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As we come to look again in the word of the Lord, I remind my heart and yours about that indispensable principle, total reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. God has given us the Bible and now He want to illumine our hearts and show us the Lord Jesus.
I want to share this verse before we go to prayer, Acts 8:28, when the Ethiopian eunuch was reading the chapter in Isaiah, and it says, “Philip asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?,’” and he said, “No, how can I unless somebody explains it to me.” And then it says in verse 35, “Philip opened his mouth and began from that scripture and preached Jesus to him.” The whole point is that the words he was reading, he wasn’t reading some foreign language; he could understand the words. The words were very clear, but he didn’t understand the meaning; he need a revelation from the Lord. So, even if you are reading plain words in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit doesn’t illumine those words, you are not going to understand it. So, let’s pray together and then we’ll pick up where we left off.
Our Father, once again we thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit who ever turns our eyes to the Lord Jesus. We thank You for every part of Your Bible, and in a special way these days for the book of Job. We pray that you would shed the light on our Lord Jesus as we meditate together in the book of Job. We thank You in advance for over answering our request because our Lord Jesus certainly deserves it. In His name we pray. Amen.
Greetings and we thank the Lord for another opportunity to turn our eyes in a fresh way on the Person of the Lord Jesus. It’s not redundant to keep saying “look to Jesus”. It may sound that way, but that is our prayer and our heart, and we want to continually focus on Him. So, in any study where I’m privileged to address anybody, that’s going to be my emphasis. I want to do what Philip did; I’ll begin at the scripture that we’re at and then preach Jesus from that scripture. That’s what Philip did.
I think I told you this one time. I was working with the Open Air Campaigners and we were out doing a street work preaching in the street corners, and we had some hecklers. One of them was very much into church organization, and he yelled out, “What do you do with your converts?” In other words, “Do you point them to a church and follow up and all that kind of stuff?” “What do you do with your converts?” I’ll never forget the brother that was leading our group, said, “What do I do with the converts? The same thing Philip did with his; send him on his way rejoicing.” I thought that was a pretty good answer. One reason for that is that many times follow-up is foul-up, and we get involved, and only God follows up.
Let me review where we left off in our study. You remember the double challenge which is the backdrop of the book. God challenged Satan, Job 1:8, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant, Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless, upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And Satan responded to that in Job 1:10, “Have you not made a hedge about him, and his house and all that he has on every side? You’ve blessed the work of his hands, his possessions have increased in the land, but forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he’ll surely curse You to Your face.” Satan made a double insinuation, one against Job and one against the Lord. The insinuation against Job was that he’s in it for the money, and the only reason he serves You is because you put a hedge of blessing around him, and if it weren’t for that hedge he would curse You to Your face.
His insinuation against the Lord was this, and it’s implied, he said, “You are not wonderful enough in Yourself apart from Your gifts, if You were not a purveyor of gifts and Your weren’t giving things; You’re a glorified Santa Claus, and that’s all You are. That’s why people choose You and serve You and trust You and depend upon You and worship You. But if You had nothing to give, You would have no followers. That’s the challenge of this entire book.
Job knew nothing of that challenge between Satan and the Lord. Job had no clue whatsoever what took place in the heavenly place, and neither did the three friends that we were looking at. They knew nothing of that double challenge. They had come to see Job and they were amazed at the sight because they had never seen Job without the hedge, and now they see him and he’s stripped bare and he’s lost everything. God had permitted Satan to dismantle the hedge, and they went in to see their friend and now he’s suffering terribly in sack cloth and ashes, and they say, “What happened? We’ve never seen him without a hedge.” So, they have come to comfort him. They have come to encourage him. He is in pain, and he’s sorrowing and for seven days they were so moved by his pain that they never said a word. They just sat there and accompanied him for seven days. But they had come to comfort him, and not only that but to explain to him why he was suffering so. Not only that but to offer a solution, so that God would again bestow His favor upon him.
The problem is that they did not know what took place in the heavenly places, so they’re going to try to answer a question that the book doesn’t raise, “Why do the Godly suffer?” And they’ve got their ideas what they’re going to tell him. In our last lesson we looked at those three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. We sort of had an overview of thirty-eight chapters that I call the futile debates between Job and his three friends. It’s futile because they can’t know; that took place in heaven. And they’re going to try to figure out why he’s suffering? They have no clue. So, they’re on the wrong level altogether.
Why is Job in this predicament? They all have the same answer why Job is suffering, and it’s because of sin. That’s what they said. At the end God accuses Job, Job 38:2, “Who is this that darkens counsel by word without knowledge,” “Job, you don’t know what you’re talking about because you didn’t see behind the scenes.” At the end God accuses the three friends, as well, Job 42:7, “It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz, the Temonite, ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant, Job, has.’”
I gave a handout (see end of this message) but I did it again today because we’re going to refer back to it, or you can follow the debates between Job and his three friends. I’m not going to detail the arguments again in the review but they all had, as I said, the same preconceived idea, “Job, do you know why you are in this mess? Do you know why you are in this pain? Do you know why you lost everything? You lost your servants and you lost your money and you lost your health and you lost the support of your life partner, the lost sense of God’s presence, you lost your acquaintances, you lost your family, you lost everything because there is sin in your life.” That was their answer and they all had that same thing, “It’s either a secret sin or it’s a willful sin or it’s some kind of sin of ignorance, but you are suffering because of sin. Find out the sin and confess it, and then God will restore all your blessings, but that’s your problem.”
Of course, Job argued against that. He said, “That’s not why I’m suffering. I don’t know why but I didn’t do anything wrong; I didn’t sin.” And they go back and forth. So, he argues, “You guys are dead wrong because I didn’t do anything wrong, and besides, you say that the wicked suffer. Open your eyes; don’t you see that wicked people are prospering?” Job 21:7, “Why do wicked still live and continue on and become powerful?” Job 21:9, “Their houses are safe from fear; the wrath of God is not on them.” Job 21:13, “They spend their days in prosperity. You say God punishes the wicked? Look at them. Not all the wicked are punished. Many righteous are punished.” Job 9:17, Job’s conclusion, “Why are you suffering, Job?” Here is his answer, “He bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.” “There is not reason: the Lord is capricious. He gets in a mood and it was in His mood that He just started punishing me. I didn’t do anything wrong.” That’s how Job is coming at it; it’s without a cause. This gets even more serious. He not only says that He does it without a cause but in Job 19:6, “Know, then, God has wronged me and has closed His net around me.” What a charge to say that God did this for no reason, and He was wrong to do it! That’s where Job was.
I pointed out that each one, although they had the same foundation, that Job suffers because of sin, they each had a slightly different approach to how they drove that home. Elephaz, as we looked at, was the psychologist, he was the subjective one. He based everything on his experience, his observations. He looks at others and observes what is going on. He had dreams, he had feelings, he had emotions, and he said, “I had a dream and I’m telling you, you are suffering because of sin.” And then Bildad is the theologian, and the one with all the books, and the “talk of the ancestors”, and we’re not smart enough to know, “Let’s hear what Augustine said and Calvin said and Wesley said and let’s contact all of those who would know.” He’s the dogmatic one, “We take a rugged stand on this, and you’re suffering because of sin.”
Zophar, on the other hand, he’s the philosopher with human wisdom. Job 20:3, “I listened to the reproof which insults me. The spirit of my understanding makes me answer.” “It’s logical, it’s common sense; that’s why I speak; use your head. God gave you a brain. You are a sinner. You ought to just follow common sense.” Of course, common sense is fallen since the Sin, and logic doesn’t always take you to the Lord. How true are the words of Solomon, Proverbs 17:14, “The beginning of strife is like the letting out of water. Abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.” In other words, the dam is going to break. When they began, it was calm, and it ended up that they slapped his face; they spit in Jobs face. These were the friends of Job, and it got very, very physical. I love Proverbs 29:9, “When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, the foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.” Boy, does that describe politics, but I’m not going there. But that’s exactly what these friends did; they had no answer, so they just got angry and they were screaming and yelling, and that kind of thing. Job 19:2, “How long will you torment me and crush me with words? These ten times you’ve insulted me. You are not ashamed to wrong me.” Job 36:18 says, “Beware that wrath does not entice you to scoffing.” It leads to that; it starts off with a friendly little discussion and a theological bull session but after a while it gets physical.
When we closed last time, we went back to the Holy Spirit’s inspired question of the book. The book of Job does not answer the question, “Why do the Godly suffer?” The book of Job answers this question, “Is El Shaddai,” that’s the recurring title of the Lord in this book, thirty-eight times, “Is El Shaddai enough when the hedge comes down?” That’s the question of the book, “Is it enough to have the Lord and nothing else, not any blessing, just Him? That’s the question this book is going to answer.
Let me tell you what I’d like to do this morning. I want to leave the futile debates of his three friends, and I’d like to introduce you to the fourth friend. His name is Elihu. He’s introduced in chapter 32 but he’s been there the whole time. When the three friends came at the beginning, he was there, and he said nothing. I don’t know how long it took for the debates, these three debates where they went back and forth, but Elihu was there and he was listening but he said nothing. Job 32:1, “He waited patiently until the debate was over. Then these three men ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.” So, he just sat there, listened—he argued, he answered, he counter argued and so, on—he listened to the whole thing. After there was a season of silence, and nobody talking, Elihu explodes, I mean he explodes. Job 32:2&3, “The anger of Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite of the family of Ram, burned, against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his friends because they found no answer and yet had condemned Job.” It was a righteous anger. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry and sin not,” so there’s a way to be angry and not sin.
According to Elihu’s testimony, he waited out of courtesy; he was young and they were elders. Listen to verse 4, “Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they had found no answer, yet condemned Job because they were years older than he.” So, he’s a young guy, and he feels like, verse 6, “Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite, spoke and said, “I’m young in years, and you’re old, therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak, increased years should speak, wisdom.”
I’ll give you one little aside on this. I was not a good student at Bible school, and it was exam day, and me and my theology professor pulled up in the parking lot at the same time. So, we’re walking to my theology exam and my theology teachers said, “Ed, are you prepared for the exam?” I said, “Yeah, I claim the verse this morning, Psalm 119:99, ‘I have more wisdom than all my teachers.’” He said, “Don’t count on it.” He was right, actually.
Elihu was not ignorant of their arguments. Listen to Job 32:11&12, “I waited for your words, and I listened to your reasoning. While you pondered what to say, I paid close attention to you. Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, not one of you, that answered his words.” So, this is Elihu, and he’s been boiling, waiting to say something, but he’s a kind young man, respecting his elders and let them speak. Finally, they stop, and he just erupted. Job 32:19, He said, “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, like new wine skin that’s about to burst. Let me speak, that I might get relief, open my lips and answer.”
I want to look at what Elihu had to say. He finally speaks. What did he have to say, and what was his contribution to the whole book of Job and Job in particular? I’m going to begin at the end. I told you how God views the four men. Job 42:7, “It came about the Lord spoke in these words to Job. The Lord said to Eliphaz, the Temanite, ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant has.’” God said, “I am against your three friends, but He never said anything about Elihu. He didn’t say He was against Elihu. So, what contribution and how does Elihu differ from them? May the Lord open our eyes because in my heart this is true, what God does with Elihu.
How does Elihu begin? Well, he said that he listened carefully to Eliphaz, and he saw him coming as the psychologist, depending upon emotions and feelings and dreams and visions—subjective. He said, “I’ve seen how Bildad came, the theologian, dogmatic, ‘the talk of the ancestors, and what everybody else says, just human opinion, and I listened to Zophar, and he was the philosopher, human wisdom, glorifying the brain, thinking it through, and all that kind of thing,” and he set all that aside. He said, “I’m not going to come like Eliphaz came or like Bildad came or like Zophar came.” When you go through the record, you’re going to notice that Elihu speaks four times. Actually, he speaks once, and then he waits, “Anybody have anything to say?” Nobody said anything, so he continued. So, it’s the same message but there are four different times he spoke. Each time he spoke, he had a different emphasis. I want to show you that, and then I want to give you his contribution to Job and the history of redemption.
Job 36:1&2, “Elihu continued and said, ‘Wait for me a little and I’ll show you that there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.’” He said, “I’m speaking for the Lord. I’m not trying to get in an argument, I’m not trying to answer a question.” Job 32:21, “Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man. I don’t know how to flatter, thus My Maker would soon take me away.” He said, “I want you to listen; I’m not taking sides. I’m not on Job’s side. I’m not going to line up with those three friends. I’m not going to flatter anybody. I can’t; God won’t let me. I’m on God’s side. I’ve got something to say about the Lord.” So, that’s where he begins. Job 32:8, we know what Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar based their arguments on. What does Elihu base his argument on? Job 32:8, “There is a Spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.” He said, “I’m not speaking from my mind, from my emotion, from my will. I have a spirit and there is a Spirit of the Lord, and the Spirit of the Lord communicates with the human spirit.” Job 32:14 at the end, “Nor will I reply to him with your arguments.” “I’m not going to use your arguments.” Job 33:3, “My words are from the uprightness of my heart; my lips speak knowledge sincerely. The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me light.”
I hope you see what is happening here. This is so refreshing. Finally, someone says, “Wait a minute! How about God? Let Him speak. You all have your ideas and you all have counterpoints. Lets listen to the Lord and see what the Lord says.” And Elihu says, “The Lord has communicated with my spirit, and I’m going to proclaim what God says.” Job 36:3, “I’ll fetch my knowledge from afar; I’ll ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” It’s so refreshing. Job 33:28&29 says, “He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.” He says, “The Spirit of God ministers to my spirit and gives me the light of life.”
We remember when we were in John 1:4, “In Him was life and that life was the light of men.” So, finally now, we’ve got a man who is going to give an answer. Well, we’ll see. A man is going to speak, and his background is going to speak from the Lord. When we come to the end of natural wisdom, when everybody else shuts up, then God can bring in somebody who can give a word from heaven, give a word from the Spirit of God.
Do you remember when King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, and King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream? He wanted somebody to name the dream and interpret the dream. In the beginning of Daniel it says that Daniel was wiser than all of the magicians and the soothsayers. Of everybody in Babylon, Daniel was the wisest. But now Nebuchadnezzar needs a word from God. He didn’t call Daniel; he called the magicians. It wasn’t until everybody else failed, that God brought in Daniel. That’s how it is. These guys finally shut up; now let God speak. When there is a little bit of silence, God can get a word in edgewise.
Now, let me show you the three, the first one was introduction where he says, “I’m a young man,” and so on. So, three speeches. Let me give you what I think is the theme of each of those speeches. Again, this is not a message coming from books or man’s brain or man’s idea or emotion. This is now from the Lord. The essence of the first word, in Job 33&34, that’s Elihu’s first message, and it can be summarized in these words, “God is God, and Job, you are not God; you’re man. God is God and man is man. You are just a finite creature of the dust, an ignorant man. Because God is God, you have no right to challenge Him because you are man. Keep your place.” Job 34:5, “Job then said, ‘I am righteous. God has taken away my right.” What right? Elihu says, “You have no rights; He’s God.” Elihu heard Job claiming in Job 13:3, “I would speak with the Almighty; I desire to argue with God.” “Job, God’s God and you’re man. You want to argue with Him? Are you serious?” Job 13:15, “Though He slays me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless, I’ll argue my ways before Him.” Job 23:3, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat. I would present my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.” “I’ve got a lot to say, God. How come You won’t meet with me?” And Elihu’s first message is, “He’s God.” Job 19:6, “Know that God has wronged me,” says Job. Job 19:11, “He’s kindled His anger against me and considered me as an enemy.” Job’s confession, Job 33:9, “I’m pure, without transgression. I’m innocent; there’s no guilt in me. Behold, He invents pretexts against me, and He counts me as His enemy.” “Job, God is God. You’re man. What presumption you have to say, ‘God, I demand a meeting, I demand a hearing. You’ve got to come.’” Job 32:12, “Let me tell you,” this is Elihu speaking, “you are not right in this; God is greater than man.” Job 34:35, “Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without wisdom.” Job 35:16, “Job opens his mouth emptily.” Elihu who speaks the word of the Lord says, “Job, you are dead wrong.” Job 34:12, “Surely God will not act wickedly. The Almighty will not pervert justice. Your accusations against God are out of place.” Job 34:29, “When He keeps quiet, who can condemn? And when He hides His face, who can behold Him? That is in regard to both nation and man.” Job 33:13, “Why do you complain against Him, that He does not give an account of all His doings?” God doesn’t need to explain anything to anybody, and there’s no way they can know, unless God reveals it. So, that’s Elihu’s first word, that God is God and man is man; keep your place.
What’s the second message of Elihu? Job had been focusing on his suffering, focusing on his innocence, focusing on the absence of his hedge. The three friends had been focusing on the reason, focusing on sin, what is Job’s sin, his unconfessed sin. Job was focusing on arguing and denying the problem, and so he had to deny their solution. They just said repent, confess and get it right with God, and things would turn around for you. Job 7:20, “What have I sinned? What have I done to you, oh watcher of men? Why do you set me as your target, so I’m a burden to myself?” Elihu says, “You’re off-center; you are looking at your troubles, looking at your suffering, you’re looking for a solution, you’re looking to counter that solution, you’re looking at argument and you are looking in the wrong place.” Job 35:10, “No one says, ‘Where is God, my Maker, who gives songs in the night.’” “How come you are not looking at Him? How come you’re not looking to the Lord? It’s time you lifted your eyes from your sorrows, from your troubles, from your circumstances, from proposed solution, from trying to find an answer, and start looking up; look at the Lord. No one says, ‘Where is God?’ Focus on Him.” Job 35:7, “If you are righteous, what do you give Him? What does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness is for a man like yourself. Your righteousness is for a son of man.” “God doesn’t benefit if you are holy, and He doesn’t loose glory if you are sinful. God is God and you are man, so now start focusing on God. Take your eyes off of righteousness and off innocence and off suffering and debating, and all that kind of thing, and finally turn your eyes toward Him.” Those are the first two messages, God is God and you are man, so stay out of the Godhead, keep your place. Start looking to Him.
But then the third message is, and it’s almost tongue in cheek. Elihu says, “I’m telling you to look to Him, but you can’t see Him; He’s incomprehensible; He’s invisible.” Job 36:27 all the way through 43:24, Elihu begins to expound on some of the wonders and mysteries of God. He mentions the rain, the weather, the thunder, and the lightning. He said, “Every time lightning strikes, it hits the garden that God has planned it to hit.” That’s an amazing verse. The snow, animal behavior, Job couldn’t even explain the slightest of these and he has not yet come to the moon and the stars and the galaxies and the creatures of the sea and what’s on the other side of death, and all of that. “Job, you want an answer, AN answer.” Do you know what he got? Seventy-nine questions. God just gives him seventy-nine more questions, “You want an answer to one little question? Why is there suffering? Well, try to answer this, and answer this and answer this and answer this. Job 36:5, “God is mighty and does not despise any. He’s might in strength of understanding.” Job 36:22, “God is exalted in His power; who is a Teacher like Him? Who has appointed Him His way? Who said to Him, ‘You’ve done wrong?’” Job 36:26, “God is exalted; we do not know Him. The number of His years is unsearchable.” Job 37:5, “God thunders with His voice, doing wondrous things, great things that we cannot comprehend.” “Job, God is God and you are man; keep your place. Job, you need to focus, look at the Lord and stop looking at everything else. You need to look at the Lord and stop looking at everything else; you need to look at the Lord.”
Now, looking at the Lord, you need to see that you aren’t going to see Him with these eyes. He’s infinite and He’s incomprehensible. Job 37:23, “The Almighty, we can not find Him. He is exalted in power; He’ll not do violence. Justice and abundant righteousness; God knows what He’s doing.” Job 37:13, “Whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.” Everything God does is either for correction, or for His world or for lovingkindness. That’s His modus operandi. So, that’s the third message, that you need to look to the Lord but you can’t.
Alright, let me attempt, this is the whole point of what I wanted to share this morning. Elihu is different than the other three, different because he is believing that the Lord can give an answer, and he’s looking to the Lord. What is the contribution that Elihu makes to Job, to the Bible, to the history of redemption and ultimately to your life and to my life? Elihu, unlike Job or his three friends, in all of his messages he doesn’t try to give an answer. What does he give? May God help us see this; he gives a direction; he doesn’t give an answer; he gives a direction. He says, “Take your eyes off everything and look to the Lord and you’ll never finally see Him. But look in that direction.” That was Elihu’s contribution, “Don’t look around, don’t look within, don’t look at circumstances, don’t try to figure things out; just lift up your eyes to your Maker; look to the Lord.” That’s a million times better than trying to give an answer. Christian counselors and all that, they always try to give an answer. You don’t need an answer; you need a direction. I don’t need an answer; I need a direction. As servants of the Lord, we can focus people to turn to the Lord, not trying to give them an answer, and not solve their problem, not telling them what I think you should do, and all that kind of thing.
It’s a very interesting observation when you contrast, and that’s why I handed out those notes again. You can glance at it. The three debates between his friends contrasted with Elihu. In the first debate, it was crystal clear when they began to speak. When they stopped speaking, when Job spoke, and when Job stopped in the first debate in Job 4:1, Eliphaz speaks, in Job 6:1, Job responds, in Job 8:1 Bildad speaks, in Job 9:1, Job responds, in Job 11:1 Zophar speaks, in Job 12:1 Job responds. It’s the same thing in the second debate, Job 15:1, Eliphaz speaks, in Job 16:1, Job responds, in Job 18:1, Bildad speaks, in Job 19:1, Job responds, in Job 22:1, Zophar speaks, and in Job 26:1, Job responds. It’s the same in the third debate, Job 22:1, Eliphaz speaks, in Job 23:1, Job responds, Job 25:1, Bildad speaks, in Job 26:1, Job responds. It’s clear to see when they began and when they stopped.
When you come to Elihu and his three messages, he began in Job 32:6, but when you come to Job 34:1 it’s just says, “Elihu continued and said…” When you come to Job 34:1 it says, “Elihu continued and said…” And when you come to Job 35:1, it says, “He continued again…” when you come to Job 36:1 it says, “He continued…” That’s different. Elihu speaks and waits and nobody speaks. He speaks, waits, and nobody responds, not Job and not the friends.
Here is my question, “When did Elihu stop speaking?” You say, “Well, clearly, in Job 38:1, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the Whirlwind.” He stopped speaking when God started to speak. Suddenly, and it doesn’t say he stopped, Elihu is teaching and preaching, and he’s telling them the truth, and out of the whirlwind God speaks. I don’t know if that whirlwind is literal, a tornado or this is poetry, and maybe it’s just a whirlwind that Job is in, all his confusion.
We look at chapter 37 and the beginning of 38 because Ellihu is speaking clearly in 37. In the beginning of 38 God speaks, but here’s my question, and I think I have light on this, “Did Elihu stop speaking when God started to speak or was he just teaching the truth, teaching, teaching, teaching, and Job was listening to Elihu, and all of a sudden he hears the Lord, but Elihu is still speaking? Everything that God is saying, in my understanding, is still Elihu; he is still preaching but now Job for the first time is not listening to a human instrument; he’s listening to the Lord, and as Elihu begins to expound on El Shaddai, “He’s great, He’s marvelous and He’s more than enough,” Job starts hearing the Lord. You see, Job was looking for an answer, “Why am I suffering.” Instead of an answer, as I said, he just got more questions, and he was overwhelmed with that. Job 38:4, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who set its measurements, since you know? Who stretched a line out, and on what were its bases sunk? Who laid its cornerstone when the Morningstar sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:8, “Who enclosed the sea with doors, when bursting forth it went out from the womb, and I said, ‘Thus far you shall come and no further. Here your proud ways shall stop.’” Job 38:12, “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the end of the earth?” He is machine-gunning all of these questions to Job. Job 38:19, “Where is the way, the dwelling of light and darkness? Where is its place, that you may take it to its territory, that you may discern the paths of its home. You know; you were born then. The number of your days is great.” Job 38:31, “Can you bind the chains of the Pleades, loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth a constellation in its season and guide the bear where they are settling?” He’s talking about the galaxies, “Come on, Job. You want an answer? Anwer a few of these questions.” Job 38:36, “Who put wisdom in the innermost being, giving understanding to the mind?” “Who created the brain? Job. Answer that.” Job 39:19, “Do you give the horse its might? Do you clothe its neck with a mane?” Job 39:26, “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching out its wings toward the south? Is it at your command the eagle mounts up and makes a nest on high on the cliff he lodges upon the rocky crag and inaccessible place?”
In the middle of those questions, Job finally responds. Job 40:3, “Job answered the Lord and said, ‘Behold, I’m insignificant. What can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. Once I’ve spoken, I’ll not answer. Even twice, I will add nothing more.” It’s almost like Job is saying, “I get it! I get it finally! Stop! It’s too much; I can’t handle it.” He didn’t get it. I don’t care what he said, “Alright, I get it! Stop! I won’t talk.” Job 40:6, “The Lord answered Job out of the storm, and said, ‘Now, gird up your loins like a man. I’ll ask you; you instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? Job 41:11, “Who is given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.” Job said, “Okay, okay, I get it.” God said, “No, you don’t, not yet. Gird up your loin like a man; I’m not done.” And then He fires some more questions, unanswerable questions.
I wanted you to see the ministry to Job by Elihu. Here’s a man that has a word from God. Here’s a man who turns your focus to the Lord. And here’s a man that shares the glories of the Lord until people start hearing the Lord, and then he disappears off the pages of scripture. You know, when I read about Elihu, that’s the prayer of my heart. I hope you never hear an opinion in my messages. I hope as I begin to share, somewhere along the way God starts speaking to your heart. That’s what I know, and that I just go off the page. It’s like the mud and spit; I’m the blind man and it’s washed me away, and then you can see. That’s Elihu; that’s his ministry. He is somebody that doesn’t give an answer, but he has a word from God, and he gives a direction, and sets them to focus on the Lord, and then continues until the Lord takes over, and then he just fades away. I just love Elihu.
Anyway, God’s people, to be honest with you, they don’t need the approach of Eliphaz. They don’t need psychology and human behavior and group dynamics and all that kind of stuff. They don’t need that. And they don’t need Bildad and some creedal statement and some dogmatic truth and some bigwig theologian set along that. They don’t need that. And they don’t need Zophar, “Use your brain; God gave you a mind. Everything is logical; follow the logic.” They don’t need that. What God’s people need is men like Elihu who hear from God, who focus and turn your attention to the Lord, even though you can’t comprehend. At least look in that direction, and then boast about Jesus until God takes over. Well, that’s Elihu. I hope you enjoyed meeting him.
Anway, we’re not finished at all, yet, with Job. We’re going to stop here for now. We’re going to come to Job 42:5&6, “I’ve heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear.” What does that mean? We need to talk about that. “Now I see Thee.” What does that mean? We need to talk about that. “I repent; I retract and repent in dust and ashes.” What does that mean? We need to talk about that. And then the double blessing; remember that his blessing was double. Yes, that’s the first born. What is going on? We need to talk about that. So, we’re not done. Pray as I prepare, and that the Lord would prepare our hearts.
Our Father, we thank You, not for what we think we know or might understand, but for Your words and what You have revealed. We ask You, Lord, to work in our hearts what You’ve inspired, not what we’ve expounded. We thank You, Lord, that You are faithful to do this. We ask you to burn those truths into our hearts and lives, and I pray that You would encourage us to be servants that You can use and speak through. Thank You for those You’ve brought here and just make these things real in our hearts. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF JOB
I. THE PROSE INTRODUCTION (JOB 1 & 2)
II. THE POETRY SECTION (JOB 3-42:6)
THE THREE DEBATES BETWEEN JOB AND HIS FRIENDS (JOB 3-31)
ELIPHAZ
1. ELIPHAZ ROUND 1 (JOB 4 & 5); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 6-7)
2. ELIPHAZ ROUND 2 (JOB 15); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 16-17)
3. ELIPHAZ ROUND 3 (JOB 22); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 23-24)
BILDAD
1. BILDAD ROUND 1 (JOB 8); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 9-10)
2. BILDAD ROUND 2 (JOB 18); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 19)
3. BILDAD ROUND 3 (JOB 25); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 26-27)
ZOPHAR
1. ZOPHAR ROUND 1 (JOB 11); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 12-14)
2. ZOPHAR ROUND 2 (JOB 20); JOB’S REPLY (JOB 26-27)
ELIHU
ELIHU’S 3 SPEECHES (JOB 32-37) GOD’S RESPONSE (JOB 26-27)
III. THE PROSE CONCLUSION (JOB 42:7-17)