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Job 27:23
23 Men shall clap [caphaq] their hands [kaph] at him, and shall hiss [sharaq] him out of his place [maqowm]. KJV-Interlinear
23 'Men will clap their hands at him, And will hiss him from his place. NASB
Wickedness is a pattern of life, chosen out of the free will of people. Wickedness is the function of evil. Evil is the policy of rejecting truth.
Wickedness can never correct itself, but will only grow worse and worse until it finally destroys itself.
Indifference toward truth can begin with a little white lie. Something from which most of us do not see much danger. After all, what harm can it really cause?
But the pattern of lies is driven by a greater force which is arrogance, and arrogance is the foundation of all evil. When truth is excluded or diluted in ones life, then the pattern of lies will only grow worse. And while one person may live a reasonably passive life, the next generation, by their example, will advance in their wickedness to even worse stages.
After Solomon, it took the Israelites several generations of indifference before they were finally overrun and destroyed as a nation. The nation steadily declined spiritually for several hundred years before God finally destroyed them as a nation.
With the decline in the spiritual resources of people, comes an increase in wickedness. With an increase in wickedness comes an increase in trouble. With an increase in trouble comes an increase in suffering.
When those who cause the suffering are finally defeated, there is a relief and a shouting of joy because the burdens of the suffering have finally been lifted.
And so Job describes the relief and attitude of those who have been subjected to oppression in the world as a result of the bad arrogance driven decisions of those who have caused all of the trouble.
When a wicked person is driven from his life, the righteous do not literally stand up as it were and boo them out of this world, but that is the general attitude of anyone who has been oppressed unfairly and then suddenly set free.
The hissing, and clapping of the hands is a celebration of freedom. The happiness is for themselves while the object opposite of their relief is the wickedness that has brought so much pain and sorrow and suffering.
When we watch a game and our side wins, we cheer, while the losing side does not cheer. Our victory cheer for our side is the simultaneous cheer against the losing side. The winning side remains to celebrate while the losers go away.
And so it will be, at the end of history, when Gods righteousness and justice finally defeats evil, so that truth can produce the eternal happiness for us all that it has been intended to provide all along, but has been delayed so that arrogance and evil can have their historical tantrum.
In that day, the victory shouts will be loud and long and final.
Prov. 11:10
10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is glad shouting. NASB
