Job 21:17–21

Zophar looked only at the particular cases where God deals in judgment with some especially wicked men. And there are such cases every now and then. A man takes God's name in vain and swears to a downright falsehood — perhaps about theft, or some other offence. Now and then such a man drops down dead after it. Well, that is a very unusual thing. Other people swear to it and keep their money, and try to keep their character. But all the while they are heaping up wrath against the day of wrath.

Against Zophar, he reminds him that verse 17 has also been translated "how rarely is the lamp of the wicked put out." How seldom does calamity break in on them, when God scatters "snares" or "lightnings" in His wrath! The psalmist tells us that the ungodly are "like chaff that the wind drives away" (Ps. 1:4). That is true. But Job reminds his hearers that this seldom takes place in the present life; it is kept for the "judgment."

"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out!" Here, as you can see, he acknowledges the other side; and it is no less true that God does not leave Himself without witness. He insists that the present world is no expression of God's moral government. But he acknowledges that a divine blow falls on men in the middle of their apparent prosperity. In a moment their lamp is put out. So he admits there are exceptional dealings.

They urge the doctrine that God's government of the earth is a full measure and display of His righteousness, and of the righteousness of man that would match it. That doctrine proves total ignorance of what God's righteousness is, and of His ways... He shows that God does make His disapproval of the wicked known. Yet the circumstances the wicked are often found in overthrow the arguments of his friends.

This was what Job found so hard to understand — how those who did evil prospered, while the righteous were persecuted. This is just because the time of judgment has not come. The time of mercy is going on now, and we cannot have mercy and judgment at once. So all is a riddle now.

How often, he asks, does their lamp go out, and destruction break on them, as God is pleased to deal out in His displeasure? It may be now and then, hardly often; it is false to say always... Let none then misjudge God's ways, or draw unfounded conclusions from His government at present. Look at these two men, each with a full cup, one of happiness, the other of misery; both lying dead together. Appearances prove nothing but the haste and folly of those who judge before the time.

When they threshed grain on the threshing floor, they opened doors at both ends. The wind blew through and took away the chaff. The wheat stayed, because it was heavier. The chaff was of no value, and unbelievers have no moral weight.

They may be like straw or chaff before the wind, and so death carries them away in the end. But judgment in the present does not seem to fall often.

He presses the point that the present world does not show God's moral government. But he admits that a blow from God falls on men while they seem to prosper. In a moment their lamp goes out. So he allows for exceptional dealings. There was another kind of dealing that he did not yet see, and he had to learn it. God works among His own by chastening, trial, or discipline. He does this as surely as He may lay His hand on the wicked in solemn judgment.

How often, he asks, does their lamp go out? How often does destruction break on them, as God sees fit to measure out in His anger? It may be now and then, hardly often; it is false to say always. The day is coming when the ungodly, instead of prospering, shall be like the chaff which the wind drives away. The friends set the date too early. They fixed their eyes — blinded, sadly — on the present, instead of waiting, as Job did, for the resurrection and the kingdom.

One dies quietly, surrounded by prosperity — as the psalm says, the wicked have no pangs in their death. Another is cut off in misery. Both alike reach a common end in the grave. Since that is so, his friends had no business laying down a fixed rule. They claimed that judgment in this life was always a sign of sin in the person affected. They claimed prosperity was always a sign of righteousness. He had found no solution to his own problem. But he could still urge his friends to "judge nothing before the time."

What Zophar and the others press was only half a truth. And half a truth never sanctifies. What you leave out may be just as important, or even more important, and that was the difference. For all his faults, Job was holding on to the truth, and he looked at it with a larger heart and a more awakened conscience… "God lays up his iniquity for his children; he rewards him, and he shall know it. His eyes shall see his destruction" — Job allowed it might run in the family — "and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty."

It can rightly be said, however, that "God lays up one's iniquity for his children." That is, the children may later suffer for their fathers' sins. Exodus 34:7 shows this, where God speaks of "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." This is a warning to parents. Their children will suffer the consequences of their parents' wickedness, and God knows how to repay in a fitting way (v.19).

When Jehovah declared His gracious Name to Moses, He gave him a partial view of His glory. There He named iniquity — not transgression, and not sin — as what He would visit "on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation" (Ex. 34:7).

Iniquity has to do with perversion: a twisting of any system or order God has established, and of the truth He has made known. The Hebrew word used is avon, which means perversity.

Verses 19 and 20 state the facts: God lays up the iniquity of the wicked for the children. (Another translation puts these two verses as a wish rather than a fact.) In the end he will see the result of his own evil, though the day is long delayed.

It may fall on his children, not on the man himself, in this world. Job looks on to the judgment, when the evil-doer must suffer. So let no one misjudge God's ways, or draw groundless conclusions from the way He governs now. Look at these two men, each with a full cup, one of happiness, the other of misery; both lying dead together. Appearances prove nothing but the haste and folly of those who judge before the time.

Since this is so, it hardly suits his friends to lay down a fixed rule. They said that in this life judgment was always a sign of sin, and prosperity a sign of righteousness, in the people it fell on. Job had reached no answer to his own problem. Even so, he could urge his friends to "judge nothing before the time."

What Zophar and the others press was only half a truth. Now half a truth never sanctifies. What you leave out is perhaps of equal, or even greater, importance, and there was just the difference. With all his defect, Job really was holding on to the truth, and he looked at it with a larger heart and a more exercised conscience.

God lays up his iniquity for his children, He repays him, and he knows it. His own eyes see his blow, and he drinks of the wrath of the Almighty. For what delight has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

The two following verses, 19 and 20, state the facts — another rendering puts them in the form of a desire. God lays up the iniquity of the wicked for the children, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children." He shall in the end see the result of his evil, though the day is long delayed.

While it is true, as the psalmist tells us, that the ungodly are "like the chaff which the wind drives away" (Ps. 1:4), Job reminds his hearers that this seldom takes place in the present life; it is reserved for the "judgment."

A cup is in the LORD's hand, and the wine foams. It is full of mixture, and He pours out from it. Surely all the wicked of the earth shall drain off and drink its dregs — what remains for the last, and is the strongest part.

In the end the eyes of the wicked will see his own destruction, and he will drink the wrath of God. But it is a sad comment: "what does he care about his household after him?" Such is the callous selfishness that always goes with a course of wickedness.

Selfishness is at the bottom of all these wicked men who flourish in this world. Even their children are in no way to be compared with the number of their own months. That is what they want — to live as long as possible.

There is the awful end that awaits them, the awakening like the rich man: "in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes." That was a solemn thing, but it was the Lord who gave us that picture. Nobody could speak with certainty of this until the Lord came. And it does not describe what will be after the resurrection. This is what takes place right after death. And he was not a wicked man in the eyes of the Jews. He was not a drunkard or a thief or a robber. He was a man highly respected, a man marked by self-indulgence.

They urge the doctrine that God's government of this world is a full measure and display of His righteousness, and of the righteousness of man that would match it. That doctrine proves total ignorance of what God's righteousness is, and of His ways. It also shows no real knowledge of what God is, or of man as a sinner... Job shows that God does show His disapproval of the wicked. Yet the circumstances the wicked are often found in overthrow the arguments of his friends.

It may rightly be said, however, that "God stores up their iniquity for their children." That is, the children may afterward suffer for their fathers' sins. Exodus 34:7 shows this, speaking of God "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." So this is a warning to parents: their children will suffer the consequences of their parents' wickedness. God knows how to measure out recompense in a fitting way.

Job fully admits that there will be a final display of the sin of the wicked. But it is so often seen in the children instead of in themselves. And what do they care for their house after them?... Verses 19 and 20 state the facts, which another translation puts in the form of a wish: God lays up the iniquity of the wicked for the children, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children." He will see the result of his evil in the end, though the day is long delayed.

"For what do they care for their houses after them, when the number of their months is cut off?" That is, selfishness is at the bottom of all these wicked men who flourish in this world. And even their children are in no way an object to be compared with the number of their own months. That is what they want — to live as long as possible.

In the end the eyes of the wicked will see his own destruction, and he will drink the wrath of God. But it is a sad comment: "What does he care about his household after him?" Such is the callous selfishness that always goes with a course of wickedness. Though the number of his months is cut in half, this makes no difference to him.

The friends looked for that day too soon. They fixed their eyes — blinded, sadly — on the present, instead of waiting, like Job, for the resurrection and the kingdom. It may fall on his children, not on the man himself, in this world. Job looks on to the judgment, when the evildoer must suffer. So let no one misjudge God's ways, or draw groundless conclusions from the way He governs now.