Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrong Doing
September 11, 2022
Commentary
After a strong defense of his integrity and the questioning of God’s sovereignty, Job raises some questions about what he believed to be God’s indifference to wickedness in the world. The entire chapter focuses on the seeming injustices that God permits in this world. These are stated as:
Injustices in the country (vv. 1-11). For the most part, there were no walls or fences separating the farm lands. Each family had its own plot of ground and was expected to respect the boundary markers (Deut. 19:14). Furthermore, God promised to curse anyone who tried to steal land by moving the landmarks (Deut. 27:17), but wicked men did it just the same (v. 2). They not only took the land, but the animals that grazed on the land. They even took the flocks of the widows, orphans and the poor, and left them in poverty (vv. 3-11). Now Job says, “If God judges the wicked, why hasn’t He judged these who have treated the poor so unjustly and inhumanely?”Crimes in the city (vv. 12-17). Job begins with murders, as he hears the groans of the wounded and sees the death of the innocent (vv. 12-14). Next he mentions sexual sins, in which the adulterer and the rapist wait for darkness before they sneak out to satisfy their desires (v. 15). Also waiting for the darkness is the thief who breaks into houses (vv. 16-17). A curse on the wicked (vv. 18-25). Job gives a description of what will happen to the wicked, or it may be interpreted as a curse on the wicked. I think it refers to Job’s personal curse on the wicked who seem to escape judgment. He says, “May the wicked vanish like foam on the water (vv. 18-19), as they rot in the grave (v. 20), as the wives are barren and give them no heirs (v. 21), and their sense of success brought down like wheat in the harvest” (vv. 22-24).
Application
Job doesn’t understand what is happening to him, and he needs the comfort and the help which has not been forthcoming from his friends. He doesn’t understand why God condones the actions of others who are really sinners. Injustices in society cause great pain in people’s lives, so I need to do all I can to uphold the law and promote justice.
Job 24:1– 25 (NET)
1 “Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? Why do those who know him not see his days?
2 Men move boundary stones; they seize the flock and pasture them.
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey; they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
4 They turn the needy from the pathway, and the poor of the land hide themselves together.
5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness, they go out to their labor seeking diligently for food; the arid rift valley provides food for them and for their children.
6 They reap fodder in the field, and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing; they have no covering against the cold.
8 They are soaked by mountain rains and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter.
9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.
10 They go about naked, without clothing, and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.
11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.
12 From the city the dying groan, and the wounded cry out for help, but God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13 There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways and they do not stay on its paths.
14 Before daybreak the murderer rises up; he kills the poor and the needy; in the night he is like a thief.
15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight, thinking, ‘No eye can see me,’ and covers his face with a mask.
16 In the dark the robber breaks into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they do not know the light.
17 For all of them, the morning is to them like deep darkness; they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 “You say, ‘He is foam on the face of the waters; their portion of the land is cursed so that no one goes to their vineyard.
19 The drought as well as the heat snatch up the melted snow; so the grave snatches up the sinner.
20 The womb forgets him, the worm feasts on him, no longer will he be remembered. Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
21 He preys on the barren and childless woman, and does not treat the widow well.
22 But God drags off the mighty by his power; when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.
23 God may let them rest in a feeling of security, but he is constantly watching all their ways.
24 They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone, they are brought low like all others, and gathered in, and like a head of grain they are cut off.’
25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
Illustration: To do Injustice is More Disgraceful Than to Suffer it
Life is unjust. Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked, “I really don’t deserve this. But I have arthritis, and I don’t deserve that either.” To do injustice is more disgraceful than to suffer it. (Source unknown, Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).