ELIHU AND YOU

ELIHU AND YOU
Job 32-37
Jerry Vines
9/18/96

The dialogue between Job and his friends has come to an end. Job is silence, convinced that he
is absolutely innocent. The friends of Job are silent and they are absolutely convinced that he has
committed some terrible sin to cause the suffering he is going through. God is silent also. There is no
answer. There is no voice from God. God will not be at the call of His creation. God is not some celestial
bellhop who comes when we call.
I heard about an infidel who was addressing a group and he said, "If there is a God, I'm going to
give Him five minutes to prove He's a God by striking me dead." He stood there and he looked at his
watch for five minutes and nothing happened. He said, "See, that proves there is no God." A Christian
in the crowd said to him, "Sir, do you think that you can exhaust the patience of the Almighty in five
minutes?"
We do not make demands of God. God is not going according to our timetable. God does not
operate according to our clock. So, Job is silent, convinced he is innocent. His friends are silent,
convinced he is guilty. And God is silent, there is no voice from God. So, the conclusion of the dialogue
has come and both of them are hardened in their positions. Then, into the picture enters Elihu. Elihu is a
very strange character. He comes suddenly upon the scene and just as suddenly he goes away. When you
read Elihu you will find that he is absolutely hopping mad. He is mad at everybody. He is mad at Job
because Job has justified himself. He is mad at the friends of Job because they have not been able to
respond and to prove the case that Job is a sinner. He is very, very mad.
Up to this point he has been listening and witnessing the conversation and he has ...

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