Zophar goes Too Far

Job 11-14

 Zophar is a harsh man. We will see that in his response to Job. He comes right out of the gate with guns blazing.

v. 1-3 The wisdom literature teaches us that we should be known as people of few words. Zophar has just listened to a very long speech from Job (2 chapters).

He calls Job a man full of talk (2).

He calls Job a babbler (3).

He calls Job a mocker (3) an example of this is 6:27

He assures Job he Is not intimidated and he will answer him. It should be noted that Zophar gives a short speech compared to Job.

v. 4 He accuses Job of claiming to be perfect in doctrine and sinless. Job never claimed that. As far as his righteousness goes, Job only said about himself what God said about him.  God said Job was blameless and upright (1:8). That’s what Job claimed of himself (9:20).

Application- It is the tendency of some to say things like “You think you’re perfect.” Very few people say or think that. There is nothing wrong with believing you are blameless and upright if you are. Don’t fall into the same bitter trap Zophar did.

v. 5-6 Zophar wishes that God would speak directly to Job. Perhaps then Job would understand that Zophar is right. In other words, “You won’t listen to us, maybe you will listen to God.”

This is the worst of what Zophar says. He tells Job he is getting less than he deserves. Think about that. Zophar is saying that Job and his wife should have also got killed. This is a cruel thing to say.

v. 7-11 This is Zophar’s attempt to talk sense into Job. Essentially, he tells Job he doesn’t know anything about God. Note how personal he makes it.

 “Can you…” (7)

‘What can you do…” (8)

He is telling Job that God is far greater than he is. He believes Job is hiding sin from God. He is telling Job he can’t outsmart God.

Notice the jab in verse 11 “He knows worthless men…”

v. 12 This is the icing on the cake. He calls Job stupid. He says Job is too stupid to understand what he is trying to tell him. He says a donkey will sooner give birth to a grown man before Job listens to a word he says.

v. 13-20 He moves to an appeal. He assures Job that relief will come if he only repents.

Prepare your heart (13)

Stretch forth your hands (13)

Repent of your sin (14)

He promises that:

His misery and fear will be removed (15-16)

He will find rest (19)

If he does not repent, he will share the fate of the wicked (20).

Ch. 12

A soft answer turns away wrath so Zophar should not be surprised at what’s coming. Job is hot.

He opens with a good zinger.

“I hope you goes don’t die because then no one will know anything.”  (1)

He obviously being sarcastic because he follows it with:

I know as much as you do (3)

I am not inferior to you (3, 13:2)

What you have said is such basic knowledge that everyone knows it (3). Job thought that might have some deep thoughts for him.

It hurt Job that he had become a laughingstock to them. He mentions it twice (4).

Job shares who he really is (4):

One who has called upon God

One who has experienced answered prayer

One who is just and blameless

v. 5-6 Job says the only reason they have contempt for him is because they are at ease. They would think differently if they were in his shoes. He is hurt because it appears to him the ungodly are at ease while he is suffering.

v. 7-10 The donkey joke probably stung Job pretty hard. He tells them in verses 7-10 they are not as smart as the animal world. Even the animals know that God is sovereign over all. They experience hardship and blessing and it is not retribution for their moral actions.

11-12 Job recognizes some obvious things:

We hear with our ears

We taste with our palate

With age comes wisdom

This leads to a poem that extends through verse 25. The poem describes the greatness of God.

v. 13-25

God is the One who knows and understands all (13)

What God does man cannot undo (14-15)

He is sovereign over good and evil (16)

Job lists different types of people that the Lord humbles (17-21):

Counselors (17), judges (17), kings (18), priests (19), elders (20), princes (21) and even nations (23).

If God strips these of what they have it should not be surprising that Job has been stripped of all he has.

Job rejects their premise that he has lost all because he has sinned. He believes God is sovereign and the reason he is suffering is wrapped up in the wisdom and mystery of God Himself.

Ch. 13

v. 1-2 end the poem and the section. We know this because he repeats what he said in 12:1-3.

v. 3 It is clear he will not find the answer he seeks from his friends. Before he talks to the Lord he lets them have it again.

v. 4-12

You are liars (4)

You are spiritual quacks (4)

The smartest thing you could do is be quiet (5)

Then he peppers them with a lot of questions that imply things about them like:

They are false teachers (4, 7)

They are partial toward God (8) In other words they have no love or concern for Job at all.

They lied saying Job had committed some terrible sin. They did this so they would not find fault with God. Their theology was warped. In their mind Job had to be guilty of something for God to allow these things to happen.

Job lets them know that God sees right through them. He would judge them for the things they were saying about him (9-12).

Their arguments against Job held no water. They were easily proven to be wrong (12). 

v. 13- 19 Now Job has something to say. He is going to say it even if it kills him. Maybe they tried to interrupt him “silence” (13). He is preparing to talk to God. He will accept whatever consequences follow.

In approaching God Job was proving his friends wrong. If he were ungodly, like they charged, he would be a fool to want an audience with God (16).

Job is prepared and ready to plead his case before God (17-18). He knows his own heart. No one can convince him otherwise (19).

v. 20-28 Job asks God for two things:

Withdraw your hand far from me (Stop the pain)

Let not dread of You terrify me (Stop scaring me)

Job is hurt and scared.

Job wants to have a conversation with God about all he has experienced (22). If the problem is a sin, he asks God to show it to him (23).

He asks God why He has hidden Himself from job and why Job is being treated like an enemy of God (24).

Job calls himself a driven leaf and dry chaff. He says “I’m like a dead leaf. I am weak. I am nothing.”

He accuses God of being bitter toward him and holding him accountable for sins he committed when he was young. Who knows what Job may have been thinking of. 

He feels like a slave

He feels rotten

He feels like a moth-eaten garment.

This is likely a description of his physical condition. 

Ch. 14

Most of chapter 14 describes the general state of humanity from Job’s perspective. He will mention himself as well, but the bulk of the chapter is an observation on mankind.  

v. 1-6 Man is helpless against God

Human life is brief (1-2). Note he has more trouble than days “full of trouble” “few days”

Humans are constantly watched by God (3-4). All they have to look forward to is judgment from God. God should not be surprised when man sins because mankind is unclean.

God has predetermined how long each person will live (5-6). “Leave him alone” means stop bringing suffering into his life. Let him enjoy the few days he has on earth.

7-12 Man is hopeless

He compares mankind to a tree that dies. Job says there is more hope for a tree. He observes that trees sometimes grow back.  Man dies and is like a lake or river that dries up never to be filled again.

It’s important to remember that Job did not have the Scriptures we have. He did not have a full understanding of what happens to a person when they die. However, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has put eternity in the heart of every man. Job’s desire for life after death reflects that truth.  

v. 13-17 Hope

“Sheol” is not the same as the grave. It is a different Hebrew word. It is a general term referring to the realm of the dead. Job imagines a scenario in which sometimes after he dies the Lord would resurrect him from the dead. His resurrection would be based on two things:

1) The love of God (15). “You would long for the work of your hands.” We see here that Job remembers the tenderness of God.

2) The forgiveness of sin (16-17). Job imagines his sin sealed up in a bag by God, covered by God, out of the view of God.

While Job has expressed many times that he wants to die, he shows us here that he does not want to stay dead. He wants renewal. He wants life, but not as it is.

What was only a dream to Job is doctrine to the Christian. Job knew more than he thought he knew. His understanding of death and resurrection are reflected in the New Testament. The question Job asked in 14:14 Jesus answered in John 11:25.

v.18-22 Hopelessness returns

Job abandons his dream almost as soon as he mentions it. He says that God erodes the hope of man in the same way that water erodes the stones and the soil.

He charges God with making people sad. He says that mankind doesn’t even get to know how well their own kids do in the world.

Verse 22 is surely about himself. He mentions physical pain. Man gets old, hurts, cries, and dies.

Thoughts to Consider

1. It doesn’t take many words to break someone’s spirit. Zophar’s speech was short but brutal.

2. Sometimes everyone is wrong. Job’s response to Zophar is not a case study to be emulated.

3. It is the tendency of the believer to cycle through moments of utter despair and hope when trials come. When a wave of hope comes, anchor yourself there.

4. The hope of every Old Testament saint is Jesus.