The Thief Series

Job 24: 1 – 25

The Thief

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. 13 “There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths. 14 The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; and in the night he is like a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises his face. 16 In the dark they break into houses which they marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light. 17 For 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. 19 As drought and heat consume the snow waters, so the grave consumes those who have sinned. 20 The 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. 21 For 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. 23 He gives them security, and they rely on it; yet His eyes are on their ways. 24 They 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 today’s study we come across a term that has caused significant interest to prophecy buffs. It says in verse 14 ‘The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; and in the night he is like a thief.’

Throughout the Bible when we see this word –‘thief’ – it describes a negative aspect. For example look at these verses;

Joel 2 verse 9, “They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter at the windows like a thief.

Zechariah 5 verse 3 - 4, “Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.” “I will send out the curse,” says the LORD of hosts; “It shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. it shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones.”

John 10 verse 10, ““The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

So, you might be saying to yourselves, okay- what’s your point.’ My point is that I have heard many good bible teachers’ use this same negative word and somehow spin it around and give it a positive application toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many of you who are interested in the future have heard teachings on this passage from the first letter to the Thessalonians. In chapter 5 we read, “1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.