Job Ep. 34: The If/Then Formula

In Job 11:13-20, Zophar offers Job a simple formula: If you repent, then God will restore you. The promises are beautiful—life brighter than noonday, darkness becoming like morning, security and peace. But Zophar's diagnosis is wrong. Job isn't suffering because of hidden sin, so the formula doesn't apply. This episode explores the danger of forcing complex situations into simple theological formulas and reminds us that suffering people need presence more than answers, compassion more than easy solutions.