Job 36: God is Great

“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; nor can the number of His years be discovered.” — Job 36:26

A God Who Teaches through Suffering

Elihu opens with conviction: “Bear with me a little, and I will show you that there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf” (v. 2). Elihu doesn’t want to shame Job; he wants to lift his eyes to a bigger picture. “I will fetch my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker” (v. 3). Elihu’s goal is clear: to show God is not only righteous but also wise and kind in His dealings with man, even in affliction.

“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; but they are on the throne with kings, for He has seated them forever, and they are exalted. And if they are bound in fetters, held in the cords of affliction, then He tells them their work and their transgressions—that they have acted defiantly” (vv. 7-9). In other words, God sees His people even in suffering; and when He allows pain, it’s not punishment in wrath but discipline in love. Elihu insists affliction can be God’s means of exposing pride, correcting a wandering heart, and leading the righteous back to life.

If you’re in a season of affliction and are asking, “Why is this happening,” Elihu’s insight invites a deeper question: What might God be teaching me here? Suffering often silences our certainties and exposes the hidden places of our heart, such as fears, idols, and self-reliance we didn’t know we had. But God does not allow this pain to shame you; He uses it to refine you. Like a surgeon with a steady hand, He sometimes wounds in order to heal—again, His alien work that leads you to His proper work. Affliction, then, is not evidence that God has abandoned you. It may be the very place where He’s drawing near to speak most clearly.

And if you’ve struggled to see anything redemptive in your pain, you’re not alone. I’m there right now as I’m writing this. Most of what God is doing through suffering is hidden until later—sometimes much later. But even now, you can trust He’s not wasting it. The God who watched over Job watches over you. He’s not punishing you in wrath but shaping you in mercy. And in Christ, you can be assured that every sorrow that touches you has passed through His pierced hands first. The classroom of affliction may feel dark, but the Teacher is near, and His lessons always lead to life.

Suffering that Leads to Deliverance

“If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge” (vv. 11-12). Elihu, still working within a wisdom framework, maintains the one who listens to God in suffering will be restored. While his formulation risks being too neat, it contains deep truth—God uses adversity not to destroy but to deliver. He humbles the proud, lifts the lowly, and works through pain to call us back to Himself (cf. Luke 1:52).

Elihu cautions Job against hardening his heart: “Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with one blow; for a large ransom would not help you avoid it” (v. 18). He sees Job teetering between lament and rebellion. But Elihu’s warning is ultimately gracious: don’t waste your suffering by resisting God’s hand. Yield, trust, and listen. For the same hand that strikes can also heal.

If you’re walking through a trial and wondering whether anything good could possibly come from it, Elihu’s words offer a surprising grace: suffering may be the very means by which God is leading you back to Himself. This doesn’t minimize your pain. Neither does it suggest God takes pleasure in your sorrow. Rather, it reveals God’s mercy is often hidden beneath what feels like judgement. The pressure you feel may not be punishment—it may be a holy interruption, a moment in which God is freeing you from lesser hopes so He can restore your soul to the eternal hope in Him.

This is why Scripture so often speaks of affliction as a crucible—not to burn you up, but to refine what is true and lasting in your faith (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-9). When pride is shattered, when self-sufficiency crumbles, and when idols fall away, then you begin to see more clearly that your deliverance does not come from your strength but from your Redeemer. So, do not despise the discipline of the Lord. It’s a sign He has not let you go. Even now, He may be loosening the cords that bind you—not to harm you, but to bring you into deeper freedom, fuller life, and firmer hope in Christ.

The Majesty of God in Creation

Elihu then turns Job’s gaze to the sky: “Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him? …For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man” (vv. 22, 27-28). The storm clouds begin to gather in Elihu’s imagery, preparing for the whirlwind in which God will soon speak (38:1). But here, they are a canvas on which God’s greatness is painted. Rain, thunder, and lightning all testify to a Creator who governs the Earth with wisdom and might.

“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; nor can the number of His years be discovered” (v. 26). Elihu’s praise crescendos here. We cannot fathom the fullness of God’s wisdom or justice, and we do not need to. Our calling is not to master Him but to trust Him. The One who waters the Earth also tends the soul. The One who commands the lightning also directs your path. His greatness is not cold—it is sustaining. It humbles, but it also holds.

Job 36 offers a gentler Elihu—still zealous for God’s justice but now rich with awe and pastoral concern. He shows us God’s greatness is not incompatible with His care; that suffering, while mysterious, may be a gift of instruction; and that the rain clouds gathering on the proverbial horizon do not signal abandonment but the coming voice of God.

This chapter invites us to a renewed vision of suffering. What if your pain is not punishment, but preparation? What if your affliction is not the end, but a vital turning point? Elihu urges you not to waste your sorrow. Let it draw you toward the greatness of God, not away from Him. For the God who governs the storms also whispers in the whirlwind. And in Christ, we now know: He does not merely reign over creation—He walks with the afflicted, bears their wounds, and brings them to glory.