Everybody, welcome back to another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. Look at that. We are back to normal. Everything is the way it should be. The sun is shining. The snow is melting. This is the way the podcast was supposed to work. Everybody wants to know why you weren't showing up. Well, because you were doing a great job. In fact, I noticed the time of the podcast was very brief. And it was like, I think yesterday's was 11 minutes from start to finish. That's, that's record breaking. I kept the googly at a minimum. And part of it is because there's no one to work off of and it's really hard to play off of yourself. I don't think I was designed to do radio by myself. After this experience, I think I'm happy. It's good when it's short. But if you start going too long by yourself, I just feel like you're rambling. So I noticed, because of the weather situation here, we're still on Zoom. Uh, to record this podcast and normally pass around, you throw a timer up there that counts up. Uh, and I, I don't, don't think I missed the fact that you put a timer up there. That's counting down. I thought I'd try something new. See what happens. See if I get the process here a little bit. Okay. So there's, that's, that's our limit right there. It's, it's the count. We'll see. All right. And you know, honestly, honestly, you, you missed so much of job that I expect you to cover so much of the territory that we've covered before. Because you haven't had a chance to say it yet So I would not be surprised if you got really excited about the things that we're talking about and just started going on You know I didn't I didn't take that approach. I was doing my my Bible reading I was gone on vacation by the way in case you're like, where was he? I was on vacation I think you've covered that on the podcast but glad to be back. It was good to get away It was probably the best break that I've had Just as far as disengaging and resting and spending time with family We spent some time in california And then when I got back, I didn't jump straight back to the office Which I think was the best decision that i've made in recent memory because it gave me a little bit extra time just to be at home and and uh Just, just getting ready to jump back in. So all that to say, thank you guys for, uh, for bearing with me while I was gone. And thanks Pastor Rod for holding down not only the podcast, but also preaching this last weekend. Uh, so that was, uh, that was encouraging to know that, that the ship was in good hands. Um, but yeah, as I've been reading through Job, I, I've been really just kind of looking for concise, short summaries of the chapters as I've been going through. And so that's been kind of where I'm at. So I'm not coming in. I don't have my guns. Yeah. Fully loaded and ready to just blow away everybody with all my insights to this, which is a relief to everybody. We will see, because what I know about preachers is that all you have to do is scratch just below the surface. And the dam is unleashed. So we'll see about that. Well, don't scratch them. I'm not trying to the bible's gonna do it for me All right. Well, let's jump in jope 32 33 and 34 Uh, we have somebody new that ellie who has entered the chat and ellie who is the burning man He is, uh, you'll notice there in verse two, verse three, verse five, burning with anger, which is interesting. I mean, he's been sitting back listening to everybody and it's been just causing him to become angry. And I think what we see as his, uh, words unfold in this section is that Elihu is a man who's not really interested in reaching back to the past. He wants to deal with what he's heard. And what he's heard is he's heard a lot of people justifying themselves, um, and a lot of speculation from Job's friends, but he hasn't heard a lot of, uh, defense and justification of God. So, um, I think Elihu is, is commendable among those that speak to Job because Elihu's passion and desire seems to be that he wants to vindicate God and hold God high. And one of our distinctives that comes to Bible Church is that we have a high view of God. And I think we see that in Elihu and in Elihu's words to Job and to these, these friends. Some believe that this is, is a later edition, that they actually look at Elihu as some of the first commentary on the book of Job. I I don't particularly hold that position. I think this is original to the text. I think it's right to hold it as, as part of the original text. Um, but Elihu is the last voice to speak before God shows up and addresses Job and Elihu has a lot to say that really sets the table for God, because uh, God is going to, as we're going to see in tomorrow's episode and the next couple, God is going to really take Job and say, Hey, Job, um, don't forget who you're talking to this whole time. And that's kind of Elihu's focus here. So, uh, Elihu is, is angry, and uh, it's interesting, um, we don't often, In our anger, want to respond in a form of text, uh, email, text messages. That's not a good way for us to respond when we're dealing with conflict because you can't read tone. Uh, the, the author here tells us Ellie, who was angry. And so it'd be interesting to have been a fly on the wall to hear how. Uh, he approaches because even though he's angry, he still was aware of his, his age. In fact, that's one of the reasons why he gives for not speaking up earlier in Job 32, uh, six through nine. He says, look, I, I'm the young one here. So I didn't speak up. So there's a measure of, of respect. Uh, Pastor Rod, you were talking about the honor shame culture. I think Elihu recognized that and understood that and, and knew his place in that. So it would have been interesting to hear how his anger was expressed, but his anger is really, uh, it seems to be a righteous indignation because he's jealous for God's character in this. Pastor Rod, your thoughts on, on kind of the character of Elihu. Yeah, I'm with you on the fact that I think this is original, but I do have questions about why he's not mentioned in the beginning, why he's not mentioned in the end. There's no rebuttal from Job. There's no response from God. It is interesting. But I do think he's original, and I do think because of his age, he probably has to stay quiet. It's the appropriate thing to do. And, another factor to consider is that Elihu's name suggests that he has some connection to Abraham. His name itself means something like, he is my God, Elihu. Um, Eli, Eli, Elihu is another way to talk about his affiliation with God. And he, he might be a descendant of Abraham through his nephew, Booz. Uh, or buzz, depending on how you pronounce that. So there's lots of interesting information here about Elihu, and we're not quite sure where he comes from or why he just shows up in the middle of Job, and then has no reference to him either before or after. But one thing that's interesting that I appreciate at the very beginning of his speech is that he acknowledges something that I think a lot of people forget, verse 8 here, but it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It's not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. It's Therefore, I say, listen to me. Let me also declare my opinion. He's making the case that age is not necessarily an indicator of wisdom. I think that's really helpful and powerful. Scripture makes one wise. God makes one wise. It's not necessarily one's age. Chapter 33, he, uh, he's pretty bold here. He basically prepares Job to hear words from God in these first seven verses. Um, he, uh, verses three through five, uh, addresses Job and says, my words declare the uprightness of my heart. My lips know what they speak sincerely. The spirit of God has made me in the breath of the almighty gives me life. Answer me if you can't set your words in order. And so really he's saying, uh, you know, Job, I'm, I'm speaking, uh, from God. a place of authority. I'm speaking of a place from a place of integrity. Um, and so listen to me because when I'm speaking, I'm speaking on behalf of, of The character of God, as he continues here, uh, in verses eight through 11, he, he summarizes Job's defense here. Um, it doesn't refute Job's innocence or accuse him of, of closeted wrongdoing or, or saying, Job, yeah, you've got something that God has done. Instead, what he's doing is he's again, appealing to God. Presenting an apologetic for God, a positive view of the benefits of, of suffering even. And, uh, he responds to, to, to Job's defense as he's summarized Job's defense in the rest of chapter 33, um, talking about just how God deals with people in different ways. He says initially there verses 12 through 14. God is not silent. He speaks to people in dreams. He speaks to people versus 19 through 22 in suffering. Uh, he speaks to people in 23 through 30. There's there's exceptions. Sometimes there's an angelic intervention. Uh speaks to people even in acts of repentance on their their part there and and basically he calls job and says, okay What do you have to say to these things job is are you going to? Speak up if not, then continue to hold your tongue and i'm going to keep going here But job is is or Elihu rather is talking about how God deals with us and how God deals with us and communicates to us. Uh, and, and it's in a lot of ways, the same way, uh, today, God is not silent. Now, the primary way that he's going to talk to us today is through what this podcast is all about, the Bible. That's the main way that God is going to deal with us and speak to us. But he still will bring discipline in our life. He still will bring affliction into our life. He still will communicate to us in those ways. Um, and there are some things that, that take place in other parts of the, the world that, that, uh, God, I think has, has done that. Don't fit our clean, neat categories of how God communicates. But, but God is not silent. I think that's what Elihu is saying here. Job, you've been wondering, where is God? God, why don't you speak? And Elihu, I think he's trying to say, Hey, God has been speaking this whole time. Yeah, he is there and he is not silent as Francis Schaefer wrote. I mean, I really appreciate this. And as I was reading through it, I felt like. I felt empathy, number one, because I thought, well, these men, this is all they had to work with. They had to trust God's dreams and His visions, and they had to trust, uh, different ways that God would speak through general revelation and some special revelation. Because when this was taking place, they didn't have a Bible. And I'm thankful that now, God has spoken in a variety of ways, but in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. This is the Word of God made flesh, and then we also have the Word of God on paper. What an amazing thing to have. And I'm, I'm, man, I'm glad they had what they had. But I think, like Peter, I would prefer the more sure word that we have in Scripture. The visions and the dreams, awesome. I'm sure that was an experience to behold. But I, I love the fact that I have Scripture in my hand, and I don't have to wait for God to talk to me through the clouds, or through a, a June bug flying through the sky. I'd rather have His Word. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, today in church, we're talking about being a Christ exalting church and what that looks like. And, and, um, a lot of it's going to be talking about Christ's first place in our life and, uh, and making sure that our life is, is geared towards that. And, and I think when that's the case, the more subtle ways that God does communicate to us are more readily noticed by us. We're attentive. We're in tune with those things. Um, and. The more we are in the Word of God, the more that we are praying, the more that we are doing these things, the more that we're going to see different things happen in our lives as, for example, in the answer to prayer, we're going to be not just thinking, Oh, well, I get what a coincidence this happened. We're going to say, Oh, no, God is responding to the prayer that I prayed. And so we're going to see more of God's hand and be more sensitive to what God is trying to communicate to us, even outside the pages of scripture, though. I'm with you, Pastor, having the Bible and having that authority to be able to say, this is God's Word. And there are limits to. God's word as far as it being inerrant and authoritative, and that is Genesis to Revelation. That's a blessing that we get to enjoy today for sure. Does God still speak with impressions and you know, that sense of I need to go left versus right. I heard a story recently and by recent, probably the last 10 years or so, I forget when exactly I heard it, but there was a little girl that was missing and there was this Christian guy who joined the hunt. And he just felt like the spirit was leading him this way, that way, the other way, and lo and behold, he finds the girl. Does God do that? Um, if so, when would he do that? If not, what do we do with, with stuff like this in the scriptures? Yeah. I think an important word for us with all of this is the word normative, um, or expected. Uh, can God do that? Yeah, sure. Yeah, he can do that. The situations I was referring to just a moment ago in the Middle East, where you hear stories of Muslims in closed countries having visions of a man dressed in white, and they're saying, hey, I learned that that was Jesus, and I got saved as a result of this. I mean, my, my, my current theological compartments don't, I struggle with that, to, to fit that. And yet, um, I, I believe that God is big enough to do things that are beyond what I'm comfortable with. But the question needs to be, what is normative? What should we expect to, to happen? When you come up to a stoplight, uh, what's normative is that if you don't know where you're going, God has given you a phone with a GPS on it that is going to tell you, Hey, turn left here, or pull a U turn and go backwards. You shouldn't pull up to this stoplight and go, okay, God, which way should I go? Uh, that that's not what's normative or expected, but can God operate outside the bounds of what's normative normative and expected? Sure. He can he's absolutely able to do that. And I think he does do that. Um, but we, I think walking by faith is, is trusting in the things that he's given us and trusting in the normative Principles that the in in as far as worship and Sunday mornings go, we call it the regulative principle, which is we're going to do what the Bible calls us to do that applies to life too. I think that's what we should be focused on and understand. At the same time, we hold things open handedly and say, yeah, God can do things that are beyond what we can explain. Chapter 34, um, then as we, we conclude today's episode, uh, Elihu turns to Job and again, summarizes Job's arguments in verses 5 through 9 and kind of picks and chooses what, uh, what Job has said and what he wants to address. And yet, I think he's still more even handed towards Job than the other friends are. Verses 10 through 30, he, he defends God. He just says, look, verse 10, God does no wrong. Verse 11. He repays men according to their deeds. Verse 12, he never perverts justice. Verses 21 through 23, he needs no court to render a verdict. He is God essentially. And then he turns to job and, and brings the hammer, uh, though again, more, uh, even handedly than, than the other friends when he says in verses 31 through 32, Hey, job have, have you acknowledged yet the, the lesson that God might be trying to teach you through this? Um, and then. In verses 36 through 37, probably the, the, the strongest, uh, words, he says, were that Job were tried at the end because he answers like wicked men, uh, he had adds rebellion to his sin. And so, again, he's not dealing with Job's past. He's not like the other friends saying, Job, surely you've done something in the past. He's saying, look, what I've heard from you, Job, this is what I'm going to confront you on. And I think you're wrong. And I think that you, Jerry, Elihu has even said, you've been wicked in what you've done in your pushing back of what God might be trying to teach you right now. It seems like a pretty noble and worthy posture to defend God. And I think, I agree with Elihu in chapter 34. It was like, God needs to have somebody say in a helpful and balanced way that he's doing good. He's, he's accomplishing his purposes, but, or maybe, and how do we make sense of the fact that nothing is said about this? God does not affirm it, doesn't deny it. What do we, how do we know how to interpret Elihu's words? With, at very least, the end of the book of Job, you have God affirming Job was in the right, these three men were in the wrong. But what about Elihu? How do we know how to interpret his words? Yeah, and that's again, like you said, that's one of the reasons why some have questioned It's inclusion. This, uh, this section's inclusion in, in the canon, uh, I, I do think it's supposed to be there. All I can think is, like I referenced earlier, I think Elihu really sets the table for God. Um, I think, you know, sometimes you get an MC intro a speaker, uh, at a conference or a, or an event, and that MC kind of sets the stage for what that speaker is about to say. Um, And then the speaker comes in and drives it home. The speaker hits the ball out of the park after that. At least that's the idea. I think that's what's going on here. I think Elihu is, is zoomed in on defending God and God's character and really kind of reminding Job of his smallness in his finitude in light of God's infinitude and his majesty, his greatness. And then what we're about to see in the coming chapters is, is God's going to pick up the microphone. So to speak from Elihu and God doesn't need to say thank you to Elihu because he's not But, but God is going to say, okay, I've got it from here. And he's going to turn to job and continue this idea of job. Where were you when I've done all of these things, job, remember your place, remember who you are. So I think perhaps. Elihu's not condemned in the way the other three friends are, uh, by God, because Elihu, though not perfectly, does a better job at communicating ultimately what God communicates to Job in the end. Yeah, there are some repeated phrases that God seems to borrow from Elihu, although God's the originator of all things, so it's not like he's technically borrowing. Uh, so there are some repeated phrases that would give us a sense of maybe, maybe God affirms what Elihu is saying. Elihu is saying because he's using some of the same actual words. Um, but in all things, as you read all the guys, Zophar, Eliphaz, Bildad, Elihu, Job, even as you read all of these guys, really good to cross reference what they're saying with what scripture says so that you can say, yes, this is true or no, that's almost true, but not quite. Yeah, I agree a hundred percent. Yeah. I think one of our takeaways from, from Elihu in this section can be just his passion for God's, Um, you know, in our culture and our society, we, we see a lot of, uh, people treating God fluently. Again, I referenced, uh, as a church, one of our distinctives being that we have a high view of God. Elihu is a man with a high view of God. And I think that's something for us to take away and say, we want to be like him. In that we want to make sure that that we maintain that high view of God that we're jealous for him Jealous for his character his goodness his reputation in the world around us and so again, this is what we're talking about a little bit this morning at church being a christ exalting church and That involves more than sunday mornings In fact that the point of this morning's message is if we're going to be a christ exalting church We have to be christ exalting christians. And so that's part of though ellie who didn't know the name christ Um, but We need to be as passionate and zealous for Christ as Elihu is for the character of God. And if we do that, then I think God's going to do great things through our church, even this next year and beyond. Amen. Well, let me pray. And then we'll be done with this episode. Look at that, Pastor Rod. I even beat the timer. Almost. But we're not done yet. We're not done yet. We're not done yet. Let me pray. God, thanks for this, uh, this time. Thanks for being back in, uh, in this routine. Thanks for, again, Pastor Rod's faithfulness to, uh, the word and in carrying on. And again, we are grateful for the book of Job. We're thankful for a man like Elihu, who we can learn from and say, you know what, we want to have the same passion for your name, your character, your, uh, your, your, uh, reputation as Elihu had. So make us a church like that, a church, passionate, zealous for, uh, the reputation of, of the Lord and do great things through us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. All right, you guys keep reading your Bibles and tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. See ya.

Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of the daily Bible podcast. We hope and pray this has been a blessing to you and your time in the word. If it has, if you would subscribe to this podcast, leave a like, leave a comment and share it with some friends and family. That would be awesome. If you need more information about Compass Bible Church here in North Texas, you can go to compassntx. org. Again, that's compassntx. org. And we'll be back with you tomorrow for another episode of the daily Bible podcast.