Job 22:17 | KingComments | STEP | Eliphaz accuses Job of persisting in the path of the “wicked” ( ). He draws a thick line under his vision that evil people suffer because of their sins. Job suffers, so he must be on the path of sinners. It is “the ancient path” that all the wicked have gone. Job is no exception. He too has followed these wicked people. But when does Job plan to leave that path? Doesn’t it dawn on him that all the wicked have been snatched away ( )? We can think of the days of Noah and the Flood. Then “their foundations”, and of course what they had built upon it, was washed away by a mighty river. “Before their time,” means that they did not grow old, but died an untimely death. Doesn’t Job recognize that it happened to him too? What Job has said about the wicked, that they say to God: “Depart from us” ( ), Eliphaz now uses against Job from the idea that Job is one of them ( ). Job is someone who wants to have nothing to do with God. This is evidenced by the fact that he does not bow down to the discipline that God brings upon him. He does not want to accept that God punishes him for his sins. A God Who deals with him in this way cannot mean anything to him, nor can He do anything for him. Eliphaz reminds Job that God had “filled” the houses of the wicked “with good [things]” ( ). God had done the same with Job’s house. But because the wicked did not allow Him into their lives, or only as far as they wished, He had to take everything away from them. And then Eliphaz again quotes a word that Job spoke: “But the counsel of the wicked is far from me” (cf. ). It seems that he makes quite sure that Job takes good note of the incongruity of it. How can Job say that he does not share the intention of the wicked, when he is so clearly one of them?

‏ Job 22:17

The Way of the Wicked

Eliphaz accuses Job of persisting in the path of the “wicked” (Job 22:15). He draws a thick line under his vision that evil people suffer because of their sins. Job suffers, so he must be on the path of sinners. It is “the ancient path” that all the wicked have gone. Job is no exception. He too has followed these wicked people.

But when does Job plan to leave that path? Doesn’t it dawn on him that all the wicked have been snatched away (Job 22:16)? We can think of the days of Noah and the Flood. Then “their foundations”, and of course what they had built upon it, was washed away by a mighty river. “Before their time,” means that they did not grow old, but died an untimely death. Doesn’t Job recognize that it happened to him too?

What Job has said about the wicked, that they say to God: “Depart from us” (Job 21:14), Eliphaz now uses against Job from the idea that Job is one of them (Job 22:17). Job is someone who wants to have nothing to do with God. This is evidenced by the fact that he does not bow down to the discipline that God brings upon him. He does not want to accept that God punishes him for his sins. A God Who deals with him in this way cannot mean anything to him, nor can He do anything for him.

Eliphaz reminds Job that God had “filled” the houses of the wicked “with good [things]” (Job 22:18). God had done the same with Job’s house. But because the wicked did not allow Him into their lives, or only as far as they wished, He had to take everything away from them. And then Eliphaz again quotes a word that Job spoke: “But the counsel of the wicked is far from me” (cf. Job 21:16). It seems that he makes quite sure that Job takes good note of the incongruity of it. How can Job say that he does not share the intention of the wicked, when he is so clearly one of them?