There was no “tooting your own horn” in those days. This is more like Zophar on his shofar!
Happily, we’ve come to Zophar’s last speech. Calling it a speech may be too kind. It’s a verbal onslaught. In his first speech (Job 11:1-20), Zophar at least offered the possibility that Job was a good man who had fallen into sin, but now that’s not an option. He begins by letting the little circle know there’s just one voice he wants to hear—and that isn’t Job’s. “I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer” (20:3). It’s obvious he’s been listening to the arguments he’s preparing to deliver, and completely missed one of the greatest statements of faith in Scripture (19:23-27). Job’s words were indeed “inscribed in a book” (v 23), and we’re hearing them four millennia later, although Zophar didn’t! This is a serious problem—people who like to hear themselves talk and are disinterested in hearing others. If Zophar had been listening, he would have heard Job’s heart for God. So what does Zophar think? Filled with flowing rhetoric, his speech has three points. First (vv 4-11), wicked people may soar with success, but just as suddenly they plunge into obscurity. The crowd will ask, “Where is he?” (v 7). Second (vv 12-19), even in plenty, the wicked are never satisfied. To put it bluntly, “He swallows down riches and vomits them up again” (v 15). Third (vv 20-29), ultimately the wicked face a showdown with God. “God will cast on him the fury of His wrath” (v 23). In short, the wicked’s triumph is brief, his pleasure turns to grief, and from his impending judgment there is no relief. This may be true of the wicked, but with Job he completely missed the mark. Job is no heartless extortioner or hedonistic oppressor. Lord, teach us first to listen well, then to encourage wisely.