“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
Job 38:2-3 NIV
I think God has heard enough. Elihu’s rambling is the final straw that makes God speak. He doesn’t even allow time for Job to respond to Elihu as he did to the others. He is not happy with any of them including Job but Job is still the most right. We have seen that when Job asks questions and seeks answers he speaks to God. We have not seen any of his friends looking to God for answers or direction.
Below is an excerpt from the Enduring Word commentary I have shared in the past that agrees with these thoughts.
ii. God will indeed settle this dispute, but He will do it His way. Job wanted God to settle it by proving him right and explaining the reason for all his afflictions; Job’s friends wanted God to prove them right and for Job to recognize his error. God will not satisfy either one of these expectations. Significantly, God did not obviously answer Job’s questions.
b. The LORD answered Job: Significantly, God did not immediately or directly answer Job’s friends; not the older friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar), and not the young friend (Elihu). God answered Job.
i. Perhaps this was because Job was the one wrongly accused, and though he was wrong, he was more right than any of his friends.
ii. Perhaps this was because Job was the only one of the group to actively cry out to God and pray through the ordeal. Only Job talked to God; now the LORD will speak only to Job.