As Job laments his way through a world of suffering, warding off false charge after false charge from his three closest acquaintances, a younger man named Elihu has also been listening.

And as soon as Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar have hushed, Elihu speaks. (In fact: “These three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.” Job 32:1)

But the first thing we learn about Elihu is that he has a temper! Job 32:2 tells us: “Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.”

The particular noun for “wrath” (used twice in this one verse) is spelled “aph” in Hebrew. It’s really the word for “nostril!” And it apparently implies anger that is so vehement that one “snorts” as he rants and raves, being that out of control!

But this young man is not through yet, with his “anger.” Verse 3 adds: “Also against Job’s three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.” Wow, he’s mad at everybody!

Yet again, in Job 32:5, we are told: “When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.” The verb “kindled” as used here means “set on fire, hot, incensed,” just plain “furious!”

Seems to me that good, sound advice seldom comes from a man so upset, so mad!

Proverbs 15:8 commends the man who is “slow to wrath,” but Elihu is NOT that man!

And Proverbs 19:11 praises the man who “defers” his anger, which Elihu is NOT now doing!

Furthermore, Proverbs 27:4 declares: “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous.” And I’m wondering if Elihu is about to that level of wrath, already in the first chapter of his long speech!

He is about to explode! Hear him again in Job 32:19. “Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles.”

This is a far cry from our Lord Jesus of Whom it was prophesied: “Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.” Psalm 45:2

Back to Solomon once more: “Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go.” Proverbs 22:24 here makes me even more leery of Elihu and his wrath.

More about him tomorrow, Lord willing.

But so far, I am skeptical.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Prolonged anger is a sin. That’s for sure. Instant anger can be too, of course. Paul wrote us: “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Elihu didn’t get that message, apparently!

 

 

Job indeed ceases his speeches, his laments, the longest being chapters 26 through 31.

His very verbiage: “The words of Job are ended.”

But he does not quit until he has made another rather sound defense of his integrity!

Let me show you Job’s “lifestyle,” how he translated God’s imputed Righteousness into everyday practical living.

He has determined that he will NOT lust after any pretty, young girl! “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Job 31:1, an Old Testament version of 1st Thessalonians 5:22. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Or Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount sentence: “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

Let me stop and say this. Job chapter 31 is perhaps the best description of the godly life that we have in the entire Old Testament! Job was a paragon of Christian character!

The chapter continues with Job committing himself to NEVER committing adultery with another man’s wife. (He must have been totally satisfied at home. Mrs. Job may have had a side we do not see anywhere in the Book, far better than her “Curse God and die” stance!) “If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door; then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.” Job 31:9-12, sounds a little bit like Wisdom speaking in the Book of Proverbs!

Furthermore, Job has never mistreated one of his servants, man or woman!

And he never mistreated the poor, or the widow lady.

He even self-imprecates himself … IF … he has erred in proper living! “If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; if his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.” Job 31:19-22, serious business!

He did not gloat in his massive wealth either , no “love of money” in his life!

Also, he was never even tempted with idolatry or astrology, that “sun, moon and stars” stuff, fortune telling and such! “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” Job 31:26-28, occult activities being naysayed.

See, Job never denied God, and certainly never CURSED the Lord! Satan was wrong about Job, again.

And Job’s hospitality? “The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.” Job 31:32, no xenophobia here! Just Bible obedience to a Law that might not have yet been written, not on tables of stone anyway! Yes, Job may well have lived well before Moses!

Job did not HIDE sin, either! “If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom.” Job 31:33, he kept “short sin accounts” with God, confession was practiced in his life.

Lastly, Job never mistreated his land! He must have owned a lot of it, too. Enough to pasture 7,000 sheep! “If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain.” God in the Law demanded that the land be allowed to lie fallow (unplowed) one year out of every seven years. Sabbath Rest for the acreage of Israel! (Again, though Job likely predates the Torah, he is already somehow aware of God’s commands!)

Why all this from Job?

He tells us of his holy ways of living … for one main reason. He want an audience with God! He is that “hungry” for His Lord! “Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me!” Job 31:35, near the end of the chapter.

And, by the way, God does answer him!

And soon now.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

So, undoubtedly … Psalm 34:15 is true! And Job just proved it. Or does God prove it in chapter 38? “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.”

Amen.

 

 

Job chapter 30, our Text today, our Bible focus.

Yesterday in Job chapter 29 this great servant of the Lord was telling us about the way things “used to be,” back before the trouble came, the devastation.

Now today … the way things are, as he suffered Satan’s greatest blows, one after another, and of course their long-running consequences as well. Like the running sores, the grief over loved ones who’ve died, and the scathing criticism of all who “know” why Job is in such agony!

Job 30:1 actually begins … “But now!”

The context almost speaks for itself … “But now they that are younger than I have me in derision.” Kids making fun of Job, not behind his back, to his face! (Remember those 42 young people who mocked Elisha? And the angry she bears? But there’s no supernatural retaliation for Job, not here!)

And Job can no longer sleep at night, internal pain. “My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.” Job 30:17

Look what Job believes God has done to him: “He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.” Job 30:19

Desperation nearly, but no cursing God! “I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death.” Job praying, with no consciousness of God hearing at all, no answer from Heaven!

Nothing is going “right,” it seems. One bad day after another. “When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.” Job 30:26

If Job had only known about the “contest!”

He continues …

“My bowels boiled, and rested not.”

“I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.” Public humiliation!

Then at times he is ultra lonely. “I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.” Two solitary creatures of the desert!

Dehydration, or fever? “My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.” Or results of starvation, not being able to eat?

No joy, anymore! Who wouldn’t have been depressed? “My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.” Job 30:31, the chapter’s last verse.

This is a first person account (and a reason I believe Job is the author of this Book) of agony, intensified because God is not responding to Job’s cries.

I truly believe Job here is a Type of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The innocent Sufferer indeed!

Who also was mocked.

Who also was forsaken by God!

Who also was emaciated.

Who also cried in the darkness.

Who also was pierced.

But, good news! Just as Jesus, after the Cross (and subsequent Resurrection) was highly honored of God, exalted by God … so was Job!

What beauty is enfolded in Holy Scripture!

What amazing treasures of truth!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

Once I preached the Life of Job, a series of 5 Sermons on this great man of God. And I began (on Sunday morning) with Job chapter 29, the Text for today’s Lesson.

Why?

Because here Job tells us how his life was ordered prior to the calamities that have befallen him. As I said in the Lesson Title, “The way things used to be.”

Job is lamenting, grieving, remembering … the whole chapter long!

First, Job “longs” for the days when His fellowship with God was unbroken! This sentiment alone tells us how very godly the Patriarch Job was! “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with me.” Job 29:2-5

The good old days … when God “protected” me!

When He smiled my way, His “light” was upon me!

When darkness came (it does to everyone), but He (back then) gave my insight!

He once shared “secrets” with me!

And He “walked” with me as well!

BUT NOW … GOD HAS STEPPED AWAY … JOB IS BEING TESTED, PROVEN, GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THAT A MAN CAN STILL LOVE AND SERVE AND WORSHIP ALMIGHTY GOD … WITH OR WITHOUT LOADS OF MATERIAL  BLESSINGS!

Wow, look how “close” to God Job lived! Verses 2-5 almost sound like they were written in the New Testament!

If that’s all (these 4 verses) we possessed of Job chapter 29, we already would have been enlightened greatly about the “character” of this admirable believer in God.

But there’s more.

Job (back then) was so wealthy he could have washed his doorsteps in butter! See verse 6.

He annually harvested “rivers” of oil, precious and costly “olive oil.”

He had a “seat” at the city gate, meaning he was some kind of a “judge” in his community. “When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!” Verse 7

He passed by, and people stood up in honor!

Why was Job so respected? “Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.” Verse 12, the very sins his 3 “friends” have accused him of committing, ignoring the poor and mistreating the orphans! “And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”

How’s this for a testimony, every word being true? “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor.” Job 29:14-15

Once Job passed an opinion, nobody else offered a word! He was that wise! “After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.” Verse 22, then: “They waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.” Wow!

Are these the rants of an egomaniac, a person with a huge self image? A PROUD man?

No!

No, regardless of what many commentators and teachers say!

These are the cries of a suffering man … savoring the days of the past, “When my children were about me.” Said back in verse 5 … children (10 of them) who were now all dead!

Yes, Job is one of the greatest examples of faith … in all the Bible! Never once did He “curse” God … through this year (?) of turmoil, agony!

No wonder some preachers believe the man Job is a great “Type of Christ!”

All that prosperity left behind … now suffering innocently!

Like our Lord Jesus … having come “out of the ivory palaces” … into a world of woe. And HE indeed is the Innocent Sufferer, for sure! Paul wrote of Him, our dear Lord: “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though HE WAS RICH, yet for your sakes HE BECAME POOR, that ye through his poverty might be (spiritually) rich, might be saved.” Based on 2 Corinthians 8:9.

Mercy!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

 

I think I say this a lot, but today’s chapter is one of my favorites! Job 28, with its 28 verses, easy to remember. In some ways it is very “unlike” the rest of the Book which houses it.

Job 28 is still dialogue, as are all the chapters between 3 and 37. In fact, when God speaks in chapters 38-42, we still have dialogue. And it is still poetic too. But many current Jobian scholars wonder if Job really wrote this piece. If it is “authentic” to the Book as a whole? It is so “different.” (My answer, it is genuine, Holy Spirit inspired and directly from the pen of the wise Job!)

The entire chapter is about WISDOM.

It’s one of the greatest chapters in the whole Bible on the subject, in fact. Every bit as good as the Old Testament Book of Proverb’s little “jewels” on the subject!

The chapter divides itself into four little sections, of unequal length I might add. It’s is a search for true wisdom.

Verses 1-11 picture man as a “miner,” digging out the depths of the earth, searching for (and finding) precious metals. (In Scripture “wisdom” is often compared to precious stones and minerals. “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of SILVER, and the gain thereof than fine GOLD. She is more precious than RUBIES: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand RICHES and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” Proverbs 3:13-17) I think the idea of verses 1-11 is this: Mankind works and searches and takes great risks trying to find gold and silver and such. But mankind does NOT put that much effort into finding real Wisdom (much more valuable than gold), God’s Wisdom, thinking it less valuable!

Wouldn’t it be great if we Christians searched the Scriptures for God’s Wisdom, like the worldlings scour the earth for their diamonds?

Then Job 28:12 interprets (encapsulates) the first paragraph for us, with two questions. “But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?”

Whereupon Job 28:15-19 immediately answers: “It (real wisdom) cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: FOR THE PRICE OF WISDOM IS ABOVE RUBIES. The TOPAZ of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure GOLD.”

The stock market, the gold exchange, the bank vault … none of these can offer enough cash to buy this commodity called “God’s Wisdom!” Here money is truly “filthy lucre.” A man can be a billionaire and not possess an ounce of holy wisdom. Can be spiritually bankrupt! Materially wealthy, but morally impoverished!

Then comes Job 28:20-28, with an ending verse that’s dynamite! But first, verse 20 begins with parallel questions to verse 12. “Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.“

This last paragraph merely continues our Wisdom search. Finally to conclude that only ALMIGHTY GOD possesses the kind of Wisdom essential for life, real life, meaningful life!

Let’s continue with our chapter …

“Destruction and death now say, We have heard the fame (of Wisdom) thereof with our ears. (Only) God understandeth the way (of Wisdom) thereof, and He knoweth the place (where Wisdom dwells)thereof.” Quoting verses 22-23 of Job 28.

And now here’s the “apex” of the whole chapter! “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

Job, with Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar (and by now Elihu as well) listening, defines Wisdom as only such a godly sage could have done. Again: “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

Wow!

But, wait a second!

The fear of the Lord?

Departing from evil?

Qualifications for God’s wisdom, in fact definitions of it?

YES!

And those are the very traits God says Job possessed way back in Job chapter 1. “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, ONE THAT FEARETH GOD, and ESCHEWETH EVIL?” (Job 1:8)

Job, says His Creator, fears the Lord!

And “escheweth” evil, meaning he departs from every form of evil he spots!

Folks, we’ve just been told that Job has the Wisdom of God in his life, and has possessed it since this storm-tossed Book began!

Job the wise one, such understanding being a gift of God, of course.

This is amazing!

This is ironic!

This is beautiful!

And Job is quite the writer!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I (again) stand amazed.

The Bible, what a miraculous Book!