Well, Grandpa Maxwell, that was my grandpa on my mother's side. Grandpa Maxwell had an anvil. How many of you, you guys been around long enough, you know what an anvil is? How many of you guys ever beat out anything on an anvil? He used it as the base to straighten things out. If some tool or something got bent or twisted, he could take it to the anvil and sometimes just take a sledge to it and beat it out straight. Other times, the piece was too stiff and he would heat it up with a torch or put it in the kiln and he would beat it out straight. It was amazing. I watched him one time as he wanted to make a new blade for his bush hog. Do you guys even know what a bush hog is? I'm sure some of you old guys do. Bush hog and so First he cut it out with a torch from this big place making his own blades and stuff. He made everything fact He worked for the Frisco Railroad, you know that thing, you know that coupling that hydraulic company I'm just going to go on record just tell you my grandfather Was the co-inventor of the hydraulic coupling? And he didn't get a penny for it because he was under contract Frisco Railroad. How about that? I so i could have been rich but i've been rich i probably would have been a preacher what i have so anyway so so he cut he cut i watched it he cut this new blade out of a big plate of steel many grounded to size and shape many heated up many take it back over the end or and when he beat it he beat the shape into it so that it would have the band that it needed to cut grass and throw it And he was just clever about that. He knew how to do it. Each step with it, he spent time on the anvil and it took blows from his sledge. Grandpa seemed to know just where to hit it, how hard to hit it, how many times to hit it, how much to heat it up, when to cool it down. And God is like that, isn't he? How many of you ever been to the anvil and God had you on his anvil? Yeah, it's not fun. But the finished product is a whole lot better than it was before you started. That's God. Interesting. You say, why in the world do you tell that? We're talking about Job. Well, the anvil, in a case like that, never seems to be affected. I always was amazed. But I guess if you were to take and heat the anvil up hot enough, you'd probably bend it too. But it just never seemed to be affected. Oh, it would get a few scars on it, but it was always there. And in our passage that we've been studying, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have given up. They have been beaten on Job and beaten on Job, and he's been like an anvil. Even though he's scarred and he's sick and he's just going through just so much pain and so much loss, he is still not going to admit to sins he didn't commit. And he's not going to concede to the accusations of these three accusers. So when we pick this up, turn your Bibles to the chapter, the 32nd chapter of the book of Job. And I want to just commend all of you for sticking with us as we study this book. As I've said before, Jerry and I both said it, you know, most of the time when people study the book of Job, they just sort of tell the story. They do chapter one and chapter two and then chapter 38 to 40, 42. And they just tell the beginning and the end because it's so long and the stories seem to repeat but the truth is you guys are stuck with us and I think you have found out that as we read it and look at it there's something that's being said by each one of these people part of it is true just said out of season said at the wrong time to the wrong person under the wrong circumstances if there's anything we're learning is is that sometimes even the truth needs to be held for a moment you know when somebody has But let's just, let's look at it this way. Let's say we've got a 19-year-old son whose father has told him a thousand times to behave himself, stop running with the wrong crowd, stop drinking, don't be tempted by all these drugs and everything, stay away from these, you know, fast cars and fast women and all that. And he tells him that and tells him, and then lo and behold, the kid has a terrible wreck. He's in the hospital. Now there is a truth that needs to be told to that young man, but is it the time to tell him while he's hanging on with his life? You see what I'm saying? So there's a truth to be told, but there's a circumstance and a time and a season for that, and we have to be very careful. If we've learned anything from the book of Job, we've learned that even though these guys are saying a lot of the right things, they're not saying it to the right person. They're not saying it under the right circumstances, and they're certainly not saying it. at the right time. So here we have him. He's Job, and he is discouraged, disappointed with God, disillusioned with life, dismayed at his so-called comforters. That's who these guys were that showed up. They were there, his friends, to comfort him. They did some comforting for a few minutes or a couple of days. I guess they actually sat there for a few days, didn't say anything. But they couldn't help themselves. They just had to start giving their opinions and start giving their correction and start laying it on the line as thick as they could. And so his three friends, now we come to this section in chapter number 32, and his three friends are done talking. Back in chapter 31, Jerry taught us, showed us this last week, that they weren't gonna say anything. Chapter 32, verse one, these three men ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. They just, they're done with him. They beat on him like an anvil. He hasn't yielded anything, and so they're done with him. So here we are with Job going through all of these things, and not only are his three friends done talking, he is done talking. Job doesn't say anything else for the rest of the book, and there's quite a few chapters left. He doesn't think he's getting anywhere. Those three men don't think they're getting anywhere. They quit trying to straighten Job out, and he quit trying to defend himself and figure out what God was doing. What's interesting is not only have the three men stopped talking, Job has stopped talking, but God had never said anything. He hadn't said a word. Job is asking questions, he's complaining of his pain, he's begging for an explanation, he's seeking an advocate, and in general, he is dumbfounded as to why all of this has happened, but not a peep from God. Now let's just stop for a minute. How many of you have ever been in a situation where you're praying and praying and praying and begging and you're asking God to say something, show you something, lead something, have somebody come tell you something, and nothing? Have you been there? Raise your hand. Yep. Well, Brother Jerry's been talking about it. He asked this question. Sometimes we get to the place where we say, God, where are you? Or God, why is this happening? Sometimes we go too far. I've heard people say things like this. And I'm not kidding you. I've heard people say things like this. God has got a lot to answer for. Oh boy, then who's judging who in that situation? You think that's a good idea? Did Job ever get there? No, he didn't. The Bible says clearly he never charged God foolishly with his mouth. I don't care how bad the pain, how big the trouble or anything, never dismiss the fact that God is good, God is sovereign, God's in control, and God is bringing it to the end that he desires. It'll be for his glory and for our good. If we read ahead in Job, does Job end up okay? Don't forget that. This is so very important. So we find in chapter 32 there's been another bystander, a young man that's been listening to all this banter. He has heard the three men. He's heard the responses of Job. He's satisfied neither with the accusations of the three nor the discourses of Job. It's time now for age to give way and let a man of the moment talk. I think we're kind of like that in this world today. uh... we need to say that that there were no doubt many more that heard all of these interchanges i think we might have in our mind that there was joe and there were the three men and now we find out there's another many like you and that's the whole crowd no no no there Everybody knew who Job was. The news would have spread everywhere. Everybody knew what was going on. We know that for a fact. Why is this? Because Job, when we read the last chapter, Jerry taught us last week that the people who used to hang on every word that he said and his wisdom now are mocking and ridiculing him. So in other words, somebody's out there, there's mockers, there's people that are ridiculing. He even goes on, and Jerry was very clever to point this out, that there was a group that Job said were not even, that he would not even, he wouldn't even count on to take care of his sheepdogs. And now they are the ones that are mocking and ridiculing and laughing at him. So that is really, really interesting. So there's a lot of people that are there that are listening. And now then we come to this young man who's been sitting beside and he's been listening. He is, let's read it in verse number two. But the anger of Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite of the family of Ram, burned against Job. His anger burned because he justified himself before God. And that's what the other three said. They said he justifies himself before God. And Elihu says the same thing. Now, I want to pull over for a moment. You know, we've asked this question, when did this book of Job take place? When did the events happen? And there's been all kinds of suggestions. This man's name is very significant and tells us a lot about when it happened. This is an evidence about the timing of the book of Job. Buzz, B-U-Z, by the way, the man who had a son named Buzz, his other son's name was Uz. Now they must have been running out of, you had two kids, you named one Uz and the other one Buzz, but you really are, either you're not thinking very long. It must have been from Mississippi. You know, we know that the toothbrush was invented in Mississippi, don't you? You know that. The toothbrush was invented in Mississippi, because if it had been invented anywhere else, it would have been called a teeth brush. Hey, I can say that. I'm from Memphis, Tennessee, and lived a lot of my life in North Mississippi. So if I offended you, don't be offended too long, all right? So here's what we know. Our whole story takes place in the region or the land of Uz. This man Uz and Buz are Nahor's son. Who was Nahor? Abraham's brother. So these boys are his nephews. That kind of gives you a little bit more about the timing of the book of Job. Once again, it tells us there was no written record, there was no written testimony, there was no written law. As I've said many times, Job was going through everything he went through without Romans 8.28. And so all he had was the oral tradition passed down to him from people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so on. So this is just really, really interesting. Back to Elihu. We're going to look at him. First thing I want you to see is Elihu's claim. and here's his claim is a young man his claim is this here is why god is speaking through me and he's you know he's pretty bold about this and we're going to look at it he says god speaking through me point number one under there you write it down ahead of time we're going to read verse one through seven he was angry and here's how we know that these three men ceased answering joe because he was righteous in his own eyes but the anger of a like you the son of barack l the blues side of the family of ron burned against joe his anger burned because he justified himself before god and his anger there it is anger anger angry keep saying the king james is a rat his anger burned against his three friends because they found no answer and yet and yet had condemned Job. And Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he. And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, his anger burned. So Elihu, the son of Barakel the Buzite, spoke out and said, I am young in years and you are old. Therefore, I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak and increased years should teach wisdom. Well, the book of Proverbs says that, you know, there's wisdom in the greatness of the head. It says that, you know, people normally under normal circumstances as the days go by and as we, as we Get older we are what's happening to us the older we get we are beginning to have all kinds of Experiences right and our experiences teach us things. Well, they're supposed to teach us things sometimes We don't learn really really well from our experiences. So here's what we have in this passage first of all He was angry with Job because of the same reason the other three were, because Job justified himself. At least that's what they were hearing. Job is justifying himself. He's vindicating himself. He's saying, I haven't sinned. I haven't done anything wrong. And so his interpretation is Job was looking for vindication for himself and not vindication for God. So therefore, Job's personal interest seems to be more important to Job than does God's interest. So in all of this, Elihu is saying, it looks to me like Job's only thing that he is interested in is himself and defending himself and trying to get God to do this or that. He's not worried about God's glory at all. The next thing he was angry about is he was angry with the three friends. Why? Because they did not rebuke Job severely enough. Now, have you guys been here most of this session? Those of you that have been here, we've been studying these, you know, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar. I mean, they're pretty rough on Job. I mean, they were relentless in their accusations. And they got louder and they got shorter and more direct as they went on. He says, Elihu says, I've been listening to you guys and you did not rebuke Job severely enough. In other words, put in our vernacular, they were pussyfooting with all the crimes of Job. They also gave up when they should have kept on grinding him down. That's what he thought. He thought you're just a pussy footer and you should have ground him down some more. Letter C, he was angry because Job's reputation was not sufficiently defended in his view. Because God's reputation, excuse me. He was angry because in his opinion, God's reputation was not sufficiently defended. So for 30 chapters, these men have let Job off the hook. That's his opinion. And it's time to put him in his place. God is great, God is righteous, and Job is wicked. That's what Elihu, that's his whole point. And we've got to make sure that we get Job in the right place. Then, he was something else. Now, we gotta give him this. He was patient. I want you to look at that right down there in verse number six of Elihu, the son of Barakel goes on, I am young in years and you are old, therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak and increased years should teach wisdom. So, in other words, I was patient. I waited. I bided my time. I'm young. I let the elders speak. I knew that aged people should be wise and should be heard, so I let them speak. I didn't say anything. No interruptions. didn't say anything to them didn't say anything to Joe but looks to me like they've run out of gas they don't know what they don't have anything else to say and they have not brought Job to his knees and he says just step back I'm gonna take care of this basically that's what he is saying look under number two there here's what he's saying we're going to read it verses 8 to 10 but there is a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding and The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice. So I say, listen to me, I too will tell what I think." So that's verse 8 to 10. Here's what he says, he was anointed. I've got the spirit of God, that's what he's saying. So that's number one, that letter A under there, I've got the spirit. The Spirit of God is in man, and He gives man understanding, and I'm like everybody else. He says, I'm not perfect, but I've got the Spirit of God, and I believe that I know what's going on. He says, something else I've got is I've got wisdom. Says, old people should have wisdom, but in your case, you don't. That's what he's saying. And not only is he disrespecting Job a little bit, but he's also disrespecting these other three men. Now, they did get their foot in it two or three times during the time they were talking. They said things they shouldn't have said, and they went off the deep end on several things. But it's not like he is gonna know any better, but he is saying, you guys don't have wisdom, I've got wisdom. He said it this way, old people should be wise, but that's not always the case. Have you ever heard the statement that there's no fool like an old fool? You ever heard that? Do you know where that came from? That's good. That was really good, Jerry. That goes all the way back to 1546. In England, a man by the name of John Hayward, and I've got to look this up. I did not know this was true. A man named John Hayward had made a book, a collection of all the English Proverbs. That's the only place that they can find that statement, and it has no reference to why he said it. But let me give you some Bible verses. Psalm 119 verse 100. You know what it says there? Now, this is King David, and he's writing. Now, was King David a wise man, yes or no? He was. Now, he wasn't perfect, but he was wise. Now watch. Here's what he says, Psalm 119 verse 100, I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts. In other words, he says, I'm trying to live an obedient life and I got a lot of people that are older than me that are just taking things with a grain of salt and they're not paying attention to what God really wants. He says, the truth is I have more wisdom than they do. Well, the Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 130, it says that the entrance of thy word giveth light, it gives understanding to the simple. In other words, it'll make you smart. Taking in God's word and obeying it, it will make you more intelligent. So he's basically saying that. And then Solomon, he wrote Ecclesiastes and when he wrote Ecclesiastes, he said a lot of good things, a lot of silly things, but this was a good one. He said this, better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more." A king who cannot be corrected, can't be admonished, can't be shown the right way, or cannot receive wisdom. You know, when we get beyond teachability, we're in trouble. You know that? We are. You know, there's always somebody wiser than us, and if nothing else, we just pick up the Bible and start reading, we'll find out we have not got it all figured out. So he was angry, he was anointed. This is what he is saying. Now look, let's get this in our mind. What's he saying? Say, here's my claim to why I can speak on this subject. That's what he's saying. Here's my claim. I'm angry and I'm righteously angry because God has not been respected in the life of Job and in the life of these three men. He says, and I'll tell you what, I've got a right to speak because I'm anointed. I've got the spirit, I've got wisdom. And then he says, finally, I've got something to say, so listen to me. He believes that he is really speaking for God. Now, number three, and then he was aroused to act. Now, he said, I've been watching, I've been listening, now I'm aroused to act. I'm gonna read this quickly, verse number 15. It says, beginning in verse 15, they are dismayed. They answer no more. Words have failed them and I shall wait because they do not speak, because they stop and answer no more. I too will answer my share. I also will tell my opinion for I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me behold my belly is like an unvented wine Like new wine skins. It's about to burst. Let me speak that I may get relief Let me open my lips and answer. So what's the picture that he's drawing right there? What is he saying? He's i've been listening listening listening listening and i've wanted to say something but what's he saying? What is he trying to say? i'm about to I'm about to blow up here. I'm about to explode here. I got a lot of things I've got to say. So that's what he's saying. So in these verses, he waited in patience. He waited in patience. He stood by and listened patiently. Look back at verse 11. I waited for your words. I listened to your reasonings while you pondered what to say. So evidently these men didn't just, they didn't rattle off like a tape recorder. They said things, paused a few minutes and said some more, paused and said some more. And so who knows how long these diatribes were. So while you pondered what to say, and then he says in verse number 12, they didn't get anywhere. I even paid close attention to you. Indeed. There was no one who refuted Joe. Not one of you could answer his words. So you see what he's saying? He's talking to these three men now. He says, you guys are worthless. You said you've been talking for all this time and you haven't gotten anywhere. And so. Then they gave up. Verses 13, do not say we have found wisdom. God will route him, not man, for he has not arraigned his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments. And he's saying, you guys have given up and said, oh, well, we'll just let God take care of him. Well, that probably is a good thing. You know, but he was saying that's what they had done. They had just given up. But now then he's ready to speak himself. Look at verse number 17. I too will answer my share. I will also tell my opinion for I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me. So he basically says, I'm ready to speak for myself. I have an opinion. My dad used to say this all the time. He says, he said, if I want your opinion, I'll ask you for it. When you're done with it, I'll give you 25 cents. That's what he'd say. I've got a lot to say. This man's saying, I've got a lot to say and I am full of words. I have to admit it, sometimes I'm full of words, too full of words, and I need to just curb them sometimes. Just be quiet. Letter C, he is ready to explode. Make sure you get this written down with righteous indignation. He thinks he is right. How many of you ever been in a situation where you made an assessment, you studied the situation, you made an assessment, and you looked at it, and you've just decided you've got all the information, and you found out later you didn't have all the information? Would you just raise your hand? Boy, that righteous indignation, we gotta be real careful about that one. But here's the situation. He can't hold it in anymore. He's gotta let it out. Sounds like somebody else I know in the scriptures. Can you think of anybody else that just couldn't be quiet any longer? How about Jeremiah? Remember what Jeremiah said? Here's 20, chapter 20 in verse number nine. Then I said, I will not make mention of him or speak any more in his name. The reason he was doing it, they were throwing him in dry pits and they were beating him and they were starving him to death. And he'd been preaching and prophesying and telling the truth for Jesus. And the more he preached and prophesied, the worse they treated him. So he finally said, I'm just not gonna say anything anymore. But watch what he says. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding back and I could not. Fire in my bones. Man, that's a beautiful thing for somebody that feels like they've been called to preach. You got a fire in your bones and you can't be quiet. Well, that's the way he was a prophet. How about this one? Paul was similar. He says in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, he says, for if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of for necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. Kind of similar. So we got Elihu saying, I'm about to burst here. I've got a lot to say. I've got an opinion. I see a few holes in your story and I'm going to come at you. I've got to say something. So he's similar a little bit to Jeremiah, a little bit to Paul. And then number four, here's something else about him. We're still in chapter 32. This man was arrogant. Look at verse number 14. For he has not arraigned his words against me, nor will I reply to him with your arguments. He said, I'm not going to use what you said. I got my own things to say. And he was arrogant. And then verse 21 to 22, he says, let me now be partial to no one, nor flatter any man, for I do not know how to flatter, else my maker would soon take me away. So that's where he's at. He says, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna give it to you. So he was arrogant. And you have to admit, you know, sometimes it's hard to be humble when you're young. How many of you feel like you have got a little bit better grip on patience and humility because you're getting older than you did when you were 25? How many of you? Yeah, 25 is a hard age to be, I'm going to tell you right now. 21, it's hard. 21 to 25, I think we know everything. I keep thinking about my dad tonight for some reason. I don't know why, but here's another one of his things he used to do. He'd ask me on my birthday, how old are you? And I'd say, he knew how old I was, and he'd just ask, how old are you? I turned 21. He says, 21. He says, well, you get to be 31, you'll know something. And I turned 31, and I get to be 31. He'd say, how old are you? I'd say, well, I'm turning 31. He'd say, well, you get to be 41, you'll know something. He'd do that. He'd just keep doing it. Well, guess what? and he was getting old he's a one and so he asked me when i was fifty one he said to me how are you he said fifty one he says you get much older you'll find out you never go learn anything he says i'm eighty one i know less than i've ever known in my life uh... that was just here on the one thing about him today so much but that's the way it was and uh... but it is true you know nobody knows how to rear children like a young lady who hadn't had any yet Isn't that true? Nobody knows how to do anything. Be a father, be a mother. I mean, you know, some people never run a business and know how to tell you how to run your business. Nobody that's never, I mean, you can just take that down any road you want to. But, you know, youth has a lot of wisdom, they think. So sometimes it's hard to be humble when we are young. Letter A, he called Job by his name. Jerry, thanks for mentioning that. He called Job by his name, Job, seven times. this diatribe in chapter number 33. Seven times he is going to call Job, Job. Did you know that not one of the other three ever said that? This man, gotta remember who he was now, this is Job. God said he was the wisest man of all of the East. He was godly, he loved God, hated evil, and did nothing but good. He was generous to everyone, he was a good man. But now when he's going through a series of rough times, this young man, Elihu, no longer has any respect for him at all. So, in those days young men did not so disrespect an elder, even those three friends did never address him as Job. He disrespected Job, let her be. The man that had been the most respected man of the East, Job 1-3 was nothing to Elihu. Now, let me just make a modern day observation. I'm afraid today's world cares nothing for the reputation of our forefathers. They don't care about the one who gave it all, poured their blood out, what does it say in that one writ, you know, their sacred honor and so on, life, blood, sacred honor, they poured it out for us and be able to be free. I don't think this generation knows history, much less are they interested in history. I don't think they know what the people, what Washington had to do crossing the Delaware in the winter barefooted to win, to make us a free nation. I don't think they know anything about, if there's a subject I've read too much about, it's the Civil War. I've read lots and lots and lots of book. I think Bruce Catton is the best author in history on the Civil War, read lots of books. I don't think they know anything about our history, the scourge of a Civil War that killed a million people. A million people died in the Civil War. How many died in Vietnam? 50,000 some odd. How many died in World War II? About 100 and something thousand. The Civil War, a million Americans at a time when we didn't have 320 million like we do now. And we look back and see what those guys were, read about Lincoln, read about some of those people and some of the principles that they followed. And I mean, there was fault on both sides, there was righteousness on both sides, but yet it was a, they don't know. They don't know about World War I, don't know about World War II, don't know about, they don't know, they don't appreciate, don't think about it, don't look back. Well, he's talking to Job like he's just somebody at the end of the block here, you know, somebody that's run on hard times and he's gonna straighten them out. And boy, if there's anything I would like to change, I would love to change. I'm really dating myself tonight. When I was a little boy and a lady walked in the room, I stood up. I mean, is that so unreasonable? Because if I didn't, if I didn't, my dad would say, are you sick? Are you ill? Now, I'm not saying we have to go back to that, but there is some loss of respect for people of age. And it was impossible that an adult could come in a room and a young person not greet them and say hello to them. And we live in a generation, and I'm so thankful for the hard work that Jonathan and Andrew are doing. Many of our students, I'll go up and just get among them and talk to them. They'll talk to me like I'm a human instead of ignore me and run the other direction. Thank the Lord for that. But I'm just, these kind of things come out as I'm thinking about this guy like you. He's talking to Job like he's a rug rat. He's gonna, he's just, it's ridiculous the way. And Jerry, what you've got next week's even a lot worse than what we have here tonight. I mean, he's, Jerry's gonna pick it up and go on with this guy. But they care nothing today's about the sacrifice of those that have gone before us. Today's young people have a mentality of entitlement. They think they deserve it all and they should have it now and not have to sacrifice for it and it should be free. Well, you see where we are. So, it really hurts my heart to see what's happening in my country. He disrespected Job. Now, let's go on now. First, we talked about his claims. Now, we're going to look at this next chapter, Elihu's critique. Elihu's critique, and here's what God is saying through me. In other words, here's why I'm able to say what I'm saying, that was chapter 32, and now then he says, here's what God wants to say through me. Elihu wants to be heard, he's young, he's brash, he's cocky, but he does have a few good things to say. Even a broken clock gets it right twice a day, right? And so this man, this man Elihu is gonna say things right out of his mouth that he does not even know he's saying. And by the end of this chapter, it's almost like he's a prophet. And I know that he did not plan to be a prophet. This is the inspiration of God overpowering this man in his speech. It's amazing what's gonna happen. So he's brash, he's cocky, but he's got a few good things to say. And let's not forget that God spoke through Balaam and his donkey. Don't forget that. God can speak through anybody He wants to. So He is going to do so. So Elihu, first of all, tries to give some assurances. He thinks, I've been talking about being angry, talking about wrath, maybe I need to back off a little bit. Let's read chapter 33, verse 1 to 7. However, now Job, there it is. See it? However, now Job, please hear my speech and listen to all of my words. Behold now, I open my mouth, my tongue is in my mouth, speaks. My words are from the uprightness of my heart and my lips speak knowledge sincerely. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Refute me if you can. Array yourself before me. Take your stand. Behold, I belong to God like you. I too have been formed out of the clay. Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, nor should my pressure weigh heavily upon you. He's going back and forth like a yo-yo here. One minute he's accusatory, and the next minute he's apologetic. Accusatory and apologetic. Well, you know, I don't really mean to offend you, but, have you ever been around people like that? Don't let me say anything to really hurt your feelings, but, that's what he's doing. That's what he's doing. Up and down, he's a yo-yo. Elihu's assurances to Job. Verse three, I'm speaking from my heart. Everything I'm gonna tell you is just, I just want you to know how tender my heart is, Job. calling him by his name, this man, it was like, you know, calling him by his first name, not sir. I'm speaking from my heart, verse three. I'm speaking sincerely, verse three. I'm speaking like a man. My life is on loan from God. I'm made of clay just like you are, verse six. I'm just made of clay. I'm listening, you know, just listen to me because I don't think I'm anything important. The next one, letter D, I'm not trying to intimidate you, really, I say. He gets pretty aggressive in just a minute. Next he says, I'm expecting a reply. Let's talk this out. He says, what I really want is the dialogue. Drop down to verse number 31. 33, 31, 33, 31. Pay attention, Job. Listen to me. Keep silent and let me speak. Then if you have anything to say, answer me. Speak for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me. Keep silent and I will teach you wisdom. Wait a minute, back up. Let's go back up here. It says in verse number five, 33, five, refute me if you can. Array yourself before me. Take your stand. In other words, answer me. Then verse 31, 33, shut up. That's what he's saying. It's right there in the pages. It's amazing. Elihu's argument with Job. What'd he do? Look at verse eight. Verse number eight. Surely you have spoken in my hearing and I have heard the sound of your words. I am pure without transgression. Now wait a minute now, watch what he's doing. You have spoken in my hearing and I have heard the sound of your words, colon. Now he's quoting Job. I am pure without transgression. I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. Behold, he invents pretext against me. He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks. He watches all my paths. That's what he said. That was the quotation or his version of the quotation of Job. So he took Job's words to mean that Job thought he was sentless. So he misquoted him, verse eight through 11. He bent his words. We must be very careful about the difference between what a person says and how we hear it. How many of you thought you were communicating clearly to somebody about something that was pretty important, and you were communicating clearly, but they heard something completely different than what you actually said? Have you ever been in that situation? How many of you have been on the other side of it? Somebody, you know, why is this? Steve Miller ought to be here tonight. Steve Miller's got a book, it's called How to Say Anything to Anybody, and he's like conquered it, it's really good. And it's a book about, and it talks about the fact that once the temperature goes up and the tone goes up and the anger goes up, communication goes way down, you neither hear what the other person is saying and you neither understand just how loud and how vicious you are in what you're saying. You ever been in that situation where a conversation quickly, you know, diminishes from a conversation to an argument and a debate? How much do we accomplish in a debate with anybody in a one-on-one situation? How much? How about an argument? Do we get anywhere in an argument? Does whoever yells the loudest and has the last word win? Does the other person cede the victory to you and say, well, you know, you out yelled me and you must be right. Never happens, does it? So basically, it has to stay on the level of a conversation. And so this is where we are. He heard what Job had to say and he took it to mean Job was saying, I have never sinned. That's not what Job said. And it's not what he meant. It's the difference between the two words imply and infer. Do we have any English people here tonight that you're English, you're a literature student and you have studied enough to know the difference between those? You know, if you look them up, a lot of people think they're synonyms, imply, infer. They are not synonyms. They are not. I imply and you infer from what I have implied. You understand what I mean? I, when you're listening to me and I say, I say to Mary, she's sitting right here and I say, Mary, that version of the Bible is really not the version of the Bible I like. Now, if I, I'm just, I don't even know what you're reading, but if I just say that, all right, then she can say, are you implying that this is not an accurate version of the Bible? And then on the other hand, I could say you're inferring that that's what I said. You see the difference? In other words, I can say something and you can think I'm implying one thing or another. But what you're actually doing is hearing what I'm saying and you infer that I implied and said something that I really didn't say. It's fancy words for just simply saying we do not always hear well, we do not always communicate well, and it usually has to do with the tone and the temperature of the situation rising. Do you think that Elihu, as he was sitting there listening, now remember now, how many times did he say anger in chapter 32, the first part? He's angry, he's angry, I'm wrathful, I'm full of wrath. Do you think he was really hearing what Job was saying really, really well? No. So he thought Job was implying that he was sinless. I didn't mean to give an English lesson tonight, but it's very important for us to understand. We need to hear exactly what somebody is saying and be quiet long enough to let them finish saying it.