Zophar Speaks Up For God
Job 11
October 25, 2015
As you know we are working our way through the book of Job
And as we do we are learning some very valuable truths.
SUFFERING IS NOT ALWAYS THE RESULT OF SIN
• Job was upright
• This suffering was not due to some sin
• This suffering was because he was righteous
HOW NOT TO MINISTER TO THE BEREAVED
• Job’s friends gave him bad theology
• They accused him of sin
• They offered no comfort
• Promised him ease if he would repent
TO WATCH OUR ATTITUDE IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING
• Saw this from Job last time
• He started to accuse God of injustice
• It didn’t appear to him that God was doing right
And since suffering is promised in this life,
Those are all things we need to know.
We need to know that
• Suffering is not always a consequence (Job’s friends)
• Suffering does not mean God is messing up (Job)
• People who suffer need compassion
Those are real and practical truths
That we should be learning from this book.
On a theological level we are learning
The absolute ridiculousness of the prosperity gospel.
• That false gospel that promises health, wealth, and happiness for all of God’s children.
• That false gospel that blames all misfortune, suffering, sickness, poverty, and pain on the victim and claims that no redeemed child of God should ever have to endure it.
But as we are learning with Job,
That doctrine is of no value on the day of suffering,
For it has no answer for the suffering of the righteous.
In today’s prosperity gospel the claim would be, “You just don’t have enough faith”,
In Job’s day it was, “You must have sin because God wouldn’t do this if you were righteous”
But the basics are the same.
When the bottom falls out it is always the fault of the sufferer.
It is because of:
• The sufferer’s Sin
• The sufferer’s Stupidity
• The sufferer’s Stubbornness
And you will see all three of those accusations
Unfolded here against Job from Zophar.
Listen to him talk about Job’s Sin
(6c) “know they that God forgets part of your iniquity”
Listen to him talk about Job’s Stupidity
(12) “An idiot will become intelligent when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.”
He’s actually calling Job that “idiot” there.
Listen to him talk about Job’s Stubbornness
(13) “If you would direct your heart right and spread out your hand to Him”
Obviously imploring that Job has been stubborn about his sin
And thus the reason for all this trouble.
According to Zophar, Job is suffering
Because he is sinful, stupid, and stubborn.
And that is the prosperity gospel in all its glamour and glory.
And because of that the prosperity gospel misrepresents God.
• It is right in that it puts an emphasis on faith and righteousness
• It is right in the assertion that God has a basic desire for you to be prosperous (after all He created man there and Jesus redeemed us to take us back there in heaven)
• It is wrong however in that it asserts that God won’t allow affliction in the life of one who is pleasing to Him.
• It is totally ignorant of the fact that suffering is a very effective tool in the hands of God.
Yes, suffering can be used to grab a sinner’s attention.
• But it is also used on the righteous to make them even more righteous.
• It is used to teach the righteous needed qualities like endurance or compassion
• It is used as a means to accomplish God’s redemptive plan. (see Joseph or Paul, or even Jesus)
• Apparently here it is used as a means to demonstrate the strength of the bond God has with His children
But the prosperity gospel is ignorant of all those realities,
And thus is a poor representative of God.
In fact God will even say so at the end of this book.
Job 42:8 “Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
God is going to tell these men that
They spoke a false doctrine regarding Him.
And that is especially interesting today
Because Zophar is actually going to speak up in defense of God.
If you’ll remember, last Sunday night we heard Job begin to cross the line.
In Job 9&10 we heard Job begin to get a little big for his britches
(and we talked about how God is going to address that)
But Job actually began to question what God was doing a little bit.
He even accused God of wronging him by allowing this suffering.
Job 9:17 “For He bruises me with a tempest And multiplies my wounds without cause.”
And according to Job, God didn’t just wrong him, but has wronged others.
Job 9:22-24 “It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’ “If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?”
Job was right that God is sovereign over all things,
But Job was crossing a line in that he was asserting
That God was wrong in some of what He was doing.
Well, it is obvious that Zophar just couldn’t take that.
He feels the need to instantly rise up in defense of God.
The problem is that Zophar’s defense of God isn’t true.
What we really have is Zophar defending his view of God, not God.
In fact, Job is going to call him on that very thing in the next chapter:
Job 13:7-8 “Will you speak what is unjust for God, And speak what is deceitful for Him? “Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God?”
So literally we have Zophar standing up to defend God,
But he’s not right in what he says.
And I think this is a good reminder for you and me.
We live in a world that prompts a lot of reaction.
Thanks to things like email and facebook and all other forms of social media, people can hide behind the safety of their screen and just spew out all sorts of offensive rhetoric.
And you won’t have to see that stuff very long
Before you’ll have the same urges hit you like the ones that hit Zophar.
It is that urge to speak up and defend God.
(I certainly have those moments)
What you and I have to be certain of is that in our response
That we are actually defending God and not just our view of Him.
This will prove to be Zophar’s problem.
He rises up to defend God in response to Job’s accusations.
The problem is that his defense isn’t correct.
There are two main points to this chapter.
#1 ZOPHAR CONFRONTS JOB
Job 11:1-12
Here we find Zophar’s response to the last statement of Job,
And it comes in the form of two main accusations.
1) JOB YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN SIN (1-6)
(1-3) Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted? “Shall your boasts silence men? And shall you scoff and none rebuke?”
It is obvious that Zophar is upset about Job’s recent tirade
To claim that God had treated him wrongly.
And Zophar here rips into Job as one who is full of hot air.
• He tells Job you talk too much.
• He tells Job you think too highly of yourself.
• He tells Job that your disdain for God warrants a rebuke.
You can see that Zophar did not appreciate what Job had to say.
And the main issue Zophar has with Job
Is that Job claims innocence before God.
(4) “For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure, and I am innocent in your eyes.”
This has really been the main problem all of Job’s friends have with him.
He is suffering and yet maintains that he has done nothing to deserve it.
None of Job’s friends are buying that.
They all believe that he must have done something sinful to warrant such treatment and they are bent on finding out what it was.
So every time Job maintains innocence it just sets them off a little farther.
And this time it is Zophar, livid that Job would still say he is innocent.
And listen to his response:
(5-6) “But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you, And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.”
The problem all along has been that Job’s friends
Were certain that Job must have sinned, but they had no clue what it was.
Zophar here says,
“I wish God would just speak up and reveal what it is you did.”
And remember, the reason these friends are so adamant about finding out Job’s sin is because they want to make sure they don’t make the same mistake.
This isn’t really about helping Job, it’s about protecting themselves.
And now, Zophar wishes that God would help them out
By revealing what Job did to deserve all this.
He wishes God would “show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides.”
Literally there Zophar says “for sound wisdom is folded double”
Zophar says that God knows exactly what you did,
But He has concealed it in a letter that is folded up so that we can’t see it.
They never doubted that Job did something wrong,
They just haven’t been able to figure out what it was.
And that is when Zophar makes his most critical claim.
“Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.”
Now this is not a statement of pardon or redemption
Where Zophar is trying to promise Job that God has forgiven him
And chosen to forget his sin.
On the contrary, Zophar is saying, “Job you have so much sin that God has forgotten part of it.”
In other words, YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN SIN
This notion that you are innocent and suffering unjustly is about as far off as it gets. Not only are you a sinner, but you are obviously a bad sinner.
In fact you have so much sin, that God can’t even get through it all.
He’s forgotten some of the stuff you’ve done.
That’s the prosperity gospel for you.
You wouldn’t be suffering like this if you weren’t a really really bad man.
You have forgotten sin
2) JOB YOU HAVE FALSE WISDOM (7-12)
Zophar is again challenging Job’s words.
You will remember that Job spoke of God’s transcendence.
Job 9:5-12 “It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, When He overturns them in His anger; Who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; Who commands the sun not to shine, And sets a seal upon the stars; Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea; Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number. “Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him. “Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’”
Job there said that God was transcendent (beyond us in all He does)
Granted Job saw that in a negative light, but still he maintained that
God was in some regard unfathomable.
Zophar here throws that back in Job’s face as though Job is a fool.
(7-10) “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? “They are high as the heavens, 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 by or shuts up, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?”
Now it sort of sounds here like Zophar is simply saying that
It is impossible for any of us to fully understand God or know what He is doing.
BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT HE IS SAYING.
In fact, in verse 13, he is going to explicitly tell Job
Exactly what God wants and that is repentance.
Zophar is not honoring God as transcendent,
Zophar is rebuking Job as being too stupid
To know what God is doing.
It seems obvious to him what God is doing,
And so he is rebuking Job for not picking up on it.
In fact, notice his harsh rebuke of Job:
(11-12) “For He knows false men, And He sees iniquity without investigating. “An idiot will become intelligent When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.”
That is to say, “Job, you don’t know what God is doing,
but He knows what you are doing.”
And then comes his brutal jab at Job.
“An idiot will become intelligent when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.”
“idiot” there literally translates “one who is hollowed out”
We would call them “brainless” or “an air-head”
And that is how Zophar is referring to Job.
A modern day equivalent would be like this.
“A brainless man [like you] will understand what God is doing when pigs fly!”
He is telling Job that he is stupid
And that is why he can’t see what God is doing.
Furthermore as stupid as Job is,
There is no chance that really he will ever see what God is doing
So he should just take their word for it.
It’s a real comforting speech that Zophar is giving him.
You could sum up the first 12 verses like this:
“Job you’re talking without brains and you’re too stupid to understand what God is doing, but if He’d open His mouth and speak, you’d see that it is because you are about as bad a sinner as there has ever been.”
You have forgotten sin
You have false wisdom
And again, why would Zophar be so cruel?
Because that is the harsh reality of the prosperity gospel.
It has no choice but to blame adversity on the sinner,
Even when there is absolutely no proof.
It is either the sufferer’s sin
Or the sufferer’s stupidity
Or the sufferer’s stubbornness
And that is clearly what Zophar tells Job.
So there is the confrontation
Zophar confronts Job
#2 ZOPHAR COUNSELS JOB
Job 11:13-20
Well now that Zophar has taken Job down a notch
And revealed that he is too stupid to know God expects…
Zophar (who apparently does know what God wants)
Begins to explain to Job exactly what he should do.
And the answer, like the two friends before him, is repent.
(13-14) “If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him, If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;”
All of those are statements of repentance.
And again, it is important that you understand the balance here.
Those two verses taken by themselves are not bad verses.
Repentance is a necessary thing.
• Repentance was the message of every Old Testament prophet
• Repentance was the message of John the Baptist
• Repentance was the first message of Jesus
• Repentance was Peter’s message at Pentecost
• Repentance was Paul’s message at Athens
Repentance is essential.
The problem is the application of it here by Zophar.
He is not telling Job to repent of his attitude toward God
(which would probably be accurate)
Zophar still maintains that sin is the reason for Job’s suffering
And if he wants his suffering to go away then he must repent.
In fact, look at what Zophar says next.
(15-19) “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear. “For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it. “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning. “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely. “You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor.”
Those are some pretty hefty promises aren’t they?
If you would just repent, let me show you what would happen.
You’d get HONOR
(15) “Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, and you would be steadfast and not fear.”
You’d get EASE
(16-17) “For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it. “Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.”
You’d get HOPE
(18a) “Then you would trust, because there is hope;”
You’d get REST
(18b) “And you would look around and rest securely.”
You’d get PEACE
(19) “You would lie down and none would disturb you, and many would entreat your favor.”
WOW!
If Job would just admit whatever sin it was that he did,
And would repent of it and turn away from it.
Then God would instantly remove all of this pain and grief and despair
And would replace it with honor, ease, hope, rest, and peace.
However, if Job won’t repent, but chooses to stubbornly stay in his sin, then God will continue to crush him until he is destroyed.
(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.”
Notice the reference to desiring death?
That is what Job has said.
Zophar is indirectly calling Job one of those wicked men
Who is suffering so badly that he wants to die.
So Zophar’s solution becomes clear.
He is certain that he knows exactly what God is doing.
God is crushing Job to get him to repent so that He can bless him.
And I suppose this message would be accurate
If Job was suffering because of unrepentant sin.
But you and I know that is not the case.
Job was a blameless and upright man.
That means Zophar has stepped up to tell Job what God was doing
And Zophar didn’t have a clue.
Do you see the danger of speaking for God when you are dead wrong?
LET ME SHOW YOU ZOPHAR’S MISTAKES
OBVIOUS LACK OF COMPASSION
This is what will bother Job the most.
Job 12:4-5 “I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke. “He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.”
All Job really wanted from his friends was a little encouragement and sympathy, and he received none.
And let me remind you that this was not like Jesus.
• Yes Jesus confronted sin
• Yes Jesus warned people of its danger
• Yes Jesus called for repentance
But He always did it based on truth and wrapped in compassion.
His compassion drips out of the pages of the gospels
And so at the very least (even if you are aware of a specific sin)
Don’t fail to be compassionate to those who hurt.
Job’s friends had an obvious lack.
JUDGMENT WITH A LACK OF EVIDENCE
They had no problem condemning Job
When they had no clue what he had done wrong.
This is what will anger Elihu later.
Job 32:3 “And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”
These men took circumstances that were difficult
And merely assumed they were caused by sin.
Then, in their self-righteousness, they passed judgement on Job.
Scripture clearly forbids such hypocrisy.
Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”
The word there for “judge” is KRINO which means “to condemn”
Scripture clearly teaches that when a brother sins and you know about it that you should confront that sin,
But under no circumstances should you condemn based on speculation.
PROMISE OF EASE UPON REPENTANCE
Very simply, they promised something they had no right to promise.
This promise was based upon the assumption that
God only uses suffering to lead men to repent.
That isn’t true and it misrepresents God.
And this is what had God so angry.
Job 42:8 “Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
These friends blatantly misrepresented who God was
And what God was doing.
And here is why these failures are so dangerous.
They were actually partly to blame
For encouraging Job’s sour attitude toward God.
We saw it last week, but Job’s attitude took a bit of a turn.
He actually started blaming God for not treating him fairly.
WHY?
Because Job knew he had not sinned
And yet he was being told continually by his friends
That his suffering was punishment from God.
Therefore Job’s only recourse was to say God was unjustly afflicting him.
Now, what if Job’s friends had responded accurately and told Job.
• We don’t know why you are suffering.
• We want you to know that we are sorry and we are praying for you
• We also want you to know that God is sovereign He is using it for a perfect purpose even if we don’t know what it is.
• So we want to encourage you to trust God.
What a difference that would have made.
Maybe then Job would have been encouraged
To draw near to God in the midst of his pain instead of to accuse Him.
And that is the danger of their misrepresentation.
With their bad theology
They were actually encouraging Job to disdain God.
They were telling Job that God was someone who He was not
And instead of causing Job to love God,
They was causing him to be angry at Him.
That is NEVER the goal.
Job himself said:
Job 6:14 “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.”
But they didn’t.
So as we come to the end of the first round between Job and his friends
These are the issues that we must recognize.
• The Cruelty of Forgotten Compassion
• The Foolishness of Factless Condemnation
• The Danger of False Counsel
Job’s friends were guilty of all three.
And not only did they not help Job in the least,
But they will also earn a serious rebuke from God
For their blatant misrepresentation.
Jesus said:
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
That would have been good advice for Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
IT IS CERTAINLY GOOD ADVICE FOR US.
