Far be it from God to do wickedness

"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to commit iniquity. – Job 34v10

Elihu had wisdom beyond his years. While Job’s friends were on to Job about some supposed sin he had committed and Job was seeking to define his own self-righteousness Elihu saw the while situation from a different perspective.

Elihu seemed to know that there was more was going on than meets the eye. Job was saying that he was righteous and that God was still allowing him to suffer. The logical conclusion is that God is wicked, because what kind of righteous God would punish man for doing right? We know that Job was a godly man because God said so. He was a man who feared God and shunned evil. So what kind of righteous God would punish him for his behaviour?

That is the point. Job’s struggles had nothing to do with his behaviour. This was not what it was all about. Later on God is going to explain the same thing. God is not going to act wickedly or commit sin, so something else is going on here.

While we may be is despair and cry out to God we go too far when we try to base God’s actions on our righteousness. God cannot sin. He is not going to do unjustly. If we can’t figure it out that does not mean that He is doing wrong.