Job 20 TRUE, BUT HARSH The way a person says a thing is often as important, and sometimes more important, as what they actually say. Zophar had a mean streak in him that was a yard wide, and that negated all the true things he had to say. He listened to Job's pitiful appeal for sympathy but he had none. He only waited until he could talk and vent his own self-centered anger.
Zophar had in his first discourse that in his mind there was a possibility of Job's recovery. But in this second speech, he speaks as a bitter, angry man whose exalted opinion of himself had been insulted and injured by Job's replies. In this angry speech he throws aside any semblance of compassion for Job in his desire to get even with Job and his rejection of the points the three friends had made as to why he was suffering so severely. He believed that even though Job had it good and had prospered for awhile, he had hidden sin and wickedness to which he would not admit. Therefore, they all assumed he was guilty of evil and hypocrisy. As far as Job was concerned, his three so-called friends had failed him, because they all assumed, he was guilty without a cause they could identify.
To speak truth is one thing. To listen and wait for an appropriate time, and carefully consider the results of what you have to say, is quite another. To oversimplify truth is to misrepresent it. We may say a right thing, and seek to support it with scripture, but to apply it in the wrong place or to a wrong issue, is wrong. We do learn things from history, but history and doctrine are not always compatible. God is righteous, and wickedness will be punished in a just way by God.
It is true that God is righteous and will be punished, but contrary to Zophar's philosophy, the punishment of the wicked may not happen immediately or even during this lifetime. Payday will come, but when it will be, we do not know. "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment." Sin is attractive and sometimes enjoyable, and people may live a long time in sin and even with the results of evil gain to use for their sinful pleasures. "If a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many."
Zophar missed the fact that judgment for sins may not come in this lifetime. Sinners may seem to get away with sin for a whole lifetime, but death is not the end. He claimed that ancient wisdom supported his point that the success of the wicked is short. Sin may taste sweet, but it will ultimately turn sour Zophar said. In that he was right. What he was wrong in thinking is that it will happen before we die.
That is why we continue to preach the Gospel. While there is life there is hope for a sinner to repent and believe the Gospel. The Gospel needs to be faithfully presented while there is opportunity for repentance for sin to be real. Then faith in Christ as the Savior from ours sin will have real meaning to us and the forgiveness of sin is promised.
The discourse of Zophar seemed to be for his own self-aggrandizement rather that for any benefit for Job. It is true that judgment for sin will cancel out all the pleasurable delights that sinners temporarily have "for a season." It is also true that what we have can be quickly lost or out-of-date so it is useless to us. It is possible to be fearful even though we have plenty or even much more than we need. Without godliness and contentment there is no assurance for living and dying, because material gain is no godliness.
The poetic form of drama that Zophar used to describe the wicked included description of personal physical pain in a person's body. Then he goes further saying that God will vent His anger on the wicked like a terrible storm or a bloody battlefield, and that the wicked will have no place to run to escape the righteous judgment of God. Much of what he said was true. God did create man to glorify Him and the wicked have defiled what God made and so will be punished. A man's sin will affect his children and even though he prospers, it will all end up like dust in spite of temporary sweetness.
God will deal in righteous wrath with those who act violently. Even so, He sometimes uses arrogant, ignorant and abusive people to carry out His divine will. He used Nebuchadnezzar to carry out just judgment on Israel and He will yet use the antichrist to bring Israel to Himself. Zophar knew about God and could talk a lot about God but he did not understand God nor His ways. He was sure the creation would testify against Job because he was hiding wickedness. He considered Job to be already condemned because of what he was suffering, and could not understand why Job would listen and take what he said as the absolute truth of the matter.