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Topic: No Dichotomy
[DCLM Daily Manna 2 May 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Job 21:1-21
1 But Job answered and said,
2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
KEY VERSE: “Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?… They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.” – (Job 21:7,13)
MESSAGE:
Often, in our haste to pass judgment on people who may be going through confounding situations, we jump to wrong conclusions about them. We argue that if they are suffering adversities, then their sins must be great. We believe that God punishes people according to the magnitude of their transgressions. But God is not man; He may in His sovereign will permit evil people to prosper more than believers.
This was the point Job sought to convey to his friend, Zophar, who had concluded that because he was in great distress, his sins must have been so great. He indirectly condemned Job without any evidence that he was a sinner. But in his stout rebuttal, Job reminded him that the wicked do enjoy long life, acquire and exercise mighty power. Their businesses flourish and yield huge profit, their houses are filled with the sound of music, and their days are spent in great wealth. Spared of instant judgment, they push God aside and “desire not the knowledge of [His] ways”. They neither recognise God as sovereign nor are they prepared to serve or pray to Him. While he stressed that “the counsel of the wicked is far from me”, he was not oblivious of the fact that eventually, the wicked will experience the wrath of the Almighty.
God is a God of justice. He allows the wicked to access free air just as He allows the righteous. Matthew 5:45 says, “…for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Good things also happen to bad people!
We must be hesitant in passing judgment on others. Not everyone who is going through adversity is suffering the consequence of sin. However, those who are paying for their wrongs done should repent immediately and ask for forgiveness because, one day, God will come hard on sinner with fiery judgment.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Sinners who take God’s magnanimity for granted on earth, will face His judgment in eternity.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judges 1-4
