seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Job 33:1 “But now, Job, listen to my words;
pay attention to everything I say.
2 I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.
3 My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.
4 The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Answer me then, if you can;
stand up and argue your case before me.
6 I am the same as you in God’s sight;
I too am a piece of clay.
7 No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy on you.
pay attention to everything I say.
2 I am about to open my mouth;
my words are on the tip of my tongue.
3 My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know.
4 The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 Answer me then, if you can;
stand up and argue your case before me.
6 I am the same as you in God’s sight;
I too am a piece of clay.
7 No fear of me should alarm you,
nor should my hand be heavy on you.
8 “But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words—
9 ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;
I am clean and free from sin.
10 Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.
11 He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.’
I heard the very words—
9 ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;
I am clean and free from sin.
10 Yet God has found fault with me;
he considers me his enemy.
11 He fastens my feet in shackles;
he keeps close watch on all my paths.’
12 “But I tell you, in this you are not right,
for God is greater than any mortal.
13 Why do you complain to him
that he responds to no one’s words[a]?
14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though no one perceives it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
16 he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,
17 to turn them from wrongdoing
and keep them from pride,
18 to preserve them from the pit,
their lives from perishing by the sword.[b]
for God is greater than any mortal.
13 Why do you complain to him
that he responds to no one’s words[a]?
14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though no one perceives it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
16 he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,
17 to turn them from wrongdoing
and keep them from pride,
18 to preserve them from the pit,
their lives from perishing by the sword.[b]
19 “Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain
with constant distress in their bones,
20 so that their body finds food repulsive
and their soul loathes the choicest meal.
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,
and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.
22 They draw near to the pit,
and their life to the messengers of death.[c]
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,
a messenger, one out of a thousand,
sent to tell them how to be upright,
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,
‘Spare them from going down to the pit;
I have found a ransom for them—
25 let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;
let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—
26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,
they will see God’s face and shout for joy;
he will restore them to full well-being.
27 And they will go to others and say,
‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,
but I did not get what I deserved.
28 God has delivered me from going down to the pit,
and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’
with constant distress in their bones,
20 so that their body finds food repulsive
and their soul loathes the choicest meal.
21 Their flesh wastes away to nothing,
and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.
22 They draw near to the pit,
and their life to the messengers of death.[c]
23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,
a messenger, one out of a thousand,
sent to tell them how to be upright,
24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,
‘Spare them from going down to the pit;
I have found a ransom for them—
25 let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;
let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—
26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,
they will see God’s face and shout for joy;
he will restore them to full well-being.
27 And they will go to others and say,
‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,
but I did not get what I deserved.
28 God has delivered me from going down to the pit,
and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’
29 “God does all these things to a person—
twice, even three times—
30 to turn them back from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on them.
twice, even three times—
30 to turn them back from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on them.
31 “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want to vindicate you.
33 But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
be silent, and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want to vindicate you.
33 But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
a. Job 33:13 Or that he does not answer for any of his actions
b. Job 33:18 Or from crossing the river
c. Job 33:22 Or to the place of the dead
Ok.... so the kid [the younger of the four to speak to Job about his problems] believes God brings trouble as a warning?
Even the easy English has a lot to say this morning. It's a long poem.....
Job’s three friends acted as if they were wiser than Job. But Elihu was humble. If Job replied, his words would not upset Elihu. And Elihu would not be angry if someone proved him to be wrong. Elihu wanted to know the truth.
Elihu sympathised with Job. Elihu reminded Job that they were both ordinary men. The Bible says that God made man from the earth (Genesis 2:7).
Someone may say, like Elihu, that they are speaking by the Holy Spirit. But we should not just agree with their words. We should remember that people may also speak by evil spirits. Or a person may make a genuine mistake. That person may think that he is speaking by the Spirit. But really, his ideas might come from his own mind. So, we need to use the Bible to check the person’s words. We need to check that such a person believes the truth about Jesus. And we need to pray about that person’s advice.
Elihu did not repeat Job’s actual words. Instead, Elihu chose words that would emphasise Job’s main ideas. Job argued that he was innocent. And Job blamed God for Job’s troubles.
Job blamed God. And Job thought that God might never help him (Job 24:1). But God is always good. Even when Job was suffering, God was helping Job.
God had a message for Job (chapters 38-41). But while Job was complaining, he was not ready to hear God’s message. So Elihu taught Job about God. Elihu used his speech in order to prepare Job to meet with God.
‘God speaks in many different ways. But we do not always hear him’. Elihu used two stories to explain this idea. The first story is in verses 15-18. This sounds like Eliphaz’s strange dream (Job 4:12-21). The second story sounds rather like Job’s life.
In both stories, the man was not expecting God to speak. But God had an important message for each man. Each man’s life or death depended on his reaction to God’s message.
This dream is like Eliphaz’s dream (Job 4:12-21). But there are important differences:
· In Elihu’s story, God spoke by the dream. In Eliphaz’s dream, a strange spirit spoke.
· In Elihu’s story, the message was that the dreamer himself must stop his evil behaviour. But in Eliphaz’s dream, the message seemed to be that Job must stop his evil behaviour.
Perhaps Eliphaz’s dream really was from God. Perhaps God was warning Eliphaz to stop his evil behaviour. But Eliphaz had his own ideas. Eliphaz became proud and he even accused Job (Job 22:2-10).
Perhaps God was speaking to Eliphaz. But Eliphaz did not hear God’s message.
Elihu seems to have spent some time thinking on Job's problem. I figure Elihu was there because he knew Job's kids. He's got a pretty level head.
IMHO..... Elihu might be on to something. Jesus hadn't been there yet. It was God and the stupid humans.... no Jesus yet. God can see how things turn out in the end..... almost from creation He had an idea what decisions I would make because He knows how it all turns out...... so.... when He sees one of those He knows is going to wind up as one of His adopted children getting in trouble..... Elihu says God will step in..... Elihu says God will give me a nightmare to scare me back from the evil I'm getting into.... Elihu says God will make things happen to slow me down and make me think twice..... and if all else fails.... Elihu says God will flatout speak directly to this stupid human.
Job didn't do anything wrong that hadn't been covered by his sacrifices at the Temple. Job didn't have a dream where God showed up and told him to go to church. Job lost his children.... and back then if you didn't have kids to carry on your good name.... well you might as well have never lived at all. But I have to admit.... Elihu's theory does sound plausible.....
I wonder though..... if Elihu's theory is right.... if God took Job's kids to warn Job.....how is loosing his children going to pull Job back from hell? As a matter of fact..... Job's been sitting in the ashes and crying for a week.... how is that keeping him from hell? Elihu's theory might be right but not in this instance.... Job was innocent.... really.... it was all caused by a bet by satan that he could make Job curse God..... but Job isn't cursing God.... he wants to know what he did wrong.... or why God hates him all of a sudden..... he lost his kids and he needs some answers....
