Job claimed that the wicked die for the same reason the righteous die. They are sinners. They do not inevitably die early because they are wicked sinners. Furthermore God does not punish the children of the wicked who die late in life specially for their parents' sins. Job said that would be no punishment on the parents since they would not be alive to witness their children's suffering. He also pointed out that his companions were putting God in a box by not allowing Him to judge freely but requiring that He behave according to their theological conceptions (v. 22).
"Those who do not believe in an absolutely sovereign God cannot possibly appreciate the depth of the problem Job presented in vv. 23-26. The answer still alludes us. Even with all our additional revelation (Rom. 8:28), we often stand in anguish over the apparent injustice and seeming cruelty of God's providence."99
