Friday: Further Thought – Wrath of Elihu
Further Thought: In a discussion concerning the question of faith and reason, author John Hedley Brooke wrote about the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) and his attempt to understand the limits of human knowledge, especially when it came to the working of God. For Kant, “the question of justifying the ways of God to man was one of faith, not of knowledge.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
As his example of an authentic stance in the face of adversity, Kant chose Job, who had been stripped of everything save a clear conscience. Submitting before a divine decree, he had been right to resist the advice of friends who had sought to rationalize his misfortune. The strength of Job’s position consisted in his knowing what he did not know: what God thought He was doing in piling misfortune upon him.”—Science and Religion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 207, 208. These men in the book of Job, and now Elihu, thought they could explain what happened to Job in a simple cause-and-effect relationship. The cause was Job’s sin; the effect was his suffering. What could be more clear-cut, theologically sound, and rational than that? However, their reasoning was wrong, a powerful example of the fact that reality and the God who created and sustains that reality don’t necessarily follow our understanding of how God and the world He created work.
Discussion Questions:
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We always cannot match the thinking of God;we mortal men cannot try to run to reach the plans of Him who is our Creator.Much more we cannot know the root of sin and where it started and try to explain it.
Humility is the main focus this week when we want to represent God in any place.It is not about how we think we know Him,it is about how He knows you...
Friends of Job brought about wrath on Job even more when he tried to explain about himself.They failed to calm Job down because they saw that they can explain to him what was happening
Lesson to us as Christians, that trusting God in all times is most crucial to us as we have known now;we do not see the unseen war around us.Even those we think that are ours can be used to trap us,and fight our faith.They can bring confusion and create more fear and hence doubt God.
The world is full of evil and challenges.Our relationship with God shall make us choose the right tracks whenever we are in challenged.Let us build our love with God,it will help us to stand...
Sidney, I would suggest that we can know all that God has given us to know, even the origin of sin in the prideful heart of Lucifer. All we need to understand is faithfully brought to us in the Word of God, which is why it is the lamp for our feet and light for our path.
Our faith/trust in God does not happen without a knowledge of God, and because it is included, a knowledge of the devil. Satan is most effective against those who do not acknowledge his existence, even though the Bible teaches his existence from the very start. You rightly pointed out the importance of our relationship with God, which depends wholly on our knowledge of Him in truth. This is why His word has been given to every generation, even before it was written down.
Man must live by every word that proceeds from God. There is no relationship, faith or hope without it.
We can learn to trust God by feasting in His words. Study His word and pray and believe in the promises of God.
Hope for a future with God plays an important role in my life. There are more than enough evidence in the bible to give me hope and to strengthen my faith in our Lord Jesus. My daily prayer is to ask God for strength to obey His will. Please pray for me and my family. God bless
Karin I will pray for you. Please remember me too when you pray. God bless.
Thank you, the thoughts this Friday are wonderful.
Which is most likely to be foremost in our thoughts? Our troubles and trials here and now or some other time later? if you are like most of us, the here and now wins hands down. Most of us are optimistic realists. This is not to say that Hope and Trust are not factors but as Job continued, there were some serious questions that he wrestled with. We have many, many, questions that only have answers that depend on Faith and Trust supplied by the same God as Job.
I do believe that Job had solidified his trust in God long before Elihu gave his speech. Job had
Heeded the bidding of God “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8. Instead of depending upon the word of another, he experienced the reality of God's word and the truth of His promises, tasting for himself, prior to his trials, the love of God that never fails. Saving him from despair, cursing God, and dying.
Thoughts taken from: 'Steps to Christ' page 111.3. May we taste God's love, even the crumbs. Lord even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from under their masters table. Matthew 15:27. I like what the Lord said in the next verse.
Why is it assumed that Job and his friends did not know the story of the temptation and fall? Who else in those times of the patriarchs speaks specifically of the devil? Consider this: could anyone really trust in a capricious God who brings evil without warning? Would Job be expected to trust completely while believing that God Himself was destroying him in such a terrible way? My belief is that these men only reasoned from the point of God being absolute Sovereign and the evil angel who tempted Adam and Eve into sinning is only able to act as God permits. Why mention the devil when it must be God who allows him to act? Job's protest was not about the existence of evil, but that God allowed it to come against a righteous person in such an obvious and direct way to destroy him.
Inspiration tells us that Adam was faithful to warn his offspring concerning the wicked one and his deceptions. Job knew of the sacrifice required once sin entered, surely he knew the reason for the need of it. Until the Word of God was written, the obedient were faithful to pass on the Truth to each following generation. How else could they find true righteousness by faith while dwelling in a wicked world among ungodly nations?
Their lack of mentioning the devil does not prove a limited understanding, but confirms a true understanding of the sovereign God.