Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:   “Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?   Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?   You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.’   Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you   and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.   “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?   They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?   Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. – Job 11:1-9

Enter friend #3 to provide solace and advice to Job.  Zophar is equally inept at discerning what is really going on between God and Job.  He is rebuking Job for complaining to God about his predicament.  Zophar is concerned that Job’s posture and perspective is setting a bad example for others.

It is Zophar’s desire that God will disclose to Job “the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides”.  This is a puzzling way to put this…true wisdom has two sides.  What does Zophar mean by this?  Does he mean that what appears to be wisdom from one perspective is folly from another?  It turns out that Zophar is right, although not in the way he thinks.  The two sides of wisdom are Zophar’s and Job’s.

Zophar goes on to say that God “has even forgotten some of your sin”.  Now I am not sure what sin Zophar thinks he knows about that Job has committed or, more importantly, how he knows which sin God is willing to forget.  It is reassuring that no such double-sided wisdom is necessary as far as Jesus is concerned.  He forgives all of our sins (Matthew 9:4-6).

In the last part of the passage Zophar’s accusing finger inadvertently points back toward himself…”Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”  Zophar realizes that none of us can know the mind of God and we are foolish to try, especially as it relates to knowing how God views someone else.  So what can we know?  Excellent question!  I think we can know that God loves us, He sent His son to see with human eyes, love with a human heart, and forgive the sins of those who ask to be forgiven.

Prayer: God thank You for sending your son to see us with human eyes, love us with a human heart, and forgive all our sins.