Slices
Prepare
‘Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him’ (John 7:18).
Bible passage
37 ‘At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, “Fall on the earth,”
and to the rain shower, “Be a mighty downpour.”
7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labour.
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
9 The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
13 He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 ‘Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 ‘Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21 Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendour;
God comes in awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
24 Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?’
Explore
In this, Elihu’s last discourse, God’s mighty power and sovereignty over all things is the subject and the prelude to God himself speaking (chapter 38). At chapter end, Elihu stops as suddenly as he started, but not before highlighting the undeniable fact of Job’s miserable experience and God’s response to it: God is still in charge (vs 23,24).
Job’s complaint all along has been: where is God? Has he gone AWOL? Why hasn’t he helped? Doesn’t he care? Elihu answers these complaints in God’s absence. In a way, he almost does so to prepare Job for what is to come. But Job is listening to a man. What could Elihu say that Job could not have gleaned by his own wisdom?
How do we hear God speaking to us alongside his word in Scripture? Can we hear it in the voice of another telling us about the things of God? Do we notice the Holy Spirit’s blessings in our everyday experience? Do we see it in creation? Do we sense it in prayer? How does God’s awesome majesty make itself plain, so that we become ‘wise in heart’ (v 24)?
Respond
How might God be speaking to you today? In 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 Paul encourages us in our prayerful relationship with God. Allow the Holy Spirit to help you now.
Deeper Bible study
‘For the beauty of the earth, / for the glory of the skies, … Lord of all to you we raise, / this our sacrifice of praise.’1
A transformation takes place in Elihu here. In a moment full of amazing grace, the Holy Spirit comes upon him and changes this arrogant young man into an usher tasked with welcoming the presence of the Almighty. His heart begins to pound with anticipation and excitement (v 1), like a bridegroom about to unveil his sweetheart. Then he hears something that none of Job’s friends can hear – the approaching sounds of a divine encounter. Changed from his judgemental and censorious ways by the revelation that is affecting him deeply within, Elihu begins to prophesy. As with all prophecy, his words reflect those of the Lord himself2 so that his inspired utterance is but an echo of what God will, in turn, say. Elihu’s speech even foreshadows structurally the Lord’s own words as he launches a barrage of rhetorical questions that manage at one and the same time to be ‘devastatingly sardonic, exquisitely tender, and grandly glorious’.3 These are the marks of authentic prophecy. An ordinary young person, a sinner, receives an anointing to speak God’s words. True prophets paint the most vivid of pictures, because their colours are drawn from God’s own majestic palette, itself a revelation of his person and his heart.
A remarkably scientific description of atmospheric conditions and their effects is here too. Elihu’s grasp of the way clouds play a part in evaporation, distillation and the watering of the earth (36:27; 37:11) is amazing, given the antiquity of the text. He is aware that God oversees the elements and has knitted all these things together for the good of humanity. He anticipates the chapters ahead in which Job and all his friends must bow the knee to the maker of heaven and earth, casting their theological ideas and judgements at his feet in repentance.
Read Psalm 24:1,2. Worship God for his glory seen in the clouds, rain and sunshine. Thank him for the wonders revealed in the earth.
1 Folliott S Pierpoint, 1835–1917 2 Compare vs 15,16 with 38:34–37 3 Mike Mason, The Gospel According to Job, Crossway Books, 1994, p373
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 8,9; Acts 28
Pray for Scripture Union
The SU Council will be meeting today. Give thanks for each member and pray that they will discern God’s heart during their discussions and that SU’s ministry will be enhanced as a result.
