Zophar Rebukes Job
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite [a]answered,
2 “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a talkative man be acquitted?
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,
6 And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom [b]has two sides.
Know then that God [c]forgets a part of your iniquity.7 “Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
8 “They are high as [d]the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than [e]Sheol, what can you know?
9 “Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.
10 “If He passes by or shuts up,
Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?
11 “For He knows false men,
And He sees iniquity [f]without investigating.
12 “[g]An idiot will become intelligent
When the [h]foal of a wild donkey is born a man.13 “If you would direct your heart right
And spread out your hand to Him,
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.
16 “For you would forget your trouble,
As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
17 “Your [i]life would be [j]brighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.
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 [k]favor.
20 “But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And [l]there will be no escape for them;
And their hope is [m]to breathe their last.”
Like his friends before him, Zophar’s claims contain some truth, until he starts contending that everything would be sunshine and rainbows for Job–if only Job would admit his wrongdoing and quite faking it! A large part of his mistake is the idea that a person’s material wealth has anything to do with God’s favor in their life.
We like to put God in a box, because we want things neat and tidy. So certainly, God wants to direct our path, and He wants to give us good gifts. But there’s a higher priority than our physical comfort, and a life of ease. It’s not as simple as just living without sin, and then we can “look around and rest securely.” That’s awfully shortsighted, because life isn’t that simple, and we all have a lot of growing to do–which means we have lessons to learn that might not be a ton of fun.
God knows just what each of us need, and while we’ll find things in common, our roads may look vastly different. Ultimately, we do need to follow Zophar’s advice in vv. 13-14, and we do it with God’s help, so that we can see His kingdom advanced. While God wants us to be diligent with everything He does give us (and that includes our finances), the focus of our life needs to be on Him. When our focus drifts to money or possessions instead of God, we need to refocus and get back to the most important thing. He’ll take care of the rest when we’re doing what He asks of us.