Job 21 LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD Typically, when a dialogue continues too long, it becomes and argument. An argument then becomes a debate, and a debate polarizes opinions until all that is left is a stalemate. Zophar's verbal abuse of Job didn't help Job's problem one bit, except that it did strengthen Job's awareness that the only person he could turn to for help and understanding was God. His problem though, was he was still talking. He didn't know when to stop.
His plain statement of faith in a living Redeemer and his confidence in the resurrection of the dead, was the high point in the whole debate up until this time. But in this chapter, he returns to argument rather than "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." It is in God Himself we find rest, not in our own understanding of all of our questions or the answers that may satisfy us.
The insistence of his three friends that he was a wicked man hiding behind outward goodness was completely rejected by Job. Their insistence in present retribution for sin which they had been pontificating about, didn't stand up in his mind to observation in the real world. Job pointed out in answer to Zophar that in the real world the wicked do prosper. Psalm 73 reminds us of another person who was perplexed by the prosperity of the wicked, until he saw them through God's eyes and saw their latter end.
Many people who prosper live sinful lives and die without seeming to suffer. But death is an enemy to both the righteous and the wicked. It is after death that just judgment really and finally comes. To measure present circumstances as a result of personal evil or goodness is not supported by reality. That is why atheists will not accept the truth of existence after death. They blindly live only for the moment because if there is a real eternity, in their minds they know they are in trouble with God.
Job had listened quite carefully to Zophar's speech and then refuted his major claims one by one. His concern was not to win an argument with them because his complaint was with God. He is wanting some understanding of God's reason for his suffering, and his friends were not helping at all with their faulty opinions. By this time in the dialogues previously, Job could see his friends had no real answers to his questions nor did they have any help to offer him in his suffering, but rather condemned him. So, what they had to say made very little difference to him. "Lay your hand upon you mouth," just be quiet was all he had to say to them by this time.
Physical pain, emotional pain and spiritual pain go together. Body, soul and spirit are all closely connected and are all affected by what happens in each area of our personhood. By this time Job seemed to be suffering more in his spirit than other parts of himself. Perhaps he had come to accept the fact that his excruciating physical pain would not cease until he died. Nor would the emotional suffering of the loss of his family and possessions stop until death. The spiritual loss of connection with God seemed to trouble him most by this time. He had previously, been close to God, but now God seemed far away.
Zophar had directed his remarks at Job personally when he spoke of the wicked. In his discourse Job speaks in general terms and refutes Zophar by pointing out the power of the wicked and the influence they have on other people. He made the point that instead of all the wicked being cut down like the other three men said, they live a long time and often flourish physically. They are even preserved from a lot of things that happen to others. Their businesses prosper, and their wealth is maintained without great loss. Even their family life is what everyone hopes for. They live in pleasure and seemingly prosper for their whole lifetime.
When the wicked dismiss God in an irreverent, insolent way, and yet live on in deliberate ignorance, independent of God in their own minds, Job's point was driven home that refuted the platitudes and opinions of the three friends. This is typical of our day. To many people, and likely most, to believe in and trust God is foolish. Some people say such belief is intolerant because our confidence is in the unchanging word of God in spite of what people and governments might say. They reject faith as obsolete mysticism that has no scientific support. They reject the idea that science in its basis is based on faith in ideas, not in an unchanging God.
Our testimony of personal faith is patronized and believers are avoided as much as possible. The greatest way of dealing with such skepticism is a consistent, godly life with spiritual optimism and contagious joy in the Lord. Most people want that and cannot find it in a life of far-fetched scientific explanations that cannot be proved, or continual pleasure that does not really satisfy the inner person.
Job made it plain that even though he saw and knew what the wicked did, he did not accept that course as right even though he suffered and thy did not. It is important that we, like Job did with his friends, point out the facts and reject the far-fetched fantasies of those who "know not God, nor obey the Gospel." Even if the children of the wicked may suffer after the parents are gone, that is not retribution because the evil-doers are not here to see it and to suffer. Job experienced that and he knew what it was really like to lose a whole family of children.
The three friends seemed to think according to Job's understanding of their arguments, that they had to teach God what they knew in order for God to judge righteously. We demonstrate our attitude toward God by the way we deal with the difficulties and personal struggles in life. God is in control even though we may not understand the "whys" and the "wherefores" of a matter. When we have committed ourselves to the Lord without reservation, we will not resent what is happening to us.
Job spoke of one man dying in full strength and wealth and another dying in bitterness of soul and poverty. Both go to the grave whether righteous or unrighteous. The benefits or losses at life all stop at death. Zophar's comments were directed at Job personally, so Job asked them to put their opinions before neutral people who are not involved in the matter one way or another and ask them what they think. What is the experience of others who have travelled life's road? In the world the wicked generally escape calamity and judgment during their lifetime. They live in prosperity and are carried with pomp and ceremony to be buried in a costly grave, but it is still a grave. Job's argument has some truth.
The three friends have opinions that are dogmatic and yet false. In his response Job really does the same, only in the opposite direction. God does step in at time to punish the wicked right away like in the case of Adam and Eve. In the times of Noah, the wicked had 120 years before judgment came. Generalization and exaggeration, doesn't justify what a person may say. God is going to do what He chooses, in His own time and way in spite of our opinions because He is the sovereign God.
It is important for us to learn from the exaggerations of Job the value of fairness, logic, reason and falseness. We should always be sympathetic towards the sick and needy. By remaining confident of the scriptures and true to the doctrines taught in them, we have something to offer to those who need us. Hopefully we will be able to give them something that helps them understand what is happening to them and how to either deal with it or live with it. It is our own view of God and understanding of His truth that will be important to those who need us.