Job 36:22-33 - Homiletics

Elihu to Job: 4. A sermon on the greatness of God.

I. ABSOLUTE IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY .

1 . Ruling by his own power. "Behold, God exalteth" ( se. himself), i.e. showeth himself to be exalted, "acteth loftily" (Delitzsch) "in his strength" (verse 22). The universal empire of God is based on his omnipotence. With him might and right are co-ordinate and coextensive. "He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves" ( Psalms 66:7 ).

2 . Holding dominion from no superior. "Who hath enjoined him his way?" (verse 23). Princes and potentates of earth derive their authority from him ( Proverbs 8:16 ); the ever-blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, derives his from none. "Dominion and fear are with him" ( Job 25:2 ). Yea, saith Jehovah, "I am the Lord, and there is none else" ( Isaiah 45:18 ).

3 . Admitting of no inspection. "Who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?" (verse 23). As the Almighty brooks no superior or rival on his throne, so admits he of no opposition to his work. "Whatsoever his soul desireth, that he doeth" ( Job 23:13 ). As none can interpose to say, "What doest thou?" ( Daniel 4:35 ), so none can claim a right to subject his work to critical inspection. To pass judgment on it is for a creature to be guilty of the highest arrogance. Substantially this was the sin of Job.

II. INCOMPARABLE IN HIS TEACHING . "Who teacheth like him?" (verse 22). In the judgment of Elihu, one of the principal ends contemplated by God's providential government of the world was the education of men ( Job 33:14 ; Job 35:11 ; Job 36:9 ). Hence by Elihu God is styled an Instructor or Teacher—Moreh , translated by the LXX . "Lord." So God represented himself to Moses ( Exodus 4:15 ), to Israel ( Exodus 20:1 ), to David ( Psalms 32:8 ). So is God to his people generally ( Isaiah 54:13 ; Jeremiah 31:33 , Jeremiah 31:34 ; Micah 4:2 ; John 6:45 ). As a Teacher of men, God surpasses all other instructors, possessing qualifications never found, unitedly or severally, to perfectly exist except in himself.

1 . Ability. Many undertake to instruct others who are wholly destitute of the capacity to understand either their subjects, their pupils, or themselves. But no such deficiency can be with God, who, besides knowing himself, comprehends all things and accurately gauges all men. This qualification was possessed in an eminent degree by Christ.

2 . Authority. The Divine authority to teach and the authoritative character of' the Divine teaching are based upon God's Lordship over man, and God's perfect knowledge of that which he teaches. So Christ, for exactly the same reasons, spake with authority, and not as the scribes ( Matthew 7:29 ).

3 . Variety. Like every intelligent instructor, God employs different methods in teaching—his works ( Job 35:11 ), his Word ( Psalms 94:10 ), his providential dispensations ( Job 33:16 ), his Spirit ( Nehemiah 9:20 ; Proverbs 1:23 ). So did Christ instruct his followers, by his works ( Matthew 6:26-31 ), by his Word ( Luke 24:27 ), by his providences ( Luke 13:1-5 ), by his Spirit ( Luke 12:12 ; John 14:26 ).

4 . Suitability. God's teaching is always adapted to the occasion ( Psalms 32:8 ; Isaiah 48:17 ); and to the capacities of his scholars ( Isaiah 28:9 , Isaiah 28:10 ); and so likewise was Christ's. The Holy Spirit also proceeds in the same gradual fashion in the work of illuminating darkened minds.

5 . Simplicity. Aiming at the good of those who hear, God always teaches in the plainest and directest manner possible, speaking so clearly, distinctly, and intelligibly, that he requires, as with Adam ( Genesis 3:9 ) and with Noah ( Genesis 6:13 ), with Abimelceh ( Genesis 20:3 ) and with Laban ( Genesis 31:24 ), to speak only once; with such earnestness and eagerness that he often speaks twice, as he did with Abraham ( Genesis 22:11 ), and as Christ did with Saul ( Acts 9:4 ); yea, with a patience and gentleness so admirable that he even condescends to speak thrice, as he did with Samuel ( 1 Samuel 3:10 ).

6 . Desirability. The teaching God gives is on subjects which it most behoves man to know, in particular on that which maketh wise unto salvation—the Being, character, and purpose of God; the original dignity, present condition, and future destiny of man; the nature, guilt, and penalty of sin; the Person, offices, and work of Christ; the source, means, and end of salvation; the law of life and the rule of duty; the way to die and the path to glory everlasting.

7 . Efficiency. Desirable and complete as such a programme of instruction is, no one can learn it by his own unaided powers ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ). But God can guide his people into the understanding of it in all its fulness ( Psalms 25:9 ).

III. IMMACULATE IN HIS HOLINESS . "Who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?" (verse 23).

1 . Holiness inseparble from the idea of God . A Being who can be charged with iniquity cannot possibly be Divine. Hence God can, in no sense or degree, be the author of sin.

2 . Men prone to connect sin with God . The heathen do so when they worship deities like themselves—"gods fierce, rapacious, cruel, and unjust." Philosophers do so when they hold God responsible for everything that exists. Even good people do so when they charge God with inequality or injustice in his ways.

3 . God's holiness largely insisted on in scripture. The inveterate tendency of the fallen heart to forget the Divine purity demands that this be frequently held up for contemplation ( Exodus 15:11 ; Deuteronomy 32:4 ; 1 Samuel 2:2 ; Job 4:17 ; Job 34:10 ; Psalms 92:15 ; Psalms 111:9 ; Isaiah 57:15 ; Revelation 4:8 ).

IV. UNSEARCHABLE IN HIS BEING . "Behold, God is great, and we know him not" (verse 26).

1 . We know him not directly. "No man hath seen God at any time," said Christ ( John 1:18 ); with which agrees God's word to Moses ( Exodus 33:20 ), and John's word to Christians ( 1 John 4:12 ). God reveals himself to man in creation ( Psalms 19:1 ; Romans 1:20 ), in providence ( Job 9:11 , sqq. ), in Christ ( John 14:9 ; 2 Corinthians 4:6 ; Colossians 1:15 ), through the Spirit ( Matthew 11:27 ).

2 . We know him not completely. It is certain that the infinite God will never be entirely comprehended by a finite creature. But of even such a measure and degree of knowledge as is possible to man, it is likewise true that we have not reached the full measure. "Now we know in part" ( 1 Corinthians 13:12 ). Hereafter all that can be known of God by finite creatures will be realized.

3 . We know him not clearly. Even what we do apprehend of the Divine Being is involved in much obscurity. "Now we see through a glass darkly" ( 1 Corinthians 13:12 ). Hereafter his servants shall behold his face with open vision ( Revelation 22:4 ). Yet for all that, notwithstanding these limitations:

4 . We know him not imaginarily , but really. That is, our knowledge of the Divine Being, though neither direct, nor adequate, nor perfectly clear, is real, accurate, and reliable so far as it goes.

V. ETERNAL IN HIS EXISTENCE . "Neither can the number of his years be searched out" (verse 26). The language which ascribes years to God is, of course, anthropomorphic ( Psalms 102:24 ). Both Elihu and the Hebrew bard intend to represent God as "without beginning of days or end of years," as existing "from everlasting to everlasting," as exalted high above all the permutations and vicissitudes of created, life, and therefore as removed completely beyond the sphere of man's judgment or criticism.

VI. WONDERFUL IN HIS WORKING . To this thought Elihu recurs in detail in the ensuing chapter (vide homiletics). In the mean time he alludes to certain natural phenomena as indicative of God's excellent power in working.

1 . Rain. "For he maketh small [literally, 'he draweth up,' sc. by evaporation] the small drops of water," after which "they pour down rain [or, 'as rain'], according to the vapour thereof," or "for this mist" (Cook), or "in connection with its mist" (Delitzsch). It is not the understanding of how rain is formed that constitutes either the wonder or the difficulty of the phenomenon; it is the making of rain, the institution and maintenance of those material laws and forces which produce rain. It is here that Divine power is required and seen.

2 . Clouds. "Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly" (verse 28). Not the least interesting among those objects which attract the student of nature are the clouds of heaven, which receive the evaporated moisture of earth, and retain it floating in the atmosphere until it is again required by the parched soil. Objects of beauty in themselves, they strikingly attest the almighty power, matchless wisdom, and essential goodness of God.

3 . Thunder. "Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?" (verse 29). The appearance of the sky in a thunderstorm is what the poet aims at depicting, when the dark clouds spread across the firmament, and the first thunder-crash falls upon the ear (vide homiletics on next chapter).

4 . Lightning. "Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it," or over himself ( Habakkuk 3:4 ), "and covereth the bottom [literally, 'the roots '] of the sea" (verse 30); i.e. he lights up the whole heaven, and even illuminates the hidden depths of the ocean by the glare of his lightning.

VII. BENEFICENT IN HIS ADMINISTRATION . "The two ideas of power and goodness are associated closely in Elihu's mind; whereas the three friends dwell more upon the combination of power and justice, and Job upon that of power and wisdom. Goodness, righteousness, wisdom, are one in God; various aspects under which the essential principle of love is manifested" (Canon Cook). The beneficence of the Divine administration in nature is represented in a twofold form.

1 . Negatively , as judgment upon the nations. "For by them judgeth he the people" (verse 31). Seemingly severe in themselves, God's judgments upon the wicked men and nations are to righteous men and nations acts of grace and kindness. It is for the benefit of the world that sin should be chastised. Love no less than justice demands that the wicked should be overthrown.

2 . Positively , as kindness to his people . "He giveth meat in abundance." In this aspect Elihu thinks of the rain, the clouds, the thunder, the lightning. The beneficent uses of these and other ordinary phenomena of nature are patent to the slightest reflection. The rain is the great fertilizer of the soil; the cloud, besides serving as a screen to moderate the warmth of the sun, operates to prevent the too speedy radiation of the earth's heat, while it also acts as the great rain-collector and distributor for the parched ground; the thunderstorm is the most effective of all atmospheric purifiers and rectifiers.

VIII. GLORIOUS IN HIS MANIFESTATIONS . Taking advantage, as usual, of the extreme obscurity of the last two verses (vide Exposition), and availing ourselves of the more probable of the offered interpretations, we find Elihu suggesting concerning the Divine manifestations that they are:

1. Announced by the elements. Elihu alludes, it is thought, to an approaching theophany, of which the thunderstorm was the herald. "With clouds he covereth the light," etc.; literally, "Upon both hands he spreadeth as a covering the light" ( i.e. the lightning), "and commandeth it as one who hitteth the mark" (Delitzsch) against his enemy (Gesenius, Umbreit), in striking (Carey)whom it shall reach (Canon Cook). So was God's approach to Adam after he had fallen announced by a rush of wind through the garden ( Genesis 3:8 ); to Israel by thunders and lightnings and the noise of a trumpet ( Exodus 20:18 ); to Elijah by a wind, an earthquake, and a fire ( 1 Kings 19:11 ). So was God's advent to the world at the Incarnation proclaimed by signs and wonders both in heaven and on earth. The descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was accompanied by a rushing mighty wind. The return of God to judge the world will be attended with alarming prodigies.

2 . Recognized by the irrational oration. To the herds the rumble of the thunder is pictured by Elihu as announcing the arrival of God. So when Christ the Son of God came to earth, not only did the winds and the seas obey him ( Mark 4:41 ), but the wild beasts gathered round him and forgot their ferocity ( Mark 1:13 ). Among the signs that shall foretell his second coming will be the lying down of the wolf with the lamb, and of the leopard with the kid ( Isaiah 11:6-9 ).

3 . Presented to man. Neither the inanimate creation nor the irrational animals can consciously apprehend the glory of God. Hence the Divine manifestations, though heralded and unconsciously recognized by them, are not specifically meant for them, but for man, the head and crown of the material globe. To man alone of all God's creatures on the earth belongs the power of apprehending the Divine glory. Hence God's self-revelations are always for the sake of man. The one now approaching was for Job's sake. The Incarnation was for the sake of humanity. The second advent will be for the sake of the Church.

4 . Directed against unrighteousness. "The sound thereof ( i.e. the thunder-crash) announces concerning their fierceness of wrath against unrighteousness" (Cook). Even so the first Divine manifestation in the Incarnation and cross was a revelation of the wrath of God against all unrighteousness of men ( Romans 1:18 ); though of this character much more will the next Divine apocalypse partake.

5 . Designed for the salvation of the righteous. According to another rendering (Umbreit), Elihu is understood to say that, while God fills both his hands with light, in the one hand he holds the lightning-shaft wherewith to strike the wicked, but in the other the cheering light of the sun to reveal to his friend, and even unto cattle and to plants. It may remind us again of the double purpose of all God's manifests-tions. The pillar of cloud and fire meant destruction to Egypt, but emancipation to Israel. Even the gospel is a savour of life unto some, but of death unto others. When Christ next comes, it will be not alone to punish his foes, but also to save his friends.

Learn:

1 . To magnify the work of God.

2 . To celebrate the praise of God.

3 . To reverence the Name of God.

4 . To delight in the revelation of God.

5 . To acquiesce in the purpose of God.

6 . To listen to the teaching of God.

7 . To accept the salvation of God.