Alright, so I'm fairly new to this speaking thing, and I decided to choose Job as my first series. What a crazy idea that was. So this book is just so deep and so there's so much in it. I could probably choose it as my next series as well and go back through it again and do the entire book again and it would be totally different.
It's just an amazing book. I was reading a little bit through the previous chapters just to kind of give myself a background a little bit. I haven't spoken on this one in a while. So it's just amazing, some of the things.
But I will do a little summary of what we've talked about so far, Job. For those of you who may not know, Job is a person in the Bible that went through tremendous suffering. God allowed him to come into his life. So he lost his children, he lost his house, he lost all his wealth, and as well as his health.
He was very sick. And God allowed this in his life. Satan wanted to take him down and God allowed this in his life. And Job was an honorable man before that.
He loved the Lord. He would pray for his children. He was a righteous man as far as he trusted God. But God allowed this in his life.
And throughout the entire book, a lot of it is Job questioning why? Why did God allow this in my life? Why has this happened to me? So along come three friends of Job and they're all trying to help him as best they can.
And they do maybe the worst job imaginable. They do probably about the same job that I would do in my own strength. They try to just, they basically accuse him of sin. They accuse him of maybe you've sinned.
Maybe you're being impatient. You just need to relax. God's punishing you for something. So clearly you've done something wrong and God is punishing you and life is black and white.
Everything is left right. That's it. And Job is questioning that. He's saying, no, I'm innocent.
I don't know why. This is happening. And as it goes further and further, Job gets more and more emotional. He gets more riled up.
He does in all of this, he does actually commit sin. He accuses God of injustice. And he says that God has labeled him as his enemy when he makes assumptions about God. And so Job does actually cross the line in this book.
And then along comes this guy that I don't think any of us really know a lot about, I don't think. I actually like reading through this, I actually forgot this person existed until I went back through Job again. And so this is Elihu. This is the man who comes in before God, before God speaks to Job.
And he expresses to Job the issues that Job has. He's a fourth friend, basically, who shares, I believe, some tremendous truth from the Scripture. And anyway, I won't give away too much here. So I was going through this message and I brought out my inner John McKim and I have five teas of Elihu.
So there's five words to start with tea. And I guess I'll just list them off and then I'll go back and go through them. So the first one is timing. The second one is tone.
Third is truth. Fourth is trust. And fifth is trembling. So these are all what I've observed through the book of Job, Chapter 32 to 37.
So we're going to open with, I'm going to talk about Elihu. I'm going to read the first little bit of Chapter 32. Job's three friends refused to reply to him further because he kept on insisting on his innocence. His narrative didn't line up with theirs, clearly.
So they didn't want to talk to him anymore. Elihu the son of Barakal, the buzite of the clan of Ram became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. He was also angry with Job's three friends before they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job's arguments.
Elihu waited for the others to speak to Job because they were older than he. When he saw that they had no further reply, he spoke out angrily. Elihu the son of Barakal, the buzite said, I am young and you are old. So I held back from telling you what I think.
I thought those who are older should speak for wisdom comes with age. So this is, I'll stop there for a minute. This is Elihu's timing. This is what I look at as timing.
He waited and waited and waited. If you read chapters, I think four to 30, roughly, there's a lot of stuff to wait through. These guys ramble on for a long time about stuff. Elihu waited.
He waited for a long time to speak. I think that's important for us. It's important for us to be slow to speak and to wait for the dust to settle, as we say, before we start spewing. And maybe also waiting for God to give us the right words to say.
And that's something that comes in the very next verse. He said, there is a spirit within people. And that's verse eight. There is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them that makes them intelligent.
And this is who Elihu is relying on. He's relying on the Spirit of God. He's relying on the Almighty to give him the words to say. And he waits on the Lord to give him the right words.
The rest of the chapter. He also, oh yeah, the other thing is in the scripture. I named this message, Elihu the young fella, because he's a young fella. He's just a young guy.
He's the youngest of all the four people that are in front of him are older than him. So I find that interesting because when he says it's God's spirit and it's the Almighty who gives wisdom and not age, I think that's interesting because I know from working in a place where everyone's older than me, I'm known as the young fella in the place. And that's not really known as a positive, that's not really a positive connotation. That's kind of like, oh yeah, he's a young fella.
And so this is really cool because I think God uses people who are young. He uses people who are underestimated to speak the truth and to actually have an impact on others. I think that's encouraging for all of us who are young. Any of us who are old as well or in between.
Our lives are so short in comparison to eternity. It really doesn't matter. God can use anybody of any age. So I think that's extremely important to note.
The rest of chapter 32, he basically is just saying, I'm going to speak now. I'm going to give my word. He says, at the end of the chapter, he says, I won't play favorites. I won't flatter anybody.
I'm not here to try to sound smart. I'm not here to do any of that. I'm here to, before God, to present the truth. And that's when we come to chapter 33.
And this is where I talk about, his tone with Job. The other three friends, they get pretty riled up with Job. They don't exercise patience with him. So Ellie who says, and I'm going to skip down a little bit.
There's quite a bit here. Am I missing? Oh, yes. Okay.
Here, verse 6. He says to Job, look, you and I both belong to God. I too was formed from the clay. He reminds Job of his humanity.
He establishes that. He knows that we're both human here. We both have done things that are wrong. We both, we both had God's mercy at this point.
You and I both belong to God. I too was formed from the clay. I think this is really important when speaking to non-believers and people who are Christians who are also struggling, it's really important to establish our own humanity as well and say, I'm not any better than you. I'm not up in my high place and you're down here.
I think it's really important to be able to express our humanity and the fact that we're all at God's mercy and include ourselves with them. It helps to build rapport. You don't need to be afraid of me. I won't come down hard on you.
This is what he says to Job. Now, when you read through this in detail, it's like, oh, he's coming down hard on Job. I think what he's saying here is my tone is going to be different from the other three. I'm going to give you the truth and the real truth and I'm not going to beat around the bush, but I want you to know that I care about you and this is why I'm sharing the truth with you.
I think that's extremely important. This is where tone comes in. Verse 9 in chapter 33, Ellie who gives him a specific pointed accusation. He's something that is, he can point to a specific thing.
The other three friends were very vague and they were saying, God punishes the guilt. He's so clearly guilty and Job is saying of what? In this right here, he says, you have spoken in my hearing and I have heard your very words. You said, I'm pure without sin.
I am innocent. I have no guilt. God is picking a quarrel with me and he considers me his enemy. He puts my feet in stocks and watches my every move.
But you are wrong and I will show you why. God is greater than any human being. So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people's complaints?
For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams and visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people and they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong.
He keeps them from pride. He protects them from the cross over the river of death. So he points to Job's accusation of God for punishing him unjustly and also for how Job perceived that God was punishing him unjustly. Also, he was pointing out Job's accusation of God for not listening to his pleading.
And then from verse 19 to 33, God disciplines people with pain on their sick beds and ceaseless aching in their bones. They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food. Their flesh wastes away and their bones stick out. They are at death's door.
The angels of death wait for them. If an angel from heaven appears, a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright, he will be gracious and say, rescue him from the grave before I found a ransom for his life. This is a messianic prophecy. It's something that you can see Christ in these few verses here.
Speaking of a ransom, I found a ransom for his life. Then his body will become as healthy as a child's. Firm and youthful again. When he prays to God, he will be accepted.
God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing. He will declare to his friend, I have sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it. God rescued me from the grave and now my life is filled with light. This speaks of the restoration, God promises.
This also speaks of maybe the reason sometimes why God allows suffering. He allows suffering to draw us closer to himself. And for us to be able to see him clearly and rely on him fully. And we can declare to people that we've been delivered from the suffering.
And this is I think an interesting thing because the book of Job, when I look through it, I kind of wanted to get the answer for a lot of people on the street and ask us if God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world? Why is there this, why is there that? Why are there people being murdered? Why is there people starving to death?
Things like that. Why is there war? And I was thinking, well, Job's going to answer that for me. And Job's, the book of Job doesn't fully answer that question, but it explains that God is sovereign and it explains that God is in control.
And he has reasons that are far above any of us. So the next section is Job 34. And that's Elihu continues to point out Job's sin. But I've labeled this section truth.
He just simply tells the truth. And I've said here, let it out. But don't forget, Tom. Tom is extremely important.
So truth with love. Speak the truth with love. So I'm skipping over quite a bit. There's quite a bit of complex poetry here.
So I encourage people, if you're interested, this is really supposed to be a glimpse of the book of Job. I would encourage people to dig deep and read this book. There's a lot in it. And like I said, if I went back through it again, I think my messages would be a lot different.
And not because there's anything wrong with what I'm saying now, I guess. But more because there's just so much in this book and there's just so many different facets and angles. So in verse 10 of chapter 34, listen to me. This is Elihu speaking.
Listen to me. You who have understanding. Everyone knows that God does not sin. The Almighty can do no wrong.
This is an encouragement for believers. This is something that we can look at and know the Lord will do what is right every time, always. And if we're going through something hard, maybe it's sickness, maybe it's restrictions, maybe it's losing loved one, maybe whatever it is, we know that God does what is right every single time. This is truth.
He reminds Job of God's sovereignty. This is a verse actually. Oh, yes. Okay.
Did someone else put the world in his care or who set the world in its place? Verse 14 is a verse that just kind of blows my mind. If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease. All humanity would turn again to dust.
God is currently holding everything by the word of his power. He's holding everything by his. We have the breath of God in us. And if he were to decide that that's no longer available, then everything we know would disappear.
And that kind of blew my mind when I read it. It's just a crazy truth. It's a real truth. And it's something that it just points to the wisdom that God has given to this man who's sharing here.
If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease and all humanity would turn again to dust. So this creation that God has, everything he's made is reversible. And thank the Lord by his mercy. He hasn't done that.
And he doesn't plan to do that for us as believers. The Bible spells out what God is going to do. And he's going to punish the guilty at some point. And he's going to restore believers to himself.
And we're going to be in heaven. So I want to point that out. It's just an amazing thing. God is just so much in control.
And he's so sovereign. And then verses 23 and 24, God doesn't answer to anyone. We don't set the time when we will come before God in judgment. Verse 23.
And then verse 24 says, he brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone. He sets up others in their place. He doesn't answer to anyone. He doesn't need to ask for permission to do any of this.
And so he's reminding Job that God is sovereign. God has his purposes. We don't need to necessarily know those purposes. We don't need to be in the loop necessarily all the time.
This is a tough truth for us to take sometimes. We go on to chapter 35 now. And this continues on in the truth. And I think it's a fairly short chapter.
And there's not much to it. Or there is a lot in there. But there's more to it than I can really touch on in one message. But verses 1 to 8 is kind of what I was focusing on.
And it just continues on, God does not answer to anyone. God does not rely on us. Do you think? Oh, sorry.
Then Elihu said, do you think that is right for you to claim? I am righteous before God. For you also ask, what's in it for me? What is the use of living a righteous life?
I will answer you and all your friends too. Look up to the sky and see the clouds high above you. If you sin, does that affect God? Even if you sin again and again, what effect will it have on him?
If you are good, is this some great gift to God? What could you possibly give him? No, your sins affect only people like yourself. And your good deeds also affect only humans.
What that's saying is that God is that we don't have the ability to change God. We don't have the ability to perceive us any different if we do good or bad because we're sinners. And our righteousness is filthy rags to God. Our righteousness is nothing to God.
It's not Romans 4, I believe speaks of this. Our righteousness is not counted as our merit, but it's counted as something that we owe God. And it's counted as something that it's our debt. It's what we owe to him.
So if we do one righteous deed and we owe him seven trillion righteous deeds, that's not going to do anything. And it's not seven trillion. We owe him an eternity of righteousness. And as soon as we sin once, we've blown that all, because that's not eternity.
That's now finite. So this is just, it's interesting how the New Testament and the Old Testament line up. This is almost exactly what it says in Romans 4 about how our righteousness does not change God. Our righteousness doesn't change his mind.
We don't really have righteousness in its purest form. And that can only come from God. So again, just some very deep truths, very fascinating truths. But we got to remember to maintain tone as well and maintain a love when we speak to people and speak to them, caringly and understandably, and establish our own humanity.
I'm included with all this. I'm also someone who doesn't have righteousness. I'm also someone who I can't please God unless God intervenes in my life. This moves us on to chapter 36.
And I've labeled this trust. So there is some more truth here. I'm actually going to go to the second half of the chapter, verse 13. For the Godless are full of resentment.
I'm actually going to go back to verse 12, because I think when it says 4, that's the middle of a sentence. But if they refuse to listen to him, and this is speaking of people, if they refuse to listen to him, they will cross over the river of death, dying from lack of understanding. For the Godless are full of resentment. When even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help.
They die when they are young, after wasting lives by immoral living. But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity. This is God's mercy.
And this is yet another small explanation of times when God allows suffering and why he does. It's to get people's attention. It's to move us closer to him. His desire is that we move closer to him and that we have a relationship with him.
He gets their attention through adversity. And this is where I think tone comes in. This is truth. This is tone.
Elihu says to God, sorry, says to Job, God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress. He's setting your table with the best food. This is Elihu being very, being encouraging to Job. He's speaking to Job with encouraging words.
He's telling him that at the end of the day, God cares about you. And you need to listen to God. And through your suffering, he's trying to speak to you. And he's reaching you.
And he says, but you are obsessed with whether the Godless will be judged. Don't worry, judgment and justice will be upheld. But watch out. Or you may be seduced by wealth.
Don't let yourself be bribed and into sin. Continue your, could all your wealth or all your mighty efforts keep you from distress? Do not long for the cover of the night. For that is when people will be destroyed.
Be on guard. Turn back from evil. For God has sent the suffering to keep you from a life of evil. To me, this is what exhortation looks like.
This is what it looks like to exhort someone and tell them how to live their life. But I really like how he gives him a reason. He gives him encouraging words. It's a combination of encouragement and command.
That's what exhortation is. It's encouragement and command. It's telling people to go on ahead, move ahead. It's worth it.
It's totally worth it. And I think of, I love hockey. So I think of the Stanley Cup and things like that. And I know from interviews with players and stuff like that, they'll say, in the room, game seven, Stanley Cup finals, it's a lot of just like, this is going to be tough, but we've got to do it.
We've got to go. We've got to go and do it. Because it's going to be worth it in the end. We're going to be able to lift the Stanley Cup, which is obviously the ultimate goal in life.
Not really. But this is kind of the same thing. God is leading away from danger. He's sending you a table with the best food.
God has the best for us. And he promises that. And at the same time, he's saying, this is going to be tough. It's a tough road ahead.
We have a long way to go here. But I want you to know it's totally worth it. And God does actually care. So the next section I have, and this is an interesting one, Elihu, I believe, is preparing Job basically for battle at this point.
I believe God has sent Elihu to Job to prepare him. God is about to speak. Elihu is, I would compare him with John the Baptist, in a way. He prepares the way for the Lord.
And in the next section, he gives him the reality of who God is. And so at the end of chapter 36, I'm actually just basically going to read this and not comment too much into it. But there's a lot in here that's very terrifying about God. And this is where I believe in section trembling.
This is how we are supposed to conduct ourselves before God. Fear and trembling. We know that God has what's best for us. We know that we have a tough road ahead.
We know that we have to fight sin. We have to fight our own sin and our own lives. We have to fight our flesh. And we're going to face some very difficult, tough enemies.
And God is with us through it all. He's going to be tough on us, just like a good coach, or a good father, or a good authority figure. He's the ultimate authority figure. He's the ultimate.
And he's going to be tough on us at times, because he has to be in order for us to grow. And so giving Job a perspective of who God is, and his sovereignty, and his power, I think it's very important going forward. Because if you're going forward knowing that God, this God, is on your side, then you have nothing to fear, and except for God. And this is very important.
This is why we fight sin. This is why we're even in the battle, because we have something to fear, and we have someone, the same exact thing that we fear. He's also the person that loves us and who gave himself for us. So I'm going to read this next section without much comment, and it speaks for itself.
So chapter 36, verse 22, look, God is all powerful. Who is a teacher like him? No one can tell him what to do or say to him you have done wrong. Instead, glorify his mighty works, sing songs of praise.
Everyone has seen these things, though only from a distance. Look, God is greater than we can understand. His years cannot be counted. He draws up the water vapor and distills it into rain.
The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits. Who can understand the spreading of the clouds, and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven? See how he spreads the lightning all around him, and how it lights up the depths of the sea. By these mighty acts, he nourishes the people, giving them food and abundance.
He fills his hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target. Thunder announces his presence, and the storm announces his indignant anger. Chapter 37, my heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me.
Listen carefully to the thunder of God's voice, as it rolls from his mouth. It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction. Then comes the roaring of the thunder, the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks.
God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of his power. He directs the snow to fall on the earth. He tells the rain to pour down.
Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power. The wild animals take cover and say inside their dens. The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold. God's breath sends ice, freezing wide expanses of water.
I think the Lord, I was on the lake yesterday, was great. He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning. The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth.
He makes these things happen, either to punish people, or to show his unfailing love. Pay attention to this job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God. Do you know how God controls the storm and causes lightning to flash from his clouds?
Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill? When you are sweltering in your clothes, and the south wind dies down and everything is still, he makes the skies reflect the heat, like a bronze mirror. Can you do that? So teach the rest of us what to say to God.
We are too ignorant to make our own arguments. Should God be notified with that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused? We cannot look at the sun for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.
So also, Golden Splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor. We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty. But even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us.
No wonder people everywhere fear him, and all who are wise show him reverence. I absolutely love this chapter. It's become one of my favorites in the entire Bible. But this is just awesome truth.
I love this verse 23. We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty, but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us. This is perspective that I think every human being needs of God. I think we look at God's mercy as yes, he sends his son to die for us.
He gives us food to eat, all these things. Just the fact that he doesn't completely annihilate us is mercy. And that's perspective right there. And not only does he not annihilate us, but he gives us things.
He gives us food. He gives us, like it says in here, he gives us the weather. He gives us rain so that we can grow food. And he gives us, and ultimately, at the end of it all, he's given us the offer of eternal life.
And we just need to accept it. We need to look to God and humble ourselves and accept that. So I hope this is beneficial. I trust the Lord that his word has spoken.
And I'm gonna go over the five teas, five teas again. So it's timing, tone. Sorry, I actually forgot them. Timing, tone, truth, trust, and trembling.
So the next time I speak, I'm gonna be speaking on the Lord's challenge to Job. And I'm really looking forward to studying it because it's such a deep part of scripture. And I said Job 36 is like my favorite passage now, but I'm sure I'll find some more. And I'm excited to share them with you because this has just been an amazing book to study.
So I'm gonna close in prayer, and then we'll move on from there. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for your wonderful mercy, Lord. You've gone above and beyond in so many ways, Lord.
And not only do you allow us to live, but you've given us abundance in life. And not only that Lord, but you've given us eternal life as well. I pray that if there's anyone here who doesn't have eternal life, that they would have eternal life, that you would cause them to change, cause their heart to change, Lord, and cause them to follow after you. I just pray that you'd have mercy on us, Lord.
And I know that you do, and I thank you so much for that. And for your power and for this book, Lord, that you've provided, that we can dig deep and actually get to know you through it. And in Jesus' name, amen.