Job 24:14 Commentary and Bible Study

What follows are various pictures of cunning and deceit. The murderer waits long enough to be able to see that he is doing, but rises early enough to take the unwary by surprise. He is quick to do evil and plans his evil purposes with much thought. He is more likely to catch his victim in a lonely place where there will be no one to respond to his cries for help. He chooses a soft target, one who will not have friends ready to help and who is unlikely to be avenged. He also takes advantage of the darkness as he prowls around searching for a house to break into and ready to kill to prevent his capture. This life of crime is conducted under the gaze of heaven, yet God appears indifferent, choosing not to interfere or prevent such terrible things from taking place.The adulterer waits for the twilight because he can then go about his sin without being seen. His practice relies heavily on deceit because he dares not risk being identified. What he does is so shameful and so likely to provoke a violent response if he were discovered, that he must operate in secret; he has made a compact with the darkness. He takes the extra precaution of disguising his face since he knows that if any were to see him, word would soon get back to the husband and great indignation would follow. He is a destroyer of other’s happiness, a corrupter of souls, sowing deceit where there should be love and faithfulness. The woman involved who ought to have an undivided loyalty to her husband must now replace that loyalty with a mask. The mask of hypocrisy removes from the marriage the most precious thing of all: the justified trust that husband and wife have in each other. The exclusive bond of love has been broken, and all this only so that a man without self-control should indulge his lust. What does he bring instead? Does he replace one deep relationship with another? No, he brings nothing and he takes all, and absurdly what he takes is so little: a moment’s gratification, for the destruction of a family.The thief mentioned earlier begins his work when the day has ended. He uses the day to search for suitable houses to break into, but he will not begin his work in earnest until the day is over. These do not know the light; how could they? Job means that their decision to do their work under the cover of darkness is a sign of a heart that always wants to work in secret and to practice deception. In their hearts they have got as far away from the truth as they can. They do not want to be reminded of it and all that God has to say to them is unwelcome. When someone comes to their door with the gospel, they have long since made up their minds they want nothing to do with God and they quickly turn the visitor away.All the above are examples of those who make the darkness their friend and who rebel against the light. For them the coming of day is the end of the working day. They cannot continue so that it is to them like the shadow of death. As death takes away what a person lives for, so the daylight takes away what gives joy to their lives. They live in terror of being recognised, for this would mean that they are called to give an account. How can such have any relationship with God? A vast change would be needed before they could turn back to the light. This change is utterly beyond their powers. They are trapped in a life of wickedness.