I'm obviously in the Wisdom Literature of my daily readings. You know by now what I think of the young man, Elihu. He was presumptuous, egotistical, self-righteous. When Jesus finally speaks to "the situation," He sums up Job, "....the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.'" Elihu had the nerve to "take issue" with Jesus' pronouncement concerning Job. Our text reveals that Elihu saw Job as consorting, "....with the workers of iniquity..," and one who, "walks with wicked men". God did not see this in Job. Elihu's words were simply falsehood. May our Lord Jesus help us all to walk in His Truth, to see others as only He sees them.
Boldness in "the faith" is one thing; arrogance is quite another. Arrogance is the life which lives by, "no one else has anything of importance to say," or, "no one can raise something which I have never considered," or, and perhaps worse, "No one can teach me anything." I'm not talking of compromise here. I'm writing of the Church, "the Body of Christ," of which all who Follow Jesus are, "members one of another." The, "three friends," and Elihu obviously did not see themselves as, "members one of another," with Job.
I have shared before of the 85 year old lady I met back in the 60s, who said, "I listen to everything every child of God has to say." I never forgot that, even though, I must confess that over the years I have criticized, judged, etc., what some have said. I'm still "working" on that. Maybe this is a very fundamental "word" which our Lord Jesus Christ has for us as we regularly read through the Book of Job: Instead of always identifying with, "the sufferings of Job," maybe we should also take a warning from the 4 who had life all figured out. DON'T BE LIKE THEM.
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that any boldness would not be a cover up of presumption/arrogance. Amen.
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* Please pray with us about the Berlin Mission for this year
* Planning to go to DC next week.
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
