Job 11

Does it seem as though Job’s friends are stuck in a loop? As if they keep telling the same story and the listener is expected to nod and smile as if it was new information? My mom calls this being “a broken record.” I heard that phrase a good bit growing up when I would ask the same questions or make the same comments on repeat. I have a sweet mom. She has lived to tell the tales of all three of her Italian hooligans. And she still knows how to laugh.

Job must be sick to death (pun intended) of his friends’ inane comments and impotent advice. He is looking for real answers, and finding only smoke. In this chapter, his friend Zophar is blowing that smoke, and lots of it.

“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right? Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?”

Job 11:2-3

I will answer Zophar’s questions with another of my mom’s fun phrases: “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!”

Zophar is calling Job an empty talker, a mocker, a babbler. He warns Job that God’s judgment is less than Job actually deserves. I don’t disagree with Zophar in this one, specific statement. I recognize the total depravity of humanity. And…But, God’s mercy is real! I see a big problem with telling a wounded man that his wounds are a whole lot of nothing. Zophar is diminishing the pain Job feels with a super-pious, it-could-be-worse dismissal. Don’t do this to hurting people.

“But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.”

Job 11:5-6

Next, Zophar says something good and true. It’s so hard to sift through the statements Job’s friends make. They mix truth with confusion, understanding with misinformation…it’s like reading the current news. What is real? What is true? But this statement is real. I know, because we read it elsewhere in Scripture as God’s words about Himself.

“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven – 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 through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back? For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?”

Job 11:7-11

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

And now we get to my favorite Zophar statement in this chapter…

“But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.”

Job 11:12

Or, using another of my mom’s fun hyperboles: “When pigs fly!” It makes me laugh a little. Zophar, after braying his accusations at Job, says a foolish man will never become wise. The irony…so thick…can hardly breathe…

And then, perhaps feeling badly about his harsh words and judgment, Zophar exhorts Job to confess…and be blessed! Here, Zophar promotes retribution theology – the belief that God is good to good people and punishes the wicked in this life as they deserve. He encourages Job to confess his sin and live a righteous life, and God will bless him! Guaranteed! A little bit of a lie mixed up with some truth, is still a lie. This is a form of self-salvation.

“If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him. If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. Surely then you will left up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear. You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security. You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will court your favor. 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.”

Job 11:13-20

I Peter offers a beautiful, truth-filled contrast to Zophar’s false teaching. In chapter 4, Peter exhorts believers to arm themselves with the mind of Christ – His mind that did not shy away from suffering; His mind that walked, flint-faced, toward sacrifice. Peter encourages us to live as Christ lived, with the same purpose He lived – the glory of God alone. I urge you to read the whole chapter; it is brilliant. Here is the last portion of it:

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, ‘If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’ Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

I Peter 4:12-19

Suffering according to God’s will is a difficult trial to accept. But, what if it is God’s will for me, for you, to suffer? Then we do good in His name as we struggle, trusting that He is faithful. It isn’t a comfortable thought, is it? To consider that God may allow us to suffer for His glory. But it is good to walk toward suffering with our faces set like Christ who has walked this path before us. There is joy here.

One last thought: Don’t let Zophar’s misuse of confession derail you from the truth. Confession is vital to our faith. There is a true, humble confession the believer must engage in regularly, not to win favor or merit with God, which we cannot do, but in grateful submission to His commands and in response to His grace. Psalm 51 gives a beautiful example of this type of confession.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…”

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”

Psalm 51:1-4a, 10-13