Job 21 - Job's Rebuttal to Zophar

LINK: Job 21

BACKGROUND

Job refutes Zophar's argument that the wicked only enjoy life for a brief time by saying that this cannot be right because some live on into old age with abundant prosperity without ever honoring God. Justice is not always for this life on earth. Sometimes, the wicked prosper and the godly do not!

Job refutes Bildad's claim that the "lamp of the wicked is snuffed out" (18:5) by asserting that often they are not snuffed out! God allows them to live on in prosperity and good health while He may allow another man to experience tremendous hardship and sickness. Wealth and health are not always an indicator of a person's character!

Job concludes this chapter by calling the consoling of his three friends "full of falsehood" and "nonsense." The Hebrew word for nonsense, also found in Ecclesiastes 1:2, is hebel. It means "empty, futile, useless, no meaning." 

No REFLECTION or APPLICATION today.

PRAYER

Lord, help us to have a proper view of You in both prosperity or poverty. You are good, and we desire to live holy lives before You regardless of where we are situated on the scale. Draw us close to You and help us to live ABOVE our circumstances, not UNDER them. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.