Infinite, Intimate God.

So our ultimate assessment of Elihu’s counsel must be based upon how well or how poorly Elihu’s view of God aligns with how God reveals Himself in the Book of Job.

Grid #2: A Comprehensive Model of Biblical Counseling—Sustaining, Healing, Reconciling, and Guiding

In Gospel-Centered Counseling and in Gospel Conversations, I develop in detail a biblical and church history model of biblical counseling. Since this is a blog post, I can only provide the most basic outline of that approach here.

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