Zophar never tell Job he is Evil

                                                                        Job 20:12-19

 

March 19, 2020

 

 

“Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue, though he is loath to let it go and holds it in his mouth, yet his food is turned in his stomach; it is the venom of cobras within him.  He swallows down riches and vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.  He will suck the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper will kill him.  He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds.  He will give back the fruit of his toil and will not swallow it down; from the profit of his trading,
he will get no enjoyment.  For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build.”

 

Zophar, it seems never comes out and tells Job you are evil, but you do not bring up evil to a person in Job’s condition unless you are trying to make a point.  Yes, all three of Job’s friends believe that he has earned his wealth by taking advantage of others and that now his sins are finding him out.  They keep reminding Job that his ill-gotten wealth is like a man playing with a viper, it is going to bite you.

 

Honey symbolizes many things but most of all the abundance of the best of things in life.  Zophar and his three friends are managing themselves, if they had been in Job’s place that is what they would have done.  Watch out for people who manage themselves, I worked for a man in sales who always was sure we were cheating on our expenses, and the reason was he did when he was in sales, and I have no doubt still did.  So, Zophar assumes Job had taken advantage of the under resource by stealing the little that they had and taking advantage of others.  In fact, he believed Job was getting homes that he did not earn.  Have you wondered why these three men travel so far to be Job’s accuser?

 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice