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ZOPHAR THE INVINCIBLE!
In 1940, a frail youth named Steve Rogers volunteered
for an experiment that literally changed his life as well as our life. The
experiment, concocted by Marvel Comics, transformed this frail young man into
Captain America - the Sentinel of Liberty for all freedom-loving Americans. Since
then, Marvel Comics has introduced us to such superheroes as The Thing, The
Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Electra, Spider-Woman, and Iron Man.1
Today I want to introduce you to one of Job's
friends who not only saw himself as a superhero but was willing to share his
transforming knowledge with Job, who, he figured, had gone down the wrong path. He
was the third of Job's three friends to speak up and his name was Zophar. But
I call him Zophar the Invincible for according to him if you followed his prescription
for right living no harm would befall you.
In Job 11:1 - 20 we read,
Then Zophar the Naamathite (i.e. Invincible)
replied: 2 "Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker
to be vindicated? 3 Will your idle talk reduce men to silence? Will no
one rebuke you when you mock? 4 You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.' 5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you 6 and disclose to you the secrets of
wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some
of your sin."
In other words, there our two sides to every
story. There is our version which we tend to put in the best possible
light, and there is God's version. If God would only speak, or so thinks
Zophar, Job's life story would not be a pretty picture. In fact, even
in this matter before us on this day so long ago Zophar was convinced that
God had graciously laid aside many of the sins he could have brought against
the defendant. Zophar continues with these words:
"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can
you probe the limits of the Almighty? 8 They are higher than the heavens-what
can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know? 9
Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
"If he comes along and confines you in
prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him? 11 Surely he recognizes
deceitful men; and when he sees evil, does he not take note? 12 But a
witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt can be born a
man."
Ouch! At this point Zophar has gone too
far. In essence, he called Job a "nitwit" - literally "a
man who is hollowed out" - empty headed. But it gets worse, as
if Zophar had not gone far enough, he then maintained there was as little chance
of Job ever getting it as a wild donkey, the stupidest of all beast, giving
birth to a man. Nevertheless, Zophar then shared the secret to invincibility
with his friend. At this point, you have to wonder who is "hollowed
out" here! At any rate, we read:
"Yet if you devote your heart to him and
stretch out your hands to him, 14 if you put away the sin that is in
your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, 15 then you will lift
up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. 16
You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. 17
Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. 18
You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take
your rest in safety. 19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor. 20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them; their hope will become a dying gasp."
So what is the secret to life being brighter
than noonday? Well, the secret according to vv. 13 - 14 has four
components. That is, if you wish your life to be brighter than the noonday
sun, if you wish to go through life with no trouble coming your way, then you
must do four things. You must:
-
Devote your heart to God.
-
Stretch out your hand to him.
-
Put away the sin that is in your hand.
-
Allow no evil to dwell in your home.
Notice all the verbs! And quite
frankly, these are good things to do. We really do need to make up our
mind about whether or not we are going to set our heart on the things of God
or the things of this world. We really do need to stretch our our hand
to him, to turn to his Word and actively seek his wisdom. Then too, if
we are presently toying with sin in our life we need to confess it as sin and
turn away from it. Furthermore, if we're allowing anything that leads
us astray to dwell within our homes, we need to clean house.
In general, Zophar's theory to invincibility
has a great deal to commend it. For if we devote our hearts to God, if
we clean up our act, things do tend to go better in our life. Even
David tells us, in Psalm 15, that only those whose "walk is blameless",
only those "who do what is righteous" may dwell with God in the sanctuary. That
is, only those with pure hearts and clean hands may fellowship with God. And
Paul, in Romans tells us that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by
their wickedness.
But being in fellowship with God, having clean
hands, doesn't make us invincible to all that can befall us! Zophar went
too far when he suggested that his friend would not have his current set of
problems if he would just come clean. For even the most godly person
in this room may wake up one morning, such as Job did, and before the day is
over find themselves fighting for their life - emotionally, physically, mentally,
and even spiritually.
At times the world and our adversary throw everything
they have at us and shake us right down to the tips of our toes. I mean,
we don't have to think too hard to bring to mind those who have been hard pressed
to maintain their faith in a good and gracious God who supposedly cares about
them.
At other times we may simply find ourselves
involved in very difficult circumstances where there seems to be no good answers. And
what makes our circumstances more difficult is that our enemy, and sometimes
our friends, encourage us to use worldly weapons to solve our problems
and suggest that we should never hesitate to treat others as they tend to treat
us.
Then too, we're just naturally inclined to solve
our problems as the world solves its problems. I mean a good whispering
campaign can accomplish wonders - or at least that is what the world tells
me.
It is for this reason that Peter, as he closes
his first letter, encourages us to "stand fast." In I Peter
5:12 - 14 we read:
With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful
brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that
this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with
you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another
with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Peter, with the help of Silas, has testified
to the true grace of God. He tells us to stand fast in it. I take
this to mean that we're to take a moment, from time to time, to review the
doctrine contained in this book, as well as the examples set before us, and
devote ourselves to playing it out in our lives.
You see Zophar didn't have the benefit of having
things spelled out for him as much as we have them spelled out for us. In
particular, no one ever spelled out for him the role that suffering can play
in a person's life. He didn't know that God sometimes allows hardship,
difficulties, and suffering to come into our life to purify our souls and bring
us to full maturity.
You see the imperatives in this brief letter
of encouragement are set in the context of a world that was making life difficult
for God's chosen people. So when Peter told them and tell us; to see
ourselves as chosen for obedience to Jesus Christ, to set our hope fully on
the grace to be given us when Christ is revealed, to be holy in all that we
do, to love one another deeply, to abstain from sinful desires that wage war
against our soul, to show proper respect to everyone, to submit ourselves to
every human authority for the Lord's sake, to do good so as to silence the
talk of foolish men, to live in harmony with one another, to be prepared to
give an answer for the hope that is within us, to keep a clear conscience,
to be clear-minded and self-controlled so that we can pray, to use whatever
gift we have received to serve others, to not let life take us by surprise,
to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, to cast all our anxieties on him
who cares about us, to stay alert for our enemy prowls around looking for someone
to devour, to resist the devil, and to stand firm in our faith, he is talking
to the original recipients, and to us, in the context of difficulty, hardship,
and suffering as being very much a part of life.
In short, we are to stand fast in the doctrinal
aspects of this letter and stand firm in our faith. While this is largely
an individual matter, Peter reveals to us that it can hardly be done alone. For
you will note that he closes this letter with two very brief comments that
suggest standing firm in our faith, standing fast in doctrinal matters, is
a corporate matter.
First, he tells us that with the help of Silas
he has written this brief letter. Obviously, we don't know the nature
of this help. But I don't think we would be in error to say that without
Silas this letter either would not have been written at all or would not have
been as good as it is without the help of someone like Silas whose name means "lover
of words."
Second, you will note that Peter sent greetings
from his son Mark and others. This is a quick reminder that we need
the help and encouragement of others. We need to remember that
we're not in this alone.2
But in giving help to others we need to have
a better handle on the doctrine of suffering than Zophar the Invincible who
probably found out the hard way that he wasn't any more invincible to the difficulties,
hardships, and sufferings of this world than his friend Job. We need
to know that even for God's people that trials are very much a part of the
landscape, that trials come in all sizes, that trials can be used by God to
shape our character and mature us, and that our trials will not last forever. 1 Incidentally, for those interested in a bit
of trivia, Iron Man the movie, currently in theaters, is the first "Super
Hero" film fully financed by Marvel Studios.
2 When Desmund Tutu was appointed to head up the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission in South Africa he and other members were given some
good advice by a friend. As they began the demanding task they were
advised to make sure they had a soul mate or some such friend or counselor
to whom they could go unburden themselves. They were urged to maintain
a self-disciplined existence; otherwise they would be shocked by how easy it
was to disintegrate, to become stressed and even to suffer from posttraumatic
stress disorder as they experienced by proxy the anguish and agony of those
who came to testify before them. It was emphasized that they should have
quality time with their spouses and families, to be sure to take recreational
breaks and regular exercise, and, if possible, to have a regular spiritual
routine as well.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness,
DOUBLEDAY, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, pp. 285 - 286. PETER:
THE MAN AND HIS LETTERS 5/04/08 1
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