Sermon

Job 32-37 - 31st May 2026

Passage Baptist Church

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  1. and open them up to Job chapter 32.

    Job 32 chapter mention

  2. Please take your Bibles and open them up

  3. to Job chapter 32. And this morning

    Job 32 chapter mention

  4. we're going to be looking at the

  5. highlights of Job chapter 32 to chapter

    Job 32 chapter mention

  6. 37.

  7. Let me pray

  8. as we prepare our hearts to consider

  9. God's word.

  10. Romans chapter 5 verse verse 6 says,

    Romans 5 chapter mention

  11. "For while we were still weak, at the

  12. right time Christ died for the ungodly.

  13. For one will scarcely die for a

  14. righteous person, though perhaps for a

  15. good person, one would dare to die." But

  16. God shows his love for us in this, that

  17. while we were still sinners, Christ died

  18. for us.

  19. Lord Jesus, we thank you this morning

  20. for your death on the cross for our

  21. sins.

  22. As we have sang already this morning,

  23. how marvelous,

  24. how wonderful, my savior would die for

  25. me.

  26. And so, Lord, I pray that you'd help us

  27. to remember this truth this morning as

  28. we look at your word. Thank you for

  29. giving us the gift of your word. I pray

  30. that you would speak into each one of

  31. our hearts. I pray even for the children

  32. as they stay here and hear your word.

  33. Speak to their hearts. We pray.

  34. And for everyone here, Lord, we need to

  35. hear from you. So Lord, we ask that you

  36. would speak for your servants are

  37. listening.

  38. In Jesus precious name, I pray these

  39. things. Amen.

  40. There are two um events that happen in

  41. the book of Job that really shape the

  42. book of Job in a kind of secret and

  43. silent way.

  44. The first event you already heard of and

  45. that was um Job's what I call Job's

  46. silent sadness. And I gave you that

  47. picture. You know that picture when um

  48. you might be standing with your children

  49. in the playground and they'll be running

  50. and playing and you see one child and

  51. they will run and they will hit

  52. something

  53. and then everything stops.

  54. The mother stops.

  55. The mother calms everybody down as they

  56. look at the child who's just smack

  57. something.

  58. Pause for a second. You're hoping they

  59. don't blow. You're wondering will they?

  60. And in the silence

  61. you're waiting

  62. and suddenly

  63. the child screams,

  64. but there is that moment

  65. of sad silence before the scream. And

  66. we've seen that in the book of Job. Job

  67. was hit by the suffering of life and

  68. everybody stops at the start of the book

  69. of Job and for seven days his friends

  70. are standing with him and for seven days

  71. there's silence

  72. until Job speaks.

  73. Silence until he speaks. So that's

  74. silent sadness. But here in this

  75. chapter, what you're going to see is

  76. silent rage.

  77. And there is silent rage or silent

  78. anger. Have you ever been looking on at

  79. something and it starts to annoy you? It

  80. starts to bug you. Maybe, for example,

  81. you like a clean house or something like

  82. that, and you go to one room and it's

  83. not clean. The anger comes up. You go to

  84. the next room and it's not clean and the

  85. anger comes up and you come to the next

  86. room and it's not clean. You're silent

  87. but you're angry. But eventually when

  88. you get to the final room, what happens?

  89. You blow.

  90. Silent anger leads to blowing up. And

  91. what we see in the book of Job is this

  92. new man. His name is Elihu.

  93. And Eliu has been watching on at Job and

  94. his friends speaking together and having

  95. this conversation trying to understand

  96. Job's suffering. And as he's been

  97. watching on, do you know what's been

  98. happening? He's been getting more and

  99. more angry at the conversation that he's

  100. seeing. He's getting more and more

  101. frustrated. He's silent in his anger.

  102. He's been watching on as we have. Eliu's

  103. been watching on for 28 chapters.

  104. He's been watching on in silence and his

  105. his anger has been kind of bubbling up.

  106. This young man, he's younger than the

  107. three friends. He's younger than Job.

  108. And his anger has been bubbling up for

  109. these 28 chapters. And now it's time for

  110. Elihu to do what? To blow up. So what

  111. we're going to see is Eliu blow. That

  112. was good timing. Eliu blowing up for a

  113. number of chapters from chapter 32.

  114. Sorry. from chapter 32 to chapter 37.

  115. And what we're going to see at the start

  116. as we look at Eliu, you're going to see

  117. Elihu's rage,

  118. Eliu's reason and Eliu's rebuke in the

  119. first two chapters. Eliu's rage, it

  120. finally blows. Chapter 32:1.

  121. So these three men ceased to answer Job

  122. because he was righteous in his own

  123. eyes. Then Elihu the son of Bar Rachel

  124. the the buzzite of the family of Ram

  125. burned with anger. He burned with anger

  126. at Job because he justified himself

  127. rather than God. He burned with anger

  128. also at Job's three friends because they

  129. had found no answer although they had

  130. declared Job to be be in the wrong. Now

  131. Eliu had waited to speak to Job because

  132. they were older than he. And when Eliu

  133. saw that there was no answer in the

  134. mouth of these three men, he burned with

  135. anger.

  136. What is the emotion that Eliu is

  137. experiencing at this time? Did you hear

  138. it? In case you didn't hear it, it said

  139. it three times. He burned with anger. He

  140. burned with anger. He burned with anger.

  141. Guess what? He is angry. And not only is

  142. he angry, but he is raging. And it's

  143. been bubbling up for these 28 chapters.

  144. And now he's waited because he's like,

  145. "Look, I'm a young man. These are old

  146. wise guys. Maybe they'll kind of sort it

  147. out." And he sees at the end of the

  148. conversation that they haven't sorted

  149. out. So what does he do? He steps in and

  150. he wants to speak. But the question is,

  151. is his anger truly justified?

  152. Is Elihu right to burn with anger? Is

  153. his anger right? And I will say his

  154. anger is yes and no. Yes, in a way his

  155. anger is right. And no, in a in a way

  156. his anger is not right. And that's

  157. exactly what we'd expect of the book of

  158. Job. It's complicated.

  159. Suffering is complicated. We are

  160. complicated.

  161. And so, is his anger right? Well, yes,

  162. it is kind of right in a way because

  163. listen to these verses. In Job 42,

  164. Job admits that he was wrong. In Job 42

  165. verse verse three, he says this, "I have

  166. uttered." He says this to God. He's

  167. repenting before God. He says, "I have

  168. uttered what I did not understand,

  169. things too wonderful for me which I did

  170. not know." And then in verse six, he

  171. says, "Therefore, I despise myself and

  172. repent in dust and ashes." So is Eli who

  173. right to be angry at Job? In some sense,

  174. yes. Because Job comes to the place in

  175. understanding where he realizes his

  176. words are in fact wrong. And so he

  177. repents before God. So was Eli who's

  178. burning with anger, right? Well, in a

  179. sense, yes. But also the answer is no.

  180. Because as the Lord responds to Job, the

  181. Lord says in Job 42:7,

    Job 42:7

  182. "My anger burns against you and against

  183. your two friends." He's talking to

  184. Elephas. "My anger burns against you and

  185. against your two friends. for you have

  186. not spoken of me what is right as my

  187. servant Job has.

  188. So the Lord when he burns with anger, he

  189. burns with anger towards the friends,

  190. but he does not burn with anger towards

  191. Job.

  192. So what we're seeing here is in some way

  193. the anger that Eliu is experiencing is

  194. justified. Job wasn't right in all that

  195. he said. But in another way, the anger

  196. that he's experiencing is not justified

  197. because the Lord burns with anger, but

  198. he doesn't burn with anger against Job.

  199. And so this is where we see his rage. It

  200. is bubbling up. He is burning with

  201. anger. But then he gives the reason for

  202. his rage. He gives the reasoning behind

  203. why he is speaking. Verse six. And Eliu,

  204. the son of Barachel, the buzzite,

  205. answered and said, I am young in years,

  206. and you are aged. Therefore, I was timid

  207. and afraid to declare my opinion to you.

  208. I said, let days speak and many years

  209. teach wisdom. But it is the spirit in

  210. man, the breath of the Almighty, that

  211. makes him understand. It is not the old

  212. who are wise, nor the aged who

  213. understand what is right. Therefore, I

  214. say, listen to me. Let me also declare

  215. my opinion.

  216. And so, he is declaring the reason by

  217. which he is speaking. He is raging with

  218. anger. And now we hear his reasoning.

  219. And it seems to be that he is humble at

  220. the beginning. He said, "I was young in

  221. years and you are aged and I was timid

  222. and I was afraid. So, I didn't declare

  223. my opinion. I stood back." And there are

  224. some scholars who read him positively

  225. that this guy, okay, he was young, he

  226. was timid, he held himself back, he did

  227. a good thing, he was wise.

  228. But he says in verse 8, it is the spirit

  229. in man, the breath of the Almighty that

  230. makes him understand. And in verse 10,

  231. in that culture as a young man, here is

  232. what he says. And I believe this man has

  233. got a bit of an attitude. And you'll see

  234. it throughout the verses. He says this,

  235. "Listen to me.

  236. Let me also declare my opinion. I've

  237. heard your opinion, all your opinions,

  238. and let me tell you something. Though

  239. I'm young, you're wrong. Now it's time

  240. for me to speak." So the young guy

  241. stands up and he speaks. And he gives

  242. all this reason for why he's speaking

  243. from verses 11 down to verse 19. And

  244. then in verse 19, he says this, "I I

  245. have to speak. Behold, my belly is like

  246. wine that has no vent, like new wine

  247. skins ready to burst. I must speak that

  248. I may find relief. I must open my lips

  249. and answer.

  250. I will not show partiality to any man or

  251. flattery toward any person, for I do not

  252. know how to flatter,

  253. else my maker would soon take me away.

  254. It's time for me to speak. It's bubbling

  255. within me. My belly is about to burst. I

  256. have to speak. And know this, old men.

  257. When I speak, I'm not going to flatter

  258. you.

  259. No flattery is coming out of me. You are

  260. going to hear the truth.

  261. And he's going to give a speech that is

  262. longer than most of the other speeches

  263. in the book of Job.

  264. And so, he begins with his rage. And

  265. then from verse 6 down to verse 22, he

  266. gives his reasoning. This is all a

  267. buildup before he speaks. He takes so

  268. long to build up his speech. And then

  269. finally, he comes to the place of

  270. rebuke, rage, reason, and rebuke. And in

  271. chapter 33, he rebukes Job for many

  272. things, but the main thing that he

  273. rebukes Job for is this, that Job thinks

  274. he is innocent. Verse N. You say, he

  275. gives out to Job. He says, you say, I am

  276. pure without transgression. I am clean

  277. and there is no iniquity in me. Behold,

  278. he finds occasions against me. He counts

  279. me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the

  280. stocks and watches all my paths.

  281. He rebukes Job for Job claiming this

  282. reality. He rebukes Job for Job claiming

  283. that he is innocent.

  284. And the reason he rebukes Job is because

  285. of his bad theology. We know, we've been

  286. told in the book of Job over three times

  287. that Job is blameless, that he is

  288. upright, that he turns away from evil,

  289. and that he fears God. We do know that

  290. Job is blameless. We do know that Job is

  291. innocent. But Eliu comes in and says you

  292. can't be innocent. And the reason he

  293. says you can't be innocent is because

  294. Eliu believes the same bad theology that

  295. the friends believe. And the bad

  296. theology is this. Good things always

  297. happen to good people and bad things

  298. always happen to bad people.

  299. And Job, bad things are happening to you

  300. because of your sin. You can't be

  301. innocent, Job. No one has all this

  302. suffering. There's no such thing. They

  303. believe in their bad theology. There's

  304. no such thing as innocent suffering.

  305. You're not innocent. And so, he rebukes

  306. him. And in this way, the friends nor

  307. Eliu have any room for the gospel.

  308. Because if you cannot believe in

  309. innocent suffering, you cannot believe

  310. in the gospel.

  311. He knew no sin.

  312. And yet he suffered and he died and he

  313. was innocent and he was crucified.

  314. That's good theology.

  315. Whereas these guys they believe there

  316. cannot be a suffering innocent man.

  317. And so he rebukes Job and at the end of

  318. his rebuke in verse 31 he says this.

  319. Pay attention oh Job. You get his

  320. attitude here. Pay attention, oh Job.

  321. Listen to me. Be silent and I will

  322. speak. If you have any words, answer me.

  323. Speak for I desire to justify you. If

  324. not, listen to me. Be silent and I will

  325. teach you wisdom.

  326. Some people read this guy positively. I

  327. can't read him positively. Basically,

  328. what he's saying is this. Job, old

  329. suffering man, shut your mouth. It's

  330. time for me to speak.

  331. Be quiet. I have all the wisdom. I am

  332. going to teach you now. You sit down in

  333. the chair and let me be your teacher.

  334. So what we see in this rebuke,

  335. in this rage, in this reason, what we

  336. see is a lie whose anger bubbling up.

  337. And it forces us maybe to ask the

  338. question about our own anger.

  339. As we think of anger and rebuke and and

  340. correcting people,

  341. should we be angry?

  342. Is it right to be angry?

  343. Well, there's two things I would say to

  344. us.

  345. Two things I'd encourage us in relation

  346. to our anger.

  347. Number one,

  348. be angry.

  349. There is a right sense in which we're

  350. called to be angry.

  351. And number two, repent of your anger.

  352. So some of us we need to be angry and

  353. some of us we need to repent of our

  354. anger. Why do I say we are called to be

  355. angry? Well, in Ephesians 4 26 it says

  356. this, be angry and do not sin.

  357. There is a call in scripture to be

  358. righteously angry at things and yet be

  359. careful at the same time that we do not

  360. sin.

  361. So what type of things should we as

  362. Christians be rightfully angry at?

  363. Well, I think we should be rightfully

  364. angry at the way people in our country

  365. are starting to treat life.

  366. We should rightly be angry. At the

  367. beginning of life, people in our country

  368. want to control that and say, "If you

  369. don't want to have this precious baby,

  370. you don't have to have this precious

  371. baby. You can abort this baby." We

  372. should be rightfully angry at that. That

  373. is not right.

  374. That baby is made in the womb by God,

  375. precious and wonderful. We should be

  376. rightly angry at people trying to

  377. control the beginning of life. And we

  378. should also be rightfully angry at

  379. people trying to control the end of

  380. life. Now what is trying to be brought

  381. into this country? Euthanasia.

  382. Let's just end the life now.

  383. And this is why it is so important for

  384. Christians to have a good theology of

  385. suffering.

  386. Because if you don't have a good

  387. theology of suffering, here's what's

  388. going to happen at the end of life.

  389. You'll just you'll logically say this,

  390. which is happening over in churches in

  391. Canada right now, where people are kind

  392. of saying, "Ah, let's just put them out

  393. of their misery.

  394. Isn't it the good and righteous thing

  395. not to let anybody suffer anymore?"

  396. In other words, what they're saying, and

  397. they'll change the name of it, but what

  398. they're saying is this. Let's just kill

  399. them.

  400. Wouldn't that be good? Wouldn't that be

  401. more gracious? Wouldn't that be kind?

  402. No. Because life doesn't belong to you.

  403. It belongs to God.

  404. And God always has a purpose in our

  405. suffering.

  406. This is what we see in the book of Job.

  407. Suffering isn't without purpose. God has

  408. a purpose. God has a plan in suffering.

  409. This is why he crucified his son. He had

  410. a purpose. He had a plan in the

  411. suffering. And it was painful for the

  412. son to suffer.

  413. And so we should be angry at certain

  414. things.

  415. But we should also repent of our anger.

  416. It is it is hard to determine and we

  417. need to be careful because in our anger

  418. you seek to justify it all. So so so

  419. don't run around saying, "Well, my anger

  420. is justified."

  421. Um I heard a kid saying one day, "I have

  422. righteous anger."

  423. you know, a good Bible church believing

  424. kid, it's righteous anger.

  425. It's hard for us to determine righteous

  426. anger sometimes.

  427. But in scripture, what it says about our

  428. anger in Ephesians as well, later on in

  429. Ephesians 4:26, he says, "Be angry and

    Ephesians 4:26

  430. do not sin."

  431. And then later in Ephesians 4:31, he

    Ephesians 4:31

  432. says this, "Let all bitterness and

  433. wrath, all bitterness

  434. and wrath and anger and clamor and

  435. slander be put away from you along with

  436. all malice.

  437. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

  438. forgiving one another as God in Christ

  439. forgave you.

  440. So if you feel bitterness and anger

  441. raging up against you like this guy Eliu

  442. has, what should you do? Repent of that

  443. anger.

  444. Forgive. Why should I forgive?

  445. Because God in Christ forgave

  446. you.

  447. How can I stand in judgment over anybody

  448. else

  449. when I truly know and understand my own

  450. sin

  451. forgiven by Christ and therefore I

  452. forgive others.

  453. This is a lie whose anger this is his

  454. rage. In some way it's right. In many

  455. ways it's wrong.

  456. And then he turns from himself to his

  457. from his rage and his reason and his

  458. rebuke. He turns from himself and he

  459. turns to God. And he tries to rebuke Job

  460. by focusing on God and noticing the

  461. difference between Job and God. And so

  462. what he's going to focus on in the next

  463. few chapters as he focuses on God, in

  464. chapter 34 and 35, he's going to focus

  465. on God's righteousness. In chapter 36,

  466. he's going to focus on God's greatness.

  467. And in chapter 37, he's going to focus

  468. on God's majesty.

  469. So in chapter 34 and 35, he focuses on

  470. God's righteousness.

  471. He's going to rebuke Job. And he's going

  472. to rebuke Job by pointing out, "Job,

  473. God's right. You're wrong. Deal with it.

  474. Sit down. Be quiet. God's right. You're

  475. wrong." So what he does is he approaches

  476. this argument by saying, first, "Job,

  477. you're wrong." Then Job, God is right.

  478. And then he's going to come back again

  479. and say, Job, you're wrong. So it's that

  480. kind of sandwich. Job, you're wrong.

  481. God's right. Job, you're wrong.

  482. Chapter 34:1

  483. Job, you're wrong.

  484. Then Eliu answered and said, "Hear my

  485. words, you wise men, and give ear to me,

  486. you who know, for the ear tests words,

  487. as the pallet tastes food. Let us choose

  488. what is right. Let us know among

  489. ourselves what is good. For Job has

  490. said, "I am in the right, and God has

  491. taken away my right. In spite of my

  492. right, I am counted a liar.

  493. My wound is incurable,

  494. though I am without transgression."

  495. What man is like Job, who drinks up

  496. scuffing like water, who travels in

  497. company with evildoers, and walks with

  498. wicked men.

  499. What's he saying here in these first

  500. verses? Job, you're wrong. You think

  501. you're right, but you're wrong. And part

  502. of what he's saying is true. In verse 5,

  503. he says, for Job has said, I am right.

  504. And God has taken away my right. So part

  505. of what he is saying is true. There is a

  506. point in which Job says, I'm right. I

  507. haven't done anything wrong. I'm

  508. blameless. And Job does accuse God. And

  509. God rebukes Job of it later. We'll see.

  510. God rebukes Job of that and Job repents.

  511. So in some way he's right. Eliu is right

  512. and saying that Job is wrong.

  513. But then Eliu goes too far.

  514. In verse 7 he says what is false? What

  515. man is like Job who drinks up scoffing

  516. like water who travels in a company with

  517. evildoers and walks with wicked men?

  518. Job's not like that.

  519. He's not a scoffer. We know that. He

  520. doesn't travel around with evildoers and

  521. he doesn't travel around with the

  522. wicked.

  523. Job is wrong, but he's not that wrong.

  524. And then he turns. So he says, "Job,

  525. you're wrong." Now he's going to turn

  526. turn and say, "God is right." Verse 10.

  527. Therefore, hear me, you men of

  528. understanding. Far be it from God that

  529. he should do wickedness, and from the

  530. Almighty that he should do wrong. For

  531. according to the work of a man, he will

  532. repay him, and according to his ways, he

  533. will make it befall him. Of a truth, God

  534. will not do wickedly, and the Almighty

  535. will not pervert justice.

  536. Job, you're saying that you are right,

  537. but you're wrong. And when it comes to

  538. the Lord the Almighty, he says in verse

  539. 10, he will not do wickedness. In verse

  540. 10, he will not do wrong. And in verse

  541. 12, he will not, the Almighty will not

  542. pervert justice.

  543. Meaning God, he is righteous.

  544. So Eliu is not right about a lot of what

  545. he says. But Eliu can be right when he

  546. talks about God. God the Almighty, he

  547. does not pervert justice. God the

  548. Almighty, he is always right.

  549. And then in the sandwich, Eliu goes from

  550. Job, you're wrong. To God, he is right.

  551. To again in verse in chapter 35, Job,

  552. you're wrong.

  553. Chapter 35:1.

  554. And I want you to listen. And as you

  555. listen to these first few verses of 35,

  556. when he's saying, "Job, you're wrong." I

  557. want you to listen to how he accuses

  558. Job. How he points the finger at Job.

  559. How he shines uh the light, the

  560. spotlight on Job's sin, the reality of

  561. Job's sin. Look how many times he says

  562. you at him.

  563. Job 35:1. And Eliu answered and said,

    Job 35:1

  564. "Do you think

  565. this to be just or right? Do you say it

  566. is my right before God that you ask what

  567. advantage have I? How am I better off?

  568. How I am better off than if I had

  569. sinned?

  570. I will answer you and your friends with

  571. you. Look at the heavens and see and

  572. behold the clouds which are higher than

  573. you. If you have sinned,

  574. what do you accomplish against him? And

  575. if your transgressions are are

  576. multiplied, what do you do to him? And

  577. if you are righteous, what do you give

  578. to him?

  579. Or what does he receive from your hand?

  580. Your wickedness concerns a man like

  581. yourself and your righteousness, a son

  582. of man.

  583. He begins by accusing Job

  584. by saying, "Job, you're you're right

  585. only in your own eyes."

  586. And then he answers Job in verse four,

  587. "I will answer you and all your friends

  588. with you.

  589. Look to the heavens and see. Behold the

  590. clouds which are higher than you."

  591. As you look at Eliu

  592. and as you look at this sandwich of Eliu

  593. saying, "Job, you're wrong. God, he's

  594. right. Job, you're wrong."

  595. We see in many ways Eliu's attitude.

  596. Eliu's attitude is all over the place.

  597. It's prideful. Listen to me.

  598. But

  599. what he says about God is right. and his

  600. inclination to think about most people

  601. is right. It is true to say that God is

  602. right and we are wrong.

  603. It mightn't be true to say of Job in

  604. this moment because Job we are told he

  605. is blameless.

  606. But if we are to have a relationship

  607. with God, if you are to have a

  608. relationship with God this morning,

  609. here's what you need to realize.

  610. God, you are right

  611. and I am wrong.

  612. That's how a relationship with God

  613. actually begins.

  614. God, I am wrong and God, you are right.

  615. Do you know what it's like?

  616. It's like walking into the classroom

  617. every day

  618. and the teacher, she writes the answer

  619. on the board.

  620. You sit down and you get your place and

  621. you see the answer. You put up your

  622. hand.

  623. Teacher calls your name. You say,

  624. "You're wrong."

  625. And you walk in the next day. You walk

  626. into the classroom and the teacher

  627. writes the answer on the board. You sit

  628. down. You look at the answer in the

  629. board.

  630. You put up your hand. Teacher calls your

  631. name and you look and you say, "You're

  632. wrong."

  633. Every day you walk in. You're wrong.

  634. You're wrong.

  635. This is what we do with God.

  636. We walk around this world

  637. and we say to him, "You're wrong. I'm

  638. right.

  639. You're not the creator of the universe.

  640. You don't own me. I don't own anything

  641. to you.

  642. You're wrong.

  643. If that's you this morning,

  644. you need to repent.

  645. Your sin, it is wretched before God.

  646. Your sin in thought and word and deed.

  647. Your secret sin, he sees it.

  648. And if you would say this morning to

  649. God, I'm wrong and you are right. Here's

  650. what happens.

  651. Forgiveness,

  652. mercy, and grace.

  653. Jesus Christ, he came into this world

  654. to die for your sins

  655. that those who are sinners

  656. might be declared right before God, not

  657. because of their works,

  658. but because of the righteousness of

  659. Christ. So that when I believe in him, I

  660. am in Christ and I am counted as

  661. righteous.

  662. And so Eliu

  663. when he is rebuking Job, he is right to

  664. rebuke Job about the righteousness of

  665. God, but he doesn't understand who he is

  666. talking to, the one who is truly

  667. blameless.

  668. And so we must understand that God, he

  669. is righteous. And then Eliu moves on to

  670. rebuke Job even further.

  671. He doesn't talk about God's

  672. righteousness. He moves on to talk about

  673. God's greatness in chapter 36.

  674. But before he gets to God's greatness in

  675. chapter 36. Do you know what Eliu wants

  676. to talk about? This is the great old

  677. Eliu standing up. I don't know how some

  678. scholars see him as positive. They make

  679. good arguments, but this one is hookline

  680. and sinker.

  681. Joe uh Eliu before he stands up and

  682. mentions the greatness of God, do you

  683. know what he starts to talk about,

  684. before I get to the greatness of God,

  685. let me talk to you about the greatness

  686. of me.

  687. Chapter 36:1. And Eliu continued and

  688. said, "Bear with me a little, and I will

  689. show you, for I have yet something to

  690. say on God's behalf.

  691. I will get my knowledge from afar and

  692. ascribe righteousness to my maker. For

  693. truly my words are not false.

  694. One who is perfect in knowledge is with

  695. you.

  696. My words are not false

  697. and I am perfect in knowledge.

  698. What kind of guy is this guy? A guy who

  699. thinks he's great.

  700. He's not right in his attitude.

  701. He's not right when he talks about Job

  702. mostly,

  703. but he is only right. This prophet is

  704. only right when he talks about God. And

  705. he moves from talking about his own

  706. greatness to talking about God's

  707. greatness. He says this in verse 24,

  708. "Remember to extol his work of which men

  709. have sung.

  710. All mankind have looked on it. Man

  711. beholds it from afar. Behold,

  712. God is great,

  713. and we know him not. The number of his

  714. years is uncarchable, for he draws up

  715. the drops of water. They distill his

  716. mist in rain, which the skies pour down

  717. and drop on mankind abundantly. Can

  718. anyone understand the spreading of the

  719. clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?

  720. Behold, he scatters his lightning about

  721. him and covers the the roots of the sea.

  722. For by these he judges peoples.

  723. He gives food in abundance. He he covers

  724. his hands with with the lightning and

  725. commands it to strike the mark. Its

  726. crashing declares his presence. The

  727. cattle also declare

  728. that he rises.

  729. What declares the greatness of God? I

  730. find this verse amazing.

  731. The lightning, it declares the greatness

  732. of God. The lightning, it declares how

  733. good and glorious God is.

  734. We've had a couple of days of sunshine,

  735. haven't we? Do you remember that day? We

  736. all remember the day when the rain came.

  737. The first day the rain came, the dark

  738. clouds came in, the lightning flashed,

  739. and the thunder clapped.

  740. What does that speak to you?

  741. It speaks of the greatness of God.

  742. The glory of God.

  743. Isn't it amazing to think that there is

  744. a a flaming ball hanging in the sky

  745. like hanging there and if it moves even

  746. the slightest bit we're all dead.

  747. God holds it there. The beauty and the

  748. glory and the majesty of God.

  749. Every flash of lightning

  750. moves at his command.

  751. Every crash of thunder at his command.

  752. Verse 37 is amazing and hilarious.

  753. The thunder it crashes.

  754. Crashing declares his presence

  755. and the cattle declare that he rises.

  756. Even the cows speak of his greatness.

  757. This is our God.

  758. Eliu

  759. is a bad prophet and a good prophet.

  760. He's a bad prophet because he talks

  761. about his greatness.

  762. He is a good prophet because he is

  763. preparing the way of the Lord and he's

  764. speaking of the Lord's greatness. What's

  765. happening in the book of Job? It's

  766. silent anger. As you're reading, you're

  767. hearing the friends and you're getting

  768. more angry. Could somebody wise speak?

  769. You're hearing Job and you're getting

  770. more angry. Could somebody wise speak?

  771. And you're hearing Elihu and he's saying

  772. how great he is. And you're saying, can

  773. somebody wise speak? And what it's

  774. preparing us for is this. The Lord is

  775. going to step in and he is going to

  776. speak. And so Eliu is preparing in a way

  777. the way of the Lord by declaring his

  778. greatness. But he is a flawed prophet.

  779. You see, a good prophet like John the

  780. Baptist doesn't point to his own

  781. greatness. A good prophet points to the

  782. greatness of God.

  783. John said in John 3:30, he said, "He

    John 3:30

  784. must increase

  785. and I must decrease."

  786. That's a good prophet.

  787. John, when he saw Jesus, he didn't say

  788. to the followers, "Hey, follow me.

  789. Behold me. Look at my greatness." No.

  790. What did he say to his father followers

  791. as Jesus walked by? He said this,

  792. "Behold

  793. the lamb of God who takes away the sin

  794. of the world."

  795. May we

  796. not be like Elihoo. May we be like John.

  797. I think as Christians, you know,

  798. sometimes if you're not a Christian here

  799. this morning, I think I can guess that

  800. you don't really like Christians

  801. because you look at them and you might

  802. be thinking they just think they're

  803. great.

  804. That's wrong. They're not great. They're

  805. sinners.

  806. What Christians should be doing is

  807. saying this,

  808. he is great.

  809. Don't look at me. I can't take away any

  810. sin. Don't come and confess your sin to

  811. me. I'm with you in this. Don't come to

  812. me. We as Christians, here's what we

  813. should be saying day after day in our

  814. evangelism. Behold the lamb of God who

  815. takes away the sin of the world. If you

  816. want to become right before God, look at

  817. his greatness. Don't look at mine. Look

  818. to Jesus for the forgiveness of your

  819. sins.

  820. That's what we should be doing.

  821. And that's what I think Eliu is missing.

  822. Let us in our lives

  823. always always be shining the light on

  824. the greatness of Christ, who he is and

  825. what he has done for us. And so Eliu

  826. moves from talking about God's

  827. righteousness and God's greatness to

  828. finally in chapter 37,

  829. he talks about God's majesty.

  830. He's trying to correct Job

  831. and he's wrong in his attitude, Eliu.

  832. And he's wrong in most of his

  833. accusations.

  834. But he's right when he talks about God.

  835. And he ends his speech,

  836. teeing it up for God's speech

  837. by talking about the majesty of God.

  838. Chapter 37 21 he says this.

  839. And now

  840. no one looks on the light when it is

  841. bright in the skies when the wind has

  842. passed and cleared them.

  843. He's been talking about the weather. And

  844. what has he been talking about in the

  845. weather? The thunder, the lightning, the

  846. clash, but now he comes into the camp.

  847. And now verse 21. When no one looks on

  848. the light, when it is bright in the

  849. skies and calm, when the wind has passed

  850. and cleared them, no more lightning, no

  851. more thunder. Now

  852. out of the north

  853. comes golden splendor.

  854. God is clothed with awesome majesty.

  855. The Almighty, we cannot find him. He is

  856. great in power,

  857. justice, and abundant righteousness.

  858. He will not violate. Therefore,

  859. fear him.

  860. He does not regard any who are wise in

  861. their own conceit.

  862. Everything is calm.

  863. The lightning has stopped.

  864. You know when the sun comes up

  865. he's saying the majesty of God appears.

  866. The almighty has come.

  867. Do you see him?

  868. Do you see God for who he is?

  869. Righteous,

  870. great,

  871. holy, majestic,

  872. powerful,

  873. the almighty.

  874. There is a word used of God in Job more

  875. than any other book. It is almighty.

  876. The word almighty comes up in the

  877. scripture speaking of God about 48

  878. times. I think it is

  879. 31 times it is used in the book of Job

  880. of God. He is God the Almighty. He is

  881. powerful. He is the maker of heaven and

  882. earth. Therefore, what should we do?

  883. Eliu's answer in verse 24 is this.

  884. He's righteous. He's great. He's

  885. majestic.

  886. Therefore,

  887. fear

  888. him.

  889. live your life

  890. in reverence and awe of God.

  891. That when you walk on this planet, you

  892. walk not alone.

  893. Every step is in the presence of the

  894. Almighty.

  895. Every step you take is in front of him.

  896. Will you fear him? And what does it mean

  897. to fear him?

  898. Give all of your life over to him.

  899. Trust him as your king.

  900. Don't speak about your greatness.

  901. Speak about his greatness. To God be the

  902. glory. Let's pray.

  903. Lord God, we thank you for who you are.

  904. majestic and holy, righteous and good.

  905. Lord, forgive us at times when we are

  906. like Elihu pointing to ourselves,

  907. rebuking others when they are not wrong,

  908. standing in judgment over others. May we

  909. bow the knee before you,

  910. our holy God.

  911. In your precious name, Jesus, I pray

  912. these things. Amen. Could we actually

  913. stand and sing uh Behold our God? Let's

  914. stand and sing that in response if

  915. that's okay. Um

  916. stand