Job 32-33 "Elihu Speaks"

Reformed Ex-mormon

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

He asks us in your name, Jesus, our Lord, amen. So what is the context?

00:08

Why do I make mention of the challenge that is in this text? Well, look at verse two with me.

00:16

If you would look at this just real quickly, before we even read anything, just look at verse two. The anger of Elihu.

00:24

And you might be saying, who is Elihu? This is a strange character. We're 32 chapters into this book of Job and this is a new character.

00:34

This is a new man on the scene. What is going on in this book of Job?

00:41

Well, that is this mysterious friend, Elihu of Job that we are looking at in here.

00:49

And this is why there's some challenge. This is the difficulty that we see here in the book of Job.

00:56

Again, before we read on about this character Elihu and the words that he has to say to Job, Job in the last six chapters has been responding to his three friends who have been not saying good things to Job, not saying good things at all.

01:10

You would have these Zophar, Eliaphus and Bildad, these friends that are not giving good support or counsel to Job and Job is responding back and forth with these friends arguing about that God is sovereign, that I'm not in this situation because of mere sin

01:28

I committed in my life, but that God has a purpose in bringing me here to this point in my life has been some of the words that Job has offered.

01:35

And when we look at Elihu in this text, Elihu comes into this, according to different commentaries, you would see that either

01:47

Elihu is 100 % correct in what he says in here, or he's 100 % incorrect in what he says in this text.

01:56

Throughout the study this week, I was going back and forth on even maybe what my own position would fall into in this text.

02:02

And this is the challenge of it. I mean, even the day when I was reading prior to church beginning today,

02:07

I was reading through this text and my mind was still wrestling with how do we see this friend,

02:14

Elihu. I wanna remind us of hermeneutic guardrails for us when we read this book, because I think this is how we have to even read the words of Elihu.

02:24

So what does Job say that is right in this text? What does he say that's wrong in this text?

02:30

What do his three friends say that's incorrect and what's correct that the three friends say?

02:36

We have some helps for us in Job 1 .8. We see God announced Job as what?

02:43

Blameless, upright, and fears Yahweh. That is God talking, that is the narrator who's written down these words for us.

02:51

He has put that in there for us to remind us of who is Job. We cannot come to any other conclusion other than what

03:01

God has pronounced Job as. We have no right to do such, right? So Job is blameless, upright, fears

03:09

Yahweh. There's commentaries that would try to strip those titles from Job and they try to do so to reconcile some of the things that the friends say.

03:17

I would not encourage you to do such. God announces him as that, that's what Job is. Don't go anywhere else with your mind regarding Job.

03:24

Then in chapter one, verse 21 through 22, we have a particular saying that is even echoed in 2 .10

03:31

about Job. Job says Yahweh gives, Yahweh takes, blessed be the name of Yahweh, blessed be the name of the

03:38

Lord. And it says that there was no sin on the lips of Job when he said that. And so when

03:44

Job says things like God has done this, God has brought me here, God is doing something, he's taken away or he's given, is there sin in the lips of Job when he says such?

03:55

No, again, that's the narrator who writes that for us, that Job did not sin with his lips when he said this.

04:01

This is important, this is the harmonetics, this is the way that we study this word, these are the guardrails that keep us from faltering when we read through this book of Job.

04:10

And finally, in Job chapter 42, verse seven, we've read this before and we're coming to this text through our weekly services.

04:18

In there, it says that God rebukes the three friends because they have spoken evil and Job hasn't.

04:27

Job has not done what the friends have done, okay? So we know that even in a lot of the remarks that Job says, he did not err in a lot of his theology.

04:37

So why do I bring this up? Why is there contention in the last chapters of the book when

04:43

God is rebuking the three friends? Does God even make reference of Elihu after these chapters of Elihu responding to Job?

04:53

None. And so it's somewhat challenging to see where does Elihu falter, where does he get things right?

05:01

Brothers and sisters, this has come to my encouragement for us today. I think Job, when we think about this friend of Elihu, imagine yourself, you are there, right?

05:13

Maybe put yourself in the shoes of Elihu. You've heard these rumors. You've heard the rumors of Job around town.

05:20

You've heard people saying awful things about Job. Job has sinned or whatever the situation is.

05:25

You come to this group of friends that are trying to comfort Job and you see Job and he's got boils from head to toe.

05:32

He's not a man of great stature. Maybe you even knew him from beforehand and as the previous chapter said, Job would walk into a room, the young men would get up and they would leave out of respect and the elderly men, they would get up and they would stand for him.

05:46

So this is a man of respect and now you see him with boils, right? So again, this is some contextual things to help us think about Elihu and what's going to be said here.

05:55

Imagine you walk into this room now and Job has boils and you see these three friends almost pointing their finger, shouting at Job, you sinned, you sinned, you sinned.

06:06

And so now Elihu in chapter 33, verse six, Elihu says something, if you would like to look at this with me, you can, we're gonna read it here in a moment, but Elihu says in 33, verse six, behold,

06:21

I belong to God like you. I too have been formed out of the clay.

06:29

Elihu has done something that none of the other three friends have done. They're essentially calling him, he is essentially calling

06:36

Job his brother. Again, this is contextually important, right?

06:43

So it could be seen with Elihu, I don't think he gets 100 % of stuff correct in this text, but I think

06:50

I would view Elihu as this skeptical Christian that's walking into this room, seeing the friends arguing, and he's really trying to sift through the information he's heard, he's seen, and the argument that he's witnessing before him, he's trying to understand these things.

07:08

And Elihu says some really good things in this text. But again, I think there's some areas where he might get things incorrect too.

07:17

Again, just keep that in the back of your mind, not a lot of context about Elihu's given to us, this mysterious fourth friend that walks in and starts saying some interesting things for us.

07:27

So let's go ahead and look here at verse, we're gonna read all these chapters together, we'll stop and make pauses like we have, but chapter 32 through 33, now we know the context, the scene is set before us, this mysterious fourth friend.

07:43

Then these three men ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. So the narrator puts us in there for us, right?

07:54

Job is seen righteous in his own eyes. Now, again, we gotta think through this correctly. How has God pronounced

08:00

Job? Blameless, upright, fears Yahweh.

08:05

Is it incorrect for Job to say, I am righteous? It's not necessarily, right?

08:12

Now we know according to Romans 3 .10, a very clear text, no one is righteous, no not one. So when it comes to salvation, no one can stand before the

08:20

Lord and be justified. But in the sense of being amongst men and having a place of honor and doing that which is right and morally good, is

08:29

Job a righteous man? Yeah, he is. In chapter 30, we saw him say all the ways that he's done great things in life.

08:38

He would be there to aid, men would stand up for him, all these things. He did good things in his life, let's see, in this horizontal justification.

08:46

Again, before God, does Job fall short of the glory of God? Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.

08:53

Very, very fall short of the glory of God, like we all do. And so we then see, this text continues to say, but the anger of Elihu, the son of Barzell, the

09:11

Bezuite of the family of Ram burned against Job. His anger burned because he was proving himself righteous before God, okay?

09:22

Again, Elihu, why is he mad at this text? He's walking into the situation, he sees a man who's suffering and trying to justify himself before friends and this friend is seemingly to get angry about this.

09:37

And his anger burned against his three friends. So again, notice in here, Elihu is not just mad at Job, Elihu's mad at the three friends as well.

09:47

Again, this somewhat impartial gentleman that's walking into this situation, right? His anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer and yet had condemned

10:02

Job. Again, I think this plays into the whole picture of Elihu considering himself a brother of Job, a brother in the faith of Yahweh, a brother in the faith of the

10:13

Lord. Let's keep on reading, we're gonna read verses four through 10 on here. Now, Elihu had waited with his words for Job because they were years older than he.

10:24

Then Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three friends, the three men, so his anger burned.

10:33

So Elihu, the son of Barcella the Bezuite, answered and said, I am young in years and you are old.

10:40

Therefore, I was shy and afraid to tell you my knowledge. I thought age should speak and increased years should make wisdom known, but it is the spirit and man and the breath of the

10:51

Almighty that gives them understanding. The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice.

11:00

So I say, listen to me, I too will tell my knowledge. Now, these are harsh words coming from Elihu.

11:09

Again, these are men that are well -known in the community, well -known in the life of Job, well -known men of honor and reverence, these men that would gain attention if they walked into a room with others.

11:22

And what does Elihu say? I've been patient, I've been standing to the back of the room,

11:28

I've been watching and listening, I haven't spoken every single time, I wish I would have spoken, but I've been sitting here and watching.

11:36

Now, we notice in this though, Elihu is sick of the banter and of the dishonest friendship of the three individuals that are there with Job.

11:47

He's had enough. Think about it yourself in the last several weeks that we've gone through these texts, back and forth, back and forth,

11:56

Zophar and Eliaphus and Bildad and Job, and they're just going, aren't we sick of this conversation?

12:04

Again, I would almost imagine if Job was my friend in the room and I saw men attacking him, what would

12:10

I do? I would say, Job, we're leaving, this is dumb, this is pointless. There's no reason in arguing with these guys anymore.

12:18

We're out of here. That's what Elihu is doing in this text. I'm sick and tired of this conversation.

12:26

He's had enough. However old Elihu is, I mean, however old it is, it's not super pertinent to us.

12:33

We just know that he's younger in age to the other men that are in this room. So again, put yourself in your own situations in your own workplace.

12:41

Imagine you're in the middle age of the group of people and imagine this new guy that's on the shift or on the workplace, he's getting at it.

12:51

He's not happy with what's being said or what's being done. He's had enough. He's had enough. Let's look at verses 11 and 12.

12:59

Behold, I waited to you for your words. I gave ear to your reasoning while you searched out what to say.

13:06

I even carefully considered you. And behold, there was no one who reproved

13:12

Job. No one of you answered his words. This is,

13:19

I think, regardless of if Elihu's 100 % right or 100 % wrong or false, somewhere in the middle,

13:24

I think this is really good advice. Is it not that when we go into a situation that might be sticky or something that has a lot of different opinions about it, is it not a healthy and wise thing to listen, to take counsel, to watch how everybody's behaving around you before you form your own opinion of what's going on?

13:45

Is that not a wise thing to do? That is a very wise thing to do. And think about how many things we could have done better in our lives if we just sat and listened for a little bit longer.

13:58

Think about the counsel that we've given, that we've looked back and, man, maybe that wasn't the right thing I said to him. Could it have been fixed if we had just sat there five minutes longer and listened?

14:12

I would encourage us that we should be trying to do this in our own lives. If we come to a situation where there's turmoil, there's different opinions, there's maybe different accusations that are going on, should we jump to conclusion?

14:26

Should we just sit and seek after truth? I think that's what Elihu's trying to do. He's really trying to sift through the issues.

14:32

This is a good thing. Let's look here at verse 13 through 22.

14:38

We're gonna read a decent amount of the text here. Rest, you say, we have found wisdom.

14:43

God will drive him away, not man. Now we have not arranged his words against me, nor will

14:49

I respond to him with your words. They are dismayed. They no longer answer.

14:54

Words have moved away from them. Shall I wait because they do not speak, because they stand still and no longer answer?

15:03

I myself will also answer my share. I also will tell you my knowledge. For I am full of words.

15:11

The spirit within my belly presses me. Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, not open.

15:19

Like new wineskin, it's about to burst. Let me speak that I may get relief.

15:27

Let me open my lips and answer. Let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man.

15:35

For I do not know how to flatter, else my maker would soon carry me away.

15:42

So what we see here in this text is a man who wants to please

15:52

God rather than men around him. He's not, again, think about Eliaphus and their reasoning together as friends.

16:05

It's almost like they were trying to one -up each other in the comments that are being made. It's almost like they were trying to band together and seek each other's favor rather than even trying to help

16:16

Job out. And here you have Eliaphus saying, I don't care about that.

16:23

I'm seeking approval by God, not approval by you. Again, is this wise advice?

16:30

Is this good counsel to give any Christian, any brother or sister in the faith? Lydia is shaking her head, our wonderful little sister in the faith.

16:38

She's saying, yes, that's a wise thing to do. I don't care what men think about it. I wanna know what

16:43

God has said about it. I wanna be approved by God today, not man. Let's continue to read this as we continue to look at this gentleman,

16:56

Eliaphus, that's upset with Job and he's upset with these three friends. Verses one through five says this.

17:02

However, now, Job, please hear my speech.

17:08

This is Eliaphus pleading to Job. Please hear my speech and give ear to all my words.

17:16

When now I open my mouth, my tongue in my mouth speaks.

17:22

My words are from the uprightness of my heart and my lips speak knowledge sincerely.

17:32

The spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Respond to me if you can.

17:39

Arrange yourself before me. Take your stand. Again, Job, this old friend of life who is not wanting to jump to conclusions and everything.

17:55

He's saying, Job, you've been saying this. Friends, you've been saying this. These are two things that don't fit together.

18:01

You're contradicting each other. I wanna talk to Job right now and Job, I want you to be honest.

18:07

I'm seeking this and look, when you hear those words, the spirit of God has made me. I've been formed by the

18:13

Almighty out of the clay. What kind of language does an individual, that kind of language, what kind of individual does that paint for us today?

18:21

Does that sound like a Christian or does that sound like a non -believer? It sounds like a Christian. It sounds like a believer in Yahweh.

18:29

It sounds like, again, a brother of Job in the faith. Consider again,

18:36

Eliaphus, how does he reason with Job? I had a vision last night and Job, you should listen to me.

18:43

That's what in chapter four, I believe it is, chapter three actually, I think is where, no, it's chapter, might be chapter four.

18:51

Regardless, they're not appealing to Job as a brother or sister in the faith in that way.

18:56

They're not saying, look, I too am a fear of Yahweh. I too have faith in God like you,

19:02

Job. Please listen to me. I'm trying to understand this. No, they're seeking to undermine, cut, hurt and dismantle this man,

19:09

Job, who's in a terrible situation. He's lost his whole family. His seven sons have died.

19:14

His three daughters have died. His wife has said, curse God and die.

19:20

This is a man that has been abandoned and hurt and destroyed in life.

19:26

Beyond anything that we can even rationalize in our minds. You might think, again, when we compare ourselves to Job, I don't know all of our particulars.

19:38

Maybe we've suffered more than Job in this room. But regardless, we can say, I can feel the pain Job went through when he lost all his possessions.

19:45

I can feel the pain that Job went through when he lost his honor and reputation in the town. Maybe we've lost the children in this room.

19:52

Maybe we can say, I know what it's like to lose a child. But to the degree that Job has felt it,

19:58

I don't know if any one of us can claim that relevance to the life of Job. And this is Job.

20:03

This is Job. We have to remember that's the context and the background of what's going on. Maybe you've been ill in the past of severity with boils.

20:12

Again, did you have boils when you lost your seven sons and three daughters? Did you lose all possessions when you lost all honor in the town at the same time?

20:21

That's the life of Job that we have here. Did you ever fall off a chair and bonk your head like that?

20:29

And not even cry. That's good. So we're gonna look here at verse six through seven here.

20:37

And look at this. Behold, I belong to God like you. I too have been formed out of the clay.

20:44

Behold, no dread of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

20:51

This is a remarkable thing. Again, think about this. You're a Christian. You're being accused of something. You're being accused of sin that has not taken place according to the words of God.

21:02

Is it okay for a Christian to come up and say, I have questions for you. I wanna examine this. I've been hearing the accusations and I want you to say things.

21:10

I wanna ask you this and I wanna understand what's going on. Is that a wrong thing for Elihu to do? It's not.

21:15

That's a good thing to do. I think about any time that I've been falsely accused of something, I rejoice when somebody comes up and says, did you do this?

21:24

Because now I can actually talk about my opinion of what actually took place. That's an impartial person that's really seeking the truth that's speaking to us.

21:32

That's a good thing. Now, what we're gonna read here is something that Elihu is putting together with the words of Job.

21:41

And let's read this and think through this together. He says, surely you have spoken in my hearing and I've heard the sounds of your speech.

21:52

So Elihu is saying, I've heard you say these things, Job. I am pure without transgression.

21:59

I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. Behold, he finds reasons for opposition against me.

22:06

He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks. He keeps watch over my paths.

22:12

Behold, let me answer you. You are not right in this. This is Elihu now saying this. Behold, let me answer you.

22:18

So the statements that he just said that Job has said, you are not right in this for God is greater than mortal man.

22:26

Okay, what was the guardrails to the text that we had before? The Lord gives, the

22:32

Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord. There's no sin in saying this. Elihu is taking different portions from several chapters in here.

22:41

Job does say these words, but not in the frame that Elihu has just put up. So Elihu, I think, is trying to rationalize these things together and he's trying to understand why

22:51

Job is saying these things. And he's saying, look, Job, this doesn't sound right to me. And that's an okay question to ask in this.

22:59

Is it right for Job to admit that which we already know is true, that God is pronounced in us?

23:05

I think it's okay for Job to say these things. Again, Elihu is just trying to be this impartial guy, trying to understand what's going on in here.

23:15

Where has Job failed? Where has Job done something that is incorrect?

23:21

And we've noticed this in the text. In Job chapter three, what is different in Job chapter three than is in Job chapter one and two when

23:28

Job says, the Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord. Job three, Job says, it would have been better if I had died in my mother's womb than it would have been for me to live right now.

23:42

What has Job stepped into when he says those kinds of words? He's saying, God, I have a better plan than what you have for my life.

23:53

It would have been better, God, if I had died in my mother's womb. Who is he trying to make the sovereign that is sitting upon the throne of God in that text?

24:02

He's saying, I have a better plan. I know what's better. That's what

24:07

Job has said a couple times throughout the text. Now, when he says these things, though, it's usually carried upon the burden that he's lost his family, so it's a reasonable thing to be saying in mourning.

24:18

It's still sin, it's still blasphemous, it's still not good, but it's a reasonable expectation that a man in this suffering would say something like this.

24:29

Job has rightly admitted that God is sovereign, but in several cases, he's saying,

24:35

I think I have a better way than what God has brought to me. Job has almost said,

24:40

God's sovereignty has only brought me down low, and that's it. I'm gonna die here in this dread, this place of Sheol, this place of Abed.

24:48

I'm gonna die in this place, and this is what God's plan is for me. Is that what God's plan is for Job? No, it's not.

24:55

We know the rest of the story. Job is given much more, sevenfold more of what he had before.

25:00

He's given far greater things than what he had in his previous time of being alive.

25:07

So is that what God wanted for the life of Job, is for him to die in dread? No, so Job is wrong when he's saying these things.

25:14

So I think what Elihu's doing in this text is he's trying to tell Job, Job, yes,

25:19

God is sovereign. Yes, he has a plan, but that plan is meant for redemption. That plan is meant to reveal his glories through the redemption.

25:30

And we're gonna see this play out here in a moment when we read further about what Elihu says in here.

25:35

Is Elihu wrong if this is an accusation that gets Job saying, Job, you're saying these words and they're not true?

25:43

Yeah, Elihu's wrong in this because this is true. We've seen God pronounce them as such.

25:48

That would be wrong if that's Elihu's final assumption of Job. Let's read verse 13 through 26 now.

25:58

Why do you contend against him? For he does not give an answer for all his doings.

26:04

Indeed, God speaks once or twice, yet no one perceives it. And a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on man, while they slumber in their beds, then he opens the ears of men and seals in their discipline.

26:18

So I wanna pause there. Elihu notices that the discipline, the hardship that Job is in, is at random, even according to Elihu.

26:28

No, he's saying this is discipline from God. This is something God has brought to you.

26:35

That he may turn man away from his conduct and keep man from his pride. He holds back his soul from the pits and his life from passing over to death by a weapon.

26:47

Man is also reproved with pain on his bed and with unceasing contention in his bones so that life loathes bread and his soul's favorite fruit.

26:58

His flesh wastes away from sight and his bones, which were not seen stick out.

27:04

He's skinny, right? We picture that anorexic, a skinny malnourished person, and that's what

27:09

Job looks like right now. And so that's what Elihu's saying in this. So that his life loathes bread and his soul's favorite food, his flesh wastes away from his sight and his bones, which were not seen stick out.

27:21

Then his soul draws near to the pit and his life to those who bring death.

27:27

That's the state that we see Job in right here. Elihu's saying, I see you right here in this place.

27:34

Let's keep on reading 23 to 33 and see what Elihu keeps on saying to Job.

27:40

Behold God, excuse me, if there is an angel as mediator for him, one out of a thousand to declare to a man what is right for him, then let him be gracious to him and say, deliver him from going down to the pit.

27:59

I have found atonement. Let his flesh become fresher than in youth.

28:05

Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor. Then he will entreat God and he will accept him.

28:12

And he will see his face with joyful shouts and he may restore his righteousness to man.

28:19

He will sing to men and say, I have sinned and perverted what is right, but he has not done what is due to me.

28:26

He has redeemed my soul from passing into the pit and my life shall see the light.

28:37

There's, let's keep on reading. We'll think about these things. Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with men to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with light of life.

28:51

Pay attention, oh Job, listen to me, keep silent and I will speak. Then if you have any speech, respond to me, speak for I desire to prove you righteous.

29:02

If not, listen to me, keep silent and I will teach you wisdom. So this little friend of mine, I want to see you as righteous,

29:08

Job. I'm trying to understand these things out. But notice verses 23 through 28.

29:17

What words of encouragement have any of the other three friends offered to Job? I think

29:24

I could pretty much say none. No help. Elihu in this going back and forth, trying to understand what's going on, what has

29:34

Elihu done? He's telling Job, Job, God often brings man so close to the pit that they plead out to him and they see him as his atonement and they come back to him and they're rejoiceful over what

29:50

God has done in their life. But think about our own testimonies in this room, whether you, whatever that testimony might be, maybe you were a part of a cult and believed you would become a

30:00

God one day. And I'm talking about myself. Maybe you were walking a wayward path and you were close to the pit of destruction, even like we see in Job.

30:09

And we look back now and we say, Lord, I'm thankful for what you brought. I guarantee you in the situation in that time, you were probably not very happy about it.

30:18

But now you look back and you cherish what you've gone through because it has made you into the man and the woman that you are today.

30:25

God brings man close to the pit often so that they would greater see the redemption of God that they have through Jesus Christ.

30:34

This is remarkable. Again, Romans 8, 28, I think is what came to my mind as I was reading through this.

30:41

It says, and we know, this is talking about Christians. So we know in this room, brothers and sisters, this is the word of the

30:48

Lord, our God, who says this. We know this, that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love

30:58

God and to those who are called according to his purpose. We know this, brothers and sisters,

31:09

God causes all things to work together for the good of those that believe in him.

31:18

I'm reminded again of that brother, Joseph, there in Egypt, who was sold into slavery by his brothers.

31:25

And in Genesis 50, it says that, you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good.

31:32

The same exact actions, the same exact situation, the time if you were to take a pause and ask

31:37

Joseph when he was being sold into slavery, you would say, is this a good thing, Joseph? I guarantee you, you'd probably not think it was a great thing.

31:48

But God meant that very same thing that the brothers met for evil. God meant it for good. I would ask you this today.

31:56

This is what my thinking is. We're not done with the words of Elihu. Elihu goes all the way until chapter 38, and then we see

32:02

God step into the conversation. And so we're not done with the words of Elihu. We're still considering and wrestling through this mysterious fourth friend and what he's saying that's right and what he's saying that might be wrong, and trying to understand these things.

32:15

But my mind went to this for us today, I think, that hopefully will be good and wise counsel for us to take away.

32:22

Which friend are you going to listen to today? Are you going to go to a friend like Eliaphus that says,

32:30

I have a vision from the dark that I could tell you about, something that I can speak into your life, and Job, I know you were a sinner through this charismatic, what happened, you obviously sowed sin last year, and this is why you're in this situation.

32:49

Are you going to listen to that kind of friend, Eliaphus? Are you going to listen to the friend like Bildad, who says, your web, the things that you've built were just nothing actually good, and that's why

32:58

God took it from you. Is that what you're going to listen to? Are you going to listen to Zophar, this other third friend that just comes in here and continually says,

33:06

Job, the balances in your life are obviously outweighed, and that's why God has brought this bad thing to you.

33:12

Again, this type of thinking of karma type of theology, is that what we're going to listen to in this life?

33:20

Are we going to listen to the brother in our faith that's trying to understand the situation better?

33:28

Are we going to listen to Elihu? Out of all these things, brothers and sisters,

33:33

I would ask you, are you going to listen more to the words of Christ than even all these other friends? Job, in this terrible situation, us in our own hardships today, are we going to go to the word of God and say,

33:49

I know that God is causing this for the good of those that believe in him, and I believe in him.

33:54

I don't know why. I don't maybe see the good in it right now, but I know that it is for the good of those that believe in him.

34:03

Are you going to go to the words of Christ and say, he said that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

34:10

Are you going to throw yourself to the mercy seat of God today and come to know Jesus Christ?

34:16

That would be my beckoning from these two chapters that we've looked through today. Today is the day to repent and believe and have faith and have trust in the words of Christ, that he said it is finished.

34:28

Even Job, a sinner, a man that feared Yahweh, how was he made righteous?

34:35

How was he made blameless? How was he made upright even in those days of old? How had he done it?

34:41

Through faith in the coming seed. And we look back now to the seed that did come, God in flesh, dying for you and I, atoning for you and I, being crushed for you and I and rising again on the third day.

34:55

Listen to that friend, brothers and sisters, listen to that friend and as Christians in this room, please act like Elihu.

35:03

Please act like a man and a woman that wants to seek after the truth and understand with impartial judgment about what's going on.

35:12

Do not listen to the gossip and the slander, but go to the source and try to seek the truth.

35:18

Let us pray. Lord God, I thank you again for these chapters that we've looked at in here,

35:24

Lord. I thank you for the book of Job and even the challenges and the difficulty that we wrestle with, even maybe in our own situations in our own life,

35:33

Lord. God, I would ask out of all these things that as we read through this book that you are glorified, that you are sought, that you are loved even in this kind of a text,

35:44

Lord. God, I would ask that we would consider the ways that we would encourage a suffering friend, a suffering brother in the faith, a suffering sister in the faith,

35:53

Lord. God, I would ask too, Lord, that even as we seek your glory, as we seek your righteousness,

36:04

Lord, God, I would ask that you would encourage us in this difficult, challenging text in the life of Job to know that you are sovereign.

36:16

Job knew it, Eli was admitting to it, and so,

36:21

Lord, I would ask that you would help us have this continuity in our own faith to love you and your sovereignty, Lord.

36:27

God, I ask this in your holy name, Jesus the Christ, amen. Brothers and sisters.