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The Harvester Podcast is brought to you by the Florida School of Preaching. Listen weekly to take a dive into biblical topics and thoughtful studies on things that matter to our eternal souls.
Welcome to the Harvester Podcast.
We are happy that you have joined us
today.
And we look forward to another bumper sode
as we call them.
These are episodes between seasons on the
book of Job.
We are discussing now during this time.
And we have looked at a lot of things from
the book of Job,
and today we're going to look at Elihu.
We've entitled this episode Elihu,
Good Guy or Bad Guy. In other words,
and we'll see from the context whether he
really contributes to
the discussion or not ~ in the book of
Job.
And of course, just to recap, you know,
the book of Job is one of the great books
of the Bible.
Of course, all of them are great in their
own way.
And we appreciate God putting that in the
in the canon of Scripture that
we can have. But Job, of course,
opens up, and of course the the the thing
about the book of Job,
it's often said that it tells us why the
righteous suffer,
which it does not do. It does show that
the righteous do suffer,
like Job.
Now the first two chapters we have Satan
challenging Job,
or actually challenging God about the
faithfulness of Job.
Job ~ knows nothing about those that
discussion ~ that we do know about because
we have it revealed to us. And Job and his
three friends both held to what
we have identified and others have called
it that first and not original with us,
but retribution theology. That is,
~ if you are suffering this
Theory says if you suffer, you must have
sinned and God is punishing you for that.
So if you did a little suffering,
like banged your thumb with a hammer,
then you must have sinned just a little
bit,
and God is getting you back for that.
But if you're suffering tremendously,
then your sin must be tremendous.
And so both Job and his three friends
thought this way,
but now all of a sudden this tragedies
have happened to Job.
And he knows he has not sinned to the
point where he deserves that kind
of punishment. Now he does not deny sin.
He does mention sins of his youth,
etc. The three friends, though,
they think that Job has to have sinned
because God would not allow
him to suffer this way unless he has
punished him for sin.
And so the three friends start out gently
trying to persuade
Job to repent.
And then God will forgive him,
and then his suffering will be over.
And then as the three cycles of speech,
now of course in chapters one and two we
have the scene set.
Chapter three, Job curses the day of his
birth.
That is, if I wasn't born, this would have
never happened to me.
And then in chapter four, through chapter
thirty-one,
or actually through chapter twenty-eight,
we have the cycle of speeches where ~
Elihu
Bildad and Zophar ~ you know,
question Job and try to get him to repent.
And so they each one speaks, Job answers,
each one speaks, Job answers, ~ all the
way through the cycle.
And the third cycle, of course,
just ~ Zophar does not speak, but Job
answers the two.
And there c comes a point in that
discussion where they downright accuse
Job of certain sins.
Of course, which he has not committed,
and he denies, and then chapters
twenty-nine through thirty-one,
Job's oath of innocence that we looked at.
And so now in these chapters, chapter
thirty-two through thirty-seven,
we have a another character that enters
the picture,
and his name is Elihu. And we'll discuss
him today as we look at this.
And so in Elihu is first introduced in
chapter thirty-two,
so these three men ceased.
Answering Job because he was righteous in
his own eyes.
Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of
Barakel,
the Buzite, of the family of Ram,
was aroused against Job. His wrath was
aroused because he justified himself
rather
than God. Also against his three friends
his wrath was aroused because they
had found no answer, and yet had condemned
Job.
Now because
They were years older than Elihu,
and had waited to speak to Job.
When Elihu saw that there was no answer in
the mouth of these three men,
his wrath was aroused. Okay, so those
first five verses introduce
us to Elihu. Now the big discussion,
and hence the title of this, does Elihu,
is he a good guy or a bad guy?
Does he actually contribute to
to the discussion, or does he just show
the futility of trying
to answer Job's situation? Now again,
some would say he's a good guy,
you know, that in that he generally
contributes to discussion between
Job and his friends. Now others would say,
you know, he's he falls in the same
category as the three friend,
in that it the three friends in that he
does not contribute one bit
to solving the problem of Job's suffering.
And ~ one thing about it is is that he you
know there's no absolutely
no response in the book whatever to what
Elihu says.
You know, Job doesn't answer him,
God does not approve him or condemn him.
There's just i it's almost like he is
ignored.
And so because of that, you know,
there are two views ~ as to why that's the
case.
Maybe
One view is that he contributes his
contribution is so insignificant that
he is not worthy of response, or maybe
that his contribution gets closer
to a solution, but he still falls short ~
in satisfactorily answering the problem.
And so he's kind of remains there.
Now now it is true, and we're going read
read the text here in just a moment.
It is true that some of what he says is
true again.
But again, the same argument could be made
of
You Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
A lot of what they say is true as well.
It just doesn't apply to Job. And so maybe
Elihu gets a little bit closer,
but he still, you know, falls short.
There's some things that he does say
that's not true,
and we'll see some of that as we go
through this,
just like the friends. And so it's it's
kind of an enigma.
But it you know, he does seem to come off
well,
it does say in the verses that we just
read that the three friends were much
older
than Elihu in verse four.
And so that's why he waited last to speak.
And so he apparently was with them the
whole time,
observing what they were saying and
observing what Job had to say.
And so sometim sometimes in a culture like
this,
you know, the younger you are,
the less respected you are. And so maybe
that's the reason why they just ignored
him. ~ but again he also says here that
his wrath in verse two,
then the wrath of Elihu was aroused
against Job.
So he was angry at Job.
Because, according to the text,
Job justified himself rather than God.
But we know Job's justification of himself
rather than God was
not sinful because again God's assessment
of Job is he did not sin.
And he was actually served as priest for
the other three friends.
We'll see that in another bump or sode
here at the end of the book,
because they needed forgiveness from what
they did,
the three friends, and so Job offered
sacrifice for that.
But Elihu does come off angry,
like an angry young man type of person,
his wrath was also aroused, because they
found no answer,
and yet condemned Job. And so again,
Elihu's wrath was against the three
friends,
and it was against Job. So from that you
could maybe see he's just
an angry young guy popping off at Job and
popping off at the three friends.
But maybe again to the side of the good
guy,
maybe his wrath was righteous.
indignation. Alright, but either way,
~ he is angry, he is much younger,
and ~ verse five,
when Elihu saw that there was no answer in
the mouth of these three friends,
his wrath was aroused, again showing the
anger at the three friends.
Alright, and so when we think about when
we get into the Elihu speeches,
his first speech covers
chapter thirty two six through chapter
thirty three thirty three He begins
by giving a defense for speaking,
so he justifies himself for speaking.
So Elihu, the son of Barekiah verse six,
the Busite answer and said, I am young in
years,
I am young in years, and you are very old,
therefore I was afraid and dared not
declare my opinion to you.
I said age should speak and multitude of
years should teach wisdom.
But there is a spirit in man, and the
breath of the Almighty gives
him understanding. Great men are not
always wise,
nor do the aged always understand justice.
And that is true, and of course he he
would include in that Job
and the three friends, their which,
you know, Job was very wise, very good.
The three friends were known for their
wisdom,
just made rot wrong applications.
But anyway, therefore, verse ten,
I say, Listen to me, I also will declare
my opinion.
Indeed, I waited for your words.
I'm reading from the New King James
Translation,
and he does call this his opinion.
Indeed I wither I waited for your words,
I listened to you your reasonings while
you searched out what to say.
I paid close attention to you,
and surely not one of you convinced Job.
Or answered his words. Lest you say we
have found wisdom,
God will vanquish him, not man.
Now he has not directed his words against
me,
so I will not answer him with your words.
And so in the whole discussion,
Job did not speak, did not address Elihu,
and so he said there in the end of verse
14,
So I will not answer him with your words.
And so Elihu is not going to use the same
arguments.
at least he thinks, will not use the same
arguments against Job as
the three friends did. ~ They are dismayed
and answered no more,
words escape them, Elihu says about the
friends,
but I have waited because they did not
speak,
because they stood still and answered no
more.
I also will answer my part, I too will
declare my opinion,
for I am full of words the spirit within
me compels me.
And so he has a lot to say here,
and again that may come across as
arrogant.
I'm going to show you three friends,
you don't have an answer, I'm going to
show you what I do.
Indeed, verse nineteen, my belly is like
wine that has no vent.
It is ready to burst like new wineskins.
I will speak that I may find relief.
I must open my lips and answer.
Let me not let me not, I pray,
show partiality to anyone, nor let me
flatter any man.
And so that was verse twenty-one.
And before that, it sounds like,
you know, he's he's he's gotta just he's
gotta say something.
And we all know people that are like that.
You know, they just gotta say something.
They they hold it in all this time,
they just gotta vent. We might say vent,
but if it's a good thing, maybe vents the
right wrong word.
But again, he does acknowledge he does not
want to show partiality,
and he does not want to flatter anyone,
for I do not know how to flatter.
Else my Maker would soon take me away.
So he realizes he needs to guard his
speech.
And so that's his defense for speaking.
And then in chapter 33, he gives a
disputation about God's efforts
to redeem. Now, ~ 1 through 7,
there's a further defense that he gives of
him speaking.
~ Chapter 33, verse 1, but please.
Job, hear my speech and listen to all my
words.
Now I open my mouth, my tongue speaks in
my mouth.
Verse three, my words come from my upright
heart,
my lips utter pure knowledge, the Spirit
of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me
life.
Yes, that's true. But of course the
friends would say similar things as well.
I can answer if you can answer me,
set your words in order before me and
Take your stand. And so here's a
challenge.
Even though he didn't say he would speak
directly to Job with the same arguments,
but he likewise challenges them,
you know, if you can answer me,
it's an invitation to answer me.
He wants him to answer, set your words,
so that might give a little bit of
arrogance as well,
same thing as the three friends.
Truly I am as your spokesman before God.
I also have been formed out of the clay.
Surely no fear of me will terrify you.
Nor will my hand be heavy on you.
And so again he addresses this seemingly
directly to Job,
and he gives Job a defense while he's
speaking.
All right, now he talks about the
disputation here in verses
8 through 30. First, there's an
acknowledgement of Job's claim of
innocence,
8 through 11. Surely you have spoken in my
hearing.
And I have heard the sound of your words,
and this is referring to chapters
twenty-nine through thirty-one.
And again it shows that Elihu was sitting
here the whole time.
I am pure without transgression,
and he's this is what he takes Job as
saying.
I am pure without transgression,
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in
me.
Well Job did not declare such a thing.
In Job thirteen, verse twenty-six,
when he is answering Zophar, all the way
up from chapter eleven,
he makes this statement: You put my feet
actually,
verse twenty-six, for you write bitter
things against me,
and make me inherit the si the iniquities
of my youth.
And so he does say he has iniquities from
his youth,
that he is not, you know, he is not
perfectly sinless.
He does have iniquities from his youth,
but he has
Gotten over those, he's repented of those,
and he's blameless of those, but Zophar
seems to be bringing those back upon him.
And so Job does not claim he is innocent
of anything,
that he is pure and totally righteous,
as Elihu states right here. In verse ten
of Job thirty-three,
Elihu continues, Yet he finds occasions
against me,
and he's he is speaking what he hears Job
saying
Yet he finds occasion against me and
counts me as his enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks,
he watches all my paths.
And again,
this is some of what Job said in chapter
19,
and we discuss that over there.
All right, then verse 12 through 30 Elihu
responds,
makes a response to the disputation that
he just talked about Job as.
saying and thinking. And so he begins that
response,
verses twelve through twenty two,
by speaking of God's disciples.
verse twelve he says, Look, is this you or
in this you are not righteous?
I will answer you, for God is greater than
man.
Why do you contend with him? For he does
not give an accounting of any of his
words.
For God may speak in one way or in
another,
yet man does not perceive it.
In a dream and a vision of the night,
when deep silence falls upon men,
while slumbering on their beds.
Then he opens the ears of men and seals
their instructions in order to turn
man from his deed, and conceal pride from
man,
he keeps back his soul from the pit,
and his life from perishing by the sword.
In other words, God will watch over his
people,
he will not allow them
to to perish and things like this,
which there may be in all this kind of a
hint that,
you know, God is bringing this upon you,
Job, because you deserve it. Elihu
continues verse nineteen,
man is also chastened with pain on his bed
and with strong path in many
of his bones.
And then in verse twenty, so that his life
abores bread
and his soul succulent food, his flesh
waste away from sight,
and his bones stick out which once were
not seen.
Yes, his soul draws near the pit,
and his life to the executioners.
And so again ~ the disciplines here of God
he does this to people.
And again, there may be a slight hint here
from Elihu that God is bringing this
on you because of that, which again would
~ kind of go along with
the three friends and how they were wrong
about that as well.
All right, and then verses 23 through 30,
God provides a mediator for those upon
whom he inflicts pain.
If there is a messenger for him,
a mediator, one among a thousand,
to show man his uprightness,
Then he is gracious to him, and says,
Deliver him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be
young like a child's,
he shall return to the days of his youth.
He shall pray to God, and he will delight
in him.
He shall see his face with joy,
for he restores to man his righteousness.
Then he looks at men and says,
I have sinned and preserved or perverted
what was right,
and it did not profit me.
He will redeem his soul from going down to
the pit,
and his life shall see the light.
And so in other words, if a person
repents,
if he realizes he is wrong, then God will
send him a mediator to deliver him.
And again, this could be taken as a hint,
Job, that you need to repent, and that
would put Elihu as kind of a bad
guy like the three friends, what he says
is true,
but doesn't rightly apply to Job.
continuing chapter thirty-three
twenty-nine,
behold, God works all these things twice,
in fact, three times with a man,
to bring back his soul from the pit,
that he may be enlightened with the light
of life.
In other words, God urges people,
causes them to repent because he wants to
protect them.
He wants good, keep them from going to the
pit.
And again, that's true. You know,
the prayer in the Sermon on the Mount,
deliver us from evil, ~ is true.
God will deliver us sometimes from it.
Sometimes He'll be with us through it,
but God does sometimes deliver us from
evil.
But again, is this a hint that Job,
that this is God's all the suffering that
Job is enduring,
is this God's way of saying, Hey,
~ repent and come out of that,
and I will bless you. All right,
~ give ear, he does say in verse 31,
give ear, Job, listen to me, hold your
peace,
and I will speak.
If you have anything to say, answer me,
speak, for I desire to justify you.
If not, listen to me, hold your peace,
and I will teach you wisdom. And so again
that can come across as kind
of being arrogant. You know, give ear,
listen to me, I will teach you wisdom.
And notice he does say in verse thirty
two,
for I desire to justify you. And so again,
Elihu's purpose here is desire to.
show things right for Job. But again,
in his so doing, is he actually trying to
get Job to repent and again taking
the same view as the three friends.
And so chapter thirty-three, thirty-one
through thirty three is really
an invitation for Job to answer,
and again
To continue the speech and to perhaps get
Job to see his need for repentance.
In chapter thirty-four, Elihu begins his
second speech.
He starts off with an invitation for Job
to listen,
verses one through four. We read,
Elihu further answered and said,
Hear my words, you wise men, give ear to
me,
you who have knowledge. For the ear tests
words,
and the palate tastes food. Let us choose
justice for ourselves,
let us know among ourselves what is good.
And so again, he's addressing not just
Job,
as I mentioned earlier, but all four of
them,
the three friends plus Job. And he invites
them to hear what he has to say.
Now he brings up a disputation.
Again, ~ there's a presentation of Job's
complaint against God,
verses five through nine. For Job has
said,
and again it's kind of one sided,
Job is not responding. He's just this is
what Job has said I am righteous,
but God has taken away my justice.
Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without
transgression.
What man is like Job who drinks scorn like
water,
who goes in company with the workers of
iniquity and walks with wicked men?
For he has said it profits a man nothing
that he should delight in God.
Now some of these are very close to quotes
that Job has said,
but again is Elihu properly applying them
to Job?
And then Job anticipates a response and
gives a response to what he says
Job has said in verse ten through thirty
of chapter thirty-four.
First of all, he presents his thesis,
God's rule is just, verses ten through
fifteen.
Here we read, Therefore, listen to me,
you men of understanding, far be it from
God to do wickedness and from
the Almighty to commit iniquity.
For he repays man according to his work.
And makes man to find a reward according
to his way.
Surely God will never do wickedly,
nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Who gave him charge over the earth,
or who appointed him over the whole world?
If he should set his heart on it,
if he should gather to himself his spirit
and his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.
And so here God's rule is just.
And of course, again, as we mentioned,
the friends would also talk say things
like this,
the three friends would, and so a lot of
what they say is true,
but they wrongly apply it to Job.
Now again, whether Elihu is, you be the
judge of that.
All right, but then Elihu continues to
defend his thesis in verses sixteen
through
thirty. Sixteen through thirty.
If you have understanding, hear this.
Listen to the sound of my words.
Should one who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn him who is most just?
Is it fitting to say to a king,
you are worthless, and to nobles you are
wicked?
He yet he is not partial to princes,
nor does he regard the rich more than the
poor,
for they are all the work of his hands.
In a moment they die in the middle of the
night the people are shaken and pass away.
The mighty are taken away without a hand.
For his eyes are on the ways of man and he
sees all his steps.
There is no darkness nor shadow of death,
where the workers of iniquity may hide
themselves,
for he need not further consider a man,
that he should go before God in judgment.
He breaks in pieces mighty men without
inquiry,
he sets others in their place.
Therefore he knows their works,
he overthrows them in the night,
and they are crushed.
He strikes them as wicked men in the open
sight of others,
because they turned back from him,
and would not consider any of his ways,
so that they cause the cry of the poor to
come to him,
for he hears the cry of the afflicted.
When he gives quietness, who then can make
trouble?
And when he hides his face,
who then can see him, whether it is
against a nation or a man alone?
That the hypocrite should not reign until
lest people be ensnared. And so there
again he is defending his thesis.
But again, is he applying this to Job
wrongly,
calling Job a hypocrite in verse 30,
for example, and other things,
in which case he would be taken up the
part of the friends.
in this section of a disputation,
Elihu
Gives a call for decision. in verse thirty
one thirty three for as anyone said
to God I have borne chastening,
I will offend no more. Teach me what I do
not see,
if I have done iniquity, I will do no
more.
Should he repay it according to your
terms?
Just because you disavow it, you must
choose and not I.
Therefore speak what you know.
And so again this section here,
Elihu does come across kind of being
arrogant,
calling for Job to confess, to admit what
he has done,
in which case again he would take up with
the three friends.
All right, and then finally in this second
speech,
Elihu's judgment on Job verses thirty four
through thirty seven.
Men of understanding say to me,
wise men who listen to me, Job speaks
without knowledge.
His words are without wisdom. that Job
were tried to the utmost,
because his answers are like those of
wicked men.
For he adds rebellion to his sin,
he claps his hands among us and multiplies
his words against God.
And so this kind of seems close to Elihu
accusing Job of sin,
at least in his reaction, in Job's
reaction to his suffering.
Notice his answers are like those of
wicked men,
but yet God never condemns Job as wicked.
He adds rebellion to his sin. So he
already has to have sin in order
to add rebellion to it. And so in this
section it appears that Elihu is
~ right on with the three friends in
accusing Job of sin.
And then the third speech of Elihu's in
chapter thirty-five,
verses one through sixteen.
And he begins this with an acknowledgement
of Job's concern about
his own right verses one through four.
Do you think it well actually chapter
thirty five verse one?
Moreover, Elihu answered and said,
Do you think this is right? Do you say my
righteousness is more than God's?
For you say, What advantage will it be to
you?
What profit shall I have more than if I
had sinned?
I will answer you and your companions with
you.
And so again, this does seem a little bit
of arrogance here.
All right, then verses five through
sixteen in this third speech,
Elihu's response is that God's justice is
sovereign.
And again, what he's going to say is true
in a lot of ways,
but is he wrongly applying this to Job?
Look to the heavens and see, and behold
the clouds.
They are higher than you. If you sin,
what do you accomplish against him?
Or if your transgressions are multiplied,
what do you do to him? If you are
righteous,
what do you give him? Or what does he
receive from your hand?
Your wickedness affects a man such as you,
and your righteousness a son of man.
Because of the multitude of oppressions
they cry out,
that is the wicked.
They cry out for help because of the arm
of the Almighty,
but no one says Where is God my maker?
Who gives songs in the night? Who teaches
us more than the beast out of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of
heaven?
There they cry out, but he does not
answer,
because of the pride of evil men.
Surely God will not listen to empty talk,
nor will the almighty regard it.
Although you say you do not see him,
yet justice is before him, you must wait
for him,
and now because he is not punished in his
anger,
nor taken much notice of folly,
therefore Job opens his mouth in vain,
he multiplies words without knowledge.
And again he does accuse Job there of some
things,
and some of that on one level may be true,
but again God never talks this way about
Job.
And so keep that in mind when we think
about this.
And then finally, Elihu's fourth speech
covers chapters thirty-six through
thirty-seven, twenty-four. Now it's
introduced as the others are,
verses one through four. Elihu also
proceeded and said,
Bear with me a little, and I will show you
that there are yet words
to speak on God's behalf. In other words,
you haven't heard from God,
you haven't heard
God's wisdom, and I'm going to show it to
you,
which can come across kind of arrogant.
I will fetch my knowledge from afar.
I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
For truly my words are not false.
One who is perfect in knowledge is with
you.
And hopefully he's talking about God,
but it seems to be he's talking about
himself.
He says, I, I, I, one who is perfect in
knowledge is with you.
Okay? All right, but then
In verses five through twenty five,
Elihu speaks about God's disciplinary
ways,
~ and that is in two parts.
The central teaching is that the promise
of God's discipline verses five through
fifteen notice behold, God is mighty but
despises no one.
He is mighty in strength of understanding,
he does not preserve the life of the
wicked,
but gives justice to the oppressed.
He does not withdraw his eyes from the
righteous,
but they are on the throne with kings,
for he has seated them forever,
and they are exalted. And if they are
bound in fetters,
held in the cords of affliction,
then he tells them their work and their
transgressions,
that they have acted defiantly.
He also opens their ear to instruction and
commands that they turn from iniquity.
And again all that is true so far as the
God's disciplinary ways, but is this this
happening to Job,
God's discipline, chastisement,
is that a chastisement of Job?
And so he concludes this little section
here about God's disciplinary ways
in chapter thirty six, sixteen through
twenty five,
by giving a warning to Job. If they obey
and serve him,
they shall
spend their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasures. But if they
do not obey,
they shall perish by the sword,
and they shall die without knowledge.
But the hypocrites in heart store up
wrath,
they do not cry for help, when he binds
them,
they die in youth, and their life ends
among the perverted persons.
He delivers the poor in their affliction,
and opens their ears in oppression.
And again that goes with the section about
God's disciplinary ways. And again,
some of what he says is true, but does it
apply to Job?
And that's the question. And so ~ he gives
this warning to Job
in verses sixteen through twenty-five.
Indeed he would have brought you,
Job, out of dire distress into a broad
place where there is no restraint.
And what is set on your table with that
would be full of riches,
but you are filled with judgment
Do to the wicked, judgment and justice
take hold of you.
Because there is wrath, beware lest he
take you away with one blow,
for a larger ransom would not help you to
avoid it.
And again is he you know, is he warning
Job not to enter into sin because
of what he what Job previously discussed,
or is he applying that to what pre Job
previously discussed,
thus in a sense saying to Job you deserve
this?
Will your riches or all the mighty forces
keep you from distress?
Do not desire the night when people are
cut off in their place.
Take heed, do not desire, do not turn to
iniquity,
for you have chosen this rather than
affliction.
Behold, God is exalted by his power,
who teaches like him, who has assigned him
his way,
or who has said, You have done wrong,
that is to God, you have done wrong.
And an in other words, kinda implying that
what Job has said,
you're calling God wrong. Okay?
Now again, we discussed this back in
chapter 19.
What Job says does appear to be wrong,
but yet God never says that to Job.
In fact, he exalts Job as he sinned not.
and so keep that in mind. And then verse
24 and 25,
remember to magnify God's work of which
men has sung.
Everyone has sent it, man looks on it from
afar.
And again, you know what he says here is
true.
~ and of course, according to Elihu,
Job is not magnifying God, which again you
can see that in Job's some
of what he says. ~ but again, Job is on a
roller coaster ride up and down.
for all this. All right, and then finally,
in well,
let me read ~ the rest of that from verse
thirty-six
~ through the the end of the chapter,
behold, God is great. And of course here
he is,
you know, holding up God for God is great,
and we do not know him, nor can the we can
the number of his years be discovered.
For he draws up drops of water which
distill as rain from the midst,
which the clouds drop down and pour
abundantly on man.
Indeed can any one understand the
spreading of clouds,
the thunder of his canopy. Look,
he scatters his light upon it,
and covers the depths of the sea,
for by these he judges the peoples,
he gives food in abundance. He covers his
hands with lightning and commands
it to strike. His thunder declares it
The cattle also concerning the rising
storm through verse 33.
And again, you know, what he says here is
true.
And again, here he's just saying,
Praise God, you know, glorify God.
And in those last from verse 26 all the
way through 33,
you know,
there may be a slight hint about,
you know, Job, you don't really know God,
~ but it's mainly, you know, some things
that God is going to bring up.
When God speaks from the world's wind,
worldwind about creation. And so ~ this ~
third speech,
or the fourth speech, I should say the
fourth speech,
continues in verse chapter thirty-seven
to show God's greatness. ~ in fact that is
continued ~ in in chapter thirty-seven,
verse one. And at this my heart trembles
and leaps from its place.
Now again this is still Elihu speaking,
hear attentively the thunder of his voice
and the rumbling that comes from
his mouth. He sends it forth under the
whole heaven,
his lightning to the ends of the earth.
After it a voice roars, he thunders with
his majestic voice,
and he does not restrain them when his
voice is heard.
God thunders marvelously with his voice,
he does great things which we cannot
comprehend.
For he says to the snow fall on the earth,
likewise to the gentle rain and to the
heavy rain of a strength.
He seals the hand of every man that all
men may know his work.
The beasts go to the den and remain in
their lyres.
From the chamber of the south comes the
whirlwind,
and cold from the scattering winds of the
north.
By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen.
Also with moisture he saturates the thick
clouds,
he scatters his bright clouds,
and they swirl about, being turned by his
guidance,
that they may do whatever he commands them
on the face of the whole earth.
He causes it to come, whether for
correction for his land or
for mercy through thirteen.
And again, here Elihu is,
you know, showing God's glory visible.
In the thunderstorm, how it brings rain,
it brings ice, etc., etc. And these are
some things again that God will speak
about
when He breaks when he talks in beginning
in Chapter 38.
All right, but then verses 14 through 20
of chapter 37,
there is an admonition to Job.
Listen to this, O Job,
stand still and consider the wondrous
works of God.
Do you know when God dispatches them and
causes the light?
Of his cloud to shine? Do you know how the
clouds are balanced,
those wondrous works with him,
who is perfect in knowledge? Why are your
garments hot when he quiets
the earth by the south wind? With him have
you spread out the skies,
strong as cast metal mirror?
Again, he's some of these things the same
line that
God will talk to Job about.
Teach us what we should say to him,
Job, for we can prepare nothing because of
the darkness.
Should he be told that I wish to speak?
If a man were to speak, surely he would be
swallowed up.
And so again, you know,
he's kind of chiding Job here,
admonishing Job and all this. And then he
concludes,
Elihu does, by showing God's divine
splendor,
verses twenty one through twenty four.
Even now men cannot look at the light when
it is bright
in the skies, when the wind has passed and
cleared them.
He comes from the north as golden
splendor,
with God's awesome majesty, and for the
almighty we cannot find him.
He is excellent in power in judgment and
abundant justice.
He does not oppress, therefore men fear
him and
He shows no partiality to any who are wise
in heart through verse twenty four.
And so Elihu does end on a on a
glorification of God about
we can understand we cannot understand all
his ways.
He does refer back to creation that ~ God
will refer to in chapter thirty eight
as well. But again there are parts in that
in that whole section from chapter thirty
two through thirty seven.
Where you know, is Elihu a good guy?
Is he a bad guy? Does he really
contribute,
or does he just rehash in different words
what the three friends have already said?
And so what can we get from this?
Well, as we mentioned before
The response is total silence to Elihu,
as if he doesn't exist. And again,
this could mean because he's young,
he's not not worthy of a response.
Maybe he's right, they don't want to admit
it,
or maybe he just does not answer.
But it does show that there is still no
answer,
and it sets us up because in chapter
thirty-eight,
God is going to speak to Job through a
whirlwind.
And so God will finally.
Answer Job. And this is something that
Elihu didn't think was possible,
that God would would answer him.
Job was hoping it would happen,
but when we see the ups ups and downs of
Job,
there are times when he doesn't think is
ever going happen.
That Job is fearful that he is going to
die and never be made right,
never be acquitted of what he has been
accused of doing.
But that's not going to happen because God
is going to speak to
him from the whirlwind.
And so one of the major lessons here again
is we do not know
why God does some of what he does.
We do not know why God allowed Satan to do
all this to Job. Now, again, Job doesn't
know about this,
but we don't know why God would allow
that.
We know he did, and we have the book of
Job,
and we know part of that may be to prove
Satan wrong.
But we might think, why would God put Job
in all this peril to prove Satan wrong?
Well, God knows. God knows what's going
on.
We don't. We are very limited in our
knowledge.
But we do know and we can know,
and this is part of what the book of Job
is all about,
that whatever God does, that's his
business,
he does it for our good. Whether we
understand it or not,
whether we even know about it or not,
he does it for our good, always for our
good.
And even though we have to suffer
temporarily,
or we might have to suffer temporarily,
it's still what's good for us.
Just do not let go of God.
Stick to God's unchanging hand.
And that is a lesson that we can all
learn.
And so we appreciate your being with us.
this this bumper sode is because Forrest
and Steven are really busy and myself too.
and so we're going to get back to a
season.
In due time, we'll have a few more bumper
soap episodes on Job,
and then we look forward to our next
season,
which will be minoring in the majors,
some lessons out of the major prophets.
And so we look forward to that,
and we hope you can join us for that as
well.
And we will look forward to seeing you the
next time on the Harvester Podcast.