God also showed us the impact that Satan has over the affairs of man. He is limited in his impact by God. The fall of man was a grave disaster for the world. God knew about it and He intervened and promised man a Redeemer through the seed of the woman.
Back in the book of Job, God revealed the goal of Satan. He cannot stand to have anyone walk in the fear of the Lord. God gave him some leeway to affect the life of Job. This was not a punishment for Job. It was designed by God to show all of humanity the importance of knowing the true God and serving Him faithfully. God also revealed to us the nature of man when he rejects the true God. God gave three men opportunity to be used as tools of the devil. These three men were limited in their impact on Job’s life. We noted at the beginning of this chapter, that these men had nothing more to say. God shut them down. He did not kill them, but He did not allow them to speak any longer. In this chapter God introduced us to another man who was somewhat different than the first three, but still not what He designed man to be.
We will never fully understand the ways of God in this life. He is far greater than we are and as we will soon see in the book of Job, man needs to stand in awe of God and learn the importance of walking humbly with Him. No one wins in fighting against God. No one wins in assuming there is no God.
We can look at recent history and continue to see how important it is to know the true God. In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, a man named Adolf Hitler came to power. He used subtilty to win over the hearts and minds of the people of Germany. He encouraged the development of the Volkswagen car. It was supposed to be “the people’s car”. It was economical to purchase and to repair and to drive. Hitler soon showed who he really was and his goal was to destroy the Jewish people. Interestingly, after the death of Hitler, God gave Israel back a part of the land of Israel. God is in charge and we need to be reminded of this.
We can fast forward to our time and we can see another man, our current P.M., who also came into power through subtilty. He claimed to want to protect women’s rights and he wanted to see them in a more prominent roll in society. He is proving himself to be a ruthless dictator who also is attacking the Jewish people. He just recently made an uninvited speech about what is currently taking place in Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel has been seeking to bring some much needed reforms to the supreme court of that land. The left wing part of the Jewish nation has been vehemently protesting against these reforms. The U.S. has been involved in funding these protests. Our P.M. chose to weigh in on the most recent events there. The Muslims, the same group who assisted Hitler in seeking to destroy the Jews, are still trying to destroy the Jews. They demonstrated how “unsacred” their mosque in Jerusalem is. Some of their younger people tried to hide out in the mosque to avoid capture by the Israeli police. This is their month Ramadan, a month where they conduct more terrorist attacks under the guise of religion. They locked themselves inside their mosque for protection. The Israeli police tried to get them out, since it is illegal to sleep in a mosque over night. The police had to finally break into the mosque and they were met with fire crackers and rocks being thrown at them. Does not sound very sacred.
Our P.M. decided to interfere in the affairs of the nation of Israel and he condemned Israel for seeking to keep order in their own land. This is coming from the man who has destroyed this country. He has trampled on the basic freedoms that we have enjoyed for decades. He has ruined the economy of this land. He assumes that he has the right to tell other nations how to function, when he cannot even run this country properly.
Those who are saved and thus have their eyes open, can see how the devil is still busy seeking to destroy mankind. He has many helpers who are quite willing to spread his lies and seek to silence any voice of truth.
As we see in the book of Job, there was one man, Job, who walked in the fear of the Lord. There were three men who were completely in the dark and one who was waffling in the midst of darkness. However, God was still greater than all the false doctrine that was being promoted in that book. It is important for us to choose to know and follow the true God, rather than carelessly follow the influence of the devil.
We are all born as lost sinners. We all choose sin over righteousness. We need to see the importance of turning to the truth. The fact is that we need to realize that there is only One true God. We need to know the truth and be set free from the bondage of sin. God is in charge. We will all stand before Him one day very soon. The average lifespan of a person is seventy years. Some live to be older. However, every person will die one day. Our time on this earth is far shorter than the time we will spend after death.
As we continue our study of the book of Job, we need to see the bigger picture that God is giving us in this book. Those who are saved should be able to see His hand is much bigger than that of the devil. Satan will one day be cast into the lake of fire. All those who choose to remain lost will also be cast into the lake of fire. It is imperative that each person see the need to submit to the true God and know His forgiveness and peace. The hope of man is not to be able to build a palace on this earth and live happily ever after. That is a myth. The hope of man is to repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. With that in place, we have the assurance of eternal life. We have the privilege of serving the true God during our few years on this earth and we have the blessing of an eternal home in heaven that is better than any mansion anyone has ever had on this earth.
In our text, Elihu has witnessed the vacuum created by these three men. He also judged that Job had been wrong in his assessment of things. Elihu took a different approach than the other three men, but he still assumed to know things that he did not know. He would try to prove his superior knowledge compared to all four of the other men. God would not rebuke him as He did the other three men, but He also did not endorse him.
It is important for us to know the true God and to let Him teach us the truth. We have His Word. We will not know all there is to know about Him the moment we are saved. We will not know all there is to know about Him in this life. God raises up men whom He entrusts with teaching His Word to their generation. It is important to become a true child of God so that you can know how to follow Him. There are far more deceivers in our world, than there are true servants of God. If you allow God to direct you, He will lead you to a true servant of God. Jesus Christ promised to build His church upon Himself. Be sure you are attending a true local church where you can be taught the truth. We all need to know the truth. That is the place of true freedom.
Pastor Bartel