Daily Scripture Reading Job 20:20 - 21:22
Good people want justice. As such, they want evil people to receive punishment for their bad deeds. Also, they do not want evil people to prosper and live lives of ease.
Good people want murderers and rapists to be punished in such a way that they cannot commit those vile deeds again. Good people want bank robbers and embezzlers to lose all their ill gains so that they cannot profit from their illegal deeds.
When lawbreakers are not brought to justice, good people can become cynical and discouraged because it seems so unfair that evil people prosper while good people suffer.
Zophar tried to convince Job that the earthly prosperity of evil people is always temporary. That is not true. Some wicked people die wealthy and at ease. However, there is a temporary nature to the success of all wicked people which helps us endure the unfairness of life.
We are currently reading the 13th section of Job.
In this section, Zophar argued that the success, comfort, and affluence of wicked people is temporary.
Job 20:20 ¶ “Because he knew no ease within his belly,
In his covetousness, he does not let anything escape.
Job 20:21 Nothing remains for him to devour;
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
Job 20:22 In the fullness of his plenty he will be confined;
The hand of everyone who is troubled will come against him.
Job 20:23 So it will be that he fills his belly,
And God will send His burning anger on him
And will rain it on him while he is eating.
Job 20:24 He may flee from the iron weapon,
But the bronze bow will pierce him.
Job 20:25 It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,
Even the glittering point from his gall;
Bouts of dread come upon him.
Job 20:26 Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures;
A fire unfanned will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.
Job 20:27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
And the earth will rise up against him.
Job 20:28 The increase of his house will depart;
His possessions will flow away in the day of His anger.
Job 20:29 This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
Even the inheritance decreed to him by God.”
Zophar argued that the prosperity of wicked people is temporary. That is actually true, although not in the way Zophar probably meant it. I believe Zophar meant wicked people will always receive punishment from God while they are still alive on earth, even though they may prosper for a time. While that is not always the case, all wicked people will stand before God after they die, and at that point they will be liable for their evil.
All righteous people want to see evil people receive justice. While we don’t always see evil people receive the correction they deserve here on earth, we can find comfort in the fact that, if nothing else, they will stand before God someday and pay a price for their wicked deeds.
Job 21:1 ¶ Then Job answered and said,
Notice the name “Job”. This verse begins the 14th section.
Job 21:2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your way of consolation.
Job 21:3 Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may mock.
Job 21:4 As for me, is my musing to man?
And why should I not be impatient?
Job 21:5 Look at me, and be appalled,
And put your hand over your mouth.
Job 21:6 Even when I remember, I am dismayed,
And horror seizes my flesh.
Job 21:7 Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?
This is a good question. This is something most righteous people ask. Good people want life to be fair. It is not fair that evil people continue to live and become powerful.
Hebrew poetry is the art of finding multiple ways to say the same thing. Notice in the following verses, verses 8-12, the various descriptions of how wicked people prosper.
Job 21:8 Their seed is established with them in their presence,
And their offspring before their eyes,
Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from dread,
And the rod of God is not on them.
Job 21:10 His ox mates and does not fail;
His cow calves and does not miscarry.
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like the flock,
And their children skip about.
Job 21:12 They lift up the tambourine and harp
And are glad at the sound of the pipe.
Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity,
And suddenly they go down to Sheol.
Job’s point in this verse was that wicked people live in prosperity up to the day they die.
Job 21:14 They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
Wicked people not only mistreat people, they also blatantly refuse to acknowledge their Creator.
Job 21:15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we profit if we entreat Him?’
Job 21:16 Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Job 21:17 ¶ “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their disaster fall on them?
Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
Job’s implied answer to his first question is not very often. Zophar had argued that wicked people always meet justice at some point during their life. Job argued that is not so.
Job 21:18 Are they as straw before the wind,
And like chaff which the storm steals away?
Job 21:19 You say, ‘God stores away a man’s wickedness for his sons.’
Let God repay him so that he may know it.
Notice the quotation marks. Job quoted Zophar saying that the sons of a wicked man receive punishment. This is probably a reference to Job 20:10 in which Zophar said “His sons seek the favor of the poor”, meaning the sons of a wicked man need help from poor people, indicating they are not prospering as their wicked father had prospered.
Look at the second line in verse 19. Job wanted God to repay the wicked man himself, not the sons of the wicked man. That is how many of us feel. We want wicked people to meet justice. We do not want the sons of a wicked man to pay the price for their father’s wickedness.
Job 21:20 Let his own eyes see his decay,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Job 21:21 For what desire does he have for his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?
Job 21:22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
In that He judges those on high?
All righteous people want evil people to receive justice. Zophar argued that the prosperity of wicked people is temporary. I believe Zophar meant wicked people will always receive punishment from God while they are still alive on earth, even though they may prosper for a time. While that is not always the case, all wicked people will stand before God after they die, and at that point they will be liable for their evil.
While we don’t always see evil people receive the correction they deserve here on earth, we can find comfort in the fact that, if nothing else, they will stand before God someday and pay a price for their wicked deeds.
What is an occasion when you were angry because someone lived a life of wickedness, but then died in peace and prosperity, having never paid the price for their evil?
How can you draw comfort from the fact that every evil person will stand before God?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”