◄ Job 36:15 ►
God rescues the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ears in oppression.
Study Bible
God rescues
The phrase "God rescues" underscores the divine intervention and deliverance that is central to the character of God throughout the Bible. The Hebrew root for "rescues" is "נצל" (natsal), which conveys the idea of snatching away or delivering from danger. This reflects God's active role in the lives of His people, emphasizing His sovereignty and compassion. Historically, this aligns with numerous biblical accounts where God intervenes to save His people, such as the Exodus from Egypt. It reassures believers of God's unwavering commitment to their well-being.

the afflicted
"The afflicted" refers to those who are suffering or in distress. The Hebrew word "עָנִי" (ani) is often used to describe individuals who are humble, poor, or oppressed. This term is significant in the biblical narrative, as God consistently shows a special concern for the afflicted, highlighting His justice and mercy. The afflicted are often seen as those who are more open to God's presence and guidance, as their suffering leads them to seek divine help.

by their affliction
The phrase "by their affliction" suggests that suffering itself can be a tool used by God for a greater purpose. The Hebrew preposition "ב" (b) can mean "by" or "through," indicating that affliction is not merely a punishment but a means of transformation and growth. This concept is echoed in the New Testament, where trials are seen as opportunities for developing perseverance and character (James 1:2-4). It challenges believers to view their hardships as part of God's refining process.

and opens their ears
"Opens their ears" is a metaphor for gaining understanding or receiving revelation. The Hebrew verb "פָּתַח" (pathach) means to open, and in this context, it implies making someone receptive to God's voice. This phrase suggests that through suffering, individuals become more attuned to God's guidance and wisdom. It reflects the biblical theme that God communicates with His people, often using difficult circumstances to draw them closer to Him and to deepen their spiritual insight.

in oppression
The term "in oppression" refers to the state of being under harsh or unjust treatment. The Hebrew word "לַחַץ" (lachats) conveys pressure or distress. This context highlights the reality of suffering in a fallen world and the ways in which God uses even oppressive situations to fulfill His purposes. Throughout Scripture, God is portrayed as a defender of the oppressed, and this phrase reassures believers that He is present and active even in their darkest moments. It encourages a trust in God's ultimate justice and deliverance.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Job
A man of great faith and patience, who undergoes severe trials and suffering. His account is a profound exploration of the nature of suffering and God's sovereignty.

2. Elihu
A young man who speaks to Job and his friends, offering a perspective on suffering and God's justice. He emphasizes God's greatness and the purpose behind human suffering.

3. Affliction
The state of suffering or distress. In the context of Job, it refers to the trials and tribulations that Job endures.

4. Oppression
A form of suffering or hardship, often imposed by external forces. It can be both physical and spiritual.

5. God's Deliverance
The act of God rescuing or saving individuals from their suffering, often using the very afflictions they endure as a means of teaching and growth.
Teaching Points
Purpose in Affliction
God uses affliction as a tool to teach and refine us. It is not merely punitive but can be transformative, leading us to deeper understanding and reliance on Him.

Hearing God in Hardship
Suffering can open our ears to God's voice. In times of distress, we may become more attuned to His guidance and wisdom.

God's Sovereignty and Compassion
Even in our suffering, God is sovereign and compassionate. He is actively involved in our lives, working through our trials to bring about His purposes.

Growth Through Trials
Trials are opportunities for spiritual growth. They can strengthen our faith and character, drawing us closer to God.

Trust in God's Deliverance
We can trust that God will deliver us from our afflictions, using them to accomplish His will and ultimately for our good.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the purpose of affliction change your perspective on personal suffering?

2. In what ways can you become more attuned to God's voice during times of hardship?

3. Reflect on a time when a difficult situation led to personal growth. How did you see God's hand at work?

4. How can the account of Job and the teachings of Elihu encourage you in your current trials?

5. What steps can you take to trust in God's deliverance and sovereignty in the midst of your afflictions?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 119:71
This verse highlights the idea that affliction can lead to learning and growth, similar to how Job's suffering opens his ears to God's teaching.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Paul speaks about his own afflictions and how God's power is made perfect in weakness, paralleling the theme of God using suffering for a greater purpose.

James 1:2-4
James encourages believers to consider trials as opportunities for growth, echoing the message that God uses affliction to develop perseverance and maturity.
Sermons
Affliction as a DelivererW.F. Adene Job 36:15
The Perfectness of the Divine WaysR. Green Job 36:5-17
People
Elihu, Job
Places
Uz
Topics
Adversity, Afflicted, Affliction, Delivereth, Delivers, Draweth, Ear, Ears, Makes, Openeth, Opening, Opens, Oppression, Poor, Salvation, Speaks, Suffering, Tribulation, Trouble, Uncovereth, Wrong
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Job 36:14

     5746   youth
     6239   prostitution
     7442   shrine

Library
Whether by his Passion Christ Merited to be Exalted?
Objection 1: It seems that Christ did not merit to be exalted on account of His Passion. For eminence of rank belongs to God alone, just as knowledge of truth, according to Ps. 112:4: "The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens." But Christ as man had the knowledge of all truth, not on account of any preceding merit, but from the very union of God and man, according to Jn. 1:14: "We saw His glory . . . as it were of the only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth." …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Christ Acquired his Judiciary Power by his Merits?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ did not acquire His judiciary power by His merits. For judiciary power flows from the royal dignity: according to Prov. 20:8: "The king that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil with his look." But it was without merits that Christ acquired royal power, for it is His due as God's Only-begotten Son: thus it is written (Lk. 1:32): "The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of David His father, and He shall reign in the house of Jacob for …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Christ Will Judge under the Form of his Humanity?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ will not judge under the form of His humanity. For judgment requires authority in the judge. Now Christ has authority over the quick and the dead as God, for thus is He the Lord and Creator of all. Therefore He will judge under the form of His Godhead. Objection 2: Further, invincible power is requisite in a judge; wherefore it is written (Eccles. 7:6): "Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough to extirpate iniquities." Now invincible power …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Old Law was from God?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law was not from God. For it is written (Dt. 32:4): "The works of God are perfect." But the Law was imperfect, as stated above [2060](A[1]). Therefore the Old Law was not from God. Objection 2: Further, it is written (Eccles. 3:14): "I have learned that all the works which God hath made continue for ever." But the Old Law does not continue for ever: since the Apostle says (Heb. 7:18): "There is indeed a setting aside of the former commandment, because of the …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Man Can Know that He Has Grace?
Objection 1: It would seem that man can know that he has grace. For grace by its physical reality is in the soul. Now the soul has most certain knowledge of those things that are in it by their physical reality, as appears from Augustine (Gen. ad lit. xii, 31). Hence grace may be known most certainly by one who has grace. Objection 2: Further, as knowledge is a gift of God, so is grace. But whoever receives knowledge from God, knows that he has knowledge, according to Wis. 7:17: The Lord "hath given …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Judicial Power Corresponds to Voluntary Poverty?
Objection 1: It would seem that the judicial power does not correspond to voluntary poverty. For it was promised to none but the twelve apostles (Mat. 19:28): "You shall sit on twelve seats, judging," etc. Since then those who are voluntarily poor are not all apostles, it would seem that the judicial power is not competent to all. Objection 2: Further, to offer sacrifice to God of one's own body is more than to do so of outward things. Now martyrs and also virgins offer sacrifice to God of their …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Hypocrisy is the Same as Dissimulation?
Objection 1: It seems that hypocrisy is not the same as dissimulation. For dissimulation consists in lying by deeds. But there may be hypocrisy in showing outwardly what one does inwardly, according to Mat. 6:2, "When thou dost an alms-deed sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do." Therefore hypocrisy is not the same as dissimulation. Objection 2: Further, Gregory says (Moral. xxxi, 7): "Some there are who wear the habit of holiness, yet are unable to attain the merit of perfection. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Great Teacher
Teaching was the great business of the life of Christ during the days of his public ministry. He was sent to teach and to preach. The speaker in the book of Job was thinking of this Great Teacher when he asked--"Who teacheth like him?" Job xxxvi: 22. And it was he who was in the Psalmist's mind when he spoke of the "good, and upright Lord" who would teach sinners, if they were meek, how to walk in his ways. Ps. xxv: 8-9. And he is the Redeemer, of whom the prophet Isaiah was telling when he said--He …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

"That which was from the Beginning,"
1 John i. 1.--"That which was from the beginning," &c. Things are commended sometimes, because they are ancient, especially doctrines in religion, because truth is before error, and falsehood is but an aberration from truth and therefore there is so much plea and contention among men, about antiquity, as if it were the sufficient rule of verity. But the abuse is, that men go not far enough backward in the steps of antiquity, that is, to the most ancient rule, and profession, and practice of truth …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Whether Hypocrisy is Always a Mortal Sin?
Objection 1: It seems that hypocrisy is always a mortal sin. For Jerome says on Is. 16:14: "Of the two evils it is less to sin openly than to simulate holiness": and a gloss on Job 1:21 [*St. Augustine on Ps. 63:7], "As it hath pleased the Lord," etc., says that "pretended justice is no justice, but a twofold sin": and again a gloss on Lam. 4:6, "The iniquity . . . of my people is made greater than the sin of Sodom," says: "He deplores the sins of the soul that falls into hypocrisy, which is a greater …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether those to whom Christ's Birth was Made Known were Suitably Chosen?
Objection 1: It would seem that those to whom Christ's birth was made known were not suitably chosen. For our Lord (Mat. 10:5) commanded His disciples, "Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles," so that He might be made known to the Jews before the Gentiles. Therefore it seems that much less should Christ's birth have been at once revealed to the Gentiles who "came from the east," as stated Mat. 2:1. Objection 2: Further, the revelation of Divine truth should be made especially to the friends of God, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Divine Grace.
GRACE, LOYE, AND MERCY. I FIND that the goodness of God to his people is diversely expressed in his word, sometimes by the word grace, sometimes by the word love, and sometimes by the word mercy. When it is expressed by that word grace, then it is to show that what he doeth is of his princely will, his royal bounty, and sovereign pleasure. When it is expressed by that word love, then it is to show us that his affection was and is in what he doeth, and that he doeth what he doeth for us with complacency …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Greatness of the Soul,
AND UNSPEAKABLENESS 0F THE LOSS THEREOF; WITH THE CAUSES OF THE LOSING IT. FIRST PREACHED AT PINNER'S HALL and now ENLARGED AND PUBLISHED FOR GOOD. By JOHN BUNYAN, London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1682 Faithfully reprinted from the Author's First Edition. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Our curiosity is naturally excited to discover what a poor, unlettered mechanic, whose book-learning had been limited to the contents of one volume, could by possibility know …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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