Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear.
Zophar ends his speech with a promise: get rid of the sin, and the shame and the fear go with it. Everything rests on that "if" — has Zophar judged Job rightly, and can any sufferer meet such a condition?
The Standpoint Behind the Promise
Each of Job's three friends argues from a different base. This verse is the mark of the third:
Morrish Bible DictionaryEliphaz went on personal experience. He said, "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same" (Job 4:8). Bildad is the voice of tradition and the authority of the past. He said, "Inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out" (Job 8:8). Zophar showed law and religiousness. He said, "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … then you will lift up your face without blemish" (Job 11:14-15).
The Wrong Diagnosis
The promise hangs on a sin hidden in Job's hand. That was not Job's problem:
William Kelly"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not what it was. It was not a question of iniquity, but of God dealing with Job's satisfaction with himself. Job was a truly devout, God-fearing man; but he had a high idea of his own character. That is what no soul should ever allow. It is completely wrong for a person to rest in himself, no matter how blameless he may be, no matter how truly he may wait on God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves. It was One who was coming. And now there is One who has come. Zophar goes on to the end of the chapter in very proper language. But his thought was all wrong, because he assumed there was some great wickedness unseen and unknown. Why then did he assume it, if it was not seen and known?
Right Words, Wrong Man
The advice itself is not worthless. The fault lies in the man Zophar aimed it at:
F. B. HoleZophar's closing words of counsel (verses 13-20) also have truth in them. In verse 14 he again assumes, like the others, that Job is after all an evil man, holding tight to his sins. Here he was wrong, though his counsel to put away evil and turn to God was good, and his description of the happy result of doing so was correct enough.
The God Behind the "If"
A promise built on conditions shows what its speaker thinks God is like:
C. H. MackintoshThese words have a strong flavour of legality. They prove very clearly that Zophar had no right sense of the divine character. He did not know God. No one who truly knows God could speak of Him as opening His lips against a poor afflicted sinner. No one who knows Him could think of Him as demanding anything from a needy, helpless creature. God is not against us, but for us, blessed for ever be His Name! He is not a stern collector of debts, but a generous giver.
What Zophar Could Not Explain
A face without blemish is what a guilty person needs and cannot produce. Zophar stops short at that point:
Charles StanleyBut he is not able to show Job how he can be a sinner and yet be justified. He can say that if Job were not a sinner, then all would be most blessed with him; and that is all that Zophar, or mere human light, can do. This is human religion. I must try not to be a sinner, and then I shall be happy, and God will not be against me. Still a hopeless effort — you find it so, don't you? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
The Promise Kept — By Another Road
Job did receive the honour Zophar held out, but by God's road, not Zophar's:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe paints everything in the rosiest colours, as if he knew what God would do for Job. The time did come when Job got richer blessings than those Zophar outlined. And Zophar's word that many would seek Job's favour came true when Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had to humble themselves before this servant of God.
Summary
- Standpoint — Zophar speaks for law and religion. Clean hands first, then a face lifted without blemish.
- Misread — The "if" assumed hidden sin in Job's hand. The real issue was Job's satisfaction with himself, and no one can rest in himself.
- Sound advice, wrong address — Put away evil, turn to God, and the happy outcome follows. The error was aiming that word at a man who was not holding on to sin.
- Missing God — A God who demands and speaks against the sufferer is not the God who is for us. He is a generous giver, not a stern collector.
- Missing gospel — Zophar can say a righteous man would be blessed. He cannot say how a sinner is justified. In the end God gave Job richer blessing than Zophar promised, and his accusers had to bow.