Job 21:22-26

22 Shall any teach [lamad] God ['el] knowledge [da`ath]? seeing he judgeth [shaphat] those that are high [ruwm].

23 One dieth [muwth] in his full [tom] strength [`etsem], being wholly at ease [shal'anan] and quiet [shalev].

24 His breasts [`atiyn] are full [male'] of milk [chalab], and his bones [`etsem] are moistened [shaqah] with marrow [moach].

25 And another dieth [muwth] in the bitterness [mar] of his soul [nephesh], and never eateth ['akal] with pleasure [towb].

26 They shall lie down [shakab] alike [yachad] in the dust [`aphar], and the worms [rimmah] shall cover [kacah] them. KJV-Interlinear

22 'Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high? 23 'One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied; 24 His sides are filled out with fat, And the marrow of his bones is moist, 25 While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good. 26 'Together they lie down in the dust, And worms cover them. NASB

Jobs friends have suggested that the life of the wicked ends in obvious punishment. The wicked is cut off and then his children are judged as well.

Job has rejected this simple view of life.

The facts of life are, that one wicked person, and we are talking about wicked people here. Anyway, one wicked person may live high on the hog throughout his life and then he dies a sudden death. He has no pain, no distinguishable suffering, he just dies in his old age.

Then another wicked person may live a not so hot life. He may never have anything nice in life, but only hardship and bitterness. He may even die a prolonged death, but die he will.

And what is the point of all of this?

Both wicked people, whether wealthy or not, die. And in death they are suddenly equal. They decay, and the worms of the ground eat at them until they turn completely to dust. Dust being the source of their original substance.

And that substance being the physical body, upon which they both spent their entire life, nurturing through their desires and lusts and whatever other emotional motivations they had.

Is this the entire point of this principle?

No.

There is one more point here, and it is the most important point of them all.

God is sovereign. God is omniscient. God possesses foreknowledge. In short, Go knows what he is doing.

Throughout all of these verses, Job compares the prosperous but wicked person to the destitute and also wicked person. There is one more thing to consider.

Both the rich and the poor end up the same. They both end up as dust. Worthless, useless, poor dust. And that is their life thereafter, forever.

If they both rejected Christ, then they will both end up in the Lake of Fire.

So what does it matter, if they were rich or poor in this life of but a few decades, when they will spend all of eternity - billions and trillions of years, in the Lake of Fire.

Likewise, if both the rich and the poor happen to be believers, but still ignore their spiritual life, then they end up the same. Spiritually destitute. The will both go to heaven, but they will have nothing to show for their life. No spiritual growth. No spiritual assets. Nothing but a soul full of wood, hay, and stubble.

Job resolves this difference which providence, fate, chance, luck, external circumstances, outside influences, divine intervention, destiny, or whatever you want to call it, makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom and sovereignty of God

Do any of us know the entire life of any individual? Do any of us know the entire generations of any individual? Do any of us know the entirety of all interactions between an individual and everyone else in history?

Shall we tell God, who judges angels and kings, how He should govern the world, or what sinner He should spare and whom He should punish?

And the answer to all of these, is 'No.'

We can no more evaluate anyone, than we can judge them. And it is not our place to do so anyway.

And if we were to judge folks, then, without doctrine in our souls, we would certainly end up with many classes of privileged or not, witches or not, heretics or not, and all of these and many more, would be held prisoner to the convenience of our opinions.

And the politics of a flat world mentality would end up with man making a big deal over things that mean nothing.

Now is the time to post a prayer.