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