Contradictions

Bible Verse

Job 21:1–18 NKJV

1 Then Job answered and said: 2 “Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation. 3 Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking. 4 “As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient? 5 Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth. 6 Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh. 7 Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power? 8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them. 10 Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage. 11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance. 12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute. 13 They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave. 14 Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’ 16 Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me. 17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger? 18 They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.

Introduction

Why do others who don’t come to church or do as much as I do succeed and become prosperous?

Why am I struggling so much without any sign of success or progress?

What is the purpose of my life?

Context

This text is a response the Zophar’s, Bildad, and Eliphaz, Job’s friends who came to see Job when they heard he was sick

The text argues that neither being good or wicked is a determinant of your prosperity or how well you do in life

It presents three questions:

Why do the wicked live long?

How often does destruction come upon the wicked?

Then what is meaning of prosperity?

Job 21:7 NKJV

7 Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?

Job 21:17 NKJV

17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger?

Arguments and Counter Arguments

The Retribution Dogma (Job 21:7)

The Retribution Dogma: The belief that suffering always indicates God’s punishment of a person.

The friends of Job presents an argument that the wicked person does not live long, thus implying that Job must have been or is wicked hence the reason for his predicament (see Job 15:17–35; 18:5–21; 20:4–29)

Job, beginning with a rhetorical question (Job 21:7), exposes the loopholes in the retribution dogma

The prosperity of the wicked is still a mystery for believers today and other biblical writers agonised over it

Psalm 73:3–5 NKJV

3 For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pangs in their death, But their strength is firm. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men.

Psalm 73:12 NKJV

12 Behold, these are the ungodly, Who are always at ease; They increase in riches.

Jeremiah 12:1–4 NKJV

1 Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind. 3 But You, O Lord, know me; You have seen me, And You have tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, And prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4 How long will the land mourn, And the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, For the wickedness of those who dwell there, Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

How Often Does Destruction Come Upon The Wicked (Job 21:17)

Job challenges Bildad’s belief that the wicked person’s light does go out

Job 18:5–6 NKJV

5 “The light of the wicked indeed goes out, And the flame of his fire does not shine. 6 The light is dark in his tent, And his lamp beside him is put out.

Ecclesiastes 6:1–3 NKJV

1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. 3 If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he—

This question therefore requires an answer…how often is the lamp of the wicked put out…NOT OFTEN

Audience Questions

Why is there prosperity for those who don’t believe in God?

Does God’s righteousness extend to the unrighteous?

What then is the benefit of worship?

Our Hope

Matthew 5:44–48 NKJV

44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Psalm 73:16–19 NKJV

16 When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me— 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors.

Philippians 2:14–15 NKJV

14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Actionable Steps

The need to be more empathetic to others going through a difficult patch in their life

Act in accordance to the word and instruction of God

Trust God in all things

Encourage others in times of hardship