Thursday
Evening Bible Study
July
16, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
Job is going through the worst time anyone could imagine.
He’s lost all his possessions.
His children have died.
His health has failed.
What makes all this even more confusing is that Job is a good guy.
God has decided to allow Job to go through this difficulty because He is
proud of Job, not mad at him.
God wants to show the world what a godly man will do when he is going
through a difficult time.
Keep a couple of things in mind as we study Job:
Sometimes Job is wrong in his conclusions.
Sometimes Job’s friends are also wrong.
They can even say things that are true, but they are just not true about
Job.
Be careful about building doctrine upon some of the things said in the book
of Job.
Neither Job’s words nor those of his friends are meant to build doctrinal
truths on.
They simply show us how people respond to difficulty.
Job and his three friends have been debating back and forth for quite a while,
trying to figure out why Job has had so much trouble.
Last time we were introduced to a fourth “friend”, a younger man named
Elihu.
Elihu is mad at Job’s friends for accusing Job of things they couldn’t
prove.
Elihu is also mad at Job for accusing God of being unfair.
Elihu has suggested that perhaps God has allowed Job to go through this
difficulty in order to keep him from some sin.
We’ve got three more chapters of Elihu.
35:1-8 Don’t overestimate yourself
:1 Moreover Elihu answered and said:
:2 “Do you think this is right? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than
God’s’?
(Job 35:2 NLT) “Do you think it is
right for you to claim, ‘I am righteous before God’?
:3 For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I
have, more than if I had sinned?’
:4 “I will answer you, And your companions with you.
:5 Look to the heavens and see; And behold the clouds— They are higher than
you.
:5 Look to the heavens and see
I have this suspicion that as Elihu and Job are talking, there are some
tall storm clouds gathering. We’ll see more glimpses of this through the next
couple of chapters.
Elihu encourages Job to look up and grasp the greatness and majesty of God.
Lesson
Look up
This is a good idea to do every once in a while.
Jesus said that when we began to see the signs of the Second Coming
occurring, we ought to “look up”.
(Luke 21:25–28
NKJV) —25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars;
and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves
roaring; 26 men’s hearts
failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on
the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they
will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when
these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption draws near.”
Looking up implies putting our eyes on God.
It speaks of reminding ourselves of the greatness of God.
God spoke through Isaiah to encourage the people. God reminded the people of His great power in
creating the heavens and the earth, then He said,
(Isaiah 40:26–31
NKJV) —26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings
out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
One of the big things in the news this week has been the
new information coming from the planet Pluto.
The New Horizons spacecraft was launched in January, 2006, and has spent
nearly ten years travelling to the furthest object in our solar system.
Video: USA Today – NASA reveals new
detailed image of Pluto
Our Solar System is just a small part of our galaxy, the
Milky Way Galaxy.
Video: Francis Chan Pancake
Illustration
(Psalm 8:1–4 NKJV) —1 O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of
Your enemies, That You may silence
the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I
consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
God made the heavens and the earth. When you see things like the new Pluto
pictures, think of how big God is.
And this God cares for you.
Refresh your mind with the greatness of God.
27 Why do you
say, O Jacob, And speak, O
Israel: “My way is
hidden from the Lord, And my just
claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator
of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those
who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be
weary, And the
young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their
strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Sometimes we need to get our eyes off of our problems and simply
look up for awhile.
:6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your
transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?
:6 If you sin, what do you accomplish
Lesson
Sin hurts me
Not God.
I think there is a sense in which our sin breaks God’s heart.
Yet on the other hand, God is not any less or any weaker because we sin.
Sometimes when I get mad at someone, I want to do something to hurt them.
It can happen in a friendship when a person hurts your feelings, you want
to hurt them back.
It can happen in a marriage when you feel like you deserve to do something
bad because you are disappointed.
Some people will carry this idea over to their relationship with God. If they have this idea that God was
responsible for some tragedy in their life, they are now going to get even with
God and break every commandment in the Bible.
When we do this, we’re not hurting God, we’re hurting
ourselves.
God’s commandments aren’t so He’ll feel better, they’re for our sake – so
we’ll live longer and better. For
example:
(Exodus 20:12 NKJV)
“Honor
your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the
Lord your God is giving you.
:7 If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from
your hand?
:7 If you are righteous, what do you give
(Job 35:7 NLT) If you are
good, is this some great gift to him? What could you possibly give him?
Our value doesn’t come from what we have to offer God.
Our value comes from God placing value in us.
Lesson
Don’t overestimate yourself
God isn’t impressed with the gifts
we give trying to impress Him.
(Psalm 50:7–15 NLT) —7 “O my
people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God,
your God! 8 I have no complaint
about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. 9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from
your pens. 10 For all the animals of
the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the
field are mine. 12 If I were hungry, I
would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. 13 Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats? 14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you
made to the Most High. 15 Then call
on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me
glory.”
He doesn’t need
our money or our sacrifices. He isn’t
impressed by us.
What He wants most
of all is for us to be right with Him.
He wants us to trust Him.
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.
He wants a heart
that is broken of its pride
(Psalm 51:16–17 NKJV) —16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
Does this mean that we don’t give
anything to the Lord?
No, we give out of a response of
gratitude and love, but not out of a sense of trying to “bribe” God.
:8 Your wickedness affects a man such as you, And your righteousness a son
of man.
:8 Your wickedness affects a man
Your sin doesn’t hurt God. It hurts
other people. It hurts you.
Lesson
Get right with people
Sometimes a person has this notion that if they’ve done some sort of sin
that all they need to do is to confess their sin to God and that’s it.
But the problem comes when my sin has affected another person. If I’m really sincere about making things
right with God, I need to make things right first with the person I’ve
offended.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 5:23–24
NKJV) —23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember
that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the
altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and
offer your gift.
35:9-13 Only praying when hurt
:9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry out for
help because of the arm of the mighty.
Oppressed people cry out when bullies hurt them.
:10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the
night,
:10 Who gives songs in the night
Lesson
Night Songs
People will cry and complain when times get tough, but it’s a rare person
who will turn to God and ask God for strength in their trial.
God gives us “songs in the night”.
Illustration
British preacher Charles Spurgeon once vacationed at an isolated spot in England because
he had been told that many nightingales lived there. To his great disappointment, however, it started
to rain just as he arrived at the hotel.
The weather turned unseasonably cold and Spurgeon feared that the
primary purpose of his trip had been spoiled. But as he sat by his open window,
he suddenly heard a delightful melody -- a nightingale perched on a branch
outside. The only light was a dim lamp
burning at the entrance to the hotel.
The nightingale, oblivious to the rain and cold, was exulting in that
tiny bit of light. Spurgeon wrote of his
experience, "I do not expect to listen to anything so sweet and thrilling
again until I hear the angels sing in glory.
The God of that nightingale is the same loving Savior I serve. In spite of darkness, storm, or thorns, He
always provides some ray of light and gives a song in the night."
Jesus had a “song in the night” before He went to the cross.
(Matthew 26:30 NKJV)
And
when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Paul and Silas had songs in the night after they had been beaten and thrown
into prison.
(Acts 16:25 NKJV) But at
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners
were listening to them.
Ask God for your night song.
:11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, And makes us wiser
than the birds of heaven?’
:12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, Because of the pride of
evil men.
:13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk, Nor will the Almighty
regard it.
:13 God will not listen to empty talk
God does not answer people because of their pride
35:14-16 Why would God answer you?
:14 Although you say you do not see Him, Yet justice is
before Him, and you must wait for Him.
:15 And now, because He has not punished in His anger, Nor taken much
notice of folly,
:16 Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without
knowledge.”
(Job 35:14–15 The
Message) —14 So why would he notice you just because you say you’re tired of waiting to be heard, 15 Or waiting
for him to get good and angry and do something about the world’s problems?
:16 words without knowledge
God will say this same thing to Job,
(Job 38:2 NKJV) “Who is
this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
Job is talking about stuff that he doesn’t know about. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
36:1-4 Speaking for God
:1 Elihu also proceeded and said:
:2 “Bear with me a little, and I will show you That there are yet
words to speak on God’s behalf.
:2 words to speak on God’s behalf
Elihu is going to claim to be speaking for God.
I think that most of us long to
hear things from God.
We would want nothing more than for
God to speak directly to us, to answer our questions, to answer our prayers.
Though God does indeed speak at times through people, we need to be careful
to not just accept everything that people claim is from God.
Even good, well-meaning people can
make mistakes.
Jeremiah lived during the time just
prior to the Babylonian captivity, when God would have the nation of Judah
taken away in judgment. There were false prophets in Jeremiah’s day who were
claiming to speak for God and telling people that everything was okay…
(Jeremiah 8:11 NKJV) For they
have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there
is no peace.
They were telling
the people what they wanted to hear, but they weren’t telling them the truth.
People’s wounds
aren’t going to be healed if they don’t know the truth.
If you have skin
cancer and the doctor says it really isn’t a problem and doesn’t remove it, you
are going to have problems.
Over the years I’ve seen people
affected in various ways over the concept of personal prophecy.
I’m afraid that sometimes I wonder
if there can be a sense of power that is felt by the one giving the prophecy.
Sometimes it’s easier for people to
accept your opinions if you say “thus sayeth the Lord” than it is to simply
express your idea.
We do need to be careful when
someone is claiming to have a word from God.
It might be true, but it might not be.
Some of what Elihu has said is true, but not all of it.
We are responsible to “test” the things that people claim are from God.
(1 John 4:1 NKJV) Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God;
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
:3 I will fetch my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe righteousness to my
Maker.
:4 For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge
is with you.
:4 One who is perfect in knowledge is with you
(Job 36:4 NLT) I am telling
you nothing but the truth, for I am a man of great knowledge.
Do you detect a hint of pride?
36:5-14 God’s correction
:5 “Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is
mighty in strength of understanding.
:5 God is mighty, but despises no one
Lesson
Powerful and Good
God is indeed powerful, but He is also good.
Illustration
C.S. Lewis wrote a wonderful series of children’s books called The Chronicles of Narnia. The first book
of the series is called The Lion, The
Witch, and the Wardrobe.
In the story four children find themselves in a mythical land called
“Narnia” that is ruled by someone named Aslan.
Aslan is a picture of Jesus Christ. When the children meet up with a
friendly family of beavers, they hear about Aslan for the first time, who is
going to come and take care of the evil White Witch. But when they are told that Aslan is a lion,
one of the girls, Lucy, asks, “Is He safe?” Mr. Beaver replies, “Oh He’s not
safe. But He’s good.”
God is powerful. He can do whatever He wants. And He will come one day and
deal with His enemies. He isn’t safe. But He is also good. He will never do
something that would be wrong or evil.
:6 He does not preserve the life of the wicked, But gives justice to the
oppressed.
:7 He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; But they are on
the throne with kings, For He has seated them forever, And they are exalted.
:7 on the throne with kings
Elihu is saying that God will put the righteous on thrones along with
kings.
These thrones are not a game.
Peter wrote,
(1 Peter 2:9a NKJV)
But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood…
(Revelation 20:4 NKJV) —4 And I saw
thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I
saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and
for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived
and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
C.S. Lewis painted this picture in his Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the four children helped
Aslan defeat the White Witch, and they ruled as kings and queens.
Video: Narnia – Thrones
John recorded that after Jesus comes back and sets up His 1,000 year
kingdom, we will rule with Him (Rev. 20:4)
:8 And if they are bound in fetters, Held in the cords of
affliction,
:9 Then He tells them their work and their transgressions— That they have
acted defiantly.
:9 He tells them their work and their transgressions
When the righteous blow it, they can expect to get caught and confronted by
God.
Lesson
God disciplines His children
(Hebrews 12:5–11
NKJV) —5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to
sons: “My son, do
not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be
discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the
Lord loves He chastens, And scourges
every son whom He receives.”
God is a good father who corrects His children.
He does because He loves us.
7 If you
endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom
a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become
partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
If you jump into the deep end of sin and never get caught or face rebuke,
it’s possible that you’re not God’s child.
9 Furthermore,
we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them
respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of
spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best
to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His
holiness. 11 Now no
chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless,
afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it.
It’s not fun to be “chastened” or spanked by God. But when we learn the lessons we’re supposed
to learn, we are much better off.
:10 He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn
from iniquity.
:11 If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in
prosperity, And their years in pleasures.
:12 But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall
die without knowledge.
:13 “But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help
when He binds them.
:14 They die in youth, And their life ends among the perverted
persons.
:13 the hypocrites in heart store up wrath
A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something that they are not.
In contrast to the hypocrite, the mature Christian is the person who is learning
to uncover things more and more in their life.
Paul wrote,
(Ephesians 4:15
NKJV) but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head—Christ—
The Greek word for “truth” means literally “not hidden”.
36:15-23 Repent and restoration
:15 He delivers the poor in their affliction, And opens their ears in
oppression.
:16 “Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress, Into a
broad place where there is no restraint; And what is set on your table would
be full of richness.
:16 He would have brought you out
Elihu is doing the same thing that the other “friends” did, saying that if
Job would only repent, then God would restore him.
He’s assuming that Job is a hypocrite and needs to repent.
Job will indeed repent (42:6), but it will be from his wrong ideas about
God, about blaming God and assuming that God was unjust, not because of some
sin or hypocrisy.
:17 But you are filled with the judgment due the wicked; Judgment and
justice take hold of you.
:18 Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with
one blow; For a large ransom would not help you avoid it.
:19 Will your riches, Or all the mighty forces, Keep you from distress?
:18 a large ransom would not help you
Lesson
Money doesn’t fix everything
I think that sometimes I get to
thinking that if I just had a little more money, that my problems would be
over.
Some people think that with enough money, they can fix anything.
Illustration
I recall a story where a mobster named Freddie died. He was famous all around town as a
gangster. Freddie’s brother, Gino, went
to a local church and asked the pastor if he would perform Freddie’s
funeral. He said to the pastor, “Pastor,
I will donate a million dollars to the local orphanage if you perform my
brother’s funeral. I only have one
request, that during the funeral you tell everyone what a saint my brother
was.” The pastor didn’t know what to
do. He knew the church could sure use
the money for their building fund, but he also knew that the whole town knew
what a crook Freddie was. On the day of
the funeral, there was Gino sitting in the front row of pews, holding a large
briefcase full of money. The pastor
struggled, but got up and began to preach about the consequences of sin and the
need to repent. He went on to tell about
what a crook Freddie was, and that he was the perfect example of a wretched
sinner. Gino was beginning to get very
upset. The pastor went on, “We all know
what a horrible person Freddie was. He
was drunk all the time, he cheated on his wife, he stole from his friends, but
compared to his brother, Freddie was a saint!”
The Wall Street Journal said it
best: “Money is an article which may be used as a universal passport to
everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider for everything except
happiness.”
Lots of money can’t buy you a good
name, a good reputation.
(Proverbs 22:1 NKJV) A good
name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
:20 Do not desire the night, When people are cut off in their place.
:21 Take heed, do not turn to iniquity, For you have chosen this rather
than affliction.
:22 “Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him?
:23 Who has assigned Him His way, Or who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?
:23 You have done wrong
Nobody can tell God He’s done wrong.
Lesson
God doesn’t make mistakes
Sometimes we have a hard time accepting how things are. Sometimes we might even venture into thinking
that perhaps God made a mistake or didn’t catch something.
When God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from their slavery in
Egypt, Moses thought God had made a mistake.
(Exodus 4:10–12
NKJV) —10 Then Moses said to the Lord,
“O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken
to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s
mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have
not I, the Lord? 12 Now
therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
God was saying to Moses, “Hey pal, I don’t make
mistakes. I didn’t make a mistake when I
made you. You’re the one I’ve chosen,
just the way you are.”
We may think that our “flaws” should keep us from serving the Lord, yet I
wonder if somehow God doesn’t want to use us as we are, cracked vessels, so
that He can be the one to get the credit.
36:24-33 God in the storm
:24 “Remember to magnify His work, Of which men have sung.
:25 Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar.
:26 “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can
the number of His years be discovered.
:26 the number of His years
God is eternal. He’s always been
alive.
Have you ever tried to think about
eternity?
Think about eternity past – we can
look back in our own lives and think about how long it’s been since we’ve been
kids. We can think about history –
whether it’s things we’ve learned in history classes or watching the History
Channel. Some of us can be fascinated by
trying to understand life 200 hundred years ago. Maybe even thinking about life 2,000 years
ago. But millions of years ago? Billions of years ago? Eternity past? Wow.
:27 For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist,
:28 Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man.
:27 rain from the mist
It’s possible that as Elihu is speaking, an actual rainstorm is developing,
and we will see references to through chapter 37.
When God actually speaks in Job 38, there is storm language continues:
(Job 38:1 NKJV) Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind…
God mentions snow and hail (Job 38:22)
(Job 38:22 NKJV) —22 “Have you
entered the treasury of snow, Or have
you seen the treasury of hail,
God mentions lightning and rain (Job 38:25-26)
(Job 38:25–26 NKJV) —25 “Who has
divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt, 26 To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;
:29 Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The
thunder from His canopy?
:30 Look, He scatters His light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea.
:30 He scatters His light upon it
Probably referring to lightning.
:31 For by these He judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance.
:32 He covers His hands with lightning, And commands it to strike.
:33 His thunder declares it, The cattle also, concerning the rising storm.
37:1-5 God’s voice of thunder
:1 “At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place.
:2 Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that
comes from His mouth.
Again, perhaps another thunder clap.
:3 He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of
the earth.
:4 After it a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice, And He does
not restrain them when His voice is heard.
:4 After it a voice roars
Another flash of lightning (vs. 3) followed by thunder.
Illustration
“Thunder Storms”
When a mother saw a thunderstorm
forming in mid-afternoon, she worried about her seven-year-old daughter who
would be walking the three blocks from school to home. Deciding to meet her,
the mother saw her walking nonchalantly along, stopping to put a big smile on
her face whenever lightning flashed. Spotting her mother, the little girl ran
up to her. When the mother asked about the big smile every time the lightening
flashed, the daughter explained enthusiastically, “All the way home, God’s been
taking my picture!”
While Elihu is talking, God continues
taking pictures…
:5 God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we
cannot comprehend.
:5 God thunders marvelously with His voice
Lesson
Powerful Words
The writers of Scripture often talk about God’s voice in terms of
thunder. Listen to the storm David
describes …
(Psalm 29:3-5 NKJV)
—3 The voice of the Lord
is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is
over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord
is powerful; The voice of the Lord
is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord
breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord
splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
We might look at this simply as the power of God in a
storm, but I think it goes deeper.
God’s Word itself is powerful.
(Hebrews 4:12 NLT) For the
word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged
sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes
our innermost thoughts and desires.
(2 Timothy 3:16–17
NLT) —16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is
true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we
are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his
people to do every good work.
37:6-13 Snow storm
:6 For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the
gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
:6 He says to the snow
Perhaps the temperature is dropping.
:7 He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work.
(Job 37:7 NLT) Then
everyone stops working so they can watch his power.
:8 The beasts go into dens, And remain in their lairs.
:9 From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from
the scattering winds of the north.
:10 By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen.
:11 Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His
bright clouds.
:12 And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That they may do
whatever He commands them On the face of the whole earth.
:13 He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for His land, Or for
mercy.
:13 correction … mercy
Lesson
Good and Bad
Sometimes rain is good, sometimes it’s bad.
If rain comes at harvest time, it’s bad because it can destroy the crop
before it can be harvested. Then the
farmer stops and thinks about whether he’s got his life together or not.
If rain comes in the springtime, when the seed has been planted, it’s seen
as mercy. God waters the seeds and a
crop grows.
I wonder if we could see trials like rain.
Sometimes the trial comes as a correction, as a way of getting our
attention.
Sometimes a trial could come as mercy - God could be rescuing us from
something.
37:14-20 Do you understand God?
:14 “Listen to this, O Job; Stand still and consider the wondrous works of
God.
:15 Do you know when God dispatches them, And causes the light of His cloud
to shine?
:16 Do you know how the clouds are balanced, Those wondrous works of Him
who is perfect in knowledge?
God Himself will challenge Job like this, asking Job just how much he understands
about the universe around him.
:17 Why are your garments hot, When He quiets the earth by the south
wind?
:18 With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?
(Job 37:17–18 NLT)
—17 When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies
down and everything is still, 18 he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you
do that?
:19 “Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing
because of the darkness.
:20 Should He be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak,
surely he would be swallowed up.
:19 Teach us what we should say
Elihu is being a little sarcastic here, “Job, if you know so much, then
tell us how to speak to God.”
37:21-24 We cannot approach God
:21 Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright
in the skies, When the wind has passed and cleared them.
:21 men cannot look at the light
(Job 37:21 The
Message) No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun on a clear
and cloudless day.
Elihu is talking about how God is so bright we can’t approach Him.
Paul describes God as the One …
(1 Timothy 6:16
NKJV) who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light…
:22 He comes from the north as golden splendor; With God is
awesome majesty.
:23 As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent
in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.
:24 Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are
wise of heart.”
(Job 37:23–24 The
Message) —23 “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It’s
unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly. 24 So bow to him in deep reverence, one
and all! If you’re
wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.”
:24 Therefore men fear Him
Lesson
Fear God
I wonder if we’re afraid of the wrong things sometimes
Jesus said,
(Matthew 10:28
NKJV) And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
He’s talking about fearing God.
When we correctly look at who God is and what He’s like, we ought to
respond in fear – in reverent awe.
Look at some of the things Elihu has pointed out:
He is both powerful and good. (36:5)
He disciplines His children (36:9)
He sees through the hypocrites (36:13)
He doesn’t make mistakes (36:23)
God is eternal (36:26)
We see His work in the rain (36:27)
We hear His voice in the thunder (37:5)
He dwells in pure light (37:21)
Though we rejoice in the love that God has for us, we need to balance our
“familiarity” with God with a sincere reverence and awe of God.