Elihu's Last Words

We are rounding the third and last turn in the race

Elihu is sharing things with Job

using Job’s own words

and trying to interpret them and correct his thinking.

These will be the last of the human speeches

before we get to God’s response in Chapter 38

So far we learned from Elihu

His first speech told us that God still communicates

Even in the midst of our suffering

and even when it appears that God is silent

God is still communicating if we are patient and listening.

Elihu’s second speech

proves that God is still just to do what He has done

We may not like the circumstances

or to have to go through the pain and suffering we experience

but God is still just

because God is sovereign

and if God were not just

He would cease to be God.

Now Elihu continues the pattern of using Job’s words

and then countering them to make his argument

and the third argument that Elihu makes is

the compassion of God

or that God is not uncaring

Speech #3: The Compassion of God

So what were Job’s words that prompted this part of the speech?

Job’s Words

Job 35:1–3 CSB

1 Then Elihu continued, saying: 2 Do you think it is just when you say, “I am righteous before God”? 3 For you ask, “What does it profit you, and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

Job’s question is one that often gets asked even today.

Let me ask it a different way.

What good is it if I suffer like a wicked person does?

Why can’t I just sin and enjoy life

if suffering comes to both the wicked and the righteous?

This is a big theological term called antinomianism

all that means is it is a

theological belief that Christians are freed by grace

from the obligation of obeying moral laws,

such as the Ten Commandments

and they actually do better in disobedience to God

because that allows God to show His grace.

I can sin all I want

because God will show grace anyway.

A better way of looking at this argument could be

why won’t God answer my prayers?

Doesn’t God care about me?

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the phrase that

the heavens must be brass.

That means that when we pray, there is no answer.

Job had persistently appealed for a time to

argue his case before God

and there was no answer.

So Job came to the conclusion that

God was uncaring and indifferent toward him.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been there.

Lord, I’m going through this situation

I’m going through this sickness

I’m having this problem with a relationship

I struggling with this issue

and there seemingly isn’t a response.

So we begin to get indignant with God.

Why aren’t you listening?

Where are you?

How come you don’t give me an answer?

We would be in good company too.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 CSB

7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Psalm 55:1–7 CSB

1 God, listen to my prayer and do not hide from my plea for help. 2 Pay attention to me and answer me. I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint, 3 because of the enemy’s words, because of the pressure of the wicked. For they bring down disaster on me and harass me in anger. 4 My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me. 5 Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me. 6 I said, “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest. 7 How far away I would flee; I would stay in the wilderness. Selah

Psalm 13:1–4 CSB

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? 3 Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death. 4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

Habakkuk 1:1–4 CSB

1 The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? 3 Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. 4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

So when we have a complaint to God

we should feel free to let Him know

however, we should also realize that even though

we may have these emotions to let go to God

We also need to understand that God is not uncaring

and that He is still listening.

Philippians 2:13–16 CSB

13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, 16 by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.

and that is the argument that Elihu is going to make to Job.

Arguments

Job 35:4–5 CSB

4 I will answer you and your friends with you. 5 Look at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

Job look up

See the sky? See the stars in the sky?

See the clouds in the sky?

That’s how far God is above you.

Isaiah 55:9 CSB

9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Let’s start there.

There are things we can know about God

and there are things we don’t know and

cannot know about God.

He is infinite and we are finite.

He is all powerful

and we are weak and frail.

He is timeless

and we are time sensitive.

There is no way we can understand some of the things God does

but that doesn’t mean we can’t trust Him.

Job 35:6 CSB

6 If you sin, how does it affect God? If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to him?

In other words,

in reality, do you really think that what you do

effects God’s plans?

If you totally blow your life up

is God caught unaware at that?

Job 35:7 CSB

7 If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?

Conversely, if you are the most righteous person

and doing all the right things

should you get the attaboy for doing what you were told to do in the first place?

Luke 17:7–9 CSB

7 “Which one of you having a servant tending sheep or plowing will say to him when he comes in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?

If all we’ve done is what God asked us to do

in the end we get well done good and faithful servant

but the reality is we are still just servants

doing the Job that we’ve allowed Jesus to do through us.

It could as well have said

well done for getting out of the way of Jesus working through you.

In other words

Elihu’s argument is that

God’s actions toward mankind

are determined by God and not by man.

Job 35:8 CSB

8 Your wickedness affects a person like yourself, and your righteousness, a son of man.

The only thing our righteousness or sinfulness effects

are other people.

Our choices and character effect our own life

and the lives of others.

Elihu tells Job to get over yourself

God is transcendent

or God is way above our paygrade

that our sin or righteousness doesn’t effect His decisions

Then Elihu goes into a second part of the argument.

Job 35:9–16 CSB

9 People cry out because of severe oppression; they shout for help because of the power of the mighty. 10 But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night, 11 who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?” 12 There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil people. 13 Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries, and the Almighty does not take note of it— 14 how much less when you complain that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you are waiting for him. 15 But now, because God’s anger does not punish and he does not pay attention to transgression, 16 Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.

Elihu tells Job

you want to know why you aren’t hearing from God?

want to know why God isn’t answering your cries for help?

pride.

Pride can keep a suffering person from turning to God in true humility.

You know not because you ask not.

In all the speeches that Job gave

how many of them were asking God why he was doing what He did?

Most of the things Job said were to defend himself.

He was defensive, not humble.

How many times do we get into a bind

or find ourselves in circumstances

and won’t ask for help because of pride?

We really don’t want to ask anyone for help

because then we’ll feel obligated to return the favor

or we’ll look weak or small in someone else's view

or we’re afraid they’ll think less of us.

All of these are related to pride.

We really want God to bail us out

but to ask would be improper because

I believe many of us have been taught

you don’t pray for yourself.

It’s improper to ask God for anything for yourself.

You especially don’t ask anyone else.

then someone may actually think you are needy.

That is a prideful way of getting out of asking for help.

On the flip side

how many times do we talk about someone

that did ask for help.

It’s no wonder why no one wants to ask for help.

IF they know that we are going to talk about them

after they ask for help.

It could be financial

or it could be just spiritual.

Sometimes us butting into someone else’s business

and providing “help” is also wrong

when we don’t share the truth in love.

We may mean well enough

but when we begin to share God’s Word

in a harsh tone or a

demanding demeanor

we may drive new or immature believers away from the church

rather than actually help them.

This is also pride.

we can’t separate our own self from

being sharing the way Jesus would.

The last speech that Elihu gives

is all about the greatness of God and

that God is not powerless

When Elihu speaks about having a song in the night

Job 35:10 CSB

10 But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, who provides us with songs in the night,

What’s it like to have a song in the night?

There is a big difference between

whistling in the dark

and having a song in the night.

There are times I need to come to the church

and get a book from my office

or program in the sanctuary at night.

I’m not singing a song

I’m whistling in the dark.

That’s not bravery and trust in God.

that’s fear of the dark.

Imagine though Paul and Silas singing in a jail cell

Imagine the Lord singing with His disciples in the upper room

knowing He was about to enter the Garden of Gethsemene

and go to the cross.

Matthew 26:30 CSB

30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Joni Earickson Tada wrote a book of hymn stories

with the late John MacArthur.

Joni was the young woman who broker her neck

in a diving accident and has, for decades

served Christ through a variety of ministries

although she was paralyzed fro mthe neck down

due to the accident.

She and Dr. MacArthur wrote about

the homegoing of Dr. James Dobson’s mother Myrtle.

In a few minutes we were sitting on the edge of Myrtle Dobson’s bed.

Suffering from Parkinson’s disease,

which rendered her confused,

she was unable to speak more than a word or two at a time.

Dr. Dobson spoke kindly to his mother,

reminding her who we all were,

even though we had known her very well.

She just nodded and smiled.

After a few minutes of small talk,

Bobbie (one of the guests) spoke up,

“Why don’t we sing.

Myrtle loves to sing.” So we did.

O worship the King, all glorious above, And gratefully sing His pow’r and His love; Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

For the first few lines of the hymn,

she silently smiled back at us.

Could she understand?

Was she listening?

We really couldn’t tell.

But as we sang the final verse,

her mouth began to form the words;

then she joined in with each unforgettable word.

What was even more amazing than Myrtle’s remembering the lyrics

was the fact that she sang a perfect alto.

The music may not have landed a record contract,

but it was good enough to fill our hearts

with enough gratitude and praise to last a lifetime.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;

Thy mercies how tender! how firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

Notice the last line of that hymn.

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

Think of it:

Maker—He created us;

Defender—the forces of evil melt at the sound of His name;

Redeemer—the death of His Son was not a ransom too high to pay;

Friend—a woman too weak to sit up without help could sing about Him—Someone who was, even then, reassuring her of His everlasting presence.

This was their song in the night.

part of what silences our song in the night

is we refuse to travel up the steep learning curve of suffering.

We’ll complain to ourselves

it’s too fast

it’s too hard

it’s too long

Pretty soon we are doing everything we possibly can

to avoid any suffering in our lives at all.

We won’t share the gospel because

we are afraid of the responses

or afraid we don’t know the right answers.

We won’t go to far places to share

because we don’t know what to expect

the plane ride is too long

we don’t knowhow the food is going to be

we don’t know that we will be comfortable where we stay.

We won’t disciple other people

Their lives are too messy

they won’t listen to what I have to say

I don’t have the right things to share with them.

What we don’t realize is that suffering

deepens our measure of faith

educates us about the character of God

develops in us a longing for the things of God

disciples us and others about the things of God

gives us an urgency and unrest to share all about God

teaches us to desire the future glorification of our bodies

causes us to long for the coming kingdom of Christ

creates in us a yearning for heaven

IT elevates our thinkng

from the trivialities of this temporary world

to the glory of our

Maker..Defender..Redeemer..and Friend

Martin Luther said,

I have found affliction to be one of my best schoolmasters - Martin Luther

Elihu says this to Job

even when life is confusing, God is still communicating

even when life seems unfair, God is never unjust

Even when life is hard, God is not heartless

Lastly, Elihu tells Job Even when life is unsettled, God has not been unseated.

and Elihu does this by sharing the goodness and greatness of God.

Speech #4 - The Goodness and Greatness of God

There is a difference between the goodness and greatness of God

we teach children to pray before a meal

God is great, God is good

now we thank HIm for our food

by His hand we all are fed

Give us Lord our daily bread.

Why do we separate the goodness and greatness of God?

It shows both the power and the character of the God Almighty.

If God were great, all powerful

and not good,

He would be no different than any Greek, Roman or Hindu God.

If God were good, but not great

He would be powerless to help us in deepest need

and there would be some greater force in the world

that could overtake Him.

But God is both good and great

Elihu shares with Job the terrible end of those

that refuse to follow after God

Job 36:17–18 CSB

17 Yet now you are obsessed with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have seized you. 18 Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large ransom lead you astray.

And what is the end?

Job 36:12 CSB

12 But if they do not listen, they will cross the river of death and die without knowledge.

God has power over sin

Job 36:22–23 CSB

22 Look, God shows himself exalted by his power. Who is a teacher like him? 23 Who has appointed his way for him, and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?

In other words

Elihu tells Job God is going to be exalted in His power

and over all who challenge His authority

This is God’s power over sinners

but that’s just once piece of God’s power.

God also has power over nature and seasons

Warren Wiersbe breaks this next section down into various seasons

Autumn - Job 36:27-37:5

Job 36:27–37:5 CSB

27 For he makes waterdrops evaporate; they distill the rain into its mist, 28 which the clouds pour out and shower abundantly on mankind. 29 Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out or how the thunder roars from God’s pavilion? 30 See how he spreads his lightning around him and covers the depths of the sea. 31 For he judges the nations with these; he gives food in abundance. 32 He covers his hands with lightning and commands it to hit its mark. 33 The thunder declares his presence; the cattle also, the approaching storm. 1 My heart pounds at this and leaps from my chest. 2 Just listen to his thunderous voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3 He lets it loose beneath the entire sky; his lightning to the ends of the earth. 4 Then there comes a roaring sound; God thunders with his majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when his rumbling voice is heard. 5 God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

Elihu describes the Autumn season when the storms begin to brew

He describes both scientifically and poetically

the power of a storm

and reminds Job about God’s sovereignty over the storm

Winter - Job 37:6-10

Job 37:6–10 CSB

6 For he says to the snow, “Fall to the earth,” and the torrential rains, his mighty torrential rains, 7 serve as his sign to all mankind, so that all men may know his work. 8 The wild animals enter their lairs and stay in their dens. 9 The windstorm comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds. 10 Ice is formed by the breath of God, and watery expanses are frozen.

God breathes on the water and they freeze

what weathermen call a meteorlogical phenomena

Elihu calls the miracle workings of Almighty God

Spring - Job 37:11-13

Job 37:11–13 CSB

11 He saturates clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. 12 They swirl about, turning round and round at his direction, accomplishing everything he commands them over the surface of the inhabited world. 13 He causes this to happen for punishment, for his land, or for his faithful love.

Elihu uses the power of the wind to describe the power of God.

as the snow and ice melt

and the storms begin to kick up again

sometimes God sends storms for discipline

but also the rain is a gift of God’s love and mercy

Summer - Job 37:14-18

Job 37:14–18 CSB

14 Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God’s wonders. 15 Do you know how God directs his clouds or makes their lightning flash? 16 Do you understand how the clouds float, those wonderful works of him who has perfect knowledge? 17 You whose clothes get hot when the south wind brings calm to the land, 18 can you help God spread out the skies as hard as a cast metal mirror?

The sky is like brass.

the heat causes sweat as their clothes get hot.

The last thing Elihu asks Job is

can you explain these things?

If you can’t explain these things about God

what makes you think you can prepare a case against Him?

Job 37:19–20 CSB

19 Teach us what we should say to him; we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness. 20 Should he be told that I want to speak? Can a man speak when he is confused?

Imagine that while Elihu was talking about the storm

there was a storm brewing in the distance

an actual storm of God

both figuratively and literally

because Job is going to get exactly what was described by Elihu

and he is going to get exactly what he asked for

an audience with God.

Job is about to learn the true meanings of the words

Maker..Defender..Redeemer..and Friend