Many hundreds of years before Moses even lived, before God provided the first five books of the Bible through Moses, the events of Job both occurred and were documented. For many hundreds of years BEFORE the existence of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy there existed and was handed down the book of Job. Through the lifetimes of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Job was handed down and taught—among many other things—the need for a divine mediator that could transform earthly sacrifices into spiritual results.
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God provides a contrast between man and “Behemoth”, which could be any type of a large number of huge creatures like a hippo. Unlike man who is quite easy to capture and enslave (the meaning of “pierce his nose”), Behemoth is quite difficult if not near impossible. Whereas man’s physical surroundings can—and often do—overcome him, the land dwelling by water-living Behemoth “is not alarmed…he is confident” of handling even the most extreme changes in his enviroment. What both have in common is being creations of God. One deals with circumstances better than the other because one lives in harmony with the nature and purpose for which God created it; the other struggles against these very things.
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Every generation thinks it has the corrected, right information that the previous generation misapplied, only to find itself corrected by the next generation. Yes, at one time the absolute scientific proof was that the universe revolved around the earth. The world was flat. Milk was safe straight from the cow. Successive generations armed with “new and improved” absolute scientific proof upended these notions and replaced them with facts that were in turn upended and replaced further down the road. If you think that today’s “absolute scientific proof” is the be-all, end-all of the truth, just wait a couple of minutes; it will be amended shortly.
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When we get to Elihu’s response to Job, it’s important to keep in mind that he’s the only one whom God does NOT rebuke in the end. He simply states truth without making the leap that Job is hiding something like the others. This is betrayed by how Elihu phrases the issues by saying “IF you have sinned…IF your are righteous“. Elihu doesn’t judge one way or the other but provides the necessary information if either condition happens to be the case. But Elihu is one of the earliest teachers who establish that what matters in the end is how we behave and treat others.
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Some people believe because God does not immediately react to something that He therefore either doesn’t exist or doesn’t care. This view basically removes the possibility that God possesses the positive characteristics such as love, grace, and mercy and is strictly an authority figure of justice, wrath, and punishment. Their assumption is that a God of justice would not sit idle for a single second without meting out instant punishment for any wrong that comes to His attention. (It makes me wonder why they don’t equally assert that God would therefore instantly bless any good before His eyes.) The point is that the thing humans consistently tend to misinterpret is silence.
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When we get to the end of Job we will discover—according to God’s own words—that God is displeased with the words and behavior of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. :”(Job 42:7-9)”: However, because God says nothing about young Elihu, it’s clear that God approved of Elihu’s words and behavior. While it’s apparent that strong emotions are at work on everyone’s part, Elihu is the only one specifically identified as speaking out of anger. In fact, you can see the intensity of his emotions by the fact that three times it is described as “his anger burned”. Elihu—the only one to speak that was NOT condemned by God—was utterly and completely politically incorrect.
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This particular verse always sticks in my mind as it’s translated in the NIV: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.” This verse was a watershed point in my life that made me realize that EVERY answer to ANY question I might ever have is already answered in God’s Word.
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