Days Should Speak!

Days Should Speak

Job 32:1-22

"Experience is the best teacher, but it has the highest cost." "I got my education from the school of hard knocks." "I’ve been around the block a time or two." "What? Do you think I was born yesterday?" "Sonny, in my day…" "You ain’t dry behind the ears, yet." "Mind your elders, Boy!" "I just don’t know what’s wrong with this younger generation! They jist t’ain’t got no respect at all! Why it’s pitiful, jist pitiful!"

How many of those sayings do you remember from your youth? Even scarier, how many of them have you said lately? It is amazing how the sayings that we just despise or get sick of hearing when we are kids we end up repeating when we are older. When I was raising my children it was strange how often I would catch myself and realize that I said the words, but it was really my Mother or Father that was doing the talking. You know, those folks we may have swore that we would never become because they just did not have a clue. Just proves old Solomon was right when he said that there was "nothing new under the sun."

Why is it that we are like the old Amish proverb, "too soon old, too late smart?" Why do our parents become so much smarter when we are thirty when they were so flat out dumb when we were in our teens? If we had only listened, we would have saved ourselves so much heartache and failure.

Maybe we were just dumb. Maybe we just could not understand or maybe the adults that tried to mentor us just did not know how to get through to us. Whatever the problems were, we now are the elders, and we need to learn to overcome the barriers and make sure we are heard by the younger generation. However, we must first be sure we have something worth hearing. Days should speak, but the elder must seek the wisdom of God.

1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

3 Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

4 Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he.

5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.

6 And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion.

7 I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.

8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. (KJV)

We must seek the wisdom of God to teach the young. All through the Scripture, the parents/elders are commanded to teach the young. It is our responsibility. It is not a task to be taken lightly. What we say and how well we are heeded determines the earthly future and eternal destiny of the young within our charge.

Days should speak to the young because they are listening. (1-4) We do not know why Elihu was there. He may have been kinfolk to one of the men through marriage, but it is more likely that he was an apprentice to one of them or even a slave. At least he came from a family not well respected because Buzite comes from the word that means disrespect, shame, or contempt.

I have seen in Scripture that when a man stands up to speak and his family tree is mentioned it is almost a sermon or statement in and of itself to the situation. Elihu means the God of him. Barachel means God has blessed. Buzite means contempt. Ram means exalted.

Therefore, when Elihu rose to speak to the three "friends" of Job they may have heard this sermon in their hearts first. The God of him (Job) has blessed the one you held in contempt and he shall be exalted. Gives new meaning to the power of a good name or living up to your family name doesn’t it?

Because he was young, he was not expected to speak and he may well have been ignored or invisible until he spoke up. It was not his business and surely, he had no wisdom so he would not have been consulted. They may have thought he was not even listening, but he was. In fact, the more he listened the more he got angry. Why? He was angry because everyone was justifying themselves instead of justifying God and His sovereignty.