How can Job 20:4 guide us in understanding God's justice throughout Scripture? Opening the Text “Do you not know that from antiquity, ever since man was placed on the earth,” (Job 20:4) Timeless Truth: Justice Has Always Belonged to God • “From antiquity” anchors God’s justice in creation itself—long before any human court existed. • The verse implies that a moral order was woven into the fabric of history the moment “man was placed on the earth.” • Because this justice predates us, it is not subject to revision or debate—only to recognition and response. • Deuteronomy 32:4 affirms, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are justice.” Justice in the Storyline of Scripture • Genesis 6–9: The flood shows that persistent evil meets decisive judgment, yet God also preserves a remnant. • Exodus 12 & 14: Egypt’s oppression is judged; Israel’s deliverance underscores that God weighs nations and rulers. • Joshua 7: Achan’s hidden sin proves divine justice reaches the individual level. • Psalm 37:9–10: “For evildoers will be cut off… yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.” • Proverbs 11:31: “If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!” Wisdom Literature Echoes Job 20:4 belongs to the wisdom tradition, which repeatedly observes that: - The success of the wicked is brief (Job 20:5; Psalm 73:18–19). - Righteous suffering is temporary; God’s final verdict is sure (Job 42:10–17). Prophetic Affirmation • Isaiah 30:18: “For the LORD is a God of justice.” • Nahum 1:3: “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” These prophets echo Job 20:4’s certainty that justice is not a passing theme but a consistent divine policy. Justice Revealed and Satisfied in Christ • Romans 3:25–26: God presented Christ “to demonstrate His righteousness… so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” • 2 Corinthians 5:21 and 1 Peter 2:24 show the cross as the place where penalty for sin is fully paid—proof that God never overlooks wrongdoing. Job 20:4’s “from antiquity” frames the cross as the climactic fulfillment of the justice principle running through all history. Future and Final Justice • Acts 17:31: God “has set a day when He will judge the world in righteousness.” • Revelation 20:12: “The dead were judged according to their deeds.” Just as Job 20:4 looks back to creation, these passages look forward to the consummation, highlighting justice as the bookends of the biblical narrative. Living Under This Truth Today • Rest in God’s timetable—He has never failed to settle accounts. • Reject cynicism—temporary triumphs of evil are illusions. • Walk in integrity—since justice is woven into reality, obedience aligns us with the grain of the universe. • Offer the gospel—God’s justice drives the urgent need for repentance and faith in Christ, the only refuge from righteous judgment. |
    |