"For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you." (Job 36:4)
If you thought, "Job's three friends," were know-it-alls, how about this young man, Elihu?!? When he shows up on the scene in chapter 32, his first words seem humble enough. But then he keeps talking. Sometimes it's not the first things we say, but what dribbles on which give us away.
The "fifth man" in the Job "seminar" is perhaps the most presumptuous. God does not even speak of him at the end of the book when He speaks to Job and the "three friends." That has to be the ultimate "snub." Elihu, at one point in his "introduction," says, "I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer." This motivates far too many. For many it is, "I just have to say something; it really does not matter if it helps you or not. I just have to talk." God help us all.
I wonder how many congregations there would be in a given town if we were all less like, "Job's three friends," and Elihu. You see, the number of churches in a town are usually driven by two things: "We know best," and, "I have to be in charge." Eliminate these two evils and Christendom just might begin to manifest the prayer of Jesus, "....that they all may be one." Back in the mid to late 1970s, we were a part of a number of Protestant Congregations and a Catholic Community whose leaders met every week, and the congregations met about 4 times a years for a worship gathering. It was the most talked about happening in the valley among unbelievers. That should have told us all something.
I wonder what the scenario of Job would have been if the pseudo-theologians would have listened to, "The Word of God, " Jesus, rather than, "I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer." Our Lord Jesus will speak to us, but if the Book of Job teaches us anything, it teaches us that God is not as quick to "speak" as are we, and if we would just learn more to, "Wait on the Lord," well, a large portion of the Book of Job would not have been written. Every time I go through the Book of Job I am amazed at how people can say what seem to be "good" things, yet in the end get the most stern rebuke from the Living Triune God. It appears to me to be a heart matter. After David made some scathing statements about his enemies, he then cried out, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,..and see if there is any wicked way in me." This apparently was not a prayer of the, "three friends," and Elihu. If we pray this daily, however, it just might make a difference in The Church at_______.
Father, in Jesus' Name, maybe my words should be fewer. Amen.
If you thought, "Job's three friends," were know-it-alls, how about this young man, Elihu?!? When he shows up on the scene in chapter 32, his first words seem humble enough. But then he keeps talking. Sometimes it's not the first things we say, but what dribbles on which give us away.
The "fifth man" in the Job "seminar" is perhaps the most presumptuous. God does not even speak of him at the end of the book when He speaks to Job and the "three friends." That has to be the ultimate "snub." Elihu, at one point in his "introduction," says, "I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer." This motivates far too many. For many it is, "I just have to say something; it really does not matter if it helps you or not. I just have to talk." God help us all.
I wonder how many congregations there would be in a given town if we were all less like, "Job's three friends," and Elihu. You see, the number of churches in a town are usually driven by two things: "We know best," and, "I have to be in charge." Eliminate these two evils and Christendom just might begin to manifest the prayer of Jesus, "....that they all may be one." Back in the mid to late 1970s, we were a part of a number of Protestant Congregations and a Catholic Community whose leaders met every week, and the congregations met about 4 times a years for a worship gathering. It was the most talked about happening in the valley among unbelievers. That should have told us all something.
I wonder what the scenario of Job would have been if the pseudo-theologians would have listened to, "The Word of God, " Jesus, rather than, "I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer." Our Lord Jesus will speak to us, but if the Book of Job teaches us anything, it teaches us that God is not as quick to "speak" as are we, and if we would just learn more to, "Wait on the Lord," well, a large portion of the Book of Job would not have been written. Every time I go through the Book of Job I am amazed at how people can say what seem to be "good" things, yet in the end get the most stern rebuke from the Living Triune God. It appears to me to be a heart matter. After David made some scathing statements about his enemies, he then cried out, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me,..and see if there is any wicked way in me." This apparently was not a prayer of the, "three friends," and Elihu. If we pray this daily, however, it just might make a difference in The Church at_______.
Father, in Jesus' Name, maybe my words should be fewer. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
