Job 23:1–24:25 Job Calls for Justice

 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter;

My hand is listless because of my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,

That I might come to His seat!

⁴I would present my case before Him,

And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would know the words which He would answer me,

And understand what He would say to me.

⁶Would He contend with me in His great power?

No! But He would take note of me.

⁷There the upright could reason with Him,

And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

⁸“Look, I go forward, but He is not there,

And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

⁹When He works on the left hand,

I cannot behold Him;

When He turns to the right hand,

I cannot see Him.

¹⁰But He knows the way that I take;

When He has tested me,

I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to His steps;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth

More than my necessary food.

¹³“But He is unique, and who can make Him change?

And whatever His soul desires, that He does.

¹⁴For He performs what is appointed for me,

And many such things are with Him.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at His presence;

When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

¹⁶For God made my heart weak,

And the Almighty terrifies me;

¹⁷Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness,

And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

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;

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

⁴They push the needy off the road;

All the poor of the land are forced to hide.

⁵Indeed, 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.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field

And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

⁷They spend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering in the cold.

⁸They 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.

¹⁰They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing;

And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

¹¹They press out oil within their walls,

And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

¹²The 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.

¹⁴The murderer rises with the light;

He kills the poor and needy;

And in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,

Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;

And he disguises his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses

Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;

They do not know the light.

¹⁷For 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.

¹⁹As drought and heat consume the snow waters,

So the grave consumes those who have sinned.

²⁰The 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.

²¹For 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.

²³He gives them security, and they rely on it;

Yet His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a little while,

Then they are gone.

They are brought low; T

hey 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?”

Commentary

23:1-7 ¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter;

My hand is listless because of my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,

That I might come to His seat!

⁴I would present my case before Him,

And fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would know the words which He would answer me,

And understand what He would say to me.

⁶Would He contend with me in His great power?

No! But He would take note of me.

⁷There the upright could reason with Him,

And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

Job begins his reply as if he has heard nothing from Eliphaz, for how can he embrace Eliphaz’s theology when his own circumstances circumvent everything that he has been hearing from him? For Job was not wicked, he did not depart from following God, and yet all these things have happened to him. Therefore Eliphaz promises of always having a life of peace and prosperity, free of all troubles, then is not reality, at least its not Job’s reality, and probably not yours as well. For all Christians in every generation, all who choose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ will have to overcome…, just like our Lord and Savior had to overcome, first the devil's temptations, then His own people, who also conspired with the Gentile rulers, then His own fears, then even death itself. For all the heroes of our faith down through the ages also had to overcome many things in their sojourn down here, and so will you (consider Hebrews 11).

And so, Job returns to his self mourning, to asking for a just audience for his complaint, for someone to hear him, for it seems that this is his only consolation when he is with his friends (vs. 1-2). And so once again Job longs for a meeting with God so that he might present his case before Him (vs. 3-4). For Job believes only God can understand him in his plight and that if he came before Him that then he would have his vindication (vs. 5). For Job believes that God would not contend with him if he could reason with Him face to face. Indeed Job feels then God would take note of him and deliver him from his judge forever, from thus being judged any longer (vs. 6-7). However what Job continues to fail to see is his own sinfulness, for even a blameless man could never stand on his own merits in the presence of our Holy God. 

23:8-12 ⁸“Look, I go forward, but He is not there,

And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

⁹When He works on the left hand,

I cannot behold Him;

When He turns to the right hand,

I cannot see Him.

¹⁰But He knows the way that I take;

When He has tested me,

I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to His steps;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth

More than my necessary food.

In seeking a meeting with God though there is a problem, God is Spirit and man is flesh, and so Job realizes that even if God were near Him, he could not perceive Him (vs. 8-9). Nonetheless Job is confident that God knows the way he takes, that He knows Job’s manner of life, that it is not like his friends have been slanderously asserting about him, rather it has been good and true, and so Job once again feels very confident that when God has tested him, he shall come through it as pure as gold (vs. 10). However, there is a problem that Job does not yet realize, God has been testing him, by allowing these things to happen to him, and so far, Job’s responses to all of this (after his initial noble response), has been anything but stellar, in fact in some ways he has only gotten worse and worse as it has gone on, which again only keeps fueling his friends desires to try to correct him, no matter how misguided and wrong. Job then in verse eleven and twelve refutes Eliphaz’s previous claim that Job had departed from, or worse rejected God’s commandments and ways, for as Job says, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”

23:13-17 ¹³“But He is unique, and who can make Him change?

And whatever His soul desires, that He does.

¹⁴For He performs what is appointed for me,

And many such things are with Him.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at His presence;

When I consider this, I am afraid of Him.

¹⁶For God made my heart weak,

And the Almighty terrifies me;

¹⁷Because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness,

And He did not hide deep darkness from my face.

Job now switches gears from his self justifying (or defending himself), to being very humble, declaring that God is unique, and that He cannot be made to change, that whatever His soul desires, that He does (vs. 13). Thus, Job feels helpless because he knows he cannot make God change, and yet he believes God is doing all of things to him (vs. 14). Therefore, Job now has a sense of terror when he thinks of God; for again he believes God has afflicted him terribly like this, that God has even kept him alive for this (vs. 15-17). Job’s words here then will begin to make even his friends feel uncertain about their own standing and well being with Him. For if He did this to Job as they believe He has, how then are they exempt? For now, though let us return to Job’s words.

24:1-8 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;

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

⁴They push the needy off the road;

All the poor of the land are forced to hide.

⁵Indeed, 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.

⁷They spend the night naked, without clothing,

And have no covering in the cold.

⁸They are wet with the showers of the mountains,

And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

Job now asks a question that his friends will not be able to answer, a question that will strike at the very heart of their faith, and that is: Since times and seasons of a man’s life are not hidden from the Almighty (vs. 1), why do those who know Him not see His days? That is why don’t we see His Justice always take hold of the wicked here on earth? And with that Job goes on to list a host of crimes, sins, and acts of cruelty that mark the wicked, and yet they seemingly do it all with immunity from any harm coming to them, saying some of them remove landmarks, and thus altar the boundaries of the land, removing people from their property, or changing boundaries so that the land borders now fall in their favor,  others go further and violently seize, i.e. take by force of arms, flocks and herds that are not theirs and then feast on them, leaving their owners desolate and ruined (vs. 2). They even mistreat the most helpless of the land, driving the fatherless and widow away, or take what little they have as a pledge, i.e. the widow’s ox, without which she cannot work her land (vs. 3). As for the poor and needy they treat with cruelty and contempt pushing them off the road, forcing them to get out of their way, indeed all the poor of the land are forced to hide when they come around for fear of being abused or robbed and pillaged by them (vs. 4). And so, they are forced to seek work and provisions for themselves in desolate places (vs. 5), or pick from the scraps that they have left behind (vs. 6). And so injustice and oppression and greed grows in the land in the land as the poor of it are forced to spend the night naked, (for their garments have been taken as a pledge against them, as security for their "debts"), thus they lack proper attire in the wet and cold, and instead they are only clothed with the showers of the mountains and must huddle around the rock for lack of shelter (vs. 7-8). Make no mistake about it where God is not there is much cruelty and oppression. 

24:9-12 ⁹“Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,

And take a pledge from the poor.

¹⁰They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing;

And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

¹¹They press out oil within their walls,

And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

¹²The dying groan in the city,

And the souls of the wounded cry out;

Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

Job goes on describing the plight of the poor and defenseless at their hands, saying, that some of these wicked and degenerate men even snatch the fatherless from the breast; now if you think this an exaggeration, or does not happen now, go to countries like India where abandoned children are left to fend for themselves on the streets, and are frequently snatched up for use as forced laborers or degenerate peoples perverted pleasures (vs. 9-10). Child labor and exploitation and sex trafficking exists and it is the most heinous crime in this world, and yet it does not receive the attention (nor funding, nor will to fight) from those in power that it must. Verse eleven describes them then forcibly working inside the walls of the wealthy and privileged to make their fine products that they enjoy and use, and yet they must even suffer thirst while treading out their grapes for their wine. Verse twelve continues with the bleak but very real picture, describing those who are dying are only left to groan out in the streets of city along with the souls of the wounded, who also cry out but whose cries are willfully ignored by their governments and the classes of people "above" them. And yet says Job, God does not charge them with wrong. Now we know that is not true, for there is a reckoning and God's Day of Judgment for every evil work that is being done down here. Nonetheless Job has made a strong case against his friend’s beliefs that wickedness and injustice is always punished down here, because it isn’t. Now the reason for this is simply mankind has chosen to reject God and His Word. And so God has given them over to be run and ruled by their own desires and devices, who are in turn all under the sway of the ruler of this world, Satan, who through sin always entices, promotes, and forwards mankind's worst and most base instincts.

24:13 “There are those who rebel against the light;

They do not know its ways

Nor abide in its paths.

Job now gives more evidence that the wicked are not always swiftly punished, by citing those who rebel against the light; who openly and willfully rebel against all that is right; they do not no its ways, nor do they keep to its paths, for they have chosen to follow sins darkness, rather than God’s light. I saw a man wearing a T-shirt the other day that said: “F…ck the rules." Now think of all of the vileness, violence, and degeneracy that popular culture promotes, propagates, and even celebrates, and yet some of its most famous “stars” and cultural “icons” are the wealthiest. They’re ways it very sadly seems are prospering in this world and under its "god." 

24:14-18 ¹⁴The murderer rises with the light;

He kills the poor and needy;

And in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,

Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;

And he disguises his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses

Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;

They do not know the light.

¹⁷For 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.

Job continues to decry the injustice and evil he sees all around him, while he himself a blameless and upright man is suffering such terrible things. And so here he describes the way of the murderer and the adulterer, who both creep around at night, for both do the works the Satan, who only kills, steals and destroys. And so, the murder rises with light and sets out to slay his prey, the poor and needy, that is this worlds most vulnerable, he preys upon. And so, at night he moves about like a thief, seeking his next victim then (vs. 14). (Think serial killers here who often prey on societies most vulnerable, especially women of the "street.").  Same with the adulterer who waits for twilight, so that no one will recognize him when he makes his rendezvous with his harlot “lady” (vs. 15). The thief too lives for the night, so he can set out and break into the homes he marked out for himself in the daytime (vs. 16). These then in rejecting the light are left to do the works of darkness. And yet light and darkness become one and the same to them, right and wrong then has lost all its meaning to them, only when they are found out does terror take hold of them (vs. 17). Therefore, Job says they should be swift on the face of waters, meaning their lives should swiftly come an end, their portion should be cursed in the earth, so that no one would turn aside and follow their ways (vs. 18). But in this life that simply isn’t always so, as his friends have wrongly been asserting.

24:19-21 ¹⁹As drought and heat consume the snow waters,

So the grave consumes those who have sinned.

²⁰The 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.

²¹For he preys on the barren who do not bear,

And does no good for the widow.

Nonetheless, Job now sees that they too have an end, that the grave consumes those who have sinned (vs. 19). But before they come to life, Job now wishes that they would be taken and broken and be remembered no more (vs. 20), for when they do come to life all they will do is prey upon others, the barren that does not bear, and for the widow they will do no good (vs. 21). Job’s previous desires that he had died in the womb rather than having come to this terrible misery and injustice as he now sees it, then is fueling his feelings here. For if a blameless and righteous man should suffer such things, how much more should they.

24:22-25 ²²“But God draws the mighty away with His power;

He rises up, but no man is sure of life.

²³He gives them security, and they rely on it;

Yet His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴They 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?”

 In concluding Job really sees things well. For though they prosper for a season, God is not at all indifferent to their actions down here, instead Job now understands that it is God Himself who draws the mighty away with His Power. And so though they rise up; no man is assured of life. Therefore God gives them security, and they rely on it (vs. 23), thinking that they will always be established, but in reality they are exalted only for a little while before they are brought low and taken out of the way like all others who came before them. For this is God's dealing with them. Thus their lives dry out and end like heads of grain. Job then concludes with a challenge to his friends saying, 

“Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,

And make my speech worth nothing?” ^{vs. 25}

Now only Bildad will seek to respond to Job after this, and that will be ever so briefly, and even then he will be completely lacking the self confidence and arrogance that he and his friends once so openly exemplified towards Job when he does.  

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.