After listening to Eliphaz and Bildad accuse Job, Zophar should have had enough sense and compassion to take a new approach. Job would hold fast to his integrity no matter what God did or his friends said, so why continue that discussion? How sad it is when people who should share ministry end up creating misery. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Rom. 12:15) is good counsel to follow.
Job is guilty (Job 11:1–4). Like Bildad (8:2), Zophar opened his address by calling Job a “windbag.” How tragic that these three friends focused on Job’s words instead of the feelings behind those words. A Chinese proverb says, “Though conversing face to face, their hearts have a thousand miles between them.” How true that was at the ash heap! After all, information is not the same as communication. Sidney J. Harris reminds us, “Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”
Not only was Job’s speech a lot of wind, but it was also chatter (“lies”) and mockery (11:3). What Job said about God was not true and could only be compared to the idle chatter of people who speak without thinking. And what Job said about himself was an outright lie, for he was not pure before God. In maintaining his integrity, Job gave the impression that he was sinless, which, of course, was not true. (See 6:30; 9:20–21; 10:7.)
Job is ignorant of God (Job 11:5–12). Zophar’s request in verse 5 was answered when God appeared (38:1); but it was Zophar and his two friends who were later rebuked by God, and not Job! Job was commended by the Lord for telling the truth. Beware of asking God to tell others what they need to know, unless you are willing for Him to show you what you need to know.
Zophar wanted Job to grasp the height, depth, breadth, and length of God’s divine wisdom (11:8–9). In saying this, Zophar was hinting that he himself already knew the vast dimensions of God’s wisdom and could teach Job if he would listen. It’s too bad Zophar didn’t know the vast dimensions of God’s love (Eph. 3:17–19) and share some of that love with Job.
When Zophar said that the secrets of God’s wisdom were “double” (Job 11:6), what did he mean? It could mean that God’s wisdom is full and complete (Isa. 40:2), or that God has twice as much wisdom as Job thinks He has. The NIV says that “true wisdom has two sides” (Job 11:6). There is the small side that we see and the huge side that only God can see.
Since God knows everything, He knows all about Job and could punish him more than He has. “It could be worse!” is certainly no comfort to a man who has lost his family, his wealth, and his health, and is barely hanging on to life. You don’t measure suffering in a quantitative way the way you measure produce at the supermarket. The flippant way in which Job’s friends were speaking about his situation shows they lacked understanding. “The deeper the sorrow,” says the Jewish Talmud, “the less tongue it has.”
The two questions in verse 7 expect a negative answer. Nobody can “fathom the mysteries of God” or “probe the limits of the Almighty” (niv). Of course, Job never claimed to know everything about God; but what he did know encouraged him to hold fast to his integrity and not give up.
God is not accountable to us. He can arrest and imprison anybody He chooses, convene the court and pronounce the sentence; and nobody can say a word in protest (v. 10; see 9:12). God knows who is wise and who is foolish, who is pure and who is sinful. Since God has passed judgment on Job, Job must be guilty.
Zophar closed this accusation by quoting a proverb (11:12). It’s not easy to ascertain its meaning. The proverb may be saying that no matter how stupid a man is when he is born, even as dumb as a wild donkey, there is still hope for him to become intelligent. Or, the proverb might be saying just the opposite, as in the NIV: “But a witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey’s colt can be born a man.” The NASB agrees: “And an idiot will become intelligent when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.” In view of Zophar’s anger and insulting language, it is likely that the NIV and NASB translations are correct.
Job is stubborn and should repent (Job 11:13–20). “There is hope!” is Zophar’s encouraging word to Job (v. 18), and he described what Job could experience. God would bless him abundantly, and his troubles would be over. Job could lift up his head again, and his fears would be gone (v. 15; 10:15). He would forget his misery like water gone over the dam (11:16). God would give him a long life, and it would be the dawning of a new day for him (v. 17). He would dwell in the light, not in the darkness of Sheol (10:20–22); and God’s security would put an end to all his fears (11:19–20).
But if Job wanted these blessings, he had to get them on Zophar’s terms. Yes, there was hope, but it was hope with a condition attached to it: Job must repent and confess his sins (vv. 13–14). Zophar is tempting Job to bargain with God so he can get out of his troubles. This is exactly what Satan wanted Job to do! “Doth Job fear God for nothing?” Satan asked (1:9). Satan accused Job of having a “commercial faith” that promised prosperity in return for obedience. If Job had followed Zophar’s advice, he would have played right into the hands of the enemy.
Job did not have a “commercial faith” that made bargains with God. He had a confident faith that said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (13:15). That doesn’t sound like a man looking for an easy way out of difficulties. “Job did not understand the Lord’s reasons,” said C. H. Spurgeon, “but he continued to confide in His goodness.” That is faith!