Job 12

“Job responded: ‘No doubt you are the only people that matter; and when you die, so will wisdom. But I too have a brain, as much as you, in no way am I inferior to you. Besides, who doesn’t know things like these? Anyone who calls on God, and He answers him, becomes a laughing stock to his friends – they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.  Those at ease have contempt for misfortune, for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering. The tents of robbers prosper, the homes of those who anger God are secure, those who carry their gods in their hands.” Job 12:1-6 (CJB)

Today’s chapter begins with Job answering Tzofar’s merciless rebuke with a bit of country sarcasm. Amid such condescending counsel, Job defends his intellect. Any follower of Jesus who has sat in a secular university classroom has felt Job’s pain! Many in the “intellectual” community believe that believing the Bible means checking your brain at the door!  

Having departed from God’s Word, the World has developed a “wisdom” and “knowledge” of its own, based on observations made from presumptions based on their non-Biblical worldview. Then, they look back at Christians and openly mock them for believing ancient “myths” devised before science could prove them wrong. Many young believers, weak in Scriptural knowledge, have fallen prey to the arguments of such “authority figures.” Scripture predicts the natural downward moral progression of those who depart from God’s Word.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” Psalm 1:1 (NASB)

When a believer departs from following God’s Word, they begin to distance themselves from it by allowing the advice of the wicked to lead them astray. Over time, they find their pursuit has led them to adopt a belief system that is, at best, partly Biblical. They are now standing firm in the way of sinners, and the Bible calls it “wicked.” Then, looking back at the true believers they have distanced themselves from, they mock them as “unenlightened,” “bigoted,” and “self-righteous.” They have exchanged the truth of God for lies.  Believing themselves enlightened, they mock the faith of true believers.  

This is exactly the case with Job’s friends. They had departed from God’s Word and followed the advice of the wicked. (Job 4:12-21) Now, claiming to be enlightened experts on God, they are mocking righteous Job. Have you ever been graced by such “believers”?  I have, and they always seem to show up when I need wise counsel! They are like mirages in the desert: They promise refreshment but leave us ever unsatisfied.

Job’s friends’ heresy was centered on prosperity. Think of it as Christian Karma: Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to the bad. The pride of such “theology” refuses to recognize that God’s ways are not always so predictable. Prosperity is not always the merit of the believer or under the control of the faithful. God has His purposes, and man has his obligation to faithfully follow God through His Word.