7 “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes upon him?
10 Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
why then have you become altogether vain?
In the above, Job is continuing his response to the criticism of his friend, Bildad, in chapter 25. Job’s three so-called friends have been collectively harsh of Job. They believe in retribution theology, meaning God brings His wrath on the disobedient and blesses the obedient. To them, you know which camp you live in based upon how life unfolds for you. They have no room in their theology for the suffering of the innocent. They only know what they observe. But they really don’t know who is righteous and who is wicked. They don’t know. God does.
Job has maintained his righteousness and will do so to the very end (Job 27:6). Job tells them that his observations are that the wicked do not want to reach out to God. His argument is that if his friends are asking him to repent, which will bring blessings on him, then why don’t all those who are wicked repent and find pleasure and blessings from God. He states that in his observations the wicked do not repent. So if they are correct and Job is wicked, how then can he repent? By their logic the wicked should cry out and seek relief. But in Job’s theology the wicked do not cry out and if they did, God is not obligated to hear them ... because they are wicked. (This is, of course, is the best argument for the need for the Gospel. There needs to be a mediator between wicked man and a holy God. Jesus is that man!).
There is some irony in Job’s argument. He has maintained, to this point, that he is righteous. In the above argument he is falsely conceding their thought that he is unholy and sinful. He is stating to them that if he was as sinful as they say, he has no hope, anyhow. He will go on in chapter 27 to show the destructive end of the wicked, those who reject God. Remember, his friends are telling him that he is wicked and he should repent. In essence, Job is saying, “Okay, okay! I am wicked! But if I am wicked I would have not have a heart for God and wicked people don’t turn to God. Plus God will not hear the cries of the wicked. So if you are correct and I am wicked, then your argument is wrong, repentance won’t do anything to change my situation, anyhow.”
The real truth is that the friends have it wrong. We know from chapters one and two that God declared Job righteous. But on this earth both the wicked and righteous do suffer. But they suffer in different ways and at different times. But in the end the righteous are delivered from their suffering and wicked are not. That is the truth of Scripture. Job is correct in confronting his friends. His friends are wrong to simply state that all those who suffer are wicked. We all make these logically wrong assumptions about people who are suffering. However, God knows the righteous from the wicked. He hears the prayers of one and rejects the prayers of the other. In the end, God sorts it out perfectly.
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