Job 20:26–28

In the end, not wealth but total darkness is hidden away for his treasures. He is heaping it up for the day of wrath. A fire not blown on, but burning from within, will consume him. And whatever escaped earlier judgments will then fare badly in his tent.

This doom is final, with no gleam of hope beyond. The sinner has stored up a treasure of "wrath for the day of wrath." Unquenchable fire consumes him — fire that needs no "blowing upon" to add to its fierceness. And those he leaves behind taste the same fire. The heavens are against him; their holy light only reveals his sin. Job had appealed to heaven and earth to witness to his righteousness (Job 16:18-19). Zophar hints at the absolute reverse. The heavens only declare his sin, and earth rises up against him in the judgment.

The description of the wicked is great; no fault can be found with what he says about those who are ungodly... Such is the portion of the wicked man from God. But the serious mistake Zophar made is twofold. Job had pleaded for pity. Not a word of pity comes from Zophar's lips. The whole speech is meant to tell Job, "You are that man!" And the second mistake: he does not consider Job's words for a moment. Those words could not come from the lips of an ungodly person, but from one who knows God.

This section presses Zophar's earlier words even harder. It declares the total, unrelieved wrath of God toward a wicked man. "Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures" (v.26). Total darkness will indeed be the case for all who reject the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Jude 13 calls it "the gloom of utter darkness forever." But Job had said, "In my flesh I shall see God" (ch.19:26): he certainly did not expect the gloom of utter darkness forever. Nor would the fire of hell consume him, as the wicked will experience... There was a good measure of truth in what he said. But to infer that Job belonged to such a class of evildoers was not only unfair; it was inexcusably false.

So Zophar keeps up this one great fact. There is a righteous God above, and there are unrighteous, wicked people below — and God always deals with these wicked people now. That was not true. God has always allowed a large part of the world to appear to prosper in their evil. The reason is that the time of judgment has not yet come.

Zophar has completed his terrible charges. He has pursued without pity a bruised and apparently dying man. He has refused Job's appeal for pity. He has ignored the declaration of his unshaken integrity. He has pressed his suspicion with an iron hand into the soul of the poor sufferer — all under the plausible excuse of piety pleading for God! However it may end, we feel that no help is to be got from Zophar and those like him. And we do not regret that we shall hear him no more — not until he comes in a very different spirit, to ask the prayers of the friend he has slandered.

Zophar keeps this up. The great fact, for him, is this: there is a righteous God above, there are unrighteous, wicked people below, and God always deals with these wicked people now. That was not true. God has always allowed a large part of the world to seem to prosper in their evil, and the reason is that the time of judgment has not yet come.

The heavens are against him; their holy light only reveals his iniquity. Job had appealed to heaven and earth to witness to his righteousness (Job 16:18-19). Zophar hints the exact opposite. The heavens only declare his sin, and the earth rises up in judgment against him. He ends his frightening picture with the mention of wrath appointed by God.

The heavens and the earth must give their evidence firmly against him. Everything his house has gained passes away like short-lived things in the day of God's wrath. This is the lot the wicked man receives from God, and the heritage God awards him is that he should lose all and be lost himself.

It is true enough that the heavens would reveal the iniquity of the wicked, and even the earth would rise up against him. All that he has gained on earth will depart, nothing left to show for his life here, in the day of God's wrath. So Zophar ends his speech by calling this the portion God gives a wicked man, the heritage God appoints him. There was a good measure of truth in what he said. But he took Job to belong to that class of evil-doers, and that was not only unfair; it was inexcusably false.

Job had pleaded for pity. Not a word of pity comes from Zophar's lips. The whole address is meant to tell Job, "You are that man!" His second mistake is this: he does not consider Job's words for a moment. They could not come from the lips of an ungodly person. They come from someone who knows God.

Here we see how important it is for us to get the mind of God. Neither experience will do, nor tradition. Bildad was as fond of tradition as Eliphaz was of experience; but Zophar, I think, was pretty much confident in himself. And this self-confidence makes a man even more biased than either weakness: thinking too much of the wisdom of old age, or too much of the tradition handed down to us. No, God will have His own word. We honour God when we receive His word and apply it, not just to other people, but above all to ourselves.

In the end it is not wealth but total darkness that is stored up for his treasures. He is heaping it up for the day of wrath. A fire that no one has fanned, but that burns from within, will consume him. Whatever escaped earlier judgments will then fare badly in his tent. Job had appealed to the heavens and the earth to testify to his innocence (Job 16:18 and following). Instead of doing that, they must give their evidence firmly against him. The increase of his house departs too, like fleeting things, in the day of divine wrath.

This doom is final, with no gleam of hope beyond. The heavens are against him. Their holy light only exposes his wrongdoing. Job had appealed to heaven and earth to witness to his righteousness (Job 16:18-19), but Zophar hints at the exact opposite. The heavens only declare his sin, and earth rises up in the judgment against him.

He denounces evil fiercely, leaving no room for doubt that he means Job. He pictures the certain doom of the wicked in language so violent that it soon uses up all he has in mind. This seems to be why he ends all he has to say with this second speech. The fiercer the fire, the more quickly it burns out. All that he says is true; his own unpardonable error is that he seeks to apply it to a righteous man.

Reading Job 20 we can see how underlying his statements, as to various acts of wickedness, was the insinuation that Job had been guilty of them. The fact is that the man who bases his argument on his own intuition is always very dogmatic and sure of himself.

Zophar, therefore, holds to this. The great fact is that there is a righteous God above, and there are unrighteous, wicked people below, and God always deals with these wicked people now. That was not true. God has always let a large part of the world seem to prosper in their evil, and the reason is that the time of judgment has not yet come.

Zophar presents to Job, in the strongest way, the utter and overwhelming ruin of the wicked. He denounces him without pity. Job replies (Job 21) by detailing the prosperity of the wicked, to show that Zophar must be in error.

Nor can "riches" avail to avert or stay God's displeasure, however they may shield and deliver in man's day. "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death."

Zophar has completed his terrible charges. He has hunted down without pity a bruised man who seemed to be dying. He has refused Job's appeal for pity. He has ignored Job's declaration of his unshaken integrity. He has pressed his suspicion with an iron hand into the soul of the poor sufferer — and all this under the plausible-sounding plea of piety pleading for God! However it may end, we feel that no help is to be had from Zophar and those like him. And we are not sorry that we will hear him no more, until he comes in a very different spirit to ask the prayers of the friend he has slandered.