“If
iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and do not let wickedness dwell in
your tents.” (v.14)
Zophar is the most critical of Job’s friends in his response to
Job’s trial. He sees Job’s plight the as his friends did, namely that suffering
comes from sin, so the solution must be repentance. We have now seen this three
times: from Eliphaz (5:17), from Bildad (8:20), and from Zophar (11:14).
In the first part of his speech (vv. 2–6), Zophar dismisses
Job’s words as idle chatter. He can’t hear Job’s anguished cries in the context
of despair, but rather focuses only on Job’s bold outbursts and questions. He
accuses Job of being self-righteous and mistakenly charges Job of claiming to
be flawless and pure before God. Yet neither of these claims can be found in
Job’s earlier speeches. Zophar prays that God would rebuke Job. At the end of
the book, this is exactly what happens, but Zophar and his two companions are
also soundly rebuked as well!
However, Zophar did rightly claim that humans can not presume to
know God’s ways (vv. 7–12). Which interestingly enough should have spoken to
both men. To Job, that his current state may have reasons beyond his finding
out and to Zophar, stop attempting to explain something you do not understand least you
misrepresent God.
There’s an old saying, “God gave us two ears and one mouth for a
reason, so that we would listen twice as much as we speak.” Scripture backs
this up when it says, “Be slow to speak and quick to listen”, something to
consider before opening our mouths and speaking for God.
The Truth: “Do not
be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence
of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words
be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2)
