Job 24:20 | KingComments | STEP | The wicked is “insignificant [or: light, swift] on the surface of the water” ( ). He disappears through judgment with the speed at which a twig on the surface of the water is chased by the wind. Perhaps this is the wicked one who is a pirate. In their looting the wicked do not confine themselves to the mainland. Also the sea is not a safe area for honest working people because of the presence of pirates. Those who earn their living in an honest way are blessed. The wicked is cursed all over the earth, wherever he gets his portion, on land or at sea. He will not turn to the vineyards to work there and earn his money in a respectable way. What drought and heat do with snow water, Sheol does with sinners ( ). Snow water evaporates due to drought with heat and nothing is left of it. If a sinner lies in the grave, there is nothing left of him either. The body decays. Even the sinner’s mother will forget him ( ). She doesn’t want to think about him anymore, because this son of hers has been a blessing to no one, but on the contrary a curse to many. The only ones who have anything to do with him are worms. To them his body is a welcome meal. No one else will miss him, no one will think of him. He is like a tree that is broken down by a storm. He breaks down and dies. Job describes in these verses that death is the end for the wicked, but without referring to a judgment hereafter. Everything they have done is forgotten. The wicked seems to be exalted in his life and then cut away when he dies. Then everything is over, without anything of God’s wrath being visible in his life. The absence of judgment for the wicked is a mystery to Job. He does not understand this, he wrestles with it.

‏ Job 24:20

The End of the Wicked

The wicked is “insignificant [or: light, swift] on the surface of the water” (Job 24:18). He disappears through judgment with the speed at which a twig on the surface of the water is chased by the wind. Perhaps this is the wicked one who is a pirate. In their looting the wicked do not confine themselves to the mainland. Also the sea is not a safe area for honest working people because of the presence of pirates.

Those who earn their living in an honest way are blessed. The wicked is cursed all over the earth, wherever he gets his portion, on land or at sea. He will not turn to the vineyards to work there and earn his money in a respectable way.

What drought and heat do with snow water, Sheol does with sinners (Job 24:19). Snow water evaporates due to drought with heat and nothing is left of it. If a sinner lies in the grave, there is nothing left of him either. The body decays. Even the sinner’s mother will forget him (Job 24:20). She doesn’t want to think about him anymore, because this son of hers has been a blessing to no one, but on the contrary a curse to many. The only ones who have anything to do with him are worms. To them his body is a welcome meal. No one else will miss him, no one will think of him. He is like a tree that is broken down by a storm. He breaks down and dies.

Job describes in these verses that death is the end for the wicked, but without referring to a judgment hereafter. Everything they have done is forgotten. The wicked seems to be exalted in his life and then cut away when he dies. Then everything is over, without anything of God’s wrath being visible in his life. The absence of judgment for the wicked is a mystery to Job. He does not understand this, he wrestles with it.