OVERVIEW:
Elihu’s continued accusations against Job; God’s questions to Job.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
As we pick up in today’s reading, youthful, knowledgeable, well-meaning Elihu is still running his mouth. He still has a lot more to say to Job, “in the name of the Lord”, of course! He has even convinced himself, and is trying to convince Job, that he has received his insight by inspiration of God. While Job’s other “counselors” continuously pointed to some “secret sin” in Job’s life as the source of his heartache and suffering, Elihu claims that he even knows what the specific sin is! He says that Job’s problem is the fact that he hasn’t really submitted himself to the sovereignty of God and is bumping himself up against God’s working in his life. Compare this “godly insight and inspiration” with God’s own words concerning Job in chapter 1, verse 8: “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.” So much for Elihu’s insight and inspiration! Oh, how careful we must be about throwing God’s name over the top of our own opinions and conclusions in dealing with people! We must be certain that we have a chapter and verse to support our counsel, and we must be certain that the verse means what we are passing it off to mean in its context. Job’s “counselors” show us how easily we can deceive, and be deceived!
It is interesting that throughout Elihu’s entire rampage, it would be impossible to fault the correctness of what he says. The problem, however, is that he is operating under a basic assumption that is false. When our basic conclusion is off base, it doesn’t matter how many correct facts are hung on it to make it look and or sound “godly”, it is still just flat out wrong! Sadly, this is the problem with many discussions about spiritual matters and religion in these dark last days.
Finally, Elihu has gotten what he felt he “just had to say” off his chest, and can now shut his mouth. These four men have all had their shots at questioning Job. The “ministry” of Job’s “friends” has so worn him down that now he has actually begun to question God himself. It’s interesting, that when God finally speaks, He does so by actually “declaring” nothing. He rather “answers” Job’s questions by asking questions Himself! He asks a series of at least 35 questions, depending on how you divide them. They are all designed to show man, and in this case, Job in particular, that he really knows nothing about anything! The breakdown of chapter 38 is as follows:
- Questions about words without knowledge. (38:1–3)
- Questions about creation. (38:4–7)
- Questions about the waters. (38:8–11)
- Questions about the sun’s light. (38:12–15)
- Questions about strange places. (38:16–21)
- Questions about the weather. (38:22–30)
- Questions about the heavens. (38:31–33)
- Questions in general. (38:34–41)
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
- As the One Who watches how we live and all we do — Job 34:21. (The Lord keeps His eyes on the righteous – 1st Peter 3:12.)