When reading Elihu’s rebuke of Job in Job 33, I can’t but help to think about how often I’ve heard of Christians defending their words and actions in their own personal call of God instead of Scripture. And not to undermine the call of God upon one’s life, but you’d be surprised at how many people have justified wrong actions or theology based off of their own personal call that can start to go against the truths of Scripture.
It starts with verses 3-4 in where Elihu right away declares what he is about to say to Job as upright and sincere because God has made him and he has God in his life. Verse 6 reminds Job that they are both of God. Many believe that these statements of speaking truth for God were a play on Job’s word in the previous chapter to show that what he has to say is just as equal and upright to Job’s defense of suffering for nothing instead of a consequence of sin in which Job’s friends accused of Job.
In the rest of the chapter and the next, Elihu shares how low one can go in direct discipline of the Lord, yet Elihu communicates it a bit more merciful than Job’s other friends. However, mercy doesn’t matter when you’re wrong in predicting what God was doing in Job’s suffering and especially using God’s call on his life when communicating it. I’ve seen people defend everything from homosexuality not being a sin to the justification of unbiblical divorce based off of God’s call on their life instead of the finished and fulfilled Scripture as the final authority of counsel and advice for one’s life. We must remember that God’s call or what we may believe is God’s call will not go against what Scripture already says for someone and in this case what it doesn’t say for Job. Throughout this book we’ve seen great advice and truths presented by Job’s friends but they did not know the full context of Job’s life and what God had planned when setting this suffering in motion. They just assumed it to be true for Job and in this case, Elihu justified these assumptions in his own righteousness and relationship with the Lord. Let’s not make the same mistake.
By: Erik Koliser — West Campus Pastor
JumpstartCPC.com 
He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they lie in their beds.
Thanks for the commentary Erik. This verse grabbed my attention today. The Voice of the Martyrs publication has reported stories of people in Muslim countries, where faith in Jesus is against the law, seeing Jesus on the cross in a dream and pursuing a missionary to explain their vision to them. I’m reminded to pray for our brothers and sisters facing persecution for Christ and for their persecutors.