Job 36-37 - Where Elihu gets to the Point...and Pickles

Why Pickles, you say? I say why not? 

Have you ever listened to someone talk but the whole time you kept thinking, "Just get to the point!" They just kept talking and talking, not actually saying anything, or giving you way too many details about non important things. When they finally get to the point you're thinking, "Okay, I see what you mean, but why didn't you say that 10 minutes ago?" That's what happens with Elihu in Job 36-37. He finally gets to some solid points, but the whole time we're thinking, "But why didn't you just say that earlier?" We are finally at the end of Elihu's speeches, (yay!). As always, please read along in your Bible, Job 36-37.

Background: Job looked at his life, his righteous character and the way he feared God and said, "I have feared God and turned from evil. Therefore I should not be suffering. God has erred in my life by bringing suffering, difficulty, death and loss into my life." Job's three friends said he was a sinner who got what he deserved and he should repent. Now Elihu comes to the summation of his arguments.

Job 36:1-23 - The funniest line in all of Job, and then some thoughtful insight. The funny part is when Elihu says, "Bear with me a little, and I will show you...one who is perfect in knowledge is with you," (1,4). HAHAHAHAHAHA! "Bear with me 'a little'"? This is a guy who has been unable to stop talking for the last three chapters! "One who is perfect in knowledge"? Oh boy, that's a good one! Whew, I needed a good laugh. Thank you, Elihu. Also, thank you, tiny pickle. Okay, let's continue now to the actual substance.

Elihu's view of suffering/loss: God is mighty and merciful. He acts in wisdom and justice in his dealings with men and takes care of the righteous and humble. "Behold, God is mighty, and he does not despise any...He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right," (5-6). He may bring sorrow and struggle to a person's life, but his goal is to redeem, teach, correct, and protect people from foolishness and sin. "Then he declares to them...their transgressions...He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity," (8-10). A good and wise man will submit to God's instruction and learn from his suffering. A foolish and/or wicked man will refuse to learn from the trials he is experiencing and instead stiffen their necks in pride and anger, (11-23). Elihu's point is through suffering God is trying to teach or instruct men in ways they do not understand. Job should submit to the will and instruction of God and learn. If he chooses to reject the works of God in his life, he will both miss a divine opportunity and experience further judgment from God. (Now why Elihu didn't just say that earlier, I don't know).

At first glance this advice can seem mean and heartless. Would you tell someone who just lost a child to cancer that God was trying to teach them something? You wouldn't if you had any sense. But we have to remember that these men are trying to come to a philosophical understanding of suffering and loss. Job said there was no rhyme or reason; God just does as he pleases without purpose or justification. Job's friends said suffering was all due to sin and punishment. Elihu is saying that God sends suffering to teach and grow people, not necessarily to punish. Is Elihu's view ultimately correct? Not quite, but at least it's more thoughtful than whatever Job's friends have said. We also have to remember that these men had little more than oral tradition to teach them about God. There was no Bible. There was no Moses. They were trying to make sense out of the Almighty but they didn't have a whole lot to go on. It's like a man trapped in a tiny pickle, who doesn't know he's trapped in pickle. (Did that illustration make sense? No. But I bet it made you smile).

Not a pickle, but it seems more appropriate.

Job 37:1-13 - God is awesome in his control of nature. He gloriously works amid the wonders of nature to accomplish his purposes. One has to wonder if there isn't a literal storm brewing while Elihu is talking here because thunder and lightning are referred to so frequently in chapters 36-37, (10 times overall). Perhaps Elihu was picking up on the surrounding circumstances to make his point. He shows God as in control of the awesome and mysterious forces of weather. "God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them," (5, 11-12). God does all these things according to his sovereign purposes which we cannot always understand. "Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen," (13).

Not a pickle.

Job 37:14-24 - You cannot understand the sovereign works of God. Therefore be humble before his power and wisdom. "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know how God...causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know the balancings of the clouds?" (14-16). Look Job, God works wonders in nature. Do you understand Him? Do you know how God makes lightning work? Do you know how God causes the clouds to fill up with water and nourish the earth? "You whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind? Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?" (17-18). In other words, Job, you're a small man who is dependent upon God for a cool breeze on a hot day. You cannot control the winds and weather, only God can. God is bigger than you and me. He is glorious, sovereign, and mysterious. What then should Job do? "The Almighty--we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit," (23-24). Elihu tells Job that God is great, powerful, and just. We cannot understand his ways or come into his presence to demand he given an account for his actions, (which is what Job wanted). Men must trust God is just and righteous in his dealings with us and humbly submit to his ways. Elihu's call is for Job to be humble, fear God, and trust his character.

So Elihu has talked WAY too much, but in the end he actually has some thoughtful things to say. He defended the character of God as just, mighty, and wise. He advised Job that God uses suffering and loss in life to teach us, humble us, and protect us. He showed God to be awesome, mysterious, and incredible, working in the ways of weather and storm to accomplish his purposes. Although we may not agree with everything Elihu said or how he said it, we have to commend him for being different than Job's other friends who told him he should just repent and everything would be gravy.

Now the table is set. All of the smaller speakers have had their say. Mere men have tried to give an answer to the God's purposes in suffering. In the next chapter God shows up and speaks for himself. LLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEETTTTTTT'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Job 34-35, Elihu, Disney, and the justice of God

I beg your pardon for the delay in finishing Job. First of all, the family and I took a much needed vacation to Disney. Secondly, I really don't like writing about whatever Elihu has to say. But here I am: refreshed, ready and willing to continue on with Job. We're so close to the end now! Today we are looking at a couple more chapters of wise words, (cough), from Elihu. Please keep your hands, feet, arms, and faces in the ride at all times. Parents, please supervise your children. As always, please read along in your Bible.

Recap: Job, a righteous man, suffers terribly. Job asks God "Why?" Job's friends say it was because he was a rotten sinner, etc. Job refutes all of their arguments and philosophies. Job's friends then shut up. Now Elihu has stepped forward to offer his advice. Elihu talks and talks and talks, saying very little. Now consider yourself caught up. Let's continue.

Job 34:1-9 - Job has spoken wickedly about God by saying God was unjust. Elihu says that Job stated God had acted unjustly in his life. Job said he was a righteous man and God caused him to suffer anyway. At the same time there were wicked men who prospered. Therefore, (according to Job) what point was there to serve God? "It's all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked," (9:22-23). Elihu sees Job calling God unjust and will therefore spend the rest of the chapter defending God's justice. Elihu calls Job a sinner, not because of his deeds, but for calling God unfair. "What man is like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water, who travels in company with evildoers and walks with wicked men? For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God," (7-9).

Does being the biggest guy = justice? No. 

Job 34:10-15 - God is just because he's the biggest guy on the playground. Here Elihu proclaims the justice of God, but bases his statement not in God's righteous character, but rather in the might of God. "If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust," (14-15). In other words, God is just because no one can stand against him. This doesn't really make any sense. Elihu doesn't vindicate the justice of God, he just proves no one can stand against him. In other words, Might = Right. This is not a very good argument. Then again, it's Elihu we're talking about here. Let's just move on.

Job 34:16-20 - God is just because he is impartial. (At least this is a better argument). Elihu asserts God could not possibly be unjust because he is impartial in his decision making. He treats young and old, rich and poor the same. "Who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?" (19). Disney World is also impartial. No matter what country you come from or the color of your skin, they will accept your money. :0)

God = all knowing. Doug = knows little. 

Job 34:21-28 - God is just because he knows all things and he will not fail to exercise just judgment on the wicked. God knows all. "For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves," (21-22). God is also faithful to execute judgment on the wicked. "He strikes them for their wickedness in a place for all to see," (26-28).

Through all of this the point Elihu is making is God is just and he will never fail to act fairly in the lives of men. God is impartial, omniscient, all powerful, and faithful to judge. Job, according to Elihu, is wrong to assert that God has acted unfairly and should repent of his wicked words and attitude. Job wants God to fix things, but should God make things right in Job's life when Job is acting this way? "Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent?" (33, see also 35-37).

Job 35:1-8 -  Job says there is no point in being obedient. Elihu says Job shouldn't expect anything. In chapter 35, Elihu changes direction in his comments and now seeks to refute Job's claim that it is pointless to serve God. In Job's eyes there is no reward for obeying God if he's treated the same as the unrighteous. "That you ask, 'What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?" (3). Job thought God should treat him in accordance with his faithfulness. If God was going to treat him so poorly when he had been faithful, then there was basically no point in Job being righteous. Elihu's response is that if Job chooses sin instead of righteousness, he will only hurt himself, not God. "If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?" (6). If Job should live righteously, does God then owe Job? Is God somehow indebted to Job for his obedience? Elihu is again attacking Job for his poor attitude and words towards God.

You know who else has bad motives? 

Job 35:9-16 - God is not answering Job because Job has corrupt motives. Elihu says that people indeed pray to God when they are suffering, but they only do so because they want something, not because they love, fear, and are devoted to God. "Because of the multitude of the oppressions people cry out...but none says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night," (9-10). "Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it," (13). In other words, God is not answering Job because Job is asking for help with crooked motives. Job is not asking in righteous repentance, but out of his pride.

Job has asserted that he was righteous before God and therefore God has been unfair in his dealings with Job. Job did not think he should be experiencing suffering. He could find no reason to justify the trials he was enduring. Therefore he asked God "Why?" and said that God had somehow messed up. Elihu, seeking to justify God, told him the Lord was always fair and Job had bad attitudes and motives towards God and should therefore repent. Elihu did not accuse Job of sinful actions in his life, but rather in his heart and mind. Job has raised honest questions about God, suffering, right and wrong, but has gotten no adequate response from anyone around him.

Yep, it happened.

Most times when you read the Bible or hear it preached there will be some sort of application for you to follow, lesson to learn, or new thought to think. In these chapters it is hard to draw an appropriate application, because Elihu is talking. I don't say that to be rude. My point is it's hard to learn something from a guy who doesn't really know what he's talking about and in fact, talks too much. It'd be different if someone like Elijah was talking, but it's not Eli-jah, it's Eli-hu, as in Hu's on first.

So I'm afraid I can't leave you with any words of wisdom here. We're fighting through all of the dumb responses Job's friends have given to justify Job's suffering. We're also having to endure their awful answers to Job's heart-wrenching questions. Perhaps you have heard some of the same dumb and unhelpful responses in the face of your questions. Perhaps you have asked spiritual people, "Why?" and gotten no help. Job finds himself in the same place. In two chapters Job is going to get all the answers he can handle. Until then, we wait. Hang on, the storm is coming.

My wife, the CEO

The following is an illustration of how decisions play out between my wife and I.

Something is going to be purchased, like a gift for one of the children. I know I can count on my wife to do all the research on the gift and read reviews from previous owners of the same. She will speak with friends, other parents, and church goers to get their opinion on the item. She may even poll children in our neighborhood to get their opinion on the positives and negatives of said product. My wife will stress over the different options for the same product. Should she get item A or item B, which are similiar to product X? Item X was her first choice, but has some slight differences in the way their doo-hickeys and what-nots interact with one another than items A and B. My wife will also compare the prices for each of the products. Product A may have more bells and whistles, but it is over priced when compared to product B. Then again, there's item C, which is in between the prices for items A and B, but has a few other doo-hickeys that might appeal to our child, so that may be a good compromise.

Then there's the child in question. Will this child like Product A? Our firstborn might really like Product B, but our second would not care for Product A or anything in the same neighborhood. Then again, the second born child changes moods and interests faster than you can turn on the lights, so she may like Product A after you buy it, even though she doesn't like it now. You also have to consider whether you would be able to resell the item in question in the future. Maybe item A can be resold while it would be impossible to resell item B. You have to take these things into consideration, (or so I'm told). My wife will spend days going through the internet, scouring the different options available. Nights will be spent in anxious pondering about which product to buy. Prayers will be made, asking the Almighty for perspective and guidance on the purchase to be made. I say this with the highest praise for my spouse. She wants to pick the right product for the right child at the right price so that everyone in the family will be happy.

Here's the great thing about this. I know that whenever my wife comes to me with a decision that she's already thought through every possible contingency, price, review, opinion, perspective, positive, negative, and whatever in between. It's like putting a math problem into the IBM Watson computer. Every variable and possibility has been considered and Watson spits out the answer. The only difference between Watson and my wife is that Watson takes .00000001 seconds to come to a conclusion, while the female mind may take a bit longer, (don't ask me about a male's brain). The point is, whenever my wife comes to me and says, "I think we should do/buy X", that I know all I have to say is "okay", because I know she's thought about this 900 times more than I will ever possibly be able to do. I also know she's smart, careful, considerate, kind and respectful in her decision making, so there's only a .000000000001 percent chance that she'll be wrong. It's like if I asked Watson the answer of a calculus equation. I could spend time checking Watson to see if he was right, but I would just be wasting my time. It's the same with my wife.

So I've basically determined that my wife is the CEO of our household. My wife will analyze, study, research, compare, calculate, stress, question, and review the important decisions that need to be made for the Hendley Company. Hours, days, yea even weeks will be spent on the process of calculating the decision. Meanwhile, I am the president. The CEO will walk into my office and say, "I think we should do X". All I have to do, if I have any intelligence at all, is say "okay". (It's kind of like Tony Stark and Pepper Potts without the money, goatee, billions of dollars and Iron Man suit, but I digress). Regardless, at this point in my marriage I don't spend a lot of time asking if she's considered X,Y, or Z because I know she's considered X, Y, and Z to the 4th degree of consideration. I may ask if she's seen my sunglasses, because I can't find them, but that's about it.

Obviously other husbands are not likely to be as blessed to have a CEO like I do. Each woman and man, husband and wife are different in their strengths and mental/emotional make-up. In some marriages the decision making functions may be totally reversed. For me, I know I can trust my CEO to make smart, wise, and well thought out decisions. As the President of the company, I sometimes have to keep my CEO from freaking out about the decisions that need to be made, but it's a burden I'm willing to bear. As President, sometimes you have to do hard things like that, (which includes looking for your sunglasses while the CEO is doing her job). Otherwise, I just have to stamp "OK" on whatever paperwork my CEO brings to me. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.