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Job 24:18
18 He is swift [qal] as the waters [paniym] [mayim]; their portion [chelqah] is cursed [qalal] in the earth ['erets]: he beholdeth [panah] not the way [derek] of the vineyards [kerem]. KJV-Interlinear
18 'They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the earth. They do not turn toward the vineyards. NASB
The 'insignificance on the water' takes on two meanings. The first is that of skim or some sort of residue that sits on the surface of the water and does not sink into it. It carries no weight, is not generally noticeable, and it has no distinguishing features.
The second meaning is that of a skiff, or some sort of flat-bottomed boat, which glides silently along the water. It causes no ripples to speak of, and does not generally disturb the waters around it.
The waters here are fast moving. They represent time and history. The waters are wide and deep and that which rides along with them are insignificant by comparison. Like a boat on a swift ocean current.
And so the life of the person who disregards God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life, is exactly like that of the skim or a skiff boat. They are insignificant, they glide along without having much of an impact on history. They certainly cannot control history. They are carried away swiftly, unnoticed, and when gone, are forgotten.
They are nothing more than historical filler. Their life, when over, will have had no meaning or contribution whatsoever.
And all of this in spite of their attitude of self importance and greatness. Negative people think highly of themselves. They presume their input into life and history, to be of great value, when in fact their whole life adds up to nothing more than zero.
There are two opinions in existence - Gods and everything else. Gods opinion is truth. Everything else is a lie. Lies are cursed. Anything that is cursed is afflicted with error or harm, is despicable, is irritating, has a destiny of ruin and destruction.
By default anyone who rejects truth, subscribes to that which is cursed. They reject that which is normal and true. The function of the vineyard is used here by Job to symbolize that which is normal, and honorable, and true.
No matter how long a wicked person lives, when compared to eternity, and even by looking back on history, their life has gone by swiftly. How many of the tens of billions of people from history, have you known?
Most you will never know. And yet they lived ten years, fifty years and many, many more, and still their lives have passed by as though the clock was standing still. In a blink, they have all vanished.
That is the skim on the water. Most of it you never see and when it has passed by, it vanishes permanently.
As for the skiff boat, no waves, no noise, no impact on history. People cannot control history. History is far too great for man to control, yet man tries with all of his might to have history remember his contribution.
If you walk along the seashore, and kick the water, will it impact the oceans of the world?
And so is your contribution to life, to history, to humanity, when you ignore your spiritual life. Humanity is a speck of dust, a nothing, a worm, but the negative person has an ego as high as the sky despite their insignificance.
When man rejects truth, he lives in total darkness, and in darkness he is easily confused, disoriented, and his imagination is the only thing which seems to function. Unfortunately, it tends toward the bizarre. It has nowhere else to go.
