Speak Once, Listen Twice (Job 21:1-34)

Francis I Anderson sums up Zophar’s speech from the previous chapter with these words, “It is worth pointing out, as a sign of the narrowness of Zophar's beliefs, that his speech contains no hint that the wicked might repent, make amends and regain the favour of God. Zophar has no compassion and his god has no mercy.”

Job seeks in chapter 21 to demolish the retribution theology of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. His basic argument? “Neither is prosperity a proof of men’s innocence, nor adversity a mark of their wickedness.” (Trapp)

21:1 Then Job answered, 2 “Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your way of consolation. 3 Bear with me that I may speak; then after I have spoken, you may mock. 4 As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?” 5 Look at me, and be astonished, and put your hand over your mouth. 6 Even when I remember, I am disturbed, and horror takes hold of my flesh.”

The speech begins literally “Hear! Hear!” (Hebrew “Shama shama). It’s translated variously as “Listen diligently!” or “Listen closely!” or “Keep Listening!”

“…and let this attention of yours be your comfort & consolation.” Job simply wanted the three to stop mocking him (“mock” is intensive and implies the strongest derision). And he wanted them to listen – really listen – which apparently they haven’t been doing for quite some time.

Remember these two verses from chapter 2? “When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words” (2:12-13). Somewhere along the road from chapter 2 to chapter 21 it seems that the three comforters had taken their eyes off from their friend who was desperately sick and had gotten lost in their compassionless and dogmatic theology. Job implored in verse 5, “Look at me!” In those three words you get a sense of Job’s pain and deep struggle.

Someone has said that “silence is a form of communication.” EBZ would have been much farther ahead if they had merely been quiet, straightened up the ash heap every now and then, and offered to change Job’s bandages.

The bulk of chapter 21 is simply Job’s reply to Zophar’s speech. In actuality, it’s a total demolition of the comforter’s world view.

21:7 “Why do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful?”

Contrast this with 20:11 where Zophar contends that the wicked die prematurely. But Job rightly reasons that they often reach old age, improve in health and complete their life span. Keil & Delitzsch write, “…the ungodly, far from being overtaken by the punishment of their godlessness, continued in the enjoyment of life…the wicked acquire constantly increasing possessions.”

21:8 “They get to see their children succeed, get to watch and enjoy their grandchildren.”

Far from being in misery, Job says that sometimes the wicked will have large and happy families! (The thought of the laughter of children and grandchildren had to fill Job with a great sense of sadness.)

21:9 “Their homes are peaceful and free from fear; they never experience God’s disciplining rod.”

Translation: The rod of God hasn't struck them with a single blow, and yet I have a spear sticking out my back! (20:25)

21:10 “Their bulls breed with great vigor and their cows calve without fail. 11 They send their children out to play and watch them frolic like spring lambs. 12 They make music with fiddles and flutes; have good times singing and dancing. 13 They have a long life on easy street, and die painlessly in their sleep.”

You are probably familiar with Norman Rockwell’s paintings of the idyllic (and often humorous) American family. And perhaps you have seen some of Terry Redlin’s paintings with the wonderful warm scenes of autumn in the country. Both artists convey a sense of simplicity and serenity about life. Zophar contends that the wicked would never find themselves in such depictions, but Job counters that there are times when the wicked do enjoy a Norman Rockwell type of life – they have both a serene life and a serene death. Hartley writes, “A serene death means that the joy of the wicked is as full as possible. Suffering has never impressed on their mind the horrors of death.”

21:14 “They say to God, ’Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we entreat Him?’”

FI Anderson writes, “In their experience, prayer is a waste of time!” One writer calls the wicked, “Stalwart sinners who order God around -- they see themselves as masters of their own world.” (The poem “Invictus” would be their motto.)

21:16 “Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger? 18 Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away? 19 You say, ’God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons.’ Let God repay him so that he may know it. 20 Let his own eyes see his decay, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 for what does he care for his household after him, when the number of his months is cut off? 22 Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high?”

Note verse 19 from The Message, “You might say, ‘God is saving up the punishment for their children.’ I say, ‘Give it to them right now so they’ll know what they’ve done!’” The basic theology of the comforters is simply, “The wicked will suffer; if you are suffering it is proof that you are wicked (either secretly or overtly). And if it’s obvious you are wicked and aren’t suffering, then God is simply storing up punishment for your children. End of story. No exceptions. Period!” But Job destroys both their theology and their theology’s escape clause (the kids will get it). Francis I Anderson writes, “Job considers this to be monstrous, encouraging a further depravity, ‘We can sin, our children will pay!’…this theory of the friends, that God is saving up their iniquity for their sons, is a blatant evasion…"

21:23 “Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for them— 24 fat and sassy. 25 Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste of happiness. 26 They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms can’t tell one from the other.”

FI Anderson says this, “Death always has the final say, and it says the same thing to everyone!”

Hartley comments, “The prominent prosperous person dies in full vigor, wholly at ease and contented. His life, free from tension and bitterness, is replete with pleasure…another person has the opposite experience. At every turn he faces obstacles and losses. Disappointed and frustrated, he becomes hardened and bitter...his body becomes frail thin and wrinkled as he fades away to nothing…these two types of people are not classified as good and bad, righteous and wicked, but as fortunate and unfortunate.”

Job seems to be simply saying, “There is no formula and there is no pattern. Life is more complicated than that!”

21:27 "I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to, the plans you’re cooking up to bring me down. 28 Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to pieces, that the achievements of the wicked collapse. 29 Have you ever asked world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their stories 30 Of evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their wickedness? 31 Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music? 32 Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals with all the trimmings, 33 Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies about how wonderful they were.”

Quoted by Hartley, C. Westermann writes, “(The wicked) seem to have blessedness without blessing, divine favor without God, salvation without a Savior!”

If there is simply one instance of the wicked prospering without suffering, then the theology of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar would come tumbling down like a house of cards. All the Comforters need do is ask world travelers (vs. 29) and they would find ample evidence to validate Job’s argument.

21:34 “How then will you vainly comfort me, for your answers remain full of falsehood?"

Job desperately wanted his friends to look at him and listen to him. He wanted their derision and mockery to stop. FI Anderson writes, “A more fitting response to such a sight would be to be appalled and to be silent as they were at first!”

There is an interesting verse found in Psalm 62:11, “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this…” Speak once, listen twice!” Perhaps I’ve taken that verse a little out of context, but it’s nevertheless true that listening can be a lost art. (We often speak twice and listen once.)

Perhaps you feel compelled to say something, anything to help alleviate a friend’s pain. But remember, silence is a form of communication. It just may be that the most comforting thing you can say….is nothing.

Zorro’s Younger Brother Zophar Drives Home His Point (All The Way Through Job) Chapter 20:1-29

Pastor Zophar was asked by the hospital chaplain if he would like to hold a church service for the small group of patients in hospice. “Sure,” replied Zophar, “I would be glad to!”
That next Sunday Pastor Zophar approached the makeshift pulpit in the family waiting area of the hospice wing. About 20 patients plus their families were gathered to hear something that might give them hope.
Zophar opened his Bible and then gave what might be considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the shortest sermon ever given.
“You people,” Zophar said tersely, “are getting what you deserve!”
And then he left.

Those seven words of Zophar’s fictional sermon are chapter twenty in a nutshell.

By the time we get to the end of the chapter we begin to realize why, in chapter 42, God is angry enough with the Comforters to wipe them out.

20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered, 2 “Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, even because of my inward agitation. 3 I listened to the reproof which insults me, and the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.”

You get the sense that Zophar, the third of the comforters to speak, hardly listens at all to what Job has had to say. He is almost grinding his teeth in anger and agitation; he just wants to get on with his theological sword fight and make his point – irrespective of what Job has had to say. One version puts the last part of verse three, “…and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.” Job you aint’ the wind beneath my wings…you’re just wind without wisdom.

20:4 Do you know this from of old, from the establishment of man on earth, 5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary? 6 Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds, 7 He perishes forever like his refuse; those who have seen him will say, 'where is he?'

As I have mentioned in previous chapters, not everything that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar say is wrong. Some of what follows is true (the fate of the wicked); it’s just that it doesn’t apply to Job.

In Zophar’s mind, the theology he presents is so elementary that it’s probably something Adam knew. That theology? The triumph of the wicked is short and momentary; their mirth is just temporary.

The wicked may become so lofty that they “bump their head on the clouds;” yet they perish like a cow-pie. (These words have to be so “comforting” for Job; he must be just rolling his eyes at Zophar’s sermonizing.)

20:8 He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; even like a vision of the night he is chased away. 9 The eye which saw him sees him no more, and his place no longer beholds him. 10 His sons favor the poor, and his hands give back his wealth. 11 His bones are full of his youthful vigor, but it lies down with him in the dust.

Even though Zophar never names names in this sermon, Job knows exactly who he is alluding to. Much of the language is similar to the tragedies and calamities of chapters 1-2. The wicked (i.e. you Job) are like disappearing dung, dissolving dreams and vanishing visions. The Message puts verse 9 this way, "Though once notorious public figures, now they’re nobodies, unnoticed, whether they come or go.” In verse 10 Zophar implies that Job’s wealth was a result of stealing from the poor. And in verse 11 Pastor Zophar says that the wicked will be cut down in the prime of life and find themselves on the dust (Job’s ash heap?).

20:12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth, {and} he hides it under his tongue, 13 {Though} he desires it and will not let it go, but holds it in his mouth, 14 {Yet} his food in his stomach is changed to the venom of cobras within him. 15 He swallows riches, but will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly. 16 He sucks the poison of cobras; the viper's tongue slays him.

Note the word “evil” in verse 12. In chapters one and two God testified to Satan that Job “turned away from evil” (he “eschewed evil” as the King James puts it); but Zophar implies that far from turning away from evil, Job desires it like some luscious piece of candy. Instead of spitting it out, he rolls it around in his mouth to savor it and then hides it under his tongue for safe-keeping. (Remember that the Comforter’s basic premise was that Job was a secret sinner – he had hidden his wickedness and God was now bringing the real Job to light).

The word “desire” in verse 13 means to “comfort” or “take care of.” Zophar continues: Job not only enjoyed his sin, he pampered it the way a mother would do for her newborn!

But the sweet food turns to venomous poison (vs. 15). And instead of snakes on a plane, its snakes in his stomach! From venom to vomit: Job’s wickedness may seem sweet, but with agonizing cramps he will one day vomit up what he has swallowed. The sweet evil will turn to the poison of cobras.

20:17 He does not look at the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds. 18 He returns what he has attained and cannot swallow {it ;} as to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy {them.} 19 For he has oppressed {and} forsaken the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

The Message puts these three verses this way, “No quiet picnics for them beside gentle streams with fresh-baked bread and cheese, and tall, cool drinks. They spit out their food half-chewed, unable to relax and enjoy anything they’ve worked for. And why? Because they exploited the poor, took what never belonged to them.”

Note these intense verbs in verse 19 – oppressed, forsaken, and seized. JFB writes concerning the word “seized”: “This root has in its meaning the violence that goes beyond mere stealing or taking another’s belongings but includes robbing by force, a tearing off.”

20:20 Because he knew no quiet within him He does not retain anything he desires. 21 Nothing remains for him to devour, therefore his prosperity does not endure. 22 In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped; the hand of everyone who suffers will come {against} him. 23 When he fills his belly, {God} will send His fierce anger on him and will rain {it} on him while he is eating.

Pastor Zophar continues to grind away at Job. “The wicked," he says, “are never satisfied in their greed – it always eats away at them (vs. 20), there is no rest for them in their cravings.”

Vs 21 – They (you Job) have raped the land…there is nothing left to devour.
Vs 22 – But when it seems they (you Job) don’t have a care in the world, they (you Job) will suddenly be surrounded by cares. Instead of rich abundant food, it’s a smorgasbord of misery.
Vs 23 – This is Zophar’s summary of Job chapters 1-2; the language is similar to the blizzard of quails in Numbers 11. (While Zophar is giving his sermon, the background music softly plays a variation of the chorus “Its Beginning to Rain”: “It’s beginning to rain….feel the wrath of the Father…”)

20:24 He may flee from the iron weapon, {but} the bronze bow will pierce him. 25 It is drawn forth and comes out of his back, even the glittering point from his gall. Terrors come upon him…

When Zophar wasn’t cutting it in sword school (get it?), Zorro counseled his younger brother, “Yo bro, ummmmm, you realize you’ve pierced through a couple of your classmates don’t you? Maybe this sword fighting thing ain’t working out for you. Have you ever thought about becoming a pastor? Maybe instead of the sword of Zophar you could try the Sword of the Lord.”

But alas, Zophar’s adeptness at spiritual sword fighting proved to be just as fatal. When the Sunday services were done, instead of being healed and comforted, the sheep left with Sword wounds. And with Job he makes his point alright…and it’s sticking out Job’s back!

“Job you can run, but you can’t hide!” Zophar pictures Job in hand-to-hand combat with God.
“Maybe you can escape the iron weapon, but Sniper God can hit you from 100 miles away.”

There are two verses in this chapter that highlight Zophar’s total lack of pastoral empathy: Verse 7 “He perishes like his dung;” and here in verse 25, “The bloody point of God’s sword of judgment is sticking out your back!”

20:26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, and unfanned fire will devour him; it will consume the survivor in his tent.

Complete darkness and unfanned fire…the unfanned fire is certainly an allusion to the tragedies of chapter one.

20:27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. 28 The increase of his house will depart; {His possessions} will flow away in the day of His anger. 29 This is the wicked man's portion from God, even the heritage decreed to him by God.

Job wants Heaven to be a witness to his integrity, but Zophar says that Heaven will be a witness to Job’s exceedingly great sin. “Look around Job! This (the desolation and destruction) is your inheritance!”

Zophar closes his message by saying, “None of this was by chance Job. From the disintegrated sheep to the death of your kids to your disease infected body – this is all by divine decree!”

In his commentary on Job, Chuck Swindoll quotes J. Oswald Sanders, “This is the last time we hear from Zophar and we will not miss him.”

Hopefully that is never written of our counsel and comfort.