Job 11:13 - Meaning and Application

Zophar, like the other two friends, tries to encourage Job to hope for better days, if only he would become more humble and right with God.

He gives Job good advice, as Eliphaz did in (Job 5:8) and Bildad in (Job 8:5). He urges Job to repent and return to God. The steps of that return are plain. First, Job must look inward and have his mind changed, like a tree made good. He must prepare his heart, because the work of turning back to God and changing his life must begin there. The heart that has wandered from God must be brought back. The heart that has been defiled by sin and thrown into disorder must be cleansed and set in order again. The word also carries the idea of fixing what is wavering and unstable. A heart is ready to seek God when it is settled and fully determined to make this its real aim.

Second, he must look up and stretch out his hands toward God. That means he must stir himself to take hold of God, pray earnestly, keep pressing in prayer, and expect mercy and grace from him. To give the hand to the Lord means to yield ourselves to him and enter into covenant with him (2 Chronicles 30:8). Job has prayed before, but Zophar wants him to pray in a better spirit, not as one arguing a case, but as a humble petitioner.

Third, he must change what is wrong in his own life, or else his prayers will mean nothing (Job 11:14). If iniquity is in his hand, that is, if there is any sin he still practices, he must put it far away. He must forsake it with hatred and holy anger, firmly deciding never to return to it or have anything more to do with it (Ezekiel 18:31; Hosea 14:9; Isaiah 30:22). If any of the profits of sin are in his hand, any goods gained by fraud or oppression, he must give them back, as Zacchaeus did (Luke 19:8), and shake his hands free of them (Isaiah 33:15). The guilt of sin is not removed if the gain of sin is not restored.

Fourth, he must do all he can to reform his household too. “Let not wickedness dwell in your tents” means, let no wicked person, wicked practice, or wealth gained by wickedness be sheltered in your home. Zophar seems to suspect that Job’s large household had been badly managed, and that with so many people there must have been much sin. He thinks the ruin of Job’s family was the punishment for that sin. So, if Job hopes for God to return to him, he must also correct what is wrong there. Wickedness may come into a house, but it must not be allowed to stay there (Psalm 101:3).

Zophar then says Job will find comfort if he takes this advice (Job 11:15, and following). If Job repents and reforms, he will surely become calm and happy, and all will be well. He may also be hinting that unless God quickly changes Job’s condition, Zophar and his friends will feel confirmed in their opinion that Job is a hypocrite and a liar before God. Still, the statement contains a great truth: the work of righteousness brings peace, and righteousness produces quietness and confidence forever (Isaiah 32:17).

Those who truly turn to God may expect a holy confidence before him. “Then you will lift up your face without spot” means they may come boldly to the throne of grace, without the terror Job had spoken of (Job 9:34). If our hearts do not condemn us for hypocrisy and stubborn sin, then we have confidence when we come to God and ask from him (1 John 3:21). If we are accepted in the face of the anointed one, our faces, once bowed down, may be lifted up. They were defiled, but washed by Christ’s blood, they may be lifted up without shame. We may draw near with full assurance of faith when our hearts are cleansed from an evil conscience (Hebrews 10:22). Some understand this also as the clearing of a person’s good name before others (Psalm 37:6). If we make peace with God, we may look our friends in the face with courage.

Those who repent also gain a holy calm within themselves. “You will be steadfast, and will not fear,” means they will not be shaken by bad news, because their hearts are fixed (Psalm 112:7). Job was filled with confusion (Job 10:15) because he viewed God as his enemy and argued with him. Zophar says that if Job would submit and humble himself, his mind would settle down, and he would be freed from those frightening thoughts about God that were tormenting him. The less we are frightened, the more steady we become, and the better fit we are for both service and suffering.

They also gain a comforting way of looking back on past troubles (Job 11:16). “You will forget your misery” means he will be as a mother who forgets her labor pains because she is so glad the child is born. He will be fully released from the burden of those pains. He will remember them like water that has passed away, or water poured out of a vessel, leaving no taste or trace behind. His present wounds will be fully healed, with no scar and no pain left. Job had tried to forget his complaint (Job 9:27), but could not, because his soul still carried the bitterness of it. Zophar points him to the way of forgetting it: bring his griefs and cares to God by faith and prayer, and leave them with him. Where sin is a heavy burden, suffering feels lighter. If we truly remember our sins, then in comparison we will forget our misery, especially if we receive the comfort of forgiven sin and settled peace. The one whose guilt is forgiven will not keep saying, “I am sick,” but will forget his sickness (Isaiah 33:24).

Zophar also gives Job a hopeful picture of future peace, trying to answer Job’s many words of despair, as if there were no point in hoping for good days again in this life. “Yes, you may,” says Zophar, “and you may have good nights too.” He offers Job a blessed change.

Even if Job’s light is now dimmed, Zophar says it will shine again, and more brightly than before (Job 11:17). His setting sun will outshine his noonday sun, and his evening will be as fair and clear as the morning, both in honor and in joy. His light will shine out of darkness (Isaiah 58:10), and the dark cloud behind which it breaks forth will only make it look brighter. It will shine even in old age, so that those later years will be good days to him. Those who truly turn to God begin to shine then. Their path is like the shining light that grows brighter and brighter. The end of their day will be its best part, and their evening in this world will be their morning for a better one.

Even though Job now lives in constant fear and terror, Zophar says he will live in holy rest and safety, and will find himself secure and at ease (Job 11:18).

People who have a good hope, through grace, in God and in heaven are truly safe. They have good reason to feel secure, no matter how hard the times are in this world. The one who walks uprightly may walk confidently, because even though there is trouble and danger, there is hope that all will end well. Hope is an anchor for the soul (Hebrews 6:19).

“When you dig around you,” that is, “you will be as safe as an army inside its trenches.” Those who submit to God’s rule will be under his protection, and then they are safe both day and night. By day, while they work outside, they will be safe in their labor. Zophar is saying Job’s servants will not again be attacked by raiders, like the ones who fell on his servants while they were plowing (Job 1:14-15). It is no part of the promised good life that a man should live in laziness. Rather, he should have work to do and follow it, and when he is doing his duty, he is under God’s protection. You may dig and be safe, not steal and be safe, or indulge yourself and be safe. The way of duty is the way of safety.

By night, when they rest at home, they will also be safe. “You will take your rest,” and the sleep of a worker is sweet, even with the dangers that come in the dark. The pillar of cloud by day will be a pillar of fire by night. “You will lie down” (Job 11:19), not forced to wander with nowhere to rest your head, and not forced to stay awake, watching for attack. You will go to bed at the proper time, and not only will no one hurt you, no one will even frighten you. It is a great mercy to have quiet nights and undisturbed sleep. People who live near the sounds of war know that well. The way to find such peace is to seek God and remain in his love. Nothing should make afraid those who return to God as their rest and take him as their home.

Though Job was now looked down on, Zophar says he would one day be honored. “Many will seek your favor and try to win your friendship.” People seek the friendship of those who are known to be wise, rich, or powerful. Zophar knew Job so well that he believed this low time was only temporary. If the tide turned, Job would rise again to his former place and be loved by his country once more. Those who truly seek God’s favor will probably see a day when others seek their favor too, like the foolish virgins asking the wise, “Give us some of your oil.”

Zophar then closes with a short description of the fate of wicked people (Job 11:20). “But the eyes of the wicked will fail.” It seems he suspected Job would not accept his advice, and so he tells him what will happen if he refuses, setting both life and death before him. This is what becomes of those who keep on in wickedness and will not change. They will not reach the good things they flatter themselves with, either in this world or the next. Their end will be disappointment, shame, and endless torment. Their eyes will fail from waiting for what never comes. When a wicked person dies, his hope is gone (Proverbs 11:7). Their hope will be like a puff of breath, gone and impossible to recover. Or it will perish like a man who gives up the ghost, failing him when he most needs it and when he expected it most. It will fade away and leave him in complete confusion.

They will also fail to escape the evil they sometimes fear. They will not get away from the sentence passed on them, neither by facing it boldly nor by running from it. Those who will not flee to God will find it useless to try to flee from him.