And turn to Job 32. William Gladstone, Prime Minister of Great Britain in the late 19th century, was one of the most ornate orators to have graced the political landscape. One of his political opponents, Benjamin Disraeli, which I believe was the Prime Minister after him. I could be wrong on that. My history teacher's not here, so I'm okay. He once, Disraeli once attacked Gladstone describing him as quote, a sophistical rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity and gifted with an egotistical imagination that can at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of arguments to malign an opponent and to glorify himself. I'd read it again, but I don't know half the words I just read. Essentially, Gladstone was a pompous individual, figure, a politician being pompous, who liked to speak, make up his own words, and while he was speaking, would do so in such a way to make his opponents look bad and make himself look good. When it comes to Elihu, there are some who would characterize him in that light. No one really knows when Elihu shows up. Okay, as we've gone through the book of Job so far, we've seen the behind the scenes with God and Satan, we've seen the destruction to Job, we've heard Job and his three friends, And now we get to chapter 32, and after Job has proclaimed his innocence and ended his wonderful speech last week with this phrase, the words of Job have ended. Elihu pops on the scene. How long he's been there? We don't know. Where'd he come from? We don't know. It would be a fair guess to think that he's been there the entire time. There are lots of handouts on the back table. Hopefully you got all of the ones you needed. There is the regular handout with the notes. Then there's another half sheet that has two charts. One of those charts is Job's complaints and Bildad, or not Bildad, I kept messing up names this morning as well, Elihu's response to those complaints of Job. So we have the idea because Elihu is responding to Job, he's at least been there to listen to what Job is saying. When we look at the introduction that the narrator gives, The reason that the narrator is going to give us this introduction is to condition our attitude towards him, as well as to create the context with which we are to hear his words. So let's just go ahead and read the first five verses of Job 32 for our introduction to Elihu this evening. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, against Job was his wrath kindled because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken because they were elder than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled. And when we get this introduction, and really we're not gonna get out of the introduction today, we're gonna deal a little bit outside of the introduction, but we're just gonna kind of get an idea of who is Elihu, how should we understand him? Because depending on which commentary you pick up, And there are good commentators that I would strongly recommend for a lot of their work. When they come to Elihu, they portray him in a certain light. There are other commentators who portray him in almost the exact opposite. But with just this introduction, we ask ourselves the question, what are we to make of Elihu? To many, Elihu is egotism personified and arrogance on two legs. He is a cocky upstart with nothing to offer the debate, but a wordy rehash of worn out arguments. There really seems to be at least two reasons that we're going to look at this evening for this opinion of Elihu. And the first is a perpetuated prejudice against him. The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, who happened to be contemporary with Gladstone and Disraeli, appreciated and liked and recommended the use of commentaries. But he makes this statement about commentators. He says, commentators are often like sheep. They follow one another and they all go astray. And once you're introduced to Elihu as a swaggering know-it-all, it is easy to read that in the rest of the commentators. And you can pull out six good commentaries. And I've done this in other studies that I've been doing. When you're looking at a passage trying to get a better understanding, commentator A says something, commentator B says something, commentator C quotes commentator A, commentator D quotes commentator A. And it's like, wait a second, I have six commentaries, but I really only have two different things that these commentators are saying. It's kind of like that first impressions is what leaves the mark. So where does this notion come from that Elihu is a young upstart? The second reason that his reputation suffers is a failure to take interpretive cues from the text itself. Elihu's speech is often misread on three levels. The first is reading between the lines an attitude and a tone into Elihu's speech that is not necessary or native to the text. Okay, so if we just look at the start of Elihu's speech in verse six. Elihu, the son of Barakel the Buzite, answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old. Wherefore I was afraid, and durst not show you mine opinion. I said, days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there's a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. And if we read the verses with that intonation, what picture of Elihu does that paint? I've been sitting here waiting for you old guys to show me something that I don't know and that hasn't happened yet. But that reading it in that light doesn't necessarily need to be that way. Or if you read it in this way, I am young and ye are very old. Wherefore, I was afraid and durst not show you mine opinion. I said days should speak and multitudes of years should teach wisdom. There's a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment. Is there a difference? One is very much, you old people don't know anything, And one is, man, there is a lot that I can gain from you, but you've missed the mark. And if we're put in that stage, which way would we prefer Elihu to speak to us? Option number two. So one of the reasons why people seem to take the fact and say that Elihu is just an upstart is they read an attitude that isn't necessarily there. Another reason is they just ignore the narrator's inspired portrayal of Elihu. And we'll look at that this evening. And the third is overlooking significant parallels between Elihu's speech and God's final answer to Job. Now we do need to remember that Elihu is human. Okay, as a human, like you and I, he is fallible. But when we read through his arguments, and Pastor will be back next week to take us through the speech of Elihu, we're going to recognize that he transitions our attention from the errors of Job's friends to the answer of Job's God. Along the way, he's going to refocus the lens of the debate, and Elihu sees something different than what his friends are saying. Elihu serves a purpose of breaking the log jam in the book of Job. He leverages a significant shift in the debate. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have argued Job is suffering because Job is sinning. And to that point, Job has argued, I have not done any sin that would justify this amount of suffering. When Elihu opens his mouth to speak, he is going to argue, not that Job is suffering because he is sinning, but rather that Job is sinning because he is suffering. And last week, what we looked at with what Job comes down to is the fact that Job says essentially, I am a righteous individual, I am more righteous than God. And Elihu recognizes what Job is saying. And so he comes to the conclusion that Job hasn't had these punishments. God isn't judging a sin that Job has committed, but rather Job's response to his suffering is a sinful response. And we'll look at that in more detail. Okay, few characters in the scripture elicit more contempt than Elihu. I'm gonna read a couple. One commentator, David Friedman, states this, he is a comparative youngster, brash at that who speaks to and at everybody, criticizing the friends for inferior debating, but at the same time attacking Job for his behavior. He argues vigorously, brooking neither interruption nor rejoinder, and while Elihu is highly critical of all who have preceded him and very scornful in his excessively polite and prolix fashion, he does not add much to the sum of the human knowledge. In spite of his insistence on being heard and his rapid fire, nonstop loquaciousness, he earns the ultimate reward, he is totally ignored. And most of your commentators that follow this lines are going to say he is a self-pompous individual, he doesn't add anything new, and you look at when he is done speaking, nobody answers him. Job and his friends at least went back and forth. Job recognized his friends had something valid. He responded. They responded. Elihu speaks. He runs his mouth. He's not even worth a response. When God shows up, God is going to answer Job. God is going to address Job's three friends. God doesn't even mess with Elihu. Elihu's a nobody. Another commentator, Henry Morris, wrote an excellent commentary on the book of Genesis, a great book on the Genesis flood. But he sees Elihu as a braggart who's spoiling for a theological fight, a tool of Satan, and even a false messiah. On the flip side, other commentators. Matthew Henry sees Elihu as a man of great modesty and humility, of great sense and courage. Another states in Elihu, we find a more balanced theology than that of the three counselors and a warmer personal response to the greatness of God. Just to spoil things, that's the approach we're going to take tonight. and we're gonna look at the scriptures to understand it. So the keys for interpreting Elihu. The first is recognizing the significance of spirit-inspired narrative. How does the narrator's point of view of Elihu affect things? It is through the narrator that we observe and evaluate everything connected to the story. And the narrator in these five verses gives us six features that incline the reader to be favorably disposed toward Elihu. And the first is that the introduction contains no hint of censure. Or condemnation, that's a better word to spell. More letters. Okay, as the narrator introduces Elihu, he gives no indication that Elihu is condemned. He reports the reason that the three friends had ceased answering in verse one. They stopped talking because Job wasn't gonna be convinced that he was wrong. He was convinced that he was righteous in his own eyes. He deals with why Elihu was angry with Job in verse two. Against Job was his wrath kindled because he justified himself rather than God. He shows the reason that Elihu was angry against the three friends in verse three. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled because they found no answer and yet condemned Job. I'm just gonna take a slight detour here. In Ephesians chapter four, Paul instructs us to be angry and sin not. When we look at Elihu here in Job 32, we see in these verses Elihu getting angry, his wrath being kindled. His wrath is kindled against Job because Job thinks he's more righteous than God. His wrath is kindled against Job's friends because they are condemning an innocent man. Verse five, his wrath is kindled against these men because even though they should have known better, even though they should have had answers, they didn't. There's one other person in the book of Job that has described of him that his wrath is kindled. And that character is God. And as we're gonna get to Elihu and God, Elihu is almost a human representation of the arguments that God is going to bring. So when we see Elihu's wrath being kindled, he's not angry because of what these people have done to him. I think he's expressing a righteous anger on behalf of God, and I think that this is a great Old Testament illustration of what Paul is talking about when he says, be angry and sin not. Elihu is upset, and rightly so. because he's being upset because God's character is on the line. Okay? Detour over. That's free, that's not in the notes. Okay? The narrator also implies that Elihu possesses a correct perception of Job's real problem. The narrator does not editorialize here. He simply explains. He could have said, Elihu supposed that Job was wrong in this way. But instead, Elihu is sitting there and he recognized that Job is justifying himself over God. Job's three friends, Initially, okay, Job, you're just overlooking sin in your life, to by the end of their discussions and arguments, Job, you're trying to cover that sin up. There's some massive coverup that you're trying to pull over our heads. You know, you can hardly read an article today that doesn't point to some coverup conspiracy. Probably the favorite one that I've come across recently is, you know there are no real birds? Has anybody heard this one? There are no real birds. All the birds you see are robots. They're drones for the government to spy on you. It's a huge conspiracy. Birds aren't real. And people will believe this nonsense. Okay, man never made it to the moon, the earth is flat, all sorts of great conspiracies. Okay, it's election season. Get ready for the conspiracies to start popping up about election interference. Valid or not. And Job's friends are accusing him of conspiring to hide his sin. You know, some big cover up. But Elihu recognizes where the real problem is. That Job isn't being punished because of sin, but rather his suffering is causing him to sin. Thirdly, the narrator describes Elihu, or describes Elihu's dissatisfaction with the failure of the other friends. Okay, and just to pop back to number two, just to make this clear or reinforce this. The primary confirmation of Job's diagnosis that Elihu makes is the same accusation that God levels against Job in chapter 40, verse eight. In his description of the three friends, condemning Job even though they couldn't produce evidence. This is the same assessment that God himself is angry at these friends with in chapter 42, verse seven. The introduction of Elihu by the narrator also fourthly highlights a unique emotional parallel between Elihu and God. Four times the narrator tells us that Elihu's wrath was kindled. In chapter 42, verse seven, this is identical to the expression that God uses to describe his own anger. And again, these are the only two people in the book that the narrator describes as having their wrath kindled. Eli, whose wrath foreshadows the wrath of God. Fifth, The narrator credits Elihu with an authentic respect for his elders. And we see this in the start of Elihu's speech, okay? I am young and you are old. Because you're older than I am, I sat quietly giving you the respect that a younger person should give to an older person. And in today's society, to find this type of attitude, it's rare. If we think back to Job chapter 31, as Job is talking about these individuals who are mocking him, he says, these are the children of individuals that I wouldn't even hire to watch my dogs. Their kids are mocking me. And yet we see Elihu is sitting there, respectfully waiting his turn, letting the elders speak, hoping to glean some sort of wisdom from them. And so when we read the words of Elihu, there's no reason to read any sarcasm into him or to think that he is not being sincere as he is talking about his respect for them. The sixth item that the narrator gives for us to think that Elihu should be read favorably is the fact that Elihu is exempt from God's displeasure. Now those who read Elihu negatively are gonna say, God doesn't answer him because God isn't gonna waste his breath. But we're gonna see it for another reason. God answers Job because Job is wrong. God answers Job's friends because Job's friends are wrong. God doesn't answer Elihu because Elihu is not wrong. So Elihu is someone who is bringing something to the story that is going to add to our understanding. If he was arrogant and out of line, then God would have addressed him. So the significance of the narrative, the narrator introducing. The second reason we should look at Elihu this way is just the significance of the intonation. Though the narrative does not indicate the tone of Elihu's speech, there are other indicators to what it was like. Elihu is not argumentative. Okay, no one answers him back. Okay, Job doesn't argue back to him. Job's friends don't argue back to him. But the other aspect is Elihu is passionate to defend God's character. The next speaker after Elihu is God. And God is going to echo some of the words of Elihu. So unless we have something explicit in the text to suggest otherwise, there's no reason to think of Elihu as being, as anything but psychologically sound. So let's look at the significance of Elihu's words. The next chapter, the next lesson with pastor next week is going to deal more with the discourse. Okay, so if you wanna know what he says, you can either read ahead or come back next week or do both. Okay, there are some distinct dissimilarities between Elihu and the friends. As you read Elihu's arguments in chapter 32 through 37, Elihu is very different than the other three friends. The first is that his spirit is markedly different than that from the others. What we will see is that Elihu has actually listened to Job. And we'll see this here in a moment as we look at that first chart. But that first chart that you have there is taken from this book, I just recreated it, are Job's arguments, where we can find them, and then Elihu's response to them. So Job is actually, or Elihu is actually listening to Job. I don't know how many times you've been in this situation, but you're in a heated discussion with an individual. and you hear the first thing that they say, and immediately you begin thinking of a response to that, and by the time they actually stop to catch their breath, they're like 10 steps down the line, but you only can think of the first thing they said, because you were too busy formulating your answer to that. Okay, if that describes me, I'll raise my hand, yes. Okay, that's what Job's friends are doing. Job, you're wrong and we're gonna prove you wrong. We're not even gonna listen to anything you say. We're just gonna show that you're wrong. Elihu's gonna say, okay, Job, you said this. Here's why that's wrong. Job, you said this. Here's the correct way to look at it. Job, you said this. So Elihu is actually listening to what Job is saying. He also has a level of sympathy that Job's three other friends did not have in their later speeches. Secondly, Elihu's focus is unique. Job's three friends are committed to coercing a confession from him. They're all playing bad cop, bad cop. Job confess, Job confess, Job confess. Elihu's not. In fact, what we see is Elihu is going to offer a revolutionary third perspective. Not that Job is suffering because of sin. And I don't know how many times I've said it this evening. I don't know how many more times I'm gonna say it this evening. Here's the thrust of Elihu. If this is all you take away from tonight, then you got Elihu. Job is not suffering because of his sin. but rather Job is sinning because of his suffering. He's having a wrong response. The suffering may not be deserved, but it does not render the suffering itself unjust, nor does it imply that God is unjust for permitting it. So let's look at Elihu's answers to Job's complaints there on that chart. Job has several complaints. The author of the book kind of sums them up in four summary complaints. The first complaint Job has, I don't deserve this. And we've seen this throughout the book. I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I don't deserve this. Eli, who says, okay, chapter 33, verses eight through 11, Job, I hear you, but God is sovereign. And God is sovereign in every area of our lives. So we may think that we don't deserve to be in a situation that we are going through. And oftentimes we can be put in a trying situation and we can come out of that situation very embittered towards God. God, I don't deserve what you're putting me through. Elihu's response should be our response. When we hear this, I don't deserve this. God is in control. And we may not see it from this side of eternity. And as far as we know in the book, Job never does. But God is in control. Job's second argument can be summed up in the fact that God is treating me unjustly. God's not fair. And Elihu's response to that is, that's impossible. Because God is always just. That is part of who he is. So we may be going through a difficult situation. I don't deserve this, God is in control. He's bringing you through it for a reason. God's not being fair, false. God is always, always fair. One of my favorite chapters is Romans chapter nine, in which Paul is arguing with himself He is putting accusations and questions that the church at Rome is going to come across, people trying to argue why God's not fair. And the last question that Paul brings forward in Romans chapter nine against God's goodness, and this is just a summary because I didn't write it down, this is free as well. Paul's last question that can come against the goodness of God is if no one can resist God's sovereignty, why does God still hold people responsible and accountable for the actions that they do? That's not fair. And Paul's response is very simple. Who are we? Who are you, oh man? To question God. If you're making a clay pot, I've never done it. I've seen people make pots, and they just move their hands up and down, and all of a sudden, this pot is there. I'm like, there's got to be some sort of witchcraft involved with this. If I did that, that thing would just plop over, and there'd be clay all over the walls. But you have a potter. He's a skilled master. He's making this clay jar. And all of a sudden, the jar says, no, you did a mistake there. Who is the clay? What is the clay to tell the master that the master made a mistake? And we may go through difficult times in our lives, and it may feel like God's not fair. God's not being just right now. And this is really where Elihu pins Job to the wall. Job, you're saying that you are more just than God. God is always just in everything. The third argument, Job says, I know that I am righteous. I've done nothing wrong to deserve this suffering. And Elihu just simply points out, Job, there is one righteous, and you are not God. Because Job is, as we saw last week, essentially saying, I am more righteous than God. Because if God were righteous, I would not be going through this. The fourth argument is the fact that God has become inexplicably cruel to me. And Elihu responds to that. God is always great and always good. A good friend of mine in college passed away about two or three years ago now from COVID. His life, not verse in the sense of a book chapter verse, Bible verse, but his life motto, motto would be a better word. I wish I would have thought of that this morning. His life motto is God is always only good. And I remember getting updates from his wife, from his in-laws, as he was on the ventilator going through the coma, waiting to come out. And almost everything ended with that expression, God is always only good. Two days ago was I think his third heavenly birthday, so he's been gone three years now. And just watching his wife, watching his two kids who are about Anastasia and Elijah's age, watching his in-laws who are very dear friends of ours, going through this. And posting on social media, you know, today was a tough day. The kids just needed extra cuddles, extra tears. But we just have to remember that God is always only good. And as Job is coming down, God is just being mean to me. No, God is always only good. If God wasn't, if God gave us what we deserved, and this was brought up this morning, if God gave us what we deserve, where would we be? We wouldn't have survived that first breath. We'd all be getting the punishment we deserve. But God is good. Eli, who also in contrast to the three friends, speaks with a confidence. and a passion that distinguishes him from the others. He claims an insight in chapter 32, verse eight, an understanding arising from the presence of God's spirit in him. But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. What Elihu is saying here is essentially, We all have a spirit, but there are some who have a secondary spirit, the Holy Spirit in them. And that's how I'm going to be answering you. There are several similarities. between Elihu and God. And the second chart you have are gonna be these similarities in chart form with the verses so you can compare them on your own at home. But there are at least five significant themes that God echoes and expands in his answer to Job that Elihu brings up. Elihu addresses Job's words rather than his alleged actions. Okay, Job's friends are trying to figure out what he did wrong. Eli, who is saying, okay, based on your answers, this is what you said wrong. And in chapter 38, this is what God repeatedly calls attention to as well, Job's words. Elihu criticizes Job's defense of his own righteousness at the expense of God's righteousness, and we looked at this a little bit last week. In Job chapter 40, verses two and eight, God levels this very indictment against Job as well. Elihu stresses the glory and incomprehensibility of God in creation. And this is the major thrust of God's discourse. And when we get to God's response to Job, and God brings out and explains the behemoth and the Leviathan. And basically, Job can you tame these creatures. And he describes them. And Job essentially, argues that, you know, I had this head knowledge of God, but that's where it was at. I didn't take the time to make it a personal relationship as I should have. Elihu questions Job's knowledge of God's ways in creation. And in Job chapter 38, this is how God opens his address to Job. Job, where were you when I made this? And when I made this? Job, did I ask your advice about this? And Elihu also hints at the condescending kindness of this sovereign and inscrutable God. Normally we think condescending is in a negative light, The fact that this God who is sovereign, who is above us, comes down to us and demonstrates goodness to us. Elihu accents the fact that God is pure, that God is just, that God is glorious and majestic, that he's omniscient and omnipotent. But Elihu also brings in several gentle reminders that God is not unapproachable. that God is compassionate, that God is merciful and gracious and forgiving. And when we see God's response to Job in chapters 38 and 39, we see this as well. And you have those verses there in that second chart. So what is the function of Elihu? Why does all of a sudden the narrator stick him in right here? There are three types of characters that a good story is going to have. You have your protagonist. The protagonist is the central character. The protagonist is the one of whom the story is about. So when we're looking at the book of Job, who is the protagonist? Who is the book about? No. God. Okay, all the way back in chapter one, God versus Satan. God says, have you considered my servant Job? The entire book of Job is God is good and defending God's character. The antagonists are the main adversaries set against the central character. Okay. The main antagonist in the book of Job would be Not Job. Satan. Okay, Satan primarily, but also secondary would be Bildad and Eliphaz and Zophar. Okay, the third type of character that you're going to find in good literature is going to be the foil. Okay, the foil heightens the central characters by providing a contrast or a parallel. And I am extremely nervous to give an example of a foil because I know I'm going to get it wrong, and it will dock my grade retroactively. But you have your character Robin Hood. The main antagonist in Robin Hood would be Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham. But you don't have Robin Hood without Little John. The purpose of Little John is just to help accentuate the character of Robin Hood. When you read through the tales of Arthur, Arthur, the great protagonist, the antagonist, Morgana at times, other adversaries at times, but alongside Arthur, you don't have Arthur without Merlin. So when we look at the story of Job, and if I'm wrong with those examples, please correct me. Okay, the central character of Job is God. The foil is Elihu. Not in the sense that there is a contrast between Elihu and God, but the parallels that are there Because at this point, Job's friends are done talking. They're sitting, licking their wounds, Job's done talking. You have that wonderful phrase at the end of chapter 31, the words of Job have ended. You have Eli who steps on the scene, and after Eli who you have God. And Elihu steps on the scene and he brings these same thematic elements that God is going to address. Okay? So when we look at Elihu, he is an important character in the book because of who he's pointing towards. Here's who God is, and God is about to come on the scene and say, here's who I am. Thoughts, questions? Natalie? The narrator always referred to the person who wrote Job. Yes, that is an important distinction to make. Yeah, the narrator of the book. Yes, ma'am? At this point, nobody knows. It's possible Job wrote it. It's possible somebody else wrote it. When we get to heaven, we'll figure it out. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and one of the things that came up this morning, Elihu is sitting here listening to the conversation this entire time. And essentially he's saying, you guys aren't saying anything important or valuable. You're all wrong. And if you were just to read through this conversation, from the scriptures, you're reading out loud for 10, 12 hours. Okay, imagine sitting through a seminary for 12 hours, or through a seminar for 12 hours, and the persons, the people speaking have nothing to say. You're gonna be upset. That's why, that part of the reason I think his wrath is kindled. You guys wasted my time. their speeches are probably longer but that what we have is just what was recorded that's what we need to know