What is the meaning of Job 6:18? Caravans turn aside Job pictures merchant caravans, normally dependable, suddenly veering off course. • The image mirrors how his friends, expected to bring comfort, have unexpectedly turned away (Job 6:14-15). • Just as caravans assure travelers of needed supplies, believers count on fellowship that should not fail (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). • When human help disappoints, God remains the faithful guide who “never leaves nor forsakes” (Deuteronomy 31:6). From their routes A route is a proven track through dangerous country. Leaving it is deadly. • The Lord commends staying on His path: “Trust in the LORD…He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). • Israel was warned not to wander from “the ancient paths…the good way” (Jeremiah 6:16). • Job’s friends have deviated from the route of steadfast love, reminding us to guard our own steps (1 Corinthians 16:14). They go into the wasteland The diverted caravans enter a waterless desert. • Dry places picture the soul without God’s refreshing presence (Psalm 63:1). • Jesus offers “living water” that forever ends thirst (John 4:14). Departing from Him leaves only barrenness (Jeremiah 17:5-6). • Job feels abandoned in such a wasteland, yet later confesses that his Redeemer lives (Job 19:25), showing hope even when surroundings seem desolate. And perish Leaving the sure road ends in death. • “There is a way that seems right…but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). • The broad road leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13), while Christ calls to the narrow, life-giving way (John 14:6). • Job points out that unreliable friendship is not a small misstep; it can help drive suffering hearts toward ruin. We are urged to be the opposite—streams that endure every season (Psalm 1:3). summary Job 6:18 warns that turning aside from God-appointed paths, whether in personal walk or in how we treat the afflicted, plunges people into spiritual wasteland and ruin. Faithful believers stay on course, supply living water to others, and trust the Lord who alone guards the route that leads to life. |
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