Job, a new perspective, part 5: Elihu, dark thread of the bible

Elihu, the 5-senses perspective

Since Jesus Christ is the subject of the entire bible and has a unique identity in each book, he is the red thread of the bible, tying all the books together.

But since the devil counterfeits almost every Godly thing, the devil’s children are the dark thread of the bible, so who is Elihu?

Job 32
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred [family] of Ram [Aram]: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

The Companion Bible by E.W. Bullinger states “Ram = Aram, related to Buz [Genesis 22:21].

The name “Elihu” is mentioned 11 times in the KJV, and 7 of the 11 are in the book of Job and may not necessarily be referring to the exact same person [I haven’t researched it yet to find out].

It is significant to note from E.W. Bullinger’s number in scripture book the meaning of the number 11:

“If ten is the number which marks the perfection of Divine order, then eleven is an addition to it, subversive of and undoing that order.

If twelve is the number which marks the perfection of Divine government, then eleven falls short of it.

So that whether we regard it as being 10 + 1, or 12 – 1, it is the number which marks, disorder, disorganization, imperfection, and disintegration.“

Strong’s concordance defines Elihu as, “He is (my) God”; five Israelites. It is a compound name, from El – God and hu or hi – he, she or it.

According to the Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names, page 66, Elihu means: “whose God is he; he is my God; he is God himself; my God is Jehovah”.

The name “Barachel” is only used twice in the bible: Job 32:2 & 6 and Strong’s concordance defines it as “El does bless”; “the father of one of Job’s friends”. It is a compound name, from barak, to kneel; bless, and el = God.

The name dictionary says Barachel means, “Blessed of God; whom God blesses; God has blessed”.

Strong’s concordance says “Buzite” comes from the Hebrew word buzi and means, “a descendant of Buz” and Buzite is again only used twice in the bible: Job 32:2 & 6. Buz means, “two Israelites” and it’s used 3 times in the bible. In Genesis 22, Abraham had a brother Nahor, who had 2 sons: Huz and Buz.

The name dictionary says Buzite means, “contempt; to despise”, from Buzi, contemned of Jehovah; my contempt. Buz is the root word of the same meaning.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Concordance:
contempt springing from pride and wickedness

Strong’s concordance says Ram also means “two Israelites” [just like buz]; also “family of Elihu” and is used 7 times in the bible.

According to the name dictionary, ram means, “high; exalted; elevated”.

Elihu, the biblical and spiritual perspective

When we research the word of God, there are a number of reference works we can use, such as Greek interlinears, bible dictionaries, and maps of the middle east in ancient times. These can be very helpful and enlightening for the bible student.

However, we must remember that these are classified as works of man and are therefore, imperfect.

A perfect example of this is this screenshot from the Companion reference bible by E.W. Bullinger.

In this image, Elihu has a ministry of the mediator in the middle of the figure of speech introversion.

However, Jesus Christ is the subject of every book of the bible and has a unique identity in each.

Luke 24:27
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

In the book of Job, Jesus Christ is the mediator, not Elihu!

I Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Job 9:33 [Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT]
Would that he our mediator were present, and a reprover, and one who should hear the cause between both.

Job recognized the need for a true mediator between God and man, but that was not available at the time because Jesus Christ had not yet come.

And as we are going to see from the word of God itself, if Elihu is the man of God, the mediator that introduces the ministry of Jehovah, then why does he have so many characteristics of a person who is born of the seed of the serpent [the devil]?

Ultimately, if there is ever a contradiction between the word of man vs the word of God, we must always go with the perfect and eternal word of God.

Below is only a partial list of evil characteristics I have found in Elihu:

• Wrath
• Sowing discord among the brethren
• Enemy of all righteousness
• Dark counsel
• Actions reflect nature determined by spiritual seed

Wrath

Job 32
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.
3 Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
4 Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he.
5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.

It’s significant that the word “wrath” is used 4 times in only 5 verses in Job 32, and all in reference to Elihu.

4 is the number of division and the world and the devil is the God of it.

In verses 2, 3, and 5, the definition of the word ‘wrath” is from a Hebrew word in Strong’s Concordance #639:

aph: a nostril, nose, face, anger
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Phonetic Spelling: (af)
Definition: a nostril, nose, face, anger

This word comes from the root word anaph: to be angry [Strong’s Concordance #599].

The very first usage of aph is in Genesis 4:5

Genesis 4
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

• Elihu’s very first characteristic mentioned in the bible is anger
• Cain’s very first characteristic mentioned in the bible is anger
• Cain was the very first human born of the seed of the serpent [the devil].

In Job 32, its also very important to note that the word “kindled” is also used 4 times in this section in reference to Elihu’s anger:

Strong’s Concordance #2734
charah: to burn or be kindled with anger
Part of Speech: Verb
Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-raw’)
Short Definition: burned

Definition of wrath [dictionary.com]
noun
* strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire.
* vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.

In other words, Elihu’s wrath was off the chart, beyond the boundaries of normal human anger and crossed over into the realm of spiritual anger.

Ephesians 4
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.

See the definition of angry below:

Genesis 4
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

So Cain had the 5-senses anger that focused on punishing the perceived offender [his brother Abel, who had done nothing wrong] rather than the moral content of the offense. He punished him by murder and then lied about it to God.

Murder and lying are 2 dominant characteristics of people born of the seed of the serpent.

There is nothing wrong with good spiritual anger, since Jesus Christ even displayed it at times and never sinned, but there are 3 factors we must keep in mind:

• there is 5 senses human anger
• there is spiritual anger, either as inspired by God or the devil
• we must keep anger under control and not let it gain control over us

Here are some very important verses on anger and we will see even more significance of them in the other sections:

Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.

Proverbs 15:18
A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.

Since this extreme wrath stirs up strife, this section on Elihu’s wrath is immediately followed by the section on sowing discord among the brethren below.

Definition of “strife” [from dictionary.com]:
noun

1. vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, or antagonism: to be at strife.
2. a quarrel, struggle, or clash: armed strife.
3. competition or rivalry: the strife of the marketplace.
4. Archaic. strenuous effort.

Sowing discord among the brethren

People born of the seed of the serpent and their characteristics are mentioned over 125 times throughout the bible.

However, no other section of scripture has a greater concentration of characteristics than proverbs 6.

Proverbs 6
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Look how simple verse 19 is: a false witness that speaks lies sows discord among the brethren. That’s just common sense.

• Job falsely accused his sons and daughters of cursing God in their hearts [Job 1:5];
• Job’s wife told him to curse God and die for no apparent reason [Job 2:9]
• All 3 of Job’s friends mysteriously turned against him [Job 4 – 31], even after mourning with him and comforting him for an entire week
• Elihu attacked Job from chapter 32 – 37

If these are not examples of discord among the brethren, then what is?!

Job’s accusation against his own children is the functioning of the accuser working in him to divide up the family and cause destruction.

Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

I Corinthians 2:11
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

As I Corinthians verifies, Job had no way of knowing what was going on in his children’s hearts, unless God gave him the revelation, which he did not.

With all his resources as the greatest man of God in the east, Job at least could have sent out spies to verify his children’s actions, but he didn’t.

He kept sowing his false fears in his heart until catastrophe hit.

Job 3:25
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

And as we saw in the previous sections, Elihu had a very evil form of anger and proverbs says twice that anger stirs up strife.

So who actually caused all the divisions?

Job 2:5
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

It was Satan, the indirect attack from the devil, who works most effectively through his children, who have no knowledge of or control over who they are spiritually or what is actually going on.

Enemy of all righteousness

Job 32
1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

Job 32:1 [Lamsa bible, from 5th century Aramaic text]
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in their eyes.

In Job 32:2, the word “justified” is the Hebrew word:

Strong’s Concordance #6663
tsadeq or tsadoq: to be just or righteous
Part of Speech: Verb
Phonetic Spelling: (tsaw-dak’)
Short Definition: righteous

So Job was righteous before God. This is corroborated by what the bible says of Job in the first chapter as well.

Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared [reverenced] God, and eschewed evil.

If Elihu was a man of God, then why was he off-the-charts angered by Job’s confession of being righteous before God?

That doesn’t make sense until you see who was born of the seed of the serpent in the new testament and God says about him in relation to righteousness.

Acts 13
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him [the word “the” was added to the Greek texts (so it should be removed) and Holy Ghost is more accurately translated holy spirit].
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

This seed boy was called “thou enemy of all righteousness”.

That explains why Elihu was overflowing with wrath against Job: because of God’s righteousness in Job and Elihu was a very ungodly man.

Dark counsel

The root word “dark” and its derivatives are used 230 times in the bible and 34 [14%] of them are in the book of Job, more than any other book of the bible.

Job 38
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs concordance, this word darkeneth is used figuratively to mean to “obscure, confuse“, which fits perfectly with what we know about the adversary in general.

The verb “darkeneth” is the Hebrew word chashak: to be or grow dark [Strong’s #2821] and is used 18 times in the bible.

This is mathematically, biblically and spiritually perfect, because:

• If you add the digits of 18, you get 1 + 8 = 9, the number of judgment and finality
• 18 is also 9 x 2 = double judgment.
• “darkeneth” also has 9 letters

Definition of obscure [from dictionary.com]
verb (used with object), ob·scured, ob·scur·ing.

• to conceal or conceal by confusing (the meaning of a statement, poem, etc.).
• to make dark, dim, indistinct, etc.

Judgment certainly is appropriate for the sons of the devil who obscure the word of God and sow confusion and every evil work.

James 3:16
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

WORDS WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE

Job 34 [amplified bible]
34 Men of understanding will tell me, indeed, every wise man who hears me [will agree],
35 Job speaks without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom and insight.
36 Job ought to be tried to the limit because he answers like wicked men!

In verse 35, seed of the serpent people [Elihu] always falsely accuse others of what they are guilty of themselves – speaking without knowledge and answering like a wicked man.

Job 35:16
Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

This is at least the second time Job has been falsely accused of speaking without knowledge.

Verification of this is by what God himself said about Elihu:

Job 38:2
Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Note additional characteristics of the seed of the serpent in Jude & II Peter:

Jude 1:12 [amplified bible]
These men are hidden reefs [elements of great danger to others] in your love feasts when they feast together with you without fear, looking after [only] themselves; [they are like] clouds without water, swept along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted and lifeless;

II Peter 2
17 These are wells [fountains or springs] without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

1. Words without knowledge are purposeless
2. Fountains without water are purposeless
3. Fruit trees without fruit are purposeless
4. Clouds without life-giving water are purposeless also. Otherwise, they obscure the life-giving light of the sun, just as Elihu obscures the spiritual light of God
5. People born of the seed of the serpent are void of any Godly purpose

Notice that the first 4 elements have water in common:

Jeremiah 17:13
O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

Ephesians 5:26
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

1. Since the Lord is the fountain of living waters, and he communicates with us through his word, it is a spiritual fountain of living water also.
2. Fountains consist of water
3. Trees cannot thrive without water
4. Clouds consist of water-vapor

Definition of “vanity” in verse 18:

Strong’s Concordance #3153
mataiotés: vanity, emptiness
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Phonetic Spelling: (mat-ah-yot’-ace)
Usage: vanity, emptiness, unreality, purposelessness, ineffectiveness, instability, frailty; false religion.

HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 3153 mataiótēs (a noun) – aimlessness due to lacking purpose or any meaningful end; nonsense because transitory.

It’s interesting to note that in Job 34:35, the root word of “knowledge” is the Hebrew word yada, in the context of an evil man falsely accusing job of speaking words without knowledge.

Speaking words without knowledge is literally impossible because all words will convey the knowledge of facts, figures, emotions, perspectives, etc. Therefore, it’s a derogatory figure of speech meaning he’s saying nothing of spiritual value.

A modern definition of yada is: “A disparaging response, indicating that something previously said was predictable, repetitive or tedious”.

Is Job 34:35 the true origin of Seinfeld’s yada yada yada?

Elihu: nature determines actions

Job 32
11 Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.
12 Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words

How would Elihu know this unless he was present and close enough to Job and his friends that he could hear what they were saying?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary: “Therefore Elihu was present from the first”.

Job’s friends started out good, but after a while they mysteriously turned against him. Based on these verses, we know that Elihu was following or monitoring Job for some time.

Its very possible then that Job’s wife and friends turned against him because of the devil spirit influence of Elihu. In other words, it was Elihu who was sowing discord among the brethren in the background.

I Corinthians 15:33
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Definition of “communications”:

Strong’s Concordance #3657
homilia: company, association

Elihu was around Job, his wife and his 3 friends, and all of them went south spiritually.

Satan had Job’s wife attack him, but she failed, so then he turned all 3 of Job’s friends against him. That failed also, so the next logical weapon is someone that is stronger and has greater resources to wield against him. Therefore, Satan sent out Elihu, a person born of the seed of the serpent.

Below is a very interesting piece of Old Testament history:

Gleason L. Archer, Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 464.

III. DATE:
A. Date of the Events: Probably pre-Mosaic, even patriarchal from the second Millennium B.C.

1. Job is lacking references to historical events and reflects a non-Hebraic cultural background which little is known about
2. Location:

a. Uz was located in northern Arabia3

b. Job’s friend, Eliphaz, came from Teman, a city in Edom

c. Elihu came from the Buzites who lived next to the Chaldeans in northeast Arabia4

https://bible.org/article/introduction-book-job

At the very least, since Elihu grew up right next to the Chaldeans, he had to have gained some knowledge of their culture, language, geography, customs, etc.

More likely, he had interactions with them, knew some of them and forged relationships with them, or had an interpreter do it for him.

Considering:

• Elihu’s multiple characteristics of a child of the devil
• the fact that he grew up right next to the Chaldeans and likely had interactions with them
• he was lurking in the background of Job’s life, wife and friends from the beginning

Brings up the distinct probability that it was Elihu who:

• orchestrated the Chaldean’s attack against Job, exploiting his fear
• influenced Job to falsely accuse his children of cursing God
• turned his wife against him, who told him to curse God and die
• turned his 3 friends against him

According to the principles of criminology, Elihu had the:

• Motive: the intent to commit a crime [John 8:41 “Ye do the deeds of your father”…; fierce anger]
• Means: the resources necessary to commit the crime [devil spirits]
• Opportunity: the unencumbered chance at following through on his intention

Another very important point is that Elihu was working in the background of Job, his wife and friends in the first few chapters of Job, yet is never even mentioned until chapter 32.

This tells us that seed of the serpent people work in secret, even if they are well known [one of their names is men of renown, so they can hide in plain sight].

This is because the book of Job was the first book of the bible written, and they were not fully exposed as in other books of the bible that were written much later.

Job 31:35
Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

With a lot of work, these dark and evil people can be exposed and defeated with all the resources of God available to us.

Ephesians 1
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought [energized] in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.