Job – Chapter 36

“Elihu also proceeded, and said, Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God’s behalf. I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.” Elihu is the summing up, the summary of the debate in the book of Job. He is not representative of any one thing, but rather characterizes the many conclusions of scripture. For instance, we can say that Christ died for all, but not all are ‘saved’ by His death. The conclusion therefore is that the ‘unsaved’ have rejected Christ. This ‘right’ conclusion is an Elihu, if you can see that. There are many wrong conclusions. In the instance given, if we say Christ died for all, therefore all are ‘saved,’ we have reached a false conclusion, for not all are ‘saved’ by any means. That is not Elihu. In other words, that conclusion disagrees with all men of God in truth. Only a conclusion which agrees fully with the men of God in truth can be retained among the perfect, for Elihu says that he “that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.” If a false premise, however logical, is held among any, then Elihu cannot be present. Scripture teaches that the man of God should be perfect. We cannot be true men of God if we hold false conclusions, error, misconceptions and such, among us, because Elihu is not present. The Lord Jesus said that, “where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst.” He was speaking of being in the midst of men of God in truth. If two or three are gathered together in His name, and only one is ‘saved’ and holding the truth Elihu-like, Christ is not “in the midst” of that gathering, for Elihu says, “He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.” Perfect knowledge therefore is a must in any assembly. “Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.” Amen! All men of God in truth hold to that conclusion, summed up in a phrase, How Great Thou Art! For this is that ‘perfect knowledge’ characterized by Elihu. Peter and John might seem ignorant and unlearned in the eyes of the worldly-wise, but they had been with Jesus and therefore had acquired ‘perfect knowledge’ of the greatness of the Lord. Do not be put off by the phrase ‘perfect in knowledge.’ It does not mean to know everything perfectly, but it means that the knowledge we have is ‘perfect’ – that is, free from error, false doctrine, wrong teaching. If we know we are ‘saved’ we can be said to have ‘perfect knowledge’ of salvation, even though we might have grave difficulty teaching it to someone else; whereas if we know everything there is to learn about salvation, yet we ourselves are not ‘saved,’ we do not have ‘perfect knowledge’, neither are we ‘perfect in knowledge’ on that point, for we have not been with Jesus, and Elihu is not present with us. Again, if we are masters of theology, and have learned all that colleges and professors can teach about the mighty God, mighty in strength and wisdom, yet have never ourselves stood in His strength and acted according to His wisdom, we are not Elihus, and must ever remain imperfect in knowledge, for “they that do His will shall know of the doctrine.” The blind lead only the blind, because those who see never need their help. We should get up tomorrow cheerful, for He that is in the midst of thee is mighty. He is mighty to save. He is able to keep. Nothing is impossible with God. If we get up tomorrow unsure of our future, is it only that we ‘know’ these things yet have not actually experienced them? That is not ‘perfect knowledge.’ We must look again. Somewhere we have acquired error, misconceptions, wrong conclusions about God. Paul in prison is assured of his future, for he is ‘perfect in knowledge’ of the mighty God. We do not have time or space to discuss in detail all the conclusions of Elihu – that is for you to do at leisure. But in verse 16 he tells Job, “Even so would he have removed thee out of the strait into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and that which should be set on thy table should be full of fatness. But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.” Job, you see, was made to sit in the sinner’s seat – “But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked” – for reasons known only to God. We can learn a lesson from this, and be very careful not to sit in the sinner’s seat nor stand in the place of wicked men. It is not selfrighteousness. If we ‘eschew’ evil, and do good, we are not going about to establish our own righteousness but merely avoiding at all costs being found in the sinner’s seat. The apostles, Peter and John, are in trouble because of the ‘good deed’ done to the impotent man. Paul is in daily trouble because he “preached Christ, and Him crucified.” Stephen is put to death because he looked up to heaven and “saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” And Christ Himself was in mortal danger every day among men because He did “only those things” that pleased His Father. We should be like Christ, and like the apostles, saints and martyrs before us, but we should never be caught sitting in the sinner’s seat or standing in the way of the ungodly. This too is a conclusion of Elihu. This is a summing up of the teachings of scripture, both ‘old’ and ‘new.’ If we are in dire straits, as we say – under pressure, harassed, troubled, at wit’s end, despairing – is it because we have done only those things that please the Father, or is it because we have sat in the sinner’s seat? Job is an extreme case, obviously. But in lesser degree, are we suffering, like Luther, because, “Here I stand; I can do no other,” or are we suffering because of sin? “Be not weary in well-doing,” says ‘Elihu.’ That is to say, never sit down to rest in the sinner’s seat. “Behold, God is great,” says Elihu in verse 26. The text in the book of Job is difficult to follow at times because of poor translation. It is not what we would call ‘perfectly’ clear, although the original obviously must at one time have been perfectly clear. Added to that is the fact that God is great, far greater than we can grasp, and we have not yet got ‘perfect’ understanding of the Almighty, beyond nodding assent to the word of Elihu. “Behold, God is great, and we know him not.” It is not so much that we lack ‘perfect’ understanding of God, but that we hardly know Him. He is not familiar to us. Indeed, Elihu speaks the truth, we “know him not.” For as high as the heaven is above the earth, so high is His way above our way, and His thought above our thought. God is too great for us. God is too high for us. God is before us, and will be after us, in time, “neither can the number of His years be searched out.” What then may we grasp of God? What will be small enough of the Almighty to fill our little mind? “For he maketh small the drops of water,” Elihu adds. Then all we may know of God is merely a drop in the ocean, as we speak. We look up, and let the drops trickle into our mind, and water the seed of the word. We seek those things which are above, and one by one the drops accumulate that alone may quench our thirst for God. “Which the clouds do drop” – Elihu – “and distill upon man abundantly.” There is a sound that accompanies the experience, the sound of abundance of rain. For us it is the latter rain. For us God has poured out His Spirit upon man. For us Christ has uncovered the living water which springs up into everlasting life. “Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?” asks Elihu. Well, not understand, certainly, but we can at least experience it, and ‘perfect knowledge’ follows, never precedes, experience. We conclude, then, that to have knowledge of God we must experience God in us, but, “Behold, God is great, and we know Him not.”