Job 21:18

_THEY ARE AS STUBBLE BEFORE THE WIND, AND AS CHAFF THAT THE STORM CARRIETH AWAY._ Job alludes to a like sentiment of Bildad (Job 18:18), using his own previous words (Job 13:25). CHAFF - (Psalms 1:4; Psalms 35:5)....

17-26 Job had described the prosperity of wicked people; in these verses he opposes this to what his friends had maintained about their certain ruin in this life. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Even while they prosper thus, they are light and worthless, of no account with God, or with wise men. In the height of their pomp and power, there is but a step between them and ruin. Job refers the difference Providence makes between one wicked man and another, into the wisdom of God. He is Judge of all the earth, and he will do right. So vast is the disproportion between time and eternity, that if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes little difference if one goes singing thither, and another sighing. If one wicked man die in a palace, and another in a dungeon, the worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, will be the same to them. Thus difference...

Verse Job 21:18. _THEY ARE AS STUBBLE BEFORE THE WIND_] "His fan is in his hand; he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, but shall be like the _chaff_ which the wind driveth away." Were not this a common thought, I should have supposed that the author of this book borrowed it from Psalms 1:4. The original signifies that they shall be _carried away by a_ _furious storm_; and borne off as _booty_ is by the swift-riding robbers of the desert, who make a sudden irruption, and then set off at full speed with their prey....

THEY ARE AS STUBBLE BEFORE THE WIND - According to the interpretation proposed of the previous verse, this may be read as a question, “How often is it that the wicked are made like stubble? You say that God deals with people exactly according to their characters, and that the wicked are certainly subjected to calamities; but how often does this, in fact, occur? Is it a uniform law? Do they not, in fact, live in prosperity, and arrive at a good old age?” It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to compare the wicked with stubble, and to affirm that they shall be driven away, as the chaff is driven by the wind; see the notes at Isaiah 17:13. THE STORM CARRIETH AWAY - Margin, “stealeth away.” This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The idea is that of stealing away before one is aware, as a thief carries off spoil....

EXPOSITION JOB 21:1 Job answers Zophar, as he had answered Bildad, in a single not very lengthy chapter. After a few caustic introductory remarks (verses 2-4), he takes up the challenge which Zophar had thrown out, respecting the certain punishment, in this life, of the wicked (Job 20:4), and maintains, "in language of unparalleled boldness'' (Cook), the converse of the proposition. The wicked, he says, live, grow old, attain to great power, have a numerous and flourishing offspring, prosper, grow rich, spend their time in feasting and jollity—nay, openly renounce God and decline to pray to him—yet suffer no harm, and when they die, go down to the grave without suffering, "in a moment" (verses 5-15). To the suggestion that from time to time they are cut off suddenly in a signal wa

THEY ARE AS STUBBLE BEFORE THE WIND,.... Or how oft "are they as stubble?" c. or how oft does God do the above things, "so that they are", or "become, as stubble before the wind" u, AND AS CHAFF THAT THE STORM CARRIETH, or "steals away" x? hastily, suddenly, at an unawares like a thief: wicked men are comparable to stubble and chaff for the vanity of their minds, their emptiness of all good things; for their lightness, the levity and inconstancy of their hearts, their principles and practices; for their uselessness and unprofitableness to God and men, to themselves and their fellow creatures; for their being fit fuel for everlasting burnings, their end like these being to be burned; and whose destruction is inevitable and irresistible, and can no more be withstood and prevented than stubble and chaff can stand before a strong wind and a stormy tempest: but is this their common case now?...

CHAPTER 21 JOB'S REPLY _ 1. Hear my solemn words--then mock on (Job 21:1)_ 2. His testimony concerning the experiences of the wicked (Job 21:7) 3. Your answers are nothing but falsehoods (Job 21:27) Job 21:1. This answer shows that Job gets the upper hand over his accusing friends in this controversy. In a masterly way he meets their arguments. He wants them to hear diligently, and if they choose, after he has spoken, they may mock on. He is not complaining to man, or making his appeal to these human friends. He begins to look for another helper, even to God....

JOB 21. JOB'S REPLY. Zophar was graphic and vigorous, but had nothing to say. Nevertheless his speech suggests to Job his next argument. The facts are quite the opposite of what Zophar has said: the wicked do not die prematurely. Is the doctrine of Providence true? JOB 21:1. Job invites the friends to listen in silence (Job 21:5) at the terrible truths he has to disclose (Job 21:6). In Job 21:4 read of man (_mg.) :_ the meaning is that Job complains of God. JOB 21:7. The prosperity of the godless. In...

THEY: i.e. [How oft] they. STUBBLE. crushed straw. Hebrew. _teben_ (not _kash =_ straw. WIND. Hebrew. _ruach._ App-9....

This great mystery of the prosperity of the wicked in God's providence Job now unfolds on both its sides: first, they and all belonging to them prosper, and they die in peace, although in conscious godlessness they bade the Almighty depart from them, Job 21:7; and second, negatively, examples of calamity befalling them are few, Job 21:17....