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Updated November 23, 2015

Job 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Job 11:2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 11:3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
Job 11:4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Job 11:6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
Job 11:7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Job 11:9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

Introduction

In our last study, Job confesses to being confused. But he is not so confused that he is willing to confess to something he has not done. But Zophar is also just another Old Testament type of each of us. Zopar is just as self- righteous as Job, Eliphaz or Bildad. We are one and all by nature so very capable of seeing the sins of our brothers and sisters while being completely blind to the sin that is within our own members. We are all, in our own time, guilty of wanting to help our brother to get that tiny little speck of dust out of his eye, even as we are blinded by the “beam” that is within our own eye. We all want to see our heavenly Father judge the sins of our brothers and sisters long before we realize that we need to be judged first.

Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

When this book concludes, it is revealed that both Job and His three friends are “vile” and need to “lay [ their] hands upon [ their] mouths”.

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

After Job repents and comes to see that he is not righteous and that he had foolishly ‘reproved, contended with and condemned God’, then at that point God tells Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, these words:

Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.

It was only “after” Job had himself repented and confessed that he was “vile” that “the Lord also accepted Job”. Job certainly had not “spoken of me the thing that is right” when he was attempting to ‘disannul God’s judgment’ upon himself by proclaiming his own integrity and his own righteousness, while simultaneously ‘condemning God to make himself righteous’.

Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

The only difference between Job and his accusing, “miserable comforters” is the fact that Job, by God’s sovereign will, was the first to repent and be “accepted” by the Lord. Put another way, the only reason Job was granted to “pray for” and show mercy to his accusers is that God had, by His sovereign will, given Job, as the Old Testament type of His elect, the distinction of being the first to repent so his friends could come to experience God’s mercy through the mercy God had first shown to Job. It is only “through much tribulation” that we are granted to become those precious “first fruits unto God” and are granted to “follow the Lamb wherever he goes”.

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rom 11:30-31 is the New Testament anti- type of this Old Testament type. Speaking of those who considered themselves to be believers, but were not, notice what we are told:

Rom 11:30 For as ye [ each of us, typified by Job] in times past have not believed God [ self- righteously condemning God], yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief [ in type, the self righteous unbelief of Job’s merciless “comforters”]:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your [ prayers for their] mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them [ who were not first to believe] to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

So the story of Job being humbled before he could be used by God to pray for and save his friends is just a slight variation of the story of Joseph, being humbled in Potiphar’s house and in the prisons of Egypt, before he could be used to save his self- righteous brothers.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance [“through your mercy”].
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Gen 50:20 is one of the most revealing verses of scripture. This verse gives us the reason for Joseph’s, Job’s and all of our trials. All the evils perpetrated against any of us are thought to be against us as individuals, but they are really a work of God through the hand and the agency of our enemies. It is our trials which nourish and strengthen us spiritually, and they prepare us to become “saviors” who will “save much people alive”.

Ecc 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

Look at these verses:

Psa 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14 From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
Psa 17:15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Eze 21:31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
Eze 22:31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Zep 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Zep 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

“A pure language” is simply words of truth coming from “a pure heart”:

Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
1Ti 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
2Ti 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh [“a pure language”].

Psalms is speaking of God’s dealings with King David. Isaiah is speaking of His dealings with Israel. Ezekiel is a prophet sent to Judah and Jerusalem while in Babylonian captivity. Zephaniah prophesied in the days of Josiah, one of Judah’s best kings. So these prophesies are all upon different types of God’s elect upon whom He is pouring out His purifying wrath as His means of judging His elect at this time. It is Job himself who tells us this is so.

Job 19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Wrath and judgment are one and the same, according to scripture. But Job’s miserable comforters, as well as Job himself, are types and shadows of us before we become aware of this thing called ‘chosen’ or ‘elect’ being those who “first trusted in Christ”. Knowing nothing of the purpose for God’s scourging wrath and being completely ignorant of what God is aiming to accomplish, we all do to others what Zophar does to Job:

Job 11:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
Job 11:2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 11:3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
Job 11:4 For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

“When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?” It not given to us to take it upon ourselves to shame those who mock the Truth?

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

There is nothing untrue in telling us that Job is speaking a “multitude of words”. That was certainly true, and this is what we know about those who are always full of a “multitude of words”:

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

Both Job and his friends are us before we have learned to “refrain [ our own] lips”. Zophar will, at his own appointed time, refrain his lips, but it will be after Job prays for Zophar.
There would be nothing wrong with telling Job that he is wrong and is “lying” when he declares that he of himself is “not wicked”, and that he is “clean without transgression”.

Job 10:7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.
Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

When we are ‘reproving, contending with, and condemning God’, being ‘clean without transgression’ could not be further from the Truth. The Truth is that there is “no good thing in [ us]”, and our hearts are just naturally “full of evil”.

Ecc 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

But it ought never be our goal to avenge ourselves or to shame anyone for things God causes them to do to us for our benefit.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

It is when we are “wicked men for the day of evil” that God uses us to seek revenge and to shame our perceived enemies, just as Zophar is seeking to do to Job.
But when we are typified by Zophar, we can see this evil only in others. We have no doubt that the heart of our brother is “desperately wicked” and “full of evil”, and we want God to make this perfectly clear to all of our brothers and sisters, and we want Him to judge them. Our old man simply cannot acknowledge that our problems are ever because of anything within ourselves. It is always someone else who needs to be chastised and scourged of our heavenly Father. So Zophar tells suffering Job:

Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
Job 11:6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

“The secrets of wisdom… are double to that which is…” The self- righteous man within us will always accuse others of thinking they know all things. That is especially true when our old man is confronted with truth about which he knows nothing. Rather than deal with the obvious fact that he has never before seen the truth before him, he prefers instead to emphasize the fact that there is much to learn, as if that fact in any way deals with the circumstances at hand.
The fact that Zophar even uses the word ‘deserves’ demonstrates his lack of understanding that God causes us all to do all we do, and that God requires only that we give an accounting of what He is doing in our lives, and therefore our being ‘deserving’ is not even a factor in what God had written in our book before we were even born.

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Zophar within us at this point in our spiritual development obviously has no understanding of this Biblical truth:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

So while we hold no one responsible for the evils they commit, and while we know that our predestination precludes us being ‘deserving’ of either being reproved for our evils, or rewarded for our righteousness, God nevertheless reproves us for our evils and rewards us for our good works which He has preordained and predestined.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

So we hold no one but God responsible for “all things” because it is God who is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”. For that reason here now is where the true meaning of “Judge not that ye be not judged” comes into play.

Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Nowhere in scripture are we ever told to ignore and make no judgments concerning all the evil that surrounds us. The exact opposite is true. In this very same 7th chapter of Matthew we are told that we can judge a tree by its fruit, and we will know a tree by its fruit:

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Nevertheless, we need to be merciful even to those whose ‘fruit’ is “evil” (Jer 24:1-8).

Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

It is most important that God’s elect “judge all things” and yet allow themselves to be “judged of no man”. It is only by doing this that a divisive wolf can be recognized as being something that is not one of God’s lambs and sheep:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

We all, as Job and his friends did, think of ourselves as being spiritual long before we are given to truly know Christ and His Father and to think as they think. This subject of judging and judgment is a perfect example of those who think they are spiritual while they simply cannot receive the words of 1Co 2:14 or these words of God which give us the means of “knowing the spirit”.

1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

“We” hearkens back to verse one of this chapter:

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Those in whom Christ dwells have the mind of Christ, understand “the things of the spirit” and they “try the spirits” with that “mind of Christ”. Can we say these words with Christ and with those in whom He dwells:

1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Can we say truly that “we have the mind of Christ”? Can we say truly that with that mind of Christ we have “tried the spirits” and “hereby know we the spirit of Truth and the spirit of error”? Out of our own mouths we will be judged, and if we cannot speak as He speaks it is only because we do not yet have that “mind of Christ” because those words express the mind of Christ.
It is that “mind of Christ” which keeps all who have that mind “of the same mind”.

Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Php 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Php 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Php 4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
1Pe 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

There are eight verses which tell us all to be of one and the same mind. Is the apostle telling Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind “in the essentials” of our Lord’s doctrine, but simply tolerate each others differences in “the non- essentials of doctrine”? That is what many of today’s “great men of God” tell us:

“To “speak the same thing” stands opposed to speaking different and conflicting things; or to controversy, and although perfect uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects , yet on the great and fundamental doctrines of Christianity, Christians may be agreed; on all points in which they differ they may evince a good spirit; and on all subjects they may express their sentiments in the language of the Bible, and thus “speak the same thing.” (Barnes Commentary on 1C0 1:10, published in 1832)

This is Albert Barnes who is considered by many to be a ‘great man of God’. He was born in 1798 and died in 1870. He was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and could read Greek and Hebrew.

In 1835 he was brought to trial for heresy by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and was acquitted, but his accusers succeeded in having him suspended from the ministry, but he was again acquitted of heresy in 1836. The charges of heresy primarily related to his comments on Romans and the fact that Barnes broke from strict Calvinism and taught that man had free will to accept or deny the Gospel. He was a leader in the “New School” branch of the Presbyterian church. (Sword Searcher Software for Believing Bible Study).

The reformed Presbyterian church in the U. S. is the standard bearer of the Calvinist doctrine of ‘double predestination’, meaning that Calvin believed that all men were predestined either to be saved or they were predestined to go to an eternal hell of real physical fire. At the same time and with same time breath Calvin taught that mankind has a free will. Calvin, unlike Barnes, did not believe that mankind’s destination hinged on mankind’s choices, and yet he taught that our destination was because of our own choices. Go figure!
But this is what Christ tells us:

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Did Christ and His Father agree to disagree on the non essentials? Here is what Christ meant when He said “as you, Father, are in me”:

Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Joh 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

Christ told us that He wants us to “be one, even as we [ He and His Father] are one”. Then He tells us, “My doctrine is not mine… I do always those things that please Him… the word you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me”. Does any of that sound like “perfect uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects, yet on the great and fundamental doctrines of Christianity, Christians may be agreed; on all points in which they differ they may evince a good spirit…” and agree to disagree? Are we really scripturally to be of ‘one and the same mind’ only on the great and fundamental doctrines of Christianity”, while tolerating differences in so- called nonessential doctrines? Who is to decide what are “the great and fundamental doctrines of Christianity” and what are the “nonessential doctrines of Christianity”? Listen to whom the spirit will have you to listen, just so we know this is what Christ had to say about this subject:

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

It is important that we know at which of His Words He expects us to tremble, and for those who can receive it, this is Christ’s answer to that question:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The doctrine of ‘tolerating nonessentials’ has been the means by which these verses of scripture has been nullified and eviscerated of its saving power:

Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6 We [ who try the spirits] are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

There is a world of difference between ‘tolerating the nonessentials’ and ‘trying the spirits’. The one leads to harlotry, and acceptance by other harlots, and the other leads to persecution and being accused of believing that you know it all. That is the accusation that is always spat at those who claim that they “know His voice”.
Zophar is the type and shadow of that spirit within us. Neither he nor Job at this point “know His voice”, but neither at this point would ever admit to that truth, so Zophar speaks to Job, just as any Pharisee would speak down to any who “know His voice”.

Job 11:7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Job 11:9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Job 11:10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?

Who among those who truly know the voice of their Shepherd has ever claimed to know God in His fullness? We can, and we do “know [ His] voice” as the Truth, without knowing all truth. So we will never in this life “find out God… unto perfection”. “What [ then] can [ we] know?” Here again is the answer to that question: “his own sheep… know his voice “.

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

The words “nonessentials of the gospel” are not “[ His] voice” because those are not scriptural words, and because those heretical words fly in the face of these words:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

There is a world of difference between ‘finding out God unto perfection’ and ‘knowing His voice’. God’s ‘voice’ will never contradict itself. God’s voice does not tell us to “Love your enemy” in one circumstance, and then ‘hate your enemy” in another situation. There is no such thing as a personal gospel versus a national gospel. Truth is never simply relevant to the circumstances. Truth is Truth in every circumstance and at all times, and there are no ‘nonessential gray areas’ within the mind of Christ. Who has that mind?

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him [ by “His voice”], as the truth is in Jesus:

There it is. It is the same people who “know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error”. It is those who “know His voice… and have been taught by Him.”” It is not those who teach us “perfect uniformity of opinion cannot be expected among people on the subject of religion any more than on other subjects”. We can believe that statement by Albert Barnes, or we can believe these words which are inspired by God:

1Co 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

It is true that we cannot in this life “find out the Almighty unto perfection”.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

But it is not true that we cannot “know the Truth… know His voice” and be “perfectly joined together in the same mind”. It matters not how greatly esteemed is the teacher who teaches against the Truths of Joh 10:4 and 1Co 1:10.

Do you “Know the Truth”? If you say we cannot “know the Truth”, then you will be “judged out of [ your] own mouth”, because you will be guilty of saying these words of our Lord are not “the Truth”:

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Anyone who denies that those who “have the mind of Christ” cannot “know His voice” or cannot be “perfectly joined together in the same mind” is a false prophet who has gone out into the world with a false spirit that must be “tried” and found wanting of the Truth.
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will hear the rest of Zophar’s attack upon his friend, Job.

Job 11:11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
Job 11:13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
Job 11:14 If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
Job 11:15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
Job 11:16 Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:
Job 11:17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Job 11:18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
Job 11:19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.