Job 24:7 Commentary and Bible Study

This miserable picture of destitution is drawn in contrast to the plenty, the comfort, and the well stocked larders of the rich. There are the poor: without a garment to cover them during the cold nights because they have so little. They are pressed down and we can assume that this happens in spite of their willingness to work, for Scripture does not recognise the right of a lazy man to eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). They huddle together like wild animals seeking a little warmth and sheltering, not under a proper roof, but out in the open exposed to the elements. This is not because they do not know how to construct a suitable home but because they are too poor to buy the necessary materials. But the rich are willing to leave them there, knowing their condition full well, while all the time they enjoy their own luxuries which they are unwilling to share. The knowledge that there are those in this condition does not disturb their sleep. It would be a different matter if the poor had come into this state through unwillingness to work, by the eroding effect of alcohol, or through crime or drugs. Such self-induced misery would be less worthy of sympathy, but those Job has in mind are poor because of circumstances beyond their control. This inequality is cruel. Christians are told to remember the poor and especially the poor among their own ranks. Their hearts must pity, remembering their own vulnerability and that they owe it to God alone that they are not in the same condition.The poor are vulnerable to extortion because they have no reserve in store when faced with cruel options. Here is a child with no father and a mother who can barely sustain a living. Nevertheless the child is all she has and is her very life. But the oppressor looks at the child and sees only a source of income or of cheap labour. The suggestion seems to be that the child is taken into slavery. The mother either has the child taken from her by force against her will or else she is so hard-pressed that in her destitution, she sells the child. The wicked shut their minds to the sorrow that the mother experiences; that is another world which they have no intention of entering. The wicked also take a pledge from the poor, that is, they know that the poor are going to have the greatest difficulty repaying and yet they compel them to pledge their most necessary belongings as guarantee for repaying loan. The law forbade the taking of a pledge from the needy when it would deprive him of his most vital possessions: ‘If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: ²⁷ For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious’ (Exodus 22:26-27). See also Deuteronomy 24:6-17. There is something obscene about pressing the poor so hard when the rich who oppress them do not remotely need such a pledge. To the one that garment is life and death; to the other it is a toy, an object of interest, or a proof that they have done better in life, a symbol of domination. ‘They take away the sheaf from the hungry’ – your life for my small increase; the exchange is callous beyond description. The rich should rather see the opportunity to give freely to the poor as a gift from God: there is no question about whether or not they should extend mercy.These poor are the very same ones who press out oil within their walls, the walls of the rich, because this is the work they are obliged to do. They handle the luxury and lavish produce of others, but they are not permitted to touch any of it themselves. These are not the oil presses of the poor within the walls of their own houses, for they certainly do not own and could not afford such facilities for themselves. Likewise they work the winepresses and produce the vintage of the rich, but not a drop passes their lips, and woe betide them if they were to quench their thirst with any of it. It is a further picture of the utter thoughtlessness, selfishness, and cruelty of the rich. They do not know how to share or how to make life tolerable for others. No amount of human suffering moves them to pity. It would be only natural in such a situation to let the hard-working servant enjoy some of the fruits of his labour.