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Job Chapter
Forty-two
Job 42
Chapter Contents
Job humbly submits unto God. (1-6) Job intercedes for his
friends. (7-9) His renewed prosperity. (10-17)
Commentary on Job 42:1-6
(Read Job 42:1-6)
Job was now sensible of his guilt; he would no longer
speak in his own excuse; he abhorred himself as a sinner in heart and life
especially for murmuring against God
and took shame to himself. When the
understanding is enlightened by the Spirit of grace
our knowledge of Divine
things as far exceeds what we had before
as the sight of the eyes excels
report and common fame. By the teachings of men
God reveals his Son to us; but
by the teachings of his Spirit he reveals his Son in us
Galatians 1:16
and changes us into the same
image
2 Corinthians 3:18. It concerns us to be deeply
humbled for the sins of which we are convinced. Self-loathing is ever the
companion of true repentance. The Lord will bring those whom he loveth
to
adore him in self-abasement; while true grace will always lead them to confess
their sins without self-justifying.
Commentary on Job 42:7-9
(Read Job 42:7-9)
After the Lord had convinced and humbled Job
and brought
him to repentance
he owned him
comforted him
and put honour upon him. The
devil had undertaken to prove Job a hypocrite
and his three friends had
condemned him as a wicked man; but if God say
Well done
thou good and
faithful servant
it is of little consequence who says otherwise. Job's friends
had wronged God
by making prosperity a mark of the true church
and affliction
a certain proof of God's wrath. Job had referred things to the future judgment
and the future state
more than his friends
therefore he spake of God that
which was right
better than his friends had done. And as Job prayed and
offered sacrifice for those that had grieved and wounded his spirit
so Christ
prayed for his persecutors
and ever lives
making intercession for the
transgressors. Job's friends were good men
and belonged to God
and He would
not let them be in their mistake any more than Job; but having humbled him by a
discourse out of the whirlwind
he takes another way to humble them. They are
not to argue the matter again
but they must agree in a sacrifice and a prayer
and that must reconcile them
Those who differ in judgment about lesser things
yet are one in Christ the great Sacrifice
and ought therefore to love and bear
with one another. When God was angry with Job's friends
he put them in a way
to make peace with him. Our quarrels with God always begin on our part
but the
making peace begins on his. Peace with God is to be had only in his own way
and upon his own terms. These will never seem hard to those who know how to
value this blessing: they will be glad of it
like Job's friends
upon any
terms
though ever so humbling. Job did not insult over his friends
but God
being graciously reconciled to him
he was easily reconciled to them. In all our
prayers and services we should aim to be accepted of the Lord; not to have
praise of men
but to please God.
Commentary on Job 42:10-17
(Read Job 42:10-17)
In the beginning of this book we had Job's patience under
his troubles
for an example; here
for our encouragement to follow that
example
we have his happy end. His troubles began in Satan's malice
which God
restrained; his restoration began in God's mercy
which Satan could not oppose.
Mercy did not return when Job was disputing with his friends
but when he was
praying for them. God is served and pleased with our warm devotions
not with
our warm disputes. God doubled Job's possessions. We may lose much for the
Lord
but we shall not lose any thing by him. Whether the Lord gives us health
and temporal blessings or not
if we patiently suffer according to his will
in
the end we shall be happy. Job's estate increased. The blessing of the Lord
makes rich; it is he that gives us power to get wealth
and gives success in
honest endeavours. The last days of a good man sometimes prove his best
his
last works his best works
his last comforts his best comforts; for his path
like that of the morning light
shines more and more unto the perfect day.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Job》
Job 42
Verse 2
[2] I
know that thou canst do every thing
and that no thought can be withholden from
thee.
Thou canst
… —
Job here subscribes to God's unlimited power
knowledge and dominion
to prove
which was the scope of God's discourse out of the whirlwind. And his judgment
being convinced of these
his conscience also was convinced
of his own folly
in speaking so irreverently concerning him.
No thought can be withholden from thee — No thought of ours can be withholden from thy knowledge. And there is no
thought of thine
which thou canst be hindered from bringing into execution.
Verse 3
[3] Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered
that I understood not; things too wonderful for me
which I knew not.
Who —
What am I that I should be guilty of such madness! Therefore - Because my mind
was without knowledge.
Knew not — I
have spoken foolishly and unadvisedly of all things far above my reach.
Verse 4
[4]
Hear
I beseech thee
and I will speak: I will demand of thee
and declare thou
unto me.
Hear —
Hear and accept my humble confession.
Enquire — I
will no more dispute the matter with thee
but beg information from thee. The
words which God had uttered to Job by way of challenge
Job returns to him in
way of submission.
Verse 5
[5] I
have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
Seeth thee —
The knowledge which I had of thy nature
perfections and counsels
was hitherto
grounded chiefly
upon the instructions of men; but now it is clear and
certain
as being immediately inspired into my mind by this thy glorious
apparition and revelation
and by the operation of thy holy spirit; which makes
these things as evident to me
as if I saw them with my bodily eyes. When the
mind is enlightened by the spirit of God
our knowledge of Divine things as far
exceeds what we had before
as knowledge by ocular demonstration
exceeds
that
by common fame.
Verse 7
[7] And it was so
that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job
the
LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite
My wrath is kindled against thee
and
against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right
as my servant Job hath.
Eliphaz — As
the eldest of the three
and because he spoke first
and by his example led the
rest into the same miscarriages.
Two friends —
Elihu is not here reproved
because he dealt more mercifully with Job
and did
not condemn his person
but only rebuked his sinful expressions.
Ye have not
… —
This is not to be understood absolutely
but comparatively. Job was not so much
to be blamed as they
because his opinion concerning the methods of God's
providence
and the indifferency of its dispensations towards good and bad men
was truer than theirs
which was
that God did always reward good men and
punish sinners in this life.
Verse 8
[8]
Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams
and go to my servant
Job
and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall
pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly
in
that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right
like my servant Job.
My servant —
Whom though you condemned as an hypocrite
I own for my faithful servant.
Offer — By
the hand of Job
whom I hereby constitute your priest to pray and sacrifice for
you.
Lest I deal —
Lest my just judgment take hold of you for your false and foolish speeches.
Verse 9
[9] So
Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went
and
did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
Accepted Job —
And as Job prayed and offered sacrifice for those who had grieved and wounded
his spirit
so Christ prayed and died for his persecutors
and ever lives
making intercession for transgressors.
Verse 10
[10] And
the LORD turned the captivity of Job
when he prayed for his friends: also the
LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Captivity —
All his bodily distempers were thoroughly healed
and probably in a moment. His
mind was calmed
his peace returned
and the consolations of God were not small
with him.
Prayed —
Whereby he manifests his obedience to God and his true love to them.
Verse 11
[11] Then
came there unto him all his brethren
and all his sisters
and all they that
had been of his acquaintance before
and did eat bread with him in his house:
and they bemoaned him
and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had
brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money
and every one an
earring of gold.
Then —
When Job had humbled himself
and God was reconciled to him.
Sisters —
His kindred.
Eat —
Feasted with him
to congratulate with him God's great and glorious favour.
Bemoaned —
They declared the sense which they had of his calamities while they were upon
him
although they had hitherto wanted opportunity to express it.
Verse 12
[12] So
the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had
fourteen thousand sheep
and six thousand camels
and a thousand yoke of oxen
and a thousand she asses.
Blessed —
Not only with spiritual
but also with temporal blessings. Just double to what
they were
chap. 1:3. This is a remarkable instance of the extent
of the Divine providence
to things that seem minute as this
the exact number
of a man's cattle; as also of the harmony of providence
and the reference of
one event to another: for known unto God are all his works
from the beginning
to the end.
Verse 14
[14] And
he called the name of the first
Jemima; and the name of the second
Kezia; and
the name of the third
Kerenhappuch.
Jemima —
The day
either because of her eminent beauty
or because she was born in the
day of his prosperity
after a dark night of affliction. Kezia is the name of a
spice of a very fragrant smell
commonly called Cassia. Keren-happuch signifies
plenty restored.
Verse 15
[15] And
in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their
father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
So fair — In
the Old Testament we often find women praised for their beauty
but never in
the New
because the beauty of holiness is brought to a much clearer light by
the gospel.
Verse 16
[16]
After this lived Job an hundred and forty years
and saw his sons
and his
sons' sons
even four generations.
After this
… —
Some conjecture
that he was seventy when his trouble came. If so his age was
doubled
as his other possessions.
Verse 17
[17] So
Job died
being old and full of days.
Full of days — So
coming to his grave
as Eliphaz had spoken
like a ripe shock of corn in its
season.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Job》
Epilogue - Job Is Blessed (42:7-17)
OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS SECTION
1) To review the conclusion of this book
and how Job is blessed in his latter days 2) To see what is said about Job's three friends
and how they were forgiven 3) To note how the author of the book speaks of "the adversity that the LORD had brought upon" Job
even though Satan was the immediate cause of Job's suffering SUMMARY
With Job admitting he had spoken of things he did not understand andhaving repented
the Lord now addresses Eliphaz as the representativeof Job's three friends. They angered the Lord by saying things thatwere not right about God. They are therefore instructed to offer sevenbulls and seven rams
with Job praying in their behalf (42:7-9). When Job has prayed for his friends
the Lord begins to restore hislosses. Job is comforted by his family and friends for the adversitythe Lord has brought upon him. The Lord then blesses Job by giving himtwice the number of livestock he had in the beginning. He is alsoblessed with seven sons and three daughters
the latter being named anddescribed as the most beautiful in the land
even receiving an inheritance along with their brothers. The book of Job closes with a mention of how Job lived another 140 years
seeing his descendants to the fourth generation before finally dying (42:10-17). OUTLINE
I. JOB'S FRIENDS REBUKED (42:7-9)
A. GOD REBUKES ELIPHAZ & HIS TWO COMPANIONS (42:7) 1. God's wrath was aroused against them for their "folly" (cf. 42:8) 2. They had not spoken what is right about God
unlike Job 3. In what way
for hadn't Job accused God of injustice? a. Perhaps in regards to the debate over the cause of suffering 1) They had argued that suffering is always sent by God in response to sin 2) Job had denied that; in this he was right and they were wrong b. Or in that Job had repented
whereas the three friends had not yet done so B. THE THREE FRIENDS RESTORED (42:8-9) 1. God instructs them to offer seven bulls and seven rams
and have Job pray for them 2. This they did
for the Lord had accepted Job II. JOB RESTORED COMFORTED AND BLESSED (42:10-17)
A. RESTORED BY GOD (42:10) 1. Upon praying for his friends
the Lord restores what he lost 2. The Lord restored twice as much as he had lost B. COMFORTED BY HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS (42:11) 1. His brothers
sisters
and former acquaintances come to eat with him and comfort him a. Note that it says "for all the adversity the LORD had brought upon him"
b. While Satan was the instigator of Job's suffering
the LORD bore ultimate responsibility by allowing Satan to test Job 2. They each bring a piece of silver and ring of gold C. BLESSED BY GOD (42:12-17) 1. Job's latter days blessed more than his beginning 2. His livestock is doubled (14
000 sheep
6
000 camels
1
000 yoke of oxen
1
000 female donkeys) 3. He is blessed with 7 sons and 3 beautiful daughters
the latter to whom he provided an inheritance along with their brothers 4. He lived 140 years
saw descendants to the fourth generation
and died full of days REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THIS SECTION
1) What did the Lord say to Eliphaz concerning his words and those ofhis friends? (42:7)
- "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends" - "You have not spoken of Me what is right
as My servant Job has" 2) As suggested in the above outline
in what ways might Job spoken right about God?
- Perhaps in regards to whether suffering is always the consequence of sin - Or in that Job had repented
whereas the three friends had not yet done so 3) What were Eliphaz and his two friends instructed to do? (42:8)
- To offer seven bulls and seven rams
having Job to pray for them 4) What did the Lord do when Job prayed for his friends? (42:10)
- He restored Job's losses
giving him twice as much as what he had before 5) Who came to comfort Job? Why? (42:11)
- His brothers
sisters
and acquaintances - For all the adversity the Lord had brought upon him 6) How did the Lord bless the latter days of Job? (42:12-13)
- More so than his beginning - Doubling the number of sheep
camels
oxen and female donkeys - Giving him seven sons and three daughters 7) What were the names of his three daughters? (42:14)
- Jemimah
Keziah
Keren-Happuch 8) What is said regarding the daughters of Job? (42:15)
- In all the land there were no women as beautiful as Job's daughters - Job gave them an inheritance along with their brothers 9) How long did Job live after his suffering? (42:16)
- One hundred and forty years 10) What was he blessed to see? (42:16)
- His children and grandchildren for four generations 11) What are the last words of the book? (42:17)
- So Job died
old and full of days
－－《Executable
Outlines》
42 Chapter 42
Verses 1-6
Verses 1-10
Then Job answered the Lord
and said.
Job’s confession and restoration
I. Job’s
acknowledgment of God’s greatness. Throughout his speeches Job had frequently
asserted the majesty of God. But now he has a new view of it
which turns awe
into reverence and fear into adoration.
II. Job’s
confession of his ignorance. He felt that in his past utterances he had been
guilty of saying that which he understood not. It is a very common fault to be
too confident
and to match our little knowledge with the wonders of the
universe. “Behold
we know not anything
” is man’s truest wisdom.
III. Job’s
humbleness before God. A great change had passed over his spirit. At the
beginning he had sought to vindicate himself
and to charge God--with the
strangeness and the mystery of His ways. Now
at the close
he repents in dust
and ashes
and even abhors himself for his effrontery and impatience.
IV. God’s
condemnation of Job’s friends. The friends of Job had not spoken the thing that
was right of God and His ways. They had ascribed a mechanical severity to His
administration of human affairs. In addition to that they had shown an
acrimonious spirit in their denunciation of Job. So God reproved them
and
ordered that they should prepare a burnt offering of seven bullocks and seven
rams to offer for their sin.
V. Job’s abundant
prosperity. Great End prosperous as Job had been before his afflictions
he was
still greater and more prosperous afterwards. God gave him twice as much as he
had before. (S. G. Woodrow.)
Job’s confession and restoration
This passage sets before us the result of Jehovah’s coming into
communion with Job.
I. The result
inwardly.
1. Job’s new knowledge.
2. In connection with Job’s new knowledge there came a new state of
heart.
II. The result
outwardly of Job’s coming into connection with God.
1. His misfortunes were reversed. We cannot infer from this that God
will always literally restore earthly prosperity for those who are afflicted by
its loss. What we may reasonably infer is that God controls outer things for
good ends to us. We are not to infer that the Lord’s hand is shortened
but He
chooses His own way.
2. God transforms Job’s sorrow into joy. Some time or some where He
will do the same for us if we are His. It may be largely in this life
as in
the case of Job. The area of vision has been enlarged by our blessed Lord
who
brought life and immortality to light.
3. Job was able to be of service to his friends. Jehovah was angry
against the three friends. God’s coming to Job was a means of his being a
blessing to others. It is so with ourselves.
III. General
lessons.
1. The conclusion of the Book of Job shows to us the mercy of God.
God sometimes seems unmerciful
but it is only seeming.
2. Job’s questions remain unanswered. The mystery of Providence is
unsolved.
3. Yet Job was satisfied. It was better for him to have Jehovah
reveal Himself and His glory to him
than to know all things he wanted to know.
There is something better than knowledge
something for which knowledge would
be no substitute
the peace of the soul in fellowship with God.
4. The supreme lesson of this sublime Book is that joy comes through submission
to God happiness for the human soul is not in conquest
but in being conquered;
not in exaltation
but in humiliation. (D. J. Burrell
D. D.)
Job’s confession and restoration
The primary object of the Book of Job is to prove and illustrate
the glory and force of a pure
unselfish religion. Job was reconciled to his
sufferings
not by argument
but by a direct revelation of the character of
God. We have here what has been well called “a religious controversy issuing in
utter failure.” Neither party was convinced; each retained his own views. The
result in this case
as in every religious controversy which has occurred
since
was bitterness of spirit and alienation of heart
without adding much to
the cause of truth. It was not when the friends addressed him that Job was
convinced
but when Jehovah addressed him--when He brought him face to face
with the wonders of creation--then the mystery of suffering was solved. The
moment a man begins to have a living perception of God
when God becomes a presence
and a reality to him
he begins to be sorry for his wrong-doing. Job had been
peevish
complaining
and somewhat vindictive under his trials. The nearer a
man approaches his perfect ideal
the more he feels his imperfections. As the
moral sense of the race increases
the more heinous seem the so-called smaller
sins. The term which Job uses when he says “I repent” is identical with that
which is used in the New Testament to indicate the godly sorrow which is not to
be repented of. It means a genuine turning away from evil Observe that the
reprovers are reproved. The doctors are treated with a dose of their own
medicine. Their dogma falls upon their own heads. They had been placing the
justice of God above all His other attributes
and now this very justice has
pronounced against them. It is very easy to fall into the error of Job’s three
friends
to set ourselves up as monopolists of the truth
and make people
around us who do not happen to agree with us very uncomfortable. The trouble
with Job’s friends was
that in their zeal to vindicate their favourite
doctrine they not only ignored other doctrines which were fully as important
but they violated some of the simplest principles of righteousness. How does
God treat these unprofitable debaters? He rebukes their assumption by sending
them to the victim of their persecution
that he may pray for them. They did as
they were told. The lesson was humiliating
but it was salutary
and they
showed their real goodness of heart by their prompt obedience. We must not miss
noticing in the beautiful climax the double lesson which it contains. There had
been wrong on both sides. Job had little occasion to boast of his victory
and
the greatness of his soul appeared in the heartiness with which he accepted the
Divine decision. Here we have the only true solution of the religions
controversy. Among Christians who disagree there can be no victor or
vanquished
Dissensions which end in the glorification of one party and the
humiliation of the other are only followed by more bitter conflicts
or are the
beginning of a long estrangement. It is only when Eliphaz and Job can get down
on their knees together that a real peace is established. (C. A. Dickinson.)
Verse 5-6
I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear.
Job’s knowledge of God
The text shoots a ray of light athwart the dark problem
discussed in the earlier portion of this Book. How are the afflictions of a
righteous man to be reconciled with moral government? How can God be just
and
yet leave His righteous servants to be visited with every form of trial? The
text discloses at least part of “the end of the Lord” in such mysterious
procedure. No discipline can be unjust
no trials too severe
through which a
soul is brought
as Job’s was
to a clearer knowledge of God
which is its
life. Once the end was reached
Job would have been the last man to have wished
one pang of that painful experience recalled.
I. A general
contrast between two kinds of knowledge of God. We know the difference which
there is in ordinary matters between a knowledge which rests on testimony and a
knowledge gained by personal experience and observation. There is a contrast in
vividness between the two kinds of knowledge: a battle
a thunderstorm
foreign
scenery. There is a contrast also in certainty. We may distrust or question
what comes to us only as report--we may reject it as unsupported by sufficient
evidence; but we cannot doubt what we have seen with our own eyes. Job’s
knowledge of God had hitherto been the traditional knowledge common to himself
and his friends. Now he knew God for himself
as if by direct personal vision.
He saw. Can man
then
see God? or is Job using here merely the language of
strong metaphor? Certainly in one sense God is not and cannot be seen. He is
not an object of sensuous perception; we cannot see Him with the natural eye
as we see the forms and hues of objects around us. But that may be true
and
yet man be able to “see God.” Job had heard God speaking to him in the
whirlwind
but it is not of that he is thinking here. It was the “eyes of his
understanding (Gr.
heart)” which had been enlightened. Whereas formerly he had
heard of God by the hearing of the ear
he had now a direct spiritual intuition
of His presence
of His nearness
of His majesty
of His omnipotence
of His
holiness. We need not
therefore
hesitate to affirm that in man’s soul there
abides a power enabling him spiritually to apprehend God
and in some measure to
discern His glory; a kind of Divine faculty
buried deep
it may be
in sense
filmed over by manifold impurities
and needing to be quickened and cleansed by
an outward revelation
and by the inward operation of the Spirit; but still
there. Happy the misfortunes which
like Job’s
help to clear the spiritual
vision
and enable us to see God better.
II. This contrast
one which discloses itself in a series of ascending stages.
1. And first the text may be taken to express the contrast between
the knowledge which a converted man and the knowledge which an unconverted man
has of God. The one
the unconverted man
has heard of God with the hearing of
the ear
as the blind man hears of the splendour of the landscape and the glory
of the flowers
without being able to attach any definite ideas to what he
hears; the other
the converted man
in comparison with this
has seen God with
the seeing of the eye. A light has broken in on him to which the other is a
stranger He cannot perhaps explain very clearly the rationale of the change--as
who can? but the fact itself he knows
that whereas he was blind
now he sees.
How many have heard of God with the hearing of the ear
have acquired notions
about Him
have learned of Him from books
from the creed
from catechisms
in
church! But how few comparatively walk with Him
and commune with Him as a
living Presence! Ah! that is a never-to-be forgotten moment in a man’s life
when first the reality of God’s presence breaks in on him like a revelation. He
will not always he able to keep alive those vivid
soul-thrilling views of God
which he had in the hour of his conversion; still
God can never again he the
same to him as before his eyes were opened. God is a reality
not a mere name
to him. The light of life has visited his soul
and its illumination never
wholly deserts him. The contrast in his experience is broad and unmistakable.
2. The text expresses the contrast between the knowledge of God which
a good man has in his prosperity
and the revelations which are sometimes made
to him in his adversity. The former was the contrast between nature and grace;
this is the contrast between grace and higher grace. Up to this time Job seems
to have been remarkably prosperous. His sky bad scarcely known a cloud. But
what Job knew of God in his prosperity was little compared with what he knew of
God now in the day of his adversity. And is not this always the effect of
sanctified affliction? All love the sunshine and the smooth way. No one prays
for adversity
yet few who have come through the furnace will question its
purifying power. When real affliction comes
a man can’t live on hearsays and
hypotheses
but is driven back on the great realities
and compelled to keep a
tight hold upon them.
3. The text fitly expresses the contrast between the knowledge which
Old Testament saints had of God and that which we now have in Jesus Christ.
Compared with ours
theirs was but the hearing of the ear; compared with
theirs
ours is the seeing of the eye. The Scripture itself strongly emphasises
this contrast. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son
which
is in the bosom of the Father
He hath declared Him.” No revelation which God
ever gave of old can for a moment compare with that now vouchsafed in the
person
character
and work of Christ. Job himself
were he to return to earth
would be the first to say to us
“Blessed are your eyes that ye see
and your
ears that ye hear
” etc.
4. Lastly
the text may be taken as expressive of the contrast
between the state of grace and the state of glory
and in this view its meaning
culminates. It can go no higher. “Now we see through a glass
darkly; but then
face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.” Earth at its best
in comparison with that
is but hearing with the
ear; in heaven alone the eye seeth God. Conclusion: Every step upward in the
knowledge of God will be attended by a downward step in humility and
consciousness of sin (verse 6). (J. Orr
M.)
Changed views of God
These words were uttered by Job at a very remarkable period
of his affecting history. Up to this moment his sorrows had been unassuaged:
the Almighty seemed fiercely to contend with him
and his arrows drank up his
spirit. His friends also had bitterly reproached him
and he remained
unvindicated from their charges; and no ray of hope had hitherto burst through
the gloom that surrounded him. But the verses that follow our text point out a
most favour
able change in his condition. “The Lord
” it is said
“turned the
captivity of Job.” This change in the conduct of God towards Job was preceded
by a change in the mind of Job himself; the nature of which change is shown in
the words of our text. Formerly he had justified himself
as we find up to the
thirty-first chapter; after which he begins to condemn himself; he is humbled
on account of his transgressions. “He answered the Lord
” it is said in the
first verse of the chapter before us
but not as he had formerly spoken
in the
language either of self-applause
or of repining against the dispensations of
God
for he had wisely determined to speak no longer in this manner; “Behold
”
said he
“I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my
mouth. Once have I spoken
but I will not answer again; yea twice
but I will
proceed no further.”
I. Let us inquire
what we are to understand in the text by seeing God; for Job says that he had
heard of Him before by the hearing of the ear
but now his eye saw Him. He does
not mean through his bodily senses; for in this manner
says our Saviour
“no
man hath seen God at any time.” “God is a spirit”; “the king invisible
”
“dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen
or can see.” Even when God revealed Himself to the people of Israel
“they saw
no manner of similitude.” It was not so much a new or miraculous knowledge of
God which he had obtained
as a practical conviction and application of those
truths respecting Him which he had known before
but which had not been before
brought home to his heart and conscience with their due force
so as to produce
the fruits of repentance
humility
and submission to the will of God. He had
heard of the wisdom
the power
and the providence of the Creator; of His
justice
His mercy
and the veneration due to Him. His friends
especially
Eliphaz
and even Job himself
had uttered many admirable maxims on these
subjects; but now his knowledge had become more than ever practical in its
effects. He felt assured that God could do all things; that none could resist
His will; yet that it was never too late to hope for His mercy. His knowledge
was attended with such a lively faith as made it
according to the definition
of the apostle
“the substance of things hoped for
the evidence of things not
seen.” He had known and confessed many important doctrines and precepts of true
religion at an earlier period of his history. He had acknowledged
in the first
place
his infinite obligations to God
“Thou hast granted me life and favour
and Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” He had
further
confessed his
sinfulness in the sight of God; for
though he vindicated his character against
the unjust suspicions of his fellow creatures
he knew that his righteousness
extended not to his Creator: “I! I justify myself
” said he
“mine own mouth
shall condemn me; if I say I am perfect
it shall also prove me perverse.” He
could trust to no merit of his own: for he felt so forcibly the imperfection of
his best observances in the sight of art infinitely holy God
that he says
“If
I be righteous
yet will not I lift up my head”; and again
“If I wash myself
with snow water
and make my hands never so clean
yet shalt Thou plunge me in
the ditch
and mine own clothes shall abhor me.” He knew that God could
and
would
deliver him
and in the end make all things
and not least his severe
afflictions
work together for his good. “When He hath tried me
” said he
“I
shall come forth like gold”; elsewhere adding
with the most exalted faith and
confidence
“I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth; and though
after my skin
worms destroy this body
yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Yet all his former knowledge of these things
clear and accurate as it once seemed
appeared now to him but like a verbal
report
compared with the vivid distinctness of his present convictions. He had
heard
he now saw; he had believed
but his faith now became more than ever
active and influential on his character. Before
he mourned chiefly for his
afflictions; now
he mourns for his sinfulness in the sight of God: and he
exhibits his penitence by the most expressive emblems; he repents “in dust and
ashes.”
II. To apply the
subject to our own times and circumstances. We also have heard of God by the
hearing of the ear. We were born in a Christian country; we have
perhaps
had
the benefits of early Christian education; of frequent instruction in the Word
of God; of the prayers and example of religious friends: we cannot therefore be
wholly ignorant of our obligations to God Yet
with all our advantages
our
professed religion and knowledge of God may have been hitherto but “the hearing
of the ear.” It was by this faith that “Moses endured
as seeing Him who is
invisible.” Now
there are too many
even of those who call themselves
Christians
who “live without God in the world.” He is as much unseen by the
eye of their mind as by their bodily senses. Far from “setting the Lord always
before them
” the practical language of their conduct is rather
“Depart from
us
for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” But is not this a heinous
sin? Is it not also the height of folly? Will it profit us
at the Last Day
that we have heard of God by the hearing of the ear
if we have no true
practical knowledge of Him
like that of Job in our text? Let us
then
“acquaint ourselves with God
and be at peace; and thereby good shall come unto
us.” And let us ever remember that the only medium of this peace and
intercourse between God and man is Christ Jesus the Mediator. (J. Orr
M.)
The knowledge of God producing repentance
In the warmth of the debate which took place between Job and his
friends
and in the anguish of his sufferings
Job had used some impatient
expressions respecting the conduct of God towards him. For these he was first
reproved by Elihu
and then by God Himself
who
with unspeakable force and
majesty
displays the glory of the Divine perfections. Job was deeply humbled
and acknowledges in the strongest terms his own vileness and insignificance.
The impressions he now had of the majesty and glory
the wisdom and holiness
of God
were far stronger and more distinct than any he had felt before. From
this passage of Scripture we learn that a clear view of the perfections of God
has a powerful effect in producing repentance. But the view of the Divine
perfections which has this tendency
it ought to be understood
is not a
speculative knowledge of the natural attributes of the Deity
but a spiritual
and affecting discovery of it is moral excellencies; of the glory of His infinite
purity
holiness
justice
goodness
and truth.
1. It convinces us of sin
by bringing to light those evils which the
deceitfulness of our own hearts is apt to hide from our view. There is a light
and glory in the presence of God which exposes the works of darkness
and tends
to produce a deep sense of our sinfulness. Nor is it difficult to explain how
it is that a view of the Divine glory produces this effect. By applying a
straight rule to a line we discover all its unevennesses. What is deformed appears
more frightful when compared with what is beautiful. In the same way
a clear
view of the purity of God
and of His constant presence with us
and inspection
over us
tends to bring those sins to light
and to cover us with confusion on
account of them
which before we contrived to justify
excuse
or conceal. This
truth may be further illustrated by the different behaviour of vicious persons
when in society like themselves
and when in that of men eminent for piety.
2. A view of the glory of God serves to point out the evil of sin
with its aggravations
and to take away all excuse from the sinner. When the
law of God shows us our sins
and condemns us for them
we may be ready to
complain of it as severe; but when we see that law to be but a copy of the
moral perfections of God
and when we contemplate those perfections
we must be
convinced that all sin must be hateful to God
and must necessarily be opposed
to His nature. A view of the glory of God produces such a conviction of His
rights as our Creator
and of our obligations as the creatures of His hand
as
constrains us to acknowledge His justice in the punishment of sin. When we
reflect on the omnipresence and omniscience of God
how great appears to be the
folly of thinking to veil even our most secret sins from Him! When we reflect
on His power
how does it add to the guilt and madness of presumption! This is
in a more especial manner the effect of a view of the glory of God as it shines
forth in Jesus Christ. The unparalleled love shown to sinners in the Gospel
greatly heightens their ingratitude. It may be said in general
that it is a
light sense of the evil of sin which leads men to commit it; and when they have
committed it
to frame excuses for it; and also to indulge a hope that the
threatenings against sin will not be executed. But a discovery of the glory of
God
and particularly of His infinite holiness and justice
by showing the evil
of sin in its true colours
sweeps away all such delusions.
3. A proper view of the glory of God serves further to point out the
danger of sin.
4. Lastly
a view of the glory of God tends to produce repentance
because
by setting before us His infinite mercy
it encourages us to turn to
Him.
1. We may learn from this subject the force of those passages of Scripture
in which the knowledge of God is put for the whole of religion--“Know the
Lord.” “This is life eternal
that they might know Thee
the only true God
and
Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” On the other hand
the wicked are described
as those “that know not God.” The truth is
God is either wholly unknown to
wicked men
or greatly mistaken by them.
2. From what has been said we may also learn the great danger of a
state of ignorance. If repentance take its rise from a knowledge of the
perfections of God
does it not follow that those who are ignorant of Him must
be in a deplorable state
strangers to the power and practice of religion
and
that if they die in this state they must perish everlastingly?
3. We may learn also
from what has been said
the absolute necessity
of regeneration
or an inward change of heart. It is not
as has been already
observed
a speculative knowledge of the nature and perfections of God that
leads to repentance
but an affecting view of His excellence and amiableness.
This none can have
but those who are in some measure changed into the same
image. And true Christians will see
from what has been said
how closely
connected the right knowledge of God--in other words
true religion--is with
humility and self-abasement. (Christian Observer.)
God known in various manners
These are the words of one of the most virtuous of our race. This
is the language of one who added to moral virtues the noblest beneficence; and
who added to a charity almost unbounded a piety the most sincere and
consistent. Exalted as were his attainments in the school of religion
he had
much more yet to learn. There appears through the whole of his conversations
with his friends the indications of a mind claiming too unqualified a freedom
from guilt
and yielding to a spirit of impatience. The Lord appears
and
answers Job out of the whirlwind. He makes such a glorious display of His
greatness and majesty; of the multitude and stupendous character of His works
interspersed with notices of the littleness and short-sightedness of man
that
Job seems now to know more than he had ever known before. Evidently
then
there are various manners in which God may be known; various degrees in the
clearness
the certainty
and the satisfaction of knowing Him. Discoveries of
God produce effects upon the mind proportionably to their nature. The men who
have a speculative knowledge of God
which is defective and false. They speak
of the heavenly Father; the claims of the Ruler they overlook. They dwell on
the mercies of the God of grace; they pass by the awfulness of the avenger of
sin. Such persons may glow with enthusiasm as they contemplate the vast or the
beautiful; but all this may be without any beneficial influence on the soul.
2. The speculative knowledge of God that is true. This is the true
knowledge of God
which comes to the intellect
and there it is
arrested
--which stands in idea and sentiment. Everything is acknowledged. The
Divine perfections are not separated and sacrificed. The theological system is
correct. Religion has been learned as a science
but with no better a moral and
spiritual influence. These men have not seen God; they never had those views of
God that are peculiar to a regenerate and purified heart. The report has
reached the understanding
but has never been echoed through the soul. Bare
knowledge does but “puff up.”
3. A knowledge of God which is spiritual and true
but an incipient
acquaintance with God. This is a higher description of knowledge
yet is it
only a beginning. Such a knowledge is as decided in its effects as it is Divine
in its nature. But in its first degrees
although it brings salvation into the
soul
this knowledge of God is but as the distant
though well-established
report of what is true. We come now to the consideration of an advanced stage
in the spiritual knowledge of God; that which constitutes its ripeness in the
present world. Such a maturity in grace is not to be attributed to more
abundant instruction
or to any new method of instruction. It was a purifying
of his heart by the influences of the Holy Spirit. The perfection of the
knowledge of God must not be hoped for in the present world. Examine
then
into the nature of that knowledge of God which you possess. (T. Kennion
M.
A.)
Knowing by the ear and the eye
What is suggested through the ear does
of necessity
affect the
heart more languidly than what is presented to the faithful eye. What was the
change in Job’s impression of his own moral character and condition produced by
his being placed in the immediate presence of the Almighty
and how the
alteration in his circumstances was fitted to produce the alteration in his
feelings. Job had conducted his part of the controversy in a spirit which
prompted him to palliate and diminish the sins which he confessed
to exalt and
magnify the virtues which he claimed. It carried him so far as once and again
to implore
to demand
of the Sovereign Judge that He would vouchsafe to him
the opportunity of arguing the whole cause before Him. The Almighty had granted
his request. Jehovah’s own voice came forth upon the patriarch’s ear
challenging
indeed
and reproving the proud presumption with which a mortal
man had ventured to dispute
as it were
on terms of equality with Him of whose
infinite grandeur and absolute perfection all this wondrous universe is one
vast type. But what a change has been effected on the spirit and demeanour of
that presumptuous challenger of the Almighty
by the simple fact of the
Almighty presenting Himself to abide the challenge
the answer
the appeal.
There is no more palliation of his own sins
--no more boasting of his own
excellencies. What was there in the uttered perceptions of Jehovah now enjoyed
by Job to produce and to account for the altered emotions with which he now
contemplated himself? He was placed in personal contact with the Father-spirit
of the universe
and the effect was to impart a sudden accession of force and
vividness to all those impressions of the holiness of God which
while God
Himself was absent
had been comparatively faint and languid and ineffective.
The impression of adoring reverence and awe which the contemplation of
Jehovah’s wondrous works in the kingdoms of nature and providence is fitted to
produce mingles well and naturally with that of lowly self-abhorrence of which
the comparison of His moral character with ours is the parent and the source.
And the physical greatness of the Deity affords to the overwhelmed and
prostrate soul a ready and a most impressive standard by which to estimate His
moral excellence.
1. How strong a resemblance there is between the estimate which Job
formed of his own character before the vision and the voice of God had met him
and that which the multitude of men are wont to entertain and to express
regarding themselves.
2. All that I implore of you
in prospect of that solemn entrance
which awaits us all into the sphere of Jehovah’s more peculiar residence
and
on the consciousness of a more present Deity
is to judge from the recorded
example of Job what will be the effect on all your conceptions of Jehovah’s
awful holiness
and of your own contrasted sinfulness. (J. B. Patterson
M.
A.)
The hearing of God by the hearing of the ear
Who amongst us has not heard of God thus? No doubt
Job had been
religiously brought up. The great truths of religion had been impressed upon
his mind. He displayed an almost more than human measure of patience and
resignation. Though he had heard by the hearing of the ear
at an advanced
period of life he declared that his eye had
for the first time
seen God. Then
he embraced in his mind’s eye
one vast and comprehensive view of the majesty
of the glory
of the goodness
of the purity of Jehovah. He gazed upon Him
as
it were
in the length and the breadth of His infinite perfection. It is not
enough to have the means and opportunities of grace afforded to us
or even to
make use of them. Not a few of us fall short of one thing
a full
and
comprehensive
and Christian view of the nature and attributes of God. We do
not conceive rightly of His power
His wisdom
His goodness
His holiness
His
love. The first thing Job did
as soon as his eye had seen God
was to abhor
himself. He had hitherto looked upon himself with complacency and satisfaction.
He betook himself immediately to repentance; a humble
abasing
sincere
heartfelt sorrow for sin. That godly sorrow which worketh reformation. Happy
are those among us
whose abhorrence of their own selves
and earnest
repentance of their sins
attest that their eyes have been permitted to see the
Almighty in all His goodness and His glory. (Edward Girdlestone
M. A.)
On being brought to see God
Job
though the most patient of men
had been betrayed
under the pressure of his severe sufferings
into some unreasonable and
rebellious murmurs. He had acknowledged the providence and the power of God
but not with a full submission of heart. On the occasion now before us
he is
brought to a juster sense of his own unworthiness
and the omnipotence and
omniscience of Jehovah. His meaning in what he says may be this: that he had
before obtained some knowledge of God from various opportunities afforded him;
from education
from instruction
from his own researches
and the conference
of his friends; but a scene
which he had lately witnessed
had made such
discoveries to him of the Divine glory
and had so deeply affected his heart
that all he ever felt or knew before was nothing as compared with his present
perception and knowledge. This fuller knowledge had produced
as it is always
calculated to do
the fruit of humility in the heart. As a humble penitent
he
desired to lie low in self-condemnation
and in the frame of his spirit before
God
casting himself wholly on His mercy
and submitting unreservedly to His
will . . . Far indeed should we be from supposing that religion consists in
feelings and experiences; a more false and delusive standard than this cannot
be proposed to mankind; the true faith and the true principle must always be
measured by the fruit. Yet still there may have been a fair appearance of fruit
without the full establishment of the principle; there may have been a
considerable and hopeful profession without a vital communion with God in the
Gospel. Though our guilt is washed away by the regenerating influence of the
Holy Spirit
yet this does not prevent the necessity of our afterwards feeling
a deep and distressful sense of sin
as often as it is committed
together with
the dreadfulness of its consequence; we still need the profoundest humiliation
at the foot of the throne of mercy
a thorough abasement of soul in the
presence of a just and holy God. Not only must there be a habit of sincere
repentance on all occasions of actual transgression
but a positive abhorrence
of all evil
in thought
and word
and deed
must be rooted in the heart;
accompanied
as it surely will be
with a constant unfailing love of our God
and Redeemer
such as will incline our hearts to keep His law in all its
holiness and integrity. Wherever this change has taken place
this
enlightenment been vouchsafed
this true view of the Gospel been formed
this
life of God in the soul established
there will have been a result and
experience similar to the case of the patriarch of old. “Wherefore I abhor
myself
and repent in dust and ashes.” I perceive the wretchedness of my
condition by nature; and though my profession was fair
and my conduct not
immoral
my heart was not spiritual
my affections not purified
nay will not
brought into a self-denying and total subjection to the Divine law. This
conviction and confession would doubtless lead to a deep repentance “in dust
and ashes.” Leave two questions with you.
1. Are there any here who have never needed such an alteration in
their views
and principles
and conduct? Let them pour out their hearts in
grateful thanksgiving for this singular benefit and mercy.
2. The other questions relate to those who are conscious that there
was a period at which their hearts were not right with God. Have they now
turned to God in sincerity and truth? Do they now see God in the fulness of His
grace and power and blessing? To find ourselves lodged in the ark of His
salvation is a consolation for all ills
a constraining motive to all duty
the
sweetest food for the immortal soul
and a “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”
(J. Slade
M. A.)
Hearsay and conviction
This is the moral of the whole story. Job had maintained his
innocence all along. He had indignantly protested against the supposition that
his calamities were the direct result of his evil life. And he was regarded
with the Divine approval. But Job’s words at the last indicate that
after
all
he had not been altogether’ right
and the arguments of his friends had
not been altogether wrong. What produced this great change? It was that he no
longer measured himself by human standards
that he no longer compared himself
with other men
but with the perfect holiness of the law of God. “Now mine eye
seeth Thee.” How had this great sight been granted him? It was by bringing
before him the blindness and ignorance of man
and the marvels of the universe
and the majesty of Him by whom the universe was governed. What did he know of
that power
that government which he had been impugning? Job was summoned to
consider the mysteries which lay round about him
the events and things in
which he had been accustomed to think there was any mystery at all. He saw
around him so much that he could not understand; he saw around him powers with
which he could not contend; what must be the power which embraced and
controlled them all? How foolish
how presumptuous
to make of his own weak
sight
of his own insignificant case
the measure of the mighty whole! There
was order
though he might not see it; there was law
though he might not
understand it. This conclusion was come to simply because he saw more clearly
what had always been visible. The volume of nature outspread before him
revealed to him
wherever he turned
the infinite wisdom
and power
and
righteousness. It was God whose presence and whose working he discerned in
everything--nowhere could he look but God was visible. In seeing God he saw
himself. When he looked from himself to God
when he saw the eternal holiness
and purity
the new sight awoke within him a knowledge of himself which all his
self-inspection had been unable to produce. The greatest earthly wisdom became
as foolishness
the greatest earthly virtue became as vileness by the contrast.
There are many who can bear witness to a change like that which took place in
Job having taken place in themselves. They have passed from a belief which is
the result of hearsay to a faith which is the result of personal conviction;
and this experience in some form is needful for us everyone. The modes in which
it may be attained are very various
but no one can be right till that vision
has been granted to him
till the God of whom he has been taught becomes a
reality
is seen and known by the eye of faith. There comes a crisis
a
distinct period
in the lives of some
when God speaks to them out of the
whirlwind
out of the storm of affliction which has broken over them
out of
the storm of agitation by which their spirits are convulsed. It is the vision
of Divine love and power and forgiveness which strikes our doubting dumb
which
alone affords relief to the spirit longing to believe that all is well
that
human hopes and aspirations are not a mockery and an illusion. But it is a
vision which each must see for himself. One cannot communicate to another what
he has seen. We must not rest content until spiritual things become realities.
(F. M’Adam Muir.)
The second-hand and the primary knowledge of God
I. Here is implied
a second-hand knowledge of God.
1. This second-hand knowledge is very common.
2. It is spiritually worthless. There is no moral value in it. Its
influence on the soul is that of the lunar ray
cold and dead
rather than that
of the solar beam
warm and life-giving.
II. Here is implied
a primary knowledge of God. “Now mine eye seeth Thee.” The Great One came
within Job’s horizon.
1. This primary knowledge silenced all controversy. Job
under the
influence of a secondhand knowledge
had argued long and earnestly; but as soon
as he is brought face to face with his Maker
he felt Him as the greatest fact
in his consciousness
and all controversy was hushed. Experimental knowledge of
God disdains polemics. It is second-hand knowledge that breeds controversies.
2. This primary knowledge subdued all pride. Hast thou this primary
knowledge? Is God Himself thy teacher
or art thou living on second-hand
information? (Homilist.)
Tradition and experience
The theme of this book is the old
yet ever new problem which
meets each thoughtful man
the problem of this strange chequered life of ours
and of God’s relation to it.
I. The real root
of Job’s perplexities. They sprung from the traditional but inadequate
conception of God’s moral government accepted in his day. The Book represents a
transition period in Jewish religious thought
and one of much interest and
importance. Men’s minds were passing from an older and simpler faith to the
fuller recognition of the facts of the Divine government. The old creed was
this--the outward lot is an index to the inward character. This is true in its
essence
but rudimentary in its form. But
according to the ways of human
nature
the form became stereotyped
as though the letter rather than the
spirit of the law were the abiding and essential element. Presently the
question arose
How is this creed to be reconciled with facts? What about the
prosperity of the wicked? What as to the sore troubles and afflictions of the
righteous? Men of honest purpose could not shut their eyes to the seeming
contradiction. Must they then yield up their trust in Jehovah as the supreme
and righteous Ruler? It was the emerging out of comparative childhood
an
advance to a theology at once more spiritual
more true to the facts of life
and charged
moreover
with new sympathies for human sorrow and need; an
advance
indeed
of no insignificant character towards that highest point of
prophetic thought--the conception of the ideal servant of Jehovah
as “marred
in His visage more than any man
and His form more than the sons of men.” In
this poem we have the lasting record of this immense transition--this passing
of the old faith into the new. As to the three friends and their characteristic
talk
at every period of advance in men’s conceptions of Divine truth these
same good men have reappeared--with the same appeal to traditional beliefs
the
same confidence that their hoary formulae express the whole of truth
the same
inability to conceive it possible that they may be mistaken
the same dark
suspicion of those who question their conclusions
and the same disposition to
wax bitter
and to use hard words against the apostles of advance. On the other
side we have Job. He had accepted the traditional view
but he sees plainly
that in his case the belief does not square with the facts. And he is too
honest and too fearless to shut his eyes to the contradiction. He will neither
be untrue to his own consciousness of integrity
nor yet will he “speak
unrighteously for God.” Like many a man after him
Job found himself adrift on
the surging waves of doubt. He asks
Can it be that the God I have trusted is
simply force
resistless force
indifferent to moral distinctions? Or can it be
that He has pleasure in the misery of His creatures? Or can it be that He sees
as man sees
is capable of mistake
of confounding innocence with guilt?
II. How was the
deliverance obtained? “Now mine eye seeth Thee.” He clings to God even when
most keenly sensible that His ways were harsh and repelling. He is resolved to
hold on to God. From the traditional conception he presses upward to the
thought that
somehow and somewhere
the righteous God will ultimately
vindicate and honour righteousness. The answers of God did not deal directly with
his problem
but they gave him such a vision of the glory of God
that his
whole being was stilled into reverent trust. “Now mine eye seeth Thee”;--there
is faith’s foundation. (Walter Ross Taylor.)
Clear views of God correct errors
Job’s afflictions were charged to secret sins; he defended his
innocence with great power; but not till God answered him from the whirlwind
did he know either himself or God’s dealings. Seeing God
he abhorred himself.
1. Clear views of God correct errors touching His character. Caught
in some speculation
we are whirled about as in an eddy
till
in bewilderment
we may deny that there is a God
or deny some attribute--His justice or His
grace
His goodness or His power. But let a man’s eyes be opened by the Holy
Spirit so that he shall see God
as did Job
Moses
Paul
and error vanishes.
2. Clear views of God correct errors touching God’s providence. Here
all men are staggered at times
their steps well-nigh slip; the wicked prosper
the righteous suffer. The wise man dies even as the fool. Does it not seem
wrong that our lot is cast
and our wishes not regarded? Our purposes are
baffled
our plans miscarry
our way is hedged
till hope lies crushed. Does
ever an accident distinguish between the innocent and the guilty? Does not a
mistake kill as quickly as an intent? Does death spare the child or the mother?
We cannot escape these agonising questions; can we find relief in them? With
all the light shining from another world on the dark spots of this
tormenting
doubts will not be allayed until we come into a clearer view of God. Let the
Spirit reveal God
and doubts dissolve in the fulness of the light.
3. Clear views of God correct errors touching our moral condition.
They convict of sin. Even the most godly then abhor themselves. The elder
Edwards wrote
“I had a view that for me was extraordinary
of the glory of the
Son of God.” “My wickedness
as I am in myself
. . .looks like an abyss
infinitely deeper than hell.”
4. Clear views of God correct errors touching Jesus and His
salvation. Shall men never have done with the question
What think ye of
Christ? Yes
men are slowly exalting Him to the throne of His glory. Have we
had these clearer rays of God? We may see Jesus
and yet nail Him to the Cross.
Men seeing God in the face of Christ may turn their backs on Him. But when
Christ is accepted
forgiveness
peace
life eternal are sure. (A. Hastings
Ross
D. D.)
Self-renunciation
We need not all be as Job in the depths of affliction and
self-renunciation. There was an intensity about his case which was peculiar to
it. But in our measure
and according to our position as members of the body of
Christ
we should be able to sympathise with Job.
I. Job’s earlier
and superficial experience. “I have heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear.”
I have heard of Him as the God of creation
the God of providence
the God of
Israel
the God of the universe
the God who
in Christ
was incarnate for my
salvation. But not what we hear is the thing
but what we read
mark
learn
and inwardly digest.
II. Job’s present
vivid realisation. “Now mine eye seeth Thee.” Note the emphasis of this short
phrase; what awe
what closeness
what personality
what a majestic presence
they imply. There is no escape
no evasion
not an attempt at it. He stands or
lies before God
“naked and open.”
III. The gracious
consequences. “I abhor myself
and repent.” Those are gracious consequences.
The unconverted may shrink from them
but the people of God covet them. Job had
been entertaining a vast amount of self-complacency
which generated pride and
a refined idolatry. He had been petulant
impatient
imperious. This is what he
alludes to when he says
“I abhor myself.” Now I perceive myself to be
loathsome
corrupt
brutish
guilty
miserable. Was not that a gracious
consequence of his vivid realisation of God? Then he adds
“I repent.”
He repented of his self-sufficiency
of his charging God foolishly
of his
irritation under His rebukes
of his exalting himself above his fellows
of his
hastiness in speech with them
etc. The regenerate amongst you will not limit
your repentance to your grievous offences
you will mourn over what defiles the
white linen within
our sinful aims
motives
desires
our opposition to God
reproaches of God
murmurings against God. (J. Bolton
B. A.)
Wherefore I abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes.
A view of the glory of God humbling to the soul
Though Job had supported the truth on the subject of Divine
providence
yet in the heat of the debate and the anguish of his own sufferings
he had let fall some expressions
not only of impatience
but of disrespect to
the conduct of the Lord his Maker. For these he was first reproved by Elihu
and then by God Himself
who asserts the dignity of His power and the
righteousness of His providence. Perhaps God gave Job some visible
representation of His glory and omnipotence.
I. The effect of a
discovery of the glory of God. Attend to the following preliminary remarks.
1. This truth (that a view of the glory humbles the soul) will hold
equally certain in whatever way the discovery is made. God manifests Himself to
His people in very different ways. In miraculous ways; by affecting
dispensations of providence; by His ordinances
or instituted worship
accompanied with the operation of His Spirit; and sometimes by this last alone
without the help or accession of any outward mean.
2. We may add the manifestations given us in the Gospel of the Divine
glory.
3. When I speak of the influence of a discovery of the glory of God
I mean an internal and spiritual discovery
and not such a knowledge as is
merely speculative
and rests in the understanding without descending into the
heart. A barren speculative knowledge of God is that which fixes chiefly on His
natural perfections. The true knowledge of God is an inward and spiritual
discovery of the amiableness and excellence of His moral perfections.
What influence has such a discovery of the glory of God in
producing a repentance
and increasing humility?
1. It tends to convince us of sin
and particularly to bring to light
those innumerable evils which a deceitful heart often hides from our view.
There is a light and glory in the presence of God which discovers and exposes
the works of darkness. Nothing makes any quality appear so sensibly as a
comparison with its opposite.
2. It serves to point out the evil of sin
the aggravations of
particular sins
and to take away the excuses of the sinner.
3. It serves to point out the dangers of sin. It is the hope of
immunity that emboldens the sinner to transgress
and to persist in his
transgressions. But a discovery of the Divine glory at once destroys the
foundation of this stupid security and impious presumption. “All things are
naked before Him
” so that there is no hope of lying concealed. God in
Scripture reveals the glory of His own nature as the effectual means of
restraining us in the commission of sin
or turning us from it; plainly
supposes that nothing but ignorance of Him can encourage sinners in their
rebellion.
4. It tends to lead us to repentance
as it sets forth His infinite
mercy
and affords encouragement to
as well as points out the profit of
repentance. Just and proper conceptions of God cannot be given us without
including His great mercy. It is in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
that we have the brightest and clearest display of Divine mercy.
II. Practical
improvement.
1. Learn the force and meaning of those passages of Scripture
in
which the whole of religion is expressed by the knowledge of God.
2. The great danger of a state of ignorance.
3. The necessity of regeneration
or an inward change of heart
in
order to real religion. Finally
address those who are strangers to true
religion. See also the reason why every truly good man
the more he groweth in
religion
the more he groweth in humility. (J. Witherspoon
D. D.)
Knowledge of God and self simultaneous
Other knowledge discovers other things
but not a man’s self; like
a dark lantern
which shows us other persons and things
but obscures ourselves
from the sight of ourselves; but the knowledge of God is such a light whereby a
man beholds himself as well as the Way wherein he should walk. (S. Charnock.)
Humility and self-abhorrence
The moral of this book is
that man must be abased
and God alone
exalted. Humility and self-abhorrence form so essential a part of the Christian
temper
that no person can be a real Christian who is destitute of them. Job
was on the side of truth so far as related to his own sincerity and the
dispensations of providence. But his importunate wishes after death
his
confident appeals to God for the perfect innocence of his heart and ways
his
peevish exclamations in the heat of the debate
and his rash arraignment of the
Divine justice in afflicting him so severely
are quite unjustifiable
and plainly
prove that he was unacquainted with the evil of his own heart
and had too good
an opinion of his own righteousness. On the discovery of the Divine glory and
perfections
the sufferer is deeply humbled. He no longer stands upon his
vindication with God
but his pleas are silenced
and he is abased in the dust
with a sense of his guilt and unworthiness. This is a truth which we are all
unwilling to learn. It is with the utmost difficulty we are brought to see and
confess that we are such sinners as the Word of God declares us to be.
Salvation by Christ was contrived on purpose
that no flesh should glory in
themselves
but in the Lord. The reason why so many have slight views of the
evil of sin
and continue in the practice of it
without any apprehension of
danger
is
because they are ignorant of God. (W. Richardson.)
Sell-abasement for sin
No one can be perfect who commits sin at all
and “all have
sinned
” so we must include Job among the number. He was sincere
but when he
was brought into more close communion with God
he saw his own vileness in a
degree in which he had never perceived it before. Similar has been the happy
experience of many of God’s children in every age. The more we are humbled
under a sense of our own sinfulness
the more we shall see the need of the
perfect and completed work of Christ. Let us examine ourselves
and see what we
can say to our own consciences and to God
as to the state of our souls before
Him. Have we grown in grace? Has improvement kept pace with knowledge? Have you
been content with the mere acknowledgment of yourself as a sinner? Or is the
remembrance of your sins grievous to you
and the burden of them intolerable?
Let me exhort you to “think on these things
and to consider your latter end.”
(F. Orpen Morris
B. A.)
Job’s repentance
The intervention of the Deity in the magnificent last act of the
drama is an intervention rather of majesty than of explanation. In the
revelation of God in any one of His attributes
in the manifestations of the
fountain of being in any form of reality
lies the germ at least of all
satisfaction and of all comfort . . . The point and moral of the book does not
lie in the sinfulness of the chief actor. All else is subordinated to this main
point
the beautiful and glorious steadfastness of the godly man under
temptation. If this is so
how shall we read
and how interpret the words of
the text itself? It might be thought that the thing which God accepted in Job
was this self-abasement and self-abhorrence before the manifested glory. The
text carries us from the godly or Godward sorrow which worketh repentance
to
that repentance itself
which is unto salvation.
1. The very narrow and limited view commonly taken of repentance. As
though repentance were either a regretful and sorrowful backward looking upon
some particular sin or sins; or
at best
an altered mind towards that
particular kind and shape of sinning. But repentance is not the necessity of
some; it is the necessity of all. Repentance is not an act
but a state; not a
feeling
but a disposition; not a thought
but a mind. Repentance is too real a
grace to live in the ideal. Of course
if there are sins in sight
past or
present
repentance begins with these. It is of the nature of repentance to be
quick-sighted
and quick-souled
and quick-conscienced; she cannot dwell
complacently with evil
be it but in memory. But she goes far
far deeper than
any particular exhibition or ebullition of evil. Repentance is the
consciousness not of sins
but of sin--the consciousness of sinfulness as the
root and ground of all sinning. The new mind
the “after-mind
” according to
the Greek word for repentance
is the mind which eschews the fallen state
the
taint and bias of evil
which is what we mean
or ought to mean
by original
sin. Thus a deep
pervading humility
a lowly self-estimate
what our Lord
speaks of as “poverty of spirit
” takes a possession not to be disturbed of the
very thought and soul of the man. This is one part of the grace.
2. The connection of repentance with what is here called the sight of
God. This is contrasted with another thing which is called the hearing of God
by the hearing of the ear. We are not to dream of any literal sight. It is a
figurative contrast between hearing of and seeing. The former is a hearer hearing;
the latter is a direct communication
like that face to face vision
which has
nothing between the person seeing and the person looked upon. The experience
spoken of is always the turning point between the two kinds of repentance. We
have all heard of God by the hearing of the ear. The Godward sorrow
before it
reaches repentance
has had another experience. It has seen God; it has
realised the Invisible. The Godward sorrow will grow with each access to the
God who breathes it
and repentance itself will be seen as the gift of gifts
foretaste of heaven below
and atmosphere of heaven above. (Dean Vaughan.)
Experiences of the inner life
Human sin is the prime fact with which the Gospel deals
and to
which all its provisions of grace are adapted. Whatever estimate we form of it
must
therefore
necessarily extend throughout the whole of our religion
both
doctrinal and practical. Enlarge your estimate of sin
or depreciate it
and
you either raise or lower in the same degree your estimate of the Gospel
alike
as regards the work of atonement accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ in His
life and death
and as regards the work of conversion and sanctification by the
Holy Spirit of God. The general estimate of human sin falls much below the
positive language of the Church. The objection to the Church doctrine of sin
appears to be three fold. The doctrine of the utter corruption of human nature
offends self-respect
and is thought not only to lower
but even to degrade the
man
of whose faith it forms a part. Extending this feeling of the individual
to mankind at large
it is supposed to affront the conscious dignity of human
nature and the nobility of the soul of man. And further extending the thought
from ourselves to the scheme of God’s saving love towards us
it is thought to
deprive the Gospel of its genial beauty
and to make it harsh
distasteful
and
unloving. The estimate of sin implied in these difficulties is a profound
mistake. A true doctrine of sin elevates the man
not degrades him; the sense
of sin is a sign of strength and knowledge
not of weakness and ignorance
exalting human nature
and making it greater
alike in the memories of the
past
the magnificent hopes of the future
and the condition of the present. It
gives loveliness and glory to the whole Gospel scheme
and invests it with a
captivating power over the human heart otherwise unknown.
I. Look at the
sense of sin in the individual. Place in as sharp a contrast as our personal
experience may enable us to do
the two states of the man
converted and
unconverted. What is the difference that has been made between them? The man
has lost nothing except his pride. He has not deteriorated one whit since the
change. He has gained a new ideal
a higher conception of moral goodness
a
loftier standard by which to measure himself. A man grows into his aims
and
rises or sinks with them. The man satisfied with his own work can never be
great. It is the same with the conscience that it is with the intellect. The
same laws pervade all our nature. The man who has acquired a sense of sin has
simply grown. How has this conception been gained? The text gives the answer.
The soul of Job was filled with deepest humiliation. Now there had flashed upon
his soul an actual vision of God. The words “now mine eye seeth Thee” express
inward sight
not outward. It is remarkable that Job saw God mainly in His
immensity and sovereignty
for to these
rather than His moral attributes
the
words of God refer. In that sight Job saw the infinite distance between God and
himself.
II. When we look to
the aggregate of mankind the sense of sin suggests the grandeur of human
nature. The human nature is a fallen thing
sadly different to what it was when
it came first from the Creator’s hand
the finite reflection of His own infinite
perfections
if human nature be not fallen
then all its sins and sorrows are
an essential part of itself
and never can be otherwise. The man was made thus.
What hope can there ever be of change?
III. The doctrine of
sin gives such a height and depths of glory to the Gospel as it can possess in
no other way. From this alone we understand the occasion of the Gospel
and see
the necessity for it. The greatness and value of a remedy can only be
commensurate with the evil that it cures. I do not say that sin is a good or
noble thing. The sense of sin is a prelude to the song of triumph. (E.
Garbett
M. A.)
Humiliation and exaltation
Something more was needed to be wrought in Job’s heart. A great
work had been wrought there
when he was brought to exclaim
“Behold
I am
vile.” But still he must descend a step lower. The valley of humiliation is
very deep
and the sufferer must go down to its very lowest point. This Job did
when he spoke the words of the text. But how do these words show more
humiliation than the preceding ones
“Behold
I am vile”? It is a question
which may well be asked. Something was still wanting in him. And as the last
confession was the end of his trial
we may still further conclude that what
was wanting before was then attained. It must strike us that the last is in
every respect a more full expression--a manifest expansion of the former. In
that Job acknowledged his exceeding sinfulness
and was silent before God. But
in this be confesses what he had overlooked before
the power and omniscience
of God
and he enters into a more detailed acknowledgment of his sins. Look a
little
first
into the progress of Job’s inner life. His former knowledge he
compares to the hearing of the ear
his latter experience to the sight of the
eye. Job does not mean to express that
before this affliction
he was entirely
destitute of all saving knowledge of God. The words
“I have heard of Thee by
the hearing of the ear
” taken by themselves
and without reference to Job’s
history
might mean this. His words must be understood in a comparative
not in
an absolute sense. Job means to describe his progress in the knowledge of God
and this he does by comparing it to the two senses of hearing and sight. And
this comparison is very instructive; for the ear
as compared with the eye
is
a very imperfect medium of knowledge. Do you see
then
the difference between
the two degrees of knowledge? in the first there may be tolerably clear
apprehensions of God
accompanied by some fear and love. The characteristic of
the second is that God’s presence impresses the heart. It is the precious
knowledge of God in Christ which those have who walk by living faith--who enjoy
constant communion with God
who live on Jesus. Some there are who
through
grace
walk in this blessed vision of God; God is near them
and they realise
His nearness. To see God
remember that you must behold Him in Christ Jesus.
But the increase of light
in Job’s case
was followed by a depth of
humiliation. Job was a believer
and therefore a penitent man long before this.
It was a repentance for sins committed after he knew God--for sins of
self-righteousness
of impatience
of murmuring. It is not enough to repent
once only
when we are first brought to God. We need Constant repentance. (George
Wagner.)
Man’s worse self
After all
were the charges brought by the three friends against
the patriarch just? Was he in the end proved to be the transgressor and the
self-deceiver which they had affirmed from the beginning he was? If not
what
means this confession
“I abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes
extorted
from him at this late hour?” “I abhor myself
and repent
” sounds very
differently from his former asseverations. How are we to explain the
incongruity? This confession
in the text
is unquestionable evidence that in
no respect was Job hypocritical. Considering what had come to pass
the
abhorrence of himself which he now expressed was a stronger testimony that
there was no unrighteousness in him than all his previous self-justification.
Had there been a doubt of his integrity before
there could have been none now.
But was it the same person who said
I abhor myself and repent
” and was he in
the same state when he said it
as when he said
“My righteousness I hold fast
and will not let it go”? Yea
the very same. The very opposition of the
language
coupled with the variation of the accessories
demonstrates the
identity of the speaker. What had happened? God appeared
walking upon the
wings of the wind
had confronted the patriarch
and pleaded His cause; hence
the subdued and self-despising tone of his reply; and hence
neither by his
Divine Justifier
nor his human accusers
could anything be added to it
nor
anything be taken from it. It was the free confession of a perfect man
humble
and abasing as it was: How is the apparent discrepancy to be explained? In the
presence of God man is very differently affected by the sight of himself than
when in the presence of his fellows. The difference of self-estimate here is
the difference between man in man’s sight and in God’s
and this alone. In the
presence of his fellows man doth not clearly see himself
any more than he
seeth them clearly. We know neither the worst about the bad in this world
neither the best about the good. Overhanging the world is a moral haze. If it
hinder us from the perception of some excellence
it also prevents our seeing
much depravity. When a man “cometh to God
” or rather God come to him
the man
“cometh to the light.” When a man seeth himself in the blaze of that “Sun of
Righteousness
” compared with whose brightness the sun in the material heavens
is as a dark ball
he is at once made conscious of a number of flaws and
failings
faults and fallacies in the moral constitution
of which he may have
had no previous knowledge; and which
had not He who is the source of light and
love darted His heavenly beams into the secret corners of “the chambers of his
imagery” within
he might have remained ignorant forever. Man is a two-sided
being. In his moral aspects he is by turns a dwarf and a giant. He possesses a
better self and a worse. He hath a sincere and an evil double. No man ever had
his good self built up within him
who was not constantly upon his guard
against his bad self. What then is the difference between man and man? It is
that one man is duly mindful of the phenomenon
and another is not. It behoves
us then to determine which side of our nature we will take; and having taken
it
to beseech of God that we may never desert it
or go over to the other.
According to the side we habitually take
we are what we are; and such do we
appear to the world
and the world to us. On the sunny side of the road all
things look sunny; on the opposite all things look shaded. He who acts from the
worst side is against God; and he who is against God is against himself; as he
who is not on God’s side is no longer on his own. (Alfred Bowen Evans.)
The sinner’s mourning habit
The Lord hath many messengers by whom He solicits man. But none
despatcheth His business surer or sooner than affliction. If that fail of
bringing a man home
nothing can do it. Job was not ignorant of God before
when he sat in the sunshine of peace. But he says that in his prosperity
he
had only heard of God; now
in his trial
he had seen Him. When we hear a man described
our imagination conceives an idea or form of him but darkly; if we see him
and
intentively look upon him
there is an impression of him in our minds. Such a
more full and perfect apprehension of God did calamity work in this holy man.
Here is a Jacob’s ladder
but of four rounds. Divinity is the highest. “I have
seen Thee; therefore.” Mortality is the lowest. “Dust and ashes.” Between these
sit two others
“shame
” and “sorrow”; no man can abhor himself without shame
nor repent without sorrow. “Wherefore.” This refers to the motive that humbled
him; and that appears by the context to be a double meditation--one of God’s
majesty
another of His mercy. Put both these together
and here is matter of
humiliation. “Even to dust and ashes.” Humility is not only a virtue itself
but a vessel to contain other virtues. The children of grace have learned to
think well of other people
and to abhor themselves. He that repents truly
abhors himself. “I repent.” Repentance hath much acquaintance in the world
and
few friends; it is better known than practised
and yet not “more known than
trusted. It is every man’s medicine
a universal antidote. Repentance is the
fair gift of God. There is no other fortification against the judgments of God
but repentance. “In dust and ashes.” An adorned body is not a vehicle for a
humbled soul. Repentance gives a farewell not only to wonted delights
but even
to natural refreshings. In both dust and ashes we have a lesson of our
mortality. I call you not to cast dust on your heads
or to sit in ashes
but
to that sorrow and compunction of soul whereof the other was but an external
symbol. Let us rend our hearts
and not our garments. (T. Adams.)
Job among the ashes
In the confession that now lies before us
Job acknowledges God’s
boundless power. He sees his own folly
Notwithstanding
the man of God
proceeds to draw near unto the Lord
before whom he bows himself. Foolish as he
confesses himself
he does not therefore fly from the supreme wisdom.
I. We have
sometimes very vivid impressions of God. Job had long before heard of God
and
that is a great matter. If you have heard God in the secret of your soul
you
are a spiritual man; for only a spirit can hear the Spirit of God. Now Job has
a more vivid apprehension of Him. Notice that in order to this close vision of
God affliction had overtaken him. In prosperity God is heard; in adversity God
is seen
and that is a greater blessing. Possibly helpful also to this seeing
God
was Job’s desertion by his friends. Still
before Job could see the Lord
there was a special manifestation on God’s part to him. God must really come
and in a gracious way make a display of Himself to His servants
or else they
will not see Him. Your afflictions will not of themselves reveal God to you. If
the Lord does not Himself unveil His face
your sorrow may even blind and
harden you
and make you rebellious.
II. When we have
these vivid apprehensions of God
we have lowlier views of ourselves. Why are
the wicked so proud? Because they forget God.
1. God Himself is the measure of rectitude
and hence
when we come
to think of God
we soon discover our own shortcomings and transgressions. Too
often we compare ourselves among ourselves
and are not wise. If thou wouldest
be right
thou must measure thyself with the holiness of God. When I think of
this
self-righteousness seems to me to be a wretched insanity. If you would
know what God is
He sets Himself before us in the person of His own dear Son.
In every respect in which we fall short of the perfect character of Jesus
in
that respect we sin.
2. God Himself is the object of every transgression
and this sets
sin in a terrible light. See then the impertinence of sin. How dare we
transgress against God! The fact that sin is levelled at God makes us bow in lowliness.
When God is seen with admiration
then of necessity we are filled with
self-loathing. Do you know what self-loathing means?
III. Such a sight
fills the heart with true repentance. What did Job repent of?
1. Of that tremendous curse which he had pronounced upon the day of
his birth.
2. Of his desire to die.
3. Of all his complaints against God.
4. Of his despair.
5. Of his rash challenges of God.
According to our text
repentance puts man into the lowest place.
All real repentance is joined with holy sorrow and self-loathing. But
repentance has comfort in it. The door of repentance opens into the halls of
joy. Job’s repentance in dust and ashes was the sign of his deliverance. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Verses 7-17
Verses 7-9
My wrath is kindled against thee
and against thy two friends.
Job’s friends condemned and he acquitted
These words suggest the following reflections.
I. God is an
auditor to all the discussions of mankind. If men realised this
all frivolous
vain
ill-natured
deceitful
profane
irreverent
and untruthful speech will
be hushed.
II. The professed
advocates of religion may commit sin in their advocacy. These three men were
engaged in an endeavour to vindicate the ways of God. They considered Job a
great heretic; and they took on themselves to stand up for God and truth.
Notwithstanding this
they had not spoken of Him the thing that was right.
There are professed advocates of religion who speak not “the thing that is
right” concerning God.
III. A practical
confession of sin is the duty of all sinners. “Take unto you now seven bullocks
and seven rams
and go to My servant Job
and offer up for yourselves a burnt
offering
” etc.
IV. Intercession of
one man for another is a Divine law. “Go to My servant Job
and offer up for
yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you; for him
will I accept.”
1. Intercessory prayer is an instinct of the soul. Nothing is more
natural than to cry to heaven on behalf of those in whom we feel a vital
interest.
2. Intercessory prayer is a blessing to the soul.
V. The life of a
good man is a blessing to a community. “My servant Job shall pray for you; for
him will I accept; lest I deal with you after your folly.” For Job’s sake these
men were forgiven and blessed. God educates
saves
and ennobles man by man. (Homilist.)
As My servant Job hath.
My servant Job
Look at Job in his misery. Now comes the problem. Why this sudden
this awful change? Morally
spiritually
religiously
this man is just what he
was before. The friends vainly tried to account for it on the score of his own
ill-doings and moral defects. Job victoriously repels all their charges and
insinuations. Elihu tries to meet the case by arguing that “God is greater than
man.” How can the finite have the infinite made simple? You cannot pour the
ocean into a pond. Though we cannot understand His matters
yet He has revealed
enough of Himself and His doings
and more than enough
to show us that trust
in His providence
loyalty to His rule
and hope in His Word is gloriously
certain to result in our safety and security
our sustentation and deliverance
our ultimate prosperity and peace. “My servant Job.” God calls him by that name
in the days of his wealth and prosperity. Riches and grace can go together. God
calls him by the same name before ever the days of testing
trial
and calamity
came upon him. The expression is used by the Almighty at the end of the book as
well as at the beginning
and what was Job’s condition then? Just before this
was said
Job bad uttered hard things of his God
--of His government
of His
dealings with himself. Even when God came to speak to him he was sullen under a
sense of wrong. And yet
in spite of all his faults
infirmities
and sins
the
Lord lays His hand lovingly on his bended head
and fondly owns him
in the
presence of his three friends
as “My servant Job.” (J. Jackson Wray.)
In the wrong
It is not the first time in the history of the world that the
majority of religious professors have been wrong. The solitary thinker
the
philosopher
the heretic
the forlorn monk
the rejected of his day
has been
sometimes
even in spite of many errors
in the right
That little group in
that unknown land of Uz
who tried to silence the one among them who was in his
wild cries and low wails the herald and the apostle of a truth that was one day
to be embodied in the symbol of Christ’s religion--they warn us against
thinking that truth is always to be found on the side of numbers
that the God
of truth marches always with the largest battalions. How startling to those who
heard them
how instructive to us who read them
are the words which we shall
find when next we meet
“Ye who have been so earnest
so rigid in justifying My
ways
and asserting My righteousness; ye have not spoken the thing that is
right
as My servant Job hath.” (Dean Bradley.)
Verse 10
And the Lord turned the captivity of Job.
The turning of Job’s captivity
Since God is immutable He acts always upon the same principles
and hence His course of action in the olden times to a man of a certain sort
will be a guide as to what others may expect who are of like character. God does
not act by caprice
nor by fits and starts. We are not all like Job
but we all
have Job’s God. Though we have neither risen to Job’s wealth
nor will
probably
ever sink to Job’s poverty
yet there is the same God above us if we
be high
and the same God with His everlasting arms beneath us if we be brought
low; and what the Lord did for Job He will do for us
not precisely in the same
form
but in the same spirit
and with like design. If
therefore
we are
brought low tonight
let us be encouraged with the thought that God will turn
again our captivity; and let us entertain the hope that after the time of trial
shall be over we shall be richer
especially in spiritual things
than ever we
were before.
I. First
then
the Lord can soon turn His people’s captivity. That is a very remarkable
expression--“captivity.” It does not say
“God turned his poverty
” though Job
was reduced to the extremity of penury. We do not read that the Lord turned his
sickness
though he was covered with sore boils. A man may be very poor
and
yet not in captivity
his soul may sing among the angels when his body is on a
dunghill and dogs are licking his sores. A man may be very sick
and yet not be
in captivity; he may be roaming the broad fields of covenant mercy
though he
cannot rise from his bed. Captivity is bondage of mind
the iron entering into
the soul. I suspect that Job
under the severe mental trial which attended his
bodily pains
was
as to his spirit
like a man bound hand and foot and
fettered. I mean that
together with the trouble and trial to which he was
subjected
he had lost somewhat the presence of God; much of his joy and
comfort had departed; the peace of his mind had gone. He could only follow the
occupation of a captive
that is
to be oppressed
to weep
to claim
compassion
and to pour out a dolorous complaint. Poor Job! He is less to be
pitied for his bereavements
poverty
and sickness
than for his loss of that
candle of the Lord which once shone about his head. Touch a man in his bone
and in his flesh
and yet he may exult; but touch him in his mind--let the
finger of God be laid upon his spirit--and then
indeed
he is in captivity.
The Lord can deliver us out of spiritual captivity
and that very speedily.
Some feel everything except what they want to feel. They enjoy no sweetness in
the means of grace
and yet for all the world they would not give them up. They
used at one time to rejoice in the Lord; but now they cannot see His face
and
the u most they can say is
“Oh
that I knew where I might find Him!”
Therefore
mark well this cheering truth--God can turn your captivity
and turn
it at once. Some of God’s children seem to think that to recover their former
joy must occupy a long period of time. It is true
that if you had to work your
passage back to where you came from it would be a weary voyage. He will
vouchsafe to you the conscious enjoyment of His presence on the same terms as
at first
that is
on terms of free and sovereign grace. Did you not at that
time admit the Saviour to your soul because you could not do without Him? Is it
not a good reason for receiving Him again? Was there anything in you when you
received Him which could commend you to Him? Say
were you not all over
defilement
and full of sin and misery? And yet you opened the door
and said
“My Lord
come in
in Thy free grace: come in
for I must have Thee
or I
perish.” Having begun to live by grace
wouldst thou go on to live by works?
Well do I know what it is to feel this wondrous power of God to turn our
captivity. The Lord does not take days
months
weeks
or even hours to do His
work of revival in our souls. He made the world in six days
but He lit it up
in an instant with one single word. He can do the same as to our temporal
captivity. Now
it may be I address some friend who has been a great sufferer
through pecuniary losses. The Lord can turn your captivity. When Job had lost
everything
God readily gave him all back. “Yes
” say you
“but that was a very
remarkable case.” I grant you that
but then we have to do with a remarkable
God
who works wonders still. If you consider the matter you will see that it
was quite as remarkable a thing that Job should lose all his property as it was
that he should get it back again. If you had walked over Job’s farm at first
and seen the camels and the cattle
if you had gone into his house and seen the
furniture and the grandeur of his state
and if you had gone to his children’s
house
and seen the comfort in which they lived
you would have said
“Why
this is one of the best-established men in all the land of Uz. I have heard of
great fortunes collapsing
but then they were built on speculations. They were
only paper riches
made up of bills and the like; but in the case of this man
there are oxen
sheep
camels
and land
and these cannot melt into thin air.
Job has a good substantial estate
I cannot believe that ever he will come to
poverty.” Surely if God could scatter such an estate as that He could
with
equal ease
bring it back again. But this is what we do not always see. We see
the destructive power of God
but we are not very clear about the up-building
power of God. Yet surely it is more consonant with the nature of God that He
should give than take
and more like Him that He should caress than chastise.
Does He not always say that judgment is His strange work? When the Lord went
about to enrich His servant Job again
He went about that work
as we say
con
amore--with heart and soul. He was doing then what He delights to do
for
God’s happiness is never more clearly seen than when He is distributing the
largesses of His love. Why can you not look at your own circumstances in the
same light? The Lord can turn the captivity of His people. You may apply the
truth to a thousand different things. You Sunday school teachers
if you have
had a captivity in your class
and no good has been done
God can change that.
You ministers
if for a long time you have ploughed and sowed in vain
the Lord
can turn your captivity there. You wives who have been praying for your husbands
you fathers who have been pleading for your children
and have seen no blessing
yet
the Lord can turn your captivity in those respects.
II. There is
generally some point at which the Lord interposes to turn the captivity of His
people. In Job’s case
I have no doubt
the Lord turned his captivity
as far
as the Lord was concerned
because the grand experiment which had been tried on
Job was now over. The suggestion of Satan was that Job was selfish in his
piety--that he found honesty to be the best policy
and therefore he was
honest--that godliness was gain
and therefore he was godly. The devil
generally does one of two things. Sometimes he tells the righteous that there
is no reward for their holiness
and then they say
“Surely
I have cleansed my
heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency”; or else he tells them that
they only obey the Lord because they have a selfish eye to the reward. God puts
His servants sometimes into these experiments that He may test them
that Satan
himself may know how true-hearted God’s grace has made them
and that the world
may see how they can play the man. Good engineers
if they build a bridge
are
glad to have a train of enormous weight go over it. I am sure that if any of
you had invented some implement requiring strength you would be glad to have it
tested
and the account of the successful trial published abroad. “Do your
worst or do your best
it is a good instrument; do what you like with it”; so
the maker of a genuine article is accustomed to speak; and the Lord seems to
say the same concerning His people. “My work of grace in them is mighty and
thorough. Test it
Satan; test it
world; test it by bereavements
losses
and
reproaches: it will endure every ordeal.” And when it is tested
and bears it
all
then the Lord turns the captivity of His people
for the experiment is
complete
Most probably there was
in Job’s character
some fault from which
his trial was meant to purge him. If he erred at all
probably it was in having
a somewhat elevated idea of himself and a stern manner towards others. A little
of the elder brother spirit may
perhaps
have entered into him. When
through
the light of trial
and the yet greater light of God’s glorious presence
Job
saw himself unveiled
he abhorred himself in dust and ashes. You see
the trial
had reached its point. It had evidently been blessed to Job
and it had proved
Satan to be a liar
and so now the fire of the trial goes out
and like
precious metal the patriarch comes forth from the furnace brighter than ever. I
will try and indicate
briefly
when I think God may turn your trial.
1. Sometimes He does so when that trial has discovered to you your
especial sin.
2. Perhaps
too
your turning point will be when your spirit is
broken. We are by nature a good deal like horses that want breaking in
or
to
use a scriptural simile
we are as “bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke.” Well
the horse has to go through certain processes in the menage until at
last it is declared to be “thoroughly broken in
” and we need similar training.
You and I are not yet quite broken in
I am afraid.
3. Sometimes
again
trial may cease when you have learned the lesson
which it was intended to teach you
as to some point of Gospel truth. “It is
enough; I have taught my child the lesson
and I will let him go.”
4. I think
too
it may be with some of us that God gives us trouble
until we obtain a sympathetic spirit. How can a man sympathise with trouble
that he never knew? How can he be tender in heart if he has never been touched
with infirmity himself? If one is to be a comforter to others
he must know the
sorrows and the sicknesses of others in his measure.
5. In Job’s case the Lord turned his captivity when he prayed for his
friends. Prayer for ourselves is blessed work
but for the child of God it is a
higher exercise to become an intercessor
and to pray for others. Prayer for
ourselves
good as it is
has just a touch of selfishness about it; prayer for
others is delivered from that ingredient.
III. That believers
shall not be losers for their God. God
in the experiment
took from Job all
that he had
but at the end He gave him back twice as much as he had. If a man
should take away my silver and give me twice the weight in gold in return
should I not be thankful? And so
if the Lord takes away temporals and gives us
spirituals
He thus gives us a hundred times more than He takes away. You shall
never lose anything by what you suffer for God. If
for Christ’s sake you are
persecuted
you shall receive in this life your reward; but if not
rejoice and
be glad
for great is your reward in heaven. You shall not lose anything by
God’s afflicting you. You shall
for a time
be an apparent loser; but a real
loser in the end you shall never be. We serve a good Master
and if He chooses
to try us for a little we will bear our trial cheerfully
for God will turn our
captivity ere long. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Prosperity restored
The Book of Job resembles a drama. An English biblical scholar
calls it “the Prometheus or the Faust of the most complete age of Jewish
civilisation.” What
as illustrated in the story of Job
is the ripe result of
affliction?
1. A true knowledge of God (verse 2). He had assumed that he
a
finite man
could understand the mystery of God’s providence. He had held a
theory of religion which made prosperity the reward of goodness
and suffering
the effect and evidence of sin
and which denied that the latter could ever
befall the godly. By the calamities which overtook him
while conscious of his
integrity
this theory had been violently shaken. It seemed to him that the
Almighty had set him up as a mark for His arrows
without any cause. In the
stupor of his distress and amazement he had sat down in the ashes in silent
misery and brooded like one in a trance over the perplexing mystery. His heart
ran over in the fulness of its sorrow
and he uttered a cry of regret that he
had ever been born. It seemed to him that God had utterly forgotten and cast
off His child. No other composition so describes the wrestlings of a distressed
human spirit with the mystery of sorrow
none breathes out such longings for
death as a refuge and escape from trouble. In his conception God was a being of
arbitrary purposes and action
who governed the world in veiled obscurity
remote
inaccessible to tender appeal
regardless of man’s weal or woe. Out of
the darkness we hear him call to the incomprehensible and invisible One. Who
has not this feeling of uncertainty and remoteness toward God when in great
trouble the soul gropes in the darkness for Him? Job reckoned not that man is
incapable of judging the meaning of God’s dark providences; that within the
range of God’s view there might be broad zones of light
though to his narrow
vision all was dark; and that within the resources of God’s omnipotent power there
might be found stores of relief and goodness that should give a way of escape
from his trouble far better than that offered by the grave. To this larger and
truer view
however
he was brought at last. As we read the book from the
beginning to the end
we can perceive the change of view gradually going on. In
the struggle of his mind with the mystery of his sorrow
another conception of
God is seen slowly shaping itself in his thoughts. God is not indifferent to
our sorrows
neither does He recklessly inflict on us pain.
2. A second fruit of his affliction was a feeling of humility and
penitence for his sin (verses 3-6). All his upbraidings of God had been like
the complaint of a foolish child. His proper place was only that of an humble
inquirer. God alone was able to answer the problems that environed his
existence. He was humbled to the dust before the new view of God which dawned
upon him. Spiritual conceit vanishes at the sight of the Holy One. The night of
sorrow produces more than the day of prosperity.
3. The sufferer’s manifest acceptance with God (verses 7-10). Job was
approved of God
while his three friends
who had seemed to be the special
champions of God’s truth
are condemned. The temper of the friends had grown
more harsh
and their conduct more and more reprehensible. They sin against
charity and truth. A lesson underlies the restoration. Job’s earthly
possessions may
without his being aware of it
have had too large a place in
his heart. Now Job was able to use the world as not abusing it. One thought in
conclusion. It is that when trouble comes and lies heavy on us
the thing to be
done is not to long for death
or to accuse God of cruelty and injustice
but
to be patient and wait for deliverance. (Sermons by Monday Club.)
When he prayed for his
friends.--
Intercessory prayer
“The Lord turned the captivity of Job.” So
then
our longest
sorrows have a close
and there is a bottom to the profoundest depths of our
misery. Our winters shall not frown forever; summer shall soon smile. The tide
shall not eternally ebb out; the floods retrace their march. The night shall
not hang its darkness forever over our souls; the sun shall yet arise with
healing beneath his wings--“The Lord turned again the captivity of Job.” Our
sorrows shall have an end when God has gotten His end in them. When Satan is
defeated
then shall the battle cease. The Lord aimed also at the trial of
Job’s faith. Many weights were hung upon this palm tree
but it still grew
uprightly. Another purpose the Lord had was His own glory. And God was
glorified abundantly. Job had glorified God on his dunghill; now let him
magnify his Lord again upon his royal seat in the gate. God had another end
and that also was served. Job had been sanctified by his afflictions. His
spirit had been mellowed. Thou hast had a long captivity in affliction. He
shall make again thy vineyard to blossom
and thy field to yield her fruit.
“The Lord turned again the captivity of Job
when he prayed for his friends.”
Intercessory prayer was the omen of his returning greatness. It was the bow in
the cloud
the dove bearing the olive branch
the voice of the turtle
announcing the coming summer. When his soul began to expand itself in holy and
loving prayer for his erring brethren
then the heart of God showed itself to
him by returning to him his prosperity without
and cheering his soul within.
I. First
then
by
way of commending the exercise
let me remind you that intercessory prayer has
been practised by all the best of God’s saints. Take Abraham
the father of the
faithful. How earnestly did he plead for his son Ishmael! “O that Ishmael might
live before Thee!” With what importunity did he approach the Lord on the plains
of Mamre
when he wrestled with Him again and again for Sodom. Remember Moses
the most royal of men
whether crowned or uncrowned; how often did he
intercede! But further
while we might commend this duty by quoting innumerable
examples from the lives of eminent saints
it is enough for the disciple of
Christ if we say that Christ in His Holy Gospel has made it your duty and your
privilege to intercede for others. When He taught us to pray
he said
“Our
Father
” and the expressions which follow are not in the singular
but in the
plural--“Give us this day our daily bread.” If in the Bible there were no
example of intercessory supplication
if Christ had not left it upon record
that it was His will that we should pray for others
and even if we did not
know that it was Christ’s practice to intercede
yet the very spirit of our
holy religion would constrain us to plead for others. Dost thou go up into thy
closet
and in the face and presence of God think of none but thyself? Surely
the love of Christ cannot be in thee
for the spirit of Christ is not selfish.
No man liveth unto himself when once he has the love of Christ in him. I
commend intercessory prayer
because it opens man’s soul
gives a healthy play
to his sympathies
constrains him to feel that he is not everybody
and that
this wide world and this great universe were not
after all
made that he might
be its petty lord
that everything might bend to his will
and all creatures
crouch at his feet. It does him good
I say
to make him know that the cross
was not uplifted alone for him
for its far-reaching arms were meant to drop
with benedictions upon millions of the human race. I do not know anything
which
through the grace of God
may be a better means of uniting us the one to
the other than constant prayer for each other. Shall I need to say more in
commendation of intercessory prayer except it be this
that it seems to me that
when God gives any man much grace
it must be with the design that he may use
it for the rest of the family. I would compare you who have near communion with
God to courtiers in the king’s palace. What do courtiers do? Do they not avail
themselves of their influence at court to take the petitions of their friends
and present them where they can be heard? This is what we call patronage--a
thing with which many find fault when it is used for political ends
but there
is a kind of heavenly patronage which you ought to use right diligently.
II. We turn to our
second point
and endeavour to say something by way of encouragement
that you
may cheerfully offer intercessory supplications. First
remember that
intercessory prayer is the sweetest prayer God ever hears. Do not question it
for the prayer of Christ is of this character. In all the incense which now our
Great High Priest puts into the censer
there is not a single grain that is for
Himself. His work is done; His reward obtained. Now
you do not doubt but that
Christ’s prayer is the most acceptable of all supplications. Remember
again
that intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent. What wonders it has wrought!
III. A suggestion as
to the persons for whom we should more particularly pray. It shall be but a
suggestion
and I will then turn to my last point.
1. In the case of Job
he prayed for his offending friends. They had
spoken exceedingly harshly of him. They had misconstrued all his previous life
and though there had never been a part of his character which deserved
censure--for the Lord witnessed concerning him
that he was a perfect and an
upright man yet they accused him of hypocrisy
and supposed that all he did was
for the sake of gain. Now
perhaps
there is no greater offence which can he
given to an upright and a holy man
than to his face to suspect his motives and
to accuse him of self-seeking. Carry your offending ones to the throne of God
it shall be a blessed method of proving the trueness of your forgiveness.
2. Again
be sure you take there your controverting friends. These
brethren had been arguing with Job
and the controversy dragged its weary
length along. It is better to pray than it is to controvert. You say
“Let two
good men
on different sides
meet and fight the matter out.” I say
“No! let
the two good men meet and pray the matter out.” He that will not submit his
doctrine to the test of the mercy seat
I should suspect is wrong.
3. This is the thing we ought also to do with our haughty friends.
Eliphaz and Bildad wire very high and haughty--Oh! how they looked down upon
poor Job! They thought he was a very great sinner
a very desperate hypocrite;
they stayed with him
but doubtless they thought it very great condescension.
Why be angry with your brother because of his being proud? It is a disease
a
very bad disease
that scarlet fever of pride; go and pray the Lord to cure
him; your anger will not do it; it may puff him up
and make him worse than
ever he was before
but it will not set him right. But particularly let me ask
you to pray most for those who are disabled from praying for themselves. Job’s
three friends could not pray for themselves
because the Lord said He would not
accept them if they did. He said He was angry with them
but as for Job
said
He
“Him will I accept.” Do not let me shock your feelings when I say there are
some
even of God’s people
who are not able to pray acceptably at certain
seasons.
IV. I have to
exhort you to pray for others. Do you always pray for others? Do you think you
have taken the case of your children
your church
your neighbourhood
and the
ungodly world before God as you ought to have done? I begin thus
by saying
how can you and I repay the debt we owe to the Church unless we pray for
others? How was it that you were converted? It was because somebody else prayed
for you. Now
if by others’ prayers you and I were brought to Christ
how can
we repay this Christian kindness
but by pleading for others? He who has not a
man to pray for him may write himself down a hopeless character. Then
again
permit me to say
how are you to prove your love to Christ or to His Church if
you refuse to pray for men? “We know that we have passed from death unto life
because we love the brethren.” Christians are priests
but how priests if they
offer no sacrifice? Christians are lights
but how lights unless they shine for
others? Christians are sent into the world
even as Christ was sent into the
world
but how sent unless they are sent to pray? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Intercession
God made an act of piety on the part of Job the condition of his
restoration to his lost possessions and dignities.
I. The agreement
of this fact with the teaching of Scripture. Honour is always put on
intercession. It may be said that we see not how the blessing of one can be
effected by the fervency or carelessness of another. But this reasoning would
put an end to all prayer and effort. For who can explain how our requests can
affect the Divine will
or change the course of events?
II. The
encouragement here held forth to us. Clear is the duty of intercession. Great
is the honour
that we who are unworthy to pray for ourselves should be
admitted as petitioners for others. Yet all will feel the need of encouragement
in this duty. Sometimes by reason of sin and temptation the Christian cannot
come to God in prayer. The best thing to do at such times is
pray for his
friends. Thus his heart will be insensibly enlarged
and his spirit drawn
heavenward. Whatever raises us out of our miserable slavery to ourselves
augments devotional feeling. Some feel themselves desolate in the world
as if
none knew their sorrows
or cared for their souls. But if they were frequent in
intercession
the comfortable truth would come home to them
that all the
children of God are
in private and public worship really praying for them.
Others sigh for a wider field of activity; but if they would give themselves to
prayer for other workers
they would understand that they bear no mean or
needless office in Christ’s Church. In mutual and common prayer we shall find
deliverance from the jealousies
suspicions
enmities and divisions which cramp
and mar the spiritual life of the Church and her members. (M. Biggs
M. A.)
Preparation for success
A man of God is not prepared to enjoy success till he has tasted
defeat. Many an heir of heaven will never be fit for heaven till first of all
he has been brought near to the gates of hell: A traveller said to me
speaking
of the heat
how different it is from cold; for the more you suffer heat
the
less you can endure it; but the more you are tried with cold
the more you can
bear it
for it hardens you. I am sure it is so as to the influences of
prosperity and adversity. Prosperity softens and renders us unfit for more of itself;
but adversity braces the soul
and hardens it to patience. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Sell-triumph through self-forgetfulness
The climax in Job’s life was the hour when
in his terrible
desolation and sorrow
he ceased to think of himself
and began to pray for his
friends. Even his oxen and asses came back to him
when
unmindful of his own
poverty
he was busy seeking spiritual riches for others. Self-forgetfulness in
work for others turns away many degrading captivities.
1. It saves us from the tyranny of an overweening self-conceit.
Self-conceit blinds its victims. It blocks the doorway to true knowledge. It
robs us of sympathy. Work for others rescues us from that dangerous tyrant
“Myself.”
2. It rescues us from the slavish monotony and narrowness of a selfish
life. We are told of a little street waif who was once taken to the house of a
wealthy English lady. Looking about on the unaccustomed splendour
the child
asked
“Can you get everything you want?” The mistress of the mansion replied
“Yes
I think so.” “Can you buy anything you would like to have? Yes.” The keen
little eyes looked at her pityingly as she said
“Don’t you find it dull?” Many
a man and many a woman
given up to a life of simply looking after self
have
found it intolerably dull
and have yawned themselves out of life from pure
monotony.
3. It frees us from captivity to covetousness. Some men are human
sponges that absorb all the good things of life they touch
but never give up
anything unless they are squeezed so tight that they can’t help doing it. God
saves us frequently from this meanest of tyrants
by setting us to work to
distribute what He has given us
for the benefit of others. Self-forgetfulness
in work for others does also some positive things for us. It beautifies the
character. (L. A. Banks.)
Job’s prayer for his friends a moral victory
Notice that this flagellation by the three friends was
premeditated. They did not merely happen in
and come suddenly upon trouble for
which they could not offer a compound. The Bible says
“They had made an
appointment together.” The interview was prearranged. The meanness of the
attack of these religious critics was augmented by the fact that they had the
sufferer in their power. When we are well
and we do not like what one is
saying
we can get up and go away. But Job was too ill to get up and go away.
First he endured the seven days and seven nights of silence
and then he
endured their arraignment of his motives and character
and after their cruel
campaign was ended
by a sublime effort of soul
which I this day uphold for
imitation
he triumphed in prayer for his tantalisers. In all history there is
nothing equal to it
except the memorable imploration by Christ for His
enemies. No wonder that after that prayer of Job was once uttered
a thrill of
recovery shot through every nerve and vein of his tortured body
and every
passion of his great soul; and God answered it by adding nearly a century and a
half to his lifetime
and whitened the hills With flocks of sheep
and filled
the air with the lowing of cattle
and wakened the silent nursery of his home
with the swift feet and the laughing voices of childhood--seven sons and three
daughters celebrated for their beauty
the daughters to refine the sons
the
sons to defend the daughters. There is nothing that pays so well as prayer
and
the more difficult the prayer to make
the greater the reward for making it. (T.
De Witt Talmage.)
Prayer for others salutary
Now
will you please explain to me how Job’s prayer for his
friends halted his catastrophes. Give me some good reason why Job on his knees
in behalf of the welfare of others arrested the long procession of calamities.
Mind you
it was not prayer for himself
for then the cessation of his troubles
would have been only another instance of prayer answered
but the portfolio of
his disaster was roiled up while he supplicated God in behalf of Eliphaz the
Temanite
Bildad the Shuhite
and Zophar the Naamathite. I must confess to you
that I had to read the text over and over again before I got its full meaning.
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends.”
Well
if you will not explain it to me
I will explain it to you. The
healthiest
the most recuperative thing on earth to do is to stop thinking so
much about ourselves and go to thinking about the welfare of others. Job had
been studying his misfortunes
but the more he thought about his bankruptcy
the poorer he seemed; the more he thought of his carbuncles
the worse they
hurt; the more he thought of his unfortunate marriage
the more intolerable
became the conjugal relation; the more he thought of his house blown down the
more terrific seemed the cyclone. His misfortunes grew blacker and blacker. But
there was to come a reversal of these sad conditions. One day he said to
himself
“I have been dwelling too much on my bodily ailments
and my wife’s
temper
and my bereavements. It is time I began to think about others and do
something for others
and I will start now by praying for my three friends.”
Then Job dropped upon his knees
and as he did so
the last shackle of his
captivity of trouble snapped and fell off. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Verses 12-17
So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job.
The limitation of Job’s blessings to this life
Is there not something incongruous in the large award of temporal
good
and even something unnecessary in the renewed honour among men? To us it
seems that a good man will be satisfied with the favour and fellowship of a
loving God. Yet
assuming that the conclusion is a part of the history on which
the poem was founded
we can justify the blaze of splendour that bursts on Job
after sorrow
instruction
and reconciliation. Life only can reward life. That
great principle was rudely shadowed forth in the old belief that God protects
His servants even to a green old age. Job had lived strongly
alike in mundane
and moral region. How is he to find continued life? The author’s power could
not pass the limits of the natural to promise a reward. Net yet was it
possible
even for a great thinker
to affirm that continued fellowship with
Eloah
that continued intellectual and spiritual energy that we call eternal
life. A vision of it had come to him; he had seen the day of the Lord afar off
but dimly
by moments. To carry a life into it was beyond his power. Sheol made
nothing perfect; and beyond Sheol no prophet eye had ever travelled. There was
nothing for it then
but to use the history as it stood
adding symbolic
touches
and show the restored life in development on earth
more powerful than
ever
more esteemed
more richly endowed for good action. Priestly office and
power are given to Job. Wider opportunities for service
more cordial esteem
and affection
the highest office that man can bear
these are the reward of
Job. And with the terms of the symbolism we shall not quarrel who have heard
the Lord say
“Well done
thou good servant; because thou wast found faithful
in a very little
have thou authority over ten cities.” (R. A. Watson.)
Light at eventide
Have not some of us had experience in the glorious Alps
when
on
nearly reaching the top
we have been surrounded by clouds
mist filled the
air
the tempest hurtled around us
and we sat down utterly disappointed in our
hope of a glorious view
and ready to wail with despair at a lost day
a lost
prospect
a lost joy? But by and by a strong wind swept the heavens and
revealed the beauty of the skies! There stood the white throne of the Monta
Rosa and yonder the magnificent Matterhorn
and as the evening sun bathed it in
rosy glory we have stood lost in admiration. “At evening time it was light.”
Have not you and I had experiences in the past like that? Ah! we have
and
realised the blessed hope. We cannot give up in despair
even in times of
trial. Many are the experiences of this kind in the history of God’s people.
Look at poor old Jacob
bewailing the fate of his dead: “All these things are
against me; I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.” Wait a minute!
The caravan is coming! Glorious news! His sons returning
bringing full sacks
of corn to Jacob and his family. At evening time to the old man it is light--it
is light! (T. L. Cuyler
D. D.)
“All’s well that ends well”
The Book of Job is sometimes called a “key to the Bible.” Certain
it is that it explains one of the deep moral problems that has vexed mankind
as well as it did the patriarch and his friends.
1. Job discerns the nature of afflictions
and repents of his sin and
folly.
2. His character is vindicated before his friends.
3. His former dignity and honour are restored.
4. His former prosperity is doubled.
We have here an indication of immortality. His former children
were not lost
though dead. He was doubly enriched; for he had not now as many
on earth as in heaven. Reflections--
1. All earthly troubles must
sooner or later
have an end
even as
cycles of time.
2. The success of a life is to be judged from its ending--e.g.
Solon and Croesus.
3. The afflictions of the righteous are not penal
but corrective and
sanctifying.
4. If this year ends well morally for us each--no matter how it may
be otherwise--we should be devoutly thankful
and press onward till we reach
that final ending which shall sum up a whole lifetime. (Lewis O. Thompson.)
Verse 15
Were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job.
Job’s daughters
It is a long lane that has no turning. Job’s captivity was turned
at last. It is a true saying that godliness is profitable for the life that now
is. Job’s family was again built up. He had buried all his children
but God
had repaired the breach.
I. These daughters
of Job were remarkable for their beauty. Whether beauty is a good gift or not
depends upon the use made of it. Beauty is a Divine talent
and may be
gloriously used for God. The secret of beauty is the shining through of a
consecrated spirit.
II. They were
remarkable for their character. This appears in their several names.
1. Jemima
or “Light of the morning.” Let it stand for the influence
of young womanhood at home. No one can estimate the influence of a gentle
sister among a group of boisterous lads.
2. Kezia or Cassia
“Breath of the garden.” Let her stand for the influence
of young womanhood in social life.
3. Keren-happuch
or “All plenteousness.” Let her stand for the
influence of young womanhood in the Church of God.
III. These daughters
were remarkable for their inheritance. “Their father gave them an inheritance among
their brethren.” This was a rare thing in those days. This inheritance means
to begin with
life at the Cross. All sons and daughters are equal here. What
else? The joy of service. What else? Participation in the heavenly glory. (D.
J. Burrell
D. D.)
Verse 17
So Job died
being old and full of days.
Fulness of days
“Full of days.” This form of speech
though not in common use
amongst ourselves
is sufficiently familiar from our acquaintance with the
language of Scripture (Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; 1 Chronicles 23:1; 1 Chronicles 29:28). The propriety
of this expression will not be questioned by those who have had even a moderate
experience of human life--who are drawing near themselves to the term of their
mortal existence; or who have seen their neighbours
each in his turn
relaxing
his hold of life
worn out in mind and body
and at last “gathered to his
people
being old and full of days.” The expression implies--
1. A natural limit to our mortal life. A man may be said to die “full
of days” when he has attained or passed the average duration of human life. It
is only courtiers and flatterers who would dare to tell any man that they wish
him to “live forever.”
2. The failure of our natural powers
both of body and mind. Man is
“fearfully and wonderfully made.” All the parts of his constitution are
accurately adjusted to each other
and to the work which they have to perform.
The frame is constructed to last a certain time
and no longer. The wonder is
not that our natural powers and appetites should fail us at the last
but that
they should serve us so long and so well as they do. Especially considering
that we have not always used them well; sometimes imprudently
sometimes
viciously
we have taxed them beyond their strength and worn out a machine
which
if fairly used
would have performed twice the work that we have got out
of it. But
whether well or ill used
it comes to the same thing in the end.
Even while he lives
“man dieth and wasteth away.” Every year that passes over
the head of the old man
takes something from his remaining strength. His
friends perceive it
if he does not himself. He stoops more than he did. He cannot
walk as he used. His hearing or his eyesight is affected. The mind also
partakes of the decay of the body. The memory drops her treasures. The judgment
is dethroned from its seat. “Last scene of all . . . is second childishness and
mere oblivion.” Our aged friend is seen no more abroad. Even at home his
infirmities continue to increase. At last he takes to his bed. There let us
leave him; leave him in the hands of his Maker
and of that human love “strong
as death
” which will never quit his pillow so long as one office of affection
remains unperformed.
3. Enough of anything is always better than too much. Fulness implies
satiety. When a man has passed through all the stages of human life; has
attained
in succession
the various objects and prizes which
at different
periods in their course
men propose to themselves; has tasted of every kind of
gratification which came in his way; has performed all the duties which
belonged to his station and condition; has had his full share of the troubles
and disappointments of life; has lived out his appointed time upon earth
and
“accomplished
as an hireling
his day”; is it not a natural feeling which
prompts him to say
“I would not live alway; let me alone
for my days are
vanity”? Perhaps there is something yet unattained; some object for which he
would wish to be spared a little longer. But when that is happily accomplished
what more has he to live for? But when we see aged persons planning fresh
schemes
and proposing to themselves new objects
to the very verge of life as
keen in the pursuit of wealth
pleasure
or honour
as if they were just
beginning to live
or as if they were to live always--more like hungry guests
sitting down to table
than full ones rising up from it--is there not something
unnatural and almost shocking in such a perversion of feeling? Will such
persons ever be “full of days”? ever have played out their part? ever retire
with dignity from that post of life which they are no longer able with dignity
to tread?
4. We Christians will never consent to call any man “full of days”
merely because he has attained to a good old age
or because he is worn out in
body and mind
or even because he has had enough of life and desires no more of
it. We ask
not only whether he is willing
but whether he is prepared to die?
Is his soul “full of days”--weary of her protracted sojourn in this land in
which she is a stranger
and longing to enter upon a new
separate
and eternal
state of being? We shall better be able to answer this question if we consider
what constitutes preparation for death
in the Christian view of it. In this
view
then
a man may be said to be “full of days”--
Job’s history reviewed
Note the following facts--
1. The unconquerable force of an unselfish religion. Job loved the
right for its own sake. His religion was not a means to an end; but the end
itself
the centre of his affections
and the spring of his activities. A
sublimer force is not found in the creation of God than the force of genuine
religion.
2. The comparative worthlessness of theological controversy. This
lengthened and often excited talk led to no satisfactory solution of the
difficulties connected with the Divine procedure. Neither party was convinced
of its mistakes.
3. The absurdity of boasting of the march of intellect. In mental and
moral culture
what are we superior to the men who figure on the pages of this
wonderful book?
4. The impropriety of deeming all outside the Gospel as morally
worthless and lost. Conventional Christianity and missionary theology do this.
They depict all the teeming millions of heathendom as without virtue
doomed to
irremediable ruin. But here we find men who had no written revelation
no
Gospel
not only theologically and ethically enlightened
but highly moral and
profoundly religious.
5. The egregious folly of estimating man’s moral character by his
external circumstances. This is what the friends of Job did
and this is what
men have been prone to do in every age.
6. To attempt to comfort the afflicted by discussion is to the last degree
unwise.
7. A man may have many imperfections of character
and yet be good in
the sight of God. Job was not a “perfect” man
but a genuinely good man. Men
are to be judged
not by their imperfections
but by their “fruits.”
8. With the fact that a righteous life will ultimately be victorious.
Job’s was a righteous life. And God blessed the latter end of Job more than the
beginning. (Homilist.)
Life of Job
This history gives us much information with respect to Divine
providence; warns us against uncharitably censuring our brethren
or judging of
their piety by outward circumstances; presents the strongest consolations to
the afflicted
the tempted
and the oppressed; and teaches us the benefit and
duty of relying upon God
even in the most disastrous circumstances. Job’s
piety was manifested in all his conduct. He did not forget the wants of the
poor
and the woes of the destitute. Instead of indulging bitter and malignant
passions
truth and justice ever directed him
and the fear of God Most High
restrained him from all profane wishes against others. His whole conduct was a living
comment on that solemn direction given many centuries after by the apostle Paul
to Timothy
“Charge them that are rich in this world
” etc. Satan accusing Job
of serving God only through mercenary principles
and from a desire of
promoting his own interests
the Lord permits this evil spirit to deprive him
of all his possessions
that his sincerity might thereby be tested. It is in
trials and spiritual contests that the reality and degree of the Christian
soldier’s graces are manifested. Satan was defeated
for “in all this did not
Job sin with his lips.” Surrounded by calamities
yet displaying the power of
Divine grace
the firmness of religious principle! (H. Kollock
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》