A trap seizes his heel; a snare grips him. Sermons
I. THE READY SNARE. "The snare is laid for him in the ground." 1. Its author. It is laid for him. He does not make and set it; he does not know where it is. If he knew, of course he would avoid it. He does not even think of its existence. Were he to do so, he would be on his guard. Another has laid the snare. Man has a great enemy, watching to pounce on him - a robber of souls, who sets traps and gins for the unwary. Let us be on our guard. Like the Pilgrim, we are on the enchanter's ground; this earth has become our foe's territory. 2. Its character. A snare is a hidden device. The net is set among the bushes, the wires are hidden by the grass. Men are deluded into ruin. Deceitful appearances lure them to destruction. 3. Its condition. The snare is already laid. If we are not ready to meet our foe, he is ready for us. No one can accuse Satan of dilatoriness. He is beforehand with his schemes. He was prepared to entrap the first man. The snare was ready almost as soon as Eden was planted. 4. Its position. "In the way." (1) The bad man's way. This is its most usual place. The snares are most numerous on the broad road. (2) The common way. The snares are also to be found on the narrow way that leads to life. The Christian is not out of danger. Bunyan's enchanted ground lay right in the road to the Celestial City. We do not escape the dangers of temptation by becoming Christians. II. THE UNWARY FEET. The wicked man walks straight into the snare. Here is the difference between this man and the good man. There are snares about the path of the man of God; but a Divine light reveals them, and a Divine hand draws him back from his great peril. It is otherwise with the godless man. Note the reasons why his feet go straight for the snare. 1. Darkness. His light is put out (ver. 5). If he started with a lantern, the foul atmosphere through which he has travelled has extinguished it. Now that he needs it in the place of peril, it is but a useless impediment, 2 Desertion of God. We are too blind to see all the snares that are set for our feet, but we may have the help of an unerring Guide. The sinner rejects the heavenly Guide. In proud independence he prefers to go alone. 3. Proneness to coil. The sinner sees a fascination in the region of the snare. Perhaps it is set in a bed of flowers, or in an orchard of fruit. It may be that some pleasant shady dell conceals it, or possibly it is hidden by a mossy couch that invites repose. At all events, it is most deceptive and powerful where sin most abounds. 4. Destiny. A sort of fatality dogs the footsteps of the sinner. Start how he may, he is sure to direct his feet at last straight for the snare. He is like one mesmerized. He can but walk into the net. The hideous explanation of his fascination for ruin is that he is no longer his own master. He has made himself the slave of Satan. Yet even he may find safety in the mighty deliverance of the Christ who came to destroy the works of the devil. - W.F.A.
The light of the wicked shall be put out. Moral, spiritual, civil.1. Moral light is the light of wisdom, prudence, and understanding. In this sense some Rabbins understand the text; as if he had said, the wicked man shall be made a very fool, destitute of wit, reason, understanding, and ability to judge or know what evil is upon him, or what is good for him. The spirit of counsel shall be taken from him. That is a sore judgment. 2. There is spiritual light, and that is double. The light of the knowledge of God, and the light of comfort from God. The knowledge we receive from God is light; and the joy we receive from God is light. Some interpret the peace of this spiritual light. Though a wicked man, an hypocrite, hath a great measure of this light, yet his light shall be put out, as Christ threatens (Matthew 13:12). 3. A civil light: that is, the light of outward prosperity. And so these words are a gradation, teaching us that, not only whatsoever a carnal man reckons his greatest splendour, but what he calls his smallest ray of temporal blessedness, shall be wrapt in darkness and obscurity. Outward prosperity may be called "light" upon a threefold consideration.(1) Because as light refresheth and cheereth the spirits, so doth outward prosperity and the presence of worldly accommodations.(2) Light helps us on in our work; no man can work until he have either the natural light of the sun and fire, or some artificial light. Prosperity and peace carry us on in our worldly affairs. 3. Light makes us conspicuous: we are seen what we are in the light. Thus outward prosperity makes men appear. Poverty joins with obscurity. (Joseph Caryl.) The light shall be dark in his tabernacle. The text is part of Bildad's description of a wicked man. The description might, however, be adapted to represent weakness and deficiency, as well as wickedness. Those who are of radically weak understanding may be spoken of thus: "The light shall be dark in his tabernacle." There is a four-fold light in our nature, placed there by our Creator, the Father of our spirits — the light of the understanding, the light of the judgment, the light of the conscience (including the whole moral sense), and the light of the religious sensibility, This light may be diminished, nay, even extinguished, by wickedness. Sin reduces the natural light within us, and continuous sinning involves constant decrease in that light. Sins in the body and sins against the body lessen the light of the understanding, and reduce the power of mental conception, and the power of thought. All sin perverts the judgment, sears the conscience, and blunts the moral sense. By continuing in sin there is a hardening process carried on, so that sin is at length committed without fear, or remorse, or regret. All sin tends to destroy faith in God, and to stop intercourse with God. The whole tendency of sin is to reduce the light within him. But there is a Deliverer from this position; there is a Saviour from this condition There is, in some cases, a natural deficiency of the light of which we have been speaking — a natural defect in conscience, understanding, judgment, and religious sensibility — a deep and radical defect. This is idiocy. "The light is dark in the tabernacle." What can be done in such cases? Five things.1. Whatever latent capacity is possessed may be developed — power of observation, and of speech, power of attention and acquisition, power of thought and feeling, power of skill and labour, moral and religious power. The idiot is not a broken vessel, but an unfilled vessel; not a broken candlestick, but a candlestick with a feeble lamp. 2. The external condition may be made comfortable and pleasant, and favourable to the idiot's improvement. The dwelling may be made wholesome and attractive, and may present objects to the eye which shall call out the imagination, and evoke healthy sentiment and feeling. 3. All the energy of the body and of the spirit which is manifested may be directed into the channels of usefulness. 4. The almost insupportable burden of providing for an idiot child in the family whose means are scanty and insufficient may be shared or entirely borne by Christian benevolence. 5. A refuge from observation, and mockery, and injudicious treatment, and from ill-treatment, may be provided for idiots who are not poor. On all grounds it is most undesirable for those who are distinctly idiotic to live with those whose condition is sound. Consider the claims of idiots upon us Christians. The birth of idiots is a great mystery. It is one of the mysteries that would crush us if we did not look up. Way does God permit and inflict idiocy? It cannot come from malevolence in God. All we can say is, God willeth, and it must be right. Children smitten through their parents have a strong claim — the strongest possible claim — upon Christian benevolence. We may not be kept back from providing for the idiot by the fact that the affliction is sometimes directly traceable to sin in the parents and other ancestors. (Samuel Martin, M. A.) People Bildad, JobPlaces UzTopics Catch, Designing, Fast, Foot, Gin, Grip, Heel, Hold, Holds, Lay, Layeth, Lays, Net, Prevail, Robber, Seize, Seizes, Shut, Snaps, Snare, Taketh, TrapOutline 1. Bildad reproves Job for presumption and impatience5. The calamities of the wicked Dictionary of Bible Themes Job 18:9Library Whether the Fire of Hell is Beneath the Earth?Objection 1: It would seem that this fire is not beneath the earth. For it is said of the damned (Job 18:18), "And God shall remove him out of the globe [Douay: 'world']." Therefore the fire whereby the damned will be punished is not beneath the earth but outside the globe. Objection 2: Further, nothing violent or accidental can be everlasting. But this fire will be in hell for ever. Therefore it will be there, not by force but naturally. Now fire cannot be under the earth save by violence. Therefore … Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether the Devil is the Head of all the Wicked? The Difference Between the Two Testaments. Whether the Fire of Hell is of the Same Species as Ours? The Desire of the Righteous Granted; A Few Sighs from Hell; Job Links Job 18:9 NIVJob 18:9 NLT Job 18:9 ESV Job 18:9 NASB Job 18:9 KJV Job 18:9 Bible Apps Job 18:9 Parallel Job 18:9 Biblia Paralela Job 18:9 Chinese Bible Job 18:9 French Bible Job 18:9 German Bible Job 18:9 Commentaries Bible Hub |
    |