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Job 20 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The cruel misjudgment of man stems from an ignorant and arrogant attitude. I’ve written this many times over in this series on Job, but it remains true – his friends understood truth, but misunderstood their application of it. I would argue that of all his friends, Zophar misunderstood Job the most.
He really has no foundation for grace. To his credit, the grace of Jesus is offensive and foreign to our natural selves. It makes absolutely no sense. Zophar believes that the wicked will always be punished by God because He is righteous. He also believes the righteous will always be rewarded by God. Zophar has effectively taken the “mystery” out of God in an attempt to explain something he doesn’t know. Have you ever met anyone like this?
They seem to have an answer for every problem and situation. I admit, being the truth-seeker that I am, that I personally struggle with this. I want to know the “why” behind everything. There are some situations where I need to resolve that I do not and cannot completely understand the ways of God!
So, in an attempt to understand the “why,” and make it understandable to Job, Zophar lays out his simple, theological stance once again. Based on what we know about Jesus and the New Testament, let’s dig deeper into Zophar’s theology…
- He was right to believe that there is a very real and tangible punishment regarding sin.
- He was right to believe that the pleasures of sin are sweet but temporary.
- He was wrong to universally apply this theology to Job’s particular case.
- He was wrong to assume that the true penalty of sin was found in this life. (earthly consequences are different from eternal consequences).
Overall, what can we learn? I am reminded of what the Lord told Samuel when choosing a king.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 HCSB
Zophar sees what is visible, but God sees the heart. We must not make the fatal mistake of judging in order to produce an answer for God’s mysterious ways. There is truth to what Zophar has said, but his truth means nothing to Job because of his application and delivery. Think about that! Where is your truth falling flat (or causing more damage) because you have not considered the application and delivery of your message? This is why we must approach others both the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.