Billy P Eldred Supporter

Job 35: 5-6 are part of a rebuke Elihu is giving to Job and Job's two friends. He is doing so by asking Job rhetorical questions that he knows Job knows the answer to without answering. 

Back in Job 32:2 we find the reason for the rebuke:
"[2] But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God".

Job had been through so much. He had lost all his vast possessions. His children had all been killed. And even then Job's reply in Job 1:20-22 NIV:
[20] At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship [21] and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” [22] In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Even this did not break Job.

But Satan didn't stop there. He then afflicted Job with ailments that probably no man had ever had to endure. And then he had to also endure his two friends coming to supposedly comfort him, but instead telling him he was being punished by God for his sin. No man is without sin, but Job believed that he had lived a righteous life. But instead of asking God for help, he demanded that God answer him with deserved justice.

Elihu was filled with the Spirit of God, and he knew Job had gone too far. He was giving Job the advice of an accountability advisor by reminding him of what he already knew, but that Satan had stolen from him through loss and pain. He was also setting him up for God's rebuke to come, to which Job responded rightly: 

Job 42:1-6 NIV
[1] Then Job replied to the Lord: [2] “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. [3] You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. [4] You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ [5] My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. [6] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job had seen God in all His glory and realized once again how great God is.

In context, Elihu was saying to Job that any sin or righteous act Job did would not harm God, and of course, he was right in that context. However, when God spoke to Job, Job found out that if you take that question on its own merit as the questioner did, what you do can affect God. It can rile Him up! It can anger God. It can also evoke his compassion. Job got both. Job heard God's voice of thunder out of a tornado. He knew God was angry. But he repented and received God's compassion. He was healed and got back twice over everything he had lost.

One other way that the Bible tells us what we do or when we sin that affects God. When we act rightly, he is pleased. When we sin he is grieved. He loves us! When we repent and put our trust in Him, He forgives us.

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Donna Williams Supporter

Dear Anonymous, in response to your question, and in the context of the scripture, I would say that because God's ways are higher than our ways, our sins do not change or affect who God is (His nature and character).

Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

However, according to Genesis 6:5-6, we see that Yahweh was affected emotionally when He saw that the wickedness of man (mankind) was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

And Yahweh was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. These verses show us that God has feelings and emotions. We can grieve Him because of our disobedience, evil nature, and character. 

In the New Testament, we find these words written to the saints in Ephesus. Ephesians 4:30: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

I encourage you to read the preceding verses for context.

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Mark Vestal Supporter Proud of nothing of myself. Freed by Christ who did it all!

Sin (past, present, and future) affected God so much that Jesus Christ was crucified for it! God put sin out of His sight that day as sin remained in the ground with Christ's shed blood.

Recognizing how sin affected God and the price that Christ had to pay for it is why believers desire to remove sin from their lives. The power from the display of God's love as is seen at the cross is what helps the sinner to overcome their internal "war" with sin.

Rom 7:22-25
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

1 Cor 6:12
"All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."

God forgave the world of its trespasses when Christ gave His life at the cross. Our response to God's love for us is to believe that Christ, through His blood, paid for our sins.

2 Cor 5:19
"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."

Rom 3:25
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"

If you're ever faced with the question of what God is going to do about my sins, the answer is a resounding "He addressed them at the cross!"

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