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Job Chapter
Thirty-eight
Job 38
Chapter Contents
God calls upon Job to answer. (1-3) God questions Job.
(4-11) Concerning the light and darkness. (12-24) Concerning other mighty
works. (25-41)
Commentary on Job 38:1-3
(Read Job 38:1-3)
Job had silenced
but had not convinced his friends.
Elihu had silenced Job
but had not brought him to admit his guilt before God.
It pleased the Lord to interpose. The Lord
in this discourse
humbles Job
and
brings him to repent of his passionate expressions concerning God's
providential dealings with him; and this he does
by calling upon Job to
compare God's being from everlasting to everlasting
with his own time; God's
knowledge of all things
with his own ignorance; and God's almighty power
with
his own weakness. Our darkening the counsels of God's wisdom with our folly
is
a great provocation to God. Humble faith and sincere obedience see farthest and
best into the will of the Lord.
Commentary on Job 38:4-11
(Read Job 38:4-11)
For the humbling of Job
God here shows him his
ignorance
even concerning the earth and the sea. As we cannot find fault with
God's work
so we need not fear concerning it. The works of his providence
as
well as the work of creation
never can be broken; and the work of redemption
is no less firm
of which Christ himself is both the Foundation and the
Corner-stone. The church stands as firm as the earth.
Commentary on Job 38:12-24
(Read Job 38:12-24)
The Lord questions Job
to convince him of his ignorance
and shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we thus try ourselves
we
shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with
what we know not. By the tender mercy of our God
the Day-spring from on high
has visited us
to give light to those that sit in darkness
whose hearts are
turned to it as clay to the seal
2 Corinthians 4:6. God's way in the government
of the world is said to be in the sea; this means
that it is hid from us. Let
us make sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the other side
of death
and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of death. It is presumptuous
for us
who perceive not the breadth of the earth
to dive into the depth of
God's counsels. We should neither in the brightest noon count upon perpetual
day
nor in the darkest midnight despair of the return of the morning; and this
applies to our inward as well as to our outward condition. What folly it is to
strive against God! How much is it our interest to seek peace with him
and to
keep in his love!
Commentary on Job 38:25-41
(Read Job 38:25-41)
Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his
ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows
he
ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do
therefore
he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the
Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living
thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens
certainly will not be
wanting to his people. This being but one instance of the Divine compassion out
of many
gives us occasion to think how much good our God does
every day
beyond what we are aware of. Every view we take of his infinite perfections
should remind us of his right to our love
the evil of sinning against him
and
our need of his mercy and salvation.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 38
Verse 1
[1] Then
the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind
and said
Lord —
The eternal word
Jehovah
the same who spake from mount Sinai.
Answered —
Out of a dark and thick cloud
from which he sent a tempestuous wind
as the
harbinger of his presence. In this manner God appears and speaks to awaken Job
and his friends
to the more serious attention to his words; and to testify his
displeasure both against Job
and them
that all of them might be more deeply
humbled and prepared to receive
and retain the instructions which God was
about to give them.
Verse 2
[2] Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Counsel —
God's counsel. For the great matter of the dispute between Job and his friends
was concerning God's counsel and providence in afflicting Job; which Job had
endeavoured to obscure and misrepresent. This first word which God spoke
struck Job to the heart. This he repeats and echoes to
chap. 42:3
as the arrow that stuck fast in him.
Verse 3
[3] Gird
up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee
and answer thou me.
Gird up — As
warriors then did for the battle.
Verse 4
[4]
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare
if thou hast
understanding.
Where —
Thou art but of yesterday; and dost thou presume to judge of my eternal
counsels! When - When I settled it as firm upon its own center as if it had
been built upon the surest foundations.
Verse 5
[5] Who hath laid the measures thereof
if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
the line upon it?
Measures —
Who hath prescribed how long and broad and deep it should be.
Line —
the measuring line to regulate all its dimensions.
Verse 6
[6]
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone
thereof;
Foundations —
This strong and durable building hath no foundations but God's power
which
hath marvelously established it upon itself.
Cornerstone — By
which the several walls are joined and fastened together
and in which
next to
the foundations
the stability of a building consists. The sense is
who was it
that built this goodly fabrick
and established it so firmly that it cannot be
moved.
Verse 7
[7] When
the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Stars —
The angels
who may well be called morning-stars
because of their excellent
lustre and glory.
Sons of God —
The angels called the sons of God
because they had their whole being from him
and because they were made partakers of his Divine and glorious image.
Shouted —
Rejoiced in and blessed God for his works
whereby he intimates
that they
neither did advise or any way assist him
nor dislike or censure any of his
works
as Job had presumed to do.
Verse 8
[8] Or
who shut up the sea with doors
when it brake forth
as if it had issued out of
the womb?
Doors —
Who was it
that set bounds to the vast and raging ocean
and shut it up
as it
were with doors within its proper place
that it might not overflow the earth?
Break forth - From the womb or bowels of the earth
within which the waters
were for the most part contained
and out of which they were by God's command
brought forth into the channel which God had appointed for them.
Verse 9
[9] When
I made the cloud the garment thereof
and thick darkness a swaddlingband for
it
The cloud —
When I covered it with vapours and clouds which rise out of the sea
and hover
above it
and cover it like a garment.
Darkness —
Black and dark clouds.
Swaddling band —
Having compared the sea to a new-born infant
he continues the metaphor
and
makes the clouds as swaddling-bands
to keep it within its bounds: though
indeed neither clouds
nor air
nor sands
nor shores
can bound the sea
but
God alone.
Verse 10
[10] And
brake up for it my decreed place
and set bars and doors
Break up —
Made those hollow places in the earth
which might serve for a cradle to
receive and hold this great and goodly infant when it came out of the womb.
And set —
Fixed its bounds as strongly as if they were fortified with bars and doors.
Verse 12
[12] Hast
thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his
place;
Morning —
Didst thou create the sun
and appoint the order and succession of day and
night.
Since —
Since thou wast born: this work was done long before thou wast born.
To know — To
observe the punctual time when
and the point of the heavens where it should
arise; which varies every day.
Verse 13
[13] That
it might take hold of the ends of the earth
that the wicked might be shaken
out of it?
That —
That this morning light should in a moment spread itself
from one end of the
hemisphere to the other.
Shaken —
From the face of the earth. And this effect the morning-light hath upon the wicked
because it discovers them
whereas darkness hides them; and because it brings
them to condign punishment
the morning being the usual time for executing
judgment.
Verse 14
[14] It
is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
It — The earth.
Turned — Is
changed in its appearance.
By the seal —
The seal makes a beautiful impression upon the clay
which in itself hath no
form
or comeliness. So the earth
which in the darkness of night lies like a
confused heap without either form or beauty
when the light arises and shines
upon it
appears in excellent order and glory.
They —
The men and things of the earth
whether natural
as living creatures
herbs
and trees; or artificial
as houses or other buildings.
Stand —
Present themselves to our view.
Garment —
Wherewith the earth is in a manner clothed and adorned.
Verse 15
[15] And
from the wicked their light is withholden
and the high arm shall be broken.
Withheld —
That light which enjoyed by others is withholden from them
either by their own
choice
because they chuse darkness rather than light; or by the judgment of
God
or the magistrate
by whom they are cut off from the light of the living.
Arms —
Their great strength which they used to the oppression of others.
Verse 16
[16] Hast
thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of
the depth?
Springs —
Heb. the tears; the several springs out of which the waters of the sea flow as
tears do from the eyes.
Walked —
Hast thou found out the utmost depth of the sea
which in divers places could
never be reached by the wisest mariner? And how then canst thou fathom the
depths of my counsels?
Verse 17
[17] Have
the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the
shadow of death?
Death —
Hast thou seen
or dost thou know the place and state of the dead; the depths
and bowels of that earth in which the generality of dead men are buried. Death
is a grand secret? We know not when or by what means we shall be brought to
death: by what road we must go the way
whence we shall not return. We cannot
describe what death is; how the knot is untied between soul and body
or how
the spirit goes "To be we know not what
and live we know not how."
With what dreadful curiosity does the soul launch out into an untried abyss? We
have no correspondence with separate souls
nor any acquaintance with their
state. It is an unknown
undiscovered region
to which they are removed. While
we are here in a world of sense
we speak of the world of spirits
as blind men
do of colours
and when we remove thither
shall be amazed to find how much we
were mistaken.
Verse 18
[18] Hast
thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
Breadth —
The whole compass and all the parts of it?
Verse 19
[19]
Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness
where is the place
thereof
Dwelleth —
Hath its constant and settled abode. Whether goes the sun when it departs from
this hemisphere? Where is the tabernacle and the chamber in which he is
supposed to rest? And seeing there was a time when there was nothing but gross
darkness upon the face of the earth
what way came light into the world? Which
was the place where light dwelt at that time
and whence was it fetched? And
whence came that orderly constitution and constant succession of light and
darkness? Was this thy work? Or wast thou privy to it
or a counsellor
or
assistant in it?
Verse 20
[20] That
thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof
and that thou shouldest know the
paths to the house thereof?
Take it —
Bring or lead it: and this it refers principally to the light
and to darkness
as the consequent of the other.
Bound —
Its whole course from the place of its abode whence it is supposed to come
to
the end of its journey.
Know —
Where thou mayst find it
and whence thou mayst fetch it.
Verse 22
[22] Hast
thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of
the hail
Treasures —
Dost thou know where I have laid up those vast quantities of snow and hail
which I draw forth when I see fit?
Verse 23
[23]
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble
against the day of battle
and war?
Trouble —
When I intend to bring trouble upon any people for their sins.
Verse 24
[24] By
what way is the light parted
which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
Distributed — In
the air
and upon the face of the earth. This is variously distributed in the
world
shining in one place and time
when it doth not shine in another
or for
a longer time
or with greater brightness and power than it doth in another.
All which are the effects of God's infinite wisdom and power
and such as were
out of Job's reach to understand.
Which —
Which light scattereth
raises the east-wind
and causes it to blow hither and
thither upon the earth? For as the sun is called by the poets
the father of
the winds
because he draws up those exhalations which give matter to the
winds
so in particular the east-wind is often observed to rise together with
the sun.
Verse 25
[25] Who
hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters
or a way for the
lightning of thunder;
Overflowing —
For the showers of rain which come down orderly
and gradually
as if they were
conveyed in pipes or channels; which
without the care of God's providence
would fall confusedly
and overwhelm the earth.
Lightning —
For lightning and thunder? Who opened a passage for them out of the cloud in
which they were imprisoned? And these are joined with the rain
because they
are commonly accompanied with great showers of rain.
Verse 26
[26] To
cause it to rain on the earth
where no man is; on the wilderness
wherein
there is no man;
To cause —
That the clouds being broken by lightning and thunder might pour down rain.
No man — To
water those parts by art and industry
as is usual in cultivated places.
Verse 27
[27] To
satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb
to spring forth?
To bring forth —
Hitherto God has put such questions to Job
as were proper to convince him of
his ignorance. Now he comes to convince him of his impotence. As it is but
little that he can know
and therefore he ought not to arraign the Divine
counsels
so it is but little he can do; and therefore he ought not to oppose
Divine providence.
Verse 28
[28] Hath
the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Father — Is
there any man that can beget or produce rain at his pleasure?
Verse 31
[31]
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades
or loose the bands of Orion?
Bind —
Restrain or hinder them.
Pleiades —
The seven stars
which bring in the spring.
Bands — By
which it binds up the air and earth
by bringing storms of rain and hail or
frost and snow.
Orion —
This constellation rises in November
and brings in winter. Both summer and
winter will have their course? God indeed can change them when he pleases
can
make the spring cold
and so bind the influences of Pleiades
and the winter
warm
and so loose the bands of Orion; but we cannot.
Verse 32
[32]
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus
with his sons?
Bring forth —
Canst thou make the stars in the southern signs arise and appear? Arcturus -
Those in the northern.
His sons —
The lesser stars
which are placed round about them; and attend upon them
as
children upon their parents.
Verse 33
[33]
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in
the earth?
Ordinances —
The laws which are firmly established concerning their order
motion
or rest
and their powerful influences upon this lower world. Didst thou give these
laws? Or dost thou perfectly know them? Canst thou - Manage and over rule their
influences.
Verse 34
[34]
Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds
that abundance of waters may cover
thee?
Cover thee —
Thy land when it needs rain.
Verse 38
[38] When
the dust groweth into hardness
and the clods cleave fast together?
Mire — By
reason of much rain.
Verse 39
[39] Wilt
thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions
Hunt — Is
it by thy care that the lions who live in desert places are furnished with
necessary provisions? This is another wonderful work of God.
Verse 41
[41] Who
provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God
they wander
for lack of meat.
Raven —
Having mentioned the noblest of brute creatures
he now mentions one of the
most contemptible; to shew the care of God's providence over all creatures
both great and small. Their young ones are so soon forsaken by their dams
that
if God did not provide for them in a more than ordinary manner
they would be
starved to death. And will he that provides for the young ravens
fail to
provide for his own children.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
38 Chapter 38
Verses 1-41
Verses 1-3
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind
and said.
The address of the Almighty
This sublime discourse is represented as made from the midst of
the tempest or whirlwind which Elihu describes as gathering. In this address
the principal object of God is to assert His own greatness and majesty
and the
duty of profound submission under the dispensations of His government. The
general thought is
that He is Lord of heaven and earth; that all things have
been made by Him
and that He has a right to control them; and that in the
works of His own hands He had given so much evidence of His wisdom
power
and
goodness
that men ought to have unswerving confidence in Him. He appeals to
His works
and shows that
in fact
man could explain little
and that the most
familiar objects were beyond his comprehension. It was therefore to be expected
that in His moral government there would be much that would be above the power
of man to explain. In this speech the creation of the world is first brought
before the mind in language which has never been equalled. Then the Almighty
refers to various things in the universe that surpass the wisdom of man to
comprehend them
or his power to make them--to the laws of light; the depths of
the ocean; the formation of the snow
the rain
the dew
the ice
the frost;
the changes of the seasons
the clouds
the lightnings; and the instincts of
animals. He then makes a particular appeal to some of the mere remarkable
inhabitants of the air
the forest
and the waters
as illustrating His power.
He refers to the gestation of the mountain goats; to the wild ass
to the
rhinoceros
to the ostrich
and to the horse (ch. 39). The ground of the
argument in this part of the address is that He had adapted every kind of
animal to the mode of life which it was to lead; that He had given cunning
where cunning was necessary
and where unnecessary
that He had withheld it;
that He had endowed with rapidity of foot or wing where such qualities were
needful; and that where power was demanded
He had conferred it. In reference
to all these classes of creatures
there were peculiar laws by which they were
governed; and all
in their several spheres
showed the wisdom and skill of
their Creator. Job is subdued and awed by these exhibitions. To produce
however
a more overpowering impression of His greatness and majesty
and to
secure a deeper prostration before Him
the Almighty proceeds to a particular
description of two of the more remarkable animals which He had made--the
behemoth
or hippopotamus
and the leviathan
or crocodile; and with this
description
the address of the Almighty closes. The general impression
designed to be secured by this whole address is that of awe
reverence
and
submission. The general thought is
that God is supreme; that He has a right to
rule; that there are numberless things in His government which are inexplicable
by human wisdom; that it is presumptuous in man to sit in judgment on His
doings; and that at all times man should bow before Him with profound
adoration. It is remarkable that
in this address
the Almighty does not refer
to the main point in the controversy. He does not attempt to vindicate His
government from the charges brought against it of inequality
nor does He refer
to the future state as a place where all these apparent irregularities will be
adjusted. (Albert Barnes.)
The theophany
As Elihu’s eloquent discourse draws to a close
our hearts grow
full of expectation and hope. The mighty tempest in which Jehovah shrouds Himself
sweeps up through the darkened heaven; it draws nearer and nearer; we are
blinded by “the flash which He flings to the ends of the earth
” our hearts
“throb and leap out of their place
” and we say
“God is about to speak
and
there will be light.” But God speaks
and there is no light. He does not so
much as touch the intellectual problems over which we have been brooding so
long
much less
as we hoped
sweep them beyond the farthest horizon of our
thoughts. He simply overwhelms us with His majesty. He causes His “glory” to
pass before us
and though
after he has seen this great sight
Job’s face
shines with a reflected lustre which has to be veiled from us under the mere
forms of a recovered and augmented prosperity
we are none the brighter for it.
He claims to have all power in heaven and on earth
to be Lord of all the
wonders of the day and of the night
of tempest
and of calm. He simply
asserts
what no one has denied
that all the processes of nature
and all the
changes of providence are His handiwork
that it is He who calleth forth the
stars
and determines their influence upon earth
He who sendeth rain and
fruitful seasons
He who provides food for bird and beast
arms them with
strength
clothes them with beauty
and quickens in them the manifold wise
instincts by which they are preserved and multiplied. He does not utter a
single word to relieve the mysteries of His rule
to explain why the good
suffer and the wicked flourish
why He permits our hearts to be so often and so
cruelly torn by agonies of bereavement
of misgiving
of doubt. When the
majestic voice ceases we are no nearer than before to a solution of the
haunting problems of life. We can only wonder that Job should sink in utter
love and self-abasement before Him; we can only ask
in unfeigned surprise--and
it is well for us if some tone of contempt do not blend with our
surprise
--“What is there in all this to shed calm
and order
and an
invincible faith into Job’s perturbed and doubting spirit?” We say
“This
pathetic poem is a logical failure after all; it does not carry its theme to
any satisfactory conclusion
nor to any conclusion; it suggests doubts to which
it furnishes no reply
problems which it does not even attempt to solve;
charmed with its beauty we may be
but we are none the wiser for our patient
study of its argument.” But that would be a sorry conclusion of our labour. And
before we resign ourselves to it
let us at least ask:
1. Is it so certain as we sometimes assume it to be that this poem
was intended to explain the mystery of human life? Is it even certain that a
logical explanation of that mystery is either possible or desirable to
creatures such as we are in such a world as this? The path of logic is not
commonly the path of faith. Logic may convince the reason
but it cannot bend
the will or change the heart. God teaches us
--Jehovah taught Job
--as we teach
children
by the mystery of life
by its illusions and contradictions
by its
intermixtures of evil with good
of sorrow with joy; by the questions we are
compelled to ask even though we cannot answer them
by the problems we are
compelled to study although we cannot solve them. And is not this His best way?
2. But if the “answer” of Jehovah disappoints us
it satisfied Job;
and not only satisfied him
but swept away all his doubts and fears in a
transport of gratitude and renewed love. Expecting to hear some conclusive
argument
we overlook the immense force and pathos of the fact
that Jehovah
spake to Job at all. What Job could not bear was that God should abandon as
well as afflict him. It was not what God said
but that God did speak to him
brought comfort.
3. Still the question recurs: What was it that recovered Job to faith
and peace and trust? Was there absolutely nothing in the answer of Jehovah out
of the tempest to meet the inquest of his beseeching doubts? Yes
there was
something
but not much. There is an argument of hints and suggestions. It
meets the painful sense of mystery which oppressed Job. God simply says
we
should not let that mystery distress us
because there are mysteries
everywhere. Another argument is
Consider these mysteries and parables of
Nature
and what they reveal of the character and purpose of Him by whom they
were created and made. You can see that they all work together for good. May
not the mystery of human life and pain be as beneficent? God does not argue
with us
nor seek to force our trust; for no man was ever yet argued into love
or could even compel his own child to love and confide in him. Trust and love
are not to be forced
but won. God may have to deal with us as we deal with our
children. Not by logical arguments
which convince our reason
but by tender
appeals which touch and break our hearts
our Father conquers us at last
and
wins our love and trust forever. (Samuel Cox
D. D.)
The appearance of Jahve
As Job has at last exhausted all mortal powers in order to prevail
upon God without defiance and without murmuring
and to behold the solution of
the dark enigma
He who has so long been desired and entreated cannot longer
withhold His appearance. He now appears at the right time
since an earlier
appearance would either have been perilous to the man who was still
insufficiently prepared for it
because it would then necessarily have been an
angry and destructive response to the defiant or murmuring challenge of man
or
else have been incompatible with the proper majesty of God
supposing it had
been mercifully condescending and conciliatory
as if man in his ignorance
could force such a gracious appearance by rebellion. But now
after the
sufferer has tried every human means of prevailing upon God in the proper
manner
and already
as conqueror over himself
endeavours without passionate
feeling to obtain a higher revelation and final deliverance
this is granted to
him at the right moment. It thus appears as if Jahve had so long delayed simply
because He had from the beginning anticipated and known that such a brave
sufferer as Job would not wholly lose himself
even in the utmost temptation
and danger
but would triumphantly go forth from it with higher power and
capacity
so as to be able to experience the awful moment of the revelation of
a truth and glory such as had been previously never thought of. A revelation
coming in this manner must be for Job a friendly and gracious one. (Heinrich
A. Von Ewald.)
The revelation in the whirlwind
We are reminded by these words of the similar experience of Elijah
when
in the midst of the grandest manifestations of nature
he was brought
into direct contact with God. The Lord
we are told
was not in the mighty wind
that passed before Elijah on Horeb. He did not choose the whirlwind as the
symbol of Himself; because what Elijah required was not the display of God’s
newer but the revelation of His love--not the stormy
but the gentle side of
God’s nature. He Himself was a tempestuous spirit
an incarnate whirlwind. To
such a stormy nature a lesson came to teach him the secret of his failure
and
to show him that there were greater powers than those which he had employed
and a better spirit than that which he had displayed. He believed that the most
effective way of freeing the land from its idolatry was by threatening and
judgment. There was nothing in these judgments to appeal to Israel’s better
nature--to convince them of their sin
and to rouse them to a sense of duty;
and the Baal worship
which they were compelled by fear to renounce for a day
resumed its old spell over them when the storm subsided
and the sky became
once more serene. But not thus did God reveal Himself to Job. He revealed
Himself in the still
small voice to Elijah
because there was too much of the
whirlwind in his own character
and in his work of reformation for Israel
and
he needed to be taught the greater power of gentleness and love. He revealed
Himself in the whirlwind to Job
because there was too much of the still
small
voice in his own disposition and in his circumstances
and he needed to be
stirred up by trials and troubles that would shake his life to the very centre.
The lot of Job was at first extraordinarily prosperous. His nature became like
his circumstances; his soul was at ease he lived upon the surface of his being;
he was contented with himself and with the world. Job’s worship was practically
a similar bargain of faith. He would offer sacrifice to God as a preventive of
worldly evil
and as the safeguard of his prosperity. We know what happens in
nature after a long continuance of sunshine and calm. It needs a storm to
agitate the stagnant waters
and fill the foaming waves with vital air for the
good of the creatures of the sea. And so the man whose prosperous life settles
down upon the lees of his nature
and partakes of their sordidness
requires
the storm of trial to purify the atmosphere of his soul
to rouse him from his selfishness
to brace up his energies
and to make him a blessing to others
and a grander
and truer man in himself. It was for this reason that the overwhelming troubles
that came upon Job were sent. “The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind.”
That Divine speech was entirely different from the arguments of Elihu and
Zophar
Bildad and Eliphaz. There were no upbraidings in it; no replies to
specious sophistries and short-sighted charges it seemed to ignore altogether
the questions at issue; it appealed not to the intellect
but to the heart. He
grew wiser the more he suffered; and the storm that purified his soul gave him
a deeper insight into the mysteries of Divine providence
so that he could rise
superior to the doubts of his own heart
and vindicate the ways of God to man
against all the dishonouring arguments of his false friends. As a candle within
a transparency
so the fire of pain illumined the truth of God to him
and made
plain what before had been dark. He had lost everything which men of the world
value
but he had found what was more than a compensation. And so God deals
with us still. He speaks to different persons in different ways: to one who is
self-sufficient because of his prosperity
by the loud roar of the whirlwind;
to another who is despondent and depressed because of failure and blighted
hopes arising from wrong methods of doing good
He speaks in the still
small
voice
and assures him that fury is not in Him. The Divine method is ever by
the still
small voice. God would prefer to deal with us in gentle
loving
quiet ways. Judgment is His strange work. God’s continued goodness to us too
often leaves us careless and godless. The still
small voice speaking to us in
the blessings of life with which day after day our cup is filled
is unheeded
and God requires to send His whirlwind to speak to us in such a way that we
shall be compelled to hear. (H. Macmillan
D. D.)
Spiritual tempests
Numerous instances might be cited where God manifested Himself out
of a cloud. But as well in the dew drop
out of the calm and silent lake
as
well as from the billowy ocean. In all ways He seeks to reach and impress men
with His greatness and goodness. But I believe men are more impressed when in
the pathway of the cyclone
where the ordinary provisions of safety are
inadequate
and men lift up their voices
and implore the mercy of the great
Jehovah.
I. The first thing
to consider is
how easily the most innocent things may become harmful and
dangerous. A child may sleep in the morning breeze. What is softer than the
dewdrop as it releases the aroma of the fields that we drink in with so much
pleasure? And yet with what terrific force it sweeps on when changed into the
tornado and flood! How great
therefore
the power for destruction in the
simplest. In the souls of men there are forces no less terrible than those in
physical nature that
held by a slight restraint
keep in check vices
which
were they loose
would carry devastation into society.
II. The second
principle teaches that destructive things may become beneficial. At first we
shrink from the approaching storm
property is lost
homes destroyed
and yet
we learn from viewing the scene of desolation that storms may be beneficial. Do
we think of the poison in the atmosphere
and how the storm has taken it up and
blown it away
giving us in its place a pure atmosphere? A few lives may be
given to the tornado
but you and I have been given purer air. The soldier in
the same manner dies for his country. These may be great mysteries. The storm
may destroy much
but it blesses us all. The cyclones in the spiritual world
strike us
but give us a better vision; they purify our spiritual atmosphere
and let us see nearer the world to which we are journeying.
III. The third
teaching of the tornado is how the simple things become inscrutable. Man’s
knowledge seems to extend to a certain point. God said to the sea: “Thus far
shalt thou go and no farther.” But the storm may bring great blessings. We live
in a little circle of light; we see but a few feet
and know not but the next
step may be into infinite blackness; but if God is with us it does not matter.
The three lessons
considered together
teach us that this world is an island
in the midst of a great ocean. We are like the mariners on the lake--the more
the storm rages the more lights will be turned toward the haven. We all need a
refuge from the storm. Some seek it in the sciences and philosophy; but the
only haven is in the arms of Jesus
where there is at least heaven
sweet
blessed heaven
for the burdened and weary. (George C. Lorimer
D. D.)
Verse 4
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Ignorance of the world’s origin
God would impress on Job his utter ignorance of the world in which
he lived
and his incompetency to interpret His moral administration. The moral
is this--Be concerned
Job
for a moral trust in My character
rather than for
a theoretical knowledge of My ways. In the text there is a Divine challenge in
relation to the when and how of the origin of the world.
I. The when. His
ignorance as to when He began His creation. “Where wast thou when I laid the
foundation of the earth?”
II. The how. “Who
hath laid the measures thereof
if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line
upon it?” Conclusion--The subject serves--
1. To rebuke all disposition to pronounce an opinion upon the ways of
God.
2. To suggest that our grand effort ought to be to cultivate a loving
trust in the Divine character
rather than to comprehend the Divine procedure.
Comprehend Him we never can.
3. To enable us to appreciate the glorious services of Christianity.
The question
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
confounds and crushes me. I feel powerless before it
it overwhelms me with a
sense of my own insignificance. Christianity comes to my relief. It tells me
that although I am insignificant
I am still a child
a beloved child of the
Everlasting
and that it is not the will of my Father that any
even of His
“little ones
” should perish; nay
that it is His good pleasure that I should
have a kingdom. (Homilist.)
The insignificance of man as a creature
I. What is thine
intellect to Mine?
II. What is thine
age to Mine?
III. What is thy
power to Mine?
IV. What is thy
independence to Mine? He is--
1. Independent in being.
2. In action. This subject serves--
3. To enable us to appreciate the glorious service of Christianity. (Homilist.)
The creation of the world
I. Some leading
ideas respecting the Divine work of creation. Notice--
1. The hoary and venerable antiquity of the work
and its entire
independence of the power and wisdom of man. Many an upstart of yesterday
imagines himself capable to investigate and define every subject. The questions
of the text lead us to contemplate the creating work as mysterious and
unsearchable.
II. The manner in
which meditations on this work of creation may be most profitably conducted.
Philosophers will afford delightful aid to the more studious observer of the universe.
The grand philosophy is in the Bible
where resounds the voice of God Himself
describing His own operations. But there is still needed the specially
illuminating influence of the Holy Spirit of God. This influence is to be
sought by prayer
while the proper means are diligently used.
III. The important
ends and uses to which meditations of this kind ought to be directed and
applied. The agency of the Spirit is particularly manifest in sanctifying
devout meditations to their proper end. By meditations properly conducted
a
habit of spirituality is acquired
and an ability to bring the mind close to
the contemplation of Divine things. Here is the porch of the temple of wisdom.
There is the foot of the ladder
whereby the soul at length ascends to heaven.
Nor is the utility of such meditations confined to the infancy of religious
wisdom; it follows us up to the very gates of heaven
yea
into heaven itself.
(J. Love
D. D.)
Verse 6-7
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
The laying of the earth’s foundation stone
Our text brings before us a period long antecedent to the creation
of man
when the first step was taken towards building up and furnishing this planet
for the abode of its future inhabitants. The text brings before us the truth in
a parable. The transactions of another sphere are represented in an image drawn
from this
in order that our conceptions of the truth may be lively and
intelligent. These parables are no mere plays of the fancy--they are founded
upon real analogies. Earthly things are really a shadow of heavenly things. The
ways of nature are a real type of the ways of grace. The dealings of men with
one another are really and objectively a figure of God’s dealings with man. God
here sets forth heavenly transactions under a figure
drawn from the laying of
a foundation stone. To lay the first stone of a great building is in itself
however auspicious
a solemn event. The structure
whose foundations we are
laying
will witness a great fluctuation of human interests
and be associated
with some great and critical event
Suppose that the building be dedicated to
the edification of man
or to the worship of the Most High God--a great seminary
for example
or a great church. Here our feelings of solemnity and awe would be
far more largely tempered with joy. There is ground for rejoicing
inasmuch as
the good which may reasonably be expected to result from the work which we are
inaugurating
so vastly preponderates over the evil
which may be accidentally
associated with it. The text carries us back to a period of thought
antecedent
to the creation of man--to the period when the first substratum of the globe
was laid--to the period
when by the operation of laws which it has taken man
upwards of five thousand years to discover
this planet was poised in
mid-air--a little ball in the midst of suns and systems innumerable
with
infinite space stretching round it on all sides. Man existed not yet
nor the
place of his habitation; but that intelligent and rational creatures existed
our text itself furnishes sufficient proof . . . Angels assisting at the
foundation of the earth
and sending forth God’s high praises in jubilant
strains of triumph--it is a grand subject of meditation. What were the grounds
for their solemn rejoicing? Their knowledge of the earth’s destiny could not
have been of a prophetic character. The earth might be regarded by them in
reference either to its future inhabitants
or to God
or to the evil which had
already found its way into the universe.
I. Its future
inhabitants. It was to be the house of a great family
and the school of a
great character.
1. It was designed for the abode of a race
and not merely of those
two individuals who were first placed in solitude and innocence upon it; and
the destinies of that race
as of the individuals composing it
would
fluctuate.
2. It was to be the school of human character. Earth was to be a
scene of probation and discipline. The creature who was to be formed upon it
was to be susceptible of improvement and progress. If the creature have
capacities for the infinite
while the sphere on which it moves is finite
this
must prove that the sphere is only preparatory--an introduction to a higher
stage.
II. To God. Earth
was destined to be a temple of God
from every corner of which should ascend to
Him continually the incense of praise--where He should signally manifest His
glory
and develop His perfections.
III. To the strife
with evil. Man should become a sinner
and alienate himself from God. Then
arose this difficulty--How was this moral mischief to be repaired? (E.
M. Goulburn
D. C. L.)
Verse 7
When the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God
shouted for Joy?
The song eternal
The mere creation of matter would be wonderful; but
to think that
God put in that matter all that might be necessary for all that intelligent
beings could desire
or think about
or need
for millions of years! God
prepared the earth for millions of people upon it
and He prepared everything
to meet their wants. These worlds have been long in being
but they have kept
in motion all the time. And they keep time with each other; they have not come
into collision. God marked out their pathway. I do not wonder the morning stars
sang together
when they saw all this machinery set in motion. It is more
wonderful as the ages roll on
for through all these years it keeps time
and
the song is still sounding in the heaven. Shall we be less interested? The
angels know God as their Creator
the wonderful God. They see His majesty
His
power. But He comes near to us
and calls us children. Here our eyes see
our
ears hear
and out hearts glow with admiration at what our Father has
made--made for us. Sometimes
when I think of the heaven that He has given
just beyond all these worlds
I look through the worlds with joy
and I see
something more glorious beyond; This song still goes on. The music is still
rolling on over our heads. We do not hear it
but occasionally we get glimpses
of the world that re-echoes with it . . . Christ was coming to suffer sorrow
and death upon the earth. Why should the angels (at Bethlehem) be glad? If He came
to suffer death
it was but to enter into His glory. The angels opened the
doors
and welcomed Him up the pathway to the throne. The joy is perpetual.
John had a vision of it in the Isle of Patmos. The angels sang at creation
and
angels sang of dominion and glory; but there is a new song
--“Unto Him that
loved us
and washed Us in His own blood
” etc. What a song! It is a song ever
new
because there are new strains in it
new voices in it. (Bishop Simpson.)
The angels rejoicing at the creation of the world
Here is something that took place when our world was created
but
not in our world. Heaven was the scene of it; and it is told us in order to
carry up our thoughts to heaven
and make us better acquainted with it. In the
text find--
I. Those spoken of
in it. “Morning stars
” “Sons of God.” With a star we connect the ideas of
brightness and beauty
but with a morning star
peculiar brightness and beauty.
“My angels
” God says to us
“are morning stars.” Angels are not “sons” as the
Everlasting Son is. They are called sons by mere grace and favour. The name
shows the abundance of God’s love to them.
II. What these
angels are said to have done. They sang. Singing is the language of happy
feeling. They “sang together.” Here comes in the idea of union
harmony
oneness of feeling and joy
among these morning stars. God loves this oneness
of feeling. They “shouted for joy.” This invests the figure with a sublimity
and majesty.
III. The occasion
for all this rejoicing. It was called forth by the creation of the world.
1. The joy of these angels was a joy of admiration. They sang
together
because they were struck together with the beauty of the world.
2. It was a song of praise. Because the world discovered to them in
every part of it the perfections of God. (C. Bradley
M. A.)
The joy of angels at the creation of the world
I. The persons
or
beings
here spoken of. They must be the “angels
” those glorious spirits who
were formed before the earth. For “sons of God” the Greek has
“all my angels”;
and an ancient Jewish paraphrase has “all the armies of heaven.” The angels are
called “morning stars” on account of their lustre
and the purity of their
natures. In Scripture
persons of eminent stations are described as “stars.”
They are called “sons of God
” because produced by Him
who is the Father of
spirits
the Father of the whole family in heaven and earth. They may be so
styled
because they resemble Him in their natures
partake of His Divine and
glorious image; or they may be called His “sons” as men are.
II. What occasioned
their joyful songs and shouts of praise?
1. The magnificence and beauty of the creation.
2. The glories of the Divine architect displayed in it.
3. They rejoiced on account of the uses for which the earth was
designed. The angels are benevolent beings
and bear the image of God in love.
Application--
Verse 11
Hitherto shalt thou come
but no further.
Drawing the line
Everybody draws the line somewhere or other.
1. The Lord Chancellor
speaking on the Burials Bill
remarked that
we English people must draw the line as to the requirements of the religious
ceremony in the churchyards of our country
by saying that it must be a
Christian service. Every rational person will consent to that drawing of the
line at the word “Christian
” by which I understand is meant a service which
acknowledges God and a life beyond the grave.
2. We draw the line in giving evidence in Courts of Justice and in
entering Parliament. A man cannot be believed and trusted unless he either
takes an oath
or affirms that he will be truthful and faithful. It is absurd
as well as insulting to an Englishman to make him swear that he is telling the
truth; and I hope that
before long
in our courts of justice we shall simply
affirm before giving evidence--“I promise
on my word of honour
to tell the
truth.”
3. The line is also drawn in things of great social and moral
importance. In questions of modesty. There are some books against which you have
to draw the line of exclusion
and to say
“No
I draw the line at these books;
they shall not enter my house.” It is right to draw the line somewhere. With
all due deference to those who say
“To the pure all things are pure
” a line
ought to be drawn in the admission of pictures to public exhibitions. A line
ought to be drawn against such demoralising works of art
no matter if a prince
were the artist. Draw the line too in your conversation. Do not join in any
jokes or stories which go too far over the edge of modesty
but rebuke it in
every shape and way. Modesty is woman’s sweetest glory
and man’s richest
crown.
4. Draw the right line in the respect due one to another. Let us not
respect a man for his money
but for his manhood.
5. Draw the right line in questions of religion. Not a line of
intolerance and exclusiveness. Some people presumptuously draw a line around
God’s heart; they encroach on the prerogative of God
saying that He cannot
save every man. What a libel on God. (W. Birch.)
Verse 16
Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
High tides
What a fascination there is about a high tide! Passing through Manchester
I noticed that the railway company were running cheap trips to Blackpool
so
that the people might witness the prevailing high tides. We love to see the
triumphant march
to hear the shout of many waters. That there are similar
tides “in the affairs of men” the greatest of poets noted long ago.
Occasionally
or it may be only once
men are signally favoured by happy
conjunctions of circumstances which send them bounding to a coveted haven. The
politician achieves an extraordinary popularity
and exults that the flowing
tide is with him; commercial men fondly recall years when the ships they sent
for gold steadily and swiftly returned with propitious wind and wave. Usually
the currents of life are sluggish. The spirit within us also has its spring
tides
privileged periods when it transcends the dull levels of ordinary
experience
when the billows of God lift it on high and it knows itself caught
in irresistible currents of spiritual influence and grace. Most people know
that oceanic tides are regulated by the sun and moon
and they know also that
when these greater and lesser lights act in conjunction
as they do at new and
full moon
the ebb and flow are each considerably increased
producing what we
know as spring tides. The moon in her monthly revolution is at one time
thousands of miles nearer the earth than she is at another; the sun also is
nearer our earth in winter than in summer; and the highest tides are produced
when the sun and moon both pull together at a time when each orb is in that part
of its path nearest to the earth. The attraction of these orbs and their
nearness to our planet have everything to do with the glorious tides we love to
witness
although the crowd of trippers may not remember the firmamental cause.
And thus the celestial universe governs the tides of the soul. We do not always
remember the fact
but the eternal world acts directly upon our spirit
agitating it
setting in motion its faculties and forces
directing its
currents to consequences of utmost blessing. There are hours and days when God
comes specially near to us
as there are seasons when sun and moon approach
near the earth
creating a majestic gathering of the waters. At those wonderful
periods of spiritual visitation doubts are dissolved; we see clearly what at
other times we miss or see but darkly; we conceive the thoughts and form the
purposes which give new nobility to life. There is to the uninstructed mind
much that is mysterious and inexplicable in the influence of the stars upon the
tides which flow on our coasts
in consequence of the numerous
complications--astronomical
meteorological
and geographical--which obscure
the laws governing the tides. The greatest philosophers find it difficult
nay
impossible
to explain to the average man the wonderful phenomenon; and the
action of the eternal world upon our spirit is a still greater mystery which
none may comprehend or explain; but every spiritual man is assured of the fact
and has felt the rapture of extraordinary visitations of grace
when tides of
spiritual influence surge through his heart and mind
making everything to
live
move
and bloom. How precious are those days when God draws nigh to us
and our spirit is deeply moved! These rising and falling tides of emotion are
in many ways most blessed. A soul like a duck pond is not the ideal state; our
grandest days are those when mysterious effluences course through every artery
of our being. They are days of purification. The mud and debris which would
otherwise choke our rivers are cleansed by high tides. These high tides of
blessing serve in another way; they free us from various injurious moods and
habits which arise in ordinary life and which with ordinary grace we find
almost impossible to overcome. Ways of thinking and acting
habits and associations
that circumscribe us
that render us shallow
that may prove occasions of
stagnation and shipwreck
are easily broken through and destroyed when a great
tide of life surges through the soul. These days of spiritual effluxion are
also days of power and attainment. What intellectual men strive after in vain
during neap tides they reach splendidly in moments of inspiration. Pentecostal
times are high-water marks
when the believer letting himself go is carried
into higher
wider
and more satisfying experiences and attributes. These
seasons of outpouring of love and grace
of pervading fulness
of vital
influence penetrating the innermost recesses of the soul
are days of sweet and
memorable delight. Andrew Bonar says
“I often cannot give praise or thanks in
any words but those of such songs as ‘Holy
holy
holy
Lord God Almighty’!”
These are the days of high tides. Blessed days when there is no surf
no mud
bank
no weeds
no noxious sights or odours
but when
filled with the Spirit
everything evil is gone from us and everything human and temporal has become
beautiful in the light of the Divine
as the tide racing up the beach turns the
dull sand into yellow gold and the common pebbles into glittering gems. Let us
beware lest in any way we impede the glorious flow when the Spirit comes in as
a flood. Scientists teach that the observed tides do not correspond with the
times of the moon’s setting
but that they are always behindhand by a greater
or less interval. There is friction
such as is caused by currents flowing past
the jagged edges of continents and islands
which more or less retard tidal
action; and there is also the conflicting influence of contrary currents. And
just so we may retard spiritual action by unbelief
worldliness
and unfaithfulness
of life. Let us be sure that we get all that the great tides bring. All the
purity they bring
until our soul is like the sea of the Apocalypse
glass
mingled with fire. All the power they bring. Our scientists regret the wasted
power of the tides
and anticipate the day when the energy now expending itself
uselessly on our coasts will be utilised as a motive power. If we trifle away
the strong
gracious impulses of God’s Spirit
our life will be bound in
shallows and in miseries of weakness
depression
and failure; and many souls
are so poor and unhappy because they have omitted to improve those precious
visitations of extraordinary grace vouchsafed to all. We cannot tell when we
shall be the subjects of these blessed and memorable visitations. Long experience
and observation have enabled astronomers to overcome all the difficulties
implied in solving the actual problem of the tides
and they put at the service
of mariners and others accurate tables of tides and tidal currents
in addition
to the times of high and low water for every part of the civilised world. But
we cannot thus calculate the inflowing of the Divine tides upon the souls of
men. All great artists and poets testify to the apparent arbitrariness of their
inspiration. The heart is strangely warmed in an unexpected hour; the air
suddenly becomes clear
and things unseen display themselves
with strong
commanding evidence. We cannot command these seasons; if we fail to improve
them we cannot recall them. When “the set time to favour Zion” is come
there
are unmistakable signs of the present Lord; when the “set time” to favour any
soul is come
there are solemn and yet delightful agitations within that soul.
Let us be tremulously alive to these tides which bear us out to God. If we are
busy here and there
the Spirit will be gone and the infinite blessings of the
full sea lost. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Verse 17
Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
The gates of death
The allusion here is to the state which in the Hebrew is called
Sheol
and in the Greek
Hades; which means the dark abode of the dead.
I. The mental
darkness that enshrouds us. All the phenomena of the heavens
the earth
and
the multiform operations of the Creator
referred to in this Divine address
were designed and fitted to impress Job with the necessary limitation of his
knowledge
and the ignorance that encircled him on all questions; and the
region of death is but one of the many points to which he is directed as an
example of his ignorance. How ignorant are we of the great world of departed
men! What a thick veil of mystery enfolds the whole! What questions often start
within us to which we can get no satisfactory reply
either from philosophy or
the Bible! I am thankful that we are left in ignorance--
1. Of the exact condition of each individual in that great and
ever-growing realm. In general
the Bible tells us that the good are happy and
the wicked miserable. This is enough. We would have no more light.
2. Of our exact proximity to the great realm of the departed. We
would not have the day or the hour disclosed.
II. The solemn
change that awaits us. “The gates” have not opened to us
but must.
1. The gates are in constant motion. No sooner are they closed to
one
than another enters.
2. The gates open to all classes. There are gates to be only entered
by persons of distinction.
3. The gates open only one way--into eternity.
4. The gates separate the probationary from the retributionary.
5. The gates are under supreme authority.
III. The wonderful
mercy that preserves us.
1. We have always been near those gates.
2. Thousands have gone through since we began the journey of life.
3. We have often been made to feel ourselves near. In times of
personal affliction; and in times of bereavement.
IV. The service
christianity renders us.
1. It assures us there is life on the other side the gates.
2. It assures us there is blessedness on the other side the gates.
3. It takes away the instinctive repugnance we feel in stepping
through those gates. “It delivers those who through fear of death are all their
lifetime subject to bondage.” It takes the sting of death away
etc. (Homilist.)
The invisible gates
Nothing could well be conceived of as more truly sublime than the
whole discourse of which the above quotation is a part. Job is convicted by the
great Teacher both of ignorance and of weakness. How little did he know of the
plans and workings of providence. Whithersoever he turned himself
he was surrounded
with mystery. There was another state of being
too
over which clouds and
darkness rested. It was a land from which no traveller had ever returned; a
land of spiritual essences
and incorporeal natures alone. “Have the gates of
death been opened unto thee?”
1. The metaphor suggests to us how ignorant we are of the period at
which our mortal lives must terminate. Canst thou look into the secret chambers
of the Almighty
and say which of the ten thousand ways of leaving this world
is the precise one thou shalt be under the necessity of taking? How often does
the king of terrors take one and pass another by. The number of years we are to
fill; the nature of the death we are to die; the spot where and the manner how;
all are infallibly known to God; nay
were so long before we were born
or the
earth itself was formed on which we dwell. From us these futurities are wisely
and mercifully concealed. “Death’s thousand doors stand open” as the poet says
but through which of them we are to pass is only known unto Him who hath
appointed to all flesh the bounds of their habitation.
2. The metaphor suggests to us that we are very much in the dark as
to the nature of the invisible world. Canst thou clearly discern
through the
opened gates
the condition of that world which lies beyond the present
the
occupation of its inhabitants
the pursuits in which they are engaged
or the
views they entertain? We know there is such a state. We are told it shall
forever be well with the righteous
and ill with the wicked. But we are left
very much in the dark as to particulars. Many curious and interesting questions
naturally occur to a thinking and. Some think that from the moment the breath
departs
all spiritual life and consciousness are suspended until the day of
resurrection. But such a theory can easily be shown to be preposterous and
untenable. All things go to prove that
as it is appointed unto all men once to
die
so immediately after death cometh judgment
not the general judgment of
the last day
but the particular judgment that shall pass on every individual.
3. The metaphor suggests that it becomes us to express ourselves with
great caution when at any time we speak of the dead. There are two propositions
of which we cannot be too confident.
1. The propriety of considering our latter end.
2. The folly of rash speculations upon the nature of the invisible
world. What God has taught us
it becomes us diligently to ponder; what He has
thought proper to conceal
let us religiously abstain from intermeddling with.
3. To see abundant cause of thankfulness to God for the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead. What
but for this
must have been our future
prospects? He who lay in mortal slumber in Joseph’s tomb has come back to tell
that death shall be swallowed up in victory
and that they who believe on Him
shall never perish. (J. L. Adamson.)
Gates of death
This world
and that which is to come
are thus scripturally
connected on the border land. David came very near them once
yet broke out
“Thou liftest me up from the gates of death.” Good Hezekiah into thanksgiving
said
“I shall go to the gates of the grave
using a more material form for the
same idea. These “gates of death” spoken of in Job 38:17
Psalms 107:18
and Psalms 9:13
are synonymous with the
“gates of hell
” spoken of by our Lord in Matthew 16:18
meaning the gates of
Hades
or the vast regions of the unseen state. They are all at the terminus of
life’s pilgrimage
and the believer who has passed through the “gates of righteousness
”
spoken of in Psalms 118:19
when he approaches these
amazing portals
may use the triumphant language of David
“Lift up your heads
O ye gates
and be ye lift up
ye everlasting doors.” These gates
as John
says
have names written thereon. Over the first is written--
1. Mystery. One pillar seems to rest on time
and the other on
eternity
opening into the unknown
where from this side the deepest shadows
lie; and some say
“There is nothing beyond”; others
“With what body do they
come?” others
“What are their employments
company
and conditions?” and yet
others
“Do they know us there
and can they visit us there?”
2. Change is written over another. To the most it opens as a
surprise. On this side men say
“A man is dead
” and on the other
“A man is
born.” As they go through
the old become young
the poor rich
the despised
honourable
and the little great; so that all are not on the other side what
they were on this.
3. Immortality is written upon the next
clearly read by the
Christian
yet to the mass of mankind in the past
traceable only in shadowy
hieroglyphics.
4. Infinity is another. Here all is rudimental--our works
successes
attainments
yet suggestive of immense possibilities
awakening curiosity
and
animating to activity. Our field of action is here limited by the very
conditions of our existence; yet with the barriers of sense removed
we shall
have unlimited ideas of space
power
employment
knowledge
and progress.
5. Reward is the title of another
which will receive us into the
presence of the King
saying
“My reward is with Me
and I will give unto every
man as his work shall be”; rewards according to our works
and not for them
yet all the better because through the riches of His grace; every man in his
own order
yet each compensated according to his capacity. There are those who
shall be great in the kingdom of heaven
and others who shall be least. (J.
Waugh.)
Verse 22
Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?
The treasures of the snow
I. The beauty of
these “treasures.” The manifold pleasing forms shaped by the different objects
on which it falls; the broad white coverlet of the expansive plain; the
undulating hills; the mountain peaks
whose white vestures are seen afar off
like interceding high priests. Suggesting to the spiritual eye the infinite
resources at the command of the Creator
and the incomprehensible variety and
fulness of moral splendours that lie folded up in His character and
revelations.
II. The preserving
and fructifying powers contained in these “treasures.” Their power to preserve
vegetable life and make the soil richer for its temporary white shroud.
Suggestions here arise of the Divine love and wisdom that visit the souls of
men in the cold garb of sorrow and pain. The killing process is always one of
pain in the human world; the analogy of which
without the pain
we have in the
vegetable kingdom. The snow kills and destroys. So does pain and sorrow; but it
kills only those influences that are opposed to the life and fruitfulness of
after-growths. Are not the purposes of affliction equally beneficial? What a
garden of spices has the heart become through some cold and biting winter’s
visitation of sorrow!
III. There is
then
a purging and purifying power in these treasures of the snow. In moral and
spiritual discipline we have seen this to be the case. But have we “entered
into” the truth that lies still deeper
and is vital to all soul purifying?
Where shall we look for the power to stay the death weeds of sin
and the
world’s widespread guilt
if we discover it not in the power that is
beautifully typified by the Psalmist in the snow? “Purge me with hyssop
and I
shall be clean; wash me
and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalms 51:7). God’s “treasures” of
wisdom
and knowledge
and salvation
are locked up in Him who
in His love and
humiliation
spread the mantle of His torn flesh over the world’s festering
evil. And out of the death has come the world’s life--purity
peace
hope
radiant with celestial plumage.
IV. What silent
forces belong to the snow! During the quiet hours of night
it
falls--falls--falls--so softly
so stealthily
that its descent does not
disturb even the invalid’s slumbers; but as we look out in the morning dawn we
see broad acres covered with high heaps of compact snow. What busy hands and
noisy machinery would be needed to convey a one thousandth part of what you see
from your window
from one locality to another
within the same space of time
that elapsed during its fall! And how would the chaste and fleecy material be
spoilt by the transit
no longer pure as it came from its heavenly birthplace.
The Church needs
with its soul eye
to “enter into” this lesson of the
“treasures” of silent forces. The disciples of the Master have too long been
making a great deal of noise in the discharge of their mission
and in many
cases substituting the noise for the work. The true workers are a silent band
who in much prayer and few words
with Christlike examples and little interest
in verbal creeds
whose voices are seldom heard in the streets
and whose names
are seldom announced in the papers
are
nevertheless
among the real moral and
spiritual forces of the world.
V. Have we
considered
in the hour of our great bereavements
the “treasures” of
consolation suggested by the snow? What a springtide of immortal splendours
will yet issue from the human seeds that lie covered over by the cold pall of
death! In the light of the resurrection we sometimes feel very rich in the
“treasures” of which death has made us conscious
--“the roses that are to come out
of the snow.” (The Study.)
Hast thou seen the
treasures of the hail?--
The treasures of the hail
This description would serve to impress upon Job the truth that
all natural forces are rigidly under God’s control. There are no chance
whirlwinds
or lightnings
or snow
or hail storms; all are in His hands. The
forces that had stricken Job and his family to the ground were part of God’s
well-ordered host. This being so
all these forces exist and act for the
highest ends. They fight God’s battles
and are ministers of His glory. So we
have a clear assertion of two truths.
I. The
supernaturalness of physical forces. Modern science tends to habituate us to
regard the world as a machine
the play of blind forces
requiring no
explanation beyond its own nexus of causes and effects. Our text contains a far
grander and more inspiring conception
telling us that the profoundest fact in
creation is not “law
” but “life.” Natural laws are the expression of the
Divine life
but do not exhaust it.
II. The ethical end
of physical forces. They are God’s warriors
treasured up for the day of
battle. And what does God fight for? That He may universalise the kingdom of
love
that He may see in the world as in a perfect mirror His own image.
Clearly
then
creation is not a dull round of cause and effect
perpetual
motion without a meaning. Nay
it is all set in the kingdom of love. Love
lights the stars
and speeds them on their way. The treasured snow and haft
fight for the kingdom of love
or else they would cease to be treasured up. For
everything that will not help to bring in the reign of love shall perish. The
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
waiting for the glory of the
sons of God. (Anon.)
Verse 23
Against the day of battle and war.
War from heaven
In some parts of Scripture Jehovah is represented descending in
clouds and tempests
and fixing for Himself in the air a tent or pavilion
where the elementary forces attend and receive commissions and arms for the
service in which each meteor
or element
is to be employed (Psalms 18:1-50).
I. The treasures
in the armoury of Jehovah.
1. Treasures of snow and hail. That vapour
ascending from the earth
and floating over our heads in the air
descends in small white flakes
is a
sensible truth; but how the particles of vapour condense and adhere
how they
assume the shape
and colour
and quality of snow
are questions too high for
us
and must be resolved into the will and power of God. Hail
as a body of
condensed vapour
is well known. Dreadful is the execution which it has done
among the enemies of the Lord (Exodus 9:25; Joshua 10:11).
2. The air is the storehouse where snow and hail are collected and
laid up. This magnificent fabric
the dimensions of which are unknown
is a
glorious effect of the wisdom and power of the great Builder. Storey is founded
upon storey
and sphere raised over sphere. At God’s command every exhalation
appears
and without resisting His will
assumes the shape and fills the place
which He hath appointed.
3. The treasures of snow and hail are under the care and direction of
the Lord of heaven and earth. Over these His power is unlimited
and in and by
these He doth whatsoever pleaseth Him.
4. These treasures are inaccessible to man. Are there secrets in the
air which we cannot discover
and operations in that storehouse of vapour which
we are not able to explain; then why do men of penetration stumble at mysteries
in religion
or reject truths which God has revealed
because these are not
comprehensible by reason? “Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?”
II. The time of
trouble and the day of battle and war. There may indeed be trouble when there
is not war
but a day of war is always a time of trouble.
1. Rebellion is the cause of these operations. The existence of
rebellion “against the Lord
the God of the whole earth
cannot be denied.
Enemies and rebels are the real characters of multitudes in this generation.
2. These operations are penal operations
or punishments of rebellion
against the laws of His kingdom.
3. These operations of Divine wrath and power are just and holy
proceedings against the rebellious.
III. The reservation
of the snow and the hail in the treasures of the Lord. In the expression there
is a greatness becoming the majesty of the Speaker
and the state and grandeur
of the Sovereign. The following particulars will help us to understand the
sublime expression which the Lord of all uses concerning His operations.
1. The vapour
which fills the treasures of the snow and the hail
is
raised
collected
condensed
and stored by the power of God.
2. The treasures
which are filled and stored by the power of God
are poised and balanced by His wisdom. These wondrous works are executed
according to a determined and preconceived plan.
3. The snow and the hail are detained in the treasures until the time
of trouble
and the day of battle and war. Inferences--
Verses 25-27
To cause it to rain on the earth.
Rain and grace-a comparison
We shall work out a parallel between grace and rain.
I. God alone
giveth rain and the same is true of grace. We say of rain and of grace
--God is
the sole author of it. He devised and prepared the channel by which it comes to
earth. He hath “divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters.” The Lord
makes a way for grace to reach His people. He directs each drop
and gives each
blade of grass its own drop of dew
--to every believer his portion of grace. He
moderates the force
so that it does not beat down or drown the tender herb.
Grace comes in its own gentle way. Conviction
enlightenment
etc.
are sent in
due measure. He holds it in His power. Absolutely at His own will does God
bestow either rain for the earth
or grace for the soul.
II. Rain falls
irrespective of men and so does grace. Grace waits not man’s observation. As
the rain falls where no man is
so grace courts not publicity. Nor his
cooperation. It “tarrieth not for man
nor waiteth for the sons of men” (Micah 5:7). Nor his prayers. Grass calls
not for rain
yet it comes. “I am found of them that sought Me not” (Isaiah 65:1). Nor his merits. Rain falls
on the waste ground.
III. Rain falls
where we might least have expected it. It falls where there is no trace of
former showers
even upon the desolate wilderness; so does grace enter hearts
which had hitherto been unblest
where great need was the only plea which rose
to heaven (Isaiah 35:7). It falls where there seems
nothing to repay the boon. Many hearts are naturally as barren as the desert (Isaiah 35:6). It falls where the need
seems insatiable; “to satisfy the desolate.” Some cases seem to demand an ocean
of grace; but the Lord meets the need; and His grace falls where the joy and
glory are all directed to God by grateful hearts. Twice we are told that the
rain falls “where no man is.” When conversion is wrought of the Lord
no man is
seen: the Lord alone is exalted.
IV. This rain is
most valued by life.
1. The rain gives joy to seeds and plants in which there is life.
Budding life knows of it; the tenderest herb rejoices in it; so is it with
those who begin to repent
who feebly believe
and thus are just alive.
2. The rain causes development. Grace also perfects grace. Buds of
hope grow into strong faith. Buds of feeling expand into love. Buds of desire
rise to resolve. Buds of confession come to open avowal. Buds of usefulness
swell into fruit.
3. The rain causes health and vigour of life. Is it not so with
grace?
4. The rain creates the flower with its colour and perfume
and God
is pleased. The full outgrowth of renewed nature cometh of grace
and the Lord
is well pleased therewith. Application--Let us acknowledge the sovereignty of
God as to grace. Let us cry to Him for grace. Let us expect Him to send it
though we may feel sadly barren
and quite out of the way of the usual means of
grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wherein there is so man.--
Fertility of uninhabited part of the earth
A distinguished naturalist
who is a Fellow of the Royal Society
describes how such a mistaken idea was corrected in his experience. Once he was
pushing his way through a dense and tangled thicket in a lone and lofty region
of Jamaica. Suddenly he came upon the most magnificent terrestrial orchid
in
full bloom
which he had ever seen. It was a noble plant
crowned with the
pyramidal spike of lily-like flowers
whose expanding petals seemed to his
ravished gaze the very perfection of beauty. Then he began to reflect how long
that exquisite plant had been growing in a wild
unvisited spot
every season
filling the air around with its glory
and yet it could never have met a human
gaze before. “To what purpose is this waste?” he asks himself. But ere long the
true reply entered his mind. “Speak not of waste! Can man alone admire beauty?
Can man alone exult in it? Surely the eye of the Lord rests with delight on the
perfect work of His hands
on the apt expression of His own sublime thought!”
Verse 28-29
Hath the rain a father?
The weather provider
Two ships meet mid-Atlantic. The one is going to Southampton and
the other is coming to New York. Provide weather that
while it is abaft for one
ship
it is not a head wind for the other. There is a farm that is dried up for
the lack of rain
and here is a pleasure party going out for a field excursion.
Provide weather that will suit the dry farm and the pleasure excursion. No
sirs
I will not take one dollar of stock in your weather company. There is
only one Being in the universe who knows enough to provide the right kind of
weather for this world. “Hath the rain a father?” (T. De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
Who hath begotten the
drops of dew?--
Dewdrops
Dew is moisture dropped from the atmosphere upon the earth. During
the daytime the earth both receives and returns heat; but after sunset it no
longer receives
and yet it continues for a time to throw off the heat it has
received. In a little while the grass
flowers
and foliage are quite cool; yet
the atmosphere still retains the heat of the day
which
as the evening grows
cooler
it gradually deposits on the earth beneath. This deposit is dew. How
wise and wonderful are the ways of God! The effects of dew are like the
influence we exert over one another.
1. Dew is powerful. There are some countries
or parts of them
whose
vegetation almost entirely depends on the dew. Ahab was heavily punished when
told that for three years there should be no rain
and the punishment was
greatly increased by the withdrawal of the dew as well. Similarly the power we
exert over one another is very great.
2. The dew is perfectly silent. So is influence. You cannot hear the
sun rise
the snow fall
or the corn grow. The greatest powers in nature are
silent. Our influence
be it sweet or sour
is slipping out from us every hour
and we are all making the world a better or a worse place for living in every
day.
3. The dew is very precious. When Isaac gave his dying blessing to
his boys
he prayed
“God give thee of the dew of heaven.” Even so influence
good influence
is very precious. I believe more good is wrought by quiet
influence than by all the talking.
4. Last of all
let us remember
the dew soon passes away. Hoses
complains that the “goodness of Israel goeth away as the early dew.” That is to
say
the dew is quickly dried up unless absorbed by the flowers and grass
just
as influence is soon forgotten unless obeyed. (J. C. Adlard.)
And the hoary frost of
heaven
who hath tendered it?--In the 38th chapter of that inspired drama
the Book of Job
God says to the inspired dramatist
with ecstatic
interrogation
“The hoary frost of heaven
who hath gendered it?” God there
asks Job if he knows the parentage of the frost. He inquires about its
pedigree. He suggests that Job study up the frost’s genealogical line. A minute
before God had asked about the parentage of a raindrop in words that years ago
gave me a suggestive text for a sermon: “Hath the rain a father?” But now the
Lord Almighty is catechising Job about the frost. He practically says
“Do you
know its father? Do you know its mother In what cradle of the leaves did the
wind reek it? ‘The hoary frost of heaven
who hath gendered it?’“ He is a
stupid Christian who thinks so much of the printed and bound Bible that he
neglects the Old Testament of the fields
nor reads the wisdom and kindness and
beauty of God written in blossoms on the orchard
in sparkles on the lake
in
stars on the sky
in frost on the meadows. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 31
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades
or loose the
bands of Orion?
Light unrestrainable
Who can “bind” or “restrain” the light? The subject before us is
the self-revealing power of the Gospel. Men may love darkness
but they cannot
hide the advent of light
and can never be
in conscience and accountability
as if they had not seen the light. Evil men may wish the Christ out of the world
but they cannot hide His glory. All Christian light
whether its medium be
teaching
or character
or life
or conversation
cannot be restrained. We
cannot tell where influence reaches. It may leap forth long after we have
finished our course. Men being dead
yet speak to us; facts in their history
are disentombed
and we receive the light of their fidelity and heroism.
I. The light of
Pleiades in a human sense. What the world wants is more light--the light of
love. That sweetens all relationships
and is the only cement of all classes in
our crowded communities. Love is the light of the universe. Let the rosy beams
of affection shine in the character
its potent charm will be as irresistible
as is the health-giving
gladdening light.
II. The light of
the Pleiades in a Divine sense. Love is never impotent--never doubtful of its
triumph. Our Saviour never distrusted the issues of the Cross. While men are
questioning about Him
His influences are going forth. Sin
grief
and death
are still here. But men cannot take Christ out of the world.
III. The light of
the Pleiades in a historic sense. Light does not die. The great influence of
the reformers will never be lost. You cart bind mere opinion; you can bind mere
ecclesiasticism; you cannot bind the renewed Christlike soul.
IV. The light of
the Pleiades in a personal influence sense. Words live long after their authors
have uttered them. Deeds are vital long after great empires have passed away.
Words and deeds go through the electric chain of schools
and families
and
churches. None can bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades at home or abroad.
(W. M. Statham.)
Spring
The Pleiades are a constellation
or group of seven stars
seen in
the astronomical sign Taurus
making their appearance in the spring
and thence
called spring signs
or tokens. The Hebrew term is expressive of beauty. In the
text
the word translated “bind” signifies to compel or constrain. “Canst thou
compel the sweet influences of the Pleiades
or loosen the bands of Orion?”
(winter). Canst thou force forward the spring
and abruptly break up the
rigidity of winter?
I. How absolute is
the rule of the most high in the natural world. Can man alter the Divine
dispensations
or so much as either hasten or delay them? Let us mark our
absolute dependence
and humble ourselves before the Almighty Ruler.
II. He who rules in
the kingdom of nature rules also in that of providence. The events of life are
no less under His control than are the stars in their courses. Canst thou
compel or retain the sweet influences of prosperity; or canst thou loosen the
bands of adversity? All our comfort and satisfaction
whether of a bodily or
mental kind
is received from Him; and
when He pleases
is in a moment wrested
from us. Joy and sorrow
pleasure and pain
come and go at His command. It is
true that men themselves
being free and intelligent creatures
do by their
character and conduct modify and influence their fate and fortune; but this
they do only in accordance with the laws of providence
How important it is
that we should be earnest and faithful in improving the varying dispensations
of providence which are successively appointed for our trial.
III. He who rules in
nature and providence rules also in the kingdom of grace. If we look within
we
shall find new proofs of our ignorance and weakness
and absolute dependence on
the Author of our being. Can you loose the bands of guilt
or compel the sweet
influences of pardoning mercy? God only can remit our offences; and the means
He has employed for this end
in the incarnation
sufferings
and death of His
own dear Son
afford the clearest demonstration of the foolishness of human
wisdom
and the impotence of human power in this high concern. (H. Grey
D.
D.)
Delightful influences of spring tide
The Pleiades are a well-known cluster of stars in the
constellation of Taurus. The ancients were in the habit of determining their
seasons by the rising and setting of certain constellations. The Pleiades were
regarded as the cardinal constellations of spring. These seven stars appear
about the middle of April
and hence are associated with the return of spring
the season of sweet influences. The Hebrew word is derived from a word
signifying delights. The influences of spring are delightful in many ways--
I. As temporal
ministries. These influences come to bring great blessings to man
as a tenant
of the earth.
1. Supplies of food. They come to mollify the earth
fertilise the
soil
germinate the seed out of which come the material provisions for man and
beast.
2. Pleasures to the senses. Spring mantles the world with a thousand
robes of beauty
all with endless variety of hue and shape.
3. Exhilarates the spirit. The influences of spring are delightful--
II. As Divine
manifestations. Spring tide is a new revelation of God. It reveals--
1. The profusion of His vital energy. Every spot teems with a new
existence
and every new life is from Him.
2. The wonderful tastefulness of God. Spring brings a universe of
fresh beauties to the eye.
3. The calm ease with which He works. How quietly He pours forth
those oceans of new life that are now rolling over the earth.
4. The regularity of His procedure. For 6000 years spring has never
failed to come.
III. As instructive
emblems.
1. Spring is an emblem of human life. Both have vast capabilities of
improvement. Both are remarkably changeable. Both are fraught with fallacious
promises.
2. Spring is an emblem of spiritual renovation.
3. Spring is an emblem of the general resurrection
The Bible looks
at it in this light (1 Corinthians 15:36; 1 Corinthians 15:41).
Influence and power
The Pleiades was looked upon as the constellation of spring;
Orion
of winter. “The sweet influences of the Pleiades” were the life forces
which caused the grass to spring
the plant to grow
and the flower to bloom.
“The bands of Orion” were made of ice. They only could bind the sweet
influences of spring; spring only
at its return
could loose them. Nothing but
silent influence is strong enough to overcome silent influence. The greatest
forces in this world are those which work
like the warmth of spring and the
cold of winter
in silence. There is
in every man’s life
spring and winter;
and there is war between them. In this world good influence has all the time to
do battle with bad influence. A legend says that after the battle of Chalons
the spirits of the slain soldiers continued the conflict for several days. And
after we are dead
the silent
invisible influences we have brought into being
will continue their battle for good or evil. Theodore Parker spoke a great
truth when
dying in Italy
he said
“There are two Theodore Parkers; one of
them is dying in Italy; the other I have planted in America
and it will
continue to live.” We have
in spite of ourselves
an immortality upon earth.
So far from blotting us out
death often intensifies our personality. But in
Christianity there is more than influence. “Ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Influence is the sum total of all the forces
in our lives--mental
moral
financial
social. Power is God at work. “All
power is given unto Me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and make disciples
and lo
I am with you.” God does not delegate power. He goes along with us
and
exerts that power Himself. Christian influences are not sufficient for the
needs of the Church. The success of the Gospel at first did not depend upon
influence. The only time the word is used in the Bible is in this text from
Job. The apostles were not men of influence. Few disciples were made from the
influential classes
and as soon as made
they lost by their faithfulness most
of the influence they had before. Christ did not choose to become a man of
influence. God hath chosen power rather than influence. Mere influence never
converted a soul. The Spirit can
of course
use influences. Influence without
the Spirit never saved anybody. We should seek power even at the expense of
influence. There is such a thing as gaining and retaining influence over a
person in such a way as to lose all power with God. And there is such a thing
as losing influence while we gain power. Paul had a good opportunity for
gaining influence with Felix by flattering him in his sins
and could have made
a splendid impression for himself by such a course. But as he gained influence
with Felix
he would have lost power with God. He chose power before influence
and “reasoned of righteousness
temperance
and judgment to come” till Felix
trembled under the hand of God. Paul and Silas did not have influence enough to
keep them out of jail
but there was power enough with them to shake the old
jail open. By a compromising course they might have pleased the authorities
and kept out of prison
but they would have lost all power. The disciples at
Pentecost had little influence. They were the followers of One who had been
crucified as a malefactor. The doctrines He preached were very unpopular. But they
had power
and Christians with power can get along without much influence. If
they had depended upon influence they would have set about the building of such
houses and the establishment of such institutions as would have promoted it.
All this would have taken time. Influences
like the forces of spring
work
slowly. Power works suddenly. Not evolution
but revolution
was the effect of
power at Pentecost. Not a word have I to say
let me repeat
against the use of
all influences for good. What I insist upon is
that this world is not going to
be converted by influences. (A. G. Dixon
D. D.)
Pleiades
The isolated group of the “Seven Stars
” from the singularity of
its appearance
has been distinguished and designated by an appropriate name
from the earliest ages. The learned priests of Belus carefully observed its
risings and settings nearly two thousand years before the Christian era. By the
Greeks it was called Pleiades
from the word pleein
to sail
because it
indicated the time when the sailor might hope to undertake a voyage with
safety. It was also called Vergiliae
from ver
the spring
because it
ushered in the mild vernal weather
favourable to farming and pastoral
employments. The Greek poets associated it with that beautiful mythology which
in its purest form
peopled the air
the woods
and the waters with imaginary
beings
and made the sky itself a concave mirror
from which came back
exaggerated ideal reflections of humanity. The seven stars were supposed to be
the seven daughters of Atlas
by Pleione
one of the Oceanides--placed in the
heavens after death. Their names are Alcyone
Merope
Main
Electra
Taygeta
Asterope
and Celaeno. They were all united to the immortal gods
with the
exception of Merope
who married Sisyphus
King of Corinth
and whose star
therefore
is dim and obscure among her sisters. The “lost Pleiad
” the
“sorrowing Merope
” has long been a favourite shadowy creation of the poetic
dream. But an interest deeper than any derived from mythical association or
classical allusion
is connected with this group of stars by the use made of it
in Scripture. I believe that in the apparently simple and passing allusion to
it in Job
lies hid the germ of one of the greatest of physical truths--a germ
lying dormant and concealed in the pages of Scripture for ages
but now brought
into air and sunlight by the discoveries of science
and developing flowers and
fruit of rare value and beauty. If our translators have correctly identified
the group of stars to which they have given the familiar name of Pleiades--and
we have every reason to confide in their fidelity--we have a striking proof
here afforded to us of the perfect harmony that exists between the revelations
of science and those of the Bible--the one illustrating and confirming the
other. So far as Job was concerned
the question
“Canst thou bind the sweet
influences of Pleiades?” might have referred solely to what was then the common
belief--namely
that the genial weather of spring was somehow caused by the
peculiar position of the Pleiades in the sky at that season; as if God had
simply said
“Canst thou hinder or retard the spring?” It remained for modern
science to make a grander and wider application of it
and to show in this
as
in other instances
that the Bible is so framed as to expand its horizon with
the march of discovery--that the requisite stability of a moral rule is
in it
most admirably combined with the capability of movement and progress. If we
examine the text in the original
we find that the Chaldaic word translated in
our version Pleiades is Chimah
meaning literally a hinge
pivot
or
axle
which turns round and moves other bodies along with it. Now
strange to
say
the group of stars thus characterised has recently been ascertained by a
series of independent calculations--in utter ignorance of the meaning of the
text--to be actually the hinge or axle round which the solar system revolves.
It was long known as one of the most elementary truths of astronomy
that the
earth and the planets revolve around the sun; but the question recently began
to be raised among astronomers
“Does the sun stand still
or does it move
round some other object in space
carrying its train of planets and their
satellites along with it in its orbit?” Attention being thus specially directed
to this subject
it was soon found that the sun had an appreciable motion
which tended in the direction of a lily-shaped group of small stars
called the
constellation of Hercules. Towards this constellation the stars seem to be
opening out; while at the opposite point of the sky their mutual distances are
apparently diminishing--as if they were drifting away
like the foaming wake of
a ship
from the sun’s course. When this great physical truth was established
beyond doubt
the next subject of investigation was the point or centre round
which the sun performed this marvellous revolution: and after a series of
elaborate observations
and most ingenious calculations
this intricate problem
was also satisfactorily solved--one of the greatest triumphs of human genius.
M. Madler
of Dorpat
found that Alcyone
the brightest star of the Pleiades
is the centre of gravity of our vast solar system--the luminous hinge in
the heavens
round which our sun and his attendant planets are moving through
space. The very complexity and isolation of the system of the Pleiades
exhibiting seven distinct orbs closely compressed to the naked eye
but nine or
ten times that number when seen through a telescope--forming a grand cluster
whose individuals are united to each other more closely than to the general
mass of stars--indicate the amazing attractive energy that must be concentrated
in that spot. Vast as is the distance which separates our sun from this central
group--a distance thirty-four millions of times greater than the distance
between the sun and our earth--yet so tremendous is the force exerted by
Alcyone
that it draws our system irresistibly around it at the rate of 422
000
miles a day
in an orbit which it will take many thousands of years to
complete. With this new explanation
how remarkably striking and appropriate
does the original word for Pleiades appear! What a lofty significance does the
question of the Almighty receive from this interpretation! “Canst thou bind the
sweet influences of Pleiades?” Canst thou arrest
or in any degree modify
that
attractive influence which it exerts upon our sun and all its planetary worlds
whirling them round its pivot in an orbit of such inconceivable dimensions
and
with a velocity so utterly bewildering? Silence the most profound can be the
only answer to such a question. Man can but stand afar off
and in awful
astonishment and profound humility exclaim with the Psalmist
“O Lord my God
Thou art very great!” (Hugh Macmillan
D. D.)
Orion
This cluster of stars--the Kesil of the ancient
Chaldeans--is by far the most magnificent constellation in the heavens. Its
form must be familiar to everyone who has attentively considered the nocturnal
sky. It resembles the rude outline of a gigantic human figure. By the Greek mythologists
Orion was supposed to be a celebrated hunter
superior to the rest of mankind
in strength and stature
whose mighty deeds entitled him after death to the
honours of an apotheosis. The Orientals imagined him to be a huge giant who
Titan-like
had warred against God
and was therefore bound in chains to the
firmament of heaven; and some authors have conjectured that this notion is the
origin of the history of Nimrod
who
according to Jewish tradition
instigated
the descendants of Noah to build the Tower of Babel. The constellation of Orion
is composed of four very bright stars
forming a quadrilateral
higher than it
is broad
with three equidistant stars in a diagonal line in the middle. The
two upper stars
called Betelgeux and Bellatrix
form the shoulders; in the
middle
immediately above these
are three small
dim stars
close to each
other
forming the cheek or head. These stars are distinctly visible only on a
very clear night; and this circumstance may have given rise to the old fable that
(Enopion
King of Chios
--whose daughter Orion demanded in marriage
--put out
his eyes as he lay asleep on the seashore
and that he recovered his sight by
gazing upon the rising sun from the summit of a neighbouring hill. The
constellation is therefore represented by the poets
as groping with blinded
eyes all round the heavens in search of the sun. The feet are composed of two
very bright stars
called Rigel and Saiph; the three stars in the middle are
called the belt or girdle
and from them depends a stripe of smaller stars
forming the hunter’s sword. The whole constellation
containing seventeen stars
to the naked eye
but exhibiting seventy-eight in an ordinary telescope
occupies a large and conspicuous position in the southern heavens
below the
Pleiades; and is often visible
owing to the brightness and magnitude of its
stars
when all other constellations
with the exception of the Plough
are
lost in the mistiness of night. In this country it is seen only a short space
above the horizon
along whose ragged outline of dark hills its starry feet may
be observed for many nights in the winter
walking in solitary grandeur. It
attains its greatest elevation in January and February
and disappears
altogether during the summer and autumn months. In Mesopotamia it occupies a
position nearer the zenith
and therefore is more brilliant and striking in
appearance. Night after night it sheds down its rays with mystical splendour
over the lonely solitudes through which the Euphrates flows
and where the tents
of the patriarch of Uz once stood. Orion is not only the most striking and
splendid constellation in the heavens
it is also one of the few clusters that
are visible in all parts of the habitable world. The equator passes through the
middle of it; the glittering stars of its belt being strung
like diamonds
on
its invisible line. In the beginning of January
when it is about the meridian
we obtain the grandest display of stars which the sidereal heavens in this
country can exhibit. The ubiquity of this constellation may have been one of
the reasons why it was chosen to illustrate God’s argument with Job
in a book
intended to be read universally. When the Bible reader of every clime and
country can go out in the appropriate season
and find in his own sky the very
constellation and direct his gaze to the very peculiarity in it
to which the
Creator alluded in His mysterious converse with Job
he has no longer a vague
indefinite idea in his mind
but is powerfully convinced of the reality of the
whole circumstance
while his feelings of devotion are deepened and
intensified. The three bright stars which constitute the girdle or bands of
Orion never change their form; they preserve the same relative position to each
other
and to the rest of the constellation
from year to year
and age to age.
They afford to us one of the highest types of immutability in the midst of
ceaseless changes. (Hugh Macmillan
D. D.)
Interrogations humble pride
The probability is that Job had been tempted to arrogance by his
vast attainments. He was a metallurgist
a zoologist
a poet
and shows by his
writings he had knowledge of hunting
of music
of husbandry
of medicine
of
mining
of astronomy
and perhaps was so far ahead of the scholars and
scientists of his time
that he may have been somewhat puffed up. Hence this
interrogation of my text. And there is nothing that so soon takes down human
pride as an interrogation point rightly thrust. Christ used it mightily. Paul
mounted the parapet of his great arguments with such a battery. Men of the
world understand it. Demosthenes began his speech on the crown
and Cicero his
oration against Catiline
and Lord Chatham his most famous orations with a
question. The empire of ignorance is so much vaster than the empire of
knowledge that after the most learned and elaborate disquisition upon any
subject of sociology or theology the plainest man may ask a question that will
make the wisest speechless. After the profoundest assault upon Christianity the
humblest disciple may make an inquiry that would silence a Voltaire. Called
upon
as we all are at times
to defend our holy religion
instead of argument
that can always be answered by argument
let us try the power of interrogation.
(T. De Witt Talmage.)
The “sweet influences” of life
My text called Job and calls us to consider “the sweet
influences.” We put too much emphasis upon the acidities of life
upon the
irritations of life
upon the disappointments of life. Ammianus Marcellinus
said that Chaldea was
in olden times
overrun with lions
but many of them
lost their power because the great swamps produced many gnats
that would get
into the eyes of the lions
and the lions
to free themselves of the gnats
would claw their own eyes out
and then starve. And in our time many a lion has
been overcome by a gnat. The little
stinging annoyances of life keep us from
appreciating the sweet influences. And how many of these last there are t Sweet
influences of home
sweet influences of the wife of friendship
of our holy
religion. Of all the sweet influences that have ever blessed the earth those
that radiate from Christ are the sweetest. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Influence cannot be restrained
You are in no danger of overestimating your influence upon others.
The real danger lies in the other direction. You influence others and mould
their characters and destinies for time and for eternity far more extensively
than you imagine. The whole truth in this matter might flatter you; it would
certainly astonish you if you could once grasp it in its full proportions. It
was a remark of Samuel J. Mills that “No young man should live in the
nineteenth century without making his influence felt around the globe.” At
first thought that seems a heavy contract for any young man to take. As we come
to apprehend more clearly the immutable laws of God’s moral universe
we find
that this belting of the globe by His influence is just what every responsible
being does--too often
alas
unconsciously. You have seen the telephone
that
wonderful instrument which so accurately transmits the sound of the human voice
so many miles. How true it is that all these wonderful modern inventions are
only faint reflections of some grand and eternal law of the moral universe of
God! God’s great telephone--I say it reverently--is everywhere
filling earth
and air and sea
and sending round the world with unerring accuracy
and for a
blessing or a curse
every thought of your heart
every word that falls
thoughtfully or thoughtlessly from your lips
and every act you do. It is time
you awoke to the conviction that
whether you would have it so or not
your
influence is worldwide for good or for evil. Which? (Peter Pounder.)
Moral gravitation
is as powerful as material gravitation
and if
as my text
teaches
and science confirms
the Pleiades
which are 422
000 miles from our
earth
influence the earth
we ought to be impressed with how we may be
influenced by others far away back
and how we may influence others far down
the future. That rill away up amongst the Alleghenies
so thin that you think
it will hardly find its way down the rocks
becomes the mighty Ohio rolling
into the Mississippi and roiling into the sea. That word you utter
that deed
you do
may augment itself as the years go by
until rivers cease to roll
and
the ocean itself shall be dried up in the burning of the world. Paul
who was
all the time saying important things
said nothing more startlingly suggestive
than when he declared
“None of us liveth or dieth to himself.” Words
thoughts
actions
have an eternity of flight. As Job could not bind the sweet
influences of the Seven Stars
as they were called
so we cannot arrest or turn
aside the good projected long ago. Those influences were started centuries
before our cradle was rocked
and will reign centuries after our graves are
dug. Oh
it is a tremendous thing to live. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verse 32
Canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
The fourth “canst”
To perceive what we can do
on the one hand
and what we cannot
do
on the other
is to hold the key of success. Canst thou? The oft-repeated
question is introspective. Inward to the thoughts
backward to the source. It
is well to add that the word “canst” runs through the whole of this penultimate
section of the Book of Job. The word is not absent from the earlier chapters;
but as you approach the end
this and kindred queries
such as “Knowest thou?”
“Hast thou?” etc.
appear with ever-increasing frequency. To put it somewhat plainer
it is God revealing job to himself--both in what he can and cannot be or do
and then leading him to find rest and refuge in another
grander fact: “I know
that Thou canst do everything” (Job 42:2). Our Bible abounds in pronouns:
the “thou” of this verse is a sample. Oh! star-crowded sky
full of messages
full of God! thou art speaking to me
and thy words go right down into my
heart. From every corner of that celestial map God’s heralds proclaim His Word.
High up in the northern heavens the Seven Stars
brightest of which shineth
Alcyone
speaking for north and eastern sky
and regarded as the centre of the
solar system
saith to man: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the
Pleiades?” Then
from the southern quarter
that large constellation
belted by
three fixed stars
repeats God’s own question: “Canst thou . . . loose the
bands of Orion?” The third “canst” is from the Zodiac
such it is believed we
find in the Mazzaroth of the former clause of the text. Thus do we lead up to
and the better understand
the connection of the last of these “cansts.”
Arcturus is a constellation familiar to us alike under the name of the
“Plough
” or “Charles’s Wain.” Job makes reference to this along with the other
groups in the ninth chapter. There he speaks of God as the Maker of these
various luminaries
now that God is giving him further instruction on the very
same matter. We may well ask the meaning of the words “Arcturus with his sons.”
Mythology gives the answer. Arcturus is named from Arcas. Arcas had three sons.
The constellation known as the Great Bear
and styled the glory of the northern
hemisphere
has a star in the tail part called Arcturus
its very name meaning
Bear Tail. It rises in the autumn
and is the precursor of tempest. The sons of
Arcturus are placed in the group as three stars
somewhat similarly to Orion’s
belt. Are you able to guide? That is what this fourth “canst” inquires. In
doing so it reminds us of the regulative influences of life.
I. The regulative
influences of life affecting a deep-seated human desire. This last “canst”
appeals to us even more forcibly than each or all of the other three. In some
particulars it includes them
for to guide is more or less to bind and loose
check and restrain
while leading out and urging on. But even when we have no
great desire to restrain influences that are operative
or to loose those that
are imprisoned
and bring them into play--we have the wish to guide
arrange
and
direct those already and at present in action. In its own domain such desire is
quite legitimate. Its absence
indeed
would be a surprise and disappointment.
Have you the guiding power? I am sure you want to say yes. I am sure you have
the hope that
aided by Divine wisdom and supported by Divine grace
you can
make your way through life
well and wisely. Lovers of change are ever “idly
busy
” seeking to rearrange the plans of others
and have their fingers in and
over all that they can. Here they have no scope. Arcturus and his three sons
have found place
and use
and movement in the seven lights of the Plough;
guided by a Higher than thou
they can guide thee
but thou canst not guide nor
interfere with them. Thou canst not guide Arcturus
but
high privilege! thou
canst guide thyself
if
in the first instance
you submit to the
over-guidance
overruling of God. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his
steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). The Lord of Arcturus is
the Lord of His people
the Guide of His servants as well as the guide of His
stars. God helps us that we may help ourselves
and that we may help others. He
awakens in us those powers and faculties
crushed and stifled by sin. How then
through Him
in what way shall we guide ourselves? Training ourselves
and our
powers. It is “ruling our spirit
” “bridling our tongue
” “mortifying our
desires” (evil)
etc. All these culminate in the one thought of self-control.
Canst thou then guide thyself
and
in guiding
so strengthen and enrich that
better selfhood that it may become a lodestar of influence? Guide myself
but
not by narrow aims that end in self. Canst thou guide Arcturus and his sons?
No. The world is all the better that you can’t. Canst thou help some poor
family of earth’s sons to gain a footing or earn a living? Yes. The world is
all the worse if you don’t. But if you do
if you help a brother up any rugged
steep of trial or duty
or steer him onward through the cross currents of
temptation
then not only do you benefit others
but you also fairly and fully
gratify that altruistic longing
so inwrought as to be a part of our human
nature and heritage.
II. The regulative
influences of life viewed in their operation. We have noticed the fact that the
stars we cannot guide are nevertheless guided--always
swiftly and surely
silently and well. Each fills its place or goes on its way. It requires great
skill and accurate system in order to manage our railways. What far greater skill
and more perfect system are required to guide the constellations--to protect
from and to avert all the terrible collision and combustion that would
otherwise occur! The fact is one
call it Providence
or let it be known as the
gigantic machinery of life
or if you will--the age-long balancings
or pause
over this phrase--the Eternal Thought. The ever-living
vigorous thought.
Thought that thinks into effort
plans
purposes
leads and arranges
makes and
moulds the universe
counts and carries the stars
creates and continues the
life of man
rules and regulates by guiding
governing
and directing to its
final goal--all that is
and all that is to be.
III. The regulative
influences of life glorifying God in redeeming man. They are
Christocentric--God incarnate. That is the first of a series of clearer
explanations: their first translation into the mother tongue of human
understanding and heart need. All that was anterior
and there was much
received its value from this nascent light; whether ornate ritual or inspired
oracle
sacred bard or mystic seer. To economise
and at the same time best
utilise our words
let us say that Blessed Life was the great antidote and
corrective of all sin and selfishness
of all folly and meanness
all
distortion and dishonour; while it furthered and fostered
guided
regulated
developed all that was worth being
because it had originally come from the
Father. The Cross is in the sky
illumined and illumining. Illumined by the
clear
silver starlight of the Eternal Providence
of that Providence its most
comprehensive range
its farthest sweep
its largest provision. Of God’s mind
the highest and deepest conception; of God’s thought the most sublime
idea--this is the fight on the Cross. There is also the light from the Cross.
It is the guide of the wandering. Our present purpose forbids the further
tracing out in the Resurrection and post-Resurrection work of the Redeemer the
almighty and regulative influences
the more advanced stages
through which the
earth rolls onward into this ever-increasing light. Putting it all together
this is the conclusion of the matter. It is a great work to guide Arcturus
to
support as well as to suspend “Charles’s Wain
” to regulate and maintain the
sidereal system
to bind
or loose
or bring forth one
or any
of the heavenly
bodies; but God has performed a greater work. God’s great work is this
to
guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:79). (H. B. Aldridge.)
Verse 35
Canst thou send lightnings?
Spiritual telegraphy
Lightning is not a thing of yesterday. Whether Job knew the
philosophy of lightning
or the facts of science
as taught in modern times; or
whether
when he spoke of “sending lightning
” he only uttered an unconscious
prophecy of what was to be actualised in the future
we of course cannot
positively say. Nature’s great laws and forces are the steeds of the Almighty.
The degree of civilisation and progress attained by any people or nation is
exactly indicated by the extent to which mere human power is supplemented or
superseded by these great laws and forces
in the industries of the people.
Since the days of Franklin
what marvellous progress has been made in the study
of electricity
and how it has been utilised for the benefit of man. What
marvels it has wrought in annihilating time and space! These constantly
improving methods of human intercourse I shall use to illustrate the more
perfect medium of communication between earth and heaven
a medium planned and
perfected through the atonement of Christ. In Eden man had no need to send
communications
or make requests known to a distant God. The terrible
catastrophe of the Fall broke the bond of harmony between man and God; and by
this fearful moral convulsion
man’s spiritual gravity was shifted
and turned
the other way
and to some dread
unknown
infernal centre
downward weighed.
God was no longer a magnet to attract
but a Being to repel. Continents of
moral space and gloom lay between them
with neither power nor desire on the
part of man to return
and as yet no medium of recovery announced. A medium of
communication was announced in “the seed of the woman.” These
as the condition
of approach to God
the blood of Calvary began to be typically poured forth
and flaming altars rolled their incense to the skies. On downwards
through the
patriarchal dispensation
men held intercourse with God through the blood of the
promised Saviour typically shed
in their sacrifices. The economy of Moses was
afterwards instituted
during which time men held intercourse with God through
the medium of divinely appointed priests. In the fulness of time Jesus came to
open up new and living way to the Father.” Single-handed and alone
and in the
face of the most terrible discouragements
He prosecuted and completed the work
of laying this glorious line of intercommunication between earth and heaven.
This new line was not in thorough working order until the day of Pentecost.
Jesus Christ is the only medium through which fallen man can approach and hold
fellowship with God. This glorious medium of intercourse is permanent and
lasting
in every practical phase of its working. Now
after fully nineteen
hundred years of trial
it abides as perfect and as serviceable as ever
equal
to every emergency
--the joy of the present
and the hope of the future. It is
one of the most perfect and wonderful spiritual devices in God’s moral
universe. There are no delays or disappointments
as there often are with the
electric telegraph. The great operator is always at His post
is never too busy
to hear
is never confused
and is always ready to reply to every message. (T.
Kelly.)
Man’s utilisation of electricity
Yes
we can. It is done thousands of times every day. Franklin
at
Boston
lassoed the lightnings
and Morse put on them a wire bit
turning them
around from city to city
and Cyrus W. Field plunged them into the sea; and
whenever the telegraphic instrument clicks at Valentia
or Heart’s Content
or
London
or New York
the lightnings of heaven are exclaiming in the words of my
text
“Here we are!” we await your bidding; we listen to your command. What
painstaking since the day when Thales
600 years before Christ
discovered
frictional electricity by the rubbing of amber; and Wimbler
in the last
century
sent electric currents along metallic wires
until in our day
Faraday
and Bain
and Henry
and Morse
and Prescott
and Orton--some in one
way and some in another way
have helped the lightnings of heaven to come
bounding along
crying
“Here we are!” (T. De Witt Talmage.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》