Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?
Zophar, the third of Job's friends, answers Job's suffering by pointing to the size of God. His question is fair, but he has already decided that Job is hiding sin — so can true words be aimed at the wrong man? (Older translations read: "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection?")
Each of Job's three friends leaned on something different. Zophar leaned on his own mind.
Zophar the Naamathite did not care about what everyone could see. He was not interested in what his ancestors had taught him. He thought he was clever enough to solve this problem himself. He had enough intelligence of his own to solve it. So you find Eliphaz the Temanite used his eyes, Bildad the Shuhite used his ears, and Zophar the Naamathite used his brain. But all this wisdom was hopeless, dear friends, when it came to this divine problem that surrounded this wonderful man Job.
The limit Zophar names is real. But he never sees that it shuts him out just as much as Job.
It was true that Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom, or "find out the limit of the Almighty." But did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar applied his words only to Job, but they were just as applicable to Zophar too! But he thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did. No one can know God's thoughts unless He reveals them.
Our minds are not just too small for now, with room to grow later. The word "God" itself rules the search out.
If man can bring God within the limits of his own thoughts, if by searching he can find Him out, then God is really not God at all — or else man is God. At least man's mind would match the divine infinity. But when it comes to power instead of proud claims, we soon find out the difference.
Job had already admitted this before Zophar said it. That leaves only one way for anyone to know God.
One serious effect of sin entering the world was that mankind lost the true knowledge of God. Once lost, no effort of man's will or mind could win back that highest and best of all knowledge. Zophar asked, "Can you by searching find out God?" In an earlier chapter Job had confessed the same inability, saying, "Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him." Since we cannot discover God, He must make Himself known to us. Revelation becomes a necessity.
Better instruments do not settle the question. Careful study still comes back with Zophar's answer.
Science is in the presence of the old, old mystery; the old, old questions come to her — "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the Almighty to perfection?" And science answers these questions as they were answered of old — "As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him out." That is true testimony; He cannot be found by the searchings of science, any more than by the reasonings of rationalism. But, blessed be His holy Name, He has been graciously pleased to reveal Himself fully in the One to whom all Scripture points. That One is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the answer depends on where you begin, and on who does the searching. Zophar lists four measurements of God. The same four appear later in Scripture in reverse order.
We have found Him out by the Holy Spirit, for "the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."… Truly the knowledge of God is as high as heaven, but we have the ability to rise to these heavenly things. "Deeper than hell" would carry us in thought to the cross. There the Son of God went down into death to overthrow every force opposed to the will of God. "The measure… longer than the earth" refers to the counsel of God before time began, which will reach to the new scene when time has ended. "Broader than the sea" would take in all things in heaven and all things on earth, headed up in Christ. So, dear friends, we have found out God… Zophar speaks of the height, depth, length and breadth. The apostle Paul speaks of the breadth, length, depth and height — quite the other way round, because they were working from two different ends.
- Search. One friend trusted his eyes, one his ears, and Zophar his own mind. All three failed.
- Limit. The verse states a real boundary, but Zophar aimed it only at Job; it applied to him just as much.
- Impossibility. If a mind could take God's measure, that mind would be equal to God — so the failure is not a shortage of effort.
- Revelation. We cannot discover Him, so He must show Himself. Science and reason still hit Zophar's wall. The Son makes Him known.
- Reversal. Start from creation and the four measurements defeat you. Start from Christ and they map out what God has shown us.
[It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?
Zophar answers a suffering man by piling up distances no one can cross. His words about God are grand, but was he right to aim them at Job — and can anyone find God out?
Job's three friends each leaned on a different tool of human wisdom. Zophar is the third.
Eliphaz used his eyes; Bildad used his ears; and Zophar used his brains. Not one of them found the solution to this problem by human wisdom, however they came by that wisdom.
What Zophar says about God's unreachable depth is sound. The trouble is where he points it.
It was true, of course, that Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom, or "find out the limits of the Almighty." Did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar aimed his words at Job alone, but they fitted Zophar just as well! He thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did. God's thoughts are higher than the heaven, deeper than Sheol (v.8). No one can know them unless God reveals them.
Verses 8 and 9 pile up four distances. Not one of them can take God's measure. (Some older translations say "hell" where the ESV says "Sheol".)
Next, Zophar speaks in grand terms about the absolute and infinite perfection of God. The heights of heaven, the depths of hell, the length of the earth, the breadth of the sea — none of them can measure His wisdom. What a disaster it would be for man to stand before Him, if He were to open a case against him, as Job had so rashly challenged Him to do.
These four measurements appear once more in Scripture, in Ephesians 3. One writer reads them in the light of Christ, and notices that Paul lists them backwards.
This is the only place besides Ephesians 3 where these four dimensions appear in Scripture, so far as I know. The knowledge of God really is as high as heaven, yet we have the ability to rise to these heavenly things, as we have seen. "Deeper than hell" would carry us in thought to the cross. There the Son of God went down into death, so that He might overthrow every force opposed to the will of God... Note another interesting point here. Zophar speaks of the height, the depth, the length and the breadth. The apostle Paul, writing under Divine inspiration, speaks of the breadth, the length, the depth and the height. It is the other way round, because the two of them were working from opposite ends.
The gap Zophar names is not one a cleverer man could close.
The distance between a man and an ant is very great, but in the end it is a limited distance... Can an ant understand what is going on in a man's mind?... But the distance between God and man is infinitely greater than that between man and ant. God is the Creator. Man is the creature. The distance between them is infinite. No arithmetic is of any use here.
So Zophar's question still gets a flat no — as long as man is the one searching.
The searches of science cannot find Him, any more than human reasoning can. Man's boastful attempts all fail alike. But — blessed be His Holy Name — in His grace He has fully revealed Himself in the One to whom all Scripture points: the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
That changes the whole feel of the immeasurable. What overwhelms the believer is no longer a blank.
Go up to heaven, and we find Wisdom. Go down into Sheol, and it is still there. The earth for length and the sea for breadth cannot take the measure of this attribute of God... In the New Testament we are overwhelmed — not by a dark and unsearchable mystery, or by an avenger who will not be appeased, but by "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
- Unsearchable. No creature's reach is long enough. The distance between Creator and creature is infinite, and no arithmetic closes it.
- Unapplied. What Zophar said about God was true, but he aimed it only at Job. It fitted him just as well.
- Unaided. Eyes, ears and brains all failed here. God's thoughts stay unknown unless God reveals them.
- Unveiled. The four measurements return in Ephesians 3, in reverse order. Zophar and Paul work from opposite ends.
- Unmeasured love. The last word is not a closed door. It is the love of Christ — beyond knowledge, yet known.
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Zophar is the third of Job's friends. He answers a broken man by pointing to the size of God: higher than heaven, deeper than the grave, wider than earth and sea. The words are magnificent. But did he have any right to aim them at Job? And is "you cannot measure God" where the matter ends?
One writer goes through the speech line by line. He agrees with almost every statement, then rejects the use Zophar made of it.
Zophar says some things that are very excellent — properly applied. He says, "Can you find out the deep things of God?" Well, nobody can; God must reveal Himself. "Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?" Only if God speaks. "Its measure is longer than the earth" — certainly. And the earth was far too small a measure. "And broader than the sea." He might have taken in all the universe. But Zophar's notion was all wrong.
The limit Zophar presses on Job rests on Zophar too.
Certainly Job could not search out the depths of God's wisdom. Did Zophar think God has any limits? He is infinite, not limited in any way. Zophar applied his words only to Job, but they were just as applicable to Zophar too! But he thought himself so wise that he did not need to learn, as Job did.
The verse holds up two rulers against God: the land for length, the sea for breadth. Neither can measure Him.
This, the finest part of the address, expands what he had just said... It is a noble description of God. Go up to heaven, and we find Wisdom; go down to Sheol, and it is still there. The earth for length and the sea for breadth cannot take in the measure of this attribute of God. Two passages come to mind: Psalm 139 in the Old Testament, and Ephesians 3 in the New. They describe the presence and power of God in the same way. But the Psalmist is glad that he cannot "drift beyond His love and care." In the New Testament we are overwhelmed, not by a dark and unsearchable mystery, or by an avenger who cannot be turned aside, but by "the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge."
If searching cannot cross that measure, knowledge of God must come from His side.
One serious effect of sin entering the world was that mankind lost the true knowledge of God. Once lost, no effort of man's will or intellect could win that highest and best of all knowledge back. "Can you find out the deep things of God?" was Zophar's question. In an earlier chapter Job confessed his own inability: "Behold, He passes by me, and I see Him not; He moves on, but I do not perceive Him." Since we cannot discover God, He must make Himself known to us. Revelation becomes a necessity. God reached the crowning point of that revelation when in Christ He made Himself known as Father.
One writer takes the two measures of verse 9 as pointing to God's plan in Christ. He also notes that Paul names the same four dimensions, but in reverse order.
This is the only place besides Ephesians 3 where Scripture names these four dimensions, so far as I know... "The measure ... longer than the earth" we believe refers to the counsel of God before time began, which will reach on to the new scene when time has ended. "Broader than the sea" would take in all things in heaven and all things on earth, headed up in Christ, and soon to be displayed in the world to come... Zophar speaks of the height, and depth, and length, and breadth. Paul, writing under divine inspiration, speaks of the breadth, and length, and depth and height. It is quite the other way round, for they were working from two different ends. Trying to reach what is spiritual through what is material is wasted labour.
In Zophar's mouth the question allowed one answer: no. The same writer says the answer is different now, because we do not search the way Zophar searched.
In that day, and to Zophar in particular, the answer is a word of two letters: NO... If Zophar came to us today and in his sarcastic manner said to us, "Can you by searching find out God?" are we going to say NO? Thank God we are not. We can find Him out; yes, we have found Him out... but we have not used the means Zophar attempted to use, or we should not know any more about God than he did.
(Davison quotes an older translation here. The ESV reads, "Can you find out the deep things of God?")
- Measure — The earth gives length, the sea gives breadth. Neither is long enough for God, whose plan runs from before time began to the world to come.
- Misuse — The words are excellent. The aim is wrong. What Zophar said of Job was just as true of Zophar.
- Necessity — No effort of will or intellect can win back the knowledge of God. So God must speak first.
- Reversal — Job 11 and Ephesians 3 name the same four dimensions, but from opposite ends. Reaching for what is spiritual through what is material is wasted labour.
- Answer — In Zophar's day the question met a no. Today it meets a yes, found by other means.