Job 37:5
“God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend.”
Job is in the midst of a very confusing period in his life. He has been struggling to determine what God is doing, and why he is facing these particular struggles. Elihu reminds him that God’s voice is like thunder. Living in South Florida we know the sound of thunder. There are times when the thunder is so loud, the walls of the house actually shake. Elihu is saying the voice of God is so loud and pronounced it is impossible to miss.
The Psalmist put it this way,
Psalms 29:3 “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders…”
Years later, Scripture records an incident in the life of Elijah, who was facing some pretty intense trials of his own. The queen had vowed to use all the available resources to hunt him down, and have him killed. Because of the reality of this threat, Elijah fled to the wilderness and hid in a cave. In the seclusion of his mountain get-away, Elijah learned the voice of God is often like a quiet whisper in the heart (1 Kings 19:1-12).
So which is it? Is God’s voice like roaring thunder, or is it like a quiet whisper? The answer is both. God shouts His will from the pages of His Word. We don’t have to question if we should avoid sin, love others, share Christ with the lost, worship God, speak kindly, show compassion, take the low place, forgive others, honor the godly or look for ways to serve in our local church. Those things are declared with the thundering voice of God, in the pages of His Word. On the other hand, when we are trying to determine specifics for our lives, like who to marry, where to move, what to major in, or what job to take, the voice of God is more like a whisper. Instead of being frustrated when God chooses to speak in a still small voice, we should realize His purpose in doing so is to draw us close to Himself.
Luke 10:42 “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
While Martha was busy running around serving, her sister Mary sat quietly at the feet of Jesus, listening to His Word. When questioned, Jesus explained that sitting at His feet listening to His Word was more important than serving Him. There are things we will never learn if we do not make it our practice to sit quietly with the Lord and read our Bibles. Some make the mistake of never getting alone with the Lord, while others make the mistake of getting alone without getting into the Word. If you want to hear God whisper, make it your daily practice to spend time in His Word.
Pastor Jim
As Paul was writing this letter, conditions in Jerusalem were very difficult. Persecution, famine, and perhaps a bit of mismanagement, had left the church in Jerusalem financially destitute. In order to help those in need, Paul assisted in organizing a financial gift from the gentile churches. This passage lays out the guidelines for the giving and receiving of that gift. The principles Paul presents should help to govern our giving, which we often refer to giving as tithing. The word “tithe” means tenth and refers to the Old Testament Law where the children of Israel were required to give a tenth back to the Lord. The New Testament, while not requiring a tenth, does clearly teach the need to “give back” to the Lord.
God has gone to great lengths to ensure He is knowable by man. He gave us His written Word, took on the form of human flesh, and shines as a light through the lives of His followers. He has revealed Himself to be a loving Father, who is accessible through Christ, and who comes to the aid of His children. Sometimes, because of the intimacy of our relationship with God, we can lose sight of what some have referred to as, “the other worldliness of God.” While it is important to get to know Him through the pages of His Word, it is also important to realize, there are facets of His character that cannot be known.
Grace is a beautiful word. We use it today to speak of the beauty of motion. We might refer to the “grace” of a gymnast or a figure skater. The word used in the Bible speaks of the giving nature of God. Webster defines it as, “the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from Him.” In other words, grace is the character trait of God that causes Him to want to give what is best to men. This grace is immeasurable. Paul wrote to the Ephesians regarding the giving nature of God,
Elihu was a young man considering the discussion between Job and his three friends. He listened meticulously to the arguments, and seemed to accurately sum up the problem. Job, while not the man his friends were painting him to be, was guilty of charging God with iniquity. Elihu points out, God is not guilty of unrighteousness for the way He treats man. God’s goal is to awaken men to their need of a Savior. If a temporal affliction will awaken us to our eternal needs, God is certainly justified in His actions. Much of what Elihu shares is both Biblical and true, the problem is, it lacks any semblance of compassion.
Jesus explained to the religious leaders, that while they searched the Scriptures thinking they would find life, in reality, the Scriptures testify of Jesus. In other words, we should be able to see Jesus throughout the Bible. Sometimes, He is subtly behind the scenes, other times, He is front and center, and cannot be missed. Here, in the testimony of Elihu, we see a wonderful prediction of the work of Christ. Elihu points out, the real problem with mankind is that we are sinners and as such, are under a curse, and headed for what he calls the pit. The solution presented by this young man is that God Himself will provide a ransom for fallen men.
Unfortunately, sadness is a common feeling. We have experienced it in all its varying levels and intervals. We have had little things happen that caused us to frown and go quiet, and we have had deeper experiences that gripped us with sorrow and caused us to weep or even wail. Paul is speaking here, not of the sorrow that comes from your favorite team losing a game, or even losing someone you love, he is speaking of the sorrow that comes upon a person when they realize they have sinned against God. The Psalmist wrote of a time when he was overcome with that kind of sadness;
In the previous chapter, Job made a list of all the good things he had done. He speaks of being a good husband, caring for his employees, giving to charity, being a religious man and avoiding evil actions. These are all notable qualities and should be a part of our lives, but not one of them is capable of making us righteous or justified before God. Job made the mistake of thinking he could earn his way to heaven. He assumed his good works would outweigh the bad things he had done. CS Lewis sought to express the problem with self-righteousness in his book “The Great Divorce.” He speaks of a man who refuses to enter heaven. He thinks he is above those who have gone in through the doorway of grace. In response Paul would declare,
A covenant, like a treaty, is an agreement between two parties that results in peace. Job realized that he was at war, not with others, but with himself. The battle that raged within him was for control of his thoughts. He came to realize, the only way to be victorious, was to be certain his eyes did not look at what would stir his lusts.
Although this verse is tucked away in a passage not well trodden, this portion of the text is fairly well-known. It is not uncommon to hear this verse quoted, even among those who have not chosen to surrender their lives to Christ. When donuts are on the table and we are about to indulge, we might hear someone say, “You know our bodies are the temple of the living God, we should not defile the temple.” While it is true, what we eat can have an effect upon how we feel, and thus distracts from what we are capable of accomplishing, that is not the primary message of this passage. Paul is talking about the danger of establishing relationships that will lead us astray. He wrote,
Jim Gallagher 