A Supreme Court Is Not Perfect In Knowledge

• (Read Job Chapter 36 as a family)

Our world is filled with chaos and disorder. My youngest daughter Elsa has been sleeping restlessly for months. I have been doing my morning devotional time at the kitchen table instead of downstairs in my office so I can hear her if she cries out. As I watch the sun come up this morning, I am reminded of the peacefulness of truth.

I have the dining room window cracked just enough to feel the cool subtle air from outside. I can hear three different birds chirping, a red squirrel repeating a single noted squeak, and the distant mooing of cattle. There is a gray haze over the tops of the pine trees, and the air seems heavy and humid. This morning seems peaceful and ordered and not chaotic and disordered.

I finished reading the four chapters I usually read in my M’Cheyne’s bible reading plan. I then read through chapter 36 of Job. Verses 1-4 are the ones that are intriguing to me this morning. They go like this:

And Elihu continued, and said: “Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf. I will get my knowledge from afar and ascribe righteousness to my Maker. For truly my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you. (‭Job‬ ‭36‬:‭1-4‬ ESV)

As I reflect on the Supreme Court’s decision that was handed down to us last week, I find comfort in the words of Elihu. Truth is always ordered and falsehood is chaotic and disordered. Elihu is God’s spokesman in chapter 36 of Job. He confidently asserts in verse 4 that his words are not false, but rather perfect in knowledge. Perfect?

No human court on earth is perfect. All knowledge is stained by the black ink of sin. We can hope that the laws of our land would be good, right, and true. But this land is the closest thing to hell the believer will experience, and the nearest thing to heaven for the unbeliever.

Elihu’s words cut through the chaos with the divine sword of truth. He is God’s spokesman of the moment. And when God speaks through an appointed vessel; that vessel’s words are perfect.

Our land desperately needs divine and perfect words of knowledge to govern it’s rule. We have forsaken truth. We have forsaken the only place in all of creation where perfect words of knowledge are found; the Bible. And when we try to replace perfect knowledge with imperfect human knowledge; we end up with rules that bring chaos, disorder, and arbitrariness. And this, all in the name of love.