He's the smartest person in the room.
That's not me.
This is the Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind,
and coming to you from Riverside, California,
podcasting since 2004,
I'm Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.
This is the podcast that comes to you every day,
and we're reading the entire Bible together in a year.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome.
You're looking good today.
The website is Lifespringmedia.com.
It's National Weather Persons Day,
You know, when I was a kid, it was the weatherman, but today it's the National Weather Persons
Day.
Most of us consult the weather forecast on a daily basis, don't we?
So thank your weatherman or weatherwoman today.
This is also, and more importantly, Poetry Thursday.
We'll read Job 31 and 32.
Let's begin.
Our Heavenly Father, we come to you now and we thank you for your word and we look forward
to seeing what you have to say to us today.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Job chapter 31. I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.
For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Isn't it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?
Doesn't he see everything I do and every step I take? Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?
Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for He knows my integrity.
If I have strayed from His pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen,
or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted.
Let all that I have planted be uprooted.
If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor's wife,
then let my wife serve another man.
Let other men sleep with her.
For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.
It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.
It would wipe out everything I own.
If I have been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me,
how could I face God?
What could I say when He questioned me?
For God created both me and my servants.
He created us both in the womb.
Have I refused to help the poor or crushed the hopes of widows?
Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans?
No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father,
and all my life I have cared for widows.
Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes,
and the needy with nothing to wear,
did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?
If I raised my hand against an orphan,
knowing the judges would take my side,
then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place,
Let my arm be torn from its socket. That would be better than facing God's judgment.
For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there? Have I put my trust in money,
or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?
Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies, or the moon walking down its silver pathway,
and been secretly enticed in my heart to throw kisses at them in worship? If so,
I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean that I had denied the God of heaven.
Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies, or become excited when harm came their
way? No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone, or by asking for revenge. My servants have never
said, He let others go hungry. I have never turned away a stranger, but have opened my doors to
everyone? Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart?
Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?
If only someone would listen to me, look, I will sign my name to my defense.
Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me. I would face the
accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown, for I would tell him exactly what I have done.
I would come before him like a prince. If my land accuses me, and all its furrows cry out together,
or if I have stolen its crops or murdered its owners, then let thistles grow on that land
instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. Job's words are ended.
Job's three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence.
Then Elihu, son of Barakal the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, became angry. He was angry because
Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. He was also angry
with Job's three friends, for they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer
Job's arguments. Elihu had waited for the others to speak to Job, because they were older than he,
but when he saw that they had no further reply, he spoke out angrily. Elihu, son of Barakul the
Buzite, said, I'm young, and you are old, so I held back from telling you what I think.
I thought, those who are older should speak, for wisdom comes with age. But there is a spirit
within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent.
Sometimes the elders are not wise.
Sometimes the aged do not understand justice.
So listen to me and let me tell you what I think.
I've waited all this time listening very carefully to your arguments,
listening to you grope for words.
I have listened, but not one of you has refuted Job or answered his arguments.
And don't tell me he is too wise for us.
Only God can convince him.
If Job had been arguing with me, I would not answer with your kind of logic.
You sit there baffled with nothing more to say. Should I continue to wait now that you are silent?
Must I also remain silent? No, I will say my piece, I will speak my mind. For I am full of
pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on. I am like a cask of wine without a vent,
like a new wineskin ready to burst. I must speak to find relief, so let me give my answers.
I won't play favorites or try to flatter anyone. For if I tried flattery, my Creator would soon
destroy me. Well, chapter 31 is the last chapter that records Job's words to his accusers.
In this chapter, Job lists many different sins that a person could be accused of,
and he tells how he is not guilty of any of them. He starts with one of a man's most common sins,
looking with lust at a young woman. Now, how many men can say that they've not done that?
He says that he made a covenant with his eyes not to do that. I remember reading that Billy Graham,
in all his travels, made a similar covenant with his eyes. He would always avert his eyes to the
ground when he was in a place where a pretty woman was around. That's a great strategy.
And then Job asks if he's lied or deceived anyone. And when he's said all that he can in his own
defense, when he's laid out his case, he challenges God to answer him. I think maybe Job took it a
step too far, don't you? And then, beginning with chapter 32 and ending with chapter 37,
we hear from Elihu. Chapter 32 is the first time Elihu shows up in the entire book of Job.
And from the context of his speeches, he appears to be much younger than Job, or Job's accusers,
or friends, whatever you want to call them, though we don't know Elihu's exact age.
His speech here in this chapter doesn't really need much explaining, except to say that,
Like many young men, he obviously does not have the experience to know what he does not know.
In his mind, he's the smartest person in the room.
I've known a few people like that.
Kind of reminds me a little bit of Cliff Clavin from the old Cheers show.
I like what Bible commentator Elmer Smick said.
Almost all modern interpreters have found Elihu to be insufferably wordy.
It takes some 24 verses to say, look out, I'm going to speak.
Yep, I've known people like that.
What are your thoughts?
Tomorrow we're going to read Jeremiah 17 to 21.
Here's the verse of the day.
Well, today's verse of the day is James 1.5.
And I chose this since neither Job nor Elihu exhibited much wisdom.
I thought maybe we should be reminded what James said about it.
Here it is.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
That's James 1, 5, something to keep in mind.
Chase Jacobson came in today with his monthly $20 donation,
which makes him today's associate producer.
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Listen, this show takes about three hours every day to produce for you.
Yes, even though part of the show is rewind or reruns, the other part is brand new.
And it has to be planned, researched, written, produced, edited, uploaded to the server, show notes written, the episode page at lifespringmedia.com updated,
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On this date in church history, February 5th.
In 1597, on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan,
the landscape of a global church was forever marked by the blood of martyrs.
26 Christians, including local Japanese laypeople and European missionaries,
were executed by crucifixion under the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Among them were teenagers
and seasoned preachers alike who reportedly sang hymns of praise as they were led to their deaths.
This moment began a period of intense persecution, yet the underground church in Japan endured for
centuries, proving that the gospel cannot be bound by political edict. Now we fast forward to 1723
across the globe in Scotland. John Witherspoon was born. He became a Presbyterian minister who
eventually moved to the American colonies to lead Princeton University, then the College of New
Jersey. He bridged the gap between the pulpit and the halls of power. As the only active clergyman
to sign the Declaration of Independence, he taught generations of founders that liberty is not merely
a political right, but a gift from God that requires a virtuous and educated citizenry
to maintain. Yes, it does. We need to make some changes.
Well, beloved, that about does it for today. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly.
Thank you so much for being here. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.
All the programs in the Lifespring Media family are made possible by your value-for-value support.
Thank you.
The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster, since 2004.