January 5 2014 Steve Rather Job 32 37 audio

Sunday January 5thJob 32-37In 1st Timothy 4:12 the Apostle Paul reminds young Timothy that even those who are in their youth can have something valuable to offer. He says: Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.As the whirlwind conversation/argument between Job and his three old friends finally comes to an end Chapter 32 starts with these words:“Job’s three friends now fell silent because Job wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt.”As we talked about before, Job was a righteous man, but his attitude with his old friends had started to drift into self-righteousness. And this didn’t sit well at all with a young man named Elihu who had been standing by watching the whole thing unfold. Here’s what we find out as Chapter 32 continues:Then Elihu lost his temper. He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness against God’s. He was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had not proved Job wrong.Elihu had waited while they spoke because they were all older than him. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.This is what Elihu said:“I’m a young man,    and you’re all old and more experienced.That’s why I kept quiet.I kept thinking, ‘The longer you live, the wiser you become.’But I guess I was wrong--    getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.So I’ve decided to speak!    I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.Do you three have anything else to say?    Of course you don’t! You’re total frauds!Now it’s my turn and I’ve got a lot to say!And I’m going to say it straight--    the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.So please, Job, hear me out.What I’m about to say    has been carefully thought out.     I’m speaking honestly from my heart.And if you think you can prove me wrong, do it.(Despite Elihu’s intensity, he does try to show respect for his elders by acknowledging that they surely must know more than him. Then he criticizes them for giving up so quickly in the face of Job’s stubbornness. He also shows respect for Job by asking him to PLEASE LISTEN, and he is the only one who calls Job by his name, something that none of the other three did in all of their arguments. Then Elihu continues speaking to Job.)Here’s what you said.    I heard you say it with my own ears.You said, ‘I’m pure—I’ve done nothing wrong.But God keeps picking on me.But let me tell you, Job, you’re dead wrong!    God is far greater than any human.So how dare you try to haul him into courtand then complain that he won’t answer you?God always answers, one way or another,    even when people don’t recognize his presence.In a dream or a vision at night,when men are asleep,God opens their ears with warningsTo turn them back from something bad they’re planning.Or, God might get their attention through painor suffering.This is the way God works.(There are several points Elihu makes here that are significant:1.    He quotes Job’s own words back to him directly rather than trying to put words in Job’s mouth like the others did.2.    He points out that God isn’t necessarily refusing to answer Job’s questions; in fact it’s more likely that Job simply isn’t listening. Because, Elihu says, God often speaks to us while we are asleep.3.    Elihu acknowledges that Job’s suffering is truly painful, but he reminds Job that God often USES pain and suffering AS a way of communicating to us that we’ve gotten off track.Now Elihu continues to make his case, like a lawyer.)34 We’ve all heard Job say, ‘I’m in the right,    but God won’t give me a fair trial.     I’ve done nothing wrong, and I get punished anyway. It doesn’t pay to try to please God!’But it’s impossible for God to do anything evilHe makes us pay for exactly what we’ve done--no more, no less.He punishes the wicked for their wickedness.(This part of Elihu’s argument is exactly the same as the other three friends. He is “defending God” against Job’s accusation that God has been treating him unfairly. And his advice for Job now will also be the same as theirs.)So why don’t you simply confess to God?    Say, ‘I sinned, but I’ll sin no more.     Whatever evil I’ve done, I’ll do it no more.’ Job, you need to be called into account for talking to God the way you have.You’ve compounded your original sin    by rebelling against God’s discipline.(Remember that Job had not “sinned with his lips” when all of the tragedies originally struck.He refused to curse God for his misfortune. But then Job started to drift into a bit of self-righteousness. Elihu warns Job that, whatever the original sin was that he supposedly committed, this self-righteous attitude is a whole different level of sin. Then Elihu uses a new tactic; proving that an all-powerful God is incapable of making mistakes.)35 You say, ‘I’m perfectly innocent before God.’Well, I’m going to show you    that you don’t know what you’re talking about.When times get bad, people cry out for help.But they never give God a second thought when things go well.People are indifferent to God--    until they’re in trouble. God is powerful,    but he doesn’t bully innocent people.For the wicked, it’s a different story--but those who learn from their suffering,    God delivers from their suffering.Job, don’t you see how God’s inviting you to a table of blessings?And here you are obsessed with putting the blame on God!Don’t make things worse with more evil--    that’s what’s behind your suffering as it is!(Elihu seems to feel that maybe Job took God for granted when things were going well, After all, he says, don’t we all do that? In the final part of his case, Elihu tries to use the forces of nature to convince Job that God is WAY more powerful than any human being can comprehend.)Look up at the sky. Do you see those clouds towering above you? Do you have any idea how powerful God is?He pulls water up out of the sea, and fills up clouds.Then the skies open up and pour out showers on everyone.Do you have the slightest idea how this happens?Listen to his thunder.Look at his lightning.He tells the snow, ‘Blanket the earth’ and it does!No one can escape from God.Job, are you listening?  If you’re so smart, give us all a lesson in how to address God.Do you think I’m dumb enough to challenge God?    It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly.So my advice to you is to just bow to him in reverence!If you’re really wise, you’ll worship him.Keep in mind that in the next few chapters, when God finally speaks, God will chastise Job and will chastise his three older friends, but He doesn’t chastise Elihu. In fact God will use some of Elihu’s same points in correcting Job and his three friends.Maybe God was just cutting Elihu some slack because he was young, but some scholars believe that Elihu was actually being led by the Holy Spirit in the words that he spoke. And if that’s the case, we should pay particular attention to Elihu’s words, especially these words from Chapter 33, verses 23-28:“An angel could come,  —there are thousands of them!--    to take up your cause,A messenger who would mercifully intervene,    canceling the death sentence with the words:    ‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’Before you know it, you’re healed,    the very picture of health!“Or, you may fall on your knees and pray—to God’s delight!    You’ll see God’s smile and celebrate,    finding yourself set right with God.You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,    testifying, ‘I messed up my life--    and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.    I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’We need to remember that every book of the bible tells the story of salvation. Even the Old Testament books talk about the gospel message of Jesus, the coming savior, if we understand how to interpret them. Jesus said in John 5:39“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”So where is Jesus found in the book of Job?We already saw that Job testified in Job 19:25“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.”Job didn’t know that his redeemer would be Jesus; he just knew that there WOULD be a redeemer.In the same way, when Elihu tells Job about“A messenger who would mercifully intervene,    canceling the death sentence with the words:    ‘I’ve come up with the ransom!’”Elihu doesn’t know that Jesus, the messenger who will cancel the sentence of death over our lives, will pay the ransom, the price for our freedom, with his own death on the cross!But Elihu, inspired by the Holy Spirit, shares with Job the wonderful prophetic promise that when our ransom is paid, when we’ve finally set free from sin by our faith in Jesus, then“finding yourself set right with God.You’ll sing God’s praises to everyone you meet,    testifying, ‘I messed up my life--    and let me tell you, it wasn’t worth it.But God stepped in and saved me from certain death.    I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’That wasn’t just a promise to Job. It was a promise to ALL of us!Who here can testify today that “I messed up my life and it wasn’t worth it”?Who here can proclaim “God stepped in and saved me from death”?Who here can announce “I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!”Even if the trials and challenges you are facing today seem as harsh and insurmountable as Job’s; let me assure you that there is a redeemer who has paid your ransom, to bring you back from certain death into eternal life, and to call you out of the darkness into His marvelous light!