Zophar’s First Speech: The Cruelty of the System: Job: The Wisdom of the Cross [Job 11]

{Read Job 12-14 as homework} {Pray}

ONE OF THE MOST frightening things about Job’s comforters is how beautiful their speeches are (at times) and how very close they are to the kinds of things we often say to one another in our churches, their language is very Christian-ese. Remember, Jesus’ strongest words were reserved for the Pharisees, perhaps because, to the casual observer, they were the most like him and most easily confused with him. In the same way we need to be warned most forcefully against Job’s comforters because they are so like us.

We love to hear Paul exclaim, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33). What a wonderful thing to say and how beautifully expressed! But Zophar says something similar when he says that the deep things of God’s wisdom and the limits of his power extend higher than Heaven, deeper than Sheol, further than the earth, and wider than the sea (Job 11:7–9). We love to hear Jesus promise us life in all its fullness (John 10:10). And yet Zophar offers Job something not dissimilar in verses 15–19 of this speech.

So what is going on? After all, God says that Zophar has “not spoken … what is right” about him (42:7). Are we to conclude that Paul and the Lord Jesus have not spoken rightly? Surely not! When we hear a teacher or preacher speaking words that sound right, how are we to tell if he is a Paul or a Zophar? The same concepts and remarkably similar words may have very different implications and alternative meanings depending on the contexts in which they are spoken.

Let us bear this in mind as we listen to Zophar in his first contribution to the debates. He begins with a cruel accusation against Job, continues with a barbed challenge, and concludes with a deceptive offer.

A Cruel Accusation (vv. 1–6)

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

“Should a multitude of words go unanswered,

and a man full of talk be judged right?

Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,

and I am clean in God’s eyes.’

But oh, that God would speak

and open his lips to you,

and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

For he is manifold in understanding.

Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.” (vv. 1–6)

In verses 2, 3 Zophar essentially says in four ways, “You ought to shut up and listen to me!” He describes Job’s speeches as “a multitude of words,” with the sense that although there are lots of them, they don’t have much substance (v. 2). He describes Job as “a man full of talk,” a verbose man, a glib, empty-headed man who likes the sound of his own voice much too much (a common danger for preachers) (v. 2).

He calls Job’s talk “babble” (v. 3) or empty chatter, much as Paul does of the false teachers in Ephesus (2 Timothy 2:16). He lines Job up with those who “mock,” (Job 11:3). Augustine said that ultimately there are only mockers (of God) and praisers (of God). Some of what Job has said about God and to God amounts to mockery and insult. We may think particularly of when Job says that God “destroys both the blameless and the wicked” (9:22).

Zophar thinks it’s outrageous that Job should get away with saying these things. He must not and cannot have the last word; if he reduces the others to silence, then he is presumed to have won his case. So these words must not “go unanswered … be judged right … must not silence men” (vv. 2, 3). Somebody must “shame” Job (v. 3) into admitting he is wrong, and Zophar thinks he is the man to do it! Sounds much like people today, shaming others into admitting their wrong. Shaming others is always a successful strategy in proving your right…right? No, it wasn’t then it still isn’t.

There are two parts to Zophar’s accusation. The first is in verse 4: “For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ ” Actually that is not what Job says. Far from claiming that his “doctrine” (what he says about God) is “pure,” Job is the first to admit that his thinking is in a state of great confusion. Zophar treats statements like 9:22, “‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’” as if they were the calm and rational conclusion of a heretic’s doctrinal statement rather than the agonized thoughts of a desperate man.

Job does not claim to be “clean in God’s eyes.” He claims to be “blameless,” which indeed we know him to be, but the two are not the same. To be “clean” suggests sinless perfection, whereas to be “blameless” means to have integrity, to be genuine, to be the same on the inside as appears on the outside. Zophar accuses Job of being a Pharisee when in fact he merely claims to be a believer.

Eliphaz says that Job may call for all he is worth, but no one will answer (5:1). Zophar wishes someone would answer. He wants God to answer, and he is pretty confident as to what God would say—“the secrets of wisdom” because God “is manifold in understanding” (vv. 5, 6). The word translated “manifold” is literally “twofold” (“true wisdom has two sides”), but the sense seems to be that God’s understanding is full or total, as opposed to Job’s partial grasp of reality. One commentator suggests that “twofold” may suggest a revealed side of God’s wisdom discernible in creation and a hidden side that God keeps to himself.

But verse 6c gives us the telltale sentence. This is the second part of Zophar’s accusation: “Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves” (v. 6). That is, “I want you to grasp that making you go bankrupt, killing your household and farm servants, killing your children, and destroying your health—all that is only paying you back for a part of your unforgiven sin. It would have been much worse had God paid you for it all.” While it is hard to imagine what could have been worse for Job (in this life), this telltale statement reveals both a cruelty and an arrogance in Zophar, Job you deserve worse that what you got.

This is, of course, a deeply cruel thing to say to a man in such a grief stricken state. But it is also very arrogant. It is all very well for Zophar to say that God’s wisdom is secret and “manifold” and to imply that Job cannot grasp it all; both of those statements are true. But verse 6, “Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.” shows that however secret God’s wisdom may be, Zophar is pretty confident that he knows what it all means! This arrogance dis-colors what would otherwise be a beautiful description of God’s wisdom in verses 7–9. That’s why I said the context of what is said, even when it sounds right shows us whether what is said is actually right or wrong…you have to pay attention to everything that is said, not just a couple appealing parts. So he then issues...

A Barbed Challenge (vv. 7–12)

Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

It is higher than heaven—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

Its measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

If he passes through and imprisons

and summons the court, who can turn him back?

For he knows worthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

But a stupid man will get understanding

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man! (vv. 7–12)

Verse 7 speaks of “the deep things of God” and “the limit of the Almighty.” If the first of these designates the heart or center of God, the second points to the outer limits of his authority and power. Between them they speak eloquently of the fullness of Godhead. This fullness is “higher than heaven,” “deeper than Sheol,” “longer than the earth,” and “broader than the sea” (vv. 8, 9). In all the dimensions of the cosmos, God fills all in all. So the challenge to Job is that he cannot hope to “do” (v. 8a) or “know” (v. 8b) enough; that is, he cannot hope to know in such a way as to be able to act on his knowledge, to have the kind of knowledge that is power (as in our expression “knowledge is power”).

This would be a beautiful and appropriate challenge if Zophar applied it to himself as well. But it is clear that he does not. In verses 10–12 he speaks of God “passing through” (that is, passing by, coming by) and then putting someone in prison and calling together a courtroom (v. 10). When he does that, no one can or ought to challenge him because “he knows worthless men” (v. 11); that is, he can see into the heart of a man and detect when someone is empty and deceitful.

So “when he sees iniquity” (v. 11) in someone, he will act, he will imprison, he will summon the court for sentencing. The implication is simple: Job is the “worthless” man; God has come along and imprisoned Job and is about to sentence him. To challenge God’s knowledge and judgment is stupid; it is the kind of incorrigible stupidity that is inherent in the fool, in the way wild animals is inherent in “a wild donkey’s colt” (v. 12). Zophar is sure that when God arrested Job and imprisoned him, he knew what he was doing. Zophar says to Job not only “You don’t understand God” but also “You need to grasp that I, Zophar, do understand God!”

So we must let Zophar continue. Since he is so sure he understands God, he is confident in making Job an offer on God’s behalf. The deceptive offer is simple and runs as follows.

A Deceptive Offer (vv. 13–20)

The offer begins with a condition to be satisfied (vv. 13, 14), continues with a description of the blessings offered (vv. 15–19), and concludes with a word of warning should Job not fulfill the conditions (v.20)

if you prepare your heart,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

You will forget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

And your life will be brighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and take your rest in security.

You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will court your favor.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last. (vv. 13–20)

The condition is simple: repent and pray. In verse 13a to “prepare your heart” means to turn the heart. The same idiom is used in 1 Samuel 7:3: “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart …” To “stretch out your hands” (v. 13b) means to pray. So Job is to repent in his heart and to express this repentance in prayer for forgiveness.

Verse 14 emphasizes the repentance. When Zophar says, “If iniquity is in your hand” he implies that it is. Job is to turn away from his sin. The words “iniquity” and “injustice” in this context suggest sins like acquiring property through wrongdoing, extortion, and other sins of which Zophar suspects Job. So Job is to repent of the sin that he has presumably been keeping secret until now.

The incentive, blessings offered, is beautifully described in verses 15–19. The man who cannot lift up his head at the moment (10:15) will lift up his face spotless, innocent, dignified. He will be safe and free from the paralyzing fear of God’s judgment that is Job’s experience now. Sure, he has been miserable, but he will look back on that “misery” as water under the bridge (in our idiom) or as a stream that flooded for a while but has now passed (11:16).

The darkness of his life (so vivid in chapter 3) will be changed into light (much as in Psalm 37:6 or Isaiah 58:10) (v. 17). Insecurity and restlessness will be replaced by safety and “hope” (v. 18). At the moment when he “lies down” to sleep he is afflicted by nightmares (7:13, 14), but then he will “lie down” in peace (v. 19a) and be restored to dignity and a great place in society (11:19b).

All of which does happen to Job at the end of the book. There are two problems with what Zophar says, however. The first is that Job has no secret sins of which he needs to repent, so Zophar’s counsel is irrelevant to him.

The second—and this one is even more serious—is that the motivation Zophar gives to Job for repentance is precisely the motivation of Satan’s accusation. Satan thinks that Job has only been pious in order that his piety will win him prosperity. If Job repents in order to regain these blessings, he will prove the Satan right!

But then, according to Zophar, if he doesn’t repent, worse is in store for him, Zophar thinks he’s so right when he is way off. Verse 20 piles up three terrible pictures as a word of warning. If Job doesn’t repent of his secret sin according to Zophar...

First, his “eyes” will grow dim, a vivid picture of the loss of vision and joy that accompanies approaching death.

Second, he will have no “escape” from the judgment of God, which will be his terrible and inescapable fate.

Third, his “hope” will, paradoxically, be just a dying wheeze or the last gasp of a dying man.

What a terrifying end to Zophar’s speech, addressed (as we know) to a blameless believer facing the loss of his greatness, the destruction of his property, the death of his children, and the breakdown of his health!

Here is what happens when partial and distorted “truth” is applied with arrogant confidence by those who ought to know better—or ought to know that they do not know what they think they know. Let us take great care not to be like Zophar!

By contrast, H. H. Rowley writes:

By insisting that there is such a thing as innocent suffering the author of Job is bringing a message of the first importance to the sufferer. The hardest part of his suffering need not be the feeling that he is deserted by God, or the fear that all men may regard him as cast out from God’s presence. If his suffering may be innocent it may not spell isolation from God, and when he most needs the sustaining presence of God he may still have it.

That reminds me of the words of the prophet Isaiah 53:4-5, speaking of our Lord Jesus, “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our sin was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

One of the most significant features of the book of Job is that from beginning to end we, the readers, know something that Job, the main human character, does not know. Twice in chapters 1, 2 we are given a divine prophetic insight into what has happened in Heaven.

We know what God has said to Satan, what Satan has said to God, and what God has decreed for Job.

We know that Job’s sufferings are not because he is a non-repentant sinner but precisely because he is a real and faithful believer.

We know that Job is not the story of every man but the story of the faithful and obedient believer.

We know that the sufferings of Job are in some strange and deep way necessary for the glory of God and the well-being of the universe. But Job knows none of these things.

So the question is, why are we told what we are told, and what are we to learn from the drama? For what purpose are we, the readers, privileged as Job was not? Presumably the book is not just told for us to enjoy as spectators, watching from the comfort of our lazy-boy. I believe there are at least two answers to these questions.

First, we gain from the sufferings of Job a deep insight into the sufferings of Jesus Christ. The Gospels are quite sparing in what they tell us of the inner workings of Jesus’ heart and soul. We know that his soul was sometimes troubled (e.g., John 12:27), we know that he shrank from the darkness of the cross in horror (e.g., Luke 22:39–46), and we know that he felt the pain of living in a godless world (“O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you?” Matthew 17:17). We know from the Psalms of lament (perhaps especially Psalms 22 and Psalm 69) something of the horror of the wrath of God. But the speeches of Job give us a unique insight into what it feels like for a believer to experience God-forsakenness. And therefore they help us to understand and feel the darkness of the cross. It helps understand and feel those words spoken by our Lord upon that cross... “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But I think there is a second reason. We are naturally prone to keep slipping into not knowing what we know.

We know, because God has told us, that there is such a thing as undeserved and redemptive suffering, and that as believers walk in the footsteps of Jesus and the shadow of the cross we too are called upon to suffer.

We know that as forgiven sinners none of our sufferings are God’s punishment for our sins, for that has already been paid.

We know that some of our sufferings are God’s loving fatherly discipline for those he loves.

But we also know that some of our sufferings are the filling out of what was lacking in the sufferings of Jesus, undeserved and with no disciplinary purpose.

We know these things because God has told us.

But because our hearts shrink from this darkness, we naturally forget that we know these things and behave as if we do not know them. We slip into a practical not knowing of what we know. Therefore when we slip into this not knowing what we know we often fall into a wrong perception of who God is…and that’s where Job fell often.

The “System” of the comforters is the default assumption of all of us if we are morally serious. We naturally expect blessing for godliness and grief for sin. But a deep immersion into the speeches of Job will help us really and deeply to know what we know, to remember that our default system is not true, to remember that there is such a thing as undeserved suffering and so to prepare us for the realities of true discipleship.

Discipleship is not a program we complete, it’s walking with the Lord no matter what, it’s learning and being a student of our Lord no matter how hard the lesson is, it’s being a follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the good times and bad times, in the blessed moments and what seems like the cursed moments. It’s continuing to know what we know because God has told us so.