June 16, 2021 Bible Study God Does Not Benefit From Human Righteousness

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Job 34-37.

I am somewhat confused with what to make of today’s passage.  On the one hand, we have Elihu speaking, who is not mentioned at the end of the book among Job’s friends when God condemns them.  On the other hand, he makes a strawman argument against Job: he says that Job made arguments which he did not make.  Nevertheless, Elihu says some insightful things.  Elihu tells us that our sins do not harm God, and He gains nothing from our acts of righteousness.  The standards which God establishes are for the benefit of mankind, not Himself.  This is one of the most important insights which we can have.  When we sin, we harm ourselves and others.  When we do good, we benefit ourselves and others.  God’s Laws are not arbitrary.  Let us follow them so that we can experience the joy God intends for us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.