Job 11:16 Commentary and Bible Study

Again, these words which seem so kind are in fact cruel because they hold out relief in such tantalising language on terms they Job could not accept for a moment. God is able to bring relief from times of suffering and to make us forget all the misery of the past, and Job did finally experience exactly this sort of relief, but when it came it was on quite different grounds to that offered by Zophar. God is indeed able to make all the troubles of the past seem like nothing to us when they are over, but what Job received was altogether more marvellous than what Zophar speaks of. A river in spate may be in danger of breaking its banks and threatening the lives of those nearby, but the flood waters go past and can then be safely put out of the mind. Our past sorrows, when they are over, can be looked upon as a danger that is safely past. The final outcome is what counts and not the troublesome path that leads to it. Zophar says that if Job was to put away his wickedness, his life would be brighter than noonday for the rest of his life. Repentance and the forgiveness of God does indeed bring peace with God and a tremendous sense of relief. It is not that we forget that our sorrows ever happened, but the state of mind that engulfed us when we were in the midst of them is dispersed. We could see nothing else at the time, but now we know the favour of the Lord again. Does Zophar go further than this? Is he in fact telling us about the nature of his religion? It may be that he is advocating a religion which would give Job no trouble. ‘Your religion makes you miserable, worried. I don’t want a religion in which I have to feel badly and worship often, pray every day, study the Scripture. I want a religion with no irksome duties. I want a religion that gives me nothing but a happy life, leaves me free to do what I want, and allows me to pander to the body.’ He wants a religion without troubles, with no fear, no pangs of conscience, never stumbling. He doesn’t want a religion where you must repent and return in shame to the Lord.