Job 20:1

JOB 20

ZOPHAR'S SECOND SPEECH:

ZOPHAR'S MISLEADING; UNTRUTHFUL; INSULTING SPEECH

We reject the viewpoint of commentators who speak of Zophar's "eloquent" sermon on the fate of the wicked. No speech is either honest or truthful that is designed to destroy a true servant of God; and, in our evaluation of Zophar's crude and insulting speech, we must take into account his purpose, namely, that of forcing an innocent man to repent of sins he had not committed.

Yes, Zophar in this speech described the fate of the wicked; but like every evil philosophy it was only partially founded in truth: (1) Zophar's description of what often happened to wicked men appeared here as a description of what always, invariably, and without exception happened! (2) Zophar's description was purely materialistic. This earthly life, to Zophar, was all there is. There was no understanding or allowance whatever for ultimate rewards or punishments. (3) To Zophar, no wicked man had any hope whatever. He had no conception whatever of the universal wickedness of mankind; and to him, the righteous were the wealthy and prosperous people, and the wicked were those in poverty or suffering. (4) Many of his most dogmatic assertions were blatant falsehoods, as for example, (a) that the wicked die early (Job 20:11), and (b) that gains shall be removed from the wicked in this life (Job 20:15). Zophar's speech was fully in keeping with the evil design of Satan.

Rawlinson's excellent summary of Zophar's diatribe is as follows:

"This second speech is even worse than his first (Job 11). Coarseness and rudeness are added to his former hostility (Job 20:7,15). His whole discourse is a covert denunciation of Job as a wicked hypocrite (Job 20:5,12,19,29), who is receiving only the punishment he deserves for a life of crime. He concludes by prophesying Job's violent death, the destruction of his house, and the rising up of heaven and earth as witnesses against him."[1] Of course, these lying prophecies should be added to the roster of Zophar's falsehoods.

Job 20:1-5

ZOPHAR RUDELY BREAKS INTO JOB'S NOBLE WORDS

"Then answered Zophar the

Naamathite, and said,

Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me,

Even by reason of my haste that is in me.

I have heard the reproof that putteth me to shame;

And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.

Knowest thou not this of old time,

Since man was placed upon earth,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short,

And the joy of the godless but for a moment?"

"By reason of my haste that is in me" (Job 20:2). Matthew Henry noted that, "It seems here that Zophar broke in upon Job and began abruptly."[2] Zophar, as the willing instrument of Satan here, was greatly displeased with the Divine Message Job was in the process of speaking, a message of the Redeemer for all mankind, a message delivered "by the direct inspiration of God,"[3] a message concerning which Job entertained no doubt or uncertainty whatever. He did not say, "I hope," or "I think," and not even that "I believe," but that, "I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth."

It seems incredible that Zophar could have rudely butted in and concluded Job's inspired words. Zophar was insensitive to all that Job said. He was like those West Texas buzzards that sail with obscene wings above flower fields and gardens searching for and finding only some rotting carcass on a hillside. Zophar passed over, with out even hearing it, one of the sublimest promises in the Word of God, only to compare Job to the dunghill on which he sat. God pity the Zophars of our own generation.

"Knowest thou not this of old time" (Job 20:4)? "This is a mocking question."[4] It is the equivalent of, "What a fool you are not to know what everybody else has known for ages'!

"The triumphing of the wicked is short" (Job 20:5). "He is sure that the wicked does not keep his property very long; such a thing has never happened in the range of human experience."[5] Had Zophar never heard of Cain? This, of course, is another of Zophar's falsehoods.