Job 9:22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he? 25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. 26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
Yesterday we learned of a strong earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria. It is difficult to know how many people have been killed. Some reports suggest close to 4,000 people have died as a result of these quakes. Reports say there have been up to 120 aftershocks since the original two quakes hit. Turkey and Syria are not God-fearing nation. It is dominated by Islam. The word “allah” can be heard repeated in the news reports out of that region. As we have noted before, Turkey and Syria are working on building an alliance with Russia that will one day try to enact a massive attack against Israel. We have seen things moving in that direction in our time. It is interesting to me to watch how God keeps things in a very unstable way until His time is right. The number of deaths is a tragedy. God does not take any pleasure in the death of the wicked. His desire is for all to be saved. He never makes a mistake. He is not irrational in His decisions and His actions. He is giving warnings of Who is in charge. Man can plan, but God has the final say. We are constantly reminded of His power and His authority. Job was directed by God to write about this as well. Job was facing some severe testing. The devil was seeking to break him down to try to discredit God. Job had questions about God’s dealings and His whereabouts, but he did not reject Him. He also did not accept the false theology of his three friends. That was a good thing. As we see in verse 22, God is in charge of the perfect and the wicked. All of humanity is under God’s watchful eye. He is constantly reaching out to the lost, the wicked, to bring them to see their need to repent and be saved. He is constantly watching over His children to show them His faithfulness and that they can trust Him fully. Death is a certainty. It is important to be prepared for that sure event. Without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, there is no hope. There may be people today who will be speaking evil about God due to these quakes. Speaking evil of God will not change reality. God is not evil. Man is evil and it is only due to God’s mercy that evil people can even live on this earth. God desires to see people saved and living for Him. In verse 23 we see that the wicked will laugh at the troubles that the perfect face. They assume that the perfect deserve to suffer. Throughout history, we see that wicked people are jealous of the just. They mock at the true God and they mock at the desire of the perfect as they seek to glorify God. Joseph’s 10 brothers despised him because he trusted in God and gained favour with his father as well. Joseph was an obedient son who sought to please his father. His brothers were jealous of him and mocked him for his dreams. Eventually they sold him, thinking they had ended his dreams. They lived with guilt for the rest of their lives, because they refused to repent toward God and receive His forgiveness. Joseph faced difficulties, but he grew in his faith in God. Potiphar’s wife tried to break Joseph. She did not want this “good man” in her house. She wanted to defile him. We see by her actions that she had no interest in helping Joseph. She made up a lie and had him thrown in prison. She was not at all concerned about his well-being. She knew that Joseph was innocent, but she lied and then watched him get punished with prison. In verse 24 we see that the earth is given into the hand of the wicked. Since the fall of man, there have been far more wicked people on earth than righteous people. The Bible declares that:
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Genesis 4 tells us that Adam and Eve had two sons. Cain killed his righteous brother Abel. That left only wicked Cain on earth to begin to multiply. His descendants were not God-fearing people. They foolishly followed the steps of their ungodly father. Sadly, most people never turn to God in repentance. Most people die in their sins and end up in hell. We know from our court systems, that many judges are corrupt. If you listen to people like the CBC or our P.M. you would be led to believe that we have a very just system. When evil people determine what justice is, we are in big trouble. Job challenged anyone to refute what he was saying. There was no one that could honestly dispute what he was saying. His three friends were proof that evil people dominate the world scene. The good news is that even though there is much injustice on this earth, God still provides for His children to be able to be a blessing to others. Job had the opportunity to refute his three friends’ false teaching. He did not understand why he was suffering. He did not appreciate what he was facing. However, he had enough understanding about God that he could show his friends that they were wrong. God would bless Job further and He would call upon Job to intercede for his three friends. Job would see the benefits of knowing the true God. Job needed patience. He needed to grow in his trust of the Lord. As we will see over and over again in this book, we can learn many important lessons from Job’s life. We can learn that God is never far from His own. He is always there to provide comfort and hope in the midst of trials. We can learn that God does not always protect His children from the physical attacks of the devil. He provides the power for His children to be able to resist the devil and serve Him faithfully. He has things under control, and the devil is very limited in what he can do. We do not always see it that way, but we need to believe what God says, rather than trust our fallible assessment of things. In verse 25 we see that life goes by very quickly. Even though Job was suffering, yet time was flying by. He assumed that in the midst of this hastening of time, there was nothing good to see. He compared his time as that of a swift ship or as an eagle that swoops in for the kill. The Bible reminds us of the importance of redeeming the time. It is true that life passes on very quickly. As we look back at a day or a week or a longer period of time, what have we accomplished? We need to be sure to make good use of the time that God gives us. We can never recall even one second. When it is gone, it is gone. We need to know the Lord in order to be able to make good use of the time that God gives us. There are so many people that do not know the Lord. There is so much work to be done in seeking to reach the lost. There are so many good things for us to learn. It is a privilege to know the Lord and to serve Him. Many people waste their time on video games and other activities like that. What do they accomplish? What benefit is there in that? The answer is rather obvious. It is important to be a productive member of society. Know the Lord and then use the talents He gives you for His glory. Job had a few short years with his children. He saw them grow up and establish their own homes. All of a sudden they were gone. He could never bring them back. He had tried to instil in them the fear of the Lord. We do not know how successful he was. We know his wife did not appreciate his walk with the Lord. That was tragic for her. Job could have used her support, but she was certainly at a greater loss than he was. Be sure to take the time that God gives you to get to know Him. If you are not saved, then get saved. After you are saved, get baptized and join a good church. Learn and grow in the Lord. Serve Him in your work place and in your community. Let Him provide the blessings He has in store for you. Pastor Bartel
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