Job 20-21
A. The Flawed Interpretive Lens of Human Understanding
1. Zophar: Interpreting God’s activity by subjective reasoning: Job 20:1-3, Job 42:3
2. Job: Interpreting God’s activity by emotional observation: Job 21:1-6
B. The Incompleteness of Flawed Human Understanding
1. Zophar’s understanding of the wicked’s fate
What Is True
– The pleasures and life of the wicked are fleeting: Job 20:1-11
– The actions of the wicked are deceptively poisonous and selfish: Job 20:12-19, Genesis 3:1-7
– The pursuits of the wicked never lead to contentment: Job 20:20-22, Eccl. 2:1-11
– The end of the wicked is the wrath of God poured on them: Job 20:23-28
What Zophar Is Missing
– The wicked are not always punished in this life by God
2. Job’s understanding of the wicked’s fate
What Is True
– The wicked are often happy in this life: Job 21:7-16, Psalm 73:1-12
– The wicked are not always punished and impoverished in this life: Job 21:17-26
– The wicked don’t always die violent, terrifying death: Job 21:27-33
What Job Is Missing
– Understanding why the righteous suffer