The Young Wise Guy (Ironic Right?)

So it is time for another update on Job. He has had it rough recently and has been getting tons of advice (most of it not the best for his situation) and a new guy is entering the scene.

In Chapter 32 this young man named Elihu (these Old Testament people need to work on their names!) enters the scene. Apparently he has been sitting their listening to Job and his friends go back and forth the whole time, patiently waiting until he could talk and put in his two sense.

In verse 2 it says, "But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God." Alright, I'm gonna stop there because that is a loaded statement. I looked up what it means to justify. Justification is the act, process, or state of being declared right with God. Well that right there shows the problem. Job kept trying to justify himself when we can't do that. Only God has the power, grace and mercy to do that. It also made me think about how often I do this myself. How often do I say, "Well I haven't done anything wrong recently so there has to be some other reason", when instead I should be saying, "God is a just and mighty God and he doesn't do things without a reason." I should be justifying his character which has been proven over and over again to be good and true instead of my own (which is not proven good all the time).

Let us move to verse 3 where it says, "He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him." I looked up the word condemned because I feel like it is a churchy word that we throw around a lot but never really see what it means. Condemnation is to declare guilty or conviction of guilt. Who are these friends of Job's to think that they have the right or power to condemn someone. Romans 2:1 says, " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at what-ever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things." We are not the people who are to pass judgement. Who are Job's friends to think that they can understand why God does things. WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND THOSE REASONS!! It is just something we have to accept. Let the ultimate judge do the judging.

In verses 4-9 I have to give a lot of respect to Elihu for how he approaches the situation.

Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused. So Elihu the son of Bbarakel the Buzite said: "I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, 'Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.' But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.

Elihu starts off showing his respect to those who are older. He patiently waits his turn. He even says that he thought that because they were older, that they would have the wisdom that comes with age. But then he points out my favorite thing. It isn't age or experience that gives wisdom, although those things can give good insight. It is the Holy Spirit that gives wisdom. Only God can grant true insight into situations. I love that Elihu is a great representative of 1 Timothy 4:12 which says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

I think that this part is really challenging for many reasons. Elihu doesn't discount what he thinks or this wisdom that he could offer just because of his age. I think many times that since I am in college and only 20 years old that I must only be able to help those who are my age or younger. But you know what? I can still give what wisdom the Lord has graciously given to me to those who are older. If we limit ourselves to only getting wisdom from those who are older, we will eventually run out of people because we ourselves will be the "wise old people". At the same time, I feel convicted about how often I think that freshmen that I know can't give me advise on a situation because they are younger. How foolish of me to think that. We are called to be humble. If godly advise is coming your way that matches up with Scripture, then why pick and choose based on an age factor. The Holy Spirit comes into all believers and if we lose the attitude that we need to be taught and listen, then we will miss out on important things that God wants to teach us. In the same aspect, if we don't give advise because we are fearful, we might miss out on an opportunity to help a fellow brother or sister out. 

So I think that this post is long enough and since I only got through the awesomeness that is chapter 32, I'll have to write another post about the actual advise Elihu gave. Be excited because it is awesome. It definitely rocked my quiet time :)