Job continues his reply to Eliphaz, describing three types of wicked men. First, he mentions those who are often not considered wicked, but they oppress the people. Secondly, he describes those who live in fear over the evil deeds the wicked do, and, finally, he describes those who are so wicked that they need no cover for their crimes, because they are so strong that the legitimate authorities in society find it difficult to challenge them, and even they live in fear of them. Job’s case against the friends seems to become stronger and stronger, yet they still hold him to be wicked, which is the problem of religious folk, even today, vis-à-vis those who believe in doctrines they are unable to prove. They cling to false doctrine, even when such things are proved to be totally wrong, and as they cling to these unprovable traditions, they call it faith. However, what good is your faith, if it is founded upon something that is proved wrong?
The truth that had been revealed by God doesn’t seem to have been codified in the days of Job, but that would be done later by Moses. All the truth we find in Moses’ account of Genesis was handed down from one generation to the next, until Moses put it in order during the 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness.[1] What we find in the book of Job is that he was disappointed in and complained about the fact that, the Lord knew, when he would intervene in the affairs of men as their Judge, but he didn’t reveal those times to his servants. If he did, they could anticipate those times and be at peace with the Lord’s treatment of the wicked during the days leading up to their judgment, which days Job refers to as his days. We, ourselves, understand the days, when the Lord judges the wicked in his wrath as the Days of the Lord (Job 24:1).[2]
In the first few verses of chapter 24 Job describes the wickedness of the strong who oppress the weak. Although these folks aren’t always labeled criminals, their deeds prove otherwise, showing they are very wicked, indeed. They seem to be wealthy and strong, meaning they are able to bribe legal authorities to administer their offices, according to the desires of these wicked men and against folks who are unable to defend themselves (cp. Psalm 82:1-4). In other words, the defenseless in society have no recourse but to yield to the will of their enemies. These wicked folk enrich themselves by cheating property owners and assuming ownership over portions of what they own. They violently take away what wealth the defenseless have, and take away the power of the weak for a pledge for what is given them, which probably means leasing out their land to be worked by these poor folk. The poor would like to hide from these people, but when they become unable to pay the agreed lease for the land, the pledged ox would become the property of the wicked, who leased out his land to the poor, such as the widow (Job 24:2-4).
Next, Job describes these wicked men as having an unyielding spirit like the wild asses of the wilderness. They rise early for the work they do, often preying upon others, and the wilderness yields food for them. In other words, they labor not in vain. It is almost as though the Lord provides for them by turning over the innocent to the wicked, so they might fulfill their pleasure (Job 24:5-6). Some victims are the outcasts of society, those who are forced to abide in bigotry, and made to live without the necessities of life, unprotected by the law (Job 24:7-8). These wicked men prey upon the defenseless and require security for bargains they make with the poor, which probably amounts to leasing out their land for an exorbitant fee. Thus, the ways of the wicked keep the weak under their power by never permitting them to gain any strength, whereby the weak and defenseless might enable themselves to live independently from the wicked (Job 24:9-10). So, the weak are confined to labor within the walls (the property markers) of the wicked and tread out their winepresses for them, while all the while suffering want themselves (Job 24:11).
Job concludes this part of his reply by saying the oppressed cry out for help, but no one comes to their aid. Even the Lord seems to hold a deaf ear to their cries (Job 24:12), implying their judgment is set for another time, sometime after the days, when the crimes were committed, vis-à-vis the Day of the Lord, which is unknown, even to the righteous (cp. Job 24:1).
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[1] The prospect that records were handed down by the patriarchs to the time of Moses can be reasonably drawn from various portions of the Genesis account, which begin with the words: “These are the generations…” (Genesis 2:4; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2. The one exception to this rule is Genesis 5:1, which begins with: “This the book of the generations of Adam…” Thus, Job and the friends should have had some sense of truth of God, which they could apply to life.
[2] There were many such days in the history of mankind. There was the Genesis Flood, the Lord’s judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, his judgment upon the land of Canaan, when he brought Israel into the Promised land, his judgement upon Israel, removing them from the Promised Land, and, later, after he brough the Jews back, he once again cast them out in 70 AD, because they refused the Gospel. Men tend to think there is only one Day of the Lord, but this simply isn’t so! Normally, God observes a hands-off policy with men, and he gives us freedom to do good or evil, but there are times, when he intervenes in order to keep men from wandering too far from the path he wishes them to take for their ultimate good. Therefore, whenever he does intervene in the affairs of men, it is for judgment upon the just and the unjust, and we call it a Day of the Lord.
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