Zophar, Eliphaz and Bildad, the three friends of Job were aged and experienced, but could not answer as to why Job would not renounce his innocence, nor could they explain why Job suffered. (chapters 25 – 31)
So many people asked a similar question today…i.e. ‘whence cometh suffering…why does God allow bad things to happen to good people’, etc.
A young lad answered both Job’s three friends and Job. First, his reply to the 3 friends of Job, of whom he had listened, and listened, and listened….waiting for some words of wisdom to be uttered from 3 people who ought to have known the reason for Job’s suffering AND offer wise counsel. But none came.
Read carefully, young Elihu’s words, noticing an eternal truth that he states in his reply in Job 32:6-10:
6 So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, ‘Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’
8 But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
9 Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice.
10 “ Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me, I also will declare my opinion.’
11 Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to said,
12 I paid close attention to you; and surely not one of you convinced Job, or answered his words—
Notice Elihu’s words from verse 8: ‘THERE IS A SPIRIT IN MAN, AND THE BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY GIVES HIM UNDERSTANDING’!
Physical longevity does not make one “wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15); THAT comes from the breath of the Almighty!
The apostle Paul explained it in 1 Cor. 2:9-14, saying:
9 “…as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
Elihu was wiser than those older in physical age, because he had spiritual discerning. The scriptures will make one wise (knowledgeable) as to why suffering exists, for they explain how suffering is a result of our sins against God. Jesus was purposed to die for our sins, and teach us how to live a life apart from sinning. So, in His teaching, He taught how to be transformed from living self-FISH-ly, to living self-LESS-ly.
Elihu knew this, and understood the purpose for which Job suffered. Suffering is a means by which God, in His tender mercy, rather than punish us AS WE DESERVE; sends us instead, a ‘light affliction’ (2 Cor. 4:17). This is out of His desire to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). By giving us a choice to take HIS yoke, we will inherit the eternal rewards for choosing to, “suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25).
Exercising our faith by obedience is how we “witness” to others. Obedience is the true evidence of saving faith. Obedience is the “works” whereby faith is said to “justify”. Abraham’s obedience is set forth as an example in James 2:20-24. The spiritual benefits of enduring suffering is seen from James 1:2-3. Suffering, when endured, declares our dependence upon God, (i.e., His power to deliver).
The wisdom God gives about suffering’s purpose, enables us to endure, because a greater reward than sin’s pleasures, is promised (Heb. 11:26).
Suffering is God’s way to strengthen our faith in Him, to the point of obedience, trusting that, whatever God says, will result. While we may not see the connection between the promise and the command, a trusting faith, does not question God’s love for us, nor God’s ways. In obedience, the genuineness of our faith is witness to others.
All this wisdom from God is in His word, the Bible. Do you understand why suffering is a part of human life? The scriptures will teach you of salvation from the suffering, caused by your sins.
Elihu was wiser than those older in physical age, because he had spiritual discerning. Remember from his counsel, the only source of wisdom, “…there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice.”
Does your life reflect that God’s wisdom rules your life? Evidence of its rule is seen from what James wrote in chapter 3:17, “…the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Does this describe you? As James asked in chapter 4:14, “…what is your life?”
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