03272021 No Human Answers

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our wise God. God knows and understands things about which man has no clue.

Lesson #31. Sometimes man will not be able to come up with an answer for suffering. Job tried. His friends tried. They went back and forth in rounds of argument. They repeated the same statements over and over. But they were left without accurate assessments or solid conclusions.

Their failure was evident. A fourth friend, Elihu, a younger man, had sat and observed this extended discussion. He had heard the accusations. He had heard Job's defenses. "Also against [Job's] three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job" (32:3).

Elihu appears to have been a more objective observer. He was analytical. He followed the debate, and he declared that the friends had lost the debate. "Yea, I attended unto you, and, behold, there was none of you that convinced Job, or that answered his words" (32:12). Elihu realized that Job had raised valid defenses that the friends had been unable to adequately address.

The bottom line is that neither Job nor his three friends, with all their effort, had been able to provide a satisfactory rationalization for Job's suffering. Finally they quit trying. "They were amazed, they answered no more: they left off speaking. When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more)" (32:15-16). Even with the experience and insight of their "days" and "multitude of years," (32:7), they gave up trying to understand and explain.

Such difficult answers cannot come from man; they can come only from God, and only as God chooses to reveal them. Elihu was present for a reason. In fact, each of those friends was there for a reason. Through the conversation, God was teaching. He was revealing the inadequacy of man to understand such difficult puzzles. And through Elihu, He was preparing Job (and the readers) to understand His truth.

When Elihu begins to speak, we finally start to get some insight. Elihu claimed divine help in understanding and answering. "But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding" (32:8). "My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life" (33:3-4). "For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee" (36:4).

Was Elihu correct that he was speaking for God? I think so. His words give more and better answers than everything that had gone before. More importantly, after Elihu spoke, God spoke, and God repeated and reinforced much of what Elihu had said. Elihu was the warm-up, the introduction, the one who prepared the way for God's words. In the end, Elihu was not identified by God as one of the men for whom Job had to intervene due to faulty words.

The coming chapters (and lessons) will provide us with Elihu's God-directed insight and its accompanying encouragement. It is actually encouraging to reach this point in the book where finally things start to come together. We will begin to be lifted from the darkness and confusion and to be shown the hope and truth of God. That truth came, however, not through human reasoning and effort, not through the experience of age, not through the interpretations of men, but only through the guidance of God.

When we look for answers and clarity, we must beware of trusting in our own understanding or that of our friends. We must pray for God Himself to reveal truth to us; otherwise, our "answers" are only guesses that may fall short of truth. Our own answers may be deeply unsatisfying, but God can give answers with meaning and substance.

May God give you stability and assurance as you walk with Him this week, and a deep trust in the One who knows and understands all things.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA