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Job 24:11-12
11 Which make oil [tsahar] within [beyn] their walls [shuwr], and tread [darak] their winepresses [yeqeb], and suffer thirst [tsame'].
12 Men [math] groan [na'aq] from out of the city [`iyr], and the soul [nephesh] of the wounded [chalal] crieth out [shava`]: yet God ['elowahh] layeth [suwm] not folly [tiphlah] to them. KJV-Interlinear
11 'Within the walls they produce oil; They tread wine presses but thirst. 12 'From the city men groan, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to folly. NASB
In ancient times, and even in our current age, people take advantage of people. Whether tyrants and slaves of old, or brutal employers of our current day, the attitude, of the well to do over the not so well to do, is similar.
The walls, are symbolic of the things of this life which the rich build up for themselves in order to isolate them and protect them from the realities outside of those walls.
The poor, in Jobs illustration, represent the good people. The rich, represent the wicked oppressors. And remember that this is an illustration only. Not all poor are good, and not all rich are bad.
But this picture gives us some insight into the spiritual applications of this illustration to life.
The oppressed are the victims of the jungle. Into the jungle they were born, and in the jungle they live. No one has any choice in where or when they will live their life.
We are all dealt the hand given us, so to speak. And it is those cards we are to play throughout life.
The oppressed have no choice but to live and work within the walls of their oppressors and they are not given a very good wage, if at all, for their efforts.
Likewise, relief does not come immediately in every individual event of life. Often the good are not rewarded for a very long time, if at all, and the bad, are certainly not punished instantly for their bad deeds.
And so we look to our own life in this world. We, and here I am referring to believers who are advancing in their spiritual life, we are the poor of the world. Why are we poor? Because if you recall our study of several days ago, the wicked of the world, are in effect stealing that which belongs to us. That makes us the poor, at least symbolically.
We are born into this world. We had no choice in the manner of our birth. We had no choice in the place or circumstances of our birth. So here we be, as they say. We must work within the walls of this jungle, a jungle where the oppressors seek to rule. The world cares nothing for believers, and would pay us nothing if they could get away with it. Just use us and toss us out when we are of no further use.
Believers of the world are expendable as far as the world is concerned. In fact, everyone who lives in this world is expendable as far as the world is concerned. So don't feel all alone and picked on. The evil policy on which this world runs itself, though prejudiced and unfair as we view it in some cases, is that way toward everyone, sooner or later.
The world likes to presume that it has some say and control over how it conducts itself, and in its own destiny. The world, or the views that people adopt from this world, sees itself as independent, self sufficient, and capable of perpetuating itself indefinitely. Oddly enough, these are unique attributes of God, you may recall.
Jer. 17:11
11 'As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool.' NASB
Luke 12:20
20 'But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' NASB
And so, even though reward and punishment do not come swiftly, they do come. And, it is God who controls history and every detail within it, not man.
Everything in life has its time and its course. It will follow that course until it reaches its end, an end which God has defined. And when that end is reached, then the world usually sees judgments of Biblical proportions, either on the individual level or on an international scale.
I just finished watching a television series on World War II. Just as the United States was being trained (spiritually) through a decade of economic depression, (and this is my personal view), the rest of the world was sliding into degeneracy, corruption and finally war.
At the end of the war, nearly sixty-million people had died and nearly every country was economically devastated. We in the United States, had by far the fewest casualties (we were not exempt from casualties), and our economy was surging us ahead into an era of great prosperity. That prosperity continues even to our present day, some seventy years later, and it is still continuing, despite all of the opinions and little ups and downs we have encountered.
You have been born into this world. Disasters will come into your life. Those are givens. But with God in your life, out of every disaster victory and phenomenal prosperity, will come.
With God in your life, all bad things come to an end. Without God, things will only get worse for you.
