Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
The verse belongs to Job's side of the great debate in the second division of the book, the colloquies in Job 3-31 between Job and his three friends on Job's afflictions and the cause and object of human suffering. It is specifically his answer to Zophar concerning the portion of the wicked. It was spoken while Job was judging to some extent from the same standpoint of human wisdom and observation as his friends, yet knowing his own integrity and unable to understand God's dealings with him, without charging God foolishly. Behind his affliction God saw the end from the beginning and was working out what would glorify Himself forever after, give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job.
Its meaning is that the wicked prosper here in this present life, with their houses secure and free from fear and without God's rod of punishment upon them. People may live long and prosper in rebellion before judgment comes, while their punishment lies in the future. Evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded, but present adversity or present freedom from the rod does not prove whether a man is under God's displeasure.
The verse belongs to Job's side of the great debate in the second division of the book, the colloquies in Job 3-31 between Job and his three friends on Job's afflictions and the cause and object of human suffering. It is specifically his answer to Zophar concerning the portion of the wicked. It was spoken while Job was judging to some extent from the same standpoint of human wisdom and observation as his friends, yet knowing his own integrity and unable to understand God's dealings with him, without charging God foolishly. Behind his affliction God saw the end from the beginning and was working out what would glorify Himself forever after, give comfort and hope to thousands of suffering ones, and prove a blessing to Job.
Its meaning is that the wicked prosper here in this present life, with their houses secure and free from fear and without God's rod of punishment upon them. People may live long and prosper in rebellion before judgment comes, while their punishment lies in the future. Evil is ultimately punished and good is ultimately rewarded, but present adversity or present freedom from the rod does not prove whether a man is under God's displeasure.