mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Job.v" n="v" next="Job.vi" prev="Job.iv" progress="2.50%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Job.v-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.v-p1">Job having warmly given vent to his passion, and
so broken the ice, his friends here come gravely to give vent to
their judgment upon his case, which perhaps they had communicated
to one another apart, compared notes upon it and talked it over
among themselves, and found they were all agreed in their verdict,
that Job's afflictions certainly proved him to be a hypocrite; but
they did not attack Job with this high charge till by the
expressions of his discontent and impatience, in which they thought
he reflected on God himself, he had confirmed them in the bad
opinion they had before conceived of him and his character. Now
they set upon him with great fear. The dispute begins, and it soon
becomes fierce. The opponents are Job's three friends. Job himself
is respondent. Elihu appears, first, as moderator, and at length
God himself gives judgment upon the controversy and the management
of it. The question in dispute is whether Job was an honest man or
no, the same question that was in dispute between God and Satan in
the first two chapters. Satan had yielded it, and durst not pretend
that his cursing his day was a constructive cursing of his God; no,
he cannot deny but that Job still holds fast his integrity; but
Job's friends will needs have it that, if Job were an honest man,
he would not have been thus sorely and thus tediously afflicted,
and therefore urge him to confess himself a hypocrite in the
profession he had made of religion: "No," says Job, "that I will
never do; I have offended God, but my heart, notwithstanding, has
been upright with him;" and still he holds fast the comfort of his
integrity. Eliphaz, who, it is likely, was the senior, or of the
best quality, begins with him in this chapter, in which, I. He
bespeaks a patient hearing, <scripRef id="Job.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.2" parsed="|Job|4|2|0|0" passage="Job 4:2">ver.
2</scripRef>. II. He compliments Job with an acknowledgment of the
eminence and usefulness of the profession he had made of religion,
<scripRef id="Job.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.3-Job.4.4" parsed="|Job|4|3|4|4" passage="Job 4:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>. III. He charges
him with hypocrisy in his profession, grounding his charge upon his
present troubles and his conduct under them, <scripRef id="Job.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.5-Job.4.6" parsed="|Job|4|5|4|6" passage="Job 4:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>. IV. To make good the inference,
he maintains that man's wickedness is that which always brings
God's judgments, <scripRef id="Job.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.7-Job.4.11" parsed="|Job|4|7|4|11" passage="Job 4:7-11">ver.
7-11</scripRef>. V. He corroborates his assertion by a vision which
he had, in which he was reminded of the incontestable purity and
justice of God, and the meanness, weakness, and sinfulness of man,
<scripRef id="Job.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.12-Job.4.21" parsed="|Job|4|12|4|21" passage="Job 4:12-21">ver. 12-21</scripRef>. By all this
he aims to bring down Job's spirit and to make him both penitent
and patient under his afflictions.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.v-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.4" parsed="|Job|4|0|0|0" passage="Job 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.v-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.1-Job.4.6" parsed="|Job|4|1|4|6" passage="Job 4:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.4.1-Job.4.6">
<h4 id="Job.v-p1.8">The Address of Eliphaz. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.v-p1.9">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.v-p2">1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
  2 <i>If</i> we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be
grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?   3
Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the
weak hands.   4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.   5 But now it is
come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art
troubled.   6 <i>Is</i> not <i>this</i> thy fear, thy
confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p3">In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p4">I. Eliphaz excuses the trouble he is now
about to give to Job by his discourse (<scripRef id="Job.v-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.2" parsed="|Job|4|2|0|0" passage="Job 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>If we assay a word with
thee,</i> offer a word of reproof and counsel, wilt thou be grieved
and take it ill?" We have reason to fear thou wilt; but there is no
remedy: "<i>Who can refrain from words?</i>" Observe, 1. With what
modesty he speaks of himself and his own attempt. He will not
undertake the management of the cause alone, but very humbly joins
his friends with him: "We will commune with thee." Those that plead
God's cause must be glad of help, lest it suffer through their
weakness. He will not promise much, but begs leave to assay or
attempt, and try if he could propose any thing that might be
pertinent, and suit Job's case. In difficult matters it becomes us
to pretend no further, but only to try what may be said or done.
Many excellent discourses have gone under the modest title of
<i>Essays.</i> 2. With what tenderness he speaks of Job, and his
present afflicted condition: "If we tell thee our mind, <i>wilt
thou be grieved?</i> Wilt thou take it ill? Wilt thou lay it to thy
own heart as thy affliction or to our charge as our fault? Shall we
be reckoned unkind and cruel if we deal plainly and faithfully with
thee? We desire we may not; we hope we shall not, and should be
sorry if that should be ill resented which is well intended." Note,
We ought to be afraid of grieving any, especially those that are
already in grief, lest we add affliction to the afflicted, as
David's enemies, <scripRef id="Job.v-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.69.26" parsed="|Ps|69|26|0|0" passage="Ps 69:26">Ps. lxix.
26</scripRef>. We should show ourselves backward to say that which
we foresee will be grievous, though ever so necessary. God himself,
though he afflicts justly, does not afflict willingly, <scripRef id="Job.v-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.33" parsed="|Lam|3|33|0|0" passage="La 3:33">Lam. iii. 33</scripRef>. 3. With what assurance
he speaks of the truth and pertinency of what he was about to say:
<i>Who can withhold himself from speaking?</i> Surely it was a
pious zeal for God's honour, and the spiritual welfare of Job, that
laid him under this necessity of speaking. "Who can forbear
speaking in vindication of God's honour, which we hear reproved, in
love to thy soul, which we see endangered?" Note, It is foolish
pity not to reprove our friends, even our friends in affliction,
for what they say or do amiss, only for fear of offending them.
Whether men take it well or ill, we must with wisdom and meekness
do our duty and discharge a good conscience.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p5">II. He exhibits a twofold charge against
Job.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p6">1. As to his particular conduct under this
affliction. He charges him with weakness and faint-heartedness, and
this article of his charge there was too much ground for, <scripRef id="Job.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.3-Job.4.5" parsed="|Job|4|3|4|5" passage="Job 4:3-5"><i>v.</i> 3-5</scripRef>. And here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p7">(1.) He takes notice of Job's former
serviceableness to the comfort of others. He owns that Job had
instructed many, not only his own children and servants, but many
others, his neighbours and friends, as many as fell within the
sphere of his activity. He did not only encourage those who were
teachers by office, and countenance them, and pay for the teaching
of those who were poor, but he did himself instruct many. Though a
great man, he did not think it below him (king Solomon was a
preacher); though a man of business, he found time to do it, went
among his neighbours, talked to them about their souls, and gave
them good counsel. O that this example of Job were imitated by our
great men! If he met with those who were ready to fall into sin, or
sink under their troubles, his words upheld them: a wonderful
dexterity he had in offering that which was proper to fortify
persons against temptations, to support them under their burdens,
and to comfort afflicted consciences. He had, and used, the tongue
of the learned, knew how to speak a word in season to those that
were weary, and employed himself much in that good work. With
suitable counsels and comforts he <i>strengthened the weak
hands</i> for work and service and the spiritual warfare, and the
feeble knees for bearing up the man in his journey and under his
load. It is not only our duty to <i>lift up our own hands that hang
down,</i> by quickening and encouraging ourselves in the way of
duty (<scripRef id="Job.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.12" parsed="|Heb|12|12|0|0" passage="Heb 12:12">Heb. xii. 12</scripRef>), but
we must also strengthen the weak hands of others, as there is
occasion, and do what we can to confirm their feeble knees, by
saying <i>to those that are of a fearful heart, Be strong,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.v-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.35.3-Isa.35.4" parsed="|Isa|35|3|35|4" passage="Isa 35:3,4">Isa. xxxv. 3, 4</scripRef>. The
expressions seem to be borrowed thence. Note, Those should abound
in spiritual charity. A good word, well and wisely spoken, may do
more good than perhaps we think of. But why does Eliphaz mention
this here? [1.] Perhaps he praises him thus for the good he had
done that he might make the intended reproof the more passable with
him. Just commendation is a good preface to a just reprehension,
will help to remove prejudices, and will show that the reproof
comes not from ill will. Paul praised the Corinthians before he
chided them, <scripRef id="Job.v-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.11.2" parsed="|1Cor|11|2|0|0" passage="1Co 11:2">1 Cor. xi. 2</scripRef>.
[2.] He remembers how Job had comforted others as a reason why he
might justly expect to be himself comforted; and yet, if conviction
was necessary in order to comfort, they must be excused if they
applied themselves to that first. The <i>Comforter shall
reprove,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:John.16.8" parsed="|John|16|8|0|0" passage="Joh 16:8">John xvi. 8</scripRef>.
[3.] He speaks this, perhaps, in a way of pity, lamenting that
through the extremity of his affliction he could not apply those
comforts to himself which he had formerly administered to others.
It is easier to give good counsel than to take it, to preach
meekness and patience than to practise them. <i>Facile omnes, cum
valemus, rectum consilium ægrotis damus—We all find it easy, when
in health, to give good advice to the sick.—Terent.</i> [4.] Most
think that he mentions it as an aggravation of his present
discontent, upbraiding him with his knowledge, and the good offices
he had done for others, as if he had said, "Thou that hast taught
others, why dost thou not teach thyself? Is not this an evidence of
thy hypocrisy, that thou hast prescribed that medicine to others
which thou wilt not now take thyself, and so contradictest thyself,
and actest against thy own known principles? Thou that teachest
another to faint, dost thou faint? <scripRef id="Job.v-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.21" parsed="|Rom|2|21|0|0" passage="Ro 2:21">Rom.
ii. 21</scripRef>. Physician, heal thyself." Those who have rebuked
others must expect to hear of it if they themselves become
obnoxious to rebuke.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p8">(2.) He upbraids him with his present
low-spiritedness, <scripRef id="Job.v-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.5" parsed="|Job|4|5|0|0" passage="Job 4:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. "<i>Now</i> that <i>it has come upon thee,</i> now
that it is thy turn to be afflicted, and the bitter cup that goes
round is put into thy hand, now that <i>it touches thee, thou
faintest, thou art troubled.</i>" Here, [1.] He makes too light of
Job's afflictions: "It <i>touches</i> thee." The very word that
Satan himself had used, <scripRef id="Job.v-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.1.11 Bible:Job.2.5" parsed="|Job|1|11|0|0;|Job|2|5|0|0" passage="Job 1:11,2:5"><i>ch.</i>
i. 11, ii. 5</scripRef>. Had Eliphaz felt but the one-half of Job's
affliction, he would have said, "It smites me, it wounds me;" but,
speaking of Job's afflictions, he makes a mere trifle of it: "It
touches thee and thou canst not bear to be touched." <i>Noli me
tangere—Touch me not.</i> [2.] He makes too much of Job's
resentments, and aggravates them: "Thou faintest, or thou art
beside thyself; thou ravest, and knowest not what thou sayest." Men
in deep distress must have grains of allowance, and a favourable
construction put upon what they say; when we make the worst of
every word we do not as we would be done by.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p9">2. As to his general character before this
affliction. He charges him with wickedness and false-heartedness,
and this article of his charge was utterly groundless and unjust.
How unkindly does he banter him, and upbraid him with the great
profession of religion he had made, as if it had all now come to
nothing and proved a sham (<scripRef id="Job.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.6" parsed="|Job|4|6|0|0" passage="Job 4:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): "<i>Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope,
and the uprightness of thy ways?</i> Does it not all appear now to
be a mere pretence? For, hadst thou been sincere in it, God would
not thus have afflicted thee, nor wouldst thou have behaved thus
under the affliction." This was the very thing Satan aimed at, to
prove Job a hypocrite, and disprove the character God had given of
him. When he could not himself do this to God, but he still saw and
said, <i>Job is perfect and upright,</i> then he endeavoured, by
his friends, to do it to Job himself, and to persuade him to
confess himself a hypocrite. Could he have gained that point he
would have triumphed. <i>Habes confitentem reum—Out of thy own
mouth will I condemn thee.</i> But, by the grace of God, Job was
enabled to hold fast his integrity, and would not bear false
witness against himself. Note, Those that pass rash and
uncharitable censures upon their brethren, and condemn them as
hypocrites, do Satan's work, and serve his interest, more than they
are aware of. I know not how it comes to pass that <scripRef id="Job.v-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.6" parsed="|Job|4|6|0|0" passage="Job 4:6">this verse</scripRef> is differently read in
several editions of our common English Bibles; the original, and
all the ancient versions, put <i>thy hope</i> before <i>the
uprightness of thy ways.</i> So does the Geneva, and most of the
editions of the last translation; but I find one of the first, in
1612, has it, <i>Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, the
uprightness of thy ways, and thy hope?</i> Both the Assembly's
Annotations and Mr. Pool's have that reading: and an edition in
1660 reads it, "<i>Is not thy fear thy confidence, and the
uprightness of thy ways thy hope?</i> Does it not appear now that
all the religion both of thy devotion and of thy conversation was
only in hope and confidence that thou shouldst grow rich by it? Was
it not all mercenary?" The very thing that Satan suggested. <i>Is
not thy religion thy hope, and are not thy ways thy confidence?</i>
so Mr. Broughton. Or, "Was it not? Didst thou not think that that
would be thy protection? But thou art deceived." Or, "Would it not
have been so? If it had been sincere, would it not have kept thee
from this despair?" It is true, <i>if thou faint in the day of
adversity, thy strength,</i> thy grace, <i>is small</i> (<scripRef id="Job.v-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.10" parsed="|Prov|24|10|0|0" passage="Pr 24:10">Prov. xxiv. 10</scripRef>); but it does not
therefore follow that thou hast no grace, no strength at all. A
man's character is not to be taken from a single act.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.v-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.7-Job.4.11" parsed="|Job|4|7|4|11" passage="Job 4:7-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.4.7-Job.4.11">
<p class="passage" id="Job.v-p10">7 Remember, I pray thee, who <i>ever</i>
perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
  8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow
wickedness, reap the same.   9 By the blast of God they
perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.  
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and
the teeth of the young lions, are broken.   11 The old lion
perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are
scattered abroad.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p11">Eliphaz here advances another argument to
prove Job a hypocrite, and will have not only his impatience under
his afflictions to be evidence against him but even his afflictions
themselves, being so very great and extraordinary, and there being
no prospect at all of his deliverance out of them. To strengthen
his argument he here lays down these two principles, which seem
plausible enough:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p12">I. That good men were never thus ruined.
For the proof of this he appeals to Job's own observation
(<scripRef id="Job.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.7" parsed="|Job|4|7|0|0" passage="Job 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "<i>Remember,
I pray thee;</i> recollect all that thou hast seen, heard, or read,
and give me an instance of any one that was innocent and righteous,
and yet perished as thou dost, and was cut off as thou art." If we
understand it of a final and eternal destruction, his principle is
true. None that are innocent and righteous perish for ever: it is
only a <i>man of sin</i> that is a <i>son of perdition,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.v-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.2.3" parsed="|2Thess|2|3|0|0" passage="2Th 2:3">2 Thess. ii. 3</scripRef>. But then it
is ill applied to Job; he did not thus perish, nor was he cut off:
a man is never undone till he is in hell. But, if we understand it
of any temporal calamity, his principle is not true. <i>The
righteous perish</i> (<scripRef id="Job.v-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.57.1" parsed="|Isa|57|1|0|0" passage="Isa 57:1">Isa. lvii.
1</scripRef>): <i>there is one event both to the righteous and to
the wicked</i> (<scripRef id="Job.v-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.2" parsed="|Eccl|9|2|0|0" passage="Ec 9:2">Eccl. ix. 2</scripRef>),
both in life and death; the great and certain difference is after
death. Even before Job's time (as early as it was) there were
instances sufficient to contradict this principle. Did not
righteous Abel <i>perish being innocent?</i> and was he not cut off
in the beginning of his days? Was not righteous Lot burnt out of
house and harbour, and forced to retire to a melancholy cave? Was
not righteous Jacob <i>a Syrian ready to perish?</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.26.5" parsed="|Deut|26|5|0|0" passage="De 26:5">Deut. xxvi. 5</scripRef>. Other such instances,
no doubt, there were, which are not on record.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p13">II. That wicked men were often thus ruined.
For the proof of this he vouches his own observation (<scripRef id="Job.v-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.8" parsed="|Job|4|8|0|0" passage="Job 4:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Even as I have
seen,</i> many a time, <i>those that plough iniquity, and sow
wickedness, reap accordingly; by the blast of God they perish,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.v-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.9" parsed="|Job|4|9|0|0" passage="Job 4:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. We have daily
instances of that; and therefore, since thou dost thus perish and
art consumed, we have reason to think that, whatever profession of
religion thou hast made, thou hast but ploughed iniquity and sown
wickedness. Even as I have seen in others, so do I see in
thee."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p14">1. He speaks of sinners in general, politic
busy sinners, that take pains in sin, for they plough iniquity; and
expect gain by sin, for they sow wickedness. Those that plough
plough in hope, but what is the issue? <i>They reap the same.</i>
They shall of the <i>flesh reap corruption</i> and ruin, <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.7-Gal.6.8" parsed="|Gal|6|7|6|8" passage="Ga 6:7,8">Gal. vi. 7, 8</scripRef>. The harvest will be
<i>a heap in the day of grief and desperate sorrow,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.11" parsed="|Isa|17|11|0|0" passage="Isa 17:11">Isa. xvii. 11</scripRef>. He shall reap <i>the
same,</i> that is, the proper product of that seedness. That which
the sinner sows, he <i>sows not that body that shall be,</i> but
God will give it a body, a body of death, <i>the end of those
things,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.21" parsed="|Rom|6|21|0|0" passage="Ro 6:21">Rom. vi. 21</scripRef>.
Some, by iniquity and wickedness, understand wrong and injury done
to others. Those who plough and sow them shall reap the same, that
is, they shall be paid in their own coin. Those who are troublesome
shall be troubled, <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.1.6 Bible:Josh.7.25" parsed="|2Thess|1|6|0|0;|Josh|7|25|0|0" passage="2Th 1:6,Jos 7:25">2 Thess. i.
6; Josh. vii. 25</scripRef>. The <i>spoilers shall be spoiled</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.v-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.1" parsed="|Isa|33|1|0|0" passage="Isa 33:1">Isa. xxxiii. 1</scripRef>), and those
that led captive shall <i>go captive,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.13.10" parsed="|Rev|13|10|0|0" passage="Re 13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</scripRef>. He further describes their
destruction (<scripRef id="Job.v-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.9" parsed="|Job|4|9|0|0" passage="Job 4:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>):
<i>By the blast of God they perish.</i> The projects they take so
much pains in are defeated; God cuts asunder the cords of those
ploughers, <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.129.3-Ps.129.4" parsed="|Ps|129|3|129|4" passage="Ps 129:3,4">Ps. cxxix. 3,
4</scripRef>. They themselves are destroyed, which is the just
punishment of their iniquity. <i>They perish,</i> that is, they are
destroyed utterly; <i>they are consumed,</i> that is, they are
destroyed gradually; and this by the blast and breath of God, that
is, (1.) By his wrath. His anger is the ruin of sinners, who are
therefore called <i>vessels of wrath,</i> and his breath is said to
<i>kindle Tophet,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|33|0|0" passage="Isa 30:33">Isa. xxx.
33</scripRef>. <i>Who knows the power of his anger?</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.90.11" parsed="|Ps|90|11|0|0" passage="Ps 90:11">Ps. xc. 11</scripRef>. (2.) By his word. He
speaks and it is done, easily and effectually. The Spirit of God,
in the word, consumes sinners; with that he slays them, <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.11" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.5" parsed="|Hos|6|5|0|0" passage="Ho 6:5">Hos. vi. 5</scripRef>. Saying and doing are not
two things with God. The man of sin is said to be consumed with the
<i>breath of Christ's mouth,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.12" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.2.8 Bible:Isa.11.4 Bible:Rev.19.21" parsed="|2Thess|2|8|0|0;|Isa|11|4|0|0;|Rev|19|21|0|0" passage="2Th 2:8,Isa 11:4,Re 19:21">2 Thess. ii. 8. Compare Isa. xi. 4;
Rev. xix. 21</scripRef>. Some think that in attributing the
destruction of sinners to the blast of God, and <i>the breath of
his nostrils,</i> he refers to the wind which blew the house down
upon Job's children, as if they were therefore <i>sinners above all
men because they suffered such things.</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p14.13" osisRef="Bible:Luke.13.2" parsed="|Luke|13|2|0|0" passage="Lu 13:2">Luke xiii. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p15">2. He speaks particularly of tyrants and
cruel oppressors, under the similitude of lions, <scripRef id="Job.v-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.10-Job.4.11" parsed="|Job|4|10|4|11" passage="Job 4:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. Observe, (1.) How he
describes their cruelty and oppression. The Hebrew tongue has five
several names for lions, and they are all here used to set forth
the terrible tearing power, fierceness, and cruelty, of proud
oppressors. They roar, and rend, and prey upon all about them, and
bring up their young ones to do so too, <scripRef id="Job.v-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.19.3" parsed="|Ezek|19|3|0|0" passage="Eze 19:3">Ezek. xix. 3</scripRef>. The devil is a roaring lion;
and they partake of his nature, and do his lusts. They are strong
as lions, and subtle (<scripRef id="Job.v-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.10.9 Bible:Ps.17.12" parsed="|Ps|10|9|0|0;|Ps|17|12|0|0" passage="Ps 10:9,17:12">Ps. x. 9;
xvii. 12</scripRef>); and, as far as they prevail, they lay all
desolate about them. (2.) How he describes their destruction, the
destruction both of their power and of their persons. They shall be
restrained from doing further hurt and reckoned with for the hurt
they have done. An effectual course shall be taken, [1.] That they
shall not terrify. The voice of their roaring shall be stopped.
[2.] That they shall not tear. God will disarm them, will take away
their power to do hurt: <i>The teeth of the young lions are
broken.</i> See <scripRef id="Job.v-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.7" parsed="|Ps|3|7|0|0" passage="Ps 3:7">Ps. iii. 7</scripRef>.
Thus shall the remainder of wrath be restrained. [3.] That they
shall not enrich themselves with the spoil of their neighbours.
Even <i>the old lion</i> is famished, and <i>perishes for lack of
prey.</i> Those that have surfeited on spoil and rapine are perhaps
reduced to such straits as to die of hunger at last. [4.] That they
shall not, as they promise themselves, leave a succession: <i>The
stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad,</i> to seek for food
themselves, which the old ones used to bring in for them, <scripRef id="Job.v-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Nah.2.12" parsed="|Nah|2|12|0|0" passage="Na 2:12">Nah. ii. 12</scripRef>. <i>The lion did tear in
pieces for his whelps,</i> but now they must shift for themselves.
Perhaps Eliphaz intended, in this, to reflect upon Job, as if he,
being the <i>greatest of all the men of the east,</i> had got his
estate by spoil and used his power in oppressing his neighbours,
but now his power and estate were gone, and his family was
scattered: if so, it was a pity that a man whom God praised should
be thus abused.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.v-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.12-Job.4.21" parsed="|Job|4|12|4|21" passage="Job 4:12-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.4.12-Job.4.21">
<p class="passage" id="Job.v-p16">12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and
mine ear received a little thereof.   13 In thoughts from the
visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,   14
Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
  15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh
stood up:   16 It stood still, but I could not discern the
form thereof: an image <i>was</i> before mine eyes, <i>there
was</i> silence, and I heard a voice, <i>saying,</i>   17
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure
than his maker?   18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants;
and his angels he charged with folly:   19 How much less
<i>in</i> them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation
<i>is</i> in the dust, <i>which</i> are crushed before the moth?
  20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish
for ever without any regarding <i>it.</i>   21 Doth not their
excellency <i>which is</i> in them go away? they die, even without
wisdom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p17">Eliphaz, having undertaken to convince Job
of the sin and folly of his discontent and impatience, here vouches
a vision he had been favoured with, which he relates to Job for his
conviction. What comes immediately from God all men will pay a
particular deference to, and Job, no doubt, as much as any. Some
think Eliphaz had this vision now <i>lately,</i> since he came to
Job, putting words into his mouth wherewith to reason with him; and
it would have been well if he had kept to the purport of this
vision, which would serve for a ground on which to reprove Job for
his murmuring, but not to condemn him as a hypocrite. Others think
he had it <i>formerly;</i> for God did, in this way, often
communicate his mind to the children of men in those first ages of
the world, <scripRef id="Job.v-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.15" parsed="|Job|33|15|0|0" passage="Job 33:15"><i>ch.</i> xxxiii.
15</scripRef>. Probably God had sent Eliphaz this messenger and
message some time or other, when he was himself in an unquiet
discontented frame, to calm and pacify him. Note, As we should
comfort others with that wherewith we have been comforted
(<scripRef id="Job.v-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.4" parsed="|2Cor|1|4|0|0" passage="2Co 1:4">2 Cor. i. 4</scripRef>), so we should
endeavour to convince others with that which has been powerful to
convince us. The people of God had not then any written word to
quote, and therefore God sometimes notified to them even common
truths by the extraordinary ways of revelation. We that have Bibles
have there (thanks be to God) a more sure word to depend upon than
even visions and voices, <scripRef id="Job.v-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.1.19" parsed="|2Pet|1|19|0|0" passage="2Pe 1:19">2 Pet. i.
19</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p18">I. The manner in which this message was
sent to Eliphaz, and the circumstances of the conveyance of it to
him. 1. It was <i>brought to him secretly,</i> or by stealth. Some
of the sweetest communion gracious souls have with God is in
secret, where no eye sees but that of him who is all eye. God has
ways of bringing conviction, counsel, and comfort, to his people,
unobserved by the world, by private whispers, as powerfully and
effectually as by the public ministry. <i>His secret is with
them,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.25.14" parsed="|Ps|25|14|0|0" passage="Ps 25:14">Ps. xxv. 14</scripRef>. As
the evil spirit often steals good words out of the heart (<scripRef id="Job.v-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.19" parsed="|Matt|13|19|0|0" passage="Mt 13:19">Matt. xiii. 19</scripRef>), so the good Spirit
sometimes steals good words into the heart, or ever we are aware.
2. <i>He received a little thereof,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.12" parsed="|Job|4|12|0|0" passage="Job 4:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. And it is but a little of
divine knowledge that the best receive in this world. We know
little in comparison with what is to be known, and with what we
shall know when we come to heaven. <i>How little a portion is heard
of God!</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.26.14" parsed="|Job|26|14|0|0" passage="Job 26:14"><i>ch.</i> xxvi.
14</scripRef>. <i>We know but in part,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.13.12" parsed="|1Cor|13|12|0|0" passage="1Co 13:12">1 Cor. xiii. 12</scripRef>. See his humility and
modesty. He pretends not to have understood it fully, but something
of it he perceived. 3. It was brought to him in the <i>visions of
the night</i> (<scripRef id="Job.v-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.13" parsed="|Ps|4|13|0|0" passage="Ps 4:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), when he had retired from the world and the hurry of
it, and all about him was composed and quiet. Note, The more we are
withdrawn from the world and the things of it the fitter we are for
communion with God. When we are <i>communing with our own hearts,
and are still</i> (<scripRef id="Job.v-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.4.4" parsed="|Ps|4|4|0|0" passage="Ps 4:4">Ps. iv.
4</scripRef>), then is a proper time for the Holy Spirit to commune
with us. When others were asleep Eliphaz was ready to receive this
visit from Heaven, and probably, like David, was <i>meditating upon
God in the night-watches;</i> in the midst of those good thoughts
this thing was brought to him. We should hear more from God if we
thought more of him; yet some are surprised with convictions in the
night, <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14-Job.33.15" parsed="|Job|33|14|33|15" passage="Job 33:14,15"><i>ch.</i> xxxiii. 14,
15</scripRef>. 4. It was prefaced with terrors: <i>Fear came upon
him, and trembling,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.14" parsed="|Job|4|14|0|0" passage="Job 4:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. It should seem, before he either heard or saw any
thing, he was seized with this trembling, which shook his bones,
and perhaps the bed under him. A holy awe and reverence of God and
his majesty being struck upon his spirit, he was thereby prepared
for a divine visit. Whom God intends to honour he first humbles and
lays low, and will have us all to serve him with holy fear, and to
rejoice with trembling.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p19">II. The messenger by whom it was sent—<i>a
spirit,</i> one of the good angels, who are employed not only as
the ministers of God's providence, but sometimes as the ministers
of his word. Concerning this apparition which Eliphaz saw we are
here told (<scripRef id="Job.v-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.15-Job.4.16" parsed="|Job|4|15|4|16" passage="Job 4:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15,
16</scripRef>), 1. That it was real, and not a dream, not a fancy.
<i>An image</i> was before his eyes; he plainly saw it; at first it
passed and repassed before his face, moved up and down, but at
length it <i>stood still</i> to speak to him. If some have been so
knavish as to impose false visions on others, and some so foolish
as to be themselves imposed upon, it does not therefore follow but
that there may have been apparitions of spirits, both good and bad.
2. That it was indistinct, and somewhat confused. He <i>could not
discern the form thereof,</i> so as to frame any exact idea of it
in his own mind, much less to give a description of it. His
conscience was to be awakened and informed, not his curiosity
gratified. We know little of spirits; we are not capable of knowing
much of them, nor is it fit that we should: all in good time; we
must shortly remove to the world of spirits, and shall then be
better acquainted with them. 3. That it puts him into a great
consternation, so that his hair stood on end. Ever since man sinned
it has been terrible to him to receive an express from heaven, as
conscious to himself that he can expect no good tidings thence;
apparitions therefore, even of good spirits, have always made deep
impressions of fear, even upon good men. How well it is for us that
God sends us his messages, not by spirits, but by men like
ourselves, <i>whose terror shall not make us afraid!</i> See
<scripRef id="Job.v-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.7.28 Bible:Dan.10.8-Dan.10.9" parsed="|Dan|7|28|0|0;|Dan|10|8|10|9" passage="Da 7:28,10:8,9">Dan. vii. 28; x. 8,
9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p20">III. The message itself. Before it was
delivered <i>there was silence,</i> profound silence, <scripRef id="Job.v-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.16" parsed="|Job|4|16|0|0" passage="Job 4:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. When we are to speak
either from God or to him it becomes us to address ourselves to it
with a solemn pause, and so to set bounds about the mount on which
God is to come down, and not be hasty to utter any thing. It was in
a still small voice that the message was delivered, and this was it
(<scripRef id="Job.v-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.17" parsed="|Job|4|17|0|0" passage="Job 4:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>Shall
mortal man be more just than God,</i> the immortal God? <i>Shall a
man be</i> thought to be, or pretend to be, <i>more pure than his
Maker?</i> Away with such a thought!" 1. Some think that Eliphaz
aims hereby to prove that Job's great afflictions were a certain
evidence of his being a wicked man. A mortal man would be thought
unjust and very impure if he should thus correct and punish a
servant or subject, unless he had been guilty of some very great
crime: "If therefore there were not some great crimes for which God
thus punishes thee, man would be more just than God, which is not
to be imagined." 2. I rather think it is only a reproof of Job's
murmuring and discontent: "Shall a man pretend to be more just and
pure than God? more truly to understand, and more strictly to
observe, the rules and laws of equity than God? Shall <i>Enosh,</i>
mortal and miserable man, be so insolent; nay, shall <i>Geber,</i>
the strongest and most eminent man, man at his best estate, pretend
to compare with God, or stand in competition with him?" Note, It is
most impious and absurd to think either others or ourselves more
just and pure than God. Those that quarrel and find fault with the
directions of the divine law, the dispensations of the divine
grace, or the disposals of the divine providence, make themselves
more just and pure than God; and those who thus <i>reprove God, let
them answer it.</i> What! sinful man! (for he would not have been
mortal if he had not been sinful) short-sighted man! Shall he
pretend to be more just, more pure, than God, who, being his Maker,
is his Lord and owner? Shall the clay contend with the potter? What
justice and purity there is in man, God is the author of it, and
therefore is himself more just and pure. See <scripRef id="Job.v-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.94.9-Ps.94.10" parsed="|Ps|94|9|94|10" passage="Ps 94:9,10">Ps. xciv. 9, 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p21">IV. The comment which Eliphaz makes upon
this, for so it seems to be; yet some take all the <scripRef id="Job.v-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.18-Job.4.21" parsed="|Job|4|18|4|21" passage="Job 4:18-21">following verses</scripRef> to be spoken in
vision. It comes all to one.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p22">1. He shows how little the angels
themselves are in comparison with God, <scripRef id="Job.v-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.18" parsed="|Job|4|18|0|0" passage="Job 4:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Angels are God's servants,
waiting servants, working servants; they are his ministers
(<scripRef id="Job.v-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.4" parsed="|Ps|104|4|0|0" passage="Ps 104:4">Ps. civ. 4</scripRef>); bright and
blessed beings they are, but God neither needs them nor is
benefited by them and is himself infinitely above them, and
therefore, (1.) He puts no trust in them, did not repose a
confidence in them, as we do in those we cannot live without. There
is no service in which he employs them but, if he pleased, he could
have it done as well without them. He never made them his
confidants, or of his cabinet-council, <scripRef id="Job.v-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.36" parsed="|Matt|24|36|0|0" passage="Mt 24:36">Matt. xxiv. 36</scripRef>. He does not leave his
business wholly to them, but <i>his own eyes run to and fro through
the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.16.9" parsed="|2Chr|16|9|0|0" passage="2Ch 16:9">2 Chron. xvi.
9</scripRef>. See this phrase, <scripRef id="Job.v-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.11" parsed="|Job|39|11|0|0" passage="Job 39:11"><i>ch.</i> xxxix. 11</scripRef>. Some give this sense
of it: "So mutable is even the angelical nature that God would not
trust angels with their own integrity; if he had, they would all
have done as some did, left their first estate; but he saw it
necessary to give them supernatural grace to confirm them." (2.) He
charges them with folly, vanity, weakness, infirmity, and
imperfection, in comparison with himself. If the world were left to
the government of the angels, and they were trusted with the sole
management of affairs, they would take false steps, and everything
would not be done for the best, as now it is. Angels are
intelligences, but finite ones. Though not chargeable with
iniquity, yet with imprudence. This last clause is variously
rendered by the critics. I think it would bear this reading,
repeating the negation, which is very common: <i>He will put no
trust in his saints; nor will he glory in his angels (in angelis
suis non ponet gloriationem) or make his boast</i> of them, as if
their praises, or services, added any thing to him: it is his glory
that he is infinitely happy without them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p23">2. Thence he infers how much less man is,
how much less to be trusted in or gloried in. If there is such a
distance between God and angels, what is there between God and man!
See how man is represented here in his meanness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p24">(1.) Look upon man in his life, and he is
very mean, <scripRef id="Job.v-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.19" parsed="|Job|4|19|0|0" passage="Job 4:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>.
Take man in his best estate, and he is a very despicable creature
in comparison with the holy angels, though honourable if compared
with the brutes. It is true, angels are spirits, and the souls of
men are spirits; but, [1.] Angels are pure spirits; the souls of
men <i>dwell in houses of clay:</i> such the bodies of men are.
Angels are free; human souls are housed, and the body is a cloud, a
clog, to it; it is its cage; it is its prison. It is a house of
clay, mean and mouldering; an earthen vessel, soon broken, as it
was first formed, according to the good pleasure of the potter. It
is a cottage, not a house of cedar or a house of ivory, but of
clay, which would soon be in ruins if not kept in constant repair.
[2.] Angels are fixed, but the very <i>foundation</i> of that house
of clay in which man dwells <i>is in the dust.</i> A house of clay,
if built upon a rock, might stand long; but, if founded in the
dust, the uncertainty of the foundation will hasten its fall, and
it will sink with its own weight. As man was made out of the earth,
so he is maintained and supported by that which cometh out of the
earth. Take away that, and his body returns to its earth. We stand
but upon the dust; some have a higher heap of dust to stand upon
than others, but still it is the earth that stays us up and will
shortly swallow us up. [3.] Angels are immortal, but man is soon
crushed; the <i>earthly house of his tabernacle is dissolved;</i>
he <i>dies and wastes away, is crushed like a moth</i> between
one's fingers, as easily, as quickly; one may almost as soon kill a
man as kill a moth. A little thing will destroy his life. He is
<i>crushed before the face of the moth,</i> so the word is. If some
lingering distemper, which consumes like a moth, be commissioned to
destroy him, he can no more resist it than he can resist an acute
distemper, which comes roaring upon him like a lion. See <scripRef id="Job.v-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.12-Hos.5.14" parsed="|Hos|5|12|5|14" passage="Ho 5:12-14">Hos. v. 12-14</scripRef>. Is such a creature
as this to be trusted in, or can any service be expected from him
by that God who puts no trust in angels themselves?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.v-p25">(2.) Look upon him in his death, and he
appears yet more despicable, and unfit to be trusted. Men are
mortal and dying, <scripRef id="Job.v-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.20-Job.4.21" parsed="|Job|4|20|4|21" passage="Job 4:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20,
21</scripRef>. [1.] In death <i>they are destroyed,</i> and
<i>perish for ever,</i> as to this world; it is the final period of
their lives, and all the employments and enjoyments here; their
place will know them no more. [2.] They are dying daily, and
continually wasting: <i>Destroyed from morning to evening.</i>
Death is still working in us, like a mole digging our grave at each
remove, and we so continually lie exposed that we are killed all
the day long. [3.] Their life is short, and in a little time they
are cut off. It lasts perhaps but from morning to evening. It is
but a day (so some understand it); their birth and death are but
the sun-rise and sun-set of the same day. [4.] In death all their
excellency passes away; beauty, strength, learning, not only cannot
secure them from death, but must die with them, nor shall their
pomp, their wealth, or power, descend after them. [5.] Their wisdom
cannot save them from death: <i>They die without wisdom,</i> die
for want of wisdom, by their own foolish management of themselves,
digging their graves with their own teeth. [6.] It is so common a
thing that nobody heeds it, nor takes any notice of it: <i>They
perish without any regarding it,</i> or laying it to heart. The
deaths of others are much the subject of common talk, but little
the subject of serious thought. Some think the eternal damnation of
sinners is here spoken of, as well as their temporal death: <i>They
are destroyed, or broken to pieces, by death, from morning to
evening; and, if they repent not, they perish for ever</i> (so some
read it), <scripRef id="Job.v-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.4.20" parsed="|Job|4|20|0|0" passage="Job 4:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>.
They perish for ever because they regard not God and their duty;
they <i>consider not their latter end,</i> <scripRef id="Job.v-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.1.9" parsed="|Lam|1|9|0|0" passage="La 1:9">Lam. i. 9</scripRef>. They have no excellency but that
which death takes away, and they die, they die the second death,
for want of wisdom to lay hold on eternal life. Shall such a mean,
weak, foolish, sinful, dying creature as this pretend to be <i>more
just than God and more pure than his Maker?</i> No, instead of
quarrelling with his afflictions, let him wonder that he is out of
hell.</p>
</div></div2>