Zophar the Naamathite . . . Rather than listen to Job’s complaint, Zophar wishes for Job to just shut up: “Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right? Should your babble silence men . . .?” (11:2,3) Job responded: “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you” (12:2). The mocking, derisive, dismissive rejoinder by Job is probably just about right. Zophar wished for God to speak to Job (11:5), as if Zophar was on such intimate terms with God! In fact, that’s exactly what Job wishes, i.e., that God would speak. I’m not sure, if God had spoken audibly, whether or not Zophar would have recognized God’s voice, but Job longs to hear it. Arrogance, and Zophar seems to have had an abundance of it, will often blind us to truth and shut out any voices, even God’s, when we believe we are the final arbiters of the truth. The Bible puts a premium not on arrogance but on humility. Job does not claim to have the final word on his situation, that’s why he asks so many questions. At the end of the day, however, Job knows enough to trust the Lord: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (13:15). Job is ready to hear the truth, whatever it is: “How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin” (13:24). And he will rest his case with God, who not only knows Job’s sins, but will be merciful. Job gets it!
O for a faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by every foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.
That will not murmur nor complain
Beneath the chastening rod,
But, in the hour of grief or pain,
Will lean upon its God. -- William Hiley Bathurst (1831)