“Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because
they were elder than he.” – Job 32:4
I’m sorry; I like this boy. I like the fact that he
waited until the old men had spoken, when he was ready to burst with what he
wanted to say (v. 18-19). I like the way he recognized that "multitude of
years should speak wisdom." I realize that later on he gets a little
bombastic and carried away with the sound of his own voice; but, by and large,
I think he handles himself fairly well in the company of these older men. (I
notice that in the last chapter, God rebukes Job's other three friends, but not
Elihu.)
+ God’s Word or Just My Opinion? +
“And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered
and said, I am young,
and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst
not show you mine
opinion." (Job 32: 6)
The first thing that recommends him to me is that
he understands what he is about to say is his opinion. Three times in this
chapter he uses the term, "mine opinion." (The word is only used in
one other place in the Bible.) The fact that he is willing to acknowledge his
words are not etched in stone is commendable.
It’s important in life to be able to distinguish
between "Thus saith the Lord" and our own opinions. The latter do
not, and should never, carry the same weight as the plain teaching of the Word
of God. To put my opinions on the same plane as God's, is to trivialize the
Bible and make me an authority unto myself—and, worse, others. There are enough
enumerated sins and plain directives in the Word of God to keep us straight. We
need not try to make a holy principle out of what is only a subjective opinion.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) wrote, “Call
your opinions your creed, and you will change them every week. Make your creed
simply and broadly out of the revelation of God, and you will keep it to the end.”
+ How Shall I Repent? +
"Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have
borne chastisement, I will not offend anymore: That which I see not teach thou
me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more." (Job 34: 31-32)
The boy’s right again; surely this is the way to
approach God when we have sinned. Repentance is a lost art, I think. So few of
us are very good at it, no doubt, because we've had so little practice. We're
quick to lay hold on Psalm 103:14 ("For He knoweth our frame; he
remembereth that we are dust."), but much slower to acknowledge
Ezekiel 18:30 ("Repent, and turn
yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your
ruin."). There are so many extenuating circumstances to our sin that
by the time we're through voicing them, we almost appear blameless. Even Adam
and Eve, without parents (today's common scapegoat), still found some place
else to shift the blame.
Elihu may have been self-righteous and
self-assured, but he did have a knack for getting to the point: "Show me
my sin, and I won't do it anymore." How simple and straightforward is
that? Not, "Work with me on this, God; you know my temperament and
background and how threatening authority can be to me." (I'm rolling my
eyes.) We can never hope to experience forgiveness and cleansing till we are
willing to come clean with God. He’s not looking for penance, but He
does expect penitence. Repentance is not just being sorry for our
sin; it’s being sorry enough to quit.
Have I been able to
revise your opinion somewhat of this long-winded young man (chap. 32-37), One
thing is true: he did know how to brag about His God! But one way or the other,
take these two questions his words generated in my own mind and let them speak
to your heart. Truth is truth no matter who speaks it…or how old he or she may
be.
“…And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye not read,
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” - Matt. 21:16
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