Job Says God Will Deal with the Wicked
21 Then Job [a]answered,
2 “Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your way of consolation.
3 “Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may mock.
4 “As for me, is my complaint [b]to man?
And why should [c]I not be impatient?
5 “Look at me, and be astonished,
And put your hand over your mouth.
6 “Even when I remember, I am disturbed,
And horror takes hold of my flesh.
7 “Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?
8 “Their [d]descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes,
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
And the rod of God is not on them.
10 “His ox mates [e]without fail;
His cow calves and does not abort.
11 “They send forth their little ones like the flock,
And their children skip about.
12 “They [f]sing to the timbrel and harp
And rejoice at the sound of the flute.
13 “They spend their days in prosperity,
And [g]suddenly they go down to [h]Sheol.
14 “They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15 ‘[i]Who is [j]the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’
16 “Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Job finally says outright what we all wonder at some point, “Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very powerful?” We don’t know the answer, and neither does Job, as the question is a rebuttal to his friends. They repeatedly claim that the wicked never prosper, or that wickedness causes poverty and disease to descend upon a person. Yet Job knew, and he knew his friends had at least heard stories of evildoers who were prospering and gathering strength without a care in the world.
Job is really asking why his plight should be different? If he were hiding some evil sin, as his friends repeatedly have claimed, should he really be in the state he is in? Why shouldn’t he have instead continued prospering if his deeds were wicked? While Job is only halfway through his speech, verse 15 is the ultimate question of this passage.
Indeed, if we follow God, should we gain great power on this earth, should we accumulate great riches, or find a peaceful and easy life? Maybe, but that is not the point of following Him. Jesus told us to “store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt.” That is because everything in this physical life is temporary. As someone recently said once more, “the only thing you can take with you (to heaven) are people.”
We can worry and fret about why some folks have money or success, and we don’t. We can get stuck in the comparison game, and find frustration and discontentment. Or we can focus on what really matters, God and people–more specifically the destination of their souls. That is what God cares most about, and it should be our heart too. Often it is not, and we need to ask God once more, “please give me Your heart for the people around me!”
Check yourself today, and ask “what is the condition of my heart?” Am I consumed by the pursuit of earthly success? Am I distraught by the (apparent) success of others? How am I measuring success? Do I care enough about the people God has put in my life? Does my heart break for those who are lost? Seek Him First…