Compare Job 15:5 with James 3:6 on the power of the tongue. Opening the Text Job 15:5 – “For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.” James 3:6 – “The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Shared Diagnosis: Sin-Inflamed Speech - Job 15:5 links a sinful heart to deceptive words: wrong desires “teach” the mouth. - James 3:6 exposes the tongue as a spark that carries “a world of wickedness,” igniting everything it touches. - Together they present the tongue as both symptom and spreader of sin. • Matthew 12:34 – “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” • Proverbs 10:19 – “When words are many, sin is unavoidable.” Different Settings, Same Truth - In Job, Eliphaz misjudges Job, yet the principle he cites is sound: unrighteous words flow from unrighteous motives. - In James, the teaching is universal; no one escapes the tongue’s danger. - The consistency across Old and New Testaments underscores the unchanging reality of human speech. Roots and Flames - Internal source: “iniquity teaches” (Job) " “set on fire by hell” (James). - Progression: 1. Sinful thought. 2. Spoken word. 3. Widespread damage. - Proverbs 16:27 – “A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like scorching fire.” Consequences of Unchecked Words - Personal corruption – “corrupts the whole body” (James). - Relational wreckage – gossip, slander, deceit (Proverbs 26:20-22). - Spiritual fallout – “sets the course of one’s life on fire,” pointing toward judgment (Matthew 12:36-37). Divine Remedy: Sanctified Speech - New heart, new words (Ezekiel 36:26; Ephesians 4:29). - Daily surrender: “let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19). - Spirit-filled vocabulary: truth, grace, and gratitude (Colossians 4:6; Hebrews 13:15). |
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