Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
John:
Ok, I have to say it, but please feel free to throw this in the trash can if you want to... In an email recently, in reference to Elihu in the book of Job, you said, “But I love the light Jesus has given to us about that very great young man.”
Didn’t the whole point of Elihu’s message revolve around the greatness of God, and the “ungreatness” of everything else, including perfect men like Job (and Elihu presumably, who himself said he was merely a man)? I know what you meant when you said it, but it just stuck out to me to hear someone other than God in this story being called great. I’m probably just being too picky, so please excuse me...
Peter
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Hey Peter!
Maybe not quite as picky as you may think. The book of Job is a book about God; so, I can understand perfectly how you feel.
Getting to know God is the only way to get to know ourselves, or anyone else, rightly. When I wrote the line about Elihu that you quoted above, I was concentrating on what a wonderful feeling it was to finally have the answer to a question that I and others had carried around for years; namely, “Was Elihu speaking words of God or just giving another opinion?” As I answered Sandy a few weeks ago, Sister Sandy asked me about Elihu, and I answered, “I don’t know. God either loved him greatly or despised him, and I don’t know which.” So, it was a very great blessing to me to learn that Elihu had an understanding of God that transcended even Job’s perfection. When I called Elihu “great”, I meant it only on an earthly plane. Sometimes, the Bible also uses the word “great” in reference to certain men, but only in comparison to each other, as you would no doubt, and rightly, point out to me. There is no comparison with God’s greatness.
You already know that the reason we can understand Elihu now is because we better understand God’s greatness. I am sorry I distracted you with my other comment about Elihu. Elihu was just a man. No matter how “great” he may have been in comparison to other men, he was still “made of clay” and, therefore, was as nothing in comparison to the greatness of God.
jdc