Chapter 24
Job continues his speech
The actions of cruel men
v1 God sees what is happening. But his servants wait in vain for the day when he is judge.
v2 Men move fences so that they can steal fields. Such men look after farm animals that they stole. v3 They lead away a donkey (small horse) that belongs to a child without parents. They take a widow’s cow because the widow owes them money. v4 Such men send poor people away, so that poor people must hide.
Verse 1
Job was patient (James 5:11). He suffered greatly. But he was waiting for the day when God would help him. On that day, God would be like a judge.
Verse 1 explains Job’s main idea in chapter 24. God’s servants are the people who trust him. They are waiting for the day when God will help them (James 5:7-8). And many are suffering like Job. But God does not always rescue them immediately (1 Peter 1:4-6).
Verses 2-4
Some evil people steal things. But other evil people are just cruel. The widow in verse 3 owed money. The lender thought that it was right for him to take her cow. But that lender was cruel and evil. The widow needed to have a cow in order to look after her land. Without the cow, the widow will become very poor. The lender has taken her strongest animal away from her.
Poor people suffer greatly
v5 Poor people are like wild donkeys (small horses) in the desert. For such people, their work is to find food. They find their children’s food in wild places. v6 They collect any grains that remain in the fields. They take any fruit that the wicked man leaves in his garden.
v7 They have no clothes to wear by night. So, these poor people must sleep naked. They have nothing to wear when the weather is cold. v8 They are wet whenever rain falls on the mountains. They hug the rocks because they have no shelter. v9 But a rich man will even steal a baby that has no father. That rich man will take that child to be his slave, because the mother cannot pay her debt.
v10 Poor people wander about naked because they have no clothes. Although they harvest the crops, they themselves are still hungry. v11 They make the oil. They make the wine. But nobody allows them to drink it. v12 They scream as they are dying in the city. Their spirits cry out for help. But God does not accuse the man who caused these poor people to suffer.
v13 Some people oppose everything that is good. They do not know how they should behave. Or, they choose to do evil deeds. These people hate the daylight:
· v14 The murderer gets up at night. He kills poor people. And he is a thief by night.
· v15 A married man wants to have sex with a woman who is not his wife. So, he waits for nightfall. He thinks, ‘Nobody will see me.’ He covers his face.
· v16 Thieves enter houses by night. But they stay inside during the day. They hate the daylight.
v17 These people are afraid of the daylight. They are familiar with the terrors of the night.
Verses 5-8
This passage is very sad. These people struggle to find food (verse 5). They get cold and wet (verse 6). They have nowhere to live.
Job said that they are like wild donkeys (animals). God answered Job in Job 39:5-8. God reminded Job that he knows about wild donkeys. And God provides their food. We know that God cares about
poor people. They are his people (Proverbs 22:2). So Christians should care about them too.
Keith Simons
Verses 9-12
Many poor people suffer because of the evil actions of rich people.
Verses 13-17
This behavior is the opposite of normal behavior. Normally, we work during the day. And we do our other activities during the day. Before people had electricity, this was especially important. People needed light to see what they were doing.
But the people that Job described hate daylight.
They prefer darkness.
They carry out their evil deeds in secret.
See 1 Thessalonians 5:5-8.
In time, evil people will die
v18 Such people are like bubbles on the surface of water. They do not deserve anything that is good. There should be no fruit in their gardens.
v19 When the weather is dry and warm, snow just disappears. In the same way, these evil people will die. v20 Even their mothers will not remember these evil people. Instead, the tiny animals in the grave will eat their bodies. These people are like a tree that has fallen down.
v21 They were cruel to women who had no children. They were unkind to widows. v22 But God is strong. When he opposes these powerful men, they will die. v23 God might allow them to think that they have security. But he is watching their actions. v24 They are successful for a short time, but then they die. They must die, like everyone else. They are like corn during the harvest.
v25 If I am wrong, then show my error to me!
If you can, prove that my words are wrong!
Verses 18-21
Wicked people may continue their evil behavior for a long time. But in the end, they will die. And then, they cannot continue their evil deeds.
Verses 22-25
God decides how long a person will live.
And God decides when these wicked people will die.
Keith Simons