Anyone who's suffered knows what it's like when a well-meaning friend says something, well, insensitive. and their ill-chosen words only make you feel worse. Today, on Insight for Living, Juxwindahl recounts the story of Job, when the ones who showed up to comfort him did little more than pile on shame, judgment, and condemnation. Sitting in the ash heap of his shattered life, Job faced not only unbearable suffering, but an assault on his character from the friends who came to console him. Chuck titled today's message, When Rebuke and Resistance Collide.
Uh We're engaged in an examination of the life and experience of Job. If you're not familiar with the book in the Bible, it's just before the very large book of the Psalms, right in the center section. And just to the left, you'll find Job. If you'll locate chapter 11, I'd like to read a few verses from that as well as some from a couple of other chapters later on. We're sort of trying to take it in chunks so we don't become tedious about this and break everyone's back over it.
You know, you've been in Job a long time when you greet people at church, and rather than they're saying, How are you doing? They ask, What happened to you this week? And I think that's starting to happen in our in our lives. I want to be sensitive to the fact that you can take just so much of stuff like this, but What a man, what an experience. You will recall he's lost everything.
including now his health.
So it's all in his family except his wife. Friends have come, so-called friends, to bring him comfort and sympathy. They bring neither. And they're words have turned to rebuke and insults and sarcasm. And that sort of is a running commentary through the poem of this section.
beginning at chapter four, really, and going on through to Chapter 38.
Now look at Job 11, verse 1. This is the third of the friends. Zophar the Namathite answered, Shall a multitude of words go unanswered? And a talkative man be acquitted. Shall your boasts silence men, and shall you scoff and none?
Rebuke. For you have said, My teaching is pure, and I am innocent in your eyes. But would that God might speak and open his lips. Against you. Job answers in chapter 12, verse 1, where we read, Then Job responded, truly then, you are the people and with you wisdom will die.
But I have intelligence as well as you. I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these? I am a joke to my friends. The one who called on God.
And he answered him. The just and blameless man. is a joke. 13 verse 15, sort of Job's declaration of faith. Though he slay me, I will hope in him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before him. This will also be my salvation, for a godless man may not come. before his presence. Listen carefully. to my speech.
Let my declaration fill your ears. Behold, now I have prepared my case. I know. that I will be vindicated. 14 verse 1.
Man who was born of woman. is short-lived. and full of turmoil, like a flower. He comes forth and withers. also flees like a shadow.
and does not remain. Verse 10, but man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires. And where is he? As water evaporates from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dried up.
So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no more. He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol. That you would conceal me until your wrath returns to you.
that you would set a limit for me and remember me. If a man dies Will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait. Until my change. comes Yeah.
You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into Job's story, be sure to purchase a copy of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, When Rebuke and Resistance Collide. Have you noticed that problems don't just go away? They don't evaporate, they proliferate, says one of Murphy's laws.
I thought recently they're sort of like roaches. You'd You can't just ignore them. Kill everyone you see. When I moved back to Texas, I had a friend tell me when he saw me in cowboy boots one day, he said, You know why we wear. Cowboy boots.
And I said, Well, I thought I did, but I think I'm gonna learn a new reason right now. And he said, Yeah, it's you can kill roaches in a corner when you wear those cowboy boots. When we were at the seminary, we lived in the campus apartments, which, praise God, had been destroyed now. There's a new library there, but we lived in the old campus apartment number nine.
Sounds like a jail sentence, doesn't it? Apartment number nine. But boy, roaches. I said to Cynthia one day, We don't have a single roach in our place. She looked at me like I was crazy.
I said, They're all married, have large families. Problems are like that. They just get worse. Especially conflicts. And even when you try to solve them, they just.
Get more complicated. And I have a feeling there is not a person listening to me right now. who has not, on occasion, attempted to make things right with another individual. And have it blow up in your face. Or other individuals, plural.
Only to have the scene get increasingly more difficult. It's easy to forget the original agenda. When one person is sick and three people come to bring encouragement, There is a simple agenda. And these men had it right. who came to visit Job.
There's nothing wrong with their original intent. Chapter 2, verse 11 tells us. These three men, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came from their homes all the way to Job's Ash heap where he found himself without his children. without a means of making a living, For he found himself with no home. No buildings on his place of his own property.
And where he found himself covered with sores, that were now cracking open and oozing with pus. Miserable in the daytime and restless through the night. The three men came. to sympathize with him and to comfort him. Great agenda.
If you learn nothing else so far from Job. of a positive nature learned. When someone is laid aside, and for whatever reason, you Or by their side. Youth come to sympathize. and to comfort.
End of agenda. But Somewhere between their leaving with the right agenda. And seven, eight, nine days later, As they're into the dialogue, The agenda got lost. I would venture to say you cannot find A sentence. of sympathy and comfort.
that fell from their lips. In all of these chapters from four through. There is accusation, there is blame, there is shame, there is insult, there is sarcasm. There is finger pointing. There is judging, there is condemning.
There is preaching. But there is no sympathy. And there is no comfort.
So that Job winds up, as we're going to see in the time we spend in these chapters today, he winds up saying, It had been better if you had just stayed silent. Awfully good advice. What is it our mothers taught us? If you can't say something nice, And that's it. Don't say anything at all.
If you cannot bring sympathy and comfort, Bring nothing at all. Just your presence.
Well, Elavaz has spoken and he's talked about experience of the past and his lecture Job on learning from experience. As Eliphaz stands there in good health, with plenty in his wallet. and a happy family at home. Bildad stands then in Eliphaz's place, the next in age. And Bildad says, What we must learn, Job, is lessons taught us from the brilliant minds of the past.
And he represents those philosophers and teachers and sages of yesteryear, and he offers those. words of advice to his friend. As Bildad stands healthy. and wealthy and in his own eyes wise. Than Zophar.
Zophar verse 1 of chapter 11.
now answers Using not experience or the wisdom of the past is his basis. but just rank legalism. Just legalism. Verses 1 to 4, you are guilty, Job. Verses five to twelve, you are ignorant, Job.
Verses thirteen to twenty: you are sinful. Repent. End of Zophars. Sympathetic, comforting message. Verse 2: Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, and a talkative man be acquitted?
How's that for an opening line? He heard the word windbag earlier and decides to use it again. We have listened to you about as long as we plan to listen, Job. How many more things do you think you have to say to convince us you're full of words, but your life is empty of righteousness? Shall your boasts silence men like us?
No way. Shall you scoff and no one rebuke you? There is no way. You have said, My teaching is pure, and I am innocent in your eyes. Stop.
Stop at verse 4. Job never said that. You know, it's hard enough to be dealt with rudely. Tactlessly, but to be misquoted, is a very, very painful thing to take sitting down. Back in chapter 6, Job had been vulnerable enough to say in verse 24, teach me.
Show me how I have erred. You show me. Verse 28, please now look at me and see if I lie to your face. Point it out. Identify the wrong.
Of course, they don't deal in specifics. These men are given to generalized, universal criticism. And so they take Job on with both fists. They now misquote him in chapter 11, verse 4. And if Telling him that he's guilty isn't enough.
Zophar now says you are one ignorant man. Remember Job when he was earlier identified? As one of the greatest men of the East. In fact, as I recall, the greatest. He feared God and turned away from evil.
Sounds to me like a man who wasn't guilty and. wasn't ignorant of God. But you understand when legalists make their statement, they don't need facts, all they need is volume. And the ability to put you down so that you're intimidated by their presence. Oh, they're awfully good at that.
Word that God might speak and open his lips against you. This is calling down a judgment from heaven. Would that God might show you the secrets of wisdom, for sound wisdom has two sides, Job, probably meaning the side we can understand and the side we can't. The side we can see and the side we can't see, the invisible wisdom of God. Know then that God.
Forgets a part of your iniquity. Can you discover the depths of God, Job? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? They are high as the heavens. What can you do?
Deeper than the grave, called here in the Hebrew Sheol. the place of the departed dead. in the days of the Old Testament. Deeper than the grave, what can you know? Why, Job, the measure of God's mind is longer than the earth.
It's broader than the sea. If he passes by or shuts up or calls an assembly, who can restrain the Almighty, Job? He's delivering Job a lecture in what we might call theology 101. As if Job needs. A theological lecture.
Let me pause here and say that Zofars are still on the loose. If you haven't met one, just Hold your breath. He'll come along. They have zero capacity to connect the dots. They have a complete inability to even color by numbers.
They don't get it. But they have a message for you. And the message Usually is a put down because you are not doing what they believe. You ought to be doing, or you are doing what they believe you should not be doing. And in this case, since he sees Job as ignorant of God, he decides.
He needs to teach him about God, and he tells him of God's length and breadth and depth and width and height, and reminds Job that this God cannot be restrained. And then, if that isn't enough, verse 11, with the implication, you're the man. He knows false men. He sees iniquity without investigating. And then the ultimate.
An idiot will become intelligent. when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man. Just look there for a few moments. The word idiot comes from a Hebrew word that means to be hollow. Empty.
When used of a person It's referring to empty-headed. We have the colloquialism airhead. in our day. He's calling Job By implication, an empty-headed man And there is no more possibility that a person like that could ever become wise. than a donkey could give birth to a human.
Now, for just a moment, since you're not there, try to imagine yourself. there. You've lost it all, including your health. You haven't been able to sleep, you can't eat.
Now we're in a third round of this first cycle of dialogues, and it's just getting worse. And of all things you're now called an idiot. A hollow-brained individual who himself can't connect the dots. Warren Weersby wrote, How sad it is when people who should share ministry end up creating misery. How tragic that these three friends focused on Job's words instead of the feelings behind those words.
Then he quotes a Chinese proverb. Though conversing face to face, their hearts have a thousand miles between them. Ever been around a person like that? I'm going to venture something, but don't move a muscle, okay? Or you'll let us all know that it's true.
You may be married to one like that. That's a terrible existence. The dreadful existence. You converse face to face, but your hearts have a thousand miles between you. How true that was at the ash heap.
After all, information is not the same as communication. Sidney J. Harris reminds us: information is giving out, communication is getting through. It's a great lie. Today, my desire is not simply to give out information to help you know Job 11 through 14.
You can get that on your own by reading it. or by finding commentaries and reading them. My desire today is to communicate. to get through. To take the side of the person who has no good reason to have to endure something like this.
who lives with it. Regularly.
Well, he has the audacity in verse 13 to begin with the condition. If you would direct your heart right and If you would spread out your hand to him, meaning God, if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. If you do not let wickedness dwell in your tents, then.
Now he offers the promise. Your face could be lifted up without moral defect. Implying what? Moral defect. And you would be steadfast and not fear, implying what?
He is neither. He is not steadfast and he's fearing. You would forget your trouble as waters have passed by. You would remember it, your life would be brighter than the noonday, then you would trust. Verse 18 concludes, But verse 20 gives the consequence.
The eyes of the wicked will fail, and there will be no escape for them. And Zophar's through.
Well, not really. He's coming back. But Thankfully, it will be a while. The sheer arrogance of Zophar. is shocking.
You know, I think I need to point out something that needs to be said. Zophar makes an error in judgment. that commonly occurs among legalists. He does acknowledge the infinitude and greatness of God. That's correct.
He urges Job to understand. such truths and to realize their implications, and that's necessary. Not in this case, but normally it would be necessary, it could be helpful, but then. With veiled arrogance he exhorts Job to fall in line. implying that he knows.
what Job won't admit. Men and women be awfully careful about. Telling other people they're going through what they're going through because they're sinful. Be very careful about that. If you don't have the evidence and if you don't have the proof, you're terribly close to serving as a judge.
And people are sometimes implicated in a wrong where they themselves are innocent. Following the first morning service today, I had a gentleman who was a partner with Arthur Anderson come by. Say a few words to me about what he's learning from our study in Job. He said it's been very helpful. It says so happens that My part of Arthur Anderson is just as clean as a whistle.
But we've been smeared over. From the media. announcement that all of Arthur Anderson is questionable. That's a bad call. When the gym in Tammy Baker nonsense hit the news back in the eighties.
Insight for Living suffered. Suffered in a difficult manner for a period of time, though I've never met either one of them and do not. in any way agree with that style of ministry. But because we're also a media ministry. We had to somehow answer to a number of people who became our critics because We, like them, are on the air, and therefore we like them must be.
You finished the sentence. How insulting. Be really careful about generalizations. Guard yourself from taking a role of Prophet and Priest. as Zophar does with Job.
I know. And I do not mean this sarcastically.
Some of you are very intelligent. You have a great grasp of God's word, and I commend you for that. Prove it. By your restraint. Let your wisdom show through by demonstrating a lot of understanding.
and grace. Especially when another hurts in a way you have never hurt.
Well Job responds. And I'm so delighted he doesn't say, well, you're right so far. I'm not going to fight this. The rebuke of Zophar is met by the resistance of Job, and that is the only way to deal with a legalist. Legalists are like roaches.
You leave them alone, they proliferate. They attract others. And before you know it, the legalists run the show because bullying tactics is their favorite approach. And if they can't bully, they take their ball and bat and they go elsewhere. Thank God.
They leave. There was a time in my life when I allowed legalists to take a little more control of me than they. Should have been allowed. I'm making up for lost time now. We're not going to have that at this church.
We're not going to have you playing king of the mountain. over somebody else's life. Nobody died and left you king. Nobody puts you in charge of answering for somebody else. Stay real quiet.
The Lord is well able to handle his children. And by the way, if one of your youngsters is wayward, and you're just eating your heart out because you raised them right and they're going wrong. Remember, the one who has done the most perfect job of being a parent has the most wayward kids. That's God. Isn't that a relief?
Remember how far, remember the tether he let you have when you were going wrong and when I was going wrong and times in our lives? And isn't it amazing how the Lord in long suffering and finally one day said, That's enough. If you've ever been on the receiving end of harsh judgment from an insensitive friend, Chucksmindahl's message has probably touched a tender place. Job's story reminds us that suffering rarely comes with easy answers. and that the people around us don't always say the right things.
But God never loses sight of His children. He's patient, he's sovereign, and in his own time he says, that's enough. This is Insight for Living, Chuck titled his message, When Rebuke and Resistance Collide. In today's study, Chuck reminded us that life is fragile, our years are few, and trouble has a way of showing up when we least expect it. If you're in a season like that right now, if the world feels like it's on fire around you, Chuck wrote a book with you in mind.
It's called Finding God When the World's On Fire. And it speaks directly to the question that Job wrestled with, where is God when everything falls apart? No matter what you're facing, God hasn't gone anywhere. and we'd like to encourage you with Chuck's compassionate book, Finding God When the World's on Fire. It's for anyone who feels alone in their suffering, disappointment, or the quiet fear that things may never be okay again.
Ask for the book Finding God When the World's On Fire, When you make a donation to support the Ministry of Insight for Living. Call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/slash donate. You know, millions of listeners have come to rely on Insight for Living, just as you have. Whatever amount you're able to give above and beyond the cost of his hardcover book will be channeled directly into providing Chuck's teaching on your station, on the Insight mobile app, and all the other platforms where Insight for Living can be freely heard. If you prefer to write, address your envelope and donation to Insight for Living.
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I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindall describes how to respond Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, When Rebuke and Resistance Collide, was copyrighted in 2002, 2004, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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