Job 20:4-5 Know you not this of old, since man was placed on earth,… The words of the text are indisputably true, though misapplied. In the world there is, alas! very often a triumphing of the wicked. Sometimes We see it on a grand scale, as in the cases of Pharaoh, or of Nero. Sometimes we see it on a small scale. There is great mystery in this apparent triumph of evil. Many a suffering saint has been perplexed by this feature of the Divine government (Psalm 23). I. Some thoughts as to WHY THE WICKED SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO TRIUMPH FOR A SEASON. 1. God is a God of patience and long-suffering. He does not cut short the day of grace, even of the most ungodly, but gives them space for repentance. And even if this is of no avail, yet it is a display of His own attributes, and leaves the impenitent more completely without excuse. 2. This triumph may be permitted for a time, as a chastisement to His people, or to His world. God uses the wicked as unconscious instruments in executing His will, and especially in inflicting chastisement on His backsliding people. II. There is another, and how different a triumph, THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHRISTIAN. His triumph is not over the weak and suffering, but over the strong — the world, the flesh, the devil. (George Wagner.) Parallel Verses KJV: Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,WEB: Don't you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth, |
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