Job 11 Devotional

Too Deep to Read

Zophar is the bluntest of the three friends. He claims that God is demanding less from Job than his sin deserves (11:6). Then he asks whether anyone could ever measure God, whose wisdom reaches higher than the heavens, deeper than the grave, and wider than the sea (11:7-9). That much is true, and Paul later praises the unsearchable depth of God's wisdom and ways (Romans 11:33).

But notice the contradiction. If God's ways are too deep to search out, then Zophar cannot know why Job is suffering, much less that he deserves worse. He affirms God's mystery and then claims to see straight into it. His closing promise follows the same pattern as his friends': put away your sin, and your life will shine again (11:13-17). The LORD will later say these men did not speak accurately about him (42:7). God's greatness is meant to humble us, including in what we think we know about other people's lives. Before we explain someone's suffering, the depth of God is a reason to listen.

To think about: How might the depth of God's wisdom make you slower to explain the suffering of someone near you?