Since they have not managed to persuade Job with their theology, Job’s friends proceed to bolster their argument with false accusations. Like many a present-day commentator, Zophar thinks his words will have more force if he delivers them with emotional anger: “I hear censure that insults me, and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me” (Job 20:3).

How is God’s justice going to take down wicked people like Job? Zophar gives us this answer: Since the wicked “have crushed and abandoned the poor,” since they “have seized a house that they did not build,” since “in their greed they let nothing escape,” therefore “all the force of misery will come upon them,” and “God will send his fierce anger into them, and rain it upon them” (20:19-23) Zophar’s accusation is harsh: you have been terribly greedy, Job, but God has not allowed you to get away with this, and now despair and misery are your lot.

Eliphaz carries the indictment yet further. He mocks Job: “Is it for your piety that he reproves you, and enters into judgment with you?” (22:4). No, Eliphaz concludes, it is not; it is for Job’s secret sins. “Is not your wickedness great? There is no end to your iniquities. For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry” (22:5-7).

These are serious accusations – in your greed pushing people into poverty, failing to help the needy. Like every generation, we would do well to ponder whether such accusations might apply to us. But Job’s accusers have no evidence that Job has done any such thing: they are just making stuff up. Job points out that their efforts to “comfort” him are “empty nothings” – “There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood” (21:34).

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So often in our desire to win an argument, O God, we lose track of the truth and use any means necessary, no matter how false, to make our points. Convict and change our hearts! Teach us to love the truth, even when we don’t like it or understand it.