Job’s “friends”,
Zophar the Naamathite, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite
had already given Job their opinions. Then Elihu the Buzite shared
his opinion.
Job 32:17 "...I
too will answer my share, I also will tell my opinion...”
Job 33:3 "...My
words are from the uprightness of my heart, And my lips speak
knowledge sincerely...”
Job 34:36
“...Job ought to be tried to the limit, Because he answers like
wicked men...”
Opinion? Sincere?
Right conclusion?
The friends weren’t
seeking God’s counsel. They were offering opinions. God finally
spoke, 38 chapters into the book of Job, and He spoke to Job, who was
seeking an audience with God.
Job 38:1-2
“...Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, "Who
is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?...”
God’s impression of
the opinions of Job and his friends?
We expect God to act
according to our current understanding of heaven and earth. We have
opinions!
Psalm 95:9-10
"...When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had
seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And
said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know
My ways...”
Isaiah 55:8
"...For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My
ways," declares the LORD...”
Do we know His
thoughts and ways?
It’s important that we
get beyond opinions and stand in truth.
Isaiah 55:2-3
"...Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages
for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is
good, And delight yourself in abundance. "Incline your ear and
come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you...”
Romans 12:2
“...And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God
is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect...”
Are we living proof of
God’s good, acceptable, perfect will? How can education fall short
of transformation?
God gives His Word to us.
Jesus made it clear how important it (He) is.
Matthew 4:4
“...But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT
LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH
OF GOD.'...”
Matthew 12:35-37
"...The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good;
and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. "But
I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall
give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. "For by your
words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned..."
Do we have opinions
about His Words? Do we Auto-Correct His Words?
Opinions are a starting
point. Having an opinion is not a problem. The problem starts when
opinions become dogma (a set of principles laid down as
incontrovertibly true) and the ongoing voice of God is replaced with
preconceived notions.
Luke 18:7-8 “...now,
will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and
night, and will He delay long over them? "I tell you that He
will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of
Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?..."
Can there be justice
in the absence of relationship with the Creator?
What
would God say about the opinions we currently hold, and express?
