The One in a Thousand Mediator Text: Job 33:23-28
Introduction: Elihu's Gospel Intrusion
The book of Job is a glorious and rugged piece of inspired literature. It deals with the hardest questions men ask, and it refuses to give us easy, sentimental answers. For thirty-two chapters, we have listened to a debate that has gone precisely nowhere. We have heard from Job, a righteous man brought to the very edge of his endurance, who has maintained his integrity but has begun to veer into self-righteousness. And we have heard from his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who are operating with a theological system that is neat, tidy, and brutally wrong. Their error is not that they believe in cause and effect; the Bible teaches that you reap what you sow. Their error is that they believe they have God's ledger book in their back pocket. They are woodenly applying a general truth in a way that makes them false comforters and miserable counselors.
The whole debate is stuck in a ditch. Job is defending his righteousness against God, and his friends are defending God's righteousness by slandering Job. And then, a new character steps onto the stage. A younger man, Elihu, has been waiting, holding his peace out of respect for his elders. But he can't stay silent any longer, because everyone involved has missed the point. He is angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God, and he is angry with the three friends because they found no answer, yet had condemned Job.
What Elihu provides is not just another round of the same dreary argument. He brings a startlingly clear, proto-evangelical word into the middle of this mess. While his friends were looking backward, trying to find the secret sin that caused Job's suffering, Elihu looks upward and forward. He speaks of mediation, atonement, and gracious restoration. He doesn't solve the problem of suffering with a formula, but rather points to the necessity of a divine rescue. In the midst of this Old Testament wrestling match, Elihu throws open a window and lets in the clean air of the gospel. What we have in this text is a remarkable preview of the work of Jesus Christ, the one true Mediator.
The Text
"If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To declare to a man what is right for him, Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found atonement’; Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Then he will entreat God, and He will accept him, And he will see His face with joyful shouts, And He may restore His righteousness to man. He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, But He has not done what is due to me. He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit, And my life shall see the light.’"
(Job 33:23-28 LSB)
The Heavenly Interpreter (v. 23)
Elihu begins by introducing a figure who is absolutely essential for any man who would be right with God.
"If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To declare to a man what is right for him," (Job 33:23)
Job has been crying out for a mediator, an umpire, someone who could lay a hand on both him and God (Job 9:33). He knows there is an infinite gulf between him, a mere creature, and the transcendent Creator. The friends have been acting as accusers, but what Job needs is an advocate. Elihu here posits the existence of just such a figure. He calls him an "angel as mediator." The word for angel is simply messenger. This is not just any messenger; he is "One out of a thousand." This signifies his rarity, his uniqueness, and his supreme qualification. In a world full of voices, a world full of accusers and false comforters, there is one who can truly stand in the gap.
And what is the function of this unique mediator? It is "To declare to a man what is right for him." This is not about declaring a man's own inherent righteousness. Job has been doing plenty of that himself. This is about declaring what is uprightness for him, what constitutes true, God-defined righteousness. The mediator is an interpreter. He comes to the suffering man, who is bewildered and in the dark, and explains God's ways to him. He doesn't just offer sympathy; he offers divine perspective. He shows the man the standard of God's perfect law and, as we will see, reveals the way of God's perfect grace.
Of course, we know who this points to. This is a glorious Old Testament shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). He is not one of a class of mediators; He is the "One out of a thousand," utterly unique. He is the Angel, the Messenger of the Covenant (Malachi 3:1). And He is the one who has come to declare the Father to us (John 1:18). He is the Word, the divine interpretation of reality. Without this Mediator, man is left alone in the dark with his suffering and his sin.
Atonement Found (v. 24)
The work of the mediator leads directly to a divine declaration of grace, based on a finished work.
"Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found atonement’;" (Job 33:24 LSB)
The mediator's interpretation opens the door for God to be gracious. And this grace is not a vague sentiment. It is a specific, forensic declaration. God says, "Deliver him from going down to the pit." The pit is the place of death, judgment, and corruption. This is a command for deliverance, a divine pardon.
But on what basis is this pardon issued? It is not because the man has figured it out, or promised to do better, or suffered enough. The basis is stated with stunning clarity: "I have found atonement." The word is kopher, which means ransom, or payment. God Himself declares that a ransom has been found. This is not a ransom that the man provides, but one that God provides and accepts. This is objective atonement. It is a transaction that has satisfied the demands of justice.
This is the heart of the gospel. God does not simply wave away our sin. He is just, and the wages of sin is death. For God to deliver a sinner from the pit, a ransom must be paid. Elihu, centuries before the cross, is speaking the language of substitution. God the Father, in eternity past, looked upon the future work of His Son and could say, "I have found the ransom." This is why He could be just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. The cross of Christ is the place where the kopher was paid in full. This is definite atonement. It is not a potential ransom, but an actual one. God didn't just make salvation possible; He accomplished it for His people.
The Fruits of Redemption (v. 25-26)
When this ransom is applied, the results are total transformation, both physically and spiritually.
"Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Then he will entreat God, and He will accept him, And he will see His face with joyful shouts, And He may restore His righteousness to man." (Job 33:25-26 LSB)
The first result is rejuvenation. Job's body was covered in sores, his flesh wasting away. The deliverance from the pit includes physical restoration, a picture of the ultimate resurrection when these mortal bodies will put on immortality. This is a holistic salvation. God is concerned with our bodies, not just our souls. The creation, which is subject to futility, will be set free, and that includes our very flesh.
The second result is restored fellowship. "He will entreat God, and He will accept him." The barrier of sin is removed. The man who once hid from God, or argued with Him, now comes to Him in prayer, and he is welcomed. He is accepted not on the basis of his own merit, but on the basis of the ransom. And this fellowship is not a grim, dutiful affair. He will "see His face with joyful shouts." This is the beatific vision. To see the face of God is the goal of our redemption, and it is a thing of ecstatic joy. It is what the psalmist longed for: "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
Finally, there is the restoration of righteousness. God "may restore His righteousness to man." This is the doctrine of imputation. The man is not just pardoned; he is declared righteous. God gives to him a righteousness that is not his own. This is the great exchange of the gospel: Christ took our sin, and we receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is not a restoration of the man's former, flawed righteousness, but the gift of God's own perfect righteousness.
The Public Confession (v. 27-28)
The man who has been so graciously redeemed cannot keep it to himself. His private experience of grace leads to public testimony.
"He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, But He has not done what is due to me. He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit, And my life shall see the light.’" (Job 33:27-28 LSB)
Notice the structure of his song. It begins with confession. "I have sinned and perverted what is right." The redeemed man no longer makes excuses. He is done justifying himself. He agrees with God's verdict on his sin. He takes his place with the tax collector who beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
The confession is immediately followed by an acknowledgment of mercy. "But He has not done what is due to me." The Hebrew is literally, "it was not requited to me." He knows what he deserved. He deserved the pit. He deserved the full weight of God's wrath. But he received grace instead. This is the essence of mercy: not getting the punishment you do deserve.
And his song concludes with a declaration of salvation. "He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit, And my life shall see the light." He knows who did the work. "He has redeemed." It was a divine rescue. And the result is that he has been brought out of the darkness of the pit and into the light of life. He has passed from death to life. This is the song of the redeemed, the testimony of every true believer, from Job's day to our own.
Conclusion: From Elihu's Shadow to Christ's Substance
Elihu's speech is a bucket of cold, clear water thrown on the smoldering ash heap of Job's debate. He elevates the conversation from the horizontal problem of "why am I suffering?" to the vertical reality of "how can a man be right with God?" He shows us that the only answer is a mediator, a ransom, and sovereign grace.
This entire passage is a beautiful, intricate shadow of the substance that we have in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one-in-a-thousand Mediator who came to interpret the Father for us. Jesus is the one who paid the kopher, the ransom for many, with His own precious blood. It is in Him that God declares, "Deliver them from the pit; I have found the atonement."
Through faith in Him, we are rejuvenated, born again to a living hope, and promised a resurrected body fresher than in youth. Through Him, we are accepted by the Father and can see His face with shouts of joy. Through Him, we are clothed in a righteousness that is not our own.
And because of this, we have a song to sing. It is the same song that the redeemed man sings here. We come before the world, not boasting in our own strength or wisdom, but with this simple, glorious testimony: "I have sinned and perverted what is right. I was headed for the pit. But God, in His infinite mercy, did not give me what I deserved. He sent a Mediator. He paid the ransom. He has redeemed my soul from the pit, and my life will see the light." This is the gospel according to Elihu, and it is the only hope for any of us.