Job 4:10-11

10 The roaring [shaagah] of the lion ['ariy], and the voice [qowl] of the fierce lion [shachal], and the teeth [shen] of the young lions [kaphiyr], are broken [natha`].

11 The old lion [layish] perisheth ['abad] for lack [baliy] of prey [tereph], and the stout lion's [labiy'] whelps [ben] are scattered abroad [parad]. KJV-Interlinear

10 'The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken. 11 'The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered. NASB

Sometimes lions are used in the scriptures to symbolize wicked people. Here Eliphaz uses lions of all ages, to symbolize all types of wicked people.

From the younger whelped lion to the older, old aged lion, Eliphaz suggests that all categories of wicked people though they may be young, powerful, and agile, and quick in their deception and dominating tactics against their intended victims, and though they may have a loud roar that makes all who hear them, tremble in fear, they all come to an end, sooner or later in their life.

They get old. They slow down. Their teeth break with age, or even fall out of their mouths.

Their prey might even become their predator, and they the prey.

And so it is with bad people. Whether they are bad in thoughts or deeds, whether they boast of their successes or triumphs, whether they shout and celebrate when their evil deeds defeat the forces of good, or anyone for that matter, their celebrations are always temporary, and will come to an end.

Their end of course means that they face their ultimate evaluation with their maker, regardless of whom they think he is.

From the young lion to the lion of age, the jungle has rules. The jungle rules do not care of ones successes, nor of ones loud boastings. Even the lion becomes the victim.

Everyone can look at life and know for certain that their life will end. We have far too many churches, cemeteries, and even movies that remind us that we all die. Knowing that we will all move into some type of hereafter, suggests that we should, at the very least, prepare for it. After all the next life will last a good deal longer than our current one.

Even in Job's day, where people lived for many hundreds of years, they still all died.

Eliphaz also suggests that the wickedness of the older lions, the parents, will bring difficulty onto their young. The reference to the whelps being scattered. In this, Eliphaz implies that the death of Job's children was due to Jobs wrongs. He, Job, was therefore responsible for their demise.

Eliphaz gives us a lesson in life style. His example is true in principle, but wrong in application where Job is concerned.

We are all born into the jungle of this world. We can continue to live our life in accordance to the jungle rules, or try as best as we can to live in accordance with Gods laws of establishment. The laws of establishment run parallel to the jungle laws, providing stability for all of humanity. Those establishment laws include volition, marriage, family, authority, nationalism, free enterprise, legal due process, principles of freedom, liberty and so forth.

Or, one can try to escape the laws of the world, and live within the higher set of rules of the spiritual life, wherein God controls all details of life as well as their outcomes. This, of course is the best environment to live in.

The lion is an animal. It knows nothing of rules, it only cares of its own selfish needs and all others are in one form or another, its prey. So the selfish will be selfish, the boasters will boast, the bullies will bully, the arrogant will elevate themselves over others, politicians will politicize, celebrities will do whatever it takes to gain publicity, and so forth.

Even though all are aware of their limitations in life, including their own life font potential, none generally care or concern themselves with their destiny. Today's goals, today's desires, today's activities are all that matter. The ego pursues the lusts of desire, of power, of approbation, of the basic hunger needs of life.

But we are all living within the framework of Gods plan, whether we care about it or not. The young get old, the living eventually die, and the evil will soon receive their just punishment.

The moral of all of this is, being evil never pays in the end, because we all come to an end, and then there is the hereafter. Great lions, though powerful and fearful in their prime, do not live forever. They cannot hold on to their power or status, or even their territory.

People are no better off, when they elect to live their lives within the environment outside of their spiritual lives. Only living within the spiritual environment is there a better life today as well as in the next life.

Anything else brings misery, and loss.

Eliphaz is trying to teach Job, but Job has been teaching these principles of life for many decades. Eliphaz is trying to convince Job to change his ways, but then Job has already been described by God as being 'upright and blameless, there being none like him in all the earth.' So what is there to change?

The differences between a life in the jungle and a life in the spiritual environment, are the foundations on which they both are based. The world is founded on the activities of the sin nature. The spiritual side of life has its foundation in Bible doctrine, the framework of the higher laws of Christ.

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