Job 35: 1 – 16
Be Kind To Animals
1 Moreover Elihu answered and said: 2 “Do you think this is right? Do you say, ‘my righteousness is more than God’s’? 3 For you say, ‘what advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’ 4 “I will answer you, and your companions with you. 5 Look to the heavens and see; And behold the clouds—They are higher than you. 6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? 7 If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand? 8 Your wickedness affects a man such as you, and your righteousness a son of man. 9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; They cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty. 10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night, 11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’ 12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. 13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it. 14 Although you say you do not see Him, yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him. 15 And now, because He has not punished in His anger, nor taken much notice of folly, 16 therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge.”
Our Lord Jesus placed us humans here on earth to tend and care for His property and all that is in it. As you know our ancestor Adam blew it and we now live in a fallen world. As part of the curse we along with animals exist by eating each other. It is just that plain and simple. Yet in all of this we need to remember that it does not give us any pass to be abusive to our Holy God’s Creation.
We always hear about animal abuse cases. It can be when you turn on the news or even in your own neighborhood. Most of the time abusers are fools. They have the nerve to say things like, “but they are just animals, who cares”.
These people should know that God loves animals and we are to respect them and use them to our advantage. Abusing and killing animals is sinful. It is God who created them. It is God who hears their cries. It is God who provides for them. Christians are to have a pure hearts whether it’s to an animal or not. We are not to abuse pets and other animals.
How can anyone think God would condone someone beating a dog to the point where it almost dies or not feeding it to the point where it almost dies? I unfortunately looked at the news and it showed this puppy that cruel kids had dumped glue all over and left to die. This act wasn’t stupid, it was evil.
What does the Bible say about His creation?
Genesis 1:26-29 ‘Then God said, “Let Us make man like Us and let him be head over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over everything that moves on the ground.” And God made man in His own likeness. In the likeness of God He made him. He made both male and female. And God wanted good to come to them, saying, “Give birth to many. Grow in number. Fill the earth and rule over it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant that gives seeds that is on the earth, and every tree that has fruit that gives seeds. They will be food for you.’
1 Samuel 17:34-37 ‘David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it. I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of the living God.” David added, “The Lord, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine.”Go,” Saul told David, “and may the Lord be with you.”
Genesis 33:13-14 ‘Jacob said to him, “Sir, you know that the children are frail and that I have to take care of the flocks and cattle that are nursing their young. If they’re driven too hard for even one day, all the flocks will die. Go ahead of me, sir. I will slowly and gently guide the herds that are in front of me at their pace and at the children’s pace until I come to you in Seir.”
Matthew 10:29-31 ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
They are living breathing creatures.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 ‘Humans and animals have the same destiny. One dies just like the other. All of them have the same breath of life. Humans have no advantage over animals. All of life is pointless. All life goes to the same place. All life comes from the ground, and all of it goes back to the ground.’
God loves animals.
Psalm 145:8-11 ‘The Lord is full of loving-favor and pity, slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. The Lord is good to all. And His loving-kindness is over all His works. All Your works will give thanks to You, O Lord. And all those who belong to You will honor You. They will speak of the shining-greatness of Your holy nation, and talk of Your power.’
Job 38:39- 41 “Can you hunt food for the lion? Can you fill the hunger of the young lions, when they lie in their own place in the rock, or wait in their hiding place? Who gets the food ready for the raven, when its young cry to God and go about without food?’
Psalm 147:9-11 ‘He provides the animals with their food, and the young ravens, what they cry for. He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; He does not value the power of a man. The Lord values those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His faithful love.
Be Kind to Animals
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 “You might find a bird’s nest by the road, in a tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs. If you find the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. Be sure to let the mother go. But you may take the young for yourself. Then it will go well with you, and you will live long.’
Proverbs 12:10 Good people take care of their animals, but even the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
Exodus 23:5 ‘If you see that your enemy’s donkey has fallen because its load is too heavy, do not leave it there. You must help your enemy get the donkey back on its feet.’
Proverbs 27:23 ‘Be sure you know how your sheep are doing, and pay attention to the condition of your cattle.’
Deuteronomy 25:4 ‘When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth to keep it from eating.’
Exodus 23:12-13 “You should work six days a week, but on the seventh day you must rest. This lets your ox and your donkey rest, and it also lets the slave born in your house and the foreigner be refreshed. “Be sure to do all that I have said to you. You must not even say the names of other gods; those names must not come out of your mouth.’
Follow our Master and King’s Example
Luke 15:4-7 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.’
I am sure you spotted the message of being kind to animals in this chapter verse 11 ‘Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’ 12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. We will comment on these verses shortly but for now let us look at the beginning verses. ‘
With Job being still silent, Elihu follows his verbal attack, and undertakes to show him that he had spoken amiss, and ought to recant. Three improper sayings he here charges him with, and gives a return answer to them.
1. He had represented religion as an indifferent unprofitable thing, which God established for His own sake, not for ours; Elihu explains the opposite view. (verses 1-8).
2 He had complained of God as deaf to the cries of the oppressed, against which Elihu here speaks up for God (verses 9-13).
3. He had despaired of the return of God’s favor to him, because it was so long delayed, but Elihu shows him the true cause of the delay (verses 14-16).
Over and over Job has had to undergo verbal bullying. Now Elihu takes his shots at our friend Job. What is verbal bullying? What are the effects of verbal bullying?
When most people think of bullying, they think of physical bullying. However, bullying goes beyond the physical and can encompass the verbal. It may seem strange, but verbal bullying can be just as harmful – in different ways – as physical bullying. With verbal bullying, the goal is still to degrade and demean the victim, while making the aggressor look dominant and powerful. All bullying focuses on creating a situation in which the victim is dominated by the aggressor. And this can happen verbally as well as physically.
Many victims of verbal bullying are affected in very real ways. Verbal bullying can affect one’s self image, and affect someone in emotional and psychological ways. This type of bullying can lead to low self-esteem, as well as depression and other problems. It can aggravate problems that a victim may already be experiencing at home or in other places. In some cases, verbal bullying can reach a point where the victim is so depressed, and wants to escape so badly, that he or she may turn to substance abuse or – in some extreme cases – suicide. In the end, words have a power all their own, and the realities of verbal bullying can have very physical consequences, even if the aggressor never lays a finger on the victim.
It is difficult to deal with verbal bullies, but there are some things that you can try in order to avoid bullies. It takes a lot of effort, though. Here are some things that may help you deal with a verbal bully:
Ignore the bully: This is difficult, but if you can shrug off insults and provide no reaction, there is a chance that eventually the bully will move on to someone who provides a more interesting and responsive target.
Remain civil: Do not resort to rudeness yourself. Many bullies lose interest if you do not sink to their level. Also, if you act rudely and aggressively yourself, you may invite a physical confrontation, which could add physical hurts to the emotional.
In the end, it is quite difficult to stop verbal bullying. However, you can set a good example by speaking kindly of others and not resort to rudeness yourself. This is quite important, since many verbal bullies first learn to dominate others with words.
So, let’s take a close look at Elihu’s verbal attack
Two things Elihu picks out to reprove Job. First of all for justifying himself more than God, which was the thing that first provoked him which we read about in chapter 32,
1 Moreover Elihu answered and said: 2 “Do you think this is right? Do you say, ‘my righteousness is more than God’s’?
In reality Job had said, "I have done more for God than ever He did for me; so that, when the accounts are balanced, He will be a debtor to me.’’ As if Job thought his services had been paid less than they deserved and his sins punished more than they deserved, which is a most unjust and wicked thought for any man to harbor and especially to utter = Lord my punishment is more than what my crime deserves. When Job insisted so much upon his own integrity, and the severity of God’s dealings with him, he did in effect say, My righteousness is more than God’s; whereas, though we be ever so good and our afflictions ever so great, we are chargeable with unrighteousness and God is not.
If we do this are we not joining in with the likes of Cain who slew his brother Abel? Look at his answer when our Holy Creator told him that He knew that Cain had murdered his brother, “1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” 8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13 And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the LORD said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
3 For you say, ‘what advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’
The second area that bugged Elihu was what he said as recorded back in chapter 9. -For disowning the benefits and advantages of being free from the penalty of sin – ‘If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch, And mine own clothes shall abhor me.’ In a way Job is saying like many Christians have thought – ‘What good have I enjoyed by being faithful and true in my life as a Christian? This is greatly the wrong thinking for by thinking this we in effect are charging our Holy God that He Is in our debt [He owes us] because we have been so good.
In verse 4 Elihu says that his forthcoming answer will not only answer Job’s questions but also silence his three fellow travelers.
4 “I will answer you, and your companions with you.
In saying this he refers to what has already been spoken in chapter 33 - that God is greater than man. This is a truth which serves many good purposes, and particularly one that explains that our Holy God Is a debtor to no one.
Elihu does not need to prove that our Almighty God Is above man; it is agreed by all; but he endeavors to affect Job and the other three guys with it, by giving an example of the height of the heavens and the clouds
5 Look to the heavens and see; and behold the clouds—they are higher than you.
They are far above us, and God Is far above them; how much then Is He out of the reach either of our sins or of our services! God made man to look up to heaven. Idolaters looked up, and worshipped the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars; but we must look up to heaven, and worship the Lord of those hosts. They are higher than we, but our Magnificent Holy God Is infinitely above them. His glory is above the heavens and the knowledge of Him is higher than heaven itself.
Therefore our Holy Creator God Is not affected either one way or other, by any thing that we do. We read and learn in verse 6 that the sins of the worst sinners cause no damage to Him
6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?
We all need to take this fact to heart. Sin is against our Holy God because we sinners intend it and so God takes it, and it is an injury to His honor; yet it cannot do anything against Him. The the intention or desire to do evil is part of our make up yet in sinning it cannot destroy His being or perfection, cannot dethrone Him from His power and dominion, cannot disturb His peace and repose, cannot defeat His counsels and designs, nor can it detract from His essential glory. Job therefore spoke inappropriately.
We are also informed that even the services of the best saints are no profit to Him
7 If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?
He is so far from being a debtor to us that we can demand nothing from Him, nor have any reason to complain if we have not what we expect, but to be thankful that we have better than we deserve.
In verse 8 we learn a truth that others can be either bettered or damaged by what we do
8 Your wickedness affects a man such as you, and your righteousness a son of man
To men like ourselves we have the capacity either of doing injury or of showing kindness; and in both these our Sovereign Lord and Judge of all is interested. He will reward those that do well and punish those that do hurt to God’s creatures and fellow-human beings.
Now that Elihu was on a roll he now returns an answer to another statement that Job had said which, he thought, reflected much upon the justice and goodness of God, and therefore ought not to pass without a remark. What it was that Job complained of; it was this, that God did not regard the cries of the oppressed against their oppressors
9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry out for help because of the arm of the mighty.
Back in chapter 24 Job commented that the oppressed cry out, they cry on still, by reason of the arm of the mighty, which lies heavily upon them yet God lays no punishment on these evil people. This is neither a thing that Job can understand nor how to reconcile these things to the justice of God
We cannot blame our Holy Adoni Yahweh Father God. If the cries of the oppressed be not heard, the fault is not in Him; He Is ready to hear and help them. The fault is in them; they ask and have not, but it is because they ask amiss as taught to us by our Lord Jesus’ half brother James in chapter 4 verse 3 of his book.
So, we all might ask then what are we doing wrong? The answer is that we cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. Our cry is a complaining one. It is a wailing cry from our torment, not a penitent praying cry.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,
The bottom line is that afflictions are sent to get us to run to our Holy Father for answers and help. It is rare that we run to Him. In many cases we get mad at Him for allowing all the trouble that comes upon us.
We all need a constant reminder that our Righteous and Great God Is our Maker, the Author of our being. It is our duty therefore to constantly enquire after Him.
This is a spiritual condition that we need to repeat to ourselves on a daily basis. This is extremely hard but He Is ever allowing things to happen for our benefit. Our Holy God provides for our inward comfort and joy under our outward troubles, and we ought to make use of that, and wait His time for the removal of our troubles: He gives songs in the night, that is, when our condition is ever so dark, and sad, and melancholy, there is that in God, in His providence and promise, which is sufficient, not only to support us, but to fill us with joy and consolation, and enable us in everything to give thanks, and even to rejoice in tribulation.
We are taught in verse 11 that our Mighty God develops in us the use of our reason and understanding and has provided us with more noble powers and faculties than what the creatures are invested with and has made us capable of more excellent pleasures and enjoyments
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’
Our Gracious Creator has given the animals wonderful instincts in seeking out their food and their shelter; but none of them are capable of enquiring, where is God my Maker? If therefore the oppressed only cry by reason of the arm of the mighty, and do not look up to God, they do no more than the creatures who complain when they are hurt. Mankind forgets this instruction and wisdom by which we are advanced so far above the animal kingdom. Yet please understand that our merciful God relieves the creatures because they cry to Him according to the best of their capacity. So therefore, what reason have men to expect relief, who are capable of enquiring after God as their Maker and yet cry to Him probably less than the animals do.
So, how come God does not work deliverance for humans?
12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. 13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it.
It is because of the pride of evil men; they are evil men; they regard iniquity in their hearts, and therefore God will not hear their prayers. Our Holy God has made a decision to Himself that He will not hear such sinners. They have to a large degree brought themselves into trouble by their own wickedness; yet this is not all: they are proud still, and therefore they do not seek unto God, or, if they do cry unto Him, He does not give answer, for He hears only the desire of the humble. The case is plain then, if we cry to God for the removal of the oppression and affliction we are under, and it is not removed, the reason is not because the Lord’s hand is shortened or His ear heavy, but because the affliction has not done its work; we are not sufficiently humbled.
God will not hear vanity, that is, the hypocritical prayer, which is a prayer based on excessive pride, coming out of insincere lips. It is foolish to think that God should hear it. He Is One Who searches the heart and requires truth in the inward part.
Elihu is not quite done yet correcting Job. He says, ‘now Job I am not finished because I have just remembered another thing that you are wrong on.
14 Although you say you do not see Him, yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him. 15 And now, because He has not punished in His anger, nor taken much notice of folly, 16 therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge.”
Job you complained that you cannot see Him based on the severe conditions that He has inflicted on you.
The answer which Elihu gives to this despairing word that Job had said, is this, that, when he looked up to God, he had no just reason to speak so: Judgment is before Almighty God, that is, "He knows what he has to do, and will do all in infinite wisdom and justice; He has the entire plan and model of providence before Him, and knows what He will do, which we do not, and therefore we do not understand what He does.
When we consider that God Is infinitely wise, and righteous, and faithful, and that He Is a God of judgment, we shall see no reason to despair of getting relief from Him, but we should have all the reason in the world to hope in Him, that deliverance will come in due time, in the best time.
The reason Job had not yet seen an end of his troubles was because he did not thus trust in God and wait for Him. Remember our Holy Father God does not punish us. He disciplines us. If there be any mixtures of divine wrath in our afflictions, we may thank ourselves because we do not behave right under them; we quarrel with God, and are fretful and impatient, and distrustful of His love for us.
Elihu thinks that Job, being in great distress, did not know and consider these facts as he should have and that it was his own fault that he was not yet delivered. He concludes therefore that Job opened his mouth in vain in complaining of his grievances and crying for redress, or in justifying himself and thinking about clearing up his own innocence. It is all in vain, because he does not trust in God and wait for Him, and has does not have any regard to Him in his afflictions. He had said a great deal, had multiplied words, but all without knowledge, all to no purpose, because he did not encourage himself in God and humble himself before Him. It is useless for us either to appeal to God for help if we do not understand the purpose for which affliction is sent, and it is in vain to pray for relief if we do not trust in God. In the book of James chapter 1 verse 7 the answer for us to know is ‘for let not that man who distrusts God think that he shall receive anything from him.’
