Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
Parallel Translations
-
Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
who said to God, ‘Depart from us;’ and, ‘What can the Almighty do for us?’
-
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
Show all 3 translations
-
Wilt thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream;
Who said unto God: 'Depart from us'; and what could the Almighty do unto them?
Cross-references (22)
- Job 21:14-15 (v17) They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit…
- Job 15:32 (v16) It will be accomplished before his time. His branch will not be green.
- Genesis 7:17-24 (v16) The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. The waters rose,…
- Psalms 4:6 (v17) Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
- Romans 1:28 (v17) Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Show all 22 cross-references
- Genesis 7:11 (v16) In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the…
- Job 21:10 (v17) Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry.
- Psalms 55:23 (v16) But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I…
- Isaiah 30:11 (v17) Get out of the way. Turn away from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
- Malachi 3:14 (v17) You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully…
- Matthew 8:29 (v17) Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
- Matthew 24:37-39 (v16) “As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and…
- Luke 17:26-27 (v15) As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married, and they were…
- 1 Peter 3:19-20 (v16) in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah,…
- 2 Peter 2:5 (v16) and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world…
- Genesis 6:5 (v15) Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually…
- Genesis 6:11-13 (v15) The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had…
- Job 14:19 (v16) The waters wear the stones. The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy the hope of man.
- Psalms 102:24 (v16) I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.
- Ecclesiastes 7:17 (v16) Don’t be too wicked, neither be foolish. Why should you die before your time?
- Matthew 7:26-27 (v16) Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came…
- Matthew 8:34 (v17) Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–16 How God hath punished them from the beginning?
How God hath punished them from the beginning?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which…
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Ver. 15. Hast thou, marked the old way] Heb. The way of old. Broughton rendereth it, the way of the old world; of those ungodly ones before the flood. Hereby it appeareth, say our learned annotators, that Job lived before the deliverance out of Egypt, because he mentioneth the creation and the flood, but not the deliverance; which, had he known, it would have afforded him an excellent argument to prove that godly men might be in great affliction, as the Israelites were in Egypt; and his friends a plausible argument that God useth to destroy wicked men for their sin, as he did the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
Read full note →
Which wicked men have trodden?] Heb. Mortals of iniquity or vanity. Viri nequam et nequaquam, vel nihili, Men of wickedness with a witness. The face of the old world was grown so foul, that God was fain to wash it with a flood. All was out of order in family, State, and Church. In the family was found luxury and unlawful marriages. In the State tyranny, violence, rapacity, and injustice. In the Church contempt of God’s word, and a fond opinion that God did not order all by his providence, but that a man might do well enough without him. Now that this was the opinion of those antediluvian Belialists, some have gathered from this text, which they read thus, Wilt thou follow the old way; that is, the tenet of those old sinners against their own souls, whom God, for their damnable security and licentiousness (the products of such a portentous opinion), buried all together in one universal grave of waters?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Heb. the way of antiquity, i.e. of men living…
Heb. the way of antiquity, i.e. of men living in ancient times, or former ages. By this way is here meant, either,
1. Their course or common practice; or,
Read full note →
2. Their end or success; as the
way is taken, 1Sa 9:6,8; and as death, which is, and is called, the end of all men, Ecc 7:2, is also called the way of all the earth, Jos 23:14; 1Ki 2:2.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v15 Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by setting his…
Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by setting his sins (as he thought) in order before him, here endeavours to awaken him to a sight and sense of his misery and danger by reason of sin; and this he does by comparing his case with that of the sinners of the old world; as if he had said, "Thy condition is bad now, but, unless thou repent, it will be worse, as theirs was - theirs who were overflown with a flood, as the old world (Job 22:16), and theirs the remnant of whom the fire consumed" (Job 22:20), namely, the Sodomites, who, in comparison of the old world, were but a remnant. And these two instances of the wrath of God against sin and sinners are more than once put together, for warning to a careless world, as by our Saviour (Luk 17:26, etc.) and the apostle, Pe2 2:5, Pe2 2:6. Eliphaz would have Job to mark the old way which wicked men have trodden (Job 22:15) and see what came of it, what the end of their way was. Note, There is an old way which wicked men have trodden. Religion had but newly entered when sin immediately followed it. But though it is an old way, a broad way, a tracked way, it is a dangerous way and it leads to destruction; and it is good for us to mark it, that we may not dare to walk in it. Eliphaz here puts Job in mind of it, perhaps in opposition to what he had said of the prosperity of the wicked; as if he had said, "Thou canst find out here and there a single instance, it may be, of a wicked man ending his days in peace; but what is that to those two great instances of the final perdition of ungodly men - the drowning of the whole world and the burning of Sodom?" destructions by wholesale, in which he thinks Job may, as in a glass, see his own face. Observe, 1. The ruin of those sinners (Job 22:16): They were cut down out of time; that is, they were cut off in the midst of their days, when, as man's time then went, many of them might, in the course of nature, have lived some hundreds of years longer, which made their immature extirpation the more grievous. They were cut down out of time, to be hurried into eternity. And their foundation, the earth on which they built themselves and all their hopes, was overflown with a flood, the flood which was brought in upon the world of the ungodly, Pe2 2:5. Note, Those who build upon the sand choose a foundation which will be overflown when the rains descend and the floods come (Mat 7:27), and then their building must needs fall and they perish in the ruins of it, and repent of their folly when it is too late. 2. The sin of those sinners, which brought that ruin (Job 22:17): They said unto God, Depart from us. Job had spoken of some who said so and yet prospered, Job 21:14. "But these did not (says Eliphaz); they found to their cost what it was to set God at defiance. Those who were resolved to lay the reins on the neck of their appetites and passions began with this; they said unto God, Depart; they abandoned all religion, hated the thoughts of it, and desired to live without God in the world; they shunned his word, and silenced conscience, his deputy. And what can the Almighty do for them?" Some make this to denote the justness of their punishment. They said to God, Depart from us; and then what could the Almighty do with them but cut them off? Those who will not submit to God's golden sceptre must expect to be broken to pieces with his iron rod. Others make it to denote the injustice of their sin: But what hath the Almighty done against them? What iniquity have they found in him, or wherein has he wearied them? Mic 6:3; Jer 2:5. Others make it to denote the reason of their sin: They say unto God, Depart, asking what the Almighty can do to them. "What has he done to oblige us? What can he do in a way of wrath to make us miserable, or in a way of favour to make us happy?" As they argue, Zep 1:12. The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Eliphaz shows the absurdity of this in one word, and that is, calling God the Almighty; for, if he be so, what cannot he do? But it is not strange if those cast off all religion who neither dread God's wrath nor desire his favour. 3. The aggravation of this sin: Yet he had filled their houses with good things, Job 22:18. Both those of the old world and those of Sodom had great plenty of all the delights of sense; for they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, etc. (Luk 17:27), so that they had no reason to ask what the Almighty could do for them, for they lived upon his bounty, no reason to bid him depart from them who had been so kind to them. Many have their houses full of goods but their hearts empty of grace, and thereby are marked for ruin. 4. The protestation which Eliphaz makes against the principles and practices of those wicked people: But the counsel of the wicked is far from me. Job had said so (Job 21:16) and Eliphaz will not be behind him. If they cannot agree in their own principles concerning God, yet they agree in renouncing the principles of those that live without God in the world. Note, Those that differ from each other in some matters of religion, and are engaged in disputes about them, yet ought unanimously and vigorously to appear against atheism and irreligion, and to take care that their disputes do not hinder either their vigour or unanimity in that common cause of God, that righteous cause. 5. The pleasure and satisfaction which the righteous shall have in this. (1.) In seeing the wicked destroyed, Job 22:19. They shall see it, that is, observe it, and take notice of it (Hos 14:9); and they shall be glad, not to see their fellow-creatures miserable, or any secular turn of their own served, or point gained, but to see God glorified, the word of God fulfilled, the power of oppressors broken, and thereby the oppressed relieved - to see sin shamed, atheists and infidels confounded, and fair warning given to all others to shun such wicked courses. Nay, they shall laugh them to scorn, that is, they justly might do it, they shall do it, as God does it, in a holy manner, Psa 2:4; Pro 1:26. They shall take occasion thence to expose the folly of sinners and show how ridiculous their principles are, though they call themselves wits. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; and see what comes of it, Psa 52:7. Some understand this of righteous Noah and his family, who beheld the destruction of the old world and rejoiced in it, as he had grieved for their impiety. Lot, who saw the ruin of Sodom, had the same reason to rejoice, Pe2 2:7, Pe2 2:8. (2.) In seeing themselves distinguished (Job 22:20): "Whereas our substance is not cut down, as theirs was, and as thine is; we continue to prosper, which is a sign that we are the favourites of Heaven, and in the right." The same rule that served him to condemn Job by served him to magnify himself and his companions by. His substance is cut down; therefore he is a wicked man; ours is not; therefore we are righteous. But it is a deceitful rule to judge by; for none knows love or hatred by all that is before him. If others be consumed, and we be not, instead of censuring them and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful to God and take it for a warning to ourselves to prepare for similar calamities.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Which were cut down out of time,.... Sent out…
Which were cut down out of time,.... Sent out of time into eternity, time being no more with men, and they no longer in time, when death seizes upon them; or "before time" (a), before the common term of life, which, according to the course of nature, and human probability, they might have arrived unto: as this is spoken of the men of the old world that lived before the flood, when the lives of men were very long, it is highly probable there, were many that were destroyed by the general deluge, who, had it not for that, might have lived many hundreds of years, according to the usual course: or "without time" (b), without any delay suddenly, at once, at an unawares; for, though they had notice of the flood, they did not regard it, but lived careless and secure; and it came upon them without any further warning, and swept them away, when they were "cut down", as trees by the axe laid to the root of them, to which wicked, men in great power and flourishing circumstances are sometimes compared, Psa 37:35; or like grass by the scythe, which it is not able to resist, and to which all men are like for their numbers and weaknesses, and who are cut down by death as easily as the grass is by the mower, see Psa 37:1. Some render it "wrinkled" (c), as in Job 16:8; as bodies when dead are, and especially such as are drowned, and have been long floating in the water, as those that perished by the flood were, for to such the words have respect, as appears by what follows:
whose foundation was overflown with a flood; either of water, or of fire and brimstone, as Jarchi observes; the former is most likely to be meant; for by the flood, or universal deluge, all that was thought firm and permanent, and might be called a foundation, was overflown and carried away, as houses, goods, furniture, wealth, and riches, and everything that men had a dependence upon for the support and comfort of life; yea, the earth itself, on which they dwelt, and was reckoned "terra firma", this being founded upon, and over the waters; or, as the Apostle Peter describes it, "it standing out of the water and in the water", Pe2 3:5; or "their foundation was a flood poured out" (d); what they thought were solid, and firm, and durable, and built their hopes of happiness upon, were like a flood of water, poured, dissipated, and scattered, and which disappeared and came to nothing: and such is every foundation that a man builds his hope, especially of eternal happiness, upon, short of Christ, the only sure foundation laid in Zion, his person, grace, blood, and righteousness; everything else, let it seem ever so firm, is as sand, yea, as water, as a flood of water that spreads itself, and quickly comes to nothing.
Read full note →
(a) "ante tempus suum", V. L. Mercerus; "ante tempus", Cocceius, Schultens. (b) "Sine mora", Cocceius; "in momento", Codurcus. (c) "corrugati sunt", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Bolducius, Cocceius. (d) "fundamentum eorum ut flumen diffluxit", Tigurine version; "fluvius effusus fundamentum eorum", Codurcus, Beza; to the same sense Drusius, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schultens.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Old way - Hebrew. the way of antiquity, of…
Old way - Hebrew. the way of antiquity, of men living in ancient times, their end or success.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Verse 15. Hast thou marked the old way] This…
Verse 15. Hast thou marked the old way] This is supposed to be another accusation; as i! he had said, "Thou hollowest the same way that the wicked of old have walked in." Here is an evident allusion to the FLOOD, as is particularly noted in the next verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Job 22:15-16. Hast thou marked the old way? —…
Job 22:15-16. Hast thou marked the old way? — Hebrew, ארח עולם, orach gnolam, the way of antiquity, that is, of men living in ancient times, or former ages. And, by their way, he either means their course, and common practice, or their end and success. Which were cut down out of time — Before their time; who died a violent and untimely death. Whose foundation was overflown, &c. — Who, together with their foundation the earth, and all their supports and enjoyments, were destroyed by a flood of waters. As the universal deluge was a most signal and memorable instance of God’s displeasure against wickedness and wicked men, and was, doubtless, very well known in those days, Eliphaz takes occasion to enlarge upon it, for five or six verses together, as a proper lesson (so he thought it) for his friend; and then closes it with the mention of another destruction by fire, either past or to be expected, which is described to be as general and as fatal to the wicked.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men…
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? - Hast thou seen what has happened in former times to wicked people? Job had maintained that God did not deal with people in this world according to their character. To meet this, Eliphaz now appeals to ancient facts, and especially refers to the deluge, when the wicked were cut off by a flood for their sins. Schultens, Dr. Good, Noyes, and Reiske, however, suppose that tbe word here rendered “mark,” means to “pursue,” or “imitate,” and that the sense is,” Are you willing to adopt the principles of those wicked people who lived in the time of the deluge?” But the sense is not materially affected. The general design is to refer Job to the case of the impious generation that was swept off by a flood. The judgments of God on them were a full refutation, in his view, of the sentiments of Job.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Wicked. Alexandrian Septuagint, "just." But Grabe substitutes unjust; (Haydock)…
Wicked. Alexandrian Septuagint, "just." But Grabe substitutes unjust; (Haydock) as otherwise, Eliphaz would argue against his own principles: unless just be put ironically for hypocrites. (Calmet) --- Wilt thou imitate the ancient giants, before the deluge? (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–17 marked--Rather, Dost thou keep to? that is, wish to…
marked--Rather, Dost thou keep to? that is, wish to follow (so Hebrew, Sa2 22:22). If so, beware of sharing their end.
the old way--the degenerate ways of the world before the flood (Gen 6:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15. Hast thou marked — Wilt thou keep.
15. Hast thou marked — Wilt thou keep.
The old way — Hebrew, עולם. He probably means the way of the antediluvians. A man’s faith, or voidness of faith, is a finger-pointer to the life he leads. The tenor of the argument is, that those who hold godless opinions must lead godless lives.
Read full note →
NOTE. — The asterisk in the Hebrew Bible indicates that the middle of the book is now reached, the book consisting of 1,070 verses.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15. It was under a similar feeling in regard…
15. It was under a similar feeling in regard to God that the great sinners before the Flood filled the earth with violence, and Eliphaz asks Job whether he will go the length of accepting the principles and following the conduct of such men? Compare the words of Elihu, ch. Job_34:8.
Hast thou marked the old way] Rather, wilt thou keep …? i. e. follow the path they walked in.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 (15) Hast thou marked the old way . .…
(15) Hast thou marked the old way . . .?—Rather, Dost thou keep the old way which the wicked men trod? Dost thou hold their tenets?
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men…
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? rather, Wilt thou keep the old way"etc.? (see the Revised Version). Eliphaz assumes that it is Job"s intention to cast in his lot with these persons whose prosperous wickedness he has described in the preceding chapter (vers. 7-15). And this notwithstanding Job"s final protest, "Be the counsel of the wicked far from me" (ver. 16). He calls the mode of life pursued by these wicked persons "the old way," either with allusion to the seed of Cain before the Flood, who "corrupted their way", (Gen_6:12) or perhaps with reference to the descendants of Nimrod after it (see Professor Lee"s "Book of Job," p. 361).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men…
Job_22:15-20
Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Read full note →
The way of the wicked described
It is commonly remarked, how little advantage mankind make of each others experience. This is surely a striking proof of the folly and presumption of our nature. Eliphaz here is reasoning on the principle stated. Though he misapplied the admonition conveyed in his question, the admonition itself is important, for without marking this way of the wicked, how shall we have knowledge of it; and without knowing it, how shall we avoid it?
I. Some particulars concerning the way of the wicked.
1. The sameness, or oneness, of the way. There are, indeed, many different kinds of sin in which the wicked are living. But they are all turning their backs on the same objects; they are all proceeding in the same direction; they are all tending to the same end.
2. This way is the old way. Eliphaz so called it in the time of Job. It is a way as old as the fall of man.
3. It is a trodden way. This word gives the idea of a way which has been much used and frequented; a beaten road, in which many passengers are always to be found.
II. A more exact description of the way itself. By the wicked, in the Bible, are meant all who are devoid of an inward principle of godliness; who, whatever their lives and characters in the sight and judgment of the world may be, are yet in the sight of God without any practical fear and love of Him in their hearts. The way of the wicked is the way of practical ungodliness. Here men are all guilty. They forget God, and walk after the course of this world.
III. The end to which the way of wicked men leads. Our Saviour says, It leadeth to destruction. The end resembles that of the sinners in the days of Noah and Lot. Learn, that you may not be an open sinner, and yet you may be walking in the way of the wicked, as you live a mere sensual, worldly life, without any habitual regard to the will and glory of God. (E. Cooper.)
The history of wickedness
1. It is a history of ancient date. It is an old way--the track of old.
2. It is a history of terrible calamities. Which were cut down out of time, etc. There are personal, social, material calamities.
3. It is a history of practical atheism.
(1) A guilty conscience makes men dread God.
(2) Dread of God makes men hate Him.
(3) Hating God prompts men to repel Him.
4. It is a history liable to misinterpretation. Men make misapplication of the history of wickedness--
(1) When they conclude that God is indifferent in relation to the moral character of men.
(2) When they conclude that, because God does not punish wicked men at once, He will not punish them at all.
Yet this history has lessons of great significance.
(1) It teaches the vastness of mans power.
(2) It teaches the greatness of mans patience.
(3) It teaches the energy of human influence.
(4) It teaches the magnitude of Christs work. (Homilist.)
The way which wicked men have trodden
I. The way itself. Eliphaz calla it an old way. It is almost as old as the human race, or as the world which they inhabit. In the account of the conduct of the first sinner, we see selfishness, or Eves preference of herself to God. We see also pride, which produced discontent. We see sensuality, or a disposition to be governed and guided by her senses, and to seek their gratification in an unlawful manner. We see unbelief, a distrust of Gods Word, and a consequent belief of the tempters suggestions. She could believe the tempters falsehood. From the conduct of Adam and Eve at the close of the day, we may obtain further acquaintance with the way in which sinners walk. They exhibited sullen hardness of heart, impenitence, and despair of forgiveness. They expressed no sorrow, nor penitence, nothing like brokenness of heart. They made no confession of sin; they uttered no cries for mercy; they expressed no wish to be restored to the favour of their offended Judge. They displayed a self-justifying temper. They showed a disposition to reflect upon God as the cause of their disobedience. In a manner precisely similar have sinners ever since acted.
II. Its termination. It leads to destruction. That it does so, we might infer from what has taken place in the world. Application--
1. Whether some of you are not walking in this way?
2. Should any of you be convinced that you are in this dangerous way, permit me to urge you to forsake it without delay. (E. Payson, D. D.)
The old way of the wicked
Hast thou marked the old way? Antiquity is no guarantee for truth. It was the old way, but it was the wrong way. It was an old way, but they who ran in it perished in it just as surely as if it had been a new way of sinning entirely of their own invention: antiquity will be no consolation to those who perish by following evil precedents.
I. The way. First, what it was. There is no doubt that Eliphaz is here alluding to those who sinned before the flood. He is looking to what were ancient days to him.
1. Now this way, in the first place, was a way of rebellion against God.
2. In the next place, the old way was a way of selfishness.
3. The old way was a way of pride. Our mother Eve rebelled against God because she thought she knew better than God did.
4. The old way which wicked men have trodden is a way of self-righteousness. If Abel kneels by the altar, Cain will kneel by the altar also. Beware, I entreat you, for this is the old way of the Pharisee when he thanked God that he was not as other men.
5. The old way which wicked men have trodden was, in the next place, a way of unbelief. Noah was sent to tell those ancient sinners that the world would be destroyed by a flood. They thought him an old dotard, and mocked him to scorn.
6. The old way which wicked men have trodden is a way of worldliness and carelessness and procrastination. What did those men before the flood? They married and were given in marriage till the flood came and swept them all away. Eliphaz says, Hast thou marked the way?
I want you to stop a little while, and look at that road again, and mark it anew.
1. The first thing I observe as I look into it is, that it is a very broad way.
2. Observe that it is a very popular road. The way downward to destruction is a very fashionable one, and it always will be.
3. It is a very easy way, too. You need not trouble yourself about finding the entrance into it, you can find it in the dark.
4. This old way, if you look at it, is the way in which all men naturally run. For all that, it is a most unsatisfactory road.
5. One thing more, across it here and there Divine mercy has set bars. The angel of mercy stands before you now, and bids you tarry. Why will ye die?
II. The end: Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood. The end of these travellers was not according to their unbelief, but according to the despised truth. They would not believe Noah, but the flood came. Remember this, then, unbelief will not, laugh as it may, remove one jot of the penalty. The flood, like the destroying fire which will come upon ungodly men, was total in its destructiveness. It did not sweep away some of them, but all, and the punishments of God will not be to a few rebels, but to all. It will find out the rich in their palaces, as well as the poor in their hovels. Moreover, it was a final overthrow. The text gives us two pictures, and these two may suffice to bring out the meaning of Eliphaz. First, he says, they were cut down out of time. The representation here is that of a tree with abundant foliage and wide-spreading boughs, to which the woodman comes. Such is the sinner in his prosperity, spreading himself like a green bay tree; birds of song are amongst his branches, and his fruit is fair to look upon; but the axe of death is near, and where the tree falleth there it must forever lie; fixed is its everlasting state. The other picture of the text is that of a building which is utterly swept away. Here I would have you notice that Eliphaz does not say that the flood came and swept away the building of the wicked, but swept away their very foundations. If in the next world the sinner only lost his wealth or his health, or his outward comforts of this life, it would be subject for serious reflection; but when it comes to this, that he loses his soul, his very self; then it becomes a thing to consider with all ones reason, and with something more of the enlightenment which Gods Spirit can add to our reason. Oh that we would but be wise and think of this:
III. The warning: Am I or am I not treading in that broad way? Ah! saith one, I do not know. I will help thee to answer it. Are you travelling in the narrow way in which believers in Christ are walking? I cannot say that, say you. Well, then, I can tell you without hesitation that you are treading in the broad way, for there are but two ways. As for you who confessedly are in the old way, would you turn, would you leave it? Then the turning point is at yonder cross, where Jesus hangs a bleeding sacrifice for the sons of men. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Eliphaz continues speaking to Job.
Read full note →
Will you keep the old way that wicked men have walked
Doing wicked deeds is compared to walking in a path. AT: "Will you continue to do the things that evil people do" (See: Metaphor)
those who were snatched away
Dying is compared to God snatching them away. This can be stated in active form. AT: "those who died" or "those whom God took away" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
those whose foundations have washed away like a river
The death of wicked people is compared to buildings that had their foundations washed away by a flood. (See: Simile)
What can the Almighty do to us?
Eliphaz quotes a question wicked people use to mock God. AT: "The Almighty cannot do anything to us!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
evil
walk
found
God
Almighty
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.