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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment