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January 25, 2015 |
| Elihu | ||
We all know the first part of the story of Job but not everyone has followed the story through to the end. We know that God has allowed Satan to take away everything that Job has and to afflict his body in the belief that Job's righteousness is because God has treated him well. Three of Job's friends come to console him in his suffering. Each one speaks and reasons that Job must have done something wrong because God would not punish a righteous man.
Job insists that he is innocent and begins to speak harshly to God and about God. He says that God has treated him unjustly, that God is his enemy, that there is nothing to gain from living a righteous life, and other things.
Suddenly a younger man called Elihu is present who was not mentioned before. This man is gracious to his elders as he should be but he makes some odd statements that make it sound like he is not just a man. One of these is that he claims to speak for God.
After Elihu explains why his elders were wrong and why Job was wrong, God begins to speak direrctly to them and Elihu is not heard from or mentioned again. While Job has said some things about God that were not true, God is particularly unhappy with things his friends, excluding Elihu, have said and requires a sacrifice from them.
In this lesson we'll look at what Elihu has said.
A. GOD IS GRACIOUS (33:8-33)1
1. Job, you are wrong in charging God as your enemy (33:8-13)
a. Elihu has heard Job profess his innocence while counting God as his enemy
8 "Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words:
9 'I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.
10 'Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy.
11 'He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.'
b. This is not right, for God is greater than man and not accountable to man
12 "Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, for God is greater than man.
13 "Why do you complain against Him That He does not give an account of all His doings?
2. God uses various ways to speak to man (33:14-28)
a. Even though man may not heed what God is saying
b. Such as dreams or visions, to turn man back
c. Such as chastening him with pain
d. Such as special messengers
1) Sent to deliver him from the Pit
2) Sent to restore him back to God
14 "Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one notices it.
15 "In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds,
16 Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction,
17 That He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride;
18 He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol.
19 "Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, and with unceasing complaint in his bones;
20 So that his life loathes bread, and his soul favorite food.
21 "His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones which were not seen stick out.
22 "Then his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to those who bring death.
23 "If there is an angel as mediator for him, one out of a thousand, to remind a man what is right for him,
24 Then let him be gracious to him, and say, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom';
25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;
26 Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, that he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man.
27 "He will sing to men and say, 'I have sinned and perverted what is right, and it is not proper for me.
28 'He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, and my life shall see the light.'
3. God's purpose is disciplinary, not simply punitive (33:29-33)
a. Done to direct man away from the Pit
b. Done to enlighten man with the light of life
c. Therefore Job should listen to one as Elihu to teach him wisdom
29 "Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 "Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; keep silent, and let me speak.
32 "Then if you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.
33 "If not, listen to me; keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
B. GOD IS JUST (34:1-35:16)
1. Elihu proclaims God's justice (34:1-37)
a. He calls upon Job and his friends to listen to him
2 "Hear my words, you wise men, and listen to me, you who know.
3 "For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.
4 "Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.
b. He rebukes Job
1) For charging God of taking away his justice
2) For saying that it does not profit man to delight in God
5 "For Job has said, 'I am righteous, but God has taken away my right;
6 Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.'
7 "What man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water,
8 Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?
9 "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing when he is pleased with God.'
c. He proclaims that God is righteous and just in His dealings with man
1) Far be it from God to do wickedness or pervert justice
2) In His power God shows no partiality, but repays man according to his works
10 "Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to do wrong.
11 "For He pays a man according to his work, and makes him find it according to his way.
12 "Surely, God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.
13 "Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?
14 "If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
15 All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.
16 "But if you have understanding, hear this; listen to the sound of my words.
17 "Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,
18 Who says to a king, 'Worthless one,' to nobles, 'Wicked ones';
19 Who shows no partiality to princes nor regards the rich above the poor, for they all are the work of His hands?
20 "In a moment they die, and at midnight people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away without a hand.
21 "For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, and He sees all his steps.
22 "There is no darkness or deep shadow where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23 "For He does not need to consider a man further, that he should go before God in judgment.
24 "He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, and sets others in their place.
25 "Therefore He knows their works, and He overthrows them in the night, and they are crushed.
26 "He strikes them like the wicked in a public place,
27 Because they turned aside from following Him, and had no regard for any of His ways;
28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted-
29 When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, that is, in regard to both nation and man?-
30 So that godless men would not rule nor be snares of the people.
31 "For has anyone said to God, 'I have borne chastisement; I will not offend anymore;
32 Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will not do it again'?
33 "Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it? For you must choose, and not I; Therefore declare what you know.
d. He charges Job with sinning by how he spoken against God
34 "Men of understanding will say to me, and a wise man who hears me,
35 'Job speaks without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom.
36 'Job ought to be tried to the limit, because he answers like wicked men.
37 'For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.'"
2. Elihu condemns Job's reasoning (35:1-16)
a. He reproves Job for thinking righteousness does not profit one
2 "Do you think this is according to justice? Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'?
3 "For you say, 'What advantage will it be to You? What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?'
4 "I will answer you, and your friends with you.
5 "Look at the heavens and see; and behold the clouds-they are higher than you.
b. He claims that God is [neither injured nor benefited by man's] deeds
6 "If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?
7 "If you are righteous, what do you give to Him, or what does He receive from your hand?
8 "Your wickedness is for a man like yourself, and your righteousness is for a son of man.
9 "Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.
c. He contends that God may not respond to cries for help because of man's pride
10 "But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?'
12 "There they cry out, but He does not answer because of the pride of evil men.
13 "Surely God will not listen to an empty cry, nor will the Almighty regard it.
14 "How much less when you say you do not behold Him, the case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
d. He counsels Job to be patient and wait for God's justice, for Job has been speaking prematurely and foolishly
15 "And now, because He has not visited in His anger, nor has He acknowledged transgression well,
16 So Job opens his mouth emptily; he multiplies words without knowledge."
C. GOD IS GREAT (36:1-37:24)
1. Elihu proclaims God's goodness (36:1-23)
a. Asking Job to bear with him as he ascribes righteousness to God
b. Claiming that God may use affliction to draw the righteous to Himself
c. Job needs to take heed, for he has begun to act like the hypocrites
2. Elihu proclaims God's majesty (36:24-37:24)
a. God's greatness is beyond comprehension, as seen in the rain cycle
b. God's greatness is seen in the thunder, snow, and rain
c. In view of such greatness, what can man teach God?
These are the complaints that Job has raised and Elihu's response to them
"I have been deprived of the justice I deserve"
"I haven't done anything wrong"
"God hasn't explained himself to me, what he is doing"
Implied "My righteousness is more than God's" when he said "What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned" The scales are not balanced, Job thinks it's all give no get.
"People cry out to God for help but there is no help"