Job CCLVIII

 Job 24:13-17, “There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths. The murderer rises with the light; he kills the poor and needy; and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises his face. In the dark they break into houses which they marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light. For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; if someone recognizes them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.”

Even a blind man can feel the warmth of the sun on his face and know the difference between day and night. It’s not that those who rebel against the light don’t know of its existence. In order to rebel against something, whether an institution, a government, or an individual, you must be aware that it exists, it is real and tangible, yet you choose to rise in opposition to it. Although they know of its existence, they neither know its ways nor abide in its paths. The rejection of the light and rebellion against it is a purposeful, willful choice, and not some accident or mistake.  

The wicked know an alternative exists to the darkness, but they are wholly opposed to it and have no desire to know it or abide in its paths. The wicked will not be able to claim ignorance of the light’s existence when standing before God’s throne on that day of days. None will be able to insist that they didn’t know of it, but rather knowing that it existed, they chose to walk in darkness, doing the things they knew to be evil and debased because their flesh reveled in it.

Things haven’t gotten better over the four thousand years since the book of Job was written. Try as we might to tell ourselves that we are wiser, more aware, civilized, and evolved, the same issues that plagued the wicked then plague the wicked now, only magnified and multiplied in frequency. Ignorance of the light’s existence was never the issue, but rejection of it and rebellion toward it.

What we deem the pinnacle of civilization and civility doesn’t look any different from the times Job lived in, except for conveniences such as electricity, infrastructure, indoor plumbing, and automobiles. As far as human nature goes, it’s eerily similar. Wicked men still do wicked things, murderers still murder, adulterers still commit adultery, the powerful still exploit the weak, and though things might have changed outwardly in relation to the world and its progress, inwardly, when it comes to the heart of man, they’ve remained the same.

The awareness that light exists and that God is real is not something humanity has happened upon in the last few centuries. It has been evident since the beginning of creation, so that men are without excuse in their rejection of Him. When men reject God, it’s knowingly, willingly, and purposefully.

Just as no man can stumble his way into heaven, or make it there accidentally, no man can stumble his way into hell. It will be by choice. Men choose to reject the light. Men choose to reject the Christ. Men choose to reject the narrow path. Men choose to reject the truth and instead embrace a lie. Every day, men and women, young and old, make a multitude of choices, and the wicked are consistent in choosing rebellion against the light. Is it a choice they will regret? Most assuredly, but for now, they ease their conscience by insisting that no one sees, no one hears, God is busy, and He has bigger fish to fry than to take note of one man’s sin and rebellion.

Romans 1:18-21, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Two thousand years later, Paul undergirds the truth Job was trying to convey, wherein it’s not the absence of the awareness of light, but that men willfully reject it. Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. Rather than acknowledge this obvious truth, man would rather insist that it was all one serendipitous accident, without the aid of intelligent design, without the molding of God’s eternal hand. Everything was thrown in a cosmic blender, and wouldn’t you know it, a perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned turducken magically appeared on your plate. As the adage goes, it takes more faith to believe that everything came from nothing than to believe God created it.

But it takes countless things to be perfectly proportioned for life to be possible on this rock, never mind the almost infinite plantlife, animals, microorganisms, and man himself. Too much heat, we all fry. Too much cold, we all freeze. Too much water, we all drown. Not enough, and the parched desert consumes everything. Yep, all a happy accident.

Just because men refuse to acknowledge God, it doesn’t mean He isn’t there. Just because they come up with fanciful, illogical, irrational, and specious tales about how the world came to be rather than acknowledge His eternal power and Godhead, it doesn’t make Him any less real. Just because they ignore their mortality, it doesn’t make them immortal, and just because they refuse to acknowledge that one day they will stand before God’s throne of judgment, it doesn’t mean they will bypass it.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.