LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
(A) This response from Zophar (and Job's response to him) caps off the first out of three cycles of speeches found throughout Job 3-26. Across these chapters each of Job's friends will take turns to "help" Job understand that, if he just deals with whatever error he is committing and responds in faith, God will respond and shower him with earthly blessings. But because we've read chapters 1-2, we know that Job is an upright man. We know that he doesn't have any notable sort of secret sin issue. He is an innocent sufferer. Along the way, Job's friends demonstrate a lot of good understanding of who God is and show their own wisdom--but when they apply that wisdom to Job's situation and assume that God is about giving good people good things in this life and bad people bad things, their wisdom breaks down. They are so close to the truth. They are correct about so many things. But because they believe that blessings for righteousness are something that happens in this life, they have to assume that if Job isn't experiencing that blessing, something must be wrong with him. And that's where all their wisdom proves to be warped and broken; both harmful, and full of errors.
(B) It's really important to remind ourselves that the people speaking to Job are his friends. They start out that way in chapter 2, and they are still his friends at the end of the book in chapter 42. They fight, they say untrue things to each other out of frustration, they get hot tempered and dig in and get really personal sometimes, and yesterday when Bildad implied that Job's children probably deserved to die (8:4), I was reminded that Job was likely still currently holding a sharp object in his hand (2:8) and had nothing to lose, and he must have possessed incredible restraint or the book would have ended right there with the unfortunate slaying of Bildad. But this is a good word to us--the men who say and do these things, who are so mistaken and so hurtful, were also some of the most wise and godly men on earth at that time. They could also be incredibly giving, as they were in chapter 2 when they sat in silence with Job for seven days. We are all striving to grow in holiness, and we all miss the mark and do things that we look back on later and regret. Instead of defending our own goodness and digging in by insisting that we didn't intend any harm, we should all remember that we all deal with sin and selfishness, we all deal with our own biases and unwillingness to listen, and we all have need of constant repentance which renews our dependence on God's grace. When we have this down, it will help us be more willing to confront ourselves and commit to personal growth, and it will help us to be more forgiving of others. When we understand that, if life were a Western, we would all be wearing black hats and only Jesus would be wearing a white hat, that gives us what we need to forgive others a little more readily. If we understand that, then like Job, we could still hold onto friendships even with the clear breaches of friendship that we've seen so far (and are about to see). Note: this doesn't mean we are required to hold on to bad friendships. Sometimes the same wisdom that allows you to hold on to a good friendship despite a significant blow up or breach of trust, also requires you to get rid of a bad friendship that, despite good moments, consistently brings harm to you and those you care for.
(C) Regarding the Gospel, there's a very important and interesting development in chapter 14 surrounding the doctrine of the afterlife. In fact, this might be the biggest development in the book of Job--so keep your eyes open for it. Job, and likely his friends as well, seem to agree that there is no such thing as life after death (that's virtually what all of Job's speech as recorded in chapter 14 is all about). But in Job 14:14-17, Job is willing to entertain the thought of resurrection or life after death, just for a moment. He says, well if that were true, then that would change everything: "If a man dies, shall he live again? [If that were true,] All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You [God] would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands... my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity." If this life is everything, then God is not just unless he rewards the righteous with prosperity, since that's what they've earned--good people should get good things. But if this life is not everything, and if history is heading towards a glorious conclusion and a reward at the end that all the righteous throughout history will share in, then that really changes the calculus of God's grace and justice. We could wait through some pretty hard circumstances if that were true, and know that God would be there waiting for us with arms open in the end. And in fact, that's what Job concludes must be true within just a few chapters: he will say in Job 19:25-27: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" The reality of the innocent sufferer, combined with a belief in God's power and justice, reveals the necessity of not only a resurrection, but a plan to deal with the problem of human sin, pain, and brokenness once and for all. And that's where Jesus comes in--as the only possible resolution to the conundrum that Job faces throughout the book.
RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?
This passage gives us a lot of different ways that we can respond to it. We can see Zophar as a negative example, and resolve never to treat people the way that treats Job (even when we think that we are right). But then we could also think about the friendship that was strong enough to bind Zophar and Job as friends even after this conflict, and ask ourselves if there are any good relationships we've let go of prematurely due to bad moments. Or, we can realize that Zophar is not altogether different from us, and walk with more humility when we feel someone is guilty of an offense (11:1-3) or when we believe they are factually in the wrong about something we feel is important (11:11-12). This chapter and others like it should also insulate us from some of the prosperity theology that exists out there in the wider Christian world, even among some very godly people, as Job is an entire book of the Bible that exposes a similar ideology amongst Job's friends as harmful. And we can also respond in thankfulness to God, that he has given us a greater understanding of eternal life than Job or his friends were aware of. This awareness prepares us for the idea that our eternal relationship with God, not our present earthly prosperity, is our primary concern. And that prepares us for the Gospel and God's provision of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins (but not, in His first coming, with many important earthly concerns like the deliverance of Israel from Rome, or the eradication of evil, etc). The hope of resurrection/eternal life realigns everything and shows why the work of Jesus is necessary.
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
This is a suggested prompt for prayer: "God, thank you for creating me with an eternal purpose. Please send your Spirit to make me aware of that purpose; also to be more patient, to live with a greater sense of freedom and joy, and to trust in you more. Thank you for the work of Jesus which, though it does not guarantee me riches in this life, instead grants me the hope of the richness of your grace throughout all the rest of eternity. Draw me closer to you no matter what comes my way. Amen."
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