Elihu said this to Job… “watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth. Don’t let yourself be bribed into sin. Could all your wealth or all your mighty efforts keep you from distress? Do not long for the cover of night, for that is when people will be destroyed. Be on guard! “Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like Him? No one can tell Him what to do, or say to Him, Instead, glorify His mighty works, singing songs of praise.” (Job 36:18-24)
Elihu was one of Job’s friends—not one of the three who had come to comfort Job at the beginning of the book, but one who arrives later and offers the last and longest single speech to Job. Elihu is identified only as the “son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram” (Job 32:2). Elihu offers a response to Job that LIFTS UP THE LORD, condemns Job’s three friends, and rightly confronts Job. “If Job had been arguing with me, I would not answer with your kind of logic! You sit there baffled, with nothing more to say. Should I continue to wait, now that you are silent? Must I also remain silent? No, I will say my piece. I will speak my mind. For I am full of pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on. I am like a cask of wine without a vent, like a new wineskin ready to burst! I must speak to find relief, so let me give my answers.” (Job 32:14-20)
We know that from the beginning of the book of Job that God was testing Job to prove his faithfulness. “There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was BLAMELESS—a man of COMPLETE INTEGRITY. He FEARED GOD and STAYED AWAY FROM EVIL.” (Job 1:1) later on, after Job learned he lost everything he did this, “Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and FELL TO THE GROUND TO WORSHIP. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. THE LORD GAVE me what I had, and THE LORD HAS TAKEN IT AWAY. Praise the name of the LORD!” In all of this, Job DID NOT SIN BY BLAMING GOD.” (Job 1:20-22)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham