Job 24:1-25
Why Are Times Not Kept?
1“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?
2Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
4They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
6They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.
7Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
8Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.
10Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
11They crush olives within their walls; they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
13Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
15The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight. Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.
16In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves in, never to experience the light.
17For to them, deep darkness is their morning; surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!
18They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.
19As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.
20The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.
21They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
22Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty; though rising up, they have no assurance of life.
23He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.
24They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”
Berean Standard Bible
Job asks why times of judgment are not kept and why those who know God do not see His days. He lists people who move boundary stones, seize flocks, take the donkey from the orphan, and demand a widow's ox as security.
The poor are pushed off the road, forced to hide, and left without clothing or shelter. They gather among the rocks, press olives, tread winepresses, and cry out from the city. Job's complaint brings social injustice into the discussion rather than treating suffering as a private spiritual problem.
He describes murderers who rise in the dark, adulterers who wait for twilight, and thieves who work at night. The wicked are familiar with darkness. Yet the poor and the dying still cry out, and God seems not to charge the oppressors with folly in the time Job can see.
Job says God drags away the mighty by His power, but He gives them security for a time. They are exalted and then wither like everyone else. His argument is not that evil is acceptable; it is that the visible world does not provide the simple moral timetable his friends keep promising.
Questions
1 What property did people move?
AnswerThey moved boundary stones and took land or flocks that did not belong to them.
2 Who was mistreated?
AnswerThe poor, fatherless, widows, laborers, and dying were mistreated and left vulnerable.
3 When did the wicked work?
AnswerMurderers, adulterers, and thieves worked in the darkness or waited for twilight.
4 What question drives Job's speech?
AnswerHe asks why God's times of judgment are not visible when oppression is happening.
What This Means for Us
Job refuses to discuss suffering without naming the people who are being exploited. The question “Why does God delay?” should never become an excuse for us to delay justice.
Look for hidden burdens in the systems your household uses. Protect property and boundaries, but also notice who lacks the power to defend their own.
Prayer
God of justice, hear the cries of people pushed aside and exploited. Make us alert to hidden harm, willing to repair what we can, and patient without becoming passive while we wait for Your judgment. Amen.