[Sofar 2]
The wicked… will have no chance to enjoy their wealth,
because they oppressed and neglected the poor
and seized houses someone else had built…Everything they have saved is destroyed;
a fire not lit by human hands
burns them and all their family.
Heaven reveals their sin,
and the earth gives testimony against them.
All their wealth will be destroyed
in the flood of God’s anger.This is the fate of wicked people,
the fate that God assigns to them.
Sofar is alluding to the supernatural events of Job’s downfall (Job 1:13-19) and gives examples behind the why hoping to “stimulate” Job’s memory and the evil he must have done…
[Job 2c]
Why does God let evil people live,
let them grow old and prosper?
They have children and grandchildren,
and live to watch them all grow up.
God does not bring disaster on their homes;
they never have to live in terror…
They live out their lives in peace
and quietly die without suffering.
The reality beyond the formulas.
You claim God punishes a child for the sins of his father.
No! Let God punish the sinners themselves;
let him show that he does it because of their sins.
Let sinners bear their own punishment;
let them feel the wrath of Almighty God.
When our lives are over,
do we really care whether our children are happy?
Can anyone teach God,
who judges even those in high places?
A gaping hole in the reasoning / the formulas.
Some people stay healthy till the day they die;
they die happy and at ease,
their bodies well-nourished.
Others have no happiness at all;
they live and die with bitter hearts.
But all alike die and are buried;
they all are covered with worms.
A reality that Solomon would confirm many years later (Ecclesiastes 3:16-20).
Haven’t you talked with people who travel?
Don’t you know the reports they bring back?
May I always be listening, Father, leaving to one side any prejudices that I may have.
…the wicked…
are carried to the graveyard,
to their well-guarded tombs,
thousands join the funeral procession,
and even the earth lies gently on their bodies.
How true this is! The more wicked the individual, the longer the funeral procession.