I lost my awe of God. In part that is why I wrote this book. O, I would experience it from time to time, but I no longer seemed to be in constant awe of God. The problem was that I didn't lose it all at once. It wasn't so much that I suddenly became caught up in the world, which probably would have been easier to notice. My first clue, which I ignored, was that my worship became rote. I was going thought the motions when I worshipped. I wrote it off as "I can't sing so I will just endure the worship service." I always looked forward to the message, however. I was always excited to learn more about God. That was actually the worst part of losing my awe. As I look back, it seemed to slowly disappear as I learned more about God. The irony is of course that it should have increased. As I learned more, God did not become less mysterious but I became more comfortable with the mysteries. Slowly and very subtly, my sense of awe began to evaporate. If I had not decided to tackle the Book of Job, I don't think I would have even noticed that it was missing. Of course, my initial motive for studying Job had nothing to do with awe. It was only after several years of coming back again and again to the Book of Job that I begin to realize that it had an entirely different purpose for my life than I had expected. I believe that God was working in my life to draw me to Job to learn just what I ultimately learned, that I too need to rediscover my sense of wonder in God. My experience is not unique. Unfortunately it is very easy to visit a church today and almost immediately tell if it is a body that is full of awe or if it is a body that just goes through the motions. So, how do you discover that you have lost your sense of awe and how do you rediscover it? The four warning signs developed in chapter 3 are a start. If your life reflects any of those signs then you need to stop and evaluate the nature of your awe of God. If you discover that the warning signs are pointing to a significant lack of awe, the next question is how do you deal with the problem? How do you rediscover you sense of wonder in God? That is the issue that drives this entire book and the first step in this process is covered in this chapter.
Finding awe, rediscovering our sense of wonder in God, is difficult because it is hard to recognize that we ever lost it. In part that is because every believer whether they truly had a sense of awe or not would acknowledge that God is deserving of awe. The problem is not one of "does God deserve awe" rather it is "do we understand what awe is and can we recognize when it is missing?" It seems that intellectual awe, a simple acknowledgment that awe is necessary, is almost universal among believers but emotional awe, the true expression of wonder at God, is rare. Rediscovering awe requires that we transfer what we know to be true about God from our minds to our hearts. And this seems to be a difficult task. If it was easy, more believers would display awe in their lives. If it was easy, Job would not have had to go through all that he did just to develop his own sense of awe. If it was not important, God would not have provided the story of Job as a tool for us to learn about the need for awe.
In this chapter, we will take the first step down the path to rediscovering our sense of wonder. When you finally take that step it may seem like an obvious one, but sometimes the obvious is more difficult to accept precisely because it is obvious. To set the stage for this step, I believe it is helpful to consider how it was finally presented to Job. It is important to understand how both God and Job dealt with the loss of awe.
God did not go to Job and tell him directly that he needed to develop a sense of awe. It wouldn't have worked. Job most likely would have argued with God. I certainly would have denied any problem with my sense of awe if someone had approached me several years ago. Even if Job could have responded to such a direct request, he wouldn't have understood what God was really asking. He couldn't have said, "OK God, You're right so I will start to feel awe." It just doesn't work that way. To develop a sense of awe, first the lack of awe must be recognized then the barriers to awe have to be removed and finally a reason to be in awe of God must be established. So God had to first remove the barriers to awe that Job had developed all through his life. Then God had to start rebuilding Job's view of Him from the ground up. To "remodel" Job, God first had to tear down the old Job. In this chapter we are going to examine that demolition process and the pouring of the new foundation for Job's life of awe. The remaining chapters will cover the rest of the rebuilding of Job.
The Demolition
Job was a righteous man. Even God singled him out as a fine example of a servant of God but Job was not complete. He lacked a sense of awe about God. In fact, Job felt like he had his life all put together in a nice little package. He knew the "rules". He lived by the "rules". As a result, he expected God would meet his needs. It appeared that it worked. As far as Job was concerned, his prosperity was evidence of his good relationship with God. Much like Sally in the last chapter, as long as he remained right with God, Job felt like everything would continue to go well. Life was sweet until God decided it was time to remodel Job, keeping all that was righteous about him and adding a sense of wonder to the foundation of Job's life. But as long as Job felt like he was in control, that the "rules" worked, he would never accept such a remodeling job. So, God had to begin by taking the sense of control away from Job. God did this by violating the "rules" Job had lived by all his life.
God used Satan to take everything from Job: his family, his wealth, his health. Suddenly Job's world was turned upside down. Job couldn't understand what happened or why it happened. The "rules" he had lived by so successfully no longer seemed to apply. He felt betrayed. He felt abandoned by God. Something was not right. After all, Job was a righteous person and according to Job's view of the world, God does not abandon righteous people. God rewards the righteous and punishes the unrighteous. That was the way the universe worked as far as Job was concerned. As a result, Job felt like a colossal mistake had been made and he had no idea what to do about it. If only he could talk to God, he thought, everything would be set right again. So, he tried to bring his case to God but it was clear (to Job at least) that God was not listening. Job was in pain, he was alone, he was confused and he was helpless.
It may not (I hope) be as drastic a step as God took in the life of Job, but when we begin to feel like we are in control of things, God can pull the rug out of under us. When that happens, we, like Job, can feel confused, helpless, and alone. What we need to remember in those times is that God is taking back control for a reason. We don't need to fight to regain control as much as we need to discover the reason. For a full exploration of this issue you will have to wait until chapter 6, but for now learn from Job's response.
We know (because we can read to the end of the Book of Job) that Job lacked awe, but Job was not aware of the problem. God's actions which violated Job's view of the universe and how it operated were not enough to communicate to Job the true nature of his problem, especially since Job did not feel like he had a problem. His sense of how things should work was so strong that he could not see that there was a lesson for him in all these terrible events. From Job's perspective it had to be a mistake. Yet, if Job could not face the nature of his problem, he could never take steps to fix it. If he could not learn the lesson, he would have suffered for nothing. So, ultimately Job had to accept that his problems did not come from God; they came from his lack of awe. Once he realized that then Job had to find a way to develop a sense of awe. This is a common approach to any problem in our lives. First we have to recognize and accept the true nature of the problem and then we have to find some way to respond to the problem.
So, someone had to tell Job directly that he lacked awe. However, this was a message that Job was not prepared to hear. Job was prepared to defend himself and argue his case with anyone who might challenge his view of the world, including God. Making Job aware of and accepting of his problem was not going to be easy. So how did Job eventually discover a true sense of wonder about God? It started with the intervention of his well meaning but misguided friends, it was followed by the harsh words of a stranger, and it concluded with a direct confrontation with God. It was not an easy process but in the end Job came to realize that he had learned a valuable lesson and now had an entirely new view of God.
Now, there are really two problems at work here at the same time. For most of us the problem is how do we recover the awe of God that we may have lost. That is, most of us are in the same place to one degree or another that Job found himself. For others there will be occasions when you encounter someone who has definitely lost their sense of wonder, so the problem then becomes how do you lead them back to their lost awe? Some of us are Job and some of us find ourselves in the role of a friend of a Job. Some of us are both at different times in our lives.
This chapter deals to some degree with both problems but its emphases is on how you can regain your own sense of awe. However, the Book of Job provides an answer to question of how do we help others regain awe as well. The answer lies in the difference between the approach of Job's three friends and the approach of Elihu. Hopefully, you can learn from the mistakes of the three friends and use the on-target method of Elihu.
Job's First Response
Job's initial response to the tragedies in his life was the correct one. In the first chapter of Job, verses 20 and 21, just after Job has lost most of his wealth, he responds with worship:
Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head; and fell upon the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
God look with favor on this response as described in verse 22 "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." The attitude that all that we have comes from the Lord and belongs to the Lord means that the Lord has the right to take it away at any time. Like Job we should worship God when He gives and worship God when He takes away.
Now, the since Job did not curse God, it would seem that God has won His bet with Satan. In fact, Satan appears again before God and God again points out His servant Job. Just as before God describes Job as a righteous man. In the second chapter of Job verse 3, God's words are striking:
And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Job is blameless and still fears God even though he has lost most of his worldly possessions. But God ends this characterization of Job with statement that had always bothered me. God told Satan that He destroyed Job "without cause." Look at the last sentence again – it says that Satan caused God to move against Job and for no just cause destroy him. As I indicated in chapter two, this did not seem like the kind of thing my God would do. It is an action that would ordinarily be considered an act of injustice. After all, God appears to be admitting that He did something terrible to Job that Job did not deserve. Perhaps the problem lies in the translation of the phrase "without cause". Maybe the English version makes it to strong. Yet, the actual Hebrew word, chinnam, means "devoid of cost, reason, or advantage. There is no getting around the literal meaning of what God says – there was no reason to destroy Job, yet God destroyed him.
So, how do we reconcile this apparent contradiction in the character of God between a just God who acts unjustly towards Job? The answer is to read to the end of Job where we discover that God does have a motive for His actions against Job. All along, God wanted to teach Job what awe was all about. So while God's statement to Satan is true, God did destroy Job without cause on the part of Job it is only part of the picture. In reality God destroyed Job in order to teach Job something very important about God. The apparent destruction of Job was really a major remodeling job done to ultimately benefit Job. Chapter six of this book will cover this issue in great detail. For now, look on God's statement to Satan as a means of baiting Satan to work God's will in Job's life.
At any rate, Satan was not ready to lose so he tells God that certainly Job would not turn on God over the loss of wealth. However, Job would curse God if he experienced pain in his flesh. So God allowed Satan to continue to inflect pain on Job. Job was struck down with sores from head to foot. Yet, Job still refused to turn on God. When Job's wife told him to curse God and die, Job rebuked her. At the end of verse 10 in chapter 2 Job is still blameless: "In all this Job did not sin with lips."
So, if Job continued to worship God after all that happened to him and even in God's evaluation Job did not sin, why did God keep the pressure on? The reason becomes clear later in the book of Job because Job eventually does turn against God. God knew Job's heart. He knew that once He broke through the outer shell, that Job's lack of awe would be exposed. Until Job could confront that issue, the pressure had to continue and it had to build.
I think the lesson that we have to learn here is that an apparent injustice in your life may really be a major effort on the part of God to remodel who you are. Such changes are rarely pain free but the results are always worth the price. Job found that everything he went through ultimately produced a better man.
The Three Friends
Satan takes away all the Job has in life: his possessions, his family, and his health and Job still remains faithful to God. If it all ended here and God restored Job, nothing would have been gained. All the suffering would have been for nothing. God needed to push Job father – to a point in which Job would finally realize that he lacked awe. There was nothing more that Satan could do, so God let man take over. It is interesting to note that the words of man inflicted more suffering on Job than all that Satan was able to do. What an illustration of the power of the tongue to strike at the heart. In spite of all that Satan did, he could not bring Job to strike out against God. But let the friends of Job at him and it doesn't take long for Job to reveal his true heart. There is a real lesson here of the hurt that well meaning comments can bring to those in pain. The story of Job's friends should cause us all to stop and think more about what words of comfort we want to bring to those in need.
So, into Job's pain and confusion come three close friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. Now the story of these three friends and their bungled attempt to help Job is a very interesting one. I encourage you to study both what they have to say to Job and Job's response to their suggestions. Most of what they have to tell Job is on target but, like Job, they also lack a sense of awe. Since they had the same problem as Job, they were not likely to pinpoint it in Job. In the end all three reach the same wrong conclusion: Job has some hidden sin – he has violated one of the "rules" – and God is punishing him. Job's only recourse is to confess his sin and plead for God's mercy in his life. Of course, this is not the case. Job is not being punished – he is being instructed and remodeled. Job has no hidden sin that must be confessed – he only needs to change his view of God. God's intent is not to punish Job but to make Job a better person.
The evidence that at the core of their message the three friends are completely off track is found at the end of Job. God declares His anger towards the three friends in Job 42:7, ". . . the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.'"
Their approach to Job should serve as a warning to us when we seek to help another believer. Don't target a sin in someone else's life unless you are darn sure that the same sin does not exist in your life. Job's three friends were blinded to Job's real problem because they too suffered from a lack of awe. They could hardly help Job with this issue since they could not help themselves. As a result, their efforts were misleading and resulted in a false picture of God. This is something that God does not take lightly as He was ready to pour out His wrath on the three friends if they did not repent. Surely no one wants to be under the wrath of God, so be careful where you tread when you seek to counsel a fellow believer. Certainly this book should not be used as a weapon to search out believers who lack awe. Rather, this book should be used to discover and deal with your own lack of awe. Only after you have settled this issue within yourself should you begin to be concerned with the status of others.
Actually, the three friends do the right thing when they first visit Job. They wept when they saw him and then they sat with him for seven days and seven nights without speaking a word. They quietly shared his pain and suffering. This is a great model for any believer who wants to comfort the suffering of others. When we want to help someone in pain, we often struggle with what to say because the words seem so trite and meaningless. "I'm sorry" just doesn't seem to be enough. "Let me know if you need anything" seems to be a hollow phase. But the lesson here is that sometimes words are not necessary. Your presence is often times more important than your words.
Job's three friends start off by showing a level of compassion that is rare today, but then Job begins to open up and voice his pain. What Job has to say in chapter 3 of the book of Job is very significant. It shows the first crack in Job's outer shell and it scares the three friends. It causes the friends to change their response to Job. Job doesn't curse God but he does curse his life and questions why God would allow him to live.
Eliphaz responds to Job's grief with two charges that illuminate more about Eliphaz then they do about Job's plight. In Chapter 4 verses 5 to 6, Eliphaz claims that Job is impatient with God: "But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence and the integrity of your ways your hope?" This is a tough issue to deal with. How much suffering is enough? How long should the person in pain be expected to wait for relief? Eliphaz feels that Job should not give up hope which is certainly true. I don't think I would have called Job impatient but I probably would have told him to maintain his hope in God. What would you have said to Job at this point? If you were in Job's position what would you like to hear from your friends?
Eliphaz might be called at worst insensitive at this point, but what he does next sets the stage for God's ultimate anger at Eliphaz. Following the charge of impatience, Eliphaz displays his concept of how God runs the universe, which actually matches Job's. In verses 7 to 8 he instructs Job: "Think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." Not only is Job impatient but Eliphaz hints that Job's problems are related to some sin in his life. After all, the upright are not cut off but those who cause trouble reap trouble. Eliphaz's claim is not unusual, even today within the church those who are suffering are looked upon as flawed in some way. In order to understand and make some sense of suffering we tend to say that it is the just result of sin. It is God's way of dealing with the sinner. Perhaps this is the reason for the often used observation that the church "buries its wounded." Yet, we know for a fact that in Job's case this is not true. God specifically says that Job is blameless and upright. In fact he is the most righteous man on earth. By Eliphaz's standard, Job is the last man on earth that should be suffering. Hence, Eliphaz must be wrong. In fact, Job's case alone proves that even today we can not generalize and say that suffering is the evidence of hidden sin.
When Job answers Eliphaz by telling him that ". . . the terrors of God are arrayed against me . . ." and that all he wants is to die, Bildad jumps into the discussion. Bildad's position is much the same as Eliphaz. In verse 20 of chapter 8, Bildad tells Job that "Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers." Like Eliphaz, Bildad hints that Job's problems are his own fault. And for the same reason that Eliphaz was wrong, Bildad is wrong.
More of Job's heart is revealed in his answer to Bildad. Now Job says in chapter 9 verse 15 that "Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him . . ." Notice that Job is claiming innocence and implying that God has made a mistake though Job is not capable of changing God's mind. In a sense Job is right but he is also assuming what Bildad and Eliphaz said is true – suffering is the result of sin. However, from Job's perspective that means that Job should not be suffering because he is innocent therefore God must have made a mistake. Now this leads to an interesting observation about Job's heart (and the heart of anyone else that likes to follow if-then rules). What Job is saying is that the rule is paramount. The rule comes first, God is just its administrator and in his case God has not done a very good job of keeping the rule. The point is that the rule is God.
Now it is Zophar's turn to get involved and all pretext at hinting that Job is at fault is dropped when Zophar tells Job in chapter 11 verse 6 that ". . . know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves." What Zophar is saying is that everything that has happened to Job is really less than what he deserves as a sinner. Of course that is true. We all deserve death because of our sin. But what Zophar really implies here is that Job's punishment for his sin is less than what he deserves. The fact that we all deserve to die for our sins has nothing to do with distinction between Job's suffering and Zophar's prosperity. God is not judging Job for his sins; he is taking Job through a trial for a reason. What Zophar and Job both miss is the nature of the trial and the reason for it. In any event, Zophar's statement to Job is the ultimate in insensitivity. There is no comfort to be found in the statement that no matter how much you suffer in life it is less than what you deserve.
Now with everything out in the open as far as the three friends are concerned, Job has been pushed to the point where he is ready to reveal his true desire. It is not death; it is a confrontation with God. He tells his friends in chapter 13 verse 3 "But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God." This is the same Job who just moments before claim that though he was innocence he could not answer to God. Yet here he is wanting to confront God. Now Job's true heart is out in the open. Job's attitude that he can argue with God and prevail, that he is right and God is wrong, is the strongest indicator yet that Job lacks awe in God. Now you might claim that you would never reach a place where you felt like you could argue with God about His decisions but be honest is that really true? After all, Job was the most righteous man on earth and yet he now finds himself challenging God. How much pressure from the world would it take for you to feel unjustly persecuted? Without a strong sense of awe, all of us would end up where Job did.
This argument between Job and his friends goes on until the end of chapter 31. It gets more heated with charges flying back and forth. It is worthwhile to read the passages in detail looking at how the three friends dig themselves in and refuse to listen to Job and how Job becomes more and more defensive. The whole process has swung from one extreme to the other; from quietly sitting and sharing Job's pain to verbal abuse on both sides. While they started off providing us with an outstanding example of how believers should comfort each other then end by providing us with an example of what not to do as well.
Finally it all comes to an end when the Bible describes the situation as ". . . The words of Job are ended. So the three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes." This is an interesting statement. From the standpoint of the three friends it illustrates when a confrontation should end. It is a waste of time to argue with someone who is self-righteous. Don't bother to carry on a discussion with someone who is totally defensive – who places the blame for everything on someone or something else. From the standpoint of Job it is interesting because God labels Job as righteous but it certainly doesn't help Job to perceive himself as righteous. There is a big difference between being righteous in God's eyes and being righteous in our own eyes. One means that God is pleased with the extent of our effort to move closer to Him while the other means that we are pleased with how close we think we are to God.
Since there was nothing more for the three friends to say to Job, their role in the rebuilding process was done. It was at this point that Elihu entered the conversation and began to make the correct case for God.
Given that the three friends were so off target, why did God allow them to continue their discussions with Job for so long? Why didn't He send Elihu in sooner to start the remodeling of Job? I think the answer is that even though they were wrong in their conclusions, their conversations with Job were necessary in order to bring Job's problem to the surface. Job had to be pushed far enough to reveal his hidden feelings.
If Job had been asked if he was in awe of God before everything happened to him, I bet he would have answered yes. If he had been told that in fact he did not have awe in God, I bet he would have deigned it. Much like all of us, the issue of awe in God seems cut and dry. Of course every believer is in awe of God. We use the words but we really do not understand what they mean. When Job's back was to the wall, he dropped all pretext of having any sense awe and instead concluded that God was in error and that Job was being unfairly treated. If his three friends had not pushed Job into that corner, Job would not have revealed his fundamental flaw to himself or others. But by the time the three friends were done, it was out in the open. Job had spoken it and one very important person heard it, Elihu. Now, the demolition of Job was complete and God, the architect of Job's remodeling, was ready to begin the building process.
Before considering how God rebuilt Job, stop and think about what you can learn from this demolition process and how you can use it in your own life.
Perhaps the most surprising lesson to be found here is the worth of unwarranted attacks. We might be inclined to dismiss outright any attack that we feel is off base or doesn't apply to us. It is hard enough to listen to criticism that we know is accurate. But, if the attack is, at least in our own mind, way off target then our response is often one of immediate denial. That doesn't mean that such attacks don't hurt but we either go on the defensive or refuse to give them any substance. Perhaps we should stop and try to determine if God is trying to speak to us through the attack. Sure, it may be inappropriate or completely off target but maybe it points us to something within ourselves that God wants to deal with. Be prepared to learn from both loving correction and unfair attacks.
A good example of an inappropriate verbal attack (and somewhat physical attack as well) is found in 2 Samuel chapter 16. The background for this story finds David suffering greatly from his sin. He has been driven out of Jerusalem by his own son. On the way back to reclaim his throne, David encounters a strange man called Shimei, the son of Gera on the hill above the road. It turns out that this man was of the family of Saul which explains the nature of Shimei's anger towards David. Shimei is really kind of a colorful character. He is first described as "cursing continually as he came." He proceeded to throw rocks at David and David's party. He yelled, "Get out, get out you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow!"
Now, one of David's advisors who was appalled by the cursing of the King tells David that he will go over and kill this man. David's response is very interesting. Instead of lashing out at this inappropriate attack (even if it's right, it is not done in the right way) David tells his advisor "...If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have your done so?' . . . Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him . . ." With that, David continues on his way and Shimei walks along side the group continuing to curse and throw stones and dust from the hillside.
David, unlike Job, realized that there was something for him to learn from the attack of this man. Perhaps we should not be so quick to defend ourselves from criticism and instead we should listen to discover what God may have us hear even from our enemies.
Elihu
While the three friends finished God's preparation of Job for remodeling, Elihu begins the rebuilding process. His words to Job can be used by all of us who are searching to rediscover our own lost sense of awe. In addition, at some point you may encounter someone who has lost his or her sense of awe. What could you do to help, provided that you have found yours? Clearly you do not want to do what Job's three friends did to try to help Job. Rather, learn from the approach of Elihu how to help others begin the process of rediscovering their awe.
We don't know much about Elihu. He only appears in a few chapters of Job. But, he clearly speaks to Job for God. Elihu is introduced in Chapter 32 of Job and the first thing we learn about him is that he is angry. He is angry with Job and with Job's three friends. This anger is described in chapter 32:2-3: "But the anger of Elihu . . . burned; against Job . . . because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job."
Two factors stand out in this initial picture of Elihu. The first is Elihu's response to Job's attempt to justify himself before God. This, to Elihu, was a definitive symptom of Job's lack of awe towards God. Job's argument that he didn't deserve what happen to him because he was righteous evidently is a dead give away to a lack of awe. It is a warning sign that we all should watch for in ourselves and others. It certainly made Elihu angry, as it should. We should always be angry when we see or hear someone putting themselves above God. The second factor is Elihu's response to Job's three friends. It seems he was just as angry with them as he was at Job. But he was not angry because they had no answer for Job. He was angry with them because while they had no answer, they still condemned Job. There is nothing wrong with not being able to supply the correct answer to a believer in need but there is something definitely wrong with assuming that if you do not have the answer then the fault lies with the other person.
Besides Elihu's attitude we also learn something about his character early in chapter 32. In verse 4 we are told that "Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he." And even later in verses 11 and 12, Elihu tells Job: "Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you pondered what to say. I even paid close attention to you . . ." It seems that even though he was angry, Elihu displayed remarkable patience. He did not rush up to Job on the attack. Rather in deference to Job's status as his elder, Elihu waited before speaking. It is also important to notice that Elihu did not spend that waiting time thinking of his response – of the form and content of the arguments he was going to make. No, Elihu spent that time out of respect to Job listening to and thinking about what Job had to say. This is a remarkable testimony. Elihu knew how to defend God's Word. He did it with respect and careful thought even though what he heard made him angry. How often do we ignore the words of the opposition and just sit there anxious to get our turn to fire our own Bible bullets? There is a lot we can learn from the patience and attitude of Elihu.
Elihu's Message
In the context of the Book of Job, it seems that Elihu's mission was to prepare the way for God. In fact, the process of discovering awe in God seems to involve three steps. The first is to begin to understand that God is greater than man. The second, as provided by Elihu, requires us to understand God's relationship with man. The third, as provided by God later in the Book of Job, requires us to understand God's awesome power.
So it is Elihu who starts the process of bringing awe back to Job. From his presentation, we can learn both how to approach others and how to rediscover our own lost sense of awe. Most of what Elihu has to say is examined in the next chapter which looks at God's relationship with man. However, before getting into those details, it is helpful to consider where Elihu begins his discourse. Once we realize that we have a problem with awe, this is the first step on the road to rediscovering that awe. Right off the bat, Elihu nails the issue that plagues Job. In verses 8 to 12 of chapter 33 Elihu announces:
"Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your
words: 'I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt
in me. Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.' Behold, let me tell
you, you are not right in this, for God is greater than man."
The two claims of Job that Elihu condemns are: Job's self-righteousness and Job's feeling that God is against him. Both are indications of a lack of awe. Both can be answered in one sentence: "God is greater than man." This is what we seem to forget when we fall into the self-righteous mode; we begin to feel that God is picking on us or worst ignoring us. When that happens to you, you need to stop and remember that God is greater than man. In fact, it is more personal than that - He is far greater than you.
Back in chapter one of this book, I defined awe as a mixed feeling of reverence, fear and wonder caused by something majestic, sublime, or sacred. Awe is a state of mind inspired by something greater than us. This is clearly the point that Elihu was trying to make to Job. Job had lost his sense of the majesty of God. Job was no longer inspired by a God who was greater then himself. To Job, God was a powerful being who had made a terrible mistake which Job had to set straight. Job had lost touch with the greatness of God – Job had lost the foundation of awe.
What does it mean that God is greater than man? All believers pay at least lip service to this concept. No believer would deny it outright but the surprising thing is that we all seem to struggle with this simple idea. Perhaps the problem is that God is so much greater than man that when we begin to discuss greatness we limit ourselves to things closer to home. We can comprehend the greatness of men and women in the world: talented actors, skilled athletes, brave solders, intelligent writers, doctors and scientists, honorable politicians, and others who have accomplished amazing things in their lives because we can imagine ourselves achieving the same level of greatness given the right set of opportunities. Or perhaps we are in awe of these people because we don't know if we would be able to accomplish what they have even if given the right set of circumstances. The problem is that neither test can be applied to God. When it comes to God, He is so much greater than us that He is off the scale. In trying to rank "greatness" in the world we can not bring God into our range of sight - He is too far above everything else. So He is dropped from our scale. Now we only have to be concerned with our position on this reduced scale. And then we do what Job did, we can now say that we are so much better than anyone else around us we deserve God's full attention.
But that is only true because we first dropped God off the measuring scale. The real truth is that when God is included the distance between the best of us and the worst of us is no longer measurable compared to the distance between God and us. On God's scale we are all grouped into the same point, no one more deserving than any other. Of course, as God pointed out to Satan, Job was the best among all men, but he still needed work.
This is exactly what Elihu was trying to tell Job. God is greater than anyone on earth. In fact, a slightly better translation would be "God is too exulted for man". He is too high above us. There is nothing that the best of us can do or say or believe or think that can bring us any closer to God than the worst of us. We are all equally sinful and equally lost. If like Job, we begin to believe that we are somehow special because of our actions; that we are closer to God than others and hence deserving of God's attention, then we have clearly lost track of the greatness of God. We have lost that sense of the real gap between God and us. We have lost our awe of God. What this leads to is just what Job fell into, when things go bad it must be God's fault. He made the mistake. What an arrogant conclusion to reach. Here was Job, the most righteous man on earth, deciding that God is wrong and he is right. How could he or anyone come to that position and still believe that "God is greater than man"?
So, how do we deal with the loss of awe and rediscover our own sense of awe or help another along this path? The most important step, after realizing the problem, is to begin to understand what it means to say that God is greater than man. Everything that we do, the way in which we interact with God, the way in which we live our daily lives, our expectations and our dreams must all be framed within a picture of a God greater than man.
God's greatness should be enough to inspire awe. Who God is, not what He does is where awe should begin. Awe should not be conditional on our evaluation of God's actions (though as we will see in the next chapter, God's actions should also inspire awe). Awe should not come with expectations such as a great God would do this for me. God is greater than us and as a result, by definition, God is always right no matter how His actions may affect us. To believe anything less is to deny the greatness of God.
I began this chapter with the observation that I lost my awe of God. What I really meant is that I lost sight of the greatness of God. It seems that these two concepts are really one and the same. Understanding the greatness of God is the source of awe. Minimizing God in any way is the first step to losing your sense of awe. But, understanding the true greatness of God is hard because He is beyond our understanding. This is why God had to go to such lengths to bring Job to a place of awe. God had to impress on Job what it meant to be greater than man. Our struggle is to always remember that no matter what happens in our lives, God is greater than everything.