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Call to worship: Romans 5:1-5

Text: Job 32-33

Sermon Outline:

1. Introducing Elihu
2. Elihu's zeal to speak for God's glory, ch. 32
   • The causes of his 'burning anger,' 32:1-5
   • The prelude to his burning anger, 32:6
   • The paradigm-shift in his burning anger, 32:8-9
   • The devotion of his burning anger, 32:21-22
3. Elihu's zeal to justify Job's story, ch. 33
   • Elihu's gentle approach to Job, 33:1-7
   • Elihu's encouraging correction of Job, 33:8-30

     God's not your enemy. He's speaking by your suffering:

     • By it, He's sharpening your conscience, to expose and keep you from sin
     • By it, He's shining light on that 'Savior' Who's always Light at the end of the tunnel

Prepare

Questions to Consider:

1. Most of all, what I'd like for you to do is read the sermon text together as a family prior to corporate worship. Do that, pray it, soak in it, discuss it as friends, as spouses, as parents. Some questions to help:
2. In 32:1-5, why is Elihu angry? Is he right to be angry? At Job's friends? At Job himself? Why or why not?
3. I think a key in understanding Elihu and his speeches is this: Job's friends believed Job was suffering because of his sin, but Elihu believes Job's sinned because of his suffering. What's the difference?
4. In 32:8-9, what has Elihu come to believe? How does that open up the door for Elihu's words? In 32:21-22, to Whom is Elihu devoted above all in his speaking?
5. In 33:1-7, how does Elihu's anger come out? Angrily or gently? If gently, what do you make of that? In 33:8-13, what's Elihu's correction for Job? How has God spoken to Job, according to Elihu? And what's the content? What's the reason for this method of 'speaking'? Have you thought that suffering is a revealing grace of God to expose and/or keep us from sin and point us all the more to the Savior Who's saved us and holds us fast?