Learn from Elihu that God sends Suffering to Save his People from Pride and to Purify them
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THE RESPONSE OF THE WICKED AND THE RIGHTEOUS TO SUFFERING
Elihu then describes the response of these two groups of people (the wicked and the righteous) to suffering.
1. The Response of the Wicked to Suffering
In Job 36:12, he says, "But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. 'The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them. They die in youth, and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.'"
For the godless in heart, suffering will end in destruction. They will just become angry in the midst of the suffering. They don't cry out for God's help in the midst of the suffering and they die in their youth or they end in the same kind of shame that the cult prostitutes were ending in. And of course, the cult prostitutes were people who practised sexual immorality and deserved the greatest shame in their rebellion against God. So both the wicked and the righteous suffer, but God's purpose is not the same. And God's grace enables the righteous to learn from suffering and to grow and mature from suffering.
2. The Response of the Righteous to Suffering
In contrast to their response of the wicked to suffering, the response of the righteous is quite different. See what Job 36:15 says: "He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity."
Now if you go back in the text that we looked at, you will see that the afflicted he is speaking of here is the second group of the righteous. So what does God do with the righteous? How is their response different? He delivers the afflicted from sin. He "opens their ear by adversity". How does God get your ear? We often go along in life just plunging ahead. And when God is speaking, we behave as if we are too busy to listen. When God is speaking to us, we seem to say, "I am too busy. I have got too much going on. I am too busy to listen to you". And how does God get our attention so that our ear is opened? Often, it is through affliction! That is what Job is teaching us.
And so, their ears are open in their affliction and they experience deliverance by their suffering. So both the wicked and the righteous suffer but God's purpose is not the same. God's grace enables the righteous to learn from suffering and grow and mature from suffering.
Page 4 ⇦ Previous | Next ⇨ Page 6
THE RESPONSE OF THE WICKED AND THE RIGHTEOUS TO SUFFERING
Elihu then describes the response of these two groups of people (the wicked and the righteous) to suffering.
1. The Response of the Wicked to Suffering
In Job 36:12, he says, "But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. 'The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them. They die in youth, and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.'"
For the godless in heart, suffering will end in destruction. They will just become angry in the midst of the suffering. They don't cry out for God's help in the midst of the suffering and they die in their youth or they end in the same kind of shame that the cult prostitutes were ending in. And of course, the cult prostitutes were people who practised sexual immorality and deserved the greatest shame in their rebellion against God. So both the wicked and the righteous suffer, but God's purpose is not the same. And God's grace enables the righteous to learn from suffering and to grow and mature from suffering.
2. The Response of the Righteous to Suffering
In contrast to their response of the wicked to suffering, the response of the righteous is quite different. See what Job 36:15 says: "He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity."
Now if you go back in the text that we looked at, you will see that the afflicted he is speaking of here is the second group of the righteous. So what does God do with the righteous? How is their response different? He delivers the afflicted from sin. He "opens their ear by adversity". How does God get your ear? We often go along in life just plunging ahead. And when God is speaking, we behave as if we are too busy to listen. When God is speaking to us, we seem to say, "I am too busy. I have got too much going on. I am too busy to listen to you". And how does God get our attention so that our ear is opened? Often, it is through affliction! That is what Job is teaching us.
And so, their ears are open in their affliction and they experience deliverance by their suffering. So both the wicked and the righteous suffer but God's purpose is not the same. God's grace enables the righteous to learn from suffering and grow and mature from suffering.
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