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ELIHU'S THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING

Having said all that, I think you are now ready to listen to Elihu's theology of suffering. There are two main points to Elihu's theology of suffering:

(1) God sends suffering to save Job and to save you from pride. 

In Job 33:14-19, Elihu says, "For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal [or cut off] pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones."

And so you can see in Job 33:17 that in suffering, there is the role of cutting off pride from people. Job had a problem with pride. He had a problem with arrogance.  He had too high an opinion of himself. He had an exaggerated estimate of his wisdom and abilities. Elihu clearly sees Job's pride and points it out.  Elihu is a good counsellor. He puts his finger on the very issue that needs to be dealt with in Job's heart.

Look at what Elihu says in Job 34:34, " Men of understanding will say to me, and the wise man who hears me will say: 'Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.' Would that Job were tried to the end because he answers like wicked men. For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God." 
This is an accusation of pride.

Look at what Elihu says again in Job 35:12-13 "There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it... Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge."
Why do people multiply words without knowledge? It is because of their pride!

In Job 36:9 we also read the following in regard to God, "then he declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly."

God points out the sin of men and women when they act arrogantly.

Job 36:18 says, "Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing"
Scoffing at God, of course, is one of the highest forms of pride.

And in Job 37:24, the Bible speaks of God saying that, " Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit."
Don't be wise in your own conceit! And Elihu is pointing out these problems to Job.

Have you ever considered why pride is such a serious issue and why pride is such a serious sin? Let me point out to you some simple quotations on pride and I think it will remind you of why this is such an important issue. These quotes are from various different authors and some of them are just very short.

"Pride shuts out grace. All those who exalt themselves wedge war with God", that was stated by John Calvin. Pride is the mother of all contempt of God. The whole human race is infected with the disease of pride. The natural man is always looking at himself and admiring himself.  We are all naturally self-righteous. Pride is the family disease of all the children of Adam. When we take to ourselves that is God's, the whole course of our lives is out of joint. Pride stops the current of gratitude.  And then here are some statements from our good friend Charles Spurgeon. He always has statements worthy of listening to. Here is what Spurgeon says, "No matter how dear you are to God, if pride be harboured in your spirit, He will whip it out of you. They that go up in their own estimation must come down again by his discipline.  Pride is always inconsistent with the true doctrine of the gospel.  You may use this test concerning any preaching or teaching that you meet with.  If it logically leads a man to boast of himself, it is not true. Pride is the devil's dragnet in which he takes more fish than in any other way except procrastination." That is an interesting combination. Pride and procrastination. Spurgeon continues on to say that, "If killed, pride revives, if buried, it bursts the tomb. The gate of heaven though it is so wide that the greatest sinner may enter, it nevertheless is so low that pride can never pass through it."

So pride is serious!  We are back in Job chapter 33. Elihu says here that God speaks to people in two ways.  I didn't point out clearly what was being said there when I was earlier on focusing on and thinking about the issue of pride. In Job 33:14-15, the bible tells us that, "For God speaks in one way, and in two..." That was a poetic way of describing two ways. You would first say one and then you add another one so it becomes more than one; it becomes two ways. And what are the two ways that God speaks? He speaks by His word and by suffering.

You see, in Job's day, before the scripture was complete, in fact as I mentioned in the very first lesson that we had, the book of Job might be the very first book to be written in the Bible. There may not have been any scripture at this point and in Job's day, before scripture was given or completed, God's word came by visions and dreams at night and that is what he is referring to in Job 33:14-15 when he says that, "God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds".  

So God speaks and warns through suffering. Elihu confirms this fact when he says in Job 33:19 that, "Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones". 

So that is another way that God speaks through suffering. And so, Job 33:17 describes God's purpose, "that he may turn man aside from his [sinful] deed and cut off pride from a man"  
That is His purpose.

So God's purpose in the suffering of the righteous is to save you from contemplated evil deeds and to save you from your pride. And so what a different way now, for us and for Job to look at what God is doing in suffering. God is not an angry judge. He is a Savior. He is a rescuer. He is a physician. He is a healer. God uses sickness and suffering not to punish, but to save.

Pain in God's hands is a surgeon's knife, not a policeman's billy club or a policeman's cane. God doesn't just wield a cane indiscriminately. He is doing surgery.  Surgery takes tremendous hand-eye coordination. It requires great skill to take a sharp surgeon's knife and apply it accurately to the need of the one who is sick. But that is what God does.  God uses suffering to save you from pride and from going into greater and deeper sin.

Now that is Elihu's first point in his theology of suffering. Now let us look at point number two.

2. God also sends suffering to purify and sanctify you and Job

Job 36:5-7

And so Elihu is reminding us that there are two groups of people on earth: the wicked who in the end will surely come to destruction; and the righteous who will be exalted. Now this of course, in the long run, will ultimately be true at the end of the age when Christ returns. But what about in the short run during our lifetime on planet earth? Are the wicked always brought down on planet earth and are the righteous always exalted in our experience and in our history? This is Job's question and this is part of Job's concern. This is part of his anxiety.

Now if we stop here with Elihu's statement, he sounds very similar to Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. The wicked get punished here and now, and the righteous get blessed with prosperity here and now. It almost sounds that way. But let us keep going.

Let us read on in Job 36:8-11, " And if they are bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction, then He declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity."

So what Elihu is describing here is how God deals with the righteous. This second group. And righteousness, as we know it from scripture, does not mean sinless perfection. Job, Abraham, Moses and David were all called righteous; but they had remaining sin. They were not sinless.  A proper understanding of the Christian life is that when you receive a new heart because of the gift of God's regeneration, you do not receive a perfect new heart. If you embrace perfectionism which is a very common error within Christian history, you will end up with absolute confusion toward other people and toward yourself.  Many people have left the faith because of embracing the false teaching of perfectionism. Perfectionism is a killing, untrue doctrine. The Bible does not teach it.  God took his saints, his righteous ones because of their remaining sin.  He took them through suffering to reveal their remaining sin.

And so what Elihu is saying in Job 36:8-11 is that suffering made Job and it will make you aware of and sensitive to your remaining sin. It will point it out. It will open your ears.  Suffering opens up your ears to God's teaching about your remaining sin.  

Let me remind you of Psalm 119:67 where it is written that, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray but now I keep your word." Aahh, affliction has a purpose! Psalms 119:71 goes on to tell us that, "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes." Aaah, affliction brings the learning of God's statutes, of his law. Psalm 119:75 says, "I know Lord that your rules are righteous and in faithfulness, you have afflicted me. So that I might learn your law.  So that I might be spared from sin."

There are lessons of godliness, of sin, of holiness and obedience that only are learned from the teacher named suffering. That is what the book of Job is teaching us.  God's great teacher is pain! God's great instructor is affliction! Suffering stirs up your sin, just like sediment is stirred up when a bottle is shaken.  Suffering stirs up your sin in that same way.  

Job's sin came out when his pride and sin were stirred up by suffering. So Elihu is contributing something new to a biblical theology of suffering.  Suffering for the righteous is not for punishment, suffering for the righteous is not for your destruction.  It is for your purification. It is for your refining. It is for your holiness. It is for dealing with your remaining sin. 

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