Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 15:34

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 15:34. The congregation of hypocrites —

11. Job is here classed with hypocrites, or rather the impious of all kinds. The congregation, or adath, society, of such, shall be desolate, or a barren rock, גלמוד galmud. See this Arabic word explained in Clarke's note on "Job 3:7".

Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. —

12. Another insinuation against Job, that he had perverted justice and judgment, and had taken bribes.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

15:1-21:34 SECOND ROUND OF ARGUMENT

Eliphaz speaks (15:1-35)

The three friends are offended that their collective wisdom has not humbled Job as they had hoped. They are angered that Job continues to argue with God. Therefore, in this the second round of argument they emphasize the terrors of God’s judgment, hoping that this might bring Job to repentance.
Eliphaz, the least aggressive of the three, leads off again, though clearly even he is angered and offended at Job’s speech. Job claims to be a wise and godly person, but his rash answers have been unprofitable and irreverent. Such speech is itself proof of his guilt (15:1-6). Does Job think that he alone has knowledge of the ways of God (7-9)? Does he think that he can ignore teaching that is the fruit of generations of experience (10)? Why does he despise the comfort of his friends and turn against them with such hostility (11-13)? If even angels are not perfect, how sinful must the rebellious, self-righteous, argumentative Job appear in God’s sight (14-16. Note how Eliphaz again refers to his dream; cf. 4:18).
Job cannot ignore the lessons of experience, nor can he ignore the teaching of traditional wisdom (which, Eliphaz notes approvingly, has not been affected by foreign ideas) (17-19). Experience and traditional wisdom show clearly that pain, loss of prosperity and the feeling of hopelessness are all the results of wickedness (20-24). And the supreme wickedness, says Eliphaz, is to fight against God. When God destroys, a person should not try to rebuild (25-28).
The rebel, in punishment for his sin, suffers personal loss and an early death. He is like a healthy vine or tree that is suddenly destroyed (29-33). Such disaster is the unavoidable result of a deceitful heart (34-35).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE DARK PICTURE THAT ELIPHAZ PAINTED OF JOB'S FUTURE

"I will show thee, hear thou me; And that which I have seen I will declare (Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it; Unto whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed among them): The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor. A sound of terror is in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, And he is waited for of the sword. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. Because he hath stretched out his hand against God, And behaveth himself proudly (biddeth defiance to) against the Almighty. He runneth upon him with a stiff neck, With the thick bosses of his bucklers; Because he hath covered his face with his fatness, And gathered fat upon his loins; And he hath dwelt in desolate cities, In houses which no man inhabited, Which were ready to become heaps; He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, Neither shall their possessions be extended…. on the earth. He shall not depart out of the darkness; The flame shall dry up his branches, And by the breath of God's mouth shall he go away. Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself; For vanity shall be his recompense. It shall be accomplished before his time, And his branch shall not be green. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, And shall cast off his flower as the olive tree For the company of the godless shall be barren, And fire shall consume the tents of bribery. They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, And their heart prepareth deceit."

The discerning reader will not overlook Eliphaz' strategy in this evil speech. In effect, he preached Job's funeral, mentioning all the things he could think of that would tie his description of the wicked to what had already happened to Job. The implied prophecies were that Job would never be rich (Job 15:20), that he would soon die (Job 15:30; Job 15:32). etc. These prophecies, of course, were never fulfilled. Note particularly Job 15:21 in which Eliphaz explained that God's judgment would fall upon the wicked in the time of his "prosperity," exactly as it had happened to Job. A dozen other such brutal insinuations may be detected in this shameful tirade against Job.

We are delighted to skip any further attention to this crooked speech, although a fantastic instrument of the devil it surely was!

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For the congregation of hypocrites - The word rendered “congregation” here (עדה ‛êdâh) means properly an appointed meeting; a meeting convened by appointment or at stated times (from ידה yâdâh), and hence, an assembly of any kind. It is commonly applied to an assembly for public worship; but it may refer to a more private company - a family, or circle of friends, dependents, etc. It refers here, I suppose, to such a community that a man can get around him in his own dwelling - his family, servants, dependents, etc. The word rendered “hypocrites” (חנף chânêph) is in the singular number, and should be so rendered here. It does not mean that a worshipping assembly composed of hypocrites would be desolate - which may be true - but that the community which a man who is a hypocrite can gather around him shall be swept away. His children, his dependents, and his retinue of servants, shall be taken away from him, and he shall be left to solitude. Probably there was an allusion here to Job, who had been stripped in this manner; or at any rate the remark was one, if it were a quotation from the ancient sayings of the Arabians, which Job could not but regard as applied to himself.

And fire shall consume - This has all the appearance of being a proverb. The meaning is, that they who received a bribe would be certainly punished.

The tabernacles of bribery - The tents or dwellings of those who receive bribes, and who therefore are easily corrupted, and have no solid principles. There is probably an allusion here to Job; and no doubt Eliphaz meant to apply this severe remark to him. Job was a Sheik, an Emir, a head of a tribe, and, therefore, a magistrate; see Job 29:7, seq. Yet a part of his possessions and servants had been cut off by fire from heaven Job 1:16; and Eliphaz means probably to imply that it had been because he had been guilty of receiving a bribe. This ancient proverb declared that the dwellings of the man who could be bribed would be consumed by fire; and now he presumes that the fact that Job had been visited by the fire of heaven was full proof that he had been guilty in this manner. It was about on principles such as these that the reasoning of the friends of Job was conducted.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 15

Now at this point, Eliphaz, who was the first friend of Job's to speak, speaks for the second time. And he claims that he is older than Job, more experienced than Job, and thus Job ought to listen to him.

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? ( Job 15:1-2 )

Job, you're just a big bag of wind, man.

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches whereof he can do no good? Yea, you cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God. For your mouth utters your iniquity, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, not I: yea, your own lips are testifying against you. Are you the first man that was ever born? or were you made before the hills? Have you heard the secret of God? do you restrain wisdom to yourself? What do you know, that we don't know? what do you understand, which is not in us? With us is the grayheaded and the very aged men, much older than your father. Are the consolations of God small with thee? Is there any secret thing with thee? ( Job 15:3-11 )

In other words, "We've been giving you God's advice, man. Is it just nothing to you?" You know, oh, help.

Why does your heart carry thee away? what are your eyes winking at ( Job 15:12 ),

Job, what sin are you just sort of closing your eyes to?

That you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth? What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, God puts no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, who drinks iniquity like water? I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; Which wise men have told from their fathers, and not hid it ( Job 15:13-18 ):

Okay, now here are the traditions. Now these are the truths that are passed down from the fathers to their sons and all.

Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him ( Job 15:19-21 ).

So a man who experiences pain is surely wicked. A man who has been wiped out is a man who is guilty of sin.

He believes not that he shall return out of darkness, he is waited for of the sword. He wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? And he knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; and they shall prevail against him, as a king that is ready to battle. For he stretched out his hand against God, and he strengthened himself against the Almighty. He runs upon him, even on his neck, and the thick bosses of his bucklers: Because he covers his face with fatness, and makes the collops of fat on his flanks. And he dwells in desolate cities, in houses which no man inhabits, which are ready to become heaps. He shall not be rich, neither will his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth. He shall not depart out of darkness; and the flame shall dry up his branches, by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompense ( Job 15:22-31 ).

Job, you're deceiving yourself. You're trusting in emptiness, and emptiness will be the result, your reward.

It shall be accomplished before his time, his branch shall not be green. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and cast off his flower as the olive. For the congregation of the hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. They conceive mischief, and bring forth emptiness, and their belly prepares deceit ( Job 15:32-35 ).

So all of these things, in a sense, are accusations against Job. "Job, you've been deceitful. Job, you've been lying. Job, you're a hypocrite. Job, you know, you're wicked. And these things are all happening to you because of your own iniquity." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Eliphaz’s second speech ch. 15

Job’s responses so far had evidently convinced Eliphaz that Job was a hardened sinner in defiant rebellion against God. [Note: Pope, p. 114.]

"There is a great change in tone between this address of Eliphaz and the first. There is no tenderness here. The philosophy of life is stated wholly on the negative side, and it was impossible for Job to misunderstand the meaning." [Note: Morgan, p. 208.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The fate of the wicked 15:17-35

Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz’s authority was his own observations (Job 15:17; cf. Job 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (Job 15:18-19; cf. Job 8:8). Probably Job 15:18 means wise men have not hidden their fathers’ traditions. In the ancient world, people considered it foolish to reject the traditions of the past.

Several troubles come on the wicked person because of his sin (Job 15:20-35). He writhes in pain-the same Hebrew word describes labor pains-all his life (Job 15:20 a; cf. Job 14:22). He dies earlier than the godly do (Job 15:20 b; cf. Job 14:5). He has irrational fears (Job 15:21 a). He suffers destruction while at peace (Job 15:21 b; cf. Job 1:13-19; Job 12:6). He experiences torment by a guilty conscience (Job 15:22 a). He feels he is a hunted person (Job 15:22 b). He is anxious about his basic needs (Job 15:23), and he feels distressed and in anguish (Job 15:24; cf. Job 7:14; Job 9:34; Job 13:21; Job 14:20). Job had confessed every one of these troubles. Eliphaz implied that Job had all the marks of a wicked man. He stressed the inner turmoil of the wicked in this list. He also reminded Job that God will destroy the wicked (Job 15:20).

The writer set forth Job 15:20-35 in a chiastic structure to emphasize the reasons for these judgments, which form the heart of the section.

A    Judgments of the wicked Job 15:20-24

    B    Reasons for the judgments Job 15:25-26

    B’    Reasons for the judgments Job 15:27-28

A’    Judgments of the wicked Job 15:29-35

The reasons for the judgments were essentially two: rebellion against God (Job 15:25-26) and self-indulgence (Job 15:27-28). Job 15:28 may mean, "He proudly lived in ruined cities and rebuilt houses previously unoccupied, thus defying the curse on ruined sites (Job 15:28; cf. Joshua 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34)." [Note: Zuck, Job, p. 74.]

Seven more judgments follow in Job 15:29-35. The wicked person will not prosper (Job 15:29) but will die (Job 15:30 a). His works will fail (Job 15:30 b-c) and he will suffer prematurely (Job 15:31-32 a; cf. Job 4:8). His wealth will fail (Job 15:32-33), he will experience barrenness (Job 15:34; cf. Job 3:7; Job 4:21; Job 8:22), and he deceives himself (Job 15:31). Note that Eliphaz began this section with a reference to childbirth (Job 15:20) and ended it with another reference to the same thing (Job 15:35). Not all these judgments are completely distinct from one another. Poetic parallelism often uses a slight restatement to make a more forceful impression rather than to express a different idea.

"It is a subtlety of our author that Eliphaz, who began by calling Job a wind-bag (Job 15:2), ends his own speech with a pile of verbiage. With tedious repetition, assertion not argument, he presents the doctrine ’you reap what you sow’ in several forms." [Note: Andersen, p. 179.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For the congregation of hypocrites [shall be] desolate,.... Hypocrites are such who seem to and would be thought to be, what they are not; they are outwardly righteous before men, but inwardly very wicked; have a form of godliness, but are destitute the power of it, 2 Timothy 3:5; pretend to much religion, and to be worshippers of God, when it is only in outward appearances, and not in reality and sincerity: and such as these have been in the congregations of the righteous, in all ages; but here Eliphaz speaks of a congregation of them, a society, a family of them; and very probably has his eye upon Job's, and would represent hereby that he, the head of his family, and his children, when living, and his servants and associates, were all hypocrites, and now become desolate, reduced to want and poverty, and in distressed circumstances: or were "solitary" i and alone, as the word is rendered in Job 3:7; destitute of friends, and of the comforts of life; and perhaps reference may be had to the future state of such, when they shall aloud be bid to depart from God, have no society with angels and saints, but shall have their portion with those of the same character with them, hypocrites, in the highest degree of torment and misery, Matthew 24:51;

and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery; either such tents, or houses, as were built with money taken as bribes; see Habakkuk 2:12; or where such who received bribes dwelt; unjust judges, who took a gift that blinds the eyes, to pervert justice. Job is afterwards by Eliphaz represented as if he was an oppressor, a wicked magistrate, and guilty of such like crimes as here pointed at, Job 22:6; and the "fire" said to consume the dwelling places of such may be understood either of material fire, such as came down from heaven, and destroyed Job's sheep, Job 1:16; or figuratively, the wrath of God often compared to fire, which would appear in one way or another, to the utter ruin of such persons, their habitations, and those that dwelt in them.

i גלמוד "solitarium", Montanus; and to the same sense Vatablus, Beza, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      17 I will show thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;   18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:   19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.   20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.   21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.   22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.   23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.   24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.   25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.   26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:   27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.   28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.   29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.   30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.   31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.   32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.   33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.   34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.   35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

      Eliphaz, having reproved Job for his answers, here comes to maintain his own thesis, upon which he built his censure of Job. His opinion is that those who are wicked are certainly miserable, whence he would infer that those who are miserable are certainly wicked, and that therefore Job was so. Observe,

      I. His solemn preface to this discourse, in which he bespeaks Job's attention, which he had little reason to expect, he having given so little heed to and put so little value upon what Job had said (Job 15:17; Job 15:17): "I will show thee that which is worth hearing, and not reason, as thou dost, with unprofitable talk." Thus apt are men, when they condemn the reasonings of others, to commend their own. He promises to teach him, 1. From his own experience and observation: "That which I have myself seen, in divers instances, I will declare." It is of good use to take notice of the providences of God concerning the children of men, from which many a good lesson may be learned. What good observations we have made, and have found benefit by ourselves, we should be ready to communicate for the benefit of others; and we may speak boldly when we declare what we have seen. 2. From the wisdom of the ancients (Job 15:18; Job 15:18): Which wise men have told from their fathers. Note, The wisdom and learning of the moderns are very much derived from those of the ancients. Good children will learn a good deal from their good parents; and what we have learned from our ancestors we must transmit to our posterity and not hide from the generations to come. See Psalms 78:3-6. If the thread of the knowledge of many ages be cut off by the carelessness of one, and nothing be done to preserve it pure and entire, all that succeed fare the worse. The authorities Eliphaz vouched were authorities indeed, men of rank and figure (Job 15:19; Job 15:19), unto whom alone the earth was given, and therefore you may suppose them favourites of Heaven and best capable of making observations concerning the affairs of this earth. The dictates of wisdom come with advantage from those who are in places of dignity and power, as Solomon; yet there is a wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew,1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 2:8.

      II. The discourse itself. He here aims to show,

      1. That those who are wise and good do ordinarily prosper in this world. This he only hints at (Job 15:19; Job 15:19), that those of whose mind he was were such as had the earth given to them, and to them only; they enjoyed it entirely and peaceably, and no stranger passed among them, either to share with them or give disturbance to them. Job had said, The earth is given into the hand of the wicked,Job 9:24; Job 9:24. "No," says Eliphaz, "it is given into the hands of the saints, and runs along with the faith committed unto them; and they are not robbed and plundered by strangers and enemies making inroads upon them, as thou art by the Sabeans and Chaldeans." But because many of God's people have remarkably prospered in this world, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and impoverished, as Job, are not God's people.

      2. That wicked people, and particularly oppressors and tyrannizing rulers, are subject to continual terrors, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. On this head he enlarges, showing that even those who impiously dare God's judgments yet cannot but dread them and will feel them at last. He speaks in the singular number--the wicked man, meaning (as some think) Nimrod; or perhaps Chedorlaomer, or some such mighty hunter before the Lord. I fear he meant Job himself, whom he expressly charges both with the tyranny and with the timorousness here described, Job 22:9; Job 22:10. Here he thinks the application easy, and that Job might, in this description, as in a glass, see his own face. Now,

      (1.) Let us see how he describes the sinner who lives thus miserably. He does not begin with that, but brings it in as a reason of his doom, Job 15:25-28; Job 15:25-28. It is no ordinary sinner, but one of the first rate, an oppressor (Job 15:20; Job 15:20), a blasphemer, and a persecutor, one that neither fears God nor regards man. [1.] He bids defiance to God, and to his authority and power, Job 15:25; Job 15:25. Tell him of the divine law, and its obligations; he breaks those bonds asunder, and will not have, no, not him that made him, to restrain him or rule over him. Tell him of the divine wrath, and its terrors; he bids the Almighty do his worst, he will have his will, he will have his way, in spite of him, and will not be controlled by law, or conscience, or the notices of a judgment to come. He stretches out his hand against God, in defiance of him and of the power of his wrath. God is indeed out of his reach, but he stretches out his hand against him, to show that, if it were in his power, he would ungod him. This applies to the audacious impiety of some sinners who are really haters of God (Romans 1:30), and whose carnal mind is not only an enemy to him, but enmity itself, Romans 8:7. But, alas! the sinner's malice is as impotent as it is impudent; what can he do? He strengthens himself (he would be valiant, so some read it) against the Almighty. He thinks with his exorbitant despotic power to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25), and, in spite of Providence, to carry the day for rapine and wrong, clear of the check of conscience. Note, It is the prodigious madness of presumptuous sinners that they enter the lists with Omnipotence. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker. That is generally taken for a further description of the sinner's daring presumption (Job 15:26; Job 15:26): He runs upon him, upon God himself, in a direct opposition to him, to his precepts and providences, even upon his neck, as a desperate combatant, when he finds himself an unequal match for his adversary, flies in his face, though, at the same time, he falls on his sword's point, or the sharp spike of his buckler. Sinners, in general, run from God; but the presumptuous sinner, who sins with a high hand, runs upon him, fights against him, and bids defiance to him; and it is easy to foretel what will be the issue. [2.] He wraps himself up in security and sensuality (Job 15:27; Job 15:27): He covers his face with his fatness. This signifies both the pampering of his flesh with daily delicious fare and the hardening of his heart thereby against the judgments of God. Note, The gratifying of the appetites of the body, feeding and feasting that to the full, often turns to the damage of the soul and its interests. Why is God forgotten and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of and happiness placed in the delights of sense? Those that fill themselves with wine and strong drink abandon all that is serious and flatter themselves with hopes that tomorrow shall be as this day,Isaiah 56:12. Woe to those that are thus at ease in Zion,Amos 6:1; Amos 6:3; Amos 6:4; Luke 12:19. The fat that covers his face makes him look bold and haughty, and that which covers his flanks makes him lie easy and soft, and feel little; but this will prove poor shelter against the darts of God's wrath. [3.] He enriches himself with the spoils of all about him, Job 15:28; Job 15:28. He dwells in cities which he himself has made desolate by expelling the inhabitants out of them, that he might be placed alone in them, Isaiah 5:8. Proud and cruel men take a strange pleasure in ruins, when they are of their own making, in destroying cities (Psalms 9:6) and triumphing in the destruction, since they cannot make them their own but by making them ready to become heaps, and frightening the inhabitants out of them. Note, Those that aim to engross the world to themselves, and grasp at all, lose the comfort of all, and make themselves miserable in the midst of all. How does this tyrant gain his point, and make himself master of cities that have all the marks of antiquity upon them? We are told (Job 15:35; Job 15:35) that he does it by malice and falsehood, the two chief ingredients of his wickedness who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, They conceive mischief, and then they effect it by preparing deceit, pretending to protect those whom they design to subdue, and making leagues of peace the more effectually to carry on the operations of war. From such wicked men God deliver all good men.

      (2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condition of this wicked man, both in spiritual and temporal judgments.

      [1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed. He seems to those about him to be easy, and they therefore envy him and wish themselves in his condition; but he who knows what is in men tells us that a wicked man has so little comfort and satisfaction in his own breast that he is rather to be pitied than envied. First, His own conscience accuses him, and with the pangs and throes of that he travaileth in pain all his days,Job 15:20; Job 15:20. He is continually uneasy at the thought of the cruelties he as been guilty of and the blood in which he has imbrued his hands. His sins stare him in the face at every turn. Diri conscia facti mens habet attonitos--Conscious guilt astonishes and confounds. Secondly, He is vexed at the uncertainty of the continuance of his wealth and power: The number of years is hidden to the oppressor. He knows, whatever he pretends, that they will not last always, and has reason to fear that they will not last long and this he frets at. Thirdly, He is under a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation (Hebrews 10:27), which puts him into, and keeps him in, a continual terror and consternation, so that he dwells with Cain in the land of Nod, or commotion (Genesis 4:16), and is made like, Pashur, Magor-missabib--a terror round about,Jeremiah 20:3; Jeremiah 20:4. A dreadful sound is in his ears,Job 15:21; Job 15:21. He knows that both heaven and earth are incensed against him, that God is angry with him and that all the world hates him; he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and therefore he thinks that every one who meets him will slay him,Genesis 4:14. Or he is like a man absconding for debt, who thinks every man a bailiff. Fear came in, at first, with sin (Genesis 3:10) and still attends it. Even in prosperity he is apprehensive that the destroyer will come upon him, either some destroying angel sent of God to avenge his quarrel or some of his injured subjects who will be their own avengers. Those who are the terror of the mighty in the land of the living usually go down slain to the pit (Ezekiel 32:25), the expectation of which makes them a terror to themselves. This is further set forth (Job 15:22; Job 15:22): He is, in his own apprehension, waited for of the sword; for he knows that he who killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword,Revelation 13:10. A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flaming sword turning every way (Genesis 3:24) and himself inevitably running on it. Again (Job 15:23; Job 15:23): He knows that the day of darkness (or the night of darkness rather) is ready at his hand, that it is appointed to him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening on apace and cannot be put off. This day of darkness is something beyond death; it is that day of the Lord which to all wicked people will be darkness and not light and in which they will be doomed to utter, endless, darkness. Note, Some wicked people, though they seem secure, have already received the sentence of death, eternal death, within themselves, and plainly see hell gaping for them. No marvel that it follows (Job 15:24; Job 15:24), Trouble and anguish (that inward tribulation and anguish of soul spoken of Romans 2:8; Romans 2:9, which are the effect of God's indignation and wrath fastening upon the conscience) shall make him afraid of worse to come. What is the hell before him if this be the hell within him? And though he would fain shake off his fears, drink them away, and jest them away, it will not do; they shall prevail against him, and overpower him, as a king ready to the battle, with forces too strong to be resisted. He that would keep his peace, let him keep a good conscience. Fourthly, If at any time he be in trouble, he despairs of getting out (Job 15:22; Job 15:22): He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, but he gives himself up for gone and lost in an endless night. Good men expect light at evening time, light out of darkness; but what reason have those to expect that they shall return out of the darkness of trouble who would not return from the darkness of sin, but went on in it?Psalms 82:5. It is the misery of damned sinners that they know they shall never return out of that utter darkness, nor pass the gulf there fixed. Fifthly, He perplexes himself with continual care, especially if Providence ever so little frown upon him, Job 15:23; Job 15:23. Such a dread he has of poverty, and such a waste does he discern upon his estate, that he is already, in his own imagination, wandering abroad for bread, going a begging for a meal's meat, and saying, Where is it? The rich man, in his abundance, cried out, What shall I do?Luke 12:17. Perhaps he pretends fear of wanting, as an excuse of his covetous practices; and justly may he be brought to this extremity at last. We read of those who were full, but have hired out themselves for bread (1 Samuel 2:5), which this sinner will not do. He cannot dig; he is too fat (Job 15:27; Job 15:27): but to beg he may well be ashamed. See Psalms 109:10. David never saw the righteous so far forsaken as to beg their bread; for, verily, they shall be fed by the charitable unasked, Psalms 37:3; Psalms 37:25. But the wicked want it, and cannot expect it should be readily given them. How should those find mercy who never showed mercy?

      [2.] His outward prosperity will soon come to an end, and all his confidence and all his comfort will come to an end with it. How can he prosper when God runs upon him? so some understand that, Job 15:26; Job 15:26. Whom God runs upon he will certainly run down; for when he judges he will overcome. See how the judgments of God cross this worldly wicked man in all his cares, desires, and projects, and so complete his misery. First, He is in care to get, but he shall not be rich,Job 15:29; Job 15:29. His own covetous mind keeps him from being truly rich. He is not rich that has not enough, and he has not enough that does not think he has. It is contentment only that is great gain. Providence remarkably keeps some from being rich, defeating their enterprises, breaking their measures, and keeping them always behind-hand. Many that get much by fraud and injustice, yet do not grow rich: it goes as it comes; it is got by one sin and spent upon another. Secondly, He is in care to keep what he has got, but in vain: His substance shall not continue; it will dwindle and come to nothing. God blasts it, and what came up in a night perishes in a night. Wealth gotten by vanity will certainly be diminished. Some have themselves lived to see the ruin of those estates which have been raised by oppression; but, where this is not the case, that which is left goes with a curse to those who succeed. De male quæsitis vix gaudet tertius hæres--Ill-gotten property will scarcely be enjoyed by the third generation. He purchases estates to him and his heirs for ever; but to what purpose? He shall not prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth; neither the credit nor the comfort of his riches shall be prolonged; and, when those are gone, where is the perfection of them? How indeed can we expect the perfection of any thing to be prolonged upon the earth, where every thing is transitory, and we soon see the end of all perfection? Thirdly, He is in care to leave what he has got and kept to his children after him. But in this he is crossed; the branches of his family shall perish, in whom he hoped to live and flourish and to have the reputation of making them all great men. They shall not be green,Job 15:32; Job 15:32. The flame shall dry them up,Job 15:30; Job 15:30. he shall shake them off as blossoms that never knit, or as the unripe grape,Job 15:33; Job 15:33. They shall die in the beginning of their days and never come to maturity. Many a man's family is ruined by his iniquity. Fourthly, He is in care to enjoy it a great while himself; but in that also he is crossed. 1. He may perhaps be taken from it (Job 15:30; Job 15:30): By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away, and leave his wealth to others; that is, by God's wrath, which, like a stream of brimstone, kindles the fire that devours him (Isaiah 30:33), or by his word; he speaks, and it is done immediately. This night thy soul shall be required of thee; and so the wicked is driven away in his wickedness, the worldling in his worldliness. 2. It may perhaps be taken from him, and fly away like an eagle towards heaven: It shall be accomplished (or cut off) before his time (Job 15:32; Job 15:32); that is, he shall survive his prosperity, and see himself stripped of it. Fifthly, He is in care, when he is in trouble, how to get out of it (not how to get good by it); but in this also he is crossed (Job 15:30; Job 15:30): He shall not depart out of darkness. When he begins to fall, like Haman, all men say, "Down with him." It was said of him (Job 15:22; Job 15:22), He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness. He frightened himself with the perpetuity of his calamity, and God also shall choose his delusions and bring his fears upon him (Isaiah 66:4), as he did upon Israel, Numbers 14:28. God says Amen to his distrust and despair. Sixthly, He is in care to secure his partners, and hopes to secure himself by his partnership with them; but that is in vain too, Job 15:34; Job 15:35. The congregation of them, the whole confederacy, they and all their tabernacles, shall be desolate and consumed with fire. Hypocrisy and bribery are here charged upon them; that is, deceitful dealing both with God and man--God affronted under colour of religion, man wronged under colour of justice. It is impossible that these should end well. Though hand join in hand for the support of these perfidious practices, yet shall not the wicked go unpunished. (3.) The use and application of all this. Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end thus miserably? Then (Job 15:31; Job 15:31) let not him that is deceived trust in vanity. Let the mischiefs which befal others be our warnings, and let not us rest on that broken reed which always failed those who leaned on it. [1.] Those who trust to their sinful ways of getting wealth trust in vanity, and vanity will be their recompence, for they shall not get what they expected. Their arts will deceive them and perhaps ruin them in this world. [2.] Those who trust to their wealth when they have gotten it, especially to the wealth they have gotten dishonestly, trust in vanity; for it will yield them no satisfaction. The guilt that cleaves to it will ruin the joy of it. They sow the wind, and will reap the whirlwind, and will own at length, with the utmost confusion, that a deceived heart turned them aside, and that they cheated themselves with a lie in their right hand.