JOB 20
OPENS WITH ZOPHAR SPEAKS A SECOND TIME AND ANSWERS JOB
Verses 1-3 tells us Zophar describes HIS turmoil.
“Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
"Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer,
Because of the turmoil within me.
I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me,
And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer."
My anxious thoughts make me answer…
Zophar insisted that Job's striking defense in the previous chapters made him anxious and caused turmoil within him. Job's speech upset him.
CHAMBERS says it well, "Zophar speaks with dignity, but dignity is not an indication of discernment. Zophar has listened to Job's words but not to the spirit of them; he is ashamed of the attitude his former friend has taken."
I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer…
Though wounded by Job's tough response, Zophar claimed he would answer Job with understanding.
CLARKE adds, "Zophar therefore assumes his old ground, and retracts nothing of what he had said. Like many of his own complexion in the present day, he was determined to believe that his judgment was infallible, and that he could not err."
We can rightly question the LACK OF SPIRITUAL understanding of Zophar's answer, but he certainly spoke with an understanding of poetry and literature.
Verses 4-11 tells us The short triumph of the wicked man.
"Do you not know this of old,
Since man was placed on earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens,
And his head reaches to the clouds,
Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him will see him no more,
Nor will his place behold him anymore.
His children will seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands will restore his wealth.
His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it will lie down with him in the dust."
Do you not know this of old…
Unbelievable as it is on top of sad, Zophar here did what he and his friends had done on previous occasions; he made a claim to authority simply by saying, "We all know these things to be true" without proving the claim. And still we notice, not once do these “supposed” godly friends pray for Job, comfort him, or seek Almighty God at all. Once again, these wise in their own eyes, worldly men, claim they know all about God and have no need to hit their knees in prayer or to cry out to God for help and answers.
The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment…
Job, we all know this - that whatever good or triumph the wicked seem to enjoy, it is all quickly passing. It is only for a moment, and the wicked man will perish forever like his own refuse.
Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse…
Zophar here hints his disbelief in that doctrine of the resurrection of the body, which Job had so solemnly asserted in the preceding chapter.
Verses 12-19 tells us The frustrated life of the wicked man.
"Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
And he hides it under his tongue,
Though he spares it and does not forsake it,
But still keeps it in his mouth,
Yet his food in his stomach turns sour;
It becomes cobra venom within him.
He swallows down riches
And vomits them up again;
God casts them out of his belly.
He will suck the poison of cobras;
The viper's tongue will slay him.
He will not see the streams,
The rivers flowing with honey and cream.
He will restore that for which he labored,
And will not swallow it down;
From the proceeds of business
He will get no enjoyment.
For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor,
He has violently seized a house which he did not build."
Though evil is sweet in his mouth … Yet his food in his stomach turns sour…
Zophar argued that though the wicked man might enjoy things for a while, God surely brings His judgment against him so that all can see. What is sweet today for the wicked man will soon become sour.
Unbelievably, in this passage Zophar implies a painful and aggressive application. He insists that Job was this wicked man, and his previous blessing and prosperity in life was only the sweet that has now turned sour.
For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor…
Here Zophar described what he thought was the sinful conduct of the wicked man, and why he deserved to be frustrated in life. Clearly, he implied that this wicked man was Job.
Verses 20-29 tells us The dark destiny of the wicked man.
"Because he knows no quietness in his heart,
He will not save anything he desires.
Nothing is left for him to eat;
Therefore his well-being will not last.
In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.
When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will cast on him the fury of His wrath,
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
He will flee from the iron weapon;
A bronze bow will pierce him through.
It is drawn, and comes out of the body;
Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall.
Terrors come upon him;
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.
An unfanned fire will consume him;
It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.
The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
The increase of his house will depart,
And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.
This is the portion from God for a wicked man,
The heritage appointed to him by God."
In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress…
Zophar thought that the reason Job was in such agony and distress was because of his own self-sufficiency; this explained his great misery.
He will flee from the iron weapon; a bronze bow will pierce him through…
Zophar claimed that the wicked could not escape from their destiny of judgment. If they escaped the iron weapon, then a bronze bow was waiting for them.
It is drawn, and comes out of the body…
Here Zophar saw the wicked man pierced by the arrows of God's judgment. He took the complaint of Job of being pierced by God's arrows (Job 6:4, 7:20) and turned it back upon Job, claiming that Job deserved this as a wicked man.
Sad to realize, at first, these supposed godly long time friends of Job's did not seem to regard him as a wicked man when they first came to him (Job 2:11-13).
They, these supposed godly friends of Job, may well have thought that they were being cruel, harsh, and piously strident against Job, because he refused their worldly wisdom, their assessment, and their blind judgment of his situation.
They may even have wrongly believed that Job virtually provoked this judgment from them, in that they simply tried to help Job see that he was a sinner who needed to repent, and when Job absolutely refused to agree with them, they came to regard him as a stubborn and wicked man.
And once they came to this erroneous conclusion, they regarded Job as this evil and wicked man getting what he deserved, and they quickly hardened in their estimation of Job.
The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The increase of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath…
Zophar seems to describe Job's losses, and he therefore made the clear connection that Job was the stubborn, wicked man who deserved this judgment from God.
DID YOU KNOW...The phrase "and his goods will flow away" is revealing, showing that Zophar focused almost ENTIRELY on the material aspect of Job's troubles, losses, and virtually ignored the spiritual dynamic.
Zophar sees the carrying off of 'possessions' (Job 20:28) as a judgment. The loss of fellowship with God, in this life or after it, does NOT strike him or his companions as a far worse fate. Yet it is precisely this loss of close communication with Almighty God that fills Job's mind with horror, and this need that arouses his most desperate longings.
This is the portion from God for a wicked man, the heritage appointed to him by God…
This was Zophar's FIRM, UNMOVABLE BLIND AND ARROGANT conclusion (he speaks no more in the Book of Job). He made the clear connection between the wrath that the wicked man reaps and Job's own situation.
Make no mistake, Almighty God did create moral order to the universe and that wickedness in inherently unprofitable, and it is cursed and judged by God. Yet that true general principle did NOT apply to Job's specific situation.
Zophar - as with the rest of Job's friends - also left little room for grace. "It is worth pointing out, as a sign of the narrowness of Zopahr's beliefs, that his speech contains NO hint that the wicked might repent, make amends, and regain the favor of God. Zophar has no compassion and his god, which we are beginning to understand, as Almighty God, who authored Job intended, Zophar and his friends god has no mercy either.