Evangelicia

Alicia's Bible Blog

 

 

Job 27:7-8 "Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him that rises up against me be as the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?"

 

After affirming his commitment to righteousness, even in the face of his suffering (Job 27:6), Job is asking God to take Job's enemies as His enemies. God's enemies are the wicked, the unrighteous, and the godless, and Job knows they will be punished, so he asks that God treat people who rise up against him as wicked and unrighteous. Job identifies with God's righteousness, and therefore sees wickedness in others as an affront not only to him, but more importantly to God. 

 

It would be wonderful to be as pure as of heart as Job is! When we are suffering, we should ask ourselves if there's something that the suffering may be purging from us, some lesson we should be learning from it (that is the role of Job's friends in this book, for better or for worse). But if we examine ourselves and truly say "my heart does not reproach me for any of my days" (Job 27:6), as Job does, then we can be certain we are on God's side and the suffering is attaining some other good.

 

Meanwhile, there will always be wicked, unrighteous. godless people in the world. To the extent they are the cause our undeserved suffering, we should let God do the work of vengeance ("Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'” (Romans 12:19)). It is always better to do that than to take things into our own hands. As with everything else, leave the heavy lifting to God, give your enemies to Him and let Him figure out what to do with them.