Job 24:1-25
1 "Since times are not hidden from the Almighty,
Why do those who know Him see not His days?
2 "Some remove landmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They take the widow's ox as a pledge.
4 They push the needy off the road;
All the poor of the land are forced to hide.
5 Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
They go out to their work, searching for food.
The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
6 They gather their fodder in the field
And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.
9 "Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge from the poor.
10 They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing;
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
11 They press out oil within their walls,
And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
12 The dying groan in the city,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not charge them with wrong.
13 "There are those who rebel against the light;
They do not know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
14 The murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, 'No eye will see me';
And he disguises his face.
16 In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
They do not know the light.
17 For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
If someone recognizes them,
They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18 "They should be swift on the face of the waters,
Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So the grave consumes those who have sinned.
20 The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
He should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
21 For he preys on the barren who do not bear,
And does no good for the widow.
22 "But God draws the mighty away with His power;
He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
23 He gives them security, and they rely on it;
Yet His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are taken out of the way like all others;
They dry out like the heads of grain.
25 "Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech worth nothing?"
Job addresses the violence and ongoing wrong in the world which appears to go unpunished, as if God does nothing about it, and that men care not what they do, believing they can do all they want unseen in the dark. He begins by asking how those who know God can continue to act unjustly and commit such violence and crime. He questions why God allows these things, since nothing is hidden from Him at any time ever. He then lists all the injustices in most of the chapter, from stealing to poverty, from using the poor to murder and robbery. The evildoers are ones who rebel against God’s light of goodness because they just don’t understand it and don’t care for God’s word or ways. This rebellion is sin by definition, and Job wonders how nothing is being done to stop what God obviously observes. He does not grasp that God allows evil in the world to demonstrate their accountability and His justice done according to His time and manner. The murderers, adulterers, and thieves all continue their violence against others, afraid only when caught as verse 17 shows us. Yet even so, God does entrap these, either by the grace as in verse 19, or with uncertainty of life or consequences after death as in verse 22. God gives false security which people rely on, yet He still sees their deeds and holds them accountable. Though they seem to enjoy power or possessions for a short time, they eventually will be brought down and taken out of the way of harm to others. This is a hint of the gospel and God’s final Judgment, where He allows sin and violence to continue that accountability cannot be denied, and to demonstrate His holiness in mercy and grace as He wills on those He chooses to call out (Romans 9:18, 22-23). In this speech of Job, he asked to be proven wrong and to make his words come to nothing if they were not so, and so we see the reasoning continue in the arguments of his counselors in the book. We know in the end that their attacks and Job’s responses all lead to God’s providence and sovereign grace in the final analysis. Violence, false security, and accountability are the themes and lessons here. God does not sleep, and judgment is certain, even if the violent and evil appear to rule in this present evil age. It was true in Job’s time, and holds true still in ours until Christ’s return. We rest therefore in divine justice in God’s time and not our own, not blaming God or thinking He does not care to intervene as we see fit. Our Father knows best.
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