When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats. When he has filled his stomach,Zophar pictures the wicked at the height of prosperity, enjoying wealth and appetite as though abundance could secure his future. Earthly fullness cannot shield anyone from God or provide lasting peace apart from righteousness. Psa 17:14 from such men, O LORD, by Your hand…
Hos 13:6 When they had pasture, they became satisfied;…
Deu 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat…
God will vent His fury upon him, God’s judgment answers persistent rebellion and the proud confidence of those who oppress others without fear. Zophar rightly affirms that the Lord is not indifferent to evil, though Job’s larger account warns against assuming that every present suffering proves personal wickedness. Psa 78:49 He unleashed His fury against them, wrath, indignation…
Isa 42:25 So He poured out on them His furious anger…
Psa 21:9 You will place them in a fiery furnace…
raining it down on him as he eats. Judgment falls when the wicked person feels safest, turning the setting of self-indulgence into the scene of divine recompense. Jesus likewise warned of people eating, drinking, and living without concern for God until sudden judgment came. Num 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth,…
Psa 78:30-31 Yet before they had filled their desire,…
Psa 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur;…
Persons / Places / Events 1. Zophar the NaamathiteOne of Job's three friends who comes to comfort him. In this chapter, Zophar is speaking, offering his perspective on the fate of the wicked. 2. JobThe central figure of the book, a man of great faith and patience who endures immense suffering and loss. 3. GodThe sovereign deity who is ultimately in control of justice and retribution, as depicted in this passage. 4. The WickedAlthough not a specific person, this term refers to those who live in opposition to God's ways, whom Zophar believes will face divine retribution. 5. Divine RetributionThe event or concept of God executing justice upon those who are wicked, as described by Zophar. Teaching Points Understanding Divine JusticeZophar's speech reflects a belief in the certainty of divine justice. While his application to Job is misguided, the principle that God will ultimately judge the wicked is consistent with biblical teaching. The Danger of Misapplying TruthZophar's error was in misapplying a general truth about God's justice to Job's specific situation. We must be careful not to assume we understand God's purposes in others' suffering. The Sovereignty of GodThis passage reminds us of God's ultimate control over justice. We can trust that He will address wrongs in His timing and way. The Consequences of WickednessThe imagery of God’s fury being like food for the wicked serves as a stark warning about the consequences of living in opposition to God. Patience in SufferingJob's account, including the speeches of his friends, encourages us to remain patient and faithful, even when we do not understand our circumstances. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Zophar's perspective on divine justice compare to other biblical teachings on the fate of the wicked? 2. In what ways can we ensure we are not misapplying biblical truths to the situations of others, as Zophar did with Job? 3. How does the concept of divine retribution challenge or comfort you in your current life circumstances? 4. What are some practical ways to trust in God's sovereignty when facing personal trials or witnessing injustice? 5. How can the account of Job and his friends inform our approach to comforting others who are suffering? Connections to Other Scriptures Psalm 11:6This verse speaks of God raining down fiery coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, similar to the imagery used by Zophar in Job 20:23. Proverbs 11:21This proverb assures that the wicked will not go unpunished, reinforcing the theme of divine justice found in Job 20:23. Romans 2:5Paul speaks of storing up wrath for the day of God's judgment, which aligns with the idea of God venting His fury as described by Zophar. People Job, ZopharPlaces UzTopics Anger, Belly, Blows, Burning, Cast, Cause, Desire, Eating, Fierce, Fierceness, Fill, Filling, Fills, Flesh, Forth, Full, Fury, Gives, Heat, Making, Pass, Rain, Raineth, Sends, Vent, Wrath, YeaDictionary of Bible Themes Job 20:23 4844 rain Job 20:20-23 5185 stomach Library June 9 Evening
The triumphing of the wicked is short.--JOB 20:5. Thou shalt bruise his heel.--This is your hour, and the power of darkness.--As the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.--Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathThe Christian Urged To, and Assisted In, an Express Act of Self-Dedication to the Service of God.
1. The advantages of such a surrender are briefly suggested.-- 2, 3, 4. Advice for the manner of doing it; that it be deliberate, cheerful, entire, perpetual.--5. And that it be expressed with some affecting solemnity.--6. A written instrument to be signed and declared before God, at some season of extraordinary devotion, reposed. The chapter concludes with a specimen of such an instrument, together with an abstract of it, to be used with proper and requisite alterations. 1. AS I would hope, that, …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul Whether the Ashes from which the Human Body Will be Restored have any Natural Inclination Towards the Soul which Will be United to Them?
Objection 1: It would seem that the ashes from which the human body will be restored will have a natural inclination towards the soul which will be united to them. For if they had no inclination towards the soul, they would stand in the same relation to that soul as other ashes. Therefore it would make no difference whether the body that is to be united to that soul were restored from those ashes or from others: and this is false. Objection 2: Further, the body is more dependent on the soul than …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica God.
GLORY OF GOD. God is the chief good--good so as nothing is but himself. He is in himself most happy; yea, all good and all true happiness are only to be found in God, as that which is essential to his nature; nor is there any good or any happiness in or with any creature or thing but what is communicated to it by God. God is the only desirable good; nothing without him is worthy of our hearts. Right thoughts of God are able to ravish the heart; how much more happy is the man that has interest in …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan The Hardening Operation of Love.
"Being grieved for the hardness of their heart."--Mark iii. 5. Love may also be reversed. Failing to cherish, to uplift, and to enrich, it consumes and destroys. This is a mystery which man can not fathom. It belongs to the unsearchable depths of the divine Being, of which we do not wish to know more than has been revealed. But this does not alter the fact. No creature can exclude itself from the divine control. No man can say that he has nothing to do with God; that he or any other creature exists …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men
WHEN St. Paul wrote his Epistle to Titus about his duty as a minister, he mentioned young men as a class requiring peculiar attention. After speaking of aged men and aged women, and young women, he adds this pithy advice, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded" (Tit. 2:6). I am going to follow the Apostle's advice. I propose to offer a few words of friendly exhortation to young men. I am growing old myself, but there are few things I remember so well as the days of my youth. I have a most …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times The Barren Fig-Tree;
OR, THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: SHOWING, THAT THE DAY OF GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDED; THE SIGNS ALSO BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. BY JOHN BUNYAN 'Who being dead, yet speaketh.'--Hebrews 11:4 London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688. This Title has a broad Black Border. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This solemn, searching, awful treatise, was published by Bunyan in 1682; but does not appear …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 A Few Sighs from Hell;
or, The Groans of the Damned Soul: or, An Exposition of those Words in the Sixteenth of Luke, Concerning the Rich Man and the Beggar WHEREIN IS DISCOVERED THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF THE DAMNED; THEIR CRIES, THEIR DESIRES IN THEIR DISTRESSES, WITH THE DETERMINATION OF GOD UPON THEM. A GOOD WARNING WORD TO SINNERS, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION BETIMES, AND TO SEEK, BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, TO AVOID, LEST THEY COME INTO THE SAME PLACE OF TORMENT. Also, a Brief Discourse touching the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 An Exhortation to Love God
1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. "O love the Lord, all ye his saints" (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial Man's Misery by the Fall
Q-19: WHAT IS THE MISERY OF THAT ESTATE WHEREINTO MAN FELL? A: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. 'And were by nature children of wrath.' Eph 2:2. Adam left an unhappy portion to his posterity, Sin and Misery. Having considered the first of these, original sin, we shall now advert to the misery of that state. In the first, we have seen mankind offending; …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Job 20:23 NIVJob 20:23 NLTJob 20:23 ESVJob 20:23 NASBJob 20:23 KJV
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