Job 24:13 - Meaning and Application

These verses describe another kind of sinner, one who goes unpunished because he goes undiscovered. “They rebel against the light” (Job 24:13). Some take this in a figurative sense. These people sin against the light of nature, the light of God’s law, and the light of their own consciences. They say they know God, but they refuse to be guided, ruled, or corrected by what they know.

Others understand it more literally. They have daylight, yet choose the night as the best time for their evil deeds. That is why sinful acts are called works of darkness, because the one who does evil hates the light (John 3:20). He does not know the ways of the light, meaning he stays away from it. If he is seen, he does not stay where he thinks he is known.

Job is describing the worst kinds of sinners. Some sin willfully, even while their own consciences warn them, so they add rebellion to their sin. Others sin with planning and careful schemes, using many tricks to hide their wickedness. They wrongly think that if they can keep their sins hidden from people, they are safe. But they forget that no darkness or shadow of death can hide workers of evil from God’s eye (Job 34:22).

In this passage, Job points to three kinds of sinners who avoid the light. First are murderers (Job 24:14). They rise with the light, as soon as day begins, to kill poor travelers who are out early for their work, perhaps going to market with only a little money or goods. Even though these victims are truly poor and needy, the murderer still attacks them. He will risk his own life to take theirs, and he may even kill for the sake of killing, not just for gain. Wicked people put great effort into their evil plans, and their diligence should shame us out of laziness in doing good.

Second are adulterers. The eyes “full of adultery” (2 Peter 2:14), unclean and lustful eyes, wait for twilight (Job 24:15). The adulteress did the same (Proverbs 7:9). Adultery hides itself out of shame. Even the most shameless sinners do what they can to cover their sin. If they are not pure, they at least try to be careful. After all their efforts to make this sin seem less shameful, it remains a disgrace even to speak of what is done in secret (Ephesians 5:12). It also hides because of fear, since a jealous husband is furious and will not spare in the day of judgment (Proverbs 6:24, 25). Think how much effort people spend on feeding the flesh and satisfying lust, only to hide what they have done. That same effort would be better used to weaken and crucify the flesh, which would lead to life and heaven in the end. If a sinner would change his heart, he would not need to hide his face. He could stand before God without shame.

Third are house-breakers, or burglars (Job 24:16). They watch houses in the daytime, studying the entrances and choosing the easiest way in. Then at night they dig through them, either to kill, steal, or commit adultery. Night helps the attack and makes defense harder. The goodman of the house does not know when the thief will come, so he sleeps (Luke 12:39), and both he and his property are exposed. For that reason, the law treats burglary, the breaking and entering of a house at night with criminal intent, as a serious crime.

Job also notes, perhaps as part of the hidden punishment of such sinners, that they live in constant fear of discovery (Job 24:17). Morning is to them as the shadow of death. The daylight that honest people welcome is terror to them. They curse the sun, not because it burns them like it does the Moors, but because it exposes them. If anyone recognizes them, their own consciences rise up against them, and they become their own accusers. They live in the terrors of death’s shadow. Sin brings shame with it, and endless shame is its end.

See the misery of sinners, they are always frightened. And see their folly, they fear being seen by people, but they do not fear God’s eye, which is always on them. They are afraid of doing what they are so afraid of being found out for doing.