Job Says God Seems to Ignore Wrong Doing

Job 24:1–25
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After a strong defense of his integrity and the questioning of God’s sovereignty, Job raises some questions about what he believed to be God’s indifference to wickedness in the world. The entire chapter focuses on the seeming injustices that God permits in this world. These are stated as:

1. Injustices in the country (vv. 1-11). For the most part, there were no walls or fences separating the farm lands. Each family had its own plot of ground and was expected to respect the boundary markers (Deut. 19:14). Furthermore, God promised to curse anyone who tried to steal land by moving the landmarks (Deut. 27:17), but wicked men did it just the same (v. 2). They not only took the land, but the animals that grazed on the land. They even took the flocks of the widows, orphans and the poor, and left them in poverty (vv. 3-11). Now Job says, “If God judges the wicked, why hasn’t He judged these who have treated the poor so unjustly and inhumanely?”
2. Crimes in the city (vv. 12-17). Job begins with murders, as he hears the groans of the wounded and sees the death of the innocent (vv. 12-14). Next he mentions sexual sins, in which the adulterer and the rapist wait for darkness before they sneak out to satisfy their desires (v. 15). Also waiting for the darkness is the thief who breaks into houses (vv. 16-17).
3. A curse on the wicked (vv. 18-25). Job gives a description of what will happen to the wicked, or it may be interpreted as a curse on the wicked. I think it refers to Job’s personal curse on the wicked who seem to escape judgment. He says, “May the wicked vanish like foam on the water (vv. 18-19), as they rot in the grave (v. 20), as the wives are barren and give them no heirs (v. 21), and their sense of success brought down like wheat in the harvest” (vv. 22-24).

Application

Job doesn’t understand what is happening to him, and he needs the comfort and the help which has not been forthcoming from his friends. He doesn’t understand why God condones the actions of others who are really sinners. Injustices in society cause great pain in people’s lives, so I need to do all I can to uphold the law and promote justice.