Tuesday: Elihu’s Defense of God
A lot of commentary has been written over the ages about Elihu and his speech, some seeing it a major turning point in the direction of the dialogue. Yet, it’s really not that easy to see where Elihu adds anything so new or so groundbreaking that it changes the dynamic of the dialogue. Instead, he seems largely to be giving the same arguments that the other three had done in their attempt to defend the character of God against the charge of unfairness in regard to the sufferings of Job.
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Read Job 34:10–15. What truths is Elihu expressing here? How do they parallel what the other men have said before? And though his words were true, why were they inappropriate for the current situation?
Perhaps what we can see with Elihu, as with these other men, is fear—the fear that God is not what they think Him to be. They want to believe in the goodness and the justice and the power of God; and so, what does Elihu do but utter truths about the goodness, the justice, and the power of God?
“ ‘For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves’ ” (Job 34:21-22, NKJV).
“ ‘Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding. He does not preserve the life of the wicked, but gives justice to the oppressed. He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; but they are on the throne with kings, for He has seated them forever, and they are exalted’ ” (Job 36:5–7, NKJV).
“ ‘As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, in judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress. Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are wise of heart’ ” (Job 37:23-24, NKJV).
If all this is true, then the only logical conclusion one must draw is that Job is getting what he deserves. What else could it be? Elihu, then, was trying to protect his own understanding of God in the face of such terrible evil befalling such a good man as Job.
| Have you ever faced a time when something happened that made you fearful for your faith? How did you respond? Looking back, what might you have done differently? |
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Many people act like Elihu. You see when someone has a car, some people think that he got that car through satanic means. When something is wrong with a person some say that he deserve that. We forget that God knows every way of a man. Of course there are times when we see someone doing some things which bible does not agree and its our responsibility to go and talk to them and when talking look at the situation.
Remember what these three did. There are some words they said about God which is true but timing was a problem. Suppose one of your christian members is drinking beer, You cannot tell him that what he is doing is not good while in that condition of drunkenness, but rather wait until they are sober and then you can approach the person but also pray for the person because that's our duty as Christians.. Thank u
These men know God well and what they speak in God's defense is true. Even Job does not contest the good and gracious nature of God. In fact in many passages the bible makes the very same claims about God as each of these men do. It is what is veiled from these men that causes them to err. On trying to explain the hand of God in an event that is extremely out of his character they err. Let it not be so with us; for we know that we are born of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness under the sway of the devil. Let us always bear in mind that every unsaved soul is under the influence of the prince of this world whose only aim is to steal, and to kill and to destroy. Let us therefore attribute the iniquity in this life to the real source and not God nor the victim; for to us the veil has been removed.
I don't see a real turning point in the direction of the dialogue here. Elihu is defending his faith, but not comforting or encouraging Job in any way. Sometimes Christians feel threatened when faced with a situation or discussion causes them to be fearful for their faith. We need to be humble enough to be able to say simply "I don't know," and pray about the issue. It's ok to say "I don't know." Also, often a friend in trouble just needs your presence, support and encouragement not your assessment or judgement.
Experience is one of the greatest lessons. It can either build you up, share you up or wipe you out. I surely had this experience. I cried, I prayed, I sang and I shared my experience and after doing all that nobody said anything to let even think there was hope and I asked myself why God. but I looked back and I said, God you are in control I do not know where you are taking me but anywhere with Jesus I can safely go. I was alone in this country with two children. Freinds, as the days passed by, thing seems darker and darker. One night I decided to challenge God. I said like Job did, I do not deserve this but I will wait until you are ready to deliver me . I will not do anything wrong because I know you will not go back on your promises. Shortly after, things changed. Frist, I was not aware of my coworkers observation. I know one in particular did like SDA. One day she said Karin I have to say this, everybody loves you, with all you are going through you have never complain, you look so happy, is this because you are a SDA? With smile, I responded I am a child of God. Thereafter we speak about God, she start reading the Bible more and I could go on.You see God stepped in, and when he is at work do not disturb Him. He promised an increase if we are faithful.I got anexpended family medical leave with pay with asking for it, let me put it this way I got everything I needed. However,looking back, the thing I would have done different, is to train up a child in the way he should grow and he will not depart from it, this is God's command and some of us parents need to pay more attention to this and to our children. I know some of us may be offended by me saying this, but some of our children are doing things we are not aware of. Remember, we were once children. I am so glad that I service an awesome God. I know Jesus loves me. Thank you for allowing me this testimony. God bless. I Love you
It seems to me that Satan is having a hay day with this thing being put on Job, both to all his concern friends and his wife, yes even Job. Do you think satan would not take advantage of this situation as much as possible? There is no pity in the war of the great controversy. We are all looking at this in the way of our trying to understand how God and his character is involved, not in the involvement of Satan which has inishiated this mess. Even right now as we study this we see how confuse we are, trying to make sense of the book of Job. Thank God for the thousand years soon to follow which we could have it explained to us. It amazes me that it will take that much time for God to detail it to us.
How come Elihu's anger was aroused against a mourning kinsman? Did he not visit with the purpose of comforting Job? Job 32 says;'2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
4 Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job.[a] 5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused."
Do we sometimes miss the mandate when caerying out what is supposed to be selfless Christian service? Where we end up in unfair speech contests with hurting people.
We know now, through the Health Ministry that God has given to the Adventist church, that loss of temper is closely linked to eating habits. Unrestrained consumption of refined sugar and animal protein could result in impaured mental function, thus resulting in, anongst others, fits of anger. May God help us to be temperate in our choice of food; nay he fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we can show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control to suffering humanity.
Atheists and skeptics often say, "I can't believe in a God that would allow so much suffering in the world!" "Why, if there is really a God, would He allow innocent babies to suffer?"
To those people that say those kinds of things about God, I ask, "How did you treat your wife and children this morning? And yet they still Love you."
Here's where I'm going with this. Even without the knowledge (or privilege) of understanding the Great Controversy, Job's four friends were just like the atheists and skeptics, living a life without Hope, without Comfort. If they truly know God, they would have known that He is a God of Love and Comfort. When they were suppose to be comforting Job and praying with him, they accused him of sinning against God (what else could it be). They were suppose to just sit there and cry and pray with Job. Sometimes there is no answers for our suffering, and we have to accept that.
When I had a bad Job-like experience in my life, when I questioned God and there was no answer; I almost give up, I almost lost my faith. The Holy Spirit came to me, and said: "What are you going to do? Are you going to lie there, in bed, forever, or are you going to get up and Live? If you get up, I will help you, I will be with you?" God is so good, He didn't have to come to me, to encourage me; but He saw my worth, He saw that He could USE me to reach others that are suffering too. I was hurting so much and I couldn't see my own worth at the time; that's how much God loves me (how much He loves you and all His children). So, I got up, went back to church, and Lived!
What I wish that I would have done differently would be to think about God more while I was going through my suffering. I was so selfish at the time, I was only thinking about myself and what I wanted, and how I wasn't going to get what I wanted. However now I thrive to be less selfish every day; "it's not about us, it's all about HIM". Now I wake up every morning, especially when I know that I'm going to be around other people, and pray that God will lead me to His children, that I will say to them what He would say, whether it is an encouraging word or a word of wisdom and knowledge that will draw them closer to God. This is our mission, this is how we finish the work that God commissioned all His disciples to do in Matthew 28:19, 20. Be blessed and encourage someone today.
I meant to say: "I strive to be less selfish every day".