Elihu continues on. He takes a moment first to remind Job that he (Elihu) is full of the spirit of God, so that the words he is saying are absolutely true. How does one argue with that? That always sends up a red flag, whenever someone says that to me. Sometimes its harder to listen to someone that way. And with all the false premises flying around, it would have been easy for Job to wave off Elihu's words. Job had really no understanding of what was actually happening to him. His comrades had even less. But the youngster musters his moxie and begins answering questions no one asked.
But he does do a good job describing how big and mighty and powerful God is. So, you know, he's got that going for him, which is nice.
But he does kind of stray off into saying that Job is on the receiving end of punishment due wicked men. And to accuse Job of prefering evil to affliction is rather ridiculous. Is Elihu completely unaware of Job's previous reputation? I don't know how much Elihu knows about Job, but it doesn't appear to be all that much.
Why this exalting God? I mean, outside of the obvious, that any praise is due God, etc. But all four seem to remove their focus from Job, and then tell Job how great and almighty and mysterious and just God is. Do they wish to align themselves with God, while putting them at odds with Job, in hopes that he will see his error, and then pat them on the back with thanks, for helping him pull himself out of his sinful backslide? I'm not sure, but it seems kind of empty. Maybe it's genuine, but these guys have already firmly ensconced themselves in the wrong, so it's easy to be cynical about their intentions.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment