#668 Strut the Yard

“But please, Job, hear my speech,

And listen to all my words.

2 Now, I open my mouth;

My tongue speaks in my mouth.

3 My words come from my upright heart;

My lips utter pure knowledge.

4 The Spirit of God has made me,

And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 If you can answer me,

Set your words in order before me;

Take your stand.

6 Truly I am as your spokesman before God;

I also have been formed out of clay.

7 Surely no fear of me will terrify you,

Nor will my hand be heavy on you.

8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,

9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.

10 Yet He finds occasions against me,

He counts me as His enemy;

11 He puts my feet in the stocks,

He watches all my paths.’

12 “Look, in this you are not righteous.

I will answer you,

For God is greater than man.

13 Why do you contend with Him?

For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.

14 For God may speak in one way, or in another,

Yet man does not perceive it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,

When deep sleep falls upon men,

While slumbering on their beds,

16 Then He opens the ears of men,

And seals their instruction.

17 In order to turn man from his deed,

And conceal pride from man,

18 He keeps back his soul from the Pit,

And his life from perishing by the sword.

19 “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,

And with strong pain in many of his bones,

20 So that his life abhors bread,

And his soul succulent food.

21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

And his bones stick out which once were not seen.

22 Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,

And his life to the executioners.

23 “If there is a messenger for him,

A mediator, one among a thousand,

To show man His uprightness,

24 Then He is gracious to him, and says,

‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;

I have found a ransom’;

25 His flesh shall be young like a child’s,

He shall return to the days of his youth.

26 He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,

He shall see His face with joy,

For He restores to man His righteousness.

27 Then he looks at men and says,

‘I have sinned, and perverted what was right,

And it did not profit me.’

28 He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit,

And his life shall see the light.

29 “Behold, God works all these things,

Twice, in fact, three times with a man,

30 To bring back his soul from the Pit,

That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

31 “Give ear, Job, listen to me;

Hold your peace, and I will speak.

32 If you have anything to say, answer me;

Speak, for I desire to justify you.

33 If not, listen to me;

Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.” Job 33 NKJV

This is like watching Beto O'Rourke pace the stage, "I was born for this moment", let me represent you Job, I can make words, good words with many gesticulations for added emphasis. This is a child whose parent told them they were special and everything they did or said was to be celebrated. He let's Job no that there is nothing to be afraid of, and in all these verses starting with the whole of the last chapter, he has still managed to say nothing.

'I am pure without transgression,' - He says that he listened to Job's words and then demonstrates by what he chooses to be upset about, the point that he decides to debate, that he wasn't really listening. He has taken bits and pieces, and made a declaration that he inserts into Job's mouth, as if this was the utterance of Job's thinking. "I am perfect, without sin, yet You find fault." Job, in chapters 7 and 9 made clear that though he was blameless of this hidden sin that they would like to sort out, he was not claiming to be sinless. "How can a man be righteous before God?" He does not mourn just the loss of material possessions, but there is high anxiety, a spiritual desolation, he wants to go before God to understand why, but his hope is still God. We do need a mediator, but Elihu is unfit. "He counts me as His enemy." This is that bit of truth that Job did speak, that out of the abundance of pain and frustration, the absence of an answer from God, he felt himself the enemy of God. 

God is greater than man - Thanks Elihu, I think Job will not answer him, that he was really done with talking all together, and he is not gaining any insight from the young man. Job had already established God's greatness.

He does not give account - I agree, God does not owe man an explanation for the things He does, why some men are rich, some poor, some tall, some short, why bad things happen to good people. People often say of the state of the world or pain and suffering, "it's not fair", if God would do it their way then He would be a better God or God at all, otherwise they are so much kinder than God that they would rather believe in themselves. If only God would put out some sort of literature that could help men know Him better.

He is carrying the same argument of the other men, only he is young and thinks this a fresher take on it rather than the left overs from the day before. Job, maybe it was in a dream, or maybe God is talking to you through your suffering, and don't write all of that off, for God does work those things to His glory and our gain as well, if we love Him, and I think Job does. Where it becomes the same is that he needs to repent of his sin, to listen to "the messenger." He rightly says he is clay like Job, but this is only part of the qualifications of a mediator, fully if it were between men, but this is between God and man, so Who is like God and man? 

I have found a ransom! - Verses 23-30 are amazing, much like the way Balaam had to prophecy over Israel, and if Elihu were speaking to an unbeliever, then it would clear a beautiful path for him to walk. First a messenger to show man God's uprightness, He is holy, and you are not, but Job knows this. Next God is gracious for He sees man going down to the pit, but He finds for him a ransom. Then the man who is ransomed is healed, he is born again, new, and the relationship with God is restored. That man confesses God's greatness and his own perverseness, and he is saved from going down into the pit. It is actually quite beautiful to pull apart and view in its steps, but saying it to Job is like me going to a Christian brother who is sick and saying repent so that you won't be sick anymore. Elihu could have accomplished more here by prayer, for he errs in the way of all of Job's friends in that they do not find the option that says, Job is a good man, a godly man, a man who knows these things well, and who loves God. He is blameless as men go on this horizontal plane, God has spoken that of him as well, yet he suffers. Job suffers yet God is still holy, still just and this is happening though there is no evidence of any special sin in Job. Maybe Job was written to teach angels and admonish believers for centuries to come. 

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, inperils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my [d]infirmity. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands. 2 Corinthians 11: 22-33