JOB LESSON 20


     We will begin this lesson in Job 20:1 "Then answered Zophar the
Naamathite, and said," Job 20:2 "Therefore do my thoughts cause me to
answer, and for [this] I make haste."

     You would have thought that there would be no reply to the
statement Job made in the last chapter. He obviously believed, and
even expressed it with his mouth. It appears, that Zophar did not hear
what Job said. If he did hear, he did not believe Job was telling the
truth.

     Job 20:3 "I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit
of my understanding causeth me to answer."

     Job had reproved him along with his other friends. Zophar thought
he was compelled to answer.

     Job 20:4 "Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed
upon earth," Job 20:5 "That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short,
and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment?"

     Zophar implied that there had been a tradition set in the
beginning, that the wicked would not triumph for long. He believed Job
was a hypocrite.

     Job 20:6 "Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his
head reach unto the clouds;"  Job 20:7  "[Yet] he shall perish for
ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is]
he?"

     Job had reached a very high position of prosperity before all of
the calamity came upon him. It appears, that Zophar was jealous of
that high esteem, and had hoped that Job would fall. It did not matter
how highly he was thought of, Zophar said he would fall as low as Job
had, sitting in the heap of ashes. He said he would fall so low that
no one could find him. Some might ask, where had he gone.

     Job 20:8 "He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night."

     He was speaking, here, of a dream not being real, and it being
gone when morning came. A vision is very similar. He said Job would
vanish, as if he had not been there in the first place.

     Job 20:9 "The eye also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more;
neither shall his place any more behold him."

     This was a threat to Job, that he would die and not be seen
anymore of his people.

     Job 20:10 "His children shall seek to please the poor, and his
hands shall restore their goods."
     Job's children were dead, so this was a useless threat from
Zophar.

     Job 20:11 "His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which
shall lie down with him in the dust."

     It is so interesting, to me, that Zophar and Job's other so-
called friends kept speaking of Job's sins in general, but not
specifically.  They did not specifically know of the sins they spoke
of themselves. Now, Zophar was trying to reach back to Job's youth for
sins that he committed. Job had long since been forgiven for those
sins.

     Job 20:12 "Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he
hide it under his tongue;" Job 20:13  "[Though] he spare it, and
forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:"

     This was speaking of the sweetness of sin. It was, also, saying
that Job had not only tasted of sin and found it sweet, but had
actually savoured the sin, and bragged to his friends about it.

     Job 20:14  "[Yet] his meat in his bowels is turned, [it is] the
gall of asps within him."

     This was speaking of the sin being sweet in the mouth, and bitter
in the stomach and bowels. This was speaking of a man {supposedly Job}
who had sinned, and later found the sin had been poison to his body.

     Job 20:15 "He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them
up again: God shall cast them out of his belly."

     It appears, to me, that Zophar and Job's other friends had been
jealous of Job's riches, and they were very pleased, now, that those
riches had been taken away. They believed that God had taken them from
Job.

     Job 20:16 "He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue
shall slay him."

     Zophar was trying to crush the spirit of Job with all the violent
threats he put forth. The threats were of a general nature, but Job
knew they were pointed to him.

     Job 20:17 "He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of
honey and butter."

     The wicked man not only will suffer pain for the sins he
committed, but will miss much of the beauty in the world, because he
will die early.

     Job 20:18 "That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall
not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the
restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein]."

     This was saying that the evil man would not even get to enjoy the
things he had worked to get. Zophar said even that would be taken away
from him. Zophar said that Job would have to give of his substance to
those he had taken from in the past.

     Job 20:19 "Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the
poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded
not;"

     Zophar was listing sins that could have been the ones that Job
had committed, as if Job had definitely committed them. He said that
he had oppressed the poor, and taken their house away from them.

     Job 20:20 "Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he
shall not save of that which he desired."

     This appears to be saying, that Job hungered more and more for
the things that belonged to the poor. He was never satisfied. Zophar
had made up that lie, so he added to it that Job would not be able to
keep it, because he had gotten it by deceit.

     Job 20:21 "There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall
no man look for his goods."

     Zophar said that God would take all of it away from him, so he
would have nothing left for other men to take.

     Job 20:22 "In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in
straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him."

     Zophar said that even while he was still wealthy, he would have
no sufficiency, because the other wicked people would come and take
what he had.

     Job 20:23  "[When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall
cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him
while he is eating."

     He said that God attacked Job, before he could go out and oppress
any more poor. Zophar said that God would rain down fire and brimstone
upon Job for the evil he had done.

     Job 20:24 "He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of
steel shall strike him through."

     These weapons turned against the evil man were of great strength.
Of course, Job had not taken flight anywhere, so this again, was an
untrue statement.

     Job 20:25 "It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the
glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him."

     This was speaking of the bow being drawn, as if it were prepared
to shoot through the evil man. This was speaking of a fatal wound to
the gallbladder of the wicked man.

     Job 20:26 "All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a
fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is
left in his tabernacle."

     This darkness represented total separation from the Light of God.
The fire mentioned, here, was not a fire that man had started. It was,
possibly, speaking of the fire of hell. In the case of Job, his wife
was left and some of his servants. Zophar said it would not go well
with them, because they were living in Job's house.

     Job 20:27 "The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth
shall rise up against him."

     Job had asked for heaven and earth to witness for him. Zophar was
saying that heaven and earth would be opposed to Job. He was trying to
offset everything that Job had said.

     Job 20:28 "The increase of his house shall depart, [and his
goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath."

     This was speaking after the fact. Job's children were already
dead. There would be no increase of Job, except for a miracle of God.
Job's goods had been taken in battle, as well.

     Job 20:29 "This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God, and
the heritage appointed unto him by God."

     Zophar was summarizing the things he had said in the last few
verses that he thought would come to Job. He thought Job to be a very
wicked man. The wicked man had no heritage. The thing Zophar was wrong
about, was who the wicked man was.





















                           Job 20 Questions


1.  Who answered Job in this chapter?
2.  I have heard the _________ of my reproach.
3.  What did Zophar say had been since the beginning of the earth?
4.  Zophar believed Job was a ____________.
5.  Why had Zophar spoken so harshly, in verses 6 and 7, to Job?
6.  The quickness of his departure is compared to what in verse 8?
7.  What was verse 9 a threat of?
8.  What sins of Job did Zophar bring up in verse 11?
9.  Verse 12 was speaking of the sweetness of ______.
10. What had he done with his riches?
11. What were some of the things the wicked man would not live to see?
12. Why would the wicked man not get to enjoy what he had worked for?
13. The iron weapon, in verse 24, was speaking of what?
14. What was the gall speaking of in verse 25?
15. What was the fire in verse 26?
16. Who was left in Job's house?
17. Why did Zophar speak of heaven and earth in verse 27?
18. The increase of Job would have been his _________.
19. They were ______ at the time Zophar said this.
20. What was Zophar's opinion of Job?