Job

Chapter 11 (ESV) - Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

“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?
For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,
    and I am clean in God's eyes.’
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.

“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?
But a stupid man will get understanding
    when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

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 lift 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.

Question to consider: In what way do Zophar’s accusations sound like Satan?

In today’s passage, Zophar finally had enough of Job’s outcry and dealt with him even more harshly than Bildad. He thought Job should be ashamed of himself for trying to suggest that he was clean in God’s eyes. Zophar saw Job’s complaints as a mockery of God and said that he actually got off lightly for it even though he never pointed to an actual sin Job might have done.

The only thing Zophar got right in his statements was that Job could not plumb the depths of God, for His knowledge is higher than heaven and deeper than Sheol. He overstepped though in assuming that Job was worthless and stupid and would only gain understanding when a wild donkey starts giving birth to men.

Zophar doubled-down on Bildad’s comments and said that Job definitely needed to admit to his sin and separate himself from it if he wanted to have his life restored to him. Then his life would be bright, and he would find rest in safety and security. When he slept, he would no longer have the nightmares that he currently had.

These kinds of accusations against Job without merit sound exactly like Satan. Satan pretended to bring the judgment of God even though God only pointed out Job’s faithfulness. When Job lost everything and received the sores, Satan spoke through Job’s wife to try and get him to curse God. Once Job began to consider that God may be judging him for some secret sin, Satan tried to bring accusations against Job to bring him to the place of despair. We do well to remember that not only does Satan try to use our flesh or the world against us to sin, but if we do fall into sin, he immediately tries to accuse us before God and lead us to despair so that we either do further harm to ourselves or walk away from the faith.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, please open our eyes to Satan’s schemes so that we do not let him get a foothold in our lives. We pray that Christ will return quickly so that we may fully and finally be done with temptation and the temptor. Amen.