Job 15:16 says, How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?  Eliphaz was continuing to point out how sinful people were.  God has created Adam and Eve as perfect, but they chose to give in to iniquity, and so had everyone since, except for Christ.  I don't believe that Eliphaz saw himself as abominable and filthy spiritually, but he certainly did see Job that way.  Verse seventeen adds, I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;  Eliphaz was saying that he had an insight into God's will and His working in the world that Job did not have.  We need to be wary of anyone who says that they have a special knowledge of God that other Christians cannot possess.  Verse eighteen continues, Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:  Eliphaz said that what he was saying was what wise men had always known.  We must remember once more that just because something has been taught for years does not make it true.  There have been many things done in the name of Christianity that were never based on God's word.  Verse nineteen states, Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.  This was another way of saying that those that follow God are blessed materially.  God gave His people a great land.  There was no need to fear the strangers around them, because God was the source of their strength.  We know that God does not just deal with His people materially, but that He deals with them spiritually.  Verse twenty adds, The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.  Eliphaz equates suffering with disobedience to God.  He was again equating material blessings with God's blessings.  We should be careful that we do not teach the same thing.  Verse twenty-one continues, A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.  Eliphaz states that the wicked will have their prosperity destroyed by God, and thus would imply that this is what happened to Job.  We cannot claim that material loss comes from a direct action of God.  Verse twenty-two says, He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.  I believe that Eliphz was saying that the sinner is without hope of being restored to prosperity, and that Job should accept this as his condition.  These next few verses speak of the condition of the sinners, those who do not follow God's will for their lives, or in some cases even acknowledge His existence.  Verse twenty-three adds, He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.  Though Eliphaz was making these statements based on material wealth, we can say that from a spiritual perspective that this is true.  Materialism will never satisfy the soul, and with God we wander in spiritual darkness.  Verse twenty-four continues, Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. Trouble and anguish will certainly make people afraid when they stand to be judged by God, but that does not mean that the wicked will always suffer defeat in this life.  Sometimes, the wicked do flourish.  Verse twenty-five states, For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.  There are people today, some very prosperous, who deny that God even exists or that He has any power in this world.  They may feel that they are stronger than God, but a rude awakening awaits them.
Verse twenty-six adds, He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:  Verse twenty-seven continues, Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.  I believe that Eliphaz was saying that those who do not follow God saw their riches as a sign that they were correct.  We can never base the truth of God's blessings on materialism.  Verses twenty-eight through thirty-three continue to express the idea that God will punish the wicked materially in this world.  Verse twenty-eight says, And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. Verse twenty-nine adds, He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.  Eliphaz was saying that the riches of the wicked would not endure long.  Verse thirty continues, He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.  We do know that those who do not follow God's will in their lives will ultimately be cast into darkness, but that does not mean that they will not prosper in this life.  Verse thirty-one states, Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.   Those who do not believe in God are certainly deceived, and what they believe in is certainly vanity, or nothing.  Verse thirty-two adds, It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.  Verse thirty-three continues, He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.  Ultimately, sinners will not prosper, but they may amass a lot of wealth in this life.  In the life to come though all that they have amassed will be shaken off.  Verse thirty-four says, For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.  Eliphaz had accused Job of hypocrisy, and I believe here that he was telling Job that Job should have expected this fate.  In verse thirty-five, Eliphaz adds, They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.  Eliphaz was still speaking about hypocrites in this verse.  Though this is true of the everlasting life that we await, it does not always work that way now.  Sometimes the wicked prosper and those faithful to God suffer.  We cannot judge a person's spiritual relationship with God by any material standard.