Job

Job 11: God knows beyond our searching

Begin in prayer

Before Zophar speaks about wisdom, please come to God quietly. Ask Him to humble our hearts and teach us not to judge what we cannot know.

Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your way, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people.”

Exodus 33:13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Teach us to confess our own sins and speak truthfully about others. Lead us to Jesus, who knows our sins and offers mercy. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Zophar answers Job with charges of empty talk and claims that he deserves more punishment. He wishes God would reveal the secrets of wisdom against Job. Zophar describes God’s wisdom as high as heaven, deeper than Sheol and beyond human measurement. Zophar calls Job to set his heart right and put away wrongdoing. He promises that misery will pass and life will become secure if Job does so. His speech ends with the wicked losing every way of escape.

As you read Job 11, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God’s wisdom is too high for us to search, so we cannot judge another person’s heart.

Zophar wants God to speak against Job and assumes the answer will confirm his own accusation. He says Job deserves even worse, although God has called Job upright. The height and depth of divine wisdom should make a human judge humble. Zophar instead uses that greatness to silence the sufferer. God knows actual wrongdoing, while Zophar has not proved that Job’s suffering exposes concealed wickedness. But he cannot promise that repentance will bring a life without fear or misery. We must turn from actual sin while refusing to treat another person’s pain as proof of concealed wickedness.

How does Job 11 show us that God’s wisdom is too high for us to search, so we cannot judge another person’s heart?

God’s unsearchable wisdom calls for humility.

Zophar compares God’s wisdom with heaven, Sheol, earth and sea. No human search can measure its limits. That truth gives him reason to admit what he does not know about Job. Sheol is the place of the dead.

Actual wrongdoing must be put away.

Zophar tells Job to put away any iniquity in his hand and let no unrighteousness stay in his tent. Turning from sin is always right, and Jesus calls everyone to repent. Zophar says it as though Job’s suffering proved that sin was there. God had already called Job upright.

A friend cannot promise a trouble free future.

Zophar describes misery passing like water and darkness becoming morning. He connects that outcome with Job setting his heart right. God has given him no such promise to announce to Job.

Memorise

Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol.

Job 11:7-8

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what sinful judgments do I need Jesus to forgive?

Zophar speaks as though severe suffering reveals especially severe guilt. His call to put away sin comes joined to a charge he cannot prove. God’s hidden wisdom does not make that charge true.

Jesus refused to treat people killed by disaster as worse sinners than their neighbors, in Luke 13 verses 1 to 5. He also called His hearers to repent. He knows our sins without guessing, and He died for His people, bearing the judgment those sins deserved. His sacrifice paid their debt in full. He rose from the dead, with life and mercy for those who come to Him.

Turn from your own sin and trust Jesus. Everyone who comes to Him receives forgiveness. You do not need to solve another person’s suffering before seeking the Savior who knows you.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God knows every sin, but their suffering does not prove the accusations others make. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for wisdom greater than our guesses, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Father, thank You that Your wisdom has no limits. Forgive our proud guesses about other people. Please turn our hearts from sin to Jesus, whose sacrifice is enough for guilty people. Help us listen humbly and speak truthfully this week. In Jesus' name, Amen.