What Can We Do For God?

Job 35:5-8

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Look unto the heavens, and see;

And behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him?

Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him?

Or what receiveth he of thine hand?

8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art;

And thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

Job 35:5-8

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I have heard messages that put down Elihu for his youthful pride and know it all attitude. But I have to be honest, I like the guy. I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with everything he said, but he stood his ground. When the elders were going back and forth with their self-righteous attitudes (and yes, Job got sucked into it), he corrected them all. What I also find interesting is that God did not tell him to ask Job for forgiveness (Job 42:7-8). While he said way too much, he was defending God's honor against his elders who also said way too much.

As I was reading my daily reading today, I came across this passage. This is good stuff! But, as usual, commentators disagree on whether Elihu is speaking truth or heresy. I'm going to take the approach of truth and hopefully explain why I see it that way..

In the movie "Wrath of the Titans", the gods are struggling because mankind is no longer worshiping them as much. The lack of worship is making their power weaker. In essence, they are losing their deity. So, to force people to worship them, they unleash their wrath upon them. Rule by fear is the name of the game

Elihu is saying that God is exactly the opposite of that. He is so far beyond man that man's actions do not affect him. To direct Job and the other three to this idea, he invites them to look up at the clouds. The idea here is that the clouds are so far above them that humanity has no effect on the clouds. Once you think about the clouds, then consider that God is above the clouds. This isn't just talking about a physical location, but glory as well. Our actions do not influence who God is.

In verse 6, Elihu says that if we sin, we do not hurt God. This is in a general sense. I know that we could talk about Christ's stripes and wounds. However, in a general sense, my sins and your sins don't change God. We are not going to upset him and cause him to get depressed. We are not going to cause him to give up and quit. He will be himself, regardless of how we act.

In verse 7, Elihu goes in the opposite direction. He says that our righteousness does not change God. If we decide to be more good, that doesn't strength God any more than our sins weaken him. They have not effect on who he is. We do not give him anything that benefits him. He said in the Psalms, "If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 50:12).

In verse 8, Elihu sets up a contrast between God and humanity. While our actions may cause hurt, pain, joy, or benefit to other humans, we do none of that to God (again, generally speaking). God is who he is regardless of how good or bad his creation chooses to be. When we understand this, oh how great our appreciation for his choosing to be invested emotionally and physically with humanity.

Think about it. God exists outside of our influence and yet he chooses to allow us to have influence on him. Not that we change his nature, but we has suffered because of us. He expresses pleasure because of us. He hears our prayers and answers. None of this was necessary, yet he chose! He chose to send his Son to suffer and die for our sins. Suffering that was by nature outside of his existence. He had to willfully subject himself to such influence of pain and suffering. Why? So that he could willfully subject himself to the pleasure of seeing his creation redeemed from their sins. He chose to endure and experience because he chose us!

Father thank you for who you are. I thank you that my sins and my righteousness do not add to or diminish who you are. You are the great "I AM". Thank you for choosing to suffer and die for my sins. Thank you for choosing to rejoice in my redemption. Thank you for choosing to spend eternity with me, and all who accept your Son as their savior!