Job 15:28

_AND HE DWELLETH IN DESOLATE CITIES, AND IN HOUSES WHICH NO MAN INHABITETH, WHICH ARE READY TO BECOME HEAPS._ The class of wicked here described is that of robbers who plunder "cities," and seize on the houses of the banished citizens (Isaiah 13:20), that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth (Isaiah 5:8). Eliphaz chooses this class because Job had chosen the same (Job 12:6). HEAPS - of ruins....

17-35 Eliphaz maintains that the wicked are certainly miserable: whence he would infer, that the miserable are certainly wicked, and therefore Job was so. But because many of God's people have prospered in this world, it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and made poor, as Job, are not God's people. Eliphaz shows also that wicked people, particularly oppressors, are subject to continual terror, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. Will the prosperity of presumptuous sinners end miserably as here described? Then let the mischiefs which befal others, be our warnings. Though no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. No calamity, no trouble, however heavy, however severe, can rob a follower of the Lord of his favour. What shall...

Verse Job 15:28. _HE DWELLETH IN DESOLATE CITIES_] It is sometimes the fate of a tyrant to be obliged to take up his habitation in some of those cities which have been ruined by his wars, and in a house so ruinous as to be ready to fall into heaps. Ancient and modern history afford abundance of examples to illustrate this....

AND HE DWELLETH - Or rather, “therefore he shall dwell.” As a consequence of his opposing God, and devoting himself to a life of sensuality and ease, he shall dwell in a desolate place. Instead of living in affluence and in a splendid city, he shall be compelled to take up his abode in places that have been deserted and abandoned. Such places - like Petra or Babylon now - became the temporary lodgings of caravans and travelers, or the abodes of outcasts and robbers. The meaning here is, that the proud and wicked man shall be ejected from his palace, and compelled to seek a refuge far away from the usual haunts of men. WHICH ARE READY TO BECOME HEAPS - Which are just ready to tumble into ruin....

EXPOSITION The second colloquy between Job and his friends is, like the first (ch. 3-14.), one in which all of them take part, and the same order of speakers is maintained. Job answers each speaker in turn; Eliphaz at some length (Job 16:1; Job 17:1.), the other two more briefly. The present chapter contains the second speech of Eliphaz. Compared with the first, it is harsh and violent in tone, assuming Job's guilt, and reproaching him fiercely and rudely. It naturally divides into three portions: (1) a direct reproof of Job for presumption and impiety (verses 1-6); (2) a sarcastic reflection on him for conceit and arrogance (verses 7-16); (3) an exposition of God's ways with man, based upon the experience of ancient sages (verses 17-3

AND HE DWELLETH IN DESOLATE CITIES,.... This is either a continuation of the account of the wicked man's prosperity, which makes him haughty; such is his might and power, that he destroys cities and palaces, built and enjoyed by others, and then out of the ruins of them builds greater cities and more noble palaces, to perpetuate his name to posterity; which sense agrees with Job 3:14; and with the Targum, "and he makes tabernacles in desert cities, that he may dwelt in houses which were not inhabited;'' and so Ben Gersom: and hence because of his success among men, and the grandeur he lives in, his heart is lifted up, and his hand is stretched out against God; or else this may express the sinful course of life such a man lives, who chooses to dwell in desolate places, and deserts, to do harm to others, to seize upon travellers as they pass by, and rob and plunder them of the

THE SECOND SERIES OF CONTROVERSIES CHAPTER 15 Eliphaz's Second Address _ 1. Tells Job that he is self-condemned (Job 15:1)_ 2. Charges him with pride (Job 15:7) 3. The wicked and their lot (Job 15:17) Job 15:1. His second address is not as lofty as his first. Job's language has evidently annoyed him very much. He characterizes his words as vain, unprofitable, which can do no good. He charges him with having cast off fear and having become one who restrained devotion before God. He tells Job that what he has spoken only confirms their views of him, that he is a wicked man and suffers justly for his sins. Thine own m

Eliphaz instructs Job regarding the troubled conscience And the Disastrous Fate of the Wicked Man Having sufficiently rebuked Job's presumption and irreverence Eliphaz proceeds to take up his principles, which "did away with the fear of God," Job 15:4. They are such principles as Job gave forth ch. Job 9:22 _seq_., Job 12:6. The passage has two parts: First, Job 15:17, a brief preface, in which Eliphaz states that his doctrine is that of the wise of all times among the pure-blooded races of men, who have never been contaminated by mixture with foreign tribes, and whose traditions are uncorrupted. Second,...

2. The destiny of the ungodly shows the retributive justice of God. (Job 15:17-35) TEXT 15:17-35 17 I WILL SHOW THEE, HEAR THOU 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 land was given, And no stranger passed among them): 20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor. 21 A sound of terrors 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 waiting for 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 Distress and anguish make him afraid; They prevail against him, a

THE SECOND SERIES OF SPEECHES (JOB 15-21) The rejection by Job of the opinions and advice of the friends, his sturdy maintenance of his innocence, and the fearlessness with which in his anguish he has arraigned the divine government of the world, have all alike deepened their conviction of his guilt. Without actually charging Job with definite sin, for which indeed they have no ground, they now administer stern rebukes, and draw terrible pictures of the certain misery which awaits the godless, and this evidently with an eye to the sufferer. They no longer encourage him to repentance, or predict consequent prosperity. Job, for his part, laments their harshness, and rejects anew their doctrine of retribution as contrary to experience, and as not applicable to his case. He feels himself to be abandoned by God and man; he cries out for pity; he reasserts his innocence, and is still troubled...