What is the meaning of Job 20:6? Though his arrogance reaches the heavens - Zophar paints the wicked man as so puffed up that his conceit “reaches the heavens.” The phrase recalls Genesis 11:4, where the builders of Babel said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens.” God swiftly scattered them. Pride has always been a direct affront to the Creator who alone “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). - In Obadiah 1:3-4 the LORD says to Edom, “Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down.” Zophar is echoing this fixed principle: no matter how high human arrogance climbs, it never breaches God’s sovereign boundary. - Note the immediate context: Zophar is warning that the triumph of the wicked is short (Job 20:5). Even if their self-exaltation seems sky-high, “in an instant they vanish” (Psalm 73:19). and his head touches the clouds - The imagery shifts from “arrogance” to the very “head” of the proud man. It is as though he crowns himself ruler of the skies, but God alone “makes the clouds His chariot” (Psalm 104:3). - Nebuchadnezzar once boasted, “Is not this great Babylon I have built?” (Daniel 4:30). Within the hour, the Most High humbled him. Likewise, Ezekiel 28:2 pictures the prince of Tyre saying, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods,” only to be cast down. - Proverbs 16:18 reminds us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Zophar’s language anticipates verse 7: “he will perish forever like his own dung.” The higher the self-promotion, the more dramatic the collapse. summary Job 20:6 exposes the delusion of human pride. However high a person may elevate himself—whether his arrogance “reaches the heavens” or his “head touches the clouds”—the Almighty still reigns above it all and will bring the proud low. Scripture consistently affirms that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Confidence placed in self is fleeting; confidence placed in the Lord is secure. |
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