The Wicked Love Darkness - Job Chapter Twenty Four Series

Job continues to speak. Here he takes a good look at those who practice wickedness.

Chapter twenty-four could be outlined:

Job 24 -

The wicked often go unpunished. (verses 1-12)

The wicked love darkness. (verses 13-17)

The judgment of the wicked. (verses 18-25)

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; 3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge. 4 They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide. 5 Indeed, 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. 6 They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked. 7 They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold. 8 They 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. 10 They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry. 11 They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst. 12 The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong. Job 24:1-12 (NKJV)

THE WICKED OFTEN GO UNPUNISHED

God knows all things – yet He does not tell everything He knows to everyone. Since God knows about the times of men – Job asks, “Why doesn’t He let those who are closest to Him see into the future?” Would you want to know what day your life would end on this earth? Would you do anything different? Would you wait till the last day to repent – or get right with God? Time has been appointed by God. When the last day will come – is in His hands. We should live each day as if it were the final day of our existence here on earth. The judgment will come – the final test will be given – we must be ready.

In verses two thru four we find the actions of the wicked:

1. They remove landmarks – being dishonest of where land boundaries are.

2. They steal sheep and goats and eat them.

3. They treat the orphan and widow with dishonestly – taking advantage of them.

4. They treat the poor with contempt.

All of these things that Job has mentioned deal with our relationship to others. There is no wonder that James says:

“Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27 (HCSB)

How we treat other people, who are in need, matters. Remember Matthew chapter twenty-five:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ … Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Matthew 25:31-37, 40 (HCSB)

Barnes talks about the significance of landmarks when he says: “Landmarks are pillars or stones set up to mark the boundaries of a farm. To remove them, by carrying them on to the land of another, was an act of dishonesty and robbery - since it was only by marks that the extent of a man’s property could be known. Fences were uncommon; the art of surveying was not well understood, and deeds describing land were probably unknown also, and their whole dependence, therefore, was on the stones that were erected to mark the boundaries of a lot or farm. As it was not difficult to remove them, it became a matter of special importance to guard against it, and to make it a crime of magnitude. Accordingly, it was forbidden in the strictest manner in the law of Moses. “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s land-mark;” Deu_27:17; compare Deu_19:14; Pro_22:28; Pro_23:10.