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The Wrath of Elihu – Teaching Plan — 2 Comments

  1. Elihu is angry because God's character is misrepresented by both Job and his so called friends.

    Elihu was not wrong. In fact Elihu was not reproved when God spoke. Job was reproved by God and the three so called friends were reproved, but not Elihu.

    Job was guilty of justifying himself and saying God was unfair in allowing trouble to descend upon him. He was looking to his own good works and deeming them as a reason why God should not have allowed all this evil to befall him.

    This was what Elihu was correcting, and in this coming week's portion of scripture to study, we will see that God reproved Job of this as well.
    After God speaks we see that Job no longer exalts his innocence, but tells God that he (Job) will stop his mouth, and say no more, for he is vile.

    The three friends were also reproved -- they too believed in the wrong system. -- A system of merits.
    The merit system believes if one does enough good they deserve God's blessings. If they do enough bad, they deserve God's punishment.

    Job, while not turning against God or cursing God, was still not without sin. He also had to grow in grace.

    In trouble we are to look to God as our help, He is the only One to save and uplift us and give us the strength to bare it.

    Futile responses when we face trouble are:
    1. Condemning (which Job's friends did)
    Instead of condemning talk of our sin pardoning Savior for we need to make ourselves right with God. All have sinned and need His forgiveness and cleansing from sin. Claim the promise of 1 John 1:9, believe it, and focus on Christ to see us through.

    2. Telling God He's unfair (which Job did)
    How many think that since we've paid our tithe, kept the Sabbath, didn't steal or commit adultery, gave food to the poor, etc. that now we deserve a comfortable life, and God is unfair if He allows trouble to come into our lives? We live in a world where trouble reigns. While we should be thankful for God's blessings, He hasn't promised us a rose garden existence in this world, but He has promised to be with us always, we can find our comfort and strength in Him -- He will never leave those who trust in Him.

    (3)

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