God's Megaphone

Text this morning is a long one - covers 6 chapters in the book. Chapters 32-37

God’s Megaphone

Text this morning is a long one - covers 6 chapters in the book. Chapters 32-37

READ -

1 ANOTHER VOICE SPEAKS UP

Elihu - The three friends Zophar, Bildad and Eliphaz … have exited stage left.

, tells us that the ‘three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.’

They’re gone - - all that talking .... for nothing. And as the three amigos walk off the stage, the verdict that we all give is: What a waste of time! COMFORTERS?! Is that the legacy I’m going to leave?!

Now a brand new, younger man, takes the stage. He’s obviously been listening to everything that’s gone on.

Verse 2, “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger.” The texts goes on to tell us that ‘(he) … burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. (3) He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.”

A lot of anger here. He launches into his .............. and goes. And goes. And goes. Chapters 32-37 are all Elihu.

So, what do we make of Elihu’s words? Throughout history - commentators have been divided on Elihu.

Some - windbag .... same old, same old. He carries on along the same tracks that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zohar … brings nothing new to the story … a whole lot of bluster but nothing new to say: “Suffering is punishment. Period. You always reap what you sow - no more, no less ... Blah, blah, blah”.

Others - Elihu is saying something brand new. Calvin sees in Elihu the answer to Job’s suffering. Does Elihu ride in on his white horse and save the day ....?

Still others - Elihu begins well but he ends badly.

Suggest - Elihu is not the friend I would ask to come and sit at my side, if I was at the end of my world. First of all, he speaks for 6 STRAIGHT CHAPTERS – The entire chapter 32 is just a warm-up for the rest, taking shots at the 3 friends and Job himself. He is long winded.

Not only that, but he’s arrogant. Look at …

, “Do you know the balancing of the clouds,, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?” Elihu is pointing Job to God, the One being with perfect knowledge - the One who knows how to balance the clouds - to run a universe. Now, look at:

, “For truly my words are not false; ONE WHO IS PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE IS WITH YOU.” Elihu is talking about himself here. “PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE?!” Really, Elihu?! Really?!! One commentator says that the “Language of Elihu convicts HIM of being a bloated fool.” Can’t argue with that.

But do we then just write off what this young man says? These are 6 chapters devoted to his words … four speeches in a row from the lips of Elihu. Would God dedicate 6 chapters of Holy Scripture, right before the CLIMAX of the book - 6 whole chapters – to a person with NOTHING important to say? That’s has to be a consideration.

Also, if you keep reading, you’ll see that Job doesn’t respond to Elihu - Argues with all three of his other friends, but to Elihu - he says nothing in response. That’s interesting. And what’s also interesting is that:

Another thing to notice is that God says nothing about Elihu .. When God finally speaks, He criticizes, Eliphaz and Bildad and Zopahr, but says zero about Elihu. I don’t want to make too much from the argument from silence … but that catches my attention.

Well, Elihu says that he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with Job’s friends - he says he has something new to say. So, let’s give him a hearing.

Elihu is pointing to the sovereignty of God. He’s saying, “Job, you are defending yourself - justifying yourself (and isn’t that exactly what we tend to do when hit by suffering? Part of our human nature. All of us tend to do that). And maybe that’s what this trial is all about - to teach you afresh that God is sovereign and you are not.”

Isn’t that what suffering of trials does? Breaks us down. Bring face to face with our utter helplessness - no rights, no privileges … nothing more than dust in the hands of a sovereign, omnipotent God.

- Elihu goes on in chapter 37 to talk about thunderstorms and snow . He wraps up his message in 37:23-24: “The Almighty - we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. (24) Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

And Elihu’s speech is finally done. This is a young guy who talks too much, is too sure of himself and frankly - the guy is obnoxious. But remember the story of Balaam - God can speak through the mouth of a donkey … He can speak through obnoxious, know-it-alls too. And I think that the truth coming through the mouth of Elihu here is -

Whatever the answer to the question of Job’s suffering .... it cannot come at the expense of the sovereignty of God, the justice of God,OR the righteousness of God. God CAN NOT BE UNRIGHTEOUS.

What does that mean? There is the POWER of God … but there’s also the LOVE of God here. Essential to the character of God is His love. God WOULD NOT BE GOD - without His love. Not the true God of the Bible. Sure, the gods of the Eastern religions and ancient world … the ‘Allah’ of Islam - they can all function without love.

Islamic theology says that God is SOVEREIGN - He is all powerful … but he’s not necessarily loving. Inshalla - “If God wills” .... Allah is in control of everything … but He’s not necessarily good.”

But the God of Christianity is different. He will not do wickedly. God cannot sin. Everything that he does comes out of the character of Who He is. That means that everything God does - is just … and GOOD.

So, what does that mean for Job and every other suffering saint? How does this help us understand the problem of suffering, the problem of pain?

So, what’s Elihu’s point? Well, he sure takes long enough to make his point … so very long-winded. He loves the sound of his own voice and is full of himself. Young, brash, aggressive. But put his own character aside - what’s Elihu’s point? What does he bring to the table? Here’s the point he makes that’s worth listening to:

2 SUFFERING AND GOD’S VOICE

Suffering does NOT mean that God has gone silent. It can open your ears to God. He can use it to teach you things about yourself and who you really are - what you’re capable of.

Notice that Elihu doesn’t criticize Job for the things he did before his world fell apart. Job’s 3 friends kept trying to drag the suffering man back into his past and tried to prove that he MUST have done something evil. There must be SOME great sin back in the past to bring about suffering like this. Because all suffering is punishment and God doesn’t unfairly punish good people. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have all, with one voice been trying to rub Job’s nose in the refuse of his past.

…. They were wrong. God says so. Remember, we’ve already been given God’s assessment on Job BEFORE the suffering hit and his world fell apart. GOD said that he was upright and blameless. “He feared God and turned away from evil.” That’s God’s word on the man. This is a model believer.

Elihu doesn’t criticize Job for the suffering that crushed him. His criticism is in how Job has responded to the pain. His problem is with Job’s charge against God in his heartache.

…

Sin can show up in the course of your suffering, even if it wasn’t the CAUSE of your suffering.

Just because Job is a righteous man, who is a fantastic example to all of us .... he is still a man. He is still a sinner. He isn’t perfect. And some of Job’s imperfection has come out in the way he has dealt with his pain.

Can you blame him at all for anything he’s said?! What do you do, if you are in Job’s place? … lost everything. EVERYTHING .... not a word of explanation from God … and you have the nattering of your three so-called friends who are rubbing your nose in your suffering and incessantly telling you that ‘This is YOUR fault - sinner!’

I shudder to think of how I would respond, if I were Job.

First response - remember it from the end of chapter 1? “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD.”

TO his wife - another far less than helpful companion. In chapter 2, she comes along and sees him in the grip of massive suffering. She tells him just ‘curse God and die’. His response: “You speak as one of the foolish women … Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

That’s faith. There’s no improving on those responses.

But as Job sits, in the garbage dump, in excruciating pain … smouldering trash around him, smoke of burning refuse rising around him …not only NOT being comforted by his frends - but having to defend himself to them for even being in this place ...

… as time has gone on, Job has been worn down.

And Job has shown himself saying things, thinking things that at the beginning of the book would not even have been thinkable. He has started to demand his rights - - show an expectation that God should be answering his every question.

“Can’t you see I’m suffering? I have a case against You, God - -

Job is sinless in the sense that he is suffering innocently - it’s true. … But in the course of the suffering - he has shown flashes of a character that isn’t flattering to him.

Elihu says, “It’s not fair of you ….

- “Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’”

: “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words?’ For God speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it.”

Job has accused God of refusing to speak to him - “He will answer none of MY WORDS?” That’s what Job has been saying.

Elihu says, “That’s not right. That’s not fair to God” Verse 14, “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. (15) In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their bed, (16), then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, (17) that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man ....”

We know that - don’t we? I know how I respond … unjust anger, accusations, question God’s goodness, accuse God of denying me MY RIGHTS - - Oh, but what right do I have? … this piece of clay, created and shaped to please him - - What rights do I have? Brought from death to life by the finished work of my suffering Savior who calls me to take up MY CROSS and FOLLOW HIM … what rights do I have?

If anyone wants to be MY DISCIPLE, let him DENY HIMSELF and TAKE UP HIS CROSS - not cross in the sense of a piece of golden jewelry that dangles around your neck - cross in the sense of an execution device … let him take up his cross and follow me.

That’s what Elihu is hinting at here. Trials teach you - take you through an education that you never would otherwise get.

‘Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

, “”My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. (6) For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ (7) It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”

That’s a point that we can take from Elihu’s words: God is sovereign and the trials He sends our way are for our instruction.

But there’s more. Elihu says something in chapter 36 that’s quite stunning.

Look at 36:15-16: “He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity. (16) He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.”

Are you suffering, Christian? Does life hurt? What God’s Word is saying here is a promise to you - - - You are NOT being played like a pawn in a divine chess match between God and Satan. You are not just a tool that God uses and then throws away … God is treating you like a son or a daughter - - You are his child and He loves you enough to shape you. Oh it’s painful. Does it hurt? Absolutely - and there’s no point in pretending it doesn’t. Don’t bother with the plastic smile when you are dying inside … But KNOW THIS - He loves you. And He hasn’t gone silent in the suffering.

Remember Job’s context - remember when he lives - before the storm came.

God spoke His pleasure in Job by the blessings Job enjoyed..

God speaks in our suffering: “He delivers the afflicted by thir affliction AND OPENS THEIR EAR BY ADVERSITY”.

Remember what CS Lewis said in his grief. He was suffering the loss of his wife - Joy. His beautiful wife - American woman that he had married later in life and who came to be his completion - his best friend … his life. He loved her so much. She had brought joy and contentment and fulfillment into his life in so many ways. She completed him. Then, she developed cancer and died. Just like that. And he grieved and grieved publicly.

“Pain is God’s megaphone” God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world....

- - Pain is God’s megaphone - - God’s loudspeaker. It is his way of speaking to us through the noise of life in this busy, harried world.

God shows Himself in nature … He smiles on us in our godly pleasures … we can feel the blessing of God in the good times .... but that’s not the only, not the loudest way that He speaks. He SHOUTS IN OUR PAIN. But that shouting isn’t necessarily anger … sometimes it is a declaration of his love for us.

JI PACKER - biography by Leland Ryken. Gift from a kind brother.

Professor at Regent. One of the two great reasons I chose to do my seminary studies right here in Vancouver, rather than travel somewhere into the states: J.I. Packer was teaching here. One of the greatest theologians in the world today. Books had changed my life.

Anyway, I remember the first time I sat in his office - small little office on the second floor … almost knee to knee. Trying to keep my voice from shaking with nerves … trying to not sweat or sound like a complete moron.

But also - trying not to stare at the dent in his head. Packer has a dent in his head, he has had it since he was a child.

It’s one of those things, you tell yourself, “Don’t stare”. But then you sit across from him - and your eyes just get drawn there. Hard to take your eyes off of it.

When he was 7 years old, the resident class bully caught him in his crosshairs. One day, the bully chased him out of the schoolyard, he ran into the street and was hit by a truck driving by. Truck knocked him to the ground and damaged his skull. They rushed the boy to the hospital, immediately taken to the operating room and did surgery.

For six months he was confined to his bed. And from the time he was seven – all the way until he went to university - Packer would wear a metal plate on the outside of his head and tie it with a cord to keep it in place. This is a boy who’s already had a bullying problem - - Do you think the metal plate tied to his head helped in that department much?!

It shaped his life. It was God’s megaphone.

He tells how, when he was 11 years old, he wanted a bicycle. He was a boy - of course he wanted a bike. Every boy wants a bike - how much more when you’ve lost a couple of your years to recovery from serious physical suffering and you’re trying to be like ‘one of the ‘normal’ boys’. It was his 11th birthday, he woke up, ran down the stairs to see his new bike

… except there was no bike there. What his parents bought him instead? .... was a typewriter. An old fashioned typewriter, with ribbon and keys. Some of you are so young, you’ve never even seen one in real life.

Can you imagine the letdown for this boy who had been through so much suffering and just wanted a bike?!! “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” …. Most of us would excuse an 11 year old Jim Packer for asking, “REALLY?!”

Do you know that Packer still types all of the manuscripts to his books on that same old-fashioned typewriter? Everything he writes - class notes, books … everything. He doesn’t use a computer

God put him through an experience of pain. It was physical pain, but it was also emotional pain … social pain ....

Packer removed himself from all of his peers because of this metal plate on the side of his head. Imagine, the pain!

Oh, but it made him into the person he is today. It drove him into books and studies. God knew what he was doing. It was God’s megaphone …

The suffering was real - there’s no making light of what it meant for a boy to go through his pre-teen and teenage years like that - such formative years to suffer that kind of pain

… but GOD DID NOT FORGET J.I. PACKER. He didn’t abandon him. The suffering was God’s megaphone to wake this boy to God’s call on his life.

“Not in sports and games … but in studying and teaching My People!” That was God’s message to Packer.

That’s what Elihu is saying in 36:15 - “He delivers the afflicted BY their affliction and OPENS THEIR EAR BY ADVERSITY”. “HE OPENS THEIR EAR BY ADVERSITY”

GOD IS SPEAKING THROUGH PAIN.

The question is: Are you listening?

I know that the lives of many of you hear this morning are anything but easy. So many of us, in this church family, are walking through suffering.

… The sicknesses are never ending … the healing that we are praying for, hasn’t come … at least not yet; every time you turn around, there is another financial crisis in your life - no idea how to go on paying the bills … your family is falling apart around you .... so many different stories, but the same problem: “OH LORD, THIS LIFE IS PAIN!”

And you are tempted to cry out - WE are tempted to cry out, “God, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

What God is saying to us, through the words of Elihu, is this: “I’m here, my child. Not only am I aware of what you’re going through; not only have I NOT forgotten you … but I am using this very pain to shape you, to lead you

This is a crucial moment in your life. This is a turning point - - SO HOW DO YOU ANSWER? You can do one of two things in your suffering.

3 HOW DO YOU ANSWER?

1 - You can put your fingers in your ears and shout your anger at God. Be overcome with the pain that will not relent … and give yourself into the grip of bitterness and blame. I’ve known people and so have you - they’ve gone through a storm - great suffering …

… and it broke them. Time has past - 10 years, 20 - 40 years … and they are dry husks of what they once were, because the bitterness has sucked the life out of them. Angry at God, angry at people … there is no delight in them. No hope. The suffering came - and they shut their ears to God’s megaphone.

You can go that route.

OR, you can choose another route:

2 - When the suffering hits and your world is falling apart - you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel - you can choose to say, “Lord, I don’t understand. I don’t know ‘why’ the pathway had to go through this valley - - I wouldn’t have chosen it for myself, wouldn’t wish it on anyone else … Lord this HURTS. But I trust in You - and I know that You are leading me along THIS road because it is Exactly what you know to be the best pathway to the best future for me. And I know you love me. This is no accident -

… and I’m listening. What do I need to learn here? What are You trying to teach me? I’m listening.”

I am not making light of your pain …

… but EITHER GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU IN YOUR PAIN … or He is not the God of the Bible:

, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”

Maybe you haven’t been brought to that point yet - - you will be.

“This is not a good thing - this is terrible and I wish I could run a million miles from this pain.”

But if you listen to the Holy Spirit - if you keep your ears open to God’s megaphone … and learn to relax your grip on the things that were good in themselves … but now are gone … you will be able to hear God say - “That’s not what you needed … I’m giving you precisely what you need - for ULTIMATE, ETERNAL JOY.”

I have the BEST THINGS - and they are for you.

John Newton’s poem:

I asked the Lord that I might grow In faith, and love, and every grace; Might more of His salvation know, And seek, more earnestly, His face.

‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray, And He, I trust, has answered prayer! But it has been in such a way, As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour, At once He’d answer my request; And by His love’s constraining pow’r, Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel The hidden evils of my heart; And let the angry pow’rs of hell Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed Intent to aggravate my woe; Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried, Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? “‘Tis in this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ, From self, and pride, to set thee free; And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

It’s a prayer, answered by a cross. You pray and ask God to make you stronger in Him - to grow you, to make you more like your Savior .... You want His best for you.

And how does He answer? He answers by sending you cancer, by taking all of your financial security away … by taking your loved one away.

“That’s not what I meant, Lord!” Oh, but it is … so that you can discover first hand, the unfathomable grace and power of the Good News of Jesus Christ. That’s what Elihu is saying here.

Let me put it the way John Piper did when he discovered he had prostate cancer. He said, “Don’t waste your cancer”.

That’s a hard thing to say. But it’s a good point. God has put you in this suffering for a reason. Everything is for a reason. Don’t become bitter by it; don’t become calloused, don’t get stuck in your anger - - - but let this pain mold you more and more into the image of your Savior and Lord.

This is a moment of opportunity. So what you are going to do with it?

Man that was born blind in . The story takes up the whole chapter. Born blind - never seen his mom’s face, never seen a bird take off into the air … never seen a sunset. And everyone is asking - “Who’s fault is this suffering?! What’s the cause?!”

And Jesus says, “Neither, but that the works of God may be put on display”. Jesus doesn’t answer the question of cause - His focus is on OPPORTUNITY. “This hardship was so that the glory of God may be seen and savored.”

That’s where I want us to be. Ready to be the instrument in which the glory of God can be put on display - - as He works out His good purpose in the most impossible ways - and by our afflictions, rescues us from affliction.

Remember the ‘Voyage of the Dawn Treader’, in the Narnia Chronicles that CS Lewis wrote? Eustace was that irritating obnoxious kid that you just wanted to punch in the face. He had been turned into a dragon because of his greed. But as a dragon, he showed his repentance and helped save the ship. He was trying to get rid of the dragon skin that he was trapped in - he would scrape away his scales, only to find that there was another set of scales underneath. He was helpless. In despair. This is what happened next:

“Then the lion (Aslan) said - ‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty near desperate now … The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt … Then he caught hold of me - I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I had noskin on - - and (he) threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I gound that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I had turned into a boy again.”

That’s the positive point we can take from Elihu - God’s dealings with us may be painful - torturous, even. Oh, but they are for our healing … tools in the Father’s hands to make us all He has created us to be - to enjoy. To shape us more and more into a reflection of His Son - our Savior … Jesus, Who for the joy that was set before Him - endured the cross, scorning its shame.”

The question is this: Are you listening?

ANOTHER VOICE SPEAKS UP

Elihu - The three friends Zophar,

They’re gone - - all that talking .... for nothing. And as the three amigos walk off the stage, the verdict that we all give is: What a waste of time! COMFORTERS?! Is that the legacy I’m going to leave?!

Now a brand new, younger man, takes the stage. He’s obviously been listening to everything that’s gone on.

Verse 2, “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger.” The texts goes on to tell us that ‘(he) … burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. (3) He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.”

They’re gone - - all that talking .... for nothing. And as the three amigos walk off the stage, the verdict that we all give is: What a waste of time! COMFORTERS?! Is that the legacy I’m going to leave?!

COMFORTERS?! Is that the legacy I’m going to leave?!

Verse 2, “Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger.” The texts goes on to tell us that ‘(he) … burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. (3) He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.”

A lot of anger here. He launches into his .............. and goes. And goes. And goes. Chapters 32-37 are all Elihu.

So, what do we make of Elihu’s words? Throughout history - commentators have been divided on Elihu.

Throughout history - commentators have been divided on Elihu.

Some - windbag .... same old, same old. He carries on along the same tracks that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zohar … brings nothing new to the story … a whole lot of bluster but nothing new to say: “Suffering is punishment. Period. You always reap what you sow - no more, no less ... Blah, blah, blah”.

Others - Elihu is saying something brand new. Calvin sees in Elihu the answer to Job’s suffering. Does Elihu ride in on his white horse and save the day ....?

Still others - Elihu begins well but he ends badly.

Suggest - Elihu is not the friend I would ask to come and sit at my side, if I was at the end of my world. First of all, he speaks for 6 STRAIGHT CHAPTERS -

Not only that, but look at , “Do you know the balancing of the clouds,, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?” Elihu is pointing Job to God, the One being with perfect knowledge - the One who knows how to balance the clouds - to run a universe. Now, look at:

, “For truly my words are not false; ONE WHO IS PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE IS WITH YOU.” Elihu is talking about himself here. “PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE?!” Really, Elihu?! Really?!! One commentator says that the “Language of Elihu convicts HIM of being a bloated fool.” Can’t argue with that.

But do we then just write off what this young man says? These are 6 chapters: 32-37 … they make up four speeches from the lips of Elihu. Would God put 6 chapters of Holy Scripture, right before the CLIMAX of the book - 6 whole chapters - with NOTHING important to say?

Does he have anything important to say?

Job doesn’t respond to Elihu - Argues with all three of his other friends, but to Elihu - he says nothing in response. Is that because there is

God says nothing about Elihu ...don’t want to make too much from the argument from silence … but it does catch my attention.

Well, he says that he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with Job’s friends - he says he has something new to say. So, let’s listen to him.

If there’s a key verse to Elihu’s contribution to this discussion, may be 34:12: “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”

Job doesn’t respond to Elihu - Argues with all three of his other friends, but to Elihu - he says nothing in response. Is that because there is

God says nothing about Elihu ...don’t want to make too much from the argument from silence … but it does catch my attention.

If there’s a key verse to Elihu’s contribution to this discussion, may be 34:12: “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”

Whatever the answer to the question of Job’s suffering .... it cannot come at the expense of the sovereignty of God, the justice of God, of the integrity of God, of the righteousness of God. God WILL NOT bend the universe or Himself out of shape - just for Job’s sake.

.... cannot come at the expense of the sovereignty of God, the justice of God, of the integrity of God, of the righteousness of God. God WILL NOT bend the universe or Himself out of shape - just for Job’s sake.

“God cannot do wickedly”

What does that mean? There is the character of God … but there’s also the love of God here. Essential to the character of God is His love. God WOULD NOT BE GOD - without His love. Not the true God of the Bible. Yes, the gods of the Eastern religions and ancient world … the ‘Allah’ of Islam - they can all function without love.

Islamic theology says that God is SOVEREIGN - He is all powerful … but he’s not necessarily loving. Inshalla - “If God wills” .... Allah is in control of everything … but He’s not necessarily good.”

Inshalla - “If God wills” .... Allah is in control of everything … but He’s not necessarily good.”

But the God of Christianity is different. He will not do wickedly. God cannot sin. Everything that he does comes out of the character of Who He is. That means that everything God does - is just.

So, what does Elihu’s argument bring to the table, when it comes to understanding the problem of suffering, the problem of pain.

TWO THINGS: both fit under this THEME:

SUFFERING CAN BE INSTRUCTION, EDUCATION. Part of the reason God allows suffering into our lives - whether you are Job, 2000 years BEFORE Christ, or whether it is you … here, in this building this morning … one of the reasons God allows you to suffer, that He allows pain- is to TEACH you something.

Remember - we’ve already been given God’s assessment on Job BEFORE the suffering hit and his world fell apart. Job was upright and blameless, he feared God and turned away from evil. That’s not Job’s verdict on himself; it’s not my verdict - - that’s God’s word on the man. He was a model believer.

So Job’s three friends were wrong. They went on and on and on.... Job’s reaping what he’s sown in his life ...

.... but they were wrong. God says so.

But just because Job is a righteous man, who is a fantastic example to all of us .... he is still a man. He is still a sinner. He isn’t perfect. And some of Job’s imperfection has come out in the way he has dealt with his pain.

Who of us can blame him at all for anything he’s done. Imagine being in this man’s place … lost everything. EVERYTHING .... not a word of explanation from God … and you have the nattering of your three so-called friends who are rubbing your nose in your suffering and incessantly telling you that ‘This is YOUR fault - sinner!’

I shudder to think of how I would respond, if I were Job.

But over the course of this suffering, Job has started to say some things that, at the beginning of the book, he wouldn’t even have thought to say.

First response - remember it from the end of chapter 1? “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of the LORD.”

TO his wife - another far less than helpful companion. In chapter 2, she comes along and sees him in the grip of massive suffering. She tells him just ‘curse God and die’. His response: “You speak as one of the foolish women … Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

That’s faith. There’s no improving on those responses.

But as Job sits, in the garbage dump, in excruciating pain … smouldering trash around him, smoke of burning refuse rising around him …not only NOT being comforted by his frends - but having to defend himself to them for even being in this place ...

as time has gone on, Job has been worn down.

And Job has shown himself saying things, thinking things that at the beginning of the book would not even have been thinkable. He has started to demand his rights - - show an expectation that God should be answering his every question.

EXAMPLES IN TEXT:

“Can’t you see I’m suffering? I have a case against You, God - -

Job is sinless in the sense that he is suffering innocently - it’s true.

… But in the course of the suffering - he has shown flashes of a character that isn’t flattering to him.

Chapter 36:1-23.

Chapter 32 is a long-winded introduction to Elihu’s speech - taking shots at the three friends and at Job himself.

36:15-16: “He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity. (16) He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no cramping, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.”

So, what’s Elihu’s point? Well, he sure takes long enough to make his point … so very long-winded. He loves the sound of his own voice and is full of himself. Young, brash, aggressive.

But put his own character aside - what’s Elihu’s point? What does he bring to the table.

PAIN - SUFFERING CAN BE GOD’S VOICE

Suffering can open your ears to God. It can teach you things about yourself and who you really are - what you’re capable of.

There may be no connection between sin and the cause of the suffering.

Notice that Elihu doesn’t criticize Job for the things he did before his world fell apart. I’m not sure that Elihu believes Job was innocent before the storm hit, but Job’s 3 friends kept trying to drag the suffering man back into his past and tried to prove that he MUST have done something evil. There must be SOME great sin back in the past to bring about suffering like this. Because all suffering is punishment and God doesn’t unfairly punish good people. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have all, with one voice been trying to rub Job’s nose in the refuse of his past.

Elihu doesn’t do that. Where is his criticism? He is pointing to how Job has responded to his suffering. His problem is with Job’s charge against God in his heartache.

…

Sin can show up in the course of your suffering, even if it wasn’t the CAUSE of your suffering.

We know that - don’t we?

I know how I respond … unjust anger, accusations, question God’s goodness, accuse God of denying me MY RIGHTS - - Oh, but what right do I have? … this piece of clay, created and shaped to please him - - What rights do I have? Brought from death to life by the finished work of my suffering Savior who calls me to take up MY CROSS and FOLLOW HIM … what rights do I have?

If anyone wants to be MY DISCIPLE, let him DENY HIMSELF and TAKE UP HIS CROSS - not cross in the sense of a piece of golden jewelry that dangles around your neck - cross in the sense of an execution device … let him take up his cross and follow me.

That’s what Elihu is hinting at here. Trials teach you - take you through an education that you never would otherwise get. ‘Consider Him ...

- - -

Are you suffering, Christian? Does life hurt? What God’s Word is saying here is a promise to you - - - You are NOT being played like a pawn in a divine chess match between God and Satan. You are not just a tool to God to use and throw aside … God is treating you like a son or a daughter - - You are his child and He loves you enough to shape you. Oh it’s painful. Does it hurt? Absolutely - and there’s no point in pretending it doesn’t. Don’t bother with the plastic smile when you are dying inside … He loves you.

That’s a point that comes out of Elihu’s words.

This is the sovereignty of God that’s being described.

Elihu is saying, “Job, you are defending yourself - justifying yourself (and isn’t that exactly what we tend to do when hit by suffering? Part of our human nature. All of us tend to do that). And maybe thats what this trial is all about - to teach you afresh that God is sovereign and you are not.”

Isn’t that what suffering of trials does? Breaks us down. Bring face to face with our utter helplessness - no rights, no privileges … nothing more than dust in the hands of a sovereign, omnipotent God.

- Elihu goes on in chapter 37 to talk about thunderstorms and snow - The Almighty - we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. (24) Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

And Elihu’s speech is finally done. This is a young guy who talks too much, is too sure of himself and frankly - the guy is obnoxious. But God has spoken through the mouth of a donkey … He can speak through obnoxious, know-it-alls too. And I think that the truth coming through the mouth of Elihu here is -

God is sovereign and the trials He sends our way are for our instruction.

Not the most profound lesson in the book -

- “Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’”

: “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’s words?’ For God speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it.”

Job has accused God of refusing to speak to him - “He will answer none of MY WORDS?” That’s what Job has been saying.

Elihu says, “That’s not right. That’s not fair to God” Verse 14, “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. (15) In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their bed, (16), then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, (17) that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man ....”

Remember Job’s context - remember when he lives - before

God spoke through .........................................................

God speaks in a second way: v. 19, “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food ...

Remember what CS Lewis said in his grief. He was suffering the loss of his wife - Joy. His beautiful wife - American woman that he had married later in life and who came to be his completion - his best friend … his life. He loved her so much. She had brought joy and contentment and fulfillment into his life in so many ways.” Then, she developed cancer and died. Just like that. And he grieved and grieved publicly.

“Pain is God’s megaphone” God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world....

- - Pain is God’s megaphone - - God’s loudspeaker. It is his way of speaking to us through the noise of life in this busy, harried world.

God shows Himself in nature … He smiles on us in our godly pleasures … we can feel the blessing of God in the good times .... but that’s not the only, not the loudest way that He speaks.

God shows Himself in nature … He

JI PACKER - biography by Leland Ryken.

Professor at Regent. One of the two great reasons I chose to do my seminary studies right here in Vancouver, rather than travel somewhere into the states: J.I. Packer was teaching here. One of the greatest theologians in the world today. Books had changed my life.

Anyway, I remember the first time I sat in his office - small little office on the second floor … almost knee to knee. Trying to keep my voice from shaking with nerves … trying to not sweat or sound like a complete moron.

But also - trying not to stare at the dent in his head. Packer has a dent in his head, he has had it since he was a child.

It’s one of those things, you tell yourself, “Don’t stare”. But then you sit across from him - and your eyes just get drawn there. Hard to take your eyes off of it.

When he was 9 years old, he was bullied in school. The bully chased him out of the schoolyard, he ran into the street and was hit by a truck driving by. Truck knocked him to the ground and damaged his skull. They rushed the boy to the hospital, immediately taken to the operating room and did surgery.

For several years after that, he would wear a metal plate on the outside of his head and tie it with a cord to keep it in place. This is a preteen boy who’s already had a bullying problem - - Do you think the metal plate tied to his head helped in that department much?!

It shaped his life. It was GOd’s megaphone.

He tells how, when he was 11 years old, he wanted a bicycle. He was a boy - of course he wanted a bike. Every boy wants a bike - how much more when you’ve lost a couple of your years to recovery from serious physical suffering and you’re trying to be like ‘one of the ‘normal’ boys’. It was his 11th birthday, he woke up, ran down the stairs to see his new bike

… except there was no bike there. What his parents bought him instead? .... was a typewriter. An old fashioned typewriter, with ribbon and keys. Some of you are so young, you’ve never even seen one in real life.

Can you imagine the letdown for this boy who had been through so much suffering and just wanted a bike?!!

Do you know that Packer still types all of the manuscripts to his books on that same old-fashioned typewriter? Everything he writes - class notes, books … everything. He doesn’t use a computer

God put him through an experience of pain. It was physical pain, but it was also emotional pain … social pain ....

Packer removed himself from all of his peers because of this metal plate on the side of his head. Imagine, the pain!

Oh, but it made him into the person he is today. It drove him into books and studies. God knew what he was doing.

The suffering was real - there’s no making light of what it meant for a boy to go through his pre-teen and teenage years like that - such formative years to suffer that kind of pain

… but GOD DID NOT FORGET J.I. PACKER. He didn’t abandon him. The suffering was God’s megaphone to wake this boy to God’s call on his life.

“Not in sports and games … but in studying and teaching My People!” That was God’s message to Packer.

That’s what Elihu is saying. In 33:16, “… then he opens the ear of men and terrifies them with warnings.”

36:15 - “He delivers the afflicted BY their affliction and OPENS THEIR EAR BY ADVERSITY”.

GOD IS SPEAKING THROUGH PAIN.

The question is: Are you listening?

I know that the lives of many of you hear this morning are anything but easy. So many of us, in this church family, are walking through suffering.

… The sicknesses are never ending … the healing that we are praying for, hasn’t come … at least not yet; every time you turn around, there is another financial crisis in your life - no idea how to go on paying the bills … your family is falling apart around you .... so many different stories, but the same problem: “OH LORD, THIS LIFE IS PAIN!”

And you are tempted to cry out - WE are tempted to cry out, “God, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

What God is saying to us, through the words of Eliphaz, is this: “I’m here, my child. Not only am I aware of what you’re going through; not only have I NOT forgotten you … but I am using this very pain to shape you, to lead you

THis is a crucial moment in your life. This is a turning point - - You can do one of two things in your suffering.

1 - You can put your fingers in your ears and shout your anger at God. Be overcome with the pain that will not relent … and give yourself into the grip of bitterness and blame. I’ve known people and so have you - they’ve gone through a storm - great suffering …

… and it broke them. Time has past - 10 years, 20 - 40 years … and they are dry husks of what they once were, because the bitterness has sucked the life out of them. Angry at God, angry at people … there is no delight in them. No hope. The suffering came - and they shut their ears to God’s megaphone.

You can go that route.

OR, you can choose another route:

2 - When the suffering hits and your world is falling apart - you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel - you can choose to say, “Lord, I don’t understand. I don’t know ‘why’ the pathway had to go through this valley - - I wouldn’t have chosen it for myself, wouldn’t wish it on anyone else … Lord this HURTS. But I trust in You - and I know that You are leading me along THIS road because it is Exactly what you know to be the best pathway to the best future for me. And I know you love me. This is no accident -

… and I’m listening. What do I need to learn here? What are You trying to teach me? I’m listening.”

I am not making light of your pain

… but EITHER GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU IN YOUR PAIN … or He is

, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”

Maybe you haven’t been brought to that point yet - -

“This is not a good thing - this is terrible and I wish I could run a million miles from this pain.”

But if you listen to the Holy Spirit - if you keep your ears open to God’s megaphone … and learn to relax your grip on the things that were good in themselves … but now are gone … you will be able to hear God say - “That’s not what you needed … I’m giving you precisely what you need - for ULTIMATE, ETERNAL JOY.”

I have the BEST THINGS - and they are for you.

George Whitefield, “God puts burrs in our bed to keep us from sleeping.”

Pain can do that

John Newton’s poem: “I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace ...”