Job 21:31

31 Who shall declare [nagad] his way [derek] to his face [paniym]? and who shall repay [shalam] him what he hath done [`asah]? KJV-Interlinear

31 'Who will confront him with his actions, And who will repay him for what he has done? NASB

I want to quickly clarify a point of our study. It is Jobs friends that are promoting the idea that wicked people are punished in a very public way in this world, and that Job is suffering in such a harsh way, he therefore must be wicked.

Their view is wrong, as we have studied.

Job on the other hand is countering their opinions, with truth, which states that no one can really tell the spiritual status of anyone who is undergoing suffering. That wicked men can be successful and go to their grave in a mode of success, or they can be unsuccessful and go to their grave while being overwhelmed with trouble. It is not a fact that wicked men will be publicly punished in this life, for all to see.

Now, these chapters have been dealing with wicked people only. They have not been dealing with 'good' people. But you can apply the same principles to good people. Namely, that no on can tell whether a person is good or bad, spiritually speaking, just by taking a narrow look at their outward life.

And by the way, by 'good' I mean spiritually mature or advancing folks, not someone who happens to smile and looks nice.

Now, Job continues with his explanation of wicked people.

Given that this is the devils world, wickedness will seemingly go unpunished. And to that we all say, 'Not fair.' But it is a fact of life. There is a great deal of wrong in this world that just seems to go un-noticed. And that perception only applies to the spiritually deficient person.

If you know anything about doctrine, you know that all evil will eventually have its day in court. And that is Jobs point.

This world is unwilling to call a spade a spade, unwilling to call a wicked person, wicked. Those who are well to do and wicked, have the means to intimidate, or drive any attacks against them, away. The news is full of celebrities and well to do types, who get away with all kinds of things. And remember that this applies to the entire world, not just our country.

And, this is just a reference to evil getting away with its policies. And again remember that evil includes everything that is in opposition to truth. All religions are evil and they prosper very well in this world. But go up against any of them and what will happen to you? You'll get blasted or ostracized, or driven out in public opinion. Certainly if you oppose Islam or some similar religion, the attacks can get pretty brutal.

Wasn't there a big hoopla over pictures or something about Muhammad a while back?

And so Job asks a pertinent questions.

'Who, in this world, will confront, expose, declare the wicked?'

'Who, in this world, will expose the pattern of evil or the way of life of the wicked?'

'Who, in this world, will bring charges to his face?'

'Who, in this world, will punish the wicked? Who will repay him for what he has done?'

Despite the laws of the land, despite all of the arrests and convictions and imprisonments of millions of people throughout history and throughout the world, evil still exists.

Most of these legal actions are for criminal activities, but evil is not limited to only crimes. Self-righteousness, arrogance, gossip and so forth, are evil but they are not crimes subject to some sort of punishment by the courts of this world.

And so evil runs rampant in world history, and will continue to do so, until God calls a halt to it all.

Humanity cannot and never will be able to stop evil or its production, wickedness. That will take the power of God, to accomplish. And that is the future day of appointment, to which Job is referring.

In the next life, there will be a day of judgment, and in that day, all of the evil of history will be hauled into court. No one will get away with anything.

In the mean time, we all have to live in this world, and we all are exposed to the evils of this world. And, we all will experience many different circumstances in our life. Some of us will be prosperous, and some of us will suffer. But in every case, if you pursue God and your spiritual life, you will be far better off, than if you ignore God in your life.

Remember that life continues, eventually, forever. It does not stop when you die.

Now is the time to post a prayer.