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.