One of the most difficult things about the Christian life — one that perhaps requires the most faith — is God’s apparent delay in dispensing both judgment and blessing. If we’re honest, in some cases this delay is a good thing. That is, the Lord himself says he is “slow to anger” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 103:8, 145:8; Nahum 1:3; Joel 2:13; Nehemiah 9:17; Jonah 4:2, just to name a few). God’s patience is a good thing for us in that we are not instantly destroyed every time we sin. But we think it’s a bad thing in regard to others. That is, we wish that others—criminals and the like—were immediately dispatched by God’s wrath.
My Fellow Waiters
Don’t worry, we are not alone in this sentiment. Numerous times in the Old Testament—particularly in the Psalms—David wishes that his enemies and other evildoers were cast out, destroyed, or whatever terms he uses (see especially Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 where he begs God to “Pour out Your indignation on them, and let Your burning anger overtake them.”)
In the New Testament, Jesus’ disciples beg Jesus to take instant revenge on their opponents. “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” they ask in Luke 9:45. Later on, Peter takes things into his own hands in the Garden of Gethsemane as soldiers approach to arrest Jesus, resulting in a stern reprimand from Christ and one reattached ear among the Temple Guard.
Along with our desire for instant judgment and punishment for others, we wish for instant blessings for ourselves. This is based—in our selfish way of thinking—on our notion that, if we are righteous, we deserve some reward from heaven. Forgetting what Jesus says about the servant who has only done his duty (Luke 17:10), we want what’s coming to us and we want it now!
This type of thinking is prevalent throughout the repeated dialogs in Job. Both Job and his friends fall into the trap of thinking that all recompense—both good and bad—should occur on earth and that right away!
Let’s look a little deeper at the faulty reasoning of Job’s friends—for they are always the easy ones to condemn. One of the most preposterous claims comes from Eliphaz in chapter five. He claims that, if Job is righteous, even “the wild animals will be at peace with [him].” (Job 5:23). Imagine Job walking up to a grizzly bear or a venomous snake expecting not to be harmed because of his own goodness! This expectation would be ridiculous. Now, to be clear, this blessing is promised in the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25) but it is not fulfilled until the Book of Revelation where the lion will lay down with the lamb, etc. But we are far from that today!
You’ll Get Yours … Sometime
The judgment of evil men is also assumed by Job’s friends in several places to take place on earth, and in each, Job points out their naïveté. Job is experienced enough to know that evil men are not always punished for their deeds while they are alive on earth. His words echo the words of Asaph, “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.” (Psalm 73:3-4). Here is Job’s take on the earthly fate of the wicked: “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.” (Job 21:7-9). Further, in the same chapter, he points out [his friends’] naïveté, “Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?” (Job 21:30)