Elihu begins his instruction of Job with the central issue: God is greater than man. Job might have acknowledged that this is true, but Job certainly didn't believe it in the depths of his heart otherwise how could he accuse God of making such a large error or any error for that matter. Part of being greater than man, and by this I mean really greater than man, means that man is not in a position to correct God. Of course, when directly asked, I am sure any believer would agree that God is greater than man. The problem we all have from time to time is one of understanding what that means. Specifically, what does it mean in terms of each individuals relationship to God? The perhaps vague statement that God is greater than man should really be phrased as God is exalted over me. From the standpoint of rediscovering awe, this is all that is necessary – understanding what it means when you acknowledge that God is greater than you. A big part of your own sense of wonder towards God involves putting God in the right place in your life. It means exalting God over you. It means attaching meaning in terms of your own life to the words God IS greater than me.
In order to do just that, in order to place God above yourself in all aspects of your life, you need to understand as best you can who God is. Elihu understood this and so he did not stop his interaction with Job at "God is greater than man." He knew (or better yet, God knew) that Job (and us) needed to learn what that meant in his (and our) life. So, Elihu continued to instruct Job and the nature of that instruction points us in the direction of other aspects of God that should inspire awe. They are all part of what it means to understand that God is greater than man. The first issue that Elihu raises involves understanding God's relationship with man.
Awe and Fear
If all we understand about God is that He is greater than us that should be enough to generate awe in God. However, that awe would most likely be dominated by fear. After all, fear is one of the major components of awe. We tend to fear what we don't understand and we really fear when what we don't understand is much more powerful than us. For example, there was a time when man was in awe of the weather particularly weather phenomena such as thunder. That awe was predominantly fear. Man feared thunder because they didn't understand it but they also feared it because it appeared to be so powerful. After, what could be making a noise so loud that it could be heard over vast distances? What ever it was, it was amazing but it was also very scary. So man would worship whatever it was that made thunder but that worship was mainly out of fear. The goal of the worship was to appease whatever it was that displayed such power. The hope was that if you worshipped it, it wouldn't hurt you. The problem with this kind of awe, awe that is dominated by fear is that it generates a strong motivation to try to control the source of that awe. Hence, pagan religions consisted mainly of a set of gods. Each god represented one of the sources of awe. Often times there was a god of thunder, a god of war, a god of the sea, a god of lightning, and so on. Sometimes there were gods assigned to things that may not have been frightening but man still did not understand them like a god of love or a god of wine. Man was but a play thing to these "gods." Since these gods only generated fear, most early religions involve ways in which the "gods" could be appeased. Appeasing a "god" was simply a means to deal with the fear of the "god."
In some ways that was Job's problem. If Job had any awe of God to begin with it was based on fear. Job tried to learn the rules so he could avoid the wrath of God. That is why Job was so strongly motivated to pray for everything and anything that his sons may have done wrong. Job did not want to leave any stone unturned in his effort to ensure that God would bless him and his family but more importantly he didn't want to find himself on the wrong side of God.
It is not unusual to find believers today with a sense of awe that is dominated by fear. They don't want God punish them. They don't want to end up in hell for all eternity. So, they worship God because they fear the consequences of not worshipping Him. While they worship God and they are in awe of God, neither is complete. They lack the full range of awe. For them, awe is not a mixed feeling of reverence, fear and wonder, it is primarily fear. They lack the sense of joy and wonder that creates a balanced approach to awe of God. Perhaps most importantly, they do not seek a relationship with God.
So, Elihu had to remind Job of the greatness of God in order to deal with Job's demand to confront God and with Job's feeling that God was wrong. But once that was done, Elihu had to begin to expand Job's concept of awe to something more than just fear. While God is to be feared, there is also a sense of joy that needs to be added to that fear. The balance of fear, joy and wonder is what makes up true awe towards God. The source of that joy and wonder is that we are not the playthings of God. God actually wants a relationship with us.
God's Interaction with Man
Given that God is "to exalted for man" meaning that we are so far beneath Him that we are undeserving of His time and attention, it is surprising (and a cause for awe) that God has anything to do with us at all. There are some who say that "God doesn't care" precisely because they can not imagine a God who could create an entire universe being the least bit concerned about a few life forms that exist on a small planet located in an obscure corner of that universe. In some way they are right. Who could presume that they are in any way important to God? Perhaps it takes actually seeing God like John, Isaiah, and Ezekiel to fully realize how insignificant we are compared to Him. All three, when they actually saw God, fell before Him. Seeing God brings each of us to an immediate understanding of what exalted means. Hearing about God, reading about God, or talking with others about God, can never replace the importance of "seeing" God as a means of developing awe in God. You might not see Him like John, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, but you may, if you pay attention, see Him working in your life. It is interesting that by the end of the book of Job, the way Job describes his newly discovered awe of God as finally "seeing God." And "seeing God" brought fear to the heart of Job.
In my experience I have not really heard the concept of fear of God being taught in today's church. Yet, in the early history of the church in the United States, fear seemed to be the predominate theme in sermons. The approach taken was to try to scare us into accepting Christ with vivid pictures of hell and a God of judgment. The emphasis was on generating awe through terror. The most famous example is Jonathan Edwards's sermon "Sinners in the Hands of Angry God" which describes us as hanging by a thread over the pits of hell. While, they may have gone overboard in the early churches emphasis on the fear of God, perhaps Elihu's point should be considered. We need a healthy dose of fear today.
If the predominate theme in the early US church was fear, the predominate theme in today's church seems to be love. It is rare to hear a sermon about the judgment of God but it is quite common to hear a sermon about the love of God. Awe is the victim when ever teaching swings too far in either direction. The emphasis on fear drives us to try to appease God. The emphasis on love allows us to ignore God. So we either try to follow all the rules to insure that God will not strike us down or we feel free to live our lives as we want trusting that a loving God will always forgive us. In neither case are we truly in awe of God. What is missing in both cases is any sense of a personal relationship with God. If God is terrifying, we want to avoid Him as much as possible. If God is loving we don't need to be concerned about Him. What we really need is a balanced picture of God that includes a respectful fear and a joyful wonder.
While seeing God produces a deep sense of fear as it did for John, Isaiah and Ezekiel, what is also awe inspiring is God's response to that fear. When John, Isaiah, and Ezekiel each fell before the Lord God in awe, God responded in an amazing way. In each case, God lifted them up. He was not angry at their fear because they were right to fear God – to recognize just how much greater God is than they had ever imagined. Yet at the same time God desired a personal relationship with each of them. Stop and think about it for a moment. When God appeared before Isaiah, Ezekiel and later John His purpose was not to terrify them, He wanted to interact with them on a personal level. God did not want to manipulate them. He didn't want to destroy them. God wanted a relationship with them. He wanted them to be on their feet before Him. To be allowed to stand in the presence of God, and I mean literally stand before Him, is one of the wonders of God's grace towards man.
God's desire for a relationship is not limited to John, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. He wants a relationship with each of us. We should be in awe not just of the greatness of God but also of His desire to reach across the vast gap between Him and us to seek a relationship with us. Rather than being upset about what God does or doesn't do in your life you should be amazed that God considers you at all.
I once taught a class on prayer at my church. I chose the topic not because I felt like I knew a lot about prayer or that I was specially gifted in the art of prayer. If anything the exact opposite was true. I really knew very little about prayer. As usual, I chose the topic of prayer because I felt like I needed to learn more about how to pray and what to pray for. Prayer, after all, is the closest contact we have with God. If anything reveals the nature of our relationship with God it is prayer. I wasn't satisfied with my idea of prayer. It seemed that prayer was more a time to ask God to do things. I knew that if I was to teach a class on prayer I would have to discover something more about the nature of prayer. So, in preparing for the class I keep searching the Word for some indication of what is prayer. I found examples of prayers, both good and bad. I found commands about prayer. But I still felt like I didn't really know what prayer was all about. Usually, when I find myself unable to get a handle on a concept, I turn to Genesis. I have found that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are more than just the creation story and the history of early man. These chapters also provide some fundamental insights into who we are and what God wants from us. Because Genesis is the beginning, the foundation for everything that follows in the Bible, it has become a starting place for many of the classes I have taught. I finally came across a short verse in the beginning of chapter 3 of Genesis that provided a hint at the nature of prayer. After the sin of Adam and Eve but before they are confronted by God, Genesis 3:9 gives a very brief but powerful picture of life in the Garden. It begins with the statement that Adam and Eve heard ". . . the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day . . ." Evidently God had walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve before so when they heard Him they knew that they must hide from Him. They were not surprised by His presence, they were fearful of His response to their disobedience. When I had read this passage before I had always been focused on the behavior of Adam and Eve – on their act of hiding from God. But now the picture of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day formed in my mind. I suddenly realized that this is what prayer is all about. God made us so we could walk with Him in that garden. However, because of sin we can not join Him (yet) so prayer is our opportunity to be with God. I began to picture prayer not so much as a letter sent to God asking Him to do things for me but as time I can spend with God walking along side Him in a garden in the cool of the day. As a result I began to view prayer has more of a conversation with a friend in which there are times of silence, times of sharing and times of listening but always surrounded by the beautiful creation of God. I was in awe of the realization that God would even want to walk in the garden in the cool of the day with me. Awe took on a new balance and a new dimension. There was the fearful respect due a great and majestic God and there was a joy and wonder over such a God allowing, even wanting, me to walk along side Him. The beauty and peace of the surroundings combined with the power and authority of the company (that is, God) make this picture of prayer take on a completely new level of significance.
Let me pause here to remind you and myself that our first response to an opportunity to walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day should bring us to our knees just like it did for Ezekiel, Isaiah, and John. Remember, it is God's desire that we stand and walk along side of Him, not our right that we have somehow earned because of our belief in Him.
The point is that even though God is greater than us, He still wants to be in a relationship with us. He wants to guide our behavior and save us from destruction. Yet Job, like so many of us when things go wrong, felt the opposite. He felt like God had made a mistake and then left him alone to deal with it. Job questioned both God's decision and his own relationship with God. Early on in his conversation with his three friends, Job charged "But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. (Job 13:3)" Later, Job makes an even stronger statement: "Know then that God has wronged me, and has closed His net around me. Behold, I cry, 'Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice. (Job 19:6-7)." Without a sense of awe and wonder about God, Job could only fall back on his own sense of how things should be. So, he was forced to conclude that God didn't care. This is exactly the point that Elihu tries to address as recounted in Job 33:13–18:
"Why do you complain against Him, that He does not give
an account of all His doings? Indeed God speaks once, or twice, yet no one
notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night when sound sleep falls on men,
while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals
their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep
man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from
passing over into Sheol."
One sign of a lack of awe is our insistence that God explain Himself, especially when His actions violate our expectations. We demand or at least expect the right to walk along side Him and challenge His decisions. One aspect of God's greatness is that He doesn't have to explain Himself. We are not worthy of any justification or explanation of God's actions. Not only does He not have to give an explanation, but if He chooses to do so, we would be incapable of understanding it fully. After all, He is greater than us.
I am writing this chapter just after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The horror of that event and the resulting tremendous loss of life stunned us all. As I joined the rest of America and watched the news accounts throughout the days after the tragedy, I heard the question asked (which I am sure was on the minds of many Americans), "How could a loving God allow this to happen?" In many ways it is the same question that Job asked about his own fate. One answer that was given to America was that this is the result of living in a world of sin and evil. You should expect evil things to happen in an evil world. This is probability as close as we can come to understanding such an unimaginable horror. But still, like Job, I am sure than many Americans raised their fist to God in anger demanding an explanation. Who could blame them? It was such as terrible, unnecessary, unjustified loss. But the reality is that God does not owe us an explanation even for such a senseless act as the attack on the WTC. We have to trust that He will deal with the evil and ultimately use the results of their actions to His glory. I personally found prayer as the only refuge of peace during the days after the attack. I needed to walk with the Lord God in the garden during the cool of the day and tell Him about my pain and seek His comfort (not His explanation). It was there that I found peace and acceptance of my own inability to understand what had happened. God remains greater than us in times of tragedy as much as in times of prosperity.
Given both the greatness of God and our at times impatient demanding spirit, it is amazing that when He chooses to, God does speak to us at all. He certainly doesn't have to. Yet, He clearly speaks to all of us through His Word. His Word stands as a statement of who He is and what He expects from us. Too often, we demand explanations only to discover later that they were in His Word all along. All believers need to spend more time reading what God has already told us. But God gives us more than His Word, according to Elihu, He speaks to each of us individually though for the most part we do not notice it. But He doesn't give up; He speaks to us not once but repeatedly. As Elihu describes it, God speaks to us in two specific ways both occur at night when we sleep.
The first way God speaks to us is in a dream during deep sleep. Now, deep sleep is that state in which our body is totally at rest and our mind is completely disconnected for the world. This is not a time in which we usually dream so dreams during this sleep stage could possibly be from God. Perhaps the purpose of deep sleep is not only to renew the body and the mind but also to renew the spirit through contact with God.
How do you know if your deep sleep dream is really from God? I'm afraid I don't know the answer. I think if it happens and you remember it when you awake you will know when it is God talking. But this is not a book about interpreting God's contacts with you; it is a book about the state of awe that should be the result of such a contact.
The second way God speaks to us is during a time of slumber. This is that quite time just before you fall asleep. It is that time when you are most relaxed and yet still awake. It is that time when the cares of the day begin to melt away as your body sinks into sleep. It is dark and quiet. Given that this is a time that God specifically identifies as one in which He connects with us, it is perhaps the perfect time to reflect on God and to begin to listen for Him.
Elihu does not make a distinction but I think there are really two processes at work here. During deep sleep, God ministers directly to our spirit just as sleep itself renews our bodies. During slumber, God ministers to our soul providing direction for our lives if we choose to listen. Of the two, we have some degree of control over our periods of slumber. Use those times to listen to God and to think about what He wants from you. This is not a time of concentrated prayer full of requests rather it should be a peaceful time to relax and be open to God's direction.
In both cases however, you should never forget what is happening. The Lord God, creator of the universe, is spending time communicating directly with you. Words can not begin to express the sense of awe that truth should produce in each of us. We are unworthy recipients of the wisdom of the Lord, for this we should be grateful and humble.
Later in the book of Job, Elihu suggests some other ways God tries to reach out to us. In chapter 33 verse 19 Elihu tells Job that "Man is also chastened with pain on his bed . . . ". In verse 23 of that chapter Elihu also notes that ". . . there is an angel as mediator for him . . . To remind a man . . . I have found a ransom . . ." It appears that sometimes God does more than just communicate with us. Sometimes He sends pain as a correction or to get our attention. Sometimes He sends a messenger with the purpose of reminding us that a price was paid for our sins. Even these methods should inspire awe because they still represent a powerful God reaching out to each one of us.
God's Purpose
God has a specific reason for communicating with us. If we fail to understand that reason we can turn an experience that should generate a sense of awe into a self-serving view of our relationship with God. We might fool ourselves into thinking that God has directed our actions when in fact it was our own desires that determined our path. When you think you have received a message from God remember that it must be in harmony with Biblical truth and it will, in some way, advance the purpose of God. So, what is the purpose of God when He contacts us? Elihu tells Job specifically why God enters into a relationship with mankind: "He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from passing over into Sheol."
Before looking at the real purpose of God, consider what Elihu does not say. God does not connect with us in order to make us rich if we listen to Him. His purpose is not to make us "happy" in a worldly sense. He is not there to fulfill our needs or to praise us or reward us. As I have already mentioned, I get so angry when I encounter the prosperity gospel as it is often preached on TV and in some of our churches. The day before I started writing this chapter, I was surfing through the channels looking for information on the World Trade Center attack when I paused at one of the Christian channels. There was a preacher announcing that he was going to pray for 120 miracles over the next year in the lives of those who would send a seed of $1000 to his ministry. As justification for the requirement of $1000 (as payment for the miracles), he told his listeners, "...how can you expect to harvest if you don't plant a seed". That might sound reasonable but I have to ask where is the awe in a God that sells 120 miracles for $1000? That's less than $10 a miracle; surely the miracles of God must be more expensive than that. Sure we must plant seeds if we are to harvest, but the seed we must plant is not so much our money as it is our lives and our willingness to plant the Word of God in the lives of others. But even more important than the nature of the seed is the true nature of the harvest. The harvest is not a miracle for our benefit; it is eternal life for those in whom we plant the seed. The act of God working through us to save others is the process that should generate awe in God. Can you imagine Isaiah when confronted by God as described in the first chapter of Isaiah - instead of falling on his face in awe of God – handing God $10 and asking for a miracle. Where is the awe of God in that kind of action? Yet, that is what people in the church do every day.
The truth is that God's purpose is not to give us miracles; it is to change our behavior. And, least anyone make a mistake here, it is not to change our behavior so that we can be more successful in the world. No, His goal is to change our behavior so we can become more like Christ. Keep in mind that Christ's life is far from a model of success and happiness in this world. No one has ever been more of a failure during their lifetime only to become such a success after their death than Christ. The model is of the One who was rejected and tortured by His people and yet became the Savior of the world.
Since God's purpose in establishing a relationship with us is not to guarantee our success in the world, what is it? Elihu makes it clear to Job that God's purpose is first ". . . that He may turn man aside from his conduct . . ." It is clear that God is more interested in our behavior than in our financial condition, our health or our happiness. Certainly Job needed to hear this because Job was under the impression that God "owed" him his success, that somehow Job had earned his status in the world and that God should restore it. But the truth is that God was never all that concerned about Job's position in the world. Rather God desired that the focus of His relationship with Job be on Job's behavior. That certainly is true for all of us as well. God enters into a relationship with us in order to change our behavior. What is awe inspiring about this is that God is concerned not about who we are but about what we do. Rich or poor, successful or unsuccessful, happy or sad – it doesn't make any difference to God. How we behave in what ever circumstances we find ourselves is what interests God. What it comes down to is that I am nothing before God yet He wants to make something of me. He wants to talk to me, guide me, direct my life and give me a purpose for living. How could I respond with anything but awe towards such a God?
Elihu goes on to explain to Job the direction that God wants to take him. It is the direction that God desires for all of us. "...and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit . . ." God enters into a relationship with us to change our behavior in order to keep us humble and to save us from hell.
The issue of pride is an interesting one. You might ask what is it about pride that places it at the head of the list of things that God is concerned about in His relationship with us. If you were asked to list those aspects of your life that most concern God, what would it look like? What would be the number one item on your list? I can think of a lot of possibilities. Number one on the list could be that we believe in Him; or obey Him; or worship Him, or even attend Church; give to the poor and needy, etc. But it is none of those things. God's first desire for us, the reason He communicates with us is to keep us from pride. God's concern about pride runs counter to the world's emphasis on building self-esteem. It seems that pride is something like food. We need food to survive but too much of it is harmful. In the same way, we need some level of self-esteem or pride but too much of it distorts our image of ourselves, our expectations of others, and our behavior. But the most important harmful effect of pride is that it competes directly with our sense of awe. The more that we believe that we can as individuals or as a people accomplish anything in our own strength; the less we acknowledge our need for God. And the less we need God, the less we experience awe in our relationship with God. In this way, pride directly interferes with our relationship with God. How often in the Bible has pride lead people to believe that they don't need God; that they can even become like God? In Psalm 10 verse 4 the effect of pride is described in just these terms: "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." Isaiah describes the contrast between pride and awe in chapter 2 verse 11: "The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." There is no room in us for both pride and awe. Before we can exalt the Lord in awe of Him, we must be humble. This certainly was a problem with Job. Job's pride was such that it led him to believe that he was right and God was wrong. Once someone reaches that stage, pride has completely defeated awe.
As part of keeping us from pride, God desires to keep us out of the pit. It should come as no surprise that God wants to save us – after all, He gave us His Son as a payment for our sins. Just the fact that God is concerned about our eternal salvation should be cause for awe.
Given the negative effect of pride on our relationship with God and our sense of awe as well as its direct connection to "falling into the pit", we need to listen to God's leading in our life. We need to understand, that His direction for us in not always (perhaps even rarely) towards success, financial independence, health, or peace. In fact, these may serve to increase pride as we lose sight of the source of our success much like Job. Since these may lead to pride, God's direction more often may be towards life conditions that are humbling. We need to find satisfaction in our relationship with God, in the sense of awe that God would even be interested in us, rather than in the things the world has to offer.
Rediscover Your Awe
So, how does this all fit into the issue of rediscovering your sense of awe towards God? Well, one way in which we tend to lose our awe is by no longer listening to God. When we fail to maintain contact with the Lord, we begin to lose sight of who He is and what He has done in our lives. So, start on the path to a renewed awe in the Lord by pausing to listen to Him. As Elihu told Job, we don't have to search after Him; He tries to contact us if we only remain open to His direction. As you begin to establish a relationship with God and you remember that God is greater than you, then you can not help but discover a feeling of awe.
Like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John we need to understand that to see God, to be in His presence should lay us on our face before Him in total awe of His power and glory. Yet, as God demonstrated to those who fell before Him, we also need to remember His grace to raise us up; to allow us to stand before Him. God's desire to have a relationship with us in which we can stand before Him; in which we can walk in the garden in the cool of the day with Him should inspire awe and wonder beyond comprehension.