Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today Elihu finishes the speech we started reading yesterday, and I am so glad that's behind us. I used to really like Elihu because it kind of felt like he was on Job's side when he started rebuking the other three friends, but the more I studied this book, the more listening to him felt like a broken record.
Even though he started off a little more humble yesterday, he's become far more self-assured the longer he talks, growing harsher in his rebuke of Job and even bordering on cruelty. In 36.2, he claims to be speaking on God's behalf. And in verse 4, he refers to himself as perfect in knowledge. Wow, those are some pretty big claims to make.
Just like Job's other friends, the hard part about weeding through all of Elihu's words is that a lot of what he says about God is true. For example, in 35, 1-7, he points out that neither our sin nor our righteousness affects God's position or perfection. That's true. He tells Job that his righteousness, in particular, can't be used for bartering with God. That's true too. But where Elihu goes wrong is in assuming that Job was trying to use his righteousness as a bartering tool.
In chapter 36, Elihu points out that godless people cherish anger. I have this passage underlined in my Bible. I thought it was interesting because in the first sentence we read about Elihu, we read that he is angry.
Now, certainly there are a lot of good things to be angry about. God is angry at sin, for instance. That's righteous anger. Being angry at sin and oppression aligns with godliness. But if we're honest, most of the things that we get angry about are selfish, which means it would be unrighteous anger. And when you think about what it means to cherish anger, that sounds awful.
What happens to you when you cherish anger? When I cherish anger, I have a tendency to become pretty self-righteous. I don't have a desire to forgive the person I'm angry with. I want bad things to happen to them. I start on a path toward bitterness, and my heart grows hard toward people and/or God. I become cynical and arrogant. And while I don't know his heart, it seems like this could be the trajectory Elihu is on here as well, especially given that his argument keeps ramping up more and more.
As we keep reading, we see that Elihu repeats some of the other themes from the earlier parts of his speech that we read yesterday. He says things about God like, That's true. We talked about that. God does use adversity and affliction to draw people to himself. And I'm so glad.
This trial that Satan means for evil, God uses it for His purposes, to purify Job and to glorify Himself all the more. And both of those are good things. Often, when life abounds with riches and comfort and ease, it's all too common to feel like we don't need God. It's His mercy that opens our eyes to the truth that those things don't ultimately satisfy.
I have no disdain for a death row conversion or a deathbed repentance. I really believe those challenging times can serve as a way of illuminating the truth. Even the thief who was crucified beside Jesus had a moment like this in his final hours. Struggles can serve as a magnifying glass on the truth. And on the other side of those struggles, if we've really seen the true value and beauty of an intimate relationship with the Father, we would say those struggles were worth it in order to know Him better.
Just like the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3, we would say, "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." There was a preacher and theologian in the 19th century named Charles Spurgeon, and he put it this way: "I have learned to kiss the wave that strikes me against the rock of ages.
That phrase, rock of ages, is a reference to God. When all else is movable, God our rock has been unmoved throughout all the ages.
Elihu says some really beautiful things about the ways God speaks, and honestly, I loved reading them. They were like poetry. But in the context, they're all intended to imply that Job is not listening to God. Elihu is praising God's glory and majesty, but in a way that's intended to crush Job. He's using poetry as a hammer. He closes with this statement about God. He does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.
It's true that God draws near to the humble. That leads me to think that God is drawing nearer to Job in this. Because Elihu has gone on for six whole chapters about how wrong Job is, and Job hasn't pushed back once. Maybe Job was staying silent out of humility, or maybe he was just all out of strength to fight back at this point.
Where did you see God and His character in today's reading? For me, my God shot was in a little verse in chapter 37. It says, This is called God's providence. It's His protective care and His preparation for the future.
He has his purposes, and they may remain a mystery to us, but we can trust that he's at work. In his providence, he's being attentive to every detail and intentional in working out his plan. Maybe it's a plan to correct the hearts of the wayward. Maybe it's a plan to establish and bless his people. And maybe it's just an act of love that's far beyond our understanding.
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