What is the meaning of Job 15:21? Sounds of terror fill his ears • Eliphaz is describing a man who resists God; even in silence he hears “sounds of terror.” • This inner dread is a hallmark of the unrighteous. Proverbs 28:1 states, “The wicked flee when no one pursues.” Likewise, Leviticus 26:36 says God will make “the sound of a driven leaf” chase the disobedient. • Scripture teaches that guilt and fear go hand in hand. Psalm 53:5 affirms, “There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread.” • The Lord’s justice is so certain that anxiety becomes the constant soundtrack of a hardened heart. Isaiah 48:22 reminds, “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” • In Job 15 Eliphaz wrongly applies this to Job, yet the spiritual principle remains true: persistent rebellion ushers in anticipatory fear long before any outward judgment arrives. In his prosperity the destroyer attacks him • The second line warns that apparent security cannot shield the ungodly from sudden ruin. Psalm 73:18-19 echoes, “Surely You set them on slippery ground; You cast them down to destruction. How suddenly they are destroyed.” • Scripture repeatedly pairs earthly success with looming judgment for those who ignore God. Job 20:5 notes, “The triumph of the wicked is short.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 adds, “While people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ destruction will come upon them suddenly.” • “The destroyer” can refer to any agent God allows—calamity, enemy invasion, or death itself. In Exodus 12:23 the same title describes the angel who struck Egypt; here it signals inevitable divine reckoning. • Prosperity is no armor when hearts remain proud. Proverbs 1:27 pictures disaster “sweeping like a whirlwind” precisely when the complacent least expect it. • Eliphaz means this as a direct accusation against Job, but the broader biblical witness confirms the warning: comfort without godliness invites catastrophe. summary Job 15:21 portrays the grim reality that sin breeds torment within and judgment without. Even while a person seems secure, unaddressed rebellion fills the mind with dread and opens the door for sudden destruction. Though Eliphaz misapplies the verse to Job, the principle stands: true peace and safety flow only from humble, obedient trust in the Lord. |
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