Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Job+024
CHAPTER 24 (ESV)
1 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his days?…
12 From out of the city the dying groan,
and the soul of the wounded cries for help;
yet God charges no one with wrong….
18 “You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
their portion is cursed in the land;
no treader turns toward their vineyards.
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
so wickedness is broken like a tree.’
21 “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.
23 He gives them security, and they are supported,
and his eyes are upon their ways.
24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like the heads of grain.
25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
and show that there is nothing in what I say?”
REFLECTION:
Job responded to Eliphaz’s statement, acknowledging that the wicked will have retribution, but, unfortunately, many times the righteous cannot see the day of God’s judgment. Job and his three friends all agreed that there is good and evil in the world, and that although the wicked are now arrogant and powerful, God must have a just judgment. The difference is that Eliphaz inferred Job’s suffering as punishment for sin. Job disagreed and God disagreed too! Chapter 24 reminds us not to fall into a situation where good and evil are indistinguishable in suffering, even with resentment, that God is also good and evil. We should not think superficially that we can see how God rewards the good and punishes the evil in our life on earth. We believe in God’s righteousness, but we must patiently wait for God’s time. In the face of temporary injustice, we must have faith and hope, believing that God will repay, and those who endure to the end will receive God’s great reward.
PRAYER:
God! You are a God who rewards good and punishes evil. There will surely be righteous judgment in You. However, my life is limited, and I may not see the result of Your rewarding good and punishing evil within my lifetime. But I firmly believe in Your love and justice; You act in Your best timing. Please grant me a heart of patience to wait, even when facing temporary injustice, so that I can maintain faith and hope, firmly believing that You will vindicate. For those who endure to the end will receive Your great reward.
HYMN:
Hold My Heart – www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vp07CiL8DU
