He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading. He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;This phrase reflects the principle of divine justice and retribution. In the context of the Book of Job, Zophar is speaking about the fate of the wicked, suggesting that they will not enjoy the fruits of their wrongdoing. This echoes the biblical theme found in Proverbs 13:22, where the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. The idea is that ill-gotten gains will not bring lasting satisfaction or benefit to the one who acquires them unjustly. Historically, this reflects the ancient Near Eastern belief in moral order, where actions have consequences, and justice is ultimately served. Theologically, it underscores the sovereignty of God in ensuring that justice prevails, even if it is not immediately apparent. he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
This part of the verse emphasizes the futility of dishonest gain. In the ancient world, trade was a common means of acquiring wealth, and it was often subject to ethical scrutiny. The inability to enjoy profits suggests a divine intervention where God ensures that the wicked do not find lasting joy in their ill-gotten wealth. This can be connected to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 6:19-21, where He advises storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. The cultural context here involves the understanding that true prosperity and fulfillment come from righteous living and alignment with God's will, rather than from material wealth obtained through deceitful means. Persons / Places / Events 1. Zophar the NaamathiteOne of Job's three friends who comes to comfort him. Zophar is known for his harsh and direct speeches, often emphasizing God's justice and the consequences of wickedness. 2. JobThe central figure of the Book of Job, a man known for his righteousness and suffering. Job's account is a profound exploration of faith, suffering, and divine justice. 3. The Land of UzThe setting of the Book of Job, traditionally considered to be in the region of Edom or northern Arabia. 4. The Discourse on WickednessZophar's speech in Job 20 is part of a larger discourse on the fate of the wicked, emphasizing that their prosperity is temporary and ultimately futile. 5. The Concept of Divine JusticeA recurring theme in the Book of Job, where the friends argue that suffering is a result of sin, while Job maintains his innocence. Teaching Points The Temporary Nature of Ill-Gotten GainsZophar's message serves as a reminder that wealth obtained through unrighteous means will not bring lasting satisfaction or joy. This aligns with the biblical principle that true contentment comes from righteousness and integrity. The Importance of Righteousness Over WealthThe verse challenges believers to prioritize righteousness over material success. It encourages a focus on spiritual wealth, which is eternal, rather than temporary earthly gains. The Consequences of WickednessZophar's speech highlights the inevitable consequences of living a life contrary to God's will. It serves as a warning that the pursuit of wealth at the expense of righteousness leads to emptiness and loss. Trust in God's JusticeWhile Zophar's understanding of divine justice is limited, the broader account of Job encourages trust in God's ultimate justice and sovereignty, even when circumstances are difficult to understand. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Zophar's perspective on wealth and righteousness challenge our modern views on success and prosperity? 2. In what ways can we ensure that our pursuit of material success does not compromise our spiritual integrity? 3. How does the theme of divine justice in Job 20:18 relate to the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament? 4. What practical steps can we take to prioritize spiritual wealth over material wealth in our daily lives? 5. How can the account of Job and his friends help us navigate conversations about suffering and divine justice in our own lives? Connections to Other Scriptures Proverbs 11:18This verse speaks about the deceptive nature of wicked gains, aligning with Zophar's assertion that ill-gotten wealth will not bring lasting joy or satisfaction. Ecclesiastes 5:10This passage discusses the futility of wealth and how it cannot satisfy the soul, echoing the idea that material gain without righteousness is ultimately unfulfilling. Matthew 16:26Jesus' teaching on the value of the soul over worldly gain connects to the theme of the temporary nature of material wealth and the importance of spiritual integrity. People Job, ZopharPlaces UzTopics Attained, Bulwark, Consume, Enjoy, Enjoyment, Exchange, Exults, Forced, Fruit, Giving, Gotten, Joy, Labored, Laboured, Profit, Rejoice, Restitution, Restore, Returns, Riches, Substance, Swallow, Therein, Toil, Trading, Uneaten, ValueDictionary of Bible Themes Job 20:17-19 5846 enjoyment Job 20:17-20 8810 riches, dangers Job 20:18-19 5465 profit
5587 trade 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 20:18 NIVJob 20:18 NLTJob 20:18 ESVJob 20:18 NASBJob 20:18 KJV
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