Job 22:15–18

In verses 15-18 we have a reference to the flood. Job had just spoken of wicked men who said to God, "Depart from us." Here Eliphaz asks if Job had really taken that to heart, as it was shown in the world before the flood. What men did after the flood, as they lapsed into idolatry, was just what had been done before the flood. Eliphaz is quite right about the root of all their appalling wickedness. It was departure from God, shutting Him out of their lives and even out of their thoughts.

Will you keep to the old way that wicked men walked? They were snatched away before their time, and a flood poured on their foundation. They were saying to God, "Depart from us; and what could the Almighty do for them?" And He filled their houses with good!

A flood swept away their seemingly solid foundations — or, to put it more exactly, turned those foundations into a flood. The meaning is the same either way. There may be a reference to the days of Noah, when people ate and drank, married, and were given in marriage, "until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."

Eliphaz turns from such contempt for God in horror — and we may believe he is sincere: "The counsel of the wicked be far from me." He is quoting the very words of Job (Job 21:16). Why will he not credit his old friend with the same hatred of evil that he claims for himself? Instead of this, it would almost seem that he is expressing his disgust at Job, associating him with those who defy God.

Job was as sincere in his hatred of that defiance as Eliphaz was, and Eliphaz had no real ground for casting such blame on him. It was the bitter fruit of his hard, narrow, misleading theory of present affliction.

He totally ignores what Job had argued in his answer to Zophar about many wicked men being cut down (ch.21:7-17), for he had no answer for this... He considered that the wicked would be cut down before their time, like Job was being cut down. So he side-steps the truth that many wicked men fill out their lives in pleasure without any trouble falling on them.

Job's point was that God often prospered the wicked, and their judgment only came at the end. Eliphaz insisted that God did step in with judgment, as the flood had shown. Both it seems were right. In our own day we can see the terrible results of men dismissing God from their thoughts and lives. If God is turned out like this, every kind of evil comes in.

Now, my friends, if you have never marked this way before, I ask you earnestly tonight to mark it... For the careless, thoughtless man of the world, who lives in pleasure and sin, I think the question of Eliphaz here is very important... They did not want God. They did not like God. They heard of God, yet they would not take His warnings, spoken through Enoch and Noah.

They press the doctrine that God's rule of this world is a full measure and display of His righteousness, and of the righteousness in man that would match it. That doctrine shows total ignorance of what God's righteousness is, and of His ways. It also shows no real knowledge of what God is, or of man as a sinner... though they say many true commonplace things which even the Spirit of God adopts as just.

Eliphaz comes back to his often-repeated example of the wicked and their punishment. He describes how they prosper for a time, and the judgment that is sure to overtake them. Like grass that grows up only to be cut down and withered, they perished before their time. Their foundations looked solid, but a flood swept them away — or perhaps, more exactly, turned into a flood. The meaning is the same in either case.

In verses 15-18 we have a reference to the flood. Job had just spoken of wicked men who said to God, "Depart from us." Here Eliphaz asks if Job had really taken this to heart, as the world before the flood showed it. What men did after the flood, when they slipped into idolatry, was just what men had done before it. Eliphaz is quite right about the root of all their appalling wickedness. It was turning away from God, and shutting Him out of their lives and even out of their thoughts.

Genesis does not tell us that they spoke so boldly and sinfully. But Job does. One book of Scripture seldom gives you the only statement of a truth, or the whole history of a man or of men and their ways. Its unity is clear in the number of its writers, all moved by God. Job tells us the motive that moved the men of the world — dislike of God. Paul tells us that Noah acted "in reverent fear" of Him (Heb. 11:7).

He says these wicked men had been cut down before their time, with their foundations swept away by a flood (v.16). He completely ignores what Job had argued in his answer to Zophar (ch. 21:7-17), for he had no answer to it... he side-steps the truth that many wicked men fill out their lives in pleasure without any trouble at all.

Eliphaz turns in horror from such defiance of God — sincerely, we may believe: "The counsel of the wicked is far from me." But he is quoting the very words of Job. Why will he not allow his former friend the same hatred of evil that he claims for himself?

Job's point was that God often prospered the wicked and their judgment only came at the end. Eliphaz insisted that God did step in with judgment, as the flood had shown. Both, it seems, were right. And in our own day we can see the dreadful results of men dismissing God from their thoughts and lives. If God is turned out like this, every kind of evil comes in.

Like the grass that grows up only to be cut down and withered, they perished before their time. A flood swept away their seemingly solid foundations... These men before the flood are samples of the ungodly in every age. They had defied the God who had given His blessings to them: "Depart from us!" and what can the Almighty do to them?

They did not want God. They did not like God, and even though they heard of God, they would not accept His warnings, spoken by Enoch's and Noah's lips.

We are not told in Genesis that they spoke so boldly and sinfully. But we are told by Job. You rarely get the only statement of the truth, or the whole history of a man or of men and their ways, in one book of Scripture. Its unity is clear in the many writers, all moved by God. We get the motives that moved the men of the world told to us by Job — namely, dislike of God — while Paul tells us that Noah was "moved by fear" of Him (Hebrews 11:7). Job shows God's dealings with men in the words, "Yet he filled their houses with good things — but the counsel of the wicked is far from me."

It was no use for Eliphaz to throw Job's own saying back at him here, as he did at the start of his speech. (Compare Job 21:14-16.) Job was as sincere in his hatred of the sentiment as Eliphaz, who had no real ground for reflecting on Job this way. It was the bitter fruit of his hard, narrow, and misleading theory about present affliction.

Eliphaz turns away in horror from such godlessness, and we may believe he is sincere: "the counsel of the wicked is far from me." He is quoting the very words of Job (Job 21:16). Why will he not allow his former friend the same hatred of evil as himself? Instead, it would almost seem that he is expressing his disgust with Job, linking him with those who defy God.

He admits that the Almighty had filled the houses of the wicked with good things, though they had said to God, "Depart from us." But he thought the wicked would be cut down before their time, as Job was being cut down. So he sidesteps what is plain: many wicked men live out their lives in pleasure without any trouble at all. He says "the counsel of the wicked is far from me." But the counsel of the wicked was just as far from Job as from Eliphaz. Eliphaz wanted this statement to set himself in contrast to Job.

Eliphaz drops his original mildness and deals unfairly with Job's reasoning. He argues falsely himself, turning special instances of God's judgment on the wicked into a sample of His ordinary dealings, and ignoring the righteous.