Job 37:1 At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.
2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.
3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
4 After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
5 God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
7 He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
In this chapter Elihu gives his version of the majesty of God. He begins with a wrong understanding of how a child of God comes before God.
II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
When a person is saved and walking in obedience to God’s will, he or she does not need to tremble before God. The Bible says we need to have the fear of the Lord in our lives, but that is not trembling before God. The fear of the Lord is that holy reverence for God. We show great respect for Him and we bow before Him in worship and in humility. We desire to know Him and follow Him. As we see in II Timothy 1:7, God does not give us the spirit of fear. God blesses His child with power and love and a sound mind. We stand in awe of God and we draw nigh to Him with humble hearts.
In Hebrews 4:16 we see that those who are saved are privileged to be able to come before the Lord boldly. This is not in arrogance. It is an understanding that God is ready to hear from His child at any time. We do not need to think that our needs are frivolous and not worthy of being brought before Almighty God, not if we are asking according to His will.
Thus in our opening verses, Elihu is suggesting a false sense of humility. He is speaking honestly of himself because he does not have a true relationship with God. The Hebrew word translated as “trembleth” means “to shudder with terror”. God does not want His children to shudder in His presence. He wants His children to be in awe of Him. He wants His children to bow before Him and to worship in His presence.
In verse 2 Elihu spoke of the “noise of his voice”. The word translated as “noise” means “commotion, restlessness”. Elihu certainly had some strange understanding of God. God’s voice is loud. He thunders across the world. He speaks with authority and power, but He is not making a commotion. He wants man to stop and realize He is in charge. Man will stand before Him, and God wants man to be able to stand before Him in heaven, not at the entry of the lake of fire. Elihu had a major problem in his life and he was not willing to address that. He would need God to shut him down.
In verses 3-5 Elihu spoke of the thunderings of the Lord. False religions have developed a mythology regarding many things about God. The devil is behind that. He does not want man to stand in awe of God. He wants man to walk in fear and to be bound by fear. This is what we have witnessed and still are witnessing over the past three years. The world leaders have discovered one of the keys to controlling people. Fear of death is a major crippling issue for most. Rather than turn to God, many turn to sooth-sayers to try to appease their guilty consciences and quell their fears. There are people who have panic attacks. They do not know the Lord and they allow the devil to bring them to such an hysteria that it incapacitates them. The devil is laughing at his minions.
Jesus Christ came to set the captive free. It is important to know Him and to follow Him. He alone can give you peace.
In verses 6-10 Elihu pointed out that God is in charge of the weather and the climate. He is right in that. The snow comes at His command, not due to “man-made climate change”. He sends the gentle rain and the violent storms. Florida has experienced massive rainfall this past week. There has been extensive flooding due to the deluge of rain. This is not due to man’s use of fossil fuels and of cows and chickens producing nitrogen. This is God working to get man’s attention. We do not need a haven such as Florida to get away from the cold weather. We need the haven of rest that is found in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. If we know the Lord, we can handle the variations in the seasons. If we don’t know the Lord we may get frustrated with weather conditions that don’t meet with our approval.
It is important to know the Lord. Elihu was giving his impression of who God is. He had some facts right, but He drew wrong conclusions. His goal was to break Job. He was sure that Job was fighting against God and he needed to repent and get right with God. Elihu was wrong on that. After a few more words, God would silence Elihu as well and He would address Job. This would be the response that Job needed and it would come right on time. God is never late and He is never early. We may assume that He is, but that is our finite thinking. It is another tactic of the devil to try to discourage a true child of God.
The solution is to know the true God and walk closely with Him. We do not snap our fingers when in a difficult situation and expect God to jump at our command. We walk with Him on a daily basis and learn to trust Him in all things so that when difficulties come, we will continue to trust Him. He is always good and He is always right.
Psalm 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Pastor Bartel
