If he passes through and imprisons
and summons the court, who can turn him back?
What if God summoned you to court?
In this portion of Job’s unfolding story we have Job being confronted by his friend, Zophar the Naamathite. Unlike the other friends of Job, who speak three times, Zophar only speaks twice. And, to be honest with his character, it is a good thing for Job. Zophar is the guy who looks you straight in the face and thumps his Bible at you and calls you a sinner. Zophar has no patience like Job or for Job. His name means sparrow, but his actions are more like a crow. He tears into Job and declares him guilty. Zophar’ s suggestion, or solution for Job, is that he simply repent of his sin and God will restore him.
In the above verse we see that Zophar is making the case that when God calls us to account for our lives, it is like standing in court before a judge. Zophar’ s immediate point to Job is that he is guilty and therefore the “Judge” will condemn him if he does not repent. Zophar may be wrong in his application of this truth to Job’s cause and condition, but he is not wrong in regard to standing before God as judge. Who can stand guiltless before God. Note Paul’s words on this point:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
No one can stand before God and say they are pure. Psalms 14:1-2 makes that statement crystal clear. We are guilty and do no good to merit favor with God. But, the believer, the one who puts trust in Christ for their salvation, can stand before God. In fact, the writer of Hebrews makes a big deal about that. As the writer draws that book to a close, there is a summary of what benefits we have by having Christ as our High Priest, our advocate (our lawyer) before God. In the following verse we read that believers have come to God and enjoy these benefits. We have come to ...
... the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
Believers have come to God, the judge of all, yet, righteous, made perfect. This is the benefit that Zophar fails to convey to Job. Zophar likes to condemn, but he gives no indication that Job has a good position before God (Job 1). Job, like all who have faith in Christ, can come before God in full assurance and full faith that God will receive them and judge them, not on their own merit, but on the blood of Jesus Christ. What if God called you to court (and He will)? We stand before God, the judge of all, completely righteous through the death and resurrection of Christ.
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