Stop Complaining, God is Great!
Job 33:1-33
March 6, 2016
Well, as you know we are now examining
THE FINAL SERMON of the book of Job.
We’ve heard extensively from Job,
And we’ve heard a couple of times from Job’s infamous 3 friends.
However, those conversations fell flat.
Job’s friends were unable to handle Job’s logic
And Job has entered a bit of a pity-party.
TO THIS ELIHU HAS RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE.
It may not seem like it, but Elihu actually has more to say in this book than any of Job’s other friends.
And his purpose and point are pretty clear.
He is preaching to defend God and to correct Job.
We actually spent a couple of weeks examining THE CREDENTIALS that Elihu had which make him a qualified counselor.
• Holy Zeal
• Spiritual Wisdom
• Genuine Humility
• Deep Conviction
• Absolute Impartiality
Elihu was the right man for this job.
TONIGHT we begin to listen to exactly what he has to say.
You can rather easily break Elihu’s sermon down into 4 basic points.
Each of those points confront an area of Job’s complaining
And defend an area where God has been attacked.
Elihu is in this thing to defend God and silence Job’s complaining.
And so at the outset of these messages
It is probably important to set a sort of benchmark here
About complaining or grumbling.
I don’t know if it is our “freedom of speech” mentality in America or our fascination with social media and the need to comment on things, or what.
But what is apparent is that we as humans
Don’t seem to have any problem airing our opinions.
Coupled with that is a comfort in complaining
When we don’t like the way things are going.
• Complain about your boss…
• Complain about your parents…
• Complain about your friends…
• Complain about the president…
Basically anyone who makes decisions that appear to mess up my life or my plans seems to become fair game to a little grumbling.
I should remind you that such a mindset is not Christian, nor is it ok.
The classic example here would be the children of Israel.
You will remember them as the 40 year grumblers.
• They didn’t have water
• They didn’t have food
• They didn’t like the Promised Land
• They didn’t like manna
• They didn’t like Moses telling them what to do
It was about them that the writer of Hebrews wrote:
Hebrews 3:7-12 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”
Paul chimed in on the warning:
1 Corinthians 10:1-10 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND STOOD UP TO PLAY.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”
It’s really easy to peg that generation of people
As a people who were dissatisfied with God.
• They were dissatisfied with God so they worshiped idols
• They were dissatisfied with God’s commands so they acted immorally
• They were dissatisfied with God’s provision so they grumbled
And we are adamantly warned not to be like them.
The Bible in fact gives a separate and exact opposite command.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
A very important part of living a life of faith
Is demonstrating gratitude instead of grumbling
In the middle of life’s most difficult challenges.
• Gratitude says God is sufficient even in the midst of hardship.
• Grumbling says God is insufficient in the midst of hardship.
Our culture may say that it is ok to complain,
But rest assured Scripture does not.
So it is understandable that Elihu devotes a great deal of his sermon
To addressing Job’s complaints.
Tonight we are going to examine the first leg of Elihu’s sermon.
REBUKE JOB’S COMPLAINING AND DEFEND GOD’S GREATNESS.
To grumble about God is to say that He is anything but great.
And as we said Elihu’s holy zeal would not stand by
And allow God to be portrayed as anything but great.
#1 THE ENGAGEMENT
Job 33:1-12
What you have here is similar to the opening statement made by Elihu.
He is explaining once again why he is speaking.
These verses read like is almost like one army lining up against another.
Elihu is literally squaring up for battle.
And has he does so those QUALIFICATIONS we talked about the last two weeks will once again become APPARENT.
In the first three verses you once again see his DEEP CONVICTION and his ABSOLUTE IMPARTIALITY.
(1-3) “However now, Job, please hear my speech, And listen to all my words. “Behold now, I open my mouth, My tongue in my mouth speaks. “My words are from the uprightness of my heart, And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.”
We see that he is not seeking flattery or partiality,
But is instead speaking “from the uprightness” of his heart.
We see that deep conviction as those words he spoke of previously which were about to make his belly burst are about to come out in the form of his “knowledge”
He knows what to say and he is not afraid to say it.
We see his SPIRITUAL WISDOM
(4) “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Once again giving reference to where his knowledge comes from.
We see his HOLY ZEAL
(5) “Refute me if you can; array yourselves before me, take your stand.”
Spoken like a general ready for battle.
He is not about to back down.
God has been challenged and he must speak.
And we see his GENUINE HUMILITY
(6-7) “Behold, I belong to God like you; I too have been formed out of the clay. “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.”
Elihu is definitely the right man for the job.
Listening to what he says here actually reminds me of David standing before Goliath.
1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”
David’s strength was in God, not in himself,
But David was also full of holy zeal
That was not about to see God maligned.
You can feel that same conviction dripping out of Elihu.
• He is angry
• He is ready for battle
• He knows the truth
• And He stands to present it
He is operating in the role of a herald.
So first the engagement
#2 THE EVIDENCE
Job 33:8-12
He said earlier:
Job 32:11-12 “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, While you pondered what to say. “I even paid close attention to you; Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words.”
Elihu wasn’t rash in his speech.
He wasn’t an arrogant man who just wanted to hear himself talk.
Elihu listened.
He listened to those who were preaching to Job and he listened to Job.
Obviously listening is important to anyone
Who is going to step into the role of a counselor.
And we know Elihu listened,
Because he hear begins quoting what Job said back to Job.
(8-9a) “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words: ‘I am pure…”
Remember the words of Job?
Job 12:4 “I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.”
• Job definitely claimed to be “pure”.
• Elihu also recounted that Job claimed to be “without transgression;”
Job 23:11 “My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside.”
• He heard Job claim to be “innocent and there is no guilt in me.”
Job 9:20-21 “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty. “I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.”
Job 10:7 “’According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.”
Job 27:6 “I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days.”
It is clear that Elihu had been listening.
Job had indeed said all those things many times over.
What is apparent (which you will see in a minute)
Is that Elihu seemed to be latching on to one statement of Job
More than any other.
Job had already been engaged in the battle with two of his friends regarding his suffering.
The third friend to speak was Zophar
Who had by far the harshest statement for Job up to that point.
Job 11:4-6 “For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’ “But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you, And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.”
• Zophar wouldn’t hear this “innocent” talk from Job.
• Zophar was convinced that Job had so much sin that God even forgot
part of it.
This harsh rebuked prompted a very definite response from Job
He began to address God and said:
Job 13:22-28 “Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then reply to me. “How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. “Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy? “Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or will You pursue the dry chaff? “For You write bitter things against me And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth. “You put my feet in the stocks And watch all my paths; You set a limit for the soles of my feet, While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.”
Job actually began to challenge God’s treatment of him.
• Job challenged God to tell him his sin.
• Job challenged God to expose his iniquity.
• Job accused God of writing bitter things against him
• And Job accused God of punishing for those things God invented.
It seems that Elihu never forgot that statement
For he is reminding Job of it here.
(10-11) “’Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. ‘He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’”
Sometimes people need to hear what their words sound like,
And that is what Elihu does here for Job.
Job you said:
• I am innocent
• God invents evil against me
• Then God punishes me for evil I didn’t do
The implication there is obvious.
I am doing right and God is doing wrong
I’m not saying Job really felt that way, but when his words were spoken back to him, it is obvious how they sounded.
And Elihu is quick to take that evidence, lay it at Job’s feet
And quickly correct him.
(12) “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than man.”
There is the first distinction between the rebuke of Elihu
And the other three friends.
The other three argued with Job too, but they always said, “You are not right, for we know you are a sinner”
Elihu has a different reason for rebuking Job,
And it is that “God is greater than man.”
What does he mean by that?
Well, let’s look at the third point.
The Engagement, The Evidence
#3 THE EXPLANATION
Job 33:13-33
Here Elihu summarizes Job’s basic complaint before God.
(13) “Why do you complain against Him that He does not give an account of all His doings?”
That was precisely Job’s complaint. (chapter 13)
• “How many are my iniquities and sins?”
• “Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.”
• “Why do you hide Your face..?”
Elihu understands what Job is getting at.
Job wants an explanation.
Job wants God to answer for what He is doing.
And Elihu is quick to point out that complaining in such a way to God
Is unwarranted for God is greater than man.
Furthermore Elihu wants Job to know that God has not been silent.
In fact, God does speak to humanity.
(now please understand that Job is most likely the oldest book in the Bible.
Ever since Moses and certainly in the New Testament, we appeal to Scripture as the place where God speaks, but that wasn’t an option in Job’s day.
But Elihu wants Job to know that God is not silent.
God does speak and God has spoken
In fact Elihu will show Job that God speaks in two ways.
1) HE SPEAKS THROUGH DREAMS (15-18)
(15-18) “In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction, That He may turn man aside from his conduct, And keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, And his life from passing over into Sheol.”
Elihu says that one of the ways in which God communicates
Is through dreams when man sleeps.
During those dreams God will “open the ears of men”
And God uses those dreams for one main purpose.
“That He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from his pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol.”
Elihu says that God uses dreams to warn men
And to change the conduct of men
So that they will not follow a path of destruction.
Why is this relevant to Job?
Job 7:11-15 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. “Am I the sea, or the sea monster, That You set a guard over me? “If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,’ Then You frighten me with dreams And terrify me by visions; So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.”
Elihu brings this up to Job because Job had already stated that even when he tried to sleep he was bothered by dreams and visions that terrified him.
Could it be that God was already addressing the complaining and grumbling and bitterness of Job?
Elihu certainly thinks so.
He is speaking through dreams
2) HE SPEAKS THROUG PAIN (19-22)
(19-22) “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with unceasing complaint in his bones; So that his life loathes bread, And his soul favorite food. “His flesh wastes away from sight, And his bones which were not seen stick out. “Then his soul draws near to the pit, And his life to those who bring death.”
In addition to dreams Elihu says that God speaks through pain.
• God brings hardship on to the life of man.
• Pain that will cause his soul to draw near to the pit.
• Pain that will cause him to draw near to death.
One would ask: HOW DOES THIS HELP?
That is what Elihu explains next.
(23-28) “If there is an angel as mediator for him, One out of a thousand, To remind a man what is right for him, Then let him be gracious to him, and say, ‘Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom’; Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, And He may restore His righteousness to man. “He will sing to men and say, ‘I have sinned and perverted what is right, And it is not proper for me. ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit, And my life shall see the light.’”
According to Elihu, God brings pain into the life of man
Which causes him to cry out in prayer.
His affliction and prayer motivates the angels to intercede on his behalf
The result of this prayer and intercession
IS THAT MAN WILL REPENT AND GOD WILL RESTORE.
See verse 26:
“Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him, That he may see His face with joy, and He may restore His righteousness to man.”
From this point man will actually begin to be an evangelist of sorts
As he will go and express to other men how he had sinned, but God redeemed him from the pit of death and placed him on the path of light.
So Elihu simply points out that Job’s pain
Was also a way for God to speak to him.
That through his pain God was purifying him.
Now this is one of those statements
(as I told you would occur at the beginning)
That make it hard to know if we agree with Elihu or not.
• After all, it is clear at the beginning of this book that Job was a righteous man who feared God and turned away from evil.
• And yet we have decided that since God doesn’t correct what Elihu has to say, that he must be correct in his assessments.
That means here that Elihu
Is not rebuking Job for any sin he committed prior to his pain,
But rather for the bitterness and complaining
That Job had in the midst of it.
According to Elihu Job’s response to his pain
Revealed pride that Job had hidden in his heart.
• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would cause him to respond to affliction the way he did.
• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would cause him to think that God was wronging him.
• It was pride and arrogance on Job’s part that would give him the audacity to approach God and demand that God give an account of what He was doing.
This pride and arrogance were not readily noticeable during Job’s life of ease and prosperity, but certainly became apparent during his affliction.
According to Elihu, one of God’s purposes for Job
Was to bring about this affliction to purify him of this pride.
That is precisely what Elihu brought up in verse 17
“That He man turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride.”
So according to Elihu, God has not been silent with Job.
• God has spoken through those dreams that terrified him.
• God has spoken through that pain that was meant to crush his pride.
And then Elihu brings some PERSPECTIVE to the situation:
(29-33) “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life. “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; Keep silent, and let me speak. “Then if you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you. “If not, listen to me; Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Here is what Elihu meant when he said previously that Job should not say such things because “God is greater than man.”
God often times does this peculiar work of
Terrifying dreams and terrible pain.
And He does it for one reason.
IT IS NOT TO HARM MAN, IT IS TO SAVE HIM.
“To bring back his soul from the pit”
In short,
• All that God is doing…
• All that God is allowing…
• IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION NOT CONDEMNATION
WHY?
Because God is greater than man!
• When men terrify other men, it is typically for selfish reasons…
• When men inflict pain on other men, it is typically done out of cruelty…
BUT GOD IS NOT LIKE MEN
GOD IS GREATER THAN MAN.
God uses things like this to actually make us better, to purify us, and to save us from the pit of destruction.
It isn’t destructive, it is redemptive
And Elihu wants Job to know that
This is the explanation for what is happening in Job’s life.
And he wants Job to get it.
(31-32) “Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; keep silent, and let me speak. Then if you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.”
That is, I desire for you to be justified.
I desire for God’s purposes to be completed in your life.
And doesn’t that sound just like John the Baptist?
• John was preaching a message of judgment and condemnation, but not because John wanted people to be condemned.
• John preached judgment so that people would repent and find justification.
Elihu, like John, is a herald.
SO WHAT DO WE TAKE AWAY FROM THIS OPENING COUNSEL FROM ELIHU?
1) That suffering is not an excuse to turn on God because suffering is not an indicator that God has turned on you.
In fact suffering may be the greatest indicator
That God is working for you.
We have this human inclination wired in to us that if you love someone you will make their life as easy as possible.
• You won’t resist them
• You won’t rebuke them
• You won’t hold them back
• You won’t punish them
This is the popular mindset of how to raise children today,
And we can all see how that is working out.
Our society actually says that all children need is total acceptance and love when you raise them.
I’m certainly for giving a child love, but even I understand that sometimes love has to come in the form of a paddle to the butt.
What does Scripture say?
Hebrews 12:4-11 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Suffering is not an indicator that God has turned on you.
It is an indicator that God is working on you.
Therefore suffering is not a reason for you to turn on God.
That is why Elihu was quick to tell Job that
He was not right to challenge God the way he had.
The next thing we should learn
2) God is always working for your good, even if His methods seems strange to you.
God most certainly isn’t working for your harm.
God most certainly isn’t working for your destruction.
God is working for your good.
Now, as we said, His methods sometimes seem strange to us,
But if we were as great as God, then we’d understand.
That is where faith comes in.
Job didn’t know what God was doing,
But at the very least he should have known what God wasn’t doing.
God was not seeking to destroy him.
We talked about it with Joseph back in Genesis when we were talking about God’s PROVIDENCE.
We talked about how trusting God’s providence is believing that the worst possible circumstances can actually produce the most amazing good.
It doesn’t always look that way, but we know that is what God is doing.
Sometimes God uses pain and resistance
To produce the results that are required.
Athletes know about this.
• They know that you have to train your body to perform.
• They know that a little pain is required if your body is going to produce.
Should we expect any less for the soul?
Paul wrote to Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7-10 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”
If the body must be disciplined to perform, so must the soul.
The difference is that where bodily discipline has only a little profit, soul discipline is highly valuable because it produces godliness.
You and I both know people who are workout fanatics.
There is certainly nothing wrong with that. (I’m just not one of them)
But we know people who are committed to pushing their body and working out.
I saw a friend on facebook the other day who was scrawny in high school and apparently has been working out because he’s huge now.
I can only imagine the pain and discipline he had to endure
To get his body in that kind of shape.
But you know he understood that pain was going to be part of it.
I doubt he woke up the next morning sore after a hard workout
And thought God must be mad at him.
He knew what was happening.
WELL THAT IS TRUE SPIRITUALLY AS WELL.
Didn’t we learn it from James?
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
This little bit of pain is necessary, God is using it to perfect you.
That is precisely Elihu just told Job.
• God terrified you with dreams and brought pain into your life so that He might purify you. More specifically so that He might crush your pride.
And Job wasn’t the only one God ever did that to.
But look at Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
Do you realize that God did the exact same thing
To Paul that He did to Job?
Pain for the sake of crushing pride.
But the point is that it wasn’t to harm Paul or Job.
It was for their own good.
That being the case, Elihu tells Job to quit complaining
Because God is a great God
Who is doing great things on his behalf.
That’s his first piece of instruction.
We’ll move on next time.
