11Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
So begins the
third of Job’s friends ‘come to comfort him’.
2 ‘Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
and should one full of talk be vindicated?
No introduction,
Zophar appears to be going at Job’s extended soliloquy without a word of
comfort.
3 Should your babble put others to silence,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
He disparages
what Job has said, calling it babbling, claiming Job is mocking them with his
protests of innocence, as though to forestall a reaction from his friends.
4 For you say, “My conduct is pure,
and I am clean in God’s sight.”
“You say”, Job presenting
unsubstantiated testimony to Zophar.
5 But O that God would speak,
and open his lips to you,
But Zophar wants
God to have a go at Job with what Zophar perceives as reality.
6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
For wisdom is many-sided.
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
Zophar seems to
think that God has been merciful upon Job, that Job’s guilt, compounded by his ‘protests
of innocence’, deserve more of a divine punishment.
7 ‘Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
This is a
recurrent theme about God in Job, that God’s limits far beyond human
understanding.
8 It is higher than heaven—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
We might equate
this to heaven and hell in New Testament terms, but the dichotomy of being with
God or being with the Devil are not as defined here as yet. Heaven is God’s
abode, Sheol is the place of the dead. A fully realized sense of resurrection
comes in Jesus.
9 Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
Continuing to
measure the power of God beyond the limits of creation.
10 If he passes through, and imprisons,
and assembles for judgement, who can hinder him?
There is no
opposing the will and testament of the Lord.
11 For he knows those who are worthless;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
Seems to be a
barb here, God knows the evil doer and will consider it, right Job? (implying
he is the worthless doer of iniquity)
12 But a stupid person will get understanding,
when a wild ass is born human.
Again, this seems
to be an insult aimed at Job.
13 ‘If you direct your heart rightly,
you will stretch out your hands towards him.
The call is for
Job to confess, to ‘direct his heart rightly’.
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.
Job has but to
confess and put his sin away from himself.
15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure, and will not fear.
At that point,
the Lord will forgive and Job’s life will be restored.
16 You will forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
In that repentance,
all this pain shall go away, forgotten.
17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.
This is what Job
has to look forward to.
18 And you will have confidence, because there is hope;
you will be protected and take your rest in safety.
This is the
presupposition of what God does for the faithful.
19 You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
many will entreat your favor.
It is a call of
Job’s return to the time when he was a man of importance.
20 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.’
But Zophar ends
with a warning. He presumes that Job is wrong, lying about not having a reason for
God’s punishment. He preaches the need of repentance, but ends by reminding Job
what will happen if Job does not.
So Zophar seems
to be reacting to what Job has already said. There is no consideration of the
merits of Job’s words. He is just wrong. End of discussion. All that matters
now is for Job to understand the consequences of his error and the possibility
of his restoration if he confesses. It
is the same presupposition of good and evil that all three friends have.
Pastor Peter
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