Zophar’s discourse to Job is replete with poorly veiled accusations. He implies (among other things) that Job is haughty, a hypocrite, a liar, and an oppressor; in short, that Job’s suffering is his just comeuppance, and it proves his hidden wickedness and his need to repent. Job was being mocked, but God is not.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Zophar’s discourse, though completely missing its contextual mark, is tragically depictive of the true state of the evildoer. He is set in a slippery place, without rest for his foot or peace for his heart. (Psalm 73, Isaiah 48:22) He has nothing that was not given to him, and if he continues down the path of destruction, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:12) His end is death and judgment, separated from all that is good, and this life is the best he will ever know. (Philippians 3:18-19, Romans 8:5-6) Sure, the wicked may seem to prosper for now. But they really aren’t. If you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ, you are marked for destruction. You are an evildoer – a sinner – regardless of your spotless criminal record, your good name, or your good works. (Romans 3:23, John 8:24) Your house is built on the sand and it will inevitably come crashing down. (Matthew 7:24-29)
“Because he knows no quietness in his heart…” How can you know rest or peace when you live in a world that can change in a heartbeat? What security is there? What permanency? And what about purpose? What kind of life do you have when your soul believes the lies the prince of the power of the air pounds into mankind at every opportunity? The universe exists by chance; all is random; there is no ultimate purpose; there are no absolutes and definitely no moral standard; only the fittest survive; life is built on death and struggle. Less pitiably, mankind allows himself no peace simply because of what he is: corrupt. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How much do actually think that’s changed? Humanity manages to punch the self-destruction button almost every generation, and it is only the grace of God that intervenes. No, it’s not hard to realize that there is no quietness in the hearts of sinful man.
If there is no quietness is one’s heart, then that restlessness will eventually extend over every area of your life. You will not be able to save anything you desire. Everything you eat, everything you do, and even everything you think, will be tainted. You have nothing with which to satisfy the longing of your soul. Things that once gave you pleasure, joy, fulfillment, or excitement will yield those products in an increasingly dwindling supply, while your desire is only intensifying. (C. S. Lewis called this the Law of Diminishing Returns in his book The Screwtape Letters.) Well-being, as Zophar says, cannot last under such conditions. Stress, weight gain or weight loss, paranoia, phobias, depression, anxiety attacks, fatigue, etc., will result. To be sure, there is no universal formula you can apply; God is a God of individuals, and each life is unique. But the general rule of thumb is simple: the wages of sin is death.
“In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of misery will come against him…” If you want to be miserable, strive to be self-sufficient in ways that are impossible to achieve. Strive to take control of your tongue, your life, your circumstances, or your environment. Strive to ensure your own safety, well-being, or happiness. Strive to do what is right in your own eyes. Strive to “follow your heart.” Strive to apply some invented philosophy of either your own making or choosing to the world around you, and strive to consistently reconcile said philosophy with reality. Man naturally strives to do all these things, and natural man is always in distress. Every hand of misery comes against him. You can disguise the truth, you can throw sand on it, you can distract yourself from it with frenetic motivation, or you can try to make the truth go away, but no human, angelic, or demonic effort will ever alter or challenge the decree of the Living God.
But there is a way of escape. And His name is Jesus.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Once, I was wicked. I was a child of the world, and under the sway of the prince of the power of the air. But no more! The truth makes me free, because Jesus bore my sin in His body, and made Himself the propitiation for my transgressions. He paid my debt, pulled me out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the Rock. He makes me stand before His Father – and now mine – not because of anything I did or do, but because He loves me! In utter contrast to the fate of the ungodly, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. I am even PURSUED by blessings! The Sovereign God, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Living and Awesome God, the Great I AM WHO I AM, the Becoming One, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Righteous God, the God who is a consuming fire, the Living God – He is my loving Father! I am His princess, His bride, His daughter, His beloved. I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. I know that He works all things together for good for me, that He has a purpose for my life, and that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the children of God. My Father is so great and glorious that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”! (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
Zophar’s discourse, though completely missing its contextual mark, is tragically depictive of the true state of the evildoer. He is set in a slippery place, without rest for his foot or peace for his heart. (Psalm 73, Isaiah 48:22) He has nothing that was not given to him, and if he continues down the path of destruction, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:12) His end is death and judgment, separated from all that is good, and this life is the best he will ever know. (Philippians 3:18-19, Romans 8:5-6) Sure, the wicked may seem to prosper for now. But they really aren’t. If you do not have the Lord Jesus Christ, you are marked for destruction. You are an evildoer – a sinner – regardless of your spotless criminal record, your good name, or your good works. (Romans 3:23, John 8:24) Your house is built on the sand and it will inevitably come crashing down. (Matthew 7:24-29)
“Because he knows no quietness in his heart…” How can you know rest or peace when you live in a world that can change in a heartbeat? What security is there? What permanency? And what about purpose? What kind of life do you have when your soul believes the lies the prince of the power of the air pounds into mankind at every opportunity? The universe exists by chance; all is random; there is no ultimate purpose; there are no absolutes and definitely no moral standard; only the fittest survive; life is built on death and struggle. Less pitiably, mankind allows himself no peace simply because of what he is: corrupt. Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How much do actually think that’s changed? Humanity manages to punch the self-destruction button almost every generation, and it is only the grace of God that intervenes. No, it’s not hard to realize that there is no quietness in the hearts of sinful man.
If there is no quietness is one’s heart, then that restlessness will eventually extend over every area of your life. You will not be able to save anything you desire. Everything you eat, everything you do, and even everything you think, will be tainted. You have nothing with which to satisfy the longing of your soul. Things that once gave you pleasure, joy, fulfillment, or excitement will yield those products in an increasingly dwindling supply, while your desire is only intensifying. (C. S. Lewis called this the Law of Diminishing Returns in his book The Screwtape Letters.) Well-being, as Zophar says, cannot last under such conditions. Stress, weight gain or weight loss, paranoia, phobias, depression, anxiety attacks, fatigue, etc., will result. To be sure, there is no universal formula you can apply; God is a God of individuals, and each life is unique. But the general rule of thumb is simple: the wages of sin is death.
“In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of misery will come against him…” If you want to be miserable, strive to be self-sufficient in ways that are impossible to achieve. Strive to take control of your tongue, your life, your circumstances, or your environment. Strive to ensure your own safety, well-being, or happiness. Strive to do what is right in your own eyes. Strive to “follow your heart.” Strive to apply some invented philosophy of either your own making or choosing to the world around you, and strive to consistently reconcile said philosophy with reality. Man naturally strives to do all these things, and natural man is always in distress. Every hand of misery comes against him. You can disguise the truth, you can throw sand on it, you can distract yourself from it with frenetic motivation, or you can try to make the truth go away, but no human, angelic, or demonic effort will ever alter or challenge the decree of the Living God.
But there is a way of escape. And His name is Jesus.
John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Once, I was wicked. I was a child of the world, and under the sway of the prince of the power of the air. But no more! The truth makes me free, because Jesus bore my sin in His body, and made Himself the propitiation for my transgressions. He paid my debt, pulled me out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the Rock. He makes me stand before His Father – and now mine – not because of anything I did or do, but because He loves me! In utter contrast to the fate of the ungodly, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. I am even PURSUED by blessings! The Sovereign God, the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Living and Awesome God, the Great I AM WHO I AM, the Becoming One, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Righteous God, the God who is a consuming fire, the Living God – He is my loving Father! I am His princess, His bride, His daughter, His beloved. I dwell in the secret place of the Most High. I know that He works all things together for good for me, that He has a purpose for my life, and that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the children of God. My Father is so great and glorious that “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him”! (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Romans 8:31-39, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
