Revisiting the Source of Sin

Scripture:
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer,
because I am upset!
I have heard a rebuke that insults me,
and my understanding makes me reply.
Job 20:1-3

Observation: Job's friends continue in their effort to council him. Though he wishes comfort, they prefer to offer him correction, believing that Job is being punished for his sins, and if he were to revisit his sin and wrongdoing that perhaps God would relent in his punishment for those sins. As Job declares himself innocent, the friends are more direct in their accusations. Interestingly, when the Lord arrives on the scene, he will declare that the friends are indeed in the wrong, have sinned, and require prayer to absolve their misdeeds. And it is here that their sin is most evident.

Zophar begins this passage stating that he himself is insulted by Job, and "my understanding makes me reply." Zophar will go on to state things that ... on their face, are actually pretty consistent with scripture. He will outline how wicked people are greedy and accumulate wealth and comforts, and yet all these things will be taken from them. He says God is offended by the arrogance of the wicked, but the wicked will die and vanish from the face of the earth. He points out that the riches the wicked accumulate and enjoy will actually become the curse upon them. These are strong words, but ... they aren't wrong.

Instead, where Zophar and the friends are sinning is in this: They themselves are deciding, of their own understanding and by their own wisdom, if and how these ideas apply to Job, and are then judging him by that human wisdom.

This is, again, original sin. This is taking proper concepts, but then using earthly logic and human thinking to interpret and apply them. In this case, the idea that Job was prosperous and now is not aligns to the fact that wicked people enjoy prosperity then are punished. Even Job will point out this logic is flawed (as will the future writer of Ecclesiastes).

The sin of the friends is not in rebuking Job. It is in deciding they have the authority to rebuke Job because, using their own understanding, they have determined the will of God and believe they have the right to pronounce that will and resulting judgment.

Application: I do think about original sin often and what I have learned about it. I recognize that I must not seek truth, knowledge, good, or understanding, through the means of applying my own thoughts and logic to a situation. Rather, I must simply pray and seek God's direction about situations around me and the behavior of others.

That is SO difficult to do, and such a rare mindset in Christians all around me. Of course, that's what makes this such an embedded sin within us all, and gives us such great dependence on salvation found not in our own actions, but by faith in Jesus. We truly cannot avoid sin, and a mindset that claims godlike status for ourselves.

Prayer: Lord, may I surrender my thoughts and opinions to you today. Help me to not judge, even when it is possible to apply your word to a situation. I seek your decisions and your will and your truth, not the knowledge and truth I have from decades on this earth. Thank you for your perfect love. Amen.