Job 24

13–17 Here Job continues with further examples of evil deeds. Evildoers rebel against the light⁵¹ (verse 13)—that is, they avoid the light so that their evil deeds are not exposed (see John 3:20). Job gives three examples of evildoers: the murderer (verse 14), the adulterer (verse 15), and the thief (verse 16).

18–25 In these verses, Job acknowledges that many wicked people do receive punishment; here Job almost sounds like his three friends. But Job had never said that the wicked always go unpunished; he only said they often do. Job's point is that God's justice seems sporadic and unpredictable; no one can count on it.⁵²

It is all right for us to question the workings of God's justice as long as we never forget that He is the Judge. Job's three friends thought to restrict God's freedom by saying that He must always bless the righteous and always punish the wicked. But Job knew that God was not restricted and could do as He saw fit. But this still didn't help Job understand why he and so many other innocent people in the world had to suffer.