Job 12:6 - Meaning and Application

Job’s friends all started from the same idea, that wicked people cannot prosper for long in this world, and that some clear judgment will suddenly fall on them. Zophar had ended with that thought, saying the eyes of the wicked will fail (Job 11:20). Job pushes back against that idea here, and says that God, in ordering outward things in this life, acts as a sovereign King, while the exact giving of rewards and punishments belongs to the future life.

He first states as a plain truth that wicked people may, and often do, prosper for a long time in this world (Job 12:6). Even very sinful people can enjoy great outward success. He describes them as robbers and as people who provoke God, the worst sort of sinners, men who blaspheme and persecute others. He may be thinking of the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who had robbed him and lived by plunder, yet still seemed to prosper. Everyone could see that they did, and facts speak loudly. One clear fact is worth far more than many guesses built on a theory.

More broadly, all proud oppressors are like robbers and pirates. What hurts people also provokes God, who protects what is right and guards human life. So it is not surprising when those who break the bonds of justice also throw off all religion and even defy God himself. They make little of provoking him.

Job also describes their prosperity as very great. Even their homes prosper, along with the people who live there and the generations that come after them. It can look as if blessing has been passed down to their families, and sometimes wealth gained by fraud does remain with later generations. They are also secure. They not only feel no harm, they fear none, and they have no sense of danger, whether from warning events or from an awakened conscience. But people who provoke God are never truly safe just because they feel secure.

God also brings plenty into their hands. They have more than they could ask for (Psa 73:7), not only enough for need, but enough for pleasure. They have enough for themselves, for others, and for the future. And all of this comes from Providence. God is the one who pours it into their hands. So we cannot judge a person’s godliness by their wealth, or judge what is in their heart by what is in their hand.

Job then appeals even to the lower creatures, the beasts, birds, trees, and the earth itself. He says, “Ask them, and they will teach you” (Job 12:7, Job 12:8). There is much we can learn from them, and he uses them here to make his point. One lesson is that the homes of robbers do prosper, as some read it. Even among animals, the greater often devour the smaller, and the stronger prey on the weaker. People are like the fish of the sea in that way (Hab 1:14). If sin had never entered the world, we may think there would have been no such disorder in creation, and the wolf and the lamb would have lain down together.

These creatures also serve wicked men, and in that way show their prosperity. Ask the herds and flocks who own them, and they will say that such a robber or oppressor is their master. The fish and birds are brought to the tables of proud sinners and feed their luxury. The earth yields her fruit to them (Job 9:24), and all creation groans under the weight of human tyranny (Rom 8:20, Rom 8:22). Every creature that wicked people misuse, turning it into fuel for their lusts, will stand as a witness against them one day (Jam 5:3, Jam 5:4).

From the creatures we also learn God’s wisdom, power, goodness, and sovereign rule. These plain truths settle the hard question of why God orders things as he does. Zophar had made this seem like a deep mystery (Job 11:7). Job says it is not so hidden. What we need to know, we can learn even from the lower creatures, for who does not know this from them all? (Job 12:9). Anyone can see from creation that the Lord’s hand has made these things. That is, there is a wise Providence guiding and governing all things by rules we do not fully know, and are not fit to judge. Since God rules the lower creatures so fully, we should also learn to accept all his choices in human affairs, even when they go against what we expected.

Job then sums it all up by saying that God has full ownership of all creatures (Job 12:10). In his hand is the soul of every living thing. All creatures, and especially human beings, receive their life from him. They owe their being to him, depend on him to keep living, and remain under his direction and power. At his command, they must give up their lives. All souls belong to him, and he may do what he wills with what is his own. The name Jehovah is used here (Job 12:9), and this is the only time it appears in the speeches between Job and his friends. In that age, God was more commonly known by the name Shaddai, meaning the Almighty.

Job’s words in (Job 12:11), “Does not the ear test words as the mouth tastes food?” may finish the thought above, or begin what follows. The mind can tell truth from error, when things are clearly stated, just as the tongue can tell sweet from bitter. Job asks his friends to give him room to judge their words for himself, and he is ready to allow them the same freedom with his words. He even seems to appeal to any fair-minded person in the dispute. Let the ear test both sides, and it will be seen that he is right.

The ear must test words before it accepts them and agrees to them. Just as taste helps us know what food is healthy for the body, so spiritual judgment helps us know what teaching is sound, good, and wholesome, and what is not (Co1 10:15; Co1 11:13).