And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security.
Zophar ends his speech by holding out a bright picture to Job: put your sin away, and life will come back — confidence, safety, quiet sleep. But was that promise true? And did it fit Job's case at all?
The promise hangs on an "if"
The security of verse 18 is not a free gift. It comes at the end of a list of conditions, and one writer tests those conditions against Job's real case.
Leslie M. GrantZophar thinks he has proved Job's guilt. He also thinks he has shown Job something of the greatness of God. So he urges Job to change his ways. He does not say what Job is guilty of, but he is sure Job must be guilty of something. "If you prepare your heart … if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear" … Zophar thought he was giving Job the remedy for his depressed state. But his diagnosis was completely wrong, so his remedy was not what Job needed.
Zophar also reasons backwards. Job once had this very life, and he has it no longer. Zophar draws his conclusion from that change.
Leslie M. GrantHe would be secure and take rest in safety, he would lie down without fear, and many would seek his favour (vv.18-19). Before Job's deep trial, many had indeed sought Job's favour. Zophar thought that since this was no longer true, the only reason could be Job's falling into sin.
A lovely picture with nothing under it
The picture is warm and generous. It is useless because it fits a man who does not exist — the guilty Job of Zophar's imagination.
Samuel RidoutThe conclusion is like singing songs to someone with a heavy heart. Zophar paints a beautiful outcome — as imaginary as the sins he charged Job with.
Man's conduct made the measure of God's dealings
The flaw is not in the words about hope and safety. It lies in the thinking behind them: blessing as payment owed for good behaviour.
The Bible TreasuryZophar replies, trying to convict him. He presses on Job that God "exacts of you less than your guilt deserves." If there were no iniquity, there would be present mercies. "You will lift up your face without blemish … and take your rest in security." Zophar makes man's acts the measure of God's dealings. He does not see that man is evil in himself, and therefore far from God, with no claim to any blessing.
The advice everyone still gives
Zophar's advice is still the most common religious advice in the world. It fails at the one point that matters.
C. StanleyHe can say that if Job were not a sinner, then it would be most blessed for him. 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. It is still a wasted effort. You find that, don't you? You are a sinner. How then can you stand before a holy Judge? There is the difficulty.
Where real security comes from
Zophar points Job to the wrong place. He tells Job to find steadiness in a clean record, but God was working on something else.
William Kelly"If iniquity is in your hand" — that was not the issue. It was not a question of iniquity at all. God was 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 ought ever to allow. It is altogether wrong for a person to rest in himself, no matter how spotless he may be, no matter how he may truly wait upon God day by day. There is no rest in any creature, least of all in ourselves.
Job could not reach the confidence his friends held out to him. One writer sets their offer beside the hope we have now.
William KellyHis friends might hold out fresh, bright hopes if he would repent, turning night into day … But as for his own hope, the grave was his house, and his bed was spread in darkness … What a blessed contrast to such gloomy words from a believer is the strong encouragement we have! We have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us. It is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and it enters the inner place behind the curtain.
Summary
- The offer. Zophar promises hope, safety and quiet sleep. But it all waits at the end of a list of conditions, and he never names one sin Job committed.
- The false diagnosis. Zophar read Job's lost prosperity backwards as proof of hidden guilt. The diagnosis was wrong, so the remedy was not what Job needed.
- The false measure. Zophar makes man's acts the measure of God's dealings. He never sees that man in himself has no claim to any blessing.
- The false cure. "Try not to be a sinner, and then God will not be against me" is human religion. It collapses because you are a sinner.
- The real rest. No creature can give rest, least of all ourselves. The hope that holds is already set before us — an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.