Lenten Study Job Ch 11
Zophar has some harsh words for Job. He is confident he knows why Job is having trouble, just like the other two. He wants to instill hope in Job, but because he cannot see into Job’s heart as God can, his words are going to fail to plant the seed of hope as he had intended.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
Job 11:1 (NASB)
The last of the three friends, Zophar, begins giving Job his thoughts.
2 “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted?
Job 11:2 (NASB)
Translation: just because you talk more than anyone else does not make you right.
3 “Shall your boasts silence men? And shall you scoff and none rebuke?
4 “For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.’
5 “But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you,
Job 11:3-5 (NASB)
Zophar doesn’t know of anything Job has done wrong either. He is certain Job has done something wrong, but he doesn’t know what it is. He is so sure of this fact that he says if God were to speak, we would all then know what you had done, essentially. Zophar is wrong. The interesting thing we know is that God is going to speak eventually.
6 And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.
Job 11:6 (NASB)
The definition of having wisdom is choosing the things God thinks are good over the things God thinks are bad. The definition of knowledge is that knowledge is knowing all aspects of a thing. Good information and bad information about any one thing defines the “knowledge” of that thing. It isn’t bad to know the evil aspects of something. It is bad if we choose to accept, do, or become those evil aspects. Making a bad choice is the definition of being foolish.
Sound wisdom is knowing the two sides of a thing, the good and the bad. However, this knowledge isn’t based on Man’s opinion of what is good and bad. It is based on what God thinks is good and bad. When we fail to make good choices, as God defines good choices, we need forgiveness. In the case of Job that was following the Law of Moses. In our case, it is having faith in Jesus Christ. In either case, being obedient to God’s ways is how we find forgiveness, and ultimately God forgets the bad things we have done.
Knowledge
16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17 (NASB)
God forgets our sins
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:11-13 (NASB)
Don’t dwell on the “fear Him” part of that Psalm. It means what it says; we should fear God in that we should be afraid of Him doing what He is capable of doing to those who anger Him. The movement to dumb down the Fear of the Lord dulls the edges of what should be sharp fear for our safety from the all-powerful divine being who created everything. But know also that God loves His children.
God loves those He punishes
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Revelation 3:18-22 (NASB)
He loves those who love Him. Even when we purposefully break His rules, He still loves us. He will meet out punishment commensurate with the crime because actions have reactions, and choices have consequences. But his punishments, however harsh or severe they might be, are aimed at making the children He loves better.
7 “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
8 “They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?
9 “Its measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.
Job 11:7-9 (NASB)
It is funny to watch Man put limits on God or try to put Him in some sort of box so we can understand Him better. We are temporal, three-dimensional creatures. God is outside that. There are no words to speak that impart comprehension of what God actually is.
God emptied Himself of His power and became a man
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)
It is enough for us to know that God came down to earth as a human being, divesting Himself of his godly power and returned. Someday, we, too, will go back. At that point, a complete understanding of the nature of God will be imparted, I hope.
10 “If He passes by or shuts up, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?
Job 11:10 (NASB)
Again, the all-powerful nature of God. No one can stop Him from doing anything because He is God.
11 “For He knows false men, And He sees iniquity without investigating.
Job 11:11 (NASB)
God sees into the hearts of people. He knows the motivations behind what we do. He understands it all, and His pronouncements about those things are just.
12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
Job 11:12 (KJV)
12 “An idiot will become intelligent When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.
Job 11:12 (NASB)
I posted the King James side-by-side with the NASB because I think the KJV is clearer in this rare instance. We are born into the wilderness of wisdom and understanding as human beings. The only way we learn things is to be smart enough to learn from the lessons someone else already went through or to survive the experience ourselves. Some of us are more stubborn than others, needing to learn things the hard way. I fall into that category usually. Those of you who can let someone else teach you what to do and what to avoid without having to experience it for yourself are far wiser. Zophar’s point here is that Job is in the wilderness, not understanding as a wild animal, and will have to learn things for himself.
13 “If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him,
Job 11:13 (NASB)
Zophar begins explaining how Job can correct the situation, and it doesn’t look like his words will be kind. Right off, Zophar tells Job his heart is in the wrong place, and he needs to reach back to God to ask for forgiveness and return to the ways of righteousness. The fact that Zophar cannot see what is in Job’s heart either doesn’t occur to Zophar, or he feels the evidence is incontrovertible. We know that if Zophar could truly see into Job’s heart, he would see utter confusion and despair, believing he had done everything the way he was supposed to demonstrate his love for God, and still he is punished. Job believes what his three friends have said to him is typically right about people in his circumstances. But he knows, in this case, they are not true of him, and that confuses Job.
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear.
Job 11:14-15 (NASB)
In most cases, Job and his friends can point to specific laws of God that have been broken. They can direct people to give up or take on certain actions the law says God doesn’t like or wants to be done. In Job’s case, they use generalities because no one can point to a law Job has broken or failed to uphold.
16 “For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
Job 11:16 (NASB)
Zophar is correct here. If Job could find a path to redemption that put aside all the misery and suffering he’s been experiencing, he would do it. Walking that road to redemption, knowing that was what it was and seeing his life improve as the calamities cease or lessen would indeed dull the pain of his many losses. But that road just isn’t there because Job isn’t being punished for his iniquities. He is a tool of God to make a point to Satan.
That may seem harsh to us that Job has to suffer all these things so that God can make a point to the Devil, but that is where we are wrong. We are in no position to judge God’s actions because we do not see as God sees. We do not know the Big Picture as God does. He made it all, set it all in motion, and understands it all. We do not. It is important to understand the nature of God so we can learn to trust Him in these kinds of decisions that go against what our limited, human understanding perceives as wrong. It cannot be because God is doing it. God cannot do wrong.
17 “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.
Job 11:17 (NASB)
If you’ve never read Job before, SPOILER ALERT stop reading this paragraph now and skip to the next one. I’ll blather on a bit just to give you a chance to stop reading before I make my point. If you’re still reading, it isn’t my fault if you get a spoiler about the Book of Job and haven’t read it before. For us, on this side of the Book of Job, we know this is exactly how it ends for him. God abundantly blesses him for doing what God needed him to do. I still have a hard time, though, with the idea that his children all perished as part of the lesson. However, that sort of loss can typically drive people away from God, and it did not in Job’s case, which likely had to be there to make God’s point to Satan.
18 “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.
19 “You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor.
Job 11:18-19 (NASB)
What are you building up? Hope is all about building things up. We build these things up so we can “…rest securely….” Hope is the thing that helps pull us through difficulties like what Job is going through. It is why Job is so despondent. He has tried everything he can think of, yet nothing is showing him a path out of his problems. Hope has fled, and thus he asks that God allow him to die so it will be over.
20 “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”
Job 11:20 (NASB)
Zophar’s words are meant to give Job hope because he knows Job is a righteous man. Zophar thinks this will work because he believes God is punishing Job for something he has done or failed to do, and if he merely repents from his sin, God will turn things around. Because we know that Jo