Job 37:1-24
Elihu Explains Suffering
1 “At this my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
4 After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
9 The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
13 He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
14 “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
15 Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
17 You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
19 “Tell us what we should say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?
21 Now no one can look at the sun,
bright as it is in the skies
after the wind has swept them clean.
22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;
God comes in awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
24 Therefore, people revere him,
for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”
Elihu tries to explain the problem of suffering...It is maybe the best argument for atheists against our LORD, this problem of pain...Why does a gracious and loving God allow pain and evil?...Elihu tries throughout the Book of Job, with his friends to explain suffering...I think many people at least one time (or more) in our lives think and question why does God allow pain and suffering...The atheist might also ask -why is there suffering...This is from a non-God perspective, but the problem still remains, why is there suffering and pain in our lives?...
Elihu focuses on the weather in these verses...He tells us that in every age, man gets covered up and busy with his daily labors and we drift from God...But God can change this...Elihu talks about the weather and how it can change man's plans and man's work... This was especially true for those of Job's time...Many think Job is one of the first books of the Bible to be written...The weather would and can make us stop and think about Him as we see a bad lightning and wind storm...
Elihu also tells us that God can use clouds to punish men, but in another way God brings water to earth from the lightning, clouds, and rain to show His love...God can use the same thing to show both good and bad...
Elihu tells Job to listen and look at God's wonders...We know that God controls the clouds...If God doesn't control them, then you must not believe in God..But He is control of the the universe...Without being in control of the weather, God is not Almighty...But believers believe that He controls the weather (Mark 4:35-41)...In a way, if Job can't answer the questions about the weather, then how can he understand suffering...Job's limits and being that he is a finite being, he can only have limited answers...Unlike God, who is Infinite, and has no limit in knowledge...
No one can look at the sun, bright as it in the skies after the wind has swept it clean...God is like the sun...The sun is full of power, energy, and light...He is love's pure light...If we could approach the sun, the closer we get the more energy (and heat) it puts off and we to be God-like to be able to absorb the sun's energy and live, as we near it...God in the Old Testament is often described as fire...
Elihu at the end believes God is beyond our reach and exalted in power...God does not oppress, and is revered by man...He is a way says God is Almighty and we should maybe expect all that He sends us, good and bad...
Like many of us, Elihu has his own beliefs on suffering...He uses the weather and sun as metaphors for God, with their power and glory...Elihu does not know, Job does not know and both have questions...And interesting enough, when God arrives to see Job, He asks Job questions...Man is finite and limited...We cannot possible know, but better yet, cannot understand why God allows suffering...Only God in Infinite and Unlimited in wisdom and knowledge...But God does want us to question Him and try to learn and search Him, and it seems, even to get mad at Him, with our problems as Job did...God was not happy with the three friends of Job who did not speak what is right of Him, as His servant Job did...