The Book of Job

Word Study

"secrets," Hebrew ta'alumoth (תַּעֲלֻמוֹת), hidden things, mysteries. Zophar wishes God would speak and expose Job, showing him "the secrets of wisdom." The word means the hidden things, the mysteries a man cannot uncover for himself. Zophar does not offer this as comfort; he wants God to open the hidden book and read out what Zophar is sure is written there against Job.

"exacteth," from nashah (נָשָׁה), to lend or exact as a creditor. Then comes the cutting blow: "God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth." The verb belongs to the world of debt, of a creditor collecting what is owed him. Zophar pictures God as calling in a debt of sin from Job, and reckons that the account is far from settled. Zophar is so committed to his formula, suffering equals sin, that the greater the suffering, the greater he assumes the hidden sin must be.

"less than thine iniquity deserveth," literally, God causes to be forgotten for thee part of thine iniquity. Zophar claims Job is actually getting off lightly, that his crushing losses and disease are less than his sins deserve, that God has in fact let part of the account go unremembered. This is stunningly cruel, and it is false, for God Himself had said Job was "a perfect and an upright man" (Job 1:8) and was afflicted "without cause" (Job 2:3). And yet, buried in his cruelty, there is a truth Zophar did not understand and did not mean: it is true of every sinner that God, in mercy, deals with us far better than our iniquities deserve. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10). Zophar aimed this at a blameless man as an accusation; but as a description of God's mercy toward real sinners, it is gloriously true, only, the reason God can exact less than sin deserves is not that He winks at sin, but that, in the Gospel, He exacted the full penalty from His own Son.

Explanation

Zophar delivers a cruel blow: God is exacting from Job "less than thine iniquity deserveth", claiming Job is actually getting off lightly. It is false and heartless, for God had declared Job blameless and afflicted "without cause." Zophar is so bound to his formula, great suffering means great hidden sin, that he twists Job's agony into proof of guilt. Yet buried in the cruelty is a truth Zophar never grasped: God really does deal with sinners far better than they deserve (Psalm 103:10), not by ignoring sin, but, as the Gospel reveals, by punishing it fully in His Son.

Gospel Focus

"God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth", Zophar meant it as slander against a righteous man, but it is the very heartbeat of the Gospel toward real sinners. We deserve judgment; God gives mercy. "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10). But how can a just God exact less than our iniquity deserves without ceasing to be just? Zophar had no answer; the cross does. God did not simply overlook our debt, He collected it in full from Jesus. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him" (Isaiah 53:5). At Calvary the full weight of what our sin deserved fell upon the Son, so that God can now, without any injustice, exact of us "less than our iniquity deserveth", indeed, exact nothing at all, for the believer, because the whole debt is paid. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). Zophar's cruel arithmetic, applied to a sinner and answered by the cross, becomes the sweetest news: in Christ, God treats us not according to our sins but according to His grace, because His own Son bore what our sins deserved.

Word Study

"by searching find out," Hebrew cheqer (חֵקֶר), the deep investigation, the fathoming. Here Zophar rises above his cruelty to speak one of the great truths of Scripture: "Canst thou by searching find out God?" The word is the one for deep investigation, the fathoming of a thing to its bottom, and the answer is plainly no. "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3); "his understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5); "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!... his ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33).

"unto perfection," ad-taklith (עַד־תַּכְלִית), to the utmost limit, to completeness. "Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" The phrase means to the very end of Him, to His outermost limit, and that is precisely what no creature can reach. God is "as high as heaven... deeper than hell... longer than the earth, and broader than the sea" (v8-9); He is infinite, and no finite mind can trace Him to His limits. This is gloriously true. The irony is sharp: Zophar rebukes Job with the unsearchableness of God, yet Zophar himself is confidently claiming to know exactly why Job suffers, as if he had fully searched out the mind of God! He preaches divine mystery while practising human presumption. The truth he states demolishes his own argument, for if God is beyond finding out, then Zophar cannot know that Job's suffering proves hidden sin. The greatness of God should have humbled Zophar into silence and sympathy; instead he used it as a club. Yet the truth stands, and it is precious: the God we cannot fully search out is the God we must simply trust.

Explanation

Zophar speaks a magnificent truth: "Canst thou by searching find out God?" God is infinite, higher than heaven, deeper than hell, beyond all human fathoming. This is gloriously true (Psalm 145:3; Romans 11:33). But the irony is sharp: Zophar preaches God's unsearchableness while confidently claiming to know exactly why Job suffers, as if he had searched out God's mind fully. The truth he states actually destroys his own argument, for if God is past finding out, Zophar cannot know that Job's pain proves hidden sin. Divine mystery should have humbled him; instead he swung it as a weapon.

Gospel Focus

"Canst thou by searching find out God?", no, we cannot climb up to fathom the infinite God, but the Gospel is the news that the unsearchable God has come down to make Himself known. What no searching could reach, God revealed by coming to us: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). The God higher than heaven and deeper than hell stepped into our world, for "great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). We could never find out the Almighty unto perfection by our own searching, but in Jesus Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9), and in Him we behold the glory of the invisible God. Zophar used God's unsearchableness to crush; the Gospel uses it to comfort, for the God beyond our tracing has drawn near in love. We do not need to solve every mystery of His providence; we need only trust the God who has shown His heart at the cross. When His ways are past finding out, His face in Jesus Christ is not. The unsearchable God has a name we can call upon, a face we can behold, and a love we have seen, in the LORD Jesus.

Word Study

"prepare," Hebrew hakinota (הֲכִינוֹתָ) from kun, to set firm, establish, make ready, direct. Zophar closes with the standard call: "if thou prepare thine heart." The verb means to set a thing firm, to make it ready and point it in the right direction, and it is the inward half of his counsel: the heart must be settled and aimed toward God before the hands are ever lifted. As a general call this is good and true; to prepare the heart is exactly what a sinner must do.

"stretch out thine hands," ufarasta... kappekha (וּפָרַשְׂתָּ כַּפֶּיךָ), spread your palms, the gesture of prayer and supplication. The outward half follows: "and stretch out thine hands toward him", that is, turn to God in prayer with open palms, and "put... away" the iniquity in his hand (v14). Then, says Zophar, all will be well: "thou shalt lift up thy face without spot... thou shalt forget thy misery... thine age shall be clearer than the noonday" (v15-17). To lift holy hands to God is again right in itself. The problem is not the counsel but its target. Zophar assumes Job is an unrepentant sinner hiding secret iniquity, when God has declared him blameless. So Zophar's medicine, right for a guilty man, is wrong for this sufferer, and it wounds rather than heals, for it implies that Job's agony is his own fault, curable by repentance he has not done. This is the recurring failure of the friends: true principles applied with a false diagnosis and no compassion. The call to prepare the heart and stretch out the hands to God is beautiful; but a hurting saint needs not to be told his suffering is his fault, but to be pointed to the God who is faithful even when we cannot see why.

Explanation

Zophar ends with the usual formula: prepare your heart, stretch out your hands to God, put away your sin, and all will be restored, you will forget your misery and shine like the noonday. As a general call to repentance and prayer, the words are good. The error is the target: Zophar assumes Job is an unrepentant sinner hiding secret iniquity, when God has called him blameless. So his counsel, right for a guilty man, wrongly implies Job's agony is his own fault, and wounds instead of heals. A hurting saint needs not blame but the faithful God.

Gospel Focus

"If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him", the call to turn to God with prepared heart and lifted hands is true for every sinner, and the Gospel is what makes it possible. We cannot prepare our own hearts by mere resolve; God must do it: "a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you" (Ezekiel 36:26). And we stretch out empty hands not to earn God's favour but to receive His grace in Christ, "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands" (1 Timothy 2:8). Zophar's error was to make prayer and repentance a formula that guarantees earthly prosperity, and to aim it at a man who did not need it. But the Gospel purifies the truth: we come to God through Jesus Christ, "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22), not to strike a bargain for an easy life, but to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. The suffering believer, unlike Job under Zophar's accusation, knows the reason he may stretch out his hands to God with confidence: not that he is sinless, but that Christ has opened the way. Prepare your heart, lift your hands, and draw near, not to purchase blessing, but to the Father who has already welcomed you in His Son.