There is Hope

And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security. You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will court your favor. But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.”
Job 11:18-20
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There is Hope
Zophar ends his address to Job as he began, by framing Job’s plight as a direct result of his own sinful lifestyle.  Zophar simply knows this is all Job’s fault and if he were to change his wicked ways all would be right with the world once again.  And this is what the world has to offer, nothing but Law.  Do this and don’t do that, and everything will be fine.  Yet we know from experience that this is not true.  Good people suffer and wicked people prosper.  The Law is certainly good and should not be ignored, but the mistake Zophar makes is trying to masquerade the Law as the Gospel.  The Law has done its work on Job, it has shown him to be a sinner, and it has shown him the need for a Savior outside of himself.  Right now, Job needs the Gospel.  Job needs the soothing balm of God’s forgiveness.  Job needs to hear that God has not abandoned Him nor forsaken him and that no matter the situation God is bigger than any pain and suffering he might be going through.  And though God never promises to keep us from pain or suffering He does promise to see us through it. There is hope found only in Christ Jesus.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:1-2).