They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Those who hate the righteous and oppose God will be clothed with shame, and the home and dwelling place of the wicked will be destroyed and brought to nothing and come to nought. The verse is part of the charge of Job's three friends that his suffering proves his sin. It belongs to the speech of Eliphaz. Because it comes from a friend's speech, its statements are not automatically reliable but must be tested against other inspired declarations and must not be treated as truth if they contradict Scripture. Yet it expresses the true principle of an ultimate reversal in which evil is finally punished and good is rewarded.
The book of Job holds up the great problems that have perplexed humanity through all ages, concerning overruling providence and concerning sin and suffering. In Job's case God was disciplining him and bringing him through the fire of affliction. Suffering in the present does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure, and the friends misapplied a true principle and misjudged Job in declaring that his sufferings were because of sin, in the same way humanity is still prone to misjudge its fellows today.
The verse warns professed believers not to be among the wicked whose dwelling is brought to nothing and encourages them to hold to the truth. Its promise of the destruction of the dwelling of the wicked is set beside the hope of an eternal home in heaven if this earthly life ends.
Those who hate the righteous and oppose God will be clothed with shame, and the home and dwelling place of the wicked will be destroyed and brought to nothing and come to nought. The verse is part of the charge of Job's three friends that his suffering proves his sin. It belongs to the speech of Eliphaz. Because it comes from a friend's speech, its statements are not automatically reliable but must be tested against other inspired declarations and must not be treated as truth if they contradict Scripture. Yet it expresses the true principle of an ultimate reversal in which evil is finally punished and good is rewarded.
The book of Job holds up the great problems that have perplexed humanity through all ages, concerning overruling providence and concerning sin and suffering. In Job's case God was disciplining him and bringing him through the fire of affliction. Suffering in the present does not prove that a person is under God's displeasure, and the friends misapplied a true principle and misjudged Job in declaring that his sufferings were because of sin, in the same way humanity is still prone to misjudge its fellows today.
The verse warns professed believers not to be among the wicked whose dwelling is brought to nothing and encourages them to hold to the truth. Its promise of the destruction of the dwelling of the wicked is set beside the hope of an eternal home in heaven if this earthly life ends.