Hope Complains

                                                             Sunday School Lesson
                                           
Lesson: Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25; Psalms 55:16;
                                                                                                  Golden Text: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me” (Psalms 55:16). 

I.  INTRODUCTION.  Very often it appears to us that the wicked get away with abusing and hurting people and many other things.  Sometimes this may cause us to ask the question, “If God is all-powerful and able to punish the wicked, why does He wait?”  This week’s lesson addresses this question.  Like many other mysteries in life, the answer is in the timing---God’s timing.  In this week’s text, Job reflected on areas of life in which evil seemed to prosper and justice was trodden down.

II. BACKGROUND FOR THE LESSON.  Upon hearing of Job’s troubles, three of his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar came and sat in silence with him for seven days.  Job then broke the silence with a monologue in which he cursed the day he was born (see Job chapter 3).  This started three rounds of arguments between Job and his friends.  Eliphaz spoke in chapters 4, 5, 15, 22; Bildad spoke in chapters 8, 18, 25 and Zophar spoke in chapters 11, 20.  All three of Job’s friends held fast to the principle that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.  They therefore concluded that Job must have sinned greatly because of all the trouble that had come upon him.  As they spoke with Job, they called on him to come clean and admit that he had committed some sin.  The second round of debates begins on chapter 15 with Eliphaz basically repeating the same accusations as he did earlier, but this time he was more rude and threatening adding that Job’s words were empty and useless (see Job chapter 15).  Job answered him in chapter 16 by calling his friends miserable comforters.  They were no help to him at all.  In chapter 17, Job appears to be giving up hope for any future restoration of wealth and family, wrapping himself in thoughts of death and the rest from grief and pain death promised (see Job 17:6-16).  In chapter 18 Bildad speaks for the second time asking Job when he would stop his senseless talk (see Job 18:1-4) and gave his opinion of death (see Job 18:5-21).  Chapter 19 gives Job’s reply to Bildad’s second round of attacks.  After his friends brought accusations against him a second time, Job still held to his innocence.  In chapter 23, he expressed his frustration that he wasn’t able to bring his case to God personally.  He thought that if he knew where God’s judgment seat was, he could approach Him with confidence (see Job 23:3-7).  But of course he concluded that God couldn’t be found (see Job 23:8-9).  At this point Job understood that suffering would refine or cause him to mature spiritually (see Job 23:10).  However, he still remained troubled by his suffering (see Job 23:15-16).       

III. GOD’S APPARENT INDIFFERENCE TO INJUSTICE (Job 24:1, 9-12)    

A. The absence of the Judge (Job 24:1).  In our first verse, Job asks “Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?”  The word “times” here refers to the times that God has set for judging the wicked.  Job knew that God has times set to judge the wicked (see Job 21:30), but he was troubled as to why God didn’t reveal those days of judgment to “they that know him.” In essence, Job’s question was “Since God has days set aside to judge the wicked, why doesn’t He share that information with those who know Him?”  The phrase “they that know him” refers to true worshippers of God who walk with Him in complete dedication.  But the times of the Lord’s judgment are hidden from those who know Him, and we don’t know whether or not God has righted the wrongs of the wicked.  God keeps to Himself the times when He will render justice to the wicked.  Some are judged and punished in their lifetime, and some are yet to be judged. 

B. The grace of the poor (Job 24:9-11).   Verses 2-8 are not part of our printed text but they lead into verse 9 of our lesson.  However, in those verses Job listed some of the things that the wicked seem to get away with.  The wicked moved boundary markers making it easy for them to take others’ property; they stole flocks of sheep and took away the only donkey or ox that the widows or orphans had (see Job 24:2-3).  The wicked also forced the poor to hide in terrible conditions of hunger and cold (see Job 24:4-8).  Our lesson continues with verse 9.

1. (vs. 9).  This verse says “They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.”  In addition to those things named in the previous verses, Job said that the wicked also “pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.”  This means that in order to collect the debt of a deceased man, a creditor would snatch a baby from the mother’s breast and the infant was taken as a “pledge” or collateral for the debt.

2. (vs. 10).  This verse says “They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry.”  The word “They” still refers to the wicked and “him” refers to the poor.  Job declared that the wicked deprived the poor of clothing causing them to go naked.  In addition, the wicked “take away the sheaf from the hungry.”  This means that the wicked also deprived the poor of food.  A “sheaf” was stalks of grain gathered and tied into a bundle after harvesting.  The poor worked the fields of their masters and harvested the grain, but were not permitted to take any sheaves for themselves.  The Mosaic Law later commanded that the poor could gather gleanings (what was left on the ground after gathering the sheaves) from the corners of the fields (see Deuteronomy 24:19).

3. (vs. 11).  Job continues to say “Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.”  The poor or servants suffered oppression in the vineyards also.  These servants made olive oil from the olives trees enclosed within the walls of their masters.  The servants also “tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.”  This means that the poor who served the wicked owners treaded the winepresses in the vineyards, but they were not allowed to drink any of what they produced.  Job noticed that the slaves worked all day in the winepresses but went away thirsty.  “Wine presses” were used to make wine and consisted of an upper vat or tub and a lower vat where juice from grapes were trodden out by workers and then collected into the lower vat or tub.

C. The violence of the cities (Job 24:12).  In this verse Job said “Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.”  Having just given his view of the oppression and wickedness taking place in the rural areas, Job here gives insight into what was going on in the cites.  He said “Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out.”  This refers to the dying groans coming from people in the cities suffering from senseless physical attacks.  The souls of those who die from their wounds cry out.  Job saw all of this happening and concluded “yet God layeth not folly to them.”  In other words, to Job it appeared that God wasn’t concerned nor was He charging the guilty for their wrongdoings.
IV. GOD’S MYSTERIOUS DEALINGS WITH THE WICKED (Job 24:19-25).    In verses 13-18 which are not part of our printed text, Job talks about the various wicked activities of the murderer, the adulterer and the thief and what they do during the night (see vss13-17).  Then in verse 18, Job explains that these wicked people through death soon disappear from the earth, leaving no inheritance for their children.  This takes us to verse 19. 

A. Despised and forgotten after death (Job 24:19-20). 

1. (vs. 19).  Continuing his thought from verse 18 illustrating the sudden end to the sinner, Job here said “Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.”  Just like the lack of rain and heat absorb melted snow, and there’s no trace of the water because it has no supply source, the sinner or wicked person also will soon be forgotten after death.        

2. (vs. 20).  Still talking about the sudden end to the wicked or sinner, Job continued to say “The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.”  The word “womb” is used to represent one’s mother.  Amazingly, the idea here is that the one who gave birth to the wicked person “shall forget him” because nothing good came of his life.  In addition, “the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered.”  In other words, his decayed body eaten by worms will be forgotten, never to be remembered again.  The last phrase of this verse “and wickedness shall be broken as a tree” means that the sinner’s life which is full of wickedness will be broken off by death just like limbs are broken from a tree.  This description doesn’t mean that the wicked will die early.  The broken tree indicates old age because young trees only bend in strong winds, but mature or older trees can be broken easily.  Describing the wicked in this way, Job didn’t feel that God afflicted the wicked like He did him.  He felt that the Lord didn’t treat the righteous and the wicked equally.

B. The wicked practicing injustice during life (Job 24:21).  Job went on to say “He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.”  The phrase “He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not” means that the wicked took advantage and mistreated women who couldn’t bear any children.  In addition, they didn’t treat the widows well either.  In ancient times, childless women and widows were probably the most vulnerable people.  Those who were “barren that beareth not” had no sons to protect or support them, and the “widow” had no support because her husband was dead.  These women could easily be taken advantage of by wicked schemers and tricked out of any family property they had.

C. The wicked enjoying immunity from trouble (Job 24:22-24). 

1. (vs. 22).  In this verse, Job now describes how God deals with the wicked, especially those in high places.  Job said “He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.”  The word “He” refers to God who Job said “draweth also the mighty with his power.”  The term “draweth” should probably be understood as prolonging or preserving.  It seemed to Job that God was prolonging the life of the wicked by His power.  The phrase “he riseth up, and no man is sure of life” means that even though the wicked appear to be established or exalted, he has no assurance of life.

2. (vs. 23).  Job continued to say “Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.”  In dealing with the wicked, God gives them a time when they feel safe and for a period of time they are able to rest.   Even though it may appear that the wicked are at times safe and at rest, God’s “eyes are upon their ways.”  In other words, the Lord still holds them accountable for their actions.  In essence Job was saying that in his eyes the wicked for a time seem to enjoy security and peace.

3. (vs. 24).  Still speaking about his view of the wicked, in this verse Job says “They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.”  Even though Job saw the wicked as enjoying security, he was also aware that it didn’t last long as he said “They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low.”  The wicked are given time to enjoy their greatness and high positions, but they soon are “gone and brought low” meaning that it all comes to an end and they die.  The phrase “they are taken out of the way as all other” refers to the fact that the wicked end up like everyone else in death.  They have no advantage or disadvantage when they die.  They experience the same thing in death as everyone else.  Job likened their death to being “cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.”  In Job’s mind, just like the tops of “corn” or grain are not cut off before the grain has matured, the wicked don’t die before their time whenever that may be.  God allows them to continue to live in their evil ways.  So Job’s question in all of this was “Where is God’s justice in all of this?”

D. Job’s claim to accuracy (Job 24:25).  In this verse Job says “And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?”  Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends accused Job of lying about being innocent of any sin that he was aware of.  So in this verse, after having given his view of the wicked, Job told his three friends that if what he said was not true, who could prove that he was lying and that his words amounted to nothing?  Job knew that his friends couldn’t.

V. THE RESPONSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS TO SUFFERING (Job 55:16).   The last verse of our text comes from Psalms 55:16.  This psalm opens with David complaining to the Lord as he personally experienced the oppression of the wicked (see Psalms 55:1-3).  He longed to flee to a safe place, away from the violence and strife he saw in the city of Jerusalem (see Psalms 55:6-11).  David, like Job wasn’t betrayed by an enemy, but by a close friend and even prayed for his destruction (see Psalms 55:12-15).  But in the midst of all this and despite the agony of his soul (see Psalms 55:4-5) David declared in our final verse “As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.”  David, who had suffered at the hands of many whom he thought he could trust, had learned that God wouldn’t fail him in times of trouble, so he committed himself to call upon God who he said “shall save me.”   God is delighted when His beloved children cry out to Him for help.

     

                           

VI. Conclusion.  As this lesson teaches, Job was deeply concerned that the wicked seemed to prosper while the righteous suffered.  God’s timing in bringing retribution upon the wicked is as mysterious as His delay in rewarding and blessing the righteous.  Solomon also raised a complaint regarding God’s timing in judging sin.  He said “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (see Ecclesiastes 8:11).  Solomon, like Job eventually came to recognize the resolution to this concern.  He declared “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (see Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).  Yes, God may delay judgment, but He will ultimately judge every act.  Case closed.