Job 33:1-33

Elihu now turns his attention from Job’s friends to Job himself.  He begs for Job to listen carefully to what he is about to say and to not respond to him as he has responded to the others.  He is very concerned that Job has justified himself before both God and man.  He also cannot tolerate Job’s complaints about God not answering his questions.  He recognizes that he, like Job, is simply a lump of clay formed by God.  That truth leads to two basic conclusions: first, no man is perfect and able to claim innocence before God.  Second, God is greater than man and does not owe men explanations for His actions.  All that God does is just and man must learn to accept what God has determined.  However God does speak to man in at least two ways that Elihu emphasizes in this chapter.

GOD SPEAKS TO MAN THROUGH PROPHECY: Even though God is infinitely greater that man and does not need to stoop to man’s level.  God is gracious to reveal Himself to man through prophecy.  God speaks to men thorough dreams and visions that reveal to men the will of God and warn men of the error of their way.  Job has complained that God has been silent, but that is not true.  Certainly, God has been very faithful to reveal Himself to man through the gift of prophecy.  Job did not have nearly the advantage that we have in terms of the Scriptures, but God has always been faithful to communicate to His people.  The difficulty that we most often face is that we are not always very ready to listen to the Word that the Lord wants to reveal.  We must pay close attention to the Word of God and seek to understand Him through it.


GOD SPEAKS TO MAN THRROUGH PAIN: God also uses the circumstances of our lives and specifically suffering to reveal Himself to man.  If pain and suffering are means through which God reveals Himself to man; than God has been speaking to Job loud and clear.  Elihu is correct that God does use pain to draw man to Himself.  However, not all pain and suffering is meant by God as a rebuke.  God will often use or permit pain to teach us to be dependent upon Him or to pull us closer to Him.  Job’s friends all presume that God is using Job’s pain to correct him from some great sin.  God does reveal Himself to us in a variety of ways, but the clearest means has been through the Lord Jesus Christ who came to this Earth and spoke the Words of God and then gave His life as a ransom for our sins.  He is the true source of our life and our eternal hope.

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