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Job 24:20
20 The womb [rechem] shall forget [shakach] him; the worm [rimmah] shall feed sweetly [mathaq] on him; he shall be no more remembered [zakar]; and wickedness [`evel] shall be broken [shabar] as a tree [`ets]. KJV-Interlinear
20 'A mother will forget him; The worm feeds sweetly till he is remembered no more. And wickedness will be broken like a tree. NASB
History has recorded many a wicked person and we all know of them and their deeds from our history books.
But there are far more people that have lived in history, than have made it into the history books. There have been estimates of a hundred-billion people who have been born into his world since Adam and Eve, and other estimates numbering into the trillions.
The history books have recorded maybe a few thousand people's names, if that many??
So how many of those unrecorded folks do you remember?
Almost none.
And here we have yet another symbol describing those folks who have lived evil, or wicked, or otherwise not so nice lives, and the world did not even know them, nor noticed their passing, nor has a memory of them.
Even the womb loses its memory of the child it once held. And that even happens very soon after birth. After a baby is born, the womb begins its process of shedding all of the birthing apparatus. It shrinks back to some sort of normal shape. And unless you had known the mother, within a few days or weeks, you cannot tell that a woman has just given birth.
At least not from the appearance from her waistline. And even if you suspected, no normal person would make any comments. What if you were wrong?
And likewise, a mother who has raised a wicked child, with the passing of many decades, will lose her memory of that childs reputation. Of course if the child has been really bad and has met with a violent death, then the mothers memory will linger. But, we are talking of those individuals who do not leave this world so dramatically.
The wicked may grow up as do trees. They have long lives, but because of their lack of a spiritual life, they rot from the inside. An old and rotten tree will one day collapse from its own weight.
No one is the wiser. Any old tree may look ok from the outside, but its insides are rotten, and the first time a storm comes along, or from the simple act of gravity, it will finally topple over in death.
In the grave, the worms and maggots of death care nothing, nor are they impressed, with the lifestyle or status that the person has had during his life. Death is not interested in your talent, wealth, or looks.
