In the previous study we saw how the wealthy, with the help of the state, oppress the poor and defenseless in society. They live without fear of reprisals, because they are wealthy enough to bribe the legal authorities, causing them to administer their offices in favor of the wealthy wicked. Nevertheless, Job then points out that there are also those wicked folk who live in fear of what they do. In other words, these wicked people are not wealthy enough to bribe the legal authorities to rule in their favor, so they live in fear of being found out and punished by the very men who protected the previously mentioned wicked who oppressed the poor and the defenseless.
This second group of wicked folks are men who do their deeds in the night, both literally and figuratively. In other words, what they commit themselves to do during the daylight hours is carried out under the cover of anonymity. They fear being found out, so whether they cover their deeds with the darkness of the night or by masks during the day, they labor to do it without becoming known (Job 24:13). This second group are the murders (Job 24:14), adulterers (verse-15) and the robbers (verse-16) among us. They have rebelled against the light of their own conscience (cp. John 3:20), and are ignorant of the ways of the Lord. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t know of the Lord’s ways. It means they are ignorant of the rewards of living for God. They simply don’t believe doing good is profitable. They ignore the laws of the land and the ways of the Lord and decide for themselves what is good and what is evil (cp. Genesis 3:1-7).
Job describes the murder as one who rises early in the day, when the light isn’t strong enough to offer a clear picture of his figure. He will slay the poor, as they go to work, or the early traveler who seeks a market for his goods. He murders to cover his crime of theft, so his victims wouldn’t be able to identify him to the authorities. During the night he is the thief who does his wicked deeds, while his victims sleep (Job 24:14).
Likewise, the adulterer waits for the going down of the sun, when the light isn’t clear enough to make his identity known, and he destroys the bond between a husband and his wife (Job 24:15). Thus, he steals what is most sacred between a man and a woman, as though it were a mere commodity that could be bought and sold. He satisfies his lust by destroying what he could never possess for himself.
Finally, Job describes the robber who dug through the clay houses of that day during the nighttime hours (Job 24:16). It’s called breaking and entering today, and these wicked men use the daylight hours to explore their prospective sites and choose one, which they believe they could pull off with reasonable success, and, at the same time, allow them safety against both identification and capture.
For the most part, the light is a terror to these folks (Job 24:17). Conversely, their security is the cover of darkness. Anonymity is their greatest desire, for it is their life. As for most other folks, the light offers security, because seeing clearly is something to be desired, and to be known isn’t something they fear. Moreover, for those who are wealthy and follow the way of the Lord, it is good to be known, so that those in need could identify them, and by turning to them the poor would be helped by receiving the blessings of the Lord at the hand of the righteous, who are willing to share the blessings they’ve been given.
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