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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O B</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Job's friends are like Job's messengers: the latter followed one
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another close with evil tidings, the former followed him with harsh
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censures: both, unawares, served Satan's design; these to drive him
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from his integrity, those to drive him from the comfort of it. Eliphaz
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did not reply to what Job had said in answer to him, but left it to
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Bildad, whom he knew to be of the same mind with himself in this
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affair. Those are not the wisest of the company, but the weakest
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rather, who covet to have all the talk. Let others speak in their turn,
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and let the first keep silence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:30,31">1 Cor. xiv. 30, 31</A>.
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Eliphaz had undertaken to show that because Job was sorely afflicted he
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was certainly a wicked man. Bildad is much of the same mind, and will
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conclude Job a wicked man unless God do speedily appear for his relief.
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In this chapter he endeavours to convince Job,
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I. That he had spoken too passionately,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:2">ver. 2</A>.
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II. That he and his children had suffered justly,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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III. That, if he were a true penitent, God would soon turn his
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captivity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>.
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IV. That it was a usual thing for Providence to extinguish the joys and
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hopes of wicked men as his were extinguished; and therefore that they
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had reason to suspect him for a hypocrite,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:8-19">ver. 8-19</A>.
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V. That they would be abundantly confirmed in their suspicion unless
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God did speedily appear for his relief,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:20-22">ver. 20-22</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Address of Bildad.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
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2 How long wilt thou speak these <I>things?</I> and <I>how long shall</I>
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the words of thy mouth <I>be like</I> a strong wind?
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3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert
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justice?
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4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast
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them away for their transgression;
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5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy
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supplication to the Almighty;
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6 If thou <I>wert</I> pure and upright; surely now he would awake
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for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness
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prosperous.
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7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should
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greatly increase.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. Bildad reproves Job for what he had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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checks his passion, but perhaps (as is too common) with greater
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passion. We thought Job spoke a great deal of good sense and much to
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the purpose, and that he had reason and right on his side; but Bildad,
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like an eager angry disputant, turns it all off with this, <I>How long
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wilt thou speak these things?</I> taking it for granted that Eliphaz
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had said enough to silence him, and that therefore all he said was
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impertinent. Thus (as Caryl observes) reproofs are often grounded upon
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mistakes. Men's meaning is not taken aright, and then they are gravely
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rebuked as if they were evil-doers. Bildad compares Job's discourse to
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a <I>strong wind.</I> Job had excused himself with this, that his
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speeches were but <I>as wind</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+6:26"><I>ch.</I> vi. 26</A>),
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and therefore they should not make such ado about them: "Yea, but"
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(says Bildad) "they are as strong wind, blustering and threatening,
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boisterous and dangerous, and therefore we are concerned to fence
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against them."</P>
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<P>
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II. He justifies God in what he had done. This he had no occasion to do
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at this time (for Job did not condemn God, as he would have it thought
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he did), or he might at least have done it without reflecting upon
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Job's children, as he does here. Could he not be an advocate for God
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but he must be an accuser of the brethren?
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1. He is right in general, that <I>God doth not pervert judgment,</I>
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nor ever go contrary to any settled rule of justice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Far be it from him that he should and from us that we should suspect
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him. He never oppresses the innocent, nor lays a greater load on the
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guilty than they deserve. He is God, the Judge; and shall not the Judge
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of all the earth do right?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:25">Gen. xviii. 25</A>.
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If there should be unrighteousness with God, <I>how should he judge the
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world?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+3:5,6">Rom. iii. 5, 6</A>.
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He is <I>Almighty, Shaddai--all sufficient.</I> Men pervert justice
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sometimes for fear of the power of others (but God is Almighty, and
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stands in awe of none), sometimes to obtain the favour of others; but
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God is all-sufficient, and cannot be benefited by the favour of any. It
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is man's weakness and impotency that he often is unjust; it is God's
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omnipotence that he cannot be so.
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2. Yet he is not fair and candid in the application. He takes it for
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granted that Job's children (the death of whom was one of the greatest
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of his afflictions) had been guilty of some notorious wickedness, and
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that the unhappy circumstances of their death were sufficient evidence
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that they were sinners above all the children of the east,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Job readily owned that God did not pervert judgment; and yet it did not
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therefore follow either that his children were cast-aways or that they
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died for some great transgression. It is true that we and our children
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have sinned against God, and we ought to justify him in all he brings
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upon us and ours; but extraordinary afflictions are not always the
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punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of
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extraordinary graces; and, in our judgment of another's case (unless
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the contrary appears), we ought to take the more favourable side, as
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our Saviour directs,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+13:2-4">Luke xiii. 2-4</A>.
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Here Bildad missed it.</P>
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<P>
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III. He put Job in hope that, if he were indeed upright, as he said he
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was, he should yet see a good issue of his present troubles:
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"<I>Although thy children have sinned against him, and are cast away in
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their transgression</I> (they have died in their own sin), yet if thou
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be pure and upright thyself, and as an evidence of that wilt now seek
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unto God and submit to him, all shall be well yet,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>.
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This may be taken two ways, either,
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1. As designed to prove Job a hypocrite and a wicked man, though not by
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the greatness, yet the by the continuance, of his afflictions. "When
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thou wast impoverished, and thy children were killed, if thou hadst
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been pure and upright, and approved thyself so in the trial, God would
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before now have returned in mercy to thee and comforted thee according
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to the time of thy affliction; but, because he does not so, we have
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reason to conclude thou art not so <I>pure and upright</I> as thou
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pretendest to be. If thou hadst conducted thyself well under the former
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affliction, thou wouldst not have been struck with the latter." Herein
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Bildad was not in the right; for a good man may be afflicted for his
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trial, not only very sorely, but very long, and yet, if for life, it is
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in comparison with eternity but for a moment. But, since Bildad put it
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to this issue, God was pleased to join issue with him, and proved his
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servant Job an honest man by Bildad's own argument; for, soon after, he
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blessed his latter end more than his beginning. Or,
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2. As designed to direct and encourage Job, that he might not thus run
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himself into despair, and give up all for gone; there might yet be hope
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if he would take the right course. I am apt to think Bildad here
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intended to condemn Job, yet would be thought to counsel and comfort
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him.
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(1.) He gives him good counsel, yet perhaps not expecting he would take
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it, the same that Eliphaz had given him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:8"><I>ch.</I> v. 8</A>),
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to <I>seek unto God,</I> and that <I>betimes</I> (that is, speedily and
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seriously), and not to be dilatory and trifling in his return and
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repentance. He advises him not to complain, but to petition, to
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<I>make</I> his <I>supplication to the Almighty</I> with humility and
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faith, and to see that there was (what he feared had hitherto been
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wanting) sincerity in his heart ("thou must be <I>pure and
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upright</I>") and honesty in his house--"that must be <I>the habitation
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of thy righteousness,</I> and not filled with ill-gotten goods, else
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God will not hear thy prayers,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:18">Ps. lxvi. 18</A>.
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It is only the prayer of the upright that is the acceptable and
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prevailing prayer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+15:8">Prov. xv. 8</A>.
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(2.) He gives him good hopes that he shall yet again see good days,
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secretly suspecting, however, that he was not qualified to see them. He
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assures him that, if he would be early in seeking God, God would awake
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for his relief, would remember him and return to him, though now he
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seemed to forget him and forsake him--that if his habitation were
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righteous it should be prosperity. When we return to God in a way of
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duty we have reason to hope that he will return to us in a way of
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mercy. Let not Job object that he had so little left to being the world
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with again that it was impossible he should ever prosper as he had
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done; no, "Though thy beginning should be ever so small, a little meal
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in the barrel and a little oil in the cruse, God's blessing shall
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multiply that to a great increase." This is God's way of enriching the
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souls of his people with graces and comforts, not <I>per saltum--as by
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a bound,</I> but <I>per gradum--step by step.</I> The beginning is
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small, but the progress is to perfection. Dawning light grows to
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noonday, a grain of mustard seed to a great tree. Let us not therefore
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despise the day of small things, but hope for the day of great
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things.</P>
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<A NAME="Job8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job8_19"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare
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thyself to the search of their fathers:
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9 (For we <I>are but of</I> yesterday, and know nothing, because our
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days upon earth <I>are</I> a shadow:)
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10 Shall not they teach thee, <I>and</I> tell thee, and utter words
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out of their heart?
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11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without
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water?
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12 Whilst it <I>is</I> yet in his greenness, <I>and</I> not cut down, it
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withereth before any <I>other</I> herb.
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13 So <I>are</I> the paths of all that forget God; and the
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hypocrite's hope shall perish:
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14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust <I>shall be</I> a
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spider's web.
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15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he
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shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
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16 He <I>is</I> green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth
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in his garden.
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17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, <I>and</I> seeth the place
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of stones.
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18 If he destroy him from his place, then <I>it</I> shall deny him,
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<I>saying,</I> I have not seen thee.
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19 Behold, this <I>is</I> the joy of his way, and out of the earth
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shall others grow.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Bildad here discourses very well on the sad catastrophe of hypocrites
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and evil-doers and the fatal period of all their hopes and joys. He
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will not be so bold as to say with Eliphaz that none that were
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righteous were ever cut off thus
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:7"><I>ch.</I> iv. 7</A>);
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yet he takes it for granted that God, in the course of his providence,
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does ordinarily bring wicked men, who seemed pious and were prosperous,
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to shame and ruin in this world, and that, by making their prosperity
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short, he discovers their piety to be counterfeit. Whether this will
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certainly prove that all who are thus ruined must be concluded to have
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been hypocrites he will not say, but rather suspect, and thinks the
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application is easy.</P>
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<P>
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I. He proves this truth, of the certain destruction of all the hopes
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and joys of hypocrites, by an appeal to antiquity and the concurring
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sentiment and observation of all wise and good men; and an undoubted
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truth it is, if we take in the other world, that, if not in this life,
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yet in the life to come, hypocrites will be deprived of all their
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trusts and all their triumphs: whether Bildad so meant or no, we must
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so take it. Let us observe the method of his proof,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. He insists not on his own judgment and that of his companions: <I>We
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are but of yesterday, and know nothing,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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He perceived that Job had no opinion of their abilities, but thought
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they knew little. "We will own," says Bildad, "that we know nothing,
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are as ready to confess our ignorance as thou art to condemn it; for we
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are but of yesterday in comparison, <I>and our days upon earth are</I>
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short and transient, and hastening away as <I>a shadow.</I> And hence,"
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(1.) "We are not so near the fountain-head of divine revelation" (which
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then for aught that appears, was conveyed by tradition) "as the former
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age was; and therefore we must enquire what they said and recount what
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we have been told of their sentiments." Blessed be God, now that we
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have the word of God in writing, and are directed to search that, we
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need not <I>enquire of the former age,</I> nor <I>prepare ourselves to
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the search of their fathers;</I> for, though we ourselves are but of
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yesterday, the word of God in the scripture is as nigh to us as it was
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to them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:8">Rom. x. 8</A>),
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and it is the <I>more sure word of prophecy, to which we must take
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heed.</I> If we study and keep God's precepts, we may by them
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<I>understand more than the ancients,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:99,100">Ps. cxix. 99, 100</A>.
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(2.) "We do not live so long as those of the former age did, to make
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observations upon the methods of divine providence, and therefore
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cannot be such competent judges as they in a cause of this nature."
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Note, The shortness of our lives is a great hindrance to the
|
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improvement of our knowledge, and so are the frailty and weakness of
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our bodies. <I>Vita brevis, ars longa--life is short, the progress of
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art boundless.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. He refers to the testimony of the ancients and to the knowledge
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|
which Job himself had of their sentiments. "Do thou <I>enquire of the
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former age,</I> and let them tell thee, not only their own judgment in
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|
this matter, but the judgment also of <I>their fathers,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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<I>They will teach thee,</I> and inform thee
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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that all along, in their time, the judgments of God followed wicked
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men. This they will <I>utter out of their hearts,</I> that is, as that
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which they firmly believe themselves, which they are greatly affected
|
|
with and desirous to acquaint and affect others with." Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) For the right understanding of divine Providence, and the
|
|
unfolding of the difficulties of it, it will be of use to compare the
|
|
observations and experiences of former ages with the events of our own
|
|
day; and, in order thereto, to consult history, especially the sacred
|
|
history, which is the most ancient, infallibly true, and written
|
|
designedly for our learning.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Those that would fetch knowledge from the former ages must search
|
|
diligently, <I>prepare for the search,</I> and take pains for the
|
|
search.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Those words are most likely to reach to the hearts of the learners
|
|
that come from the hearts of the teachers. <I>Those shall teach
|
|
thee</I> best that <I>utter words out of their heart,</I> that speak by
|
|
experience, and not by rote, of spiritual and divine things. The
|
|
learned bishop Patrick suggests that Bildad being a Shuhite, descended
|
|
from Shuah one of Abraham's sons by Keturah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:2">Gen. xxv. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
in this appeal which he makes to history he has a particular respect to
|
|
the rewards which the blessing of God secured to the posterity of
|
|
faithful Abraham (who hitherto, and long after, continued in his
|
|
religion) and to the extirpation of those eastern people, neighbours to
|
|
Job (in whose country they were settled), for their wickedness, whence
|
|
he infers that it is God's usual way to prosper the just and root out
|
|
the wicked, though for a while they may flourish.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He illustrates this truth by some similitudes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The hopes and joys of the hypocrite are here compared to a rush or
|
|
flag,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:11-13"><I>v.</I> 11-13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) It grows up out of the mire and water. The hypocrite cannot gain
|
|
his hope without some false rotten ground or other out of which to
|
|
raise it, and with which to support it and keep it alive, any more than
|
|
the rush can grow without mire. He grounds it on his worldly
|
|
prosperity, the plausible profession he makes of religion, the good
|
|
opinion of his neighbours, and his own good conceit of himself, which
|
|
are no solid foundation on which to build his confidence. It is all but
|
|
mire and water; and the hope that grows out of it is but rush and flag.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It may look green and gay for a while (the rush outgrows the
|
|
grass), but it is light and hollow, and empty, and good for nothing. It
|
|
is green for show, but of no use.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It withers presently, <I>before any other herb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even <I>while it is in its greenness</I> it is dried away and gone in a
|
|
little time. Note, The best state of hypocrites and evil-doers borders
|
|
upon withering; even when it is green it is going. The grass is <I>cut
|
|
down and withers</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:6">Ps. xc. 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
but the rush is <I>not cut down</I> and yet <I>withers, withers before
|
|
it grows up</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+129:6">Ps. cxxix. 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
as it has no use, so it has no continuance. <I>So are the paths of all
|
|
that forget God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
they take the same way that the rush does, <I>for the hypocrite's hope
|
|
shall perish.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of men's hypocrisy, and of
|
|
the vain hopes with which they flatter and deceive themselves in their
|
|
hypocrisy. Men would not be hypocrites if they did not forget that the
|
|
God with whom they have to do searches the heart and requires truth
|
|
there, that he is a Spirit and has his eye on our spirits; and
|
|
hypocrites would have no hope if they did not forget that God is
|
|
righteous, and will not be mocked with the torn and the lame.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The hope of hypocrites is a great cheat upon themselves, and,
|
|
though it may flourish for a while, it will certainly perish at last,
|
|
and they with it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They are here compared <I>to a spider's web,</I> or <I>a spider's
|
|
house</I> (as it is in the margin), a cobweb,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The hope of the hypocrite,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Is woven out of his own bowels; it is the creature of his own
|
|
fancy, and arises merely from a conceit of his own merit and
|
|
sufficiency. There is a great deal of difference between the work of
|
|
the bee and that of the spider. A diligent Christian, like the
|
|
laborious bee, fetches in all his comfort from the heavenly dews of
|
|
God's word; but the hypocrite, like the subtle spider, weaves his out
|
|
of a false hypothesis of his own concerning God, as if he were
|
|
altogether such a one as himself.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He is very fond of it, as the spider of her web; pleases himself
|
|
with it, wraps himself in it, calls it his house, <I>leans upon it,</I>
|
|
and <I>holds it fast.</I> It is said of the spider that <I>she takes
|
|
hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:28">Prov. xxx. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
So does a carnal worldling hug himself in the fulness and firmness of
|
|
his outward prosperity; he prides himself in that house as his palace,
|
|
fortifies himself in it as his castle, and makes use of it as the
|
|
spider of her web, to ensnare those he has a mind to prey upon. So does
|
|
a formal professor; he flatters himself in his own eyes, doubts not of
|
|
his salvation, is secure of heaven, and cheats the world with his vain
|
|
confidences.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It will easily and certainly be swept away, as the cobweb with the
|
|
besom, when God shall come to purge his house. The prosperity of
|
|
worldly people will fail them when they expect to find safety and
|
|
happiness in it. They seek to hold fast their estates, but God is
|
|
plucking them out of their hands; and whose shall all those things be,
|
|
which they have provided? or what the better they will be for them? The
|
|
confidences of hypocrites will fail them. <I>I tell you, I know you
|
|
not.</I> The house built on the sand will fall in the storm, when the
|
|
builder most needs it and promised himself the benefit of it. <I>When a
|
|
wicked man dies his expectation perishes.</I> The ground of his hopes
|
|
will prove false; he will be disappointed of the thing he hoped for,
|
|
and his foolish hope with which he buoyed himself up will be turned
|
|
into endless despair; and thus his hope will be cut off, his web, that
|
|
refuge of lies, swept away, and he crushed in it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The hypocrite is here compared to a flourishing and well-rooted
|
|
tree, which, though it do not wither of itself, yet will easily be cut
|
|
down and its place no it no more. The secure and prosperous sinner may
|
|
think himself wronged when he is compared to a rush and a flag; he
|
|
thinks he has a better root. "We will allow him his conceit," says
|
|
Bildad, "and give him all the advantage he can desire, and bring him in
|
|
suddenly cut off." He is here represented as Nebuchadnezzar was in his
|
|
own dream
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:10">Dan. iv. 10</A>)
|
|
|
|
by a great tree.
|
|
|
|
(1.) See this tree fair and flourishing
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
like a <I>green bay-tree</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:35">Ps. xxxvii. 35</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>green before the sun,</I> it keeps its greenness in defiance of the
|
|
scorching sun-beams, and <I>his branch shoots forth</I> under the
|
|
protection of his garden-wall and with the benefit of his garden-soil.
|
|
See it fixed, and taking deep root, never likely to be overthrown by
|
|
stormy winds, <I>for his roots are interwoven with the stones</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
it grows in firm ground, not, as the rush, of mire and water. Thus does
|
|
a wicked man, when he prospers in the world, think himself secure; his
|
|
wealth is a <I>high wall in his own conceit.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) See this tree felled and forgotten notwithstanding, <I>destroyed
|
|
from his place</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so entirely extirpated that there shall remain no sign or token
|
|
where it grew. The very place say, <I>I have not seen thee;</I> and the
|
|
standers by shall say the same. <I>I sought him, but he could not be
|
|
found,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:36">Ps. xxxvi. 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
He made a great show and a great noise for a time, but he is gone of a
|
|
sudden, and <I>neither root nor branch is left him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+4:1">Mal. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>This is the joy</I> (that is, this is the end and conclusion) <I>of
|
|
the wicked man's way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>);
|
|
|
|
this is that which all his joy comes to. <I>The way of the ungodly
|
|
shall perish,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+1:6">Ps. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
His hope, he thought, would in the issue be turned into joy; but this
|
|
is the issue, this is the joy. <I>The harvest shall be a heap in the
|
|
day of grief and of desperate sorrow,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+17:11">Isa. xvii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is the best of it; and what then is the worst of it? But shall he
|
|
not leave a family behind him to enjoy what he has? No, <I>out of the
|
|
earth</I> (not out of his roots) <I>shall others grow,</I> that are
|
|
nothing akin to him, and shall fill up his place, and rule over that
|
|
for which he labored. Others (that is, others of the same spirit and
|
|
disposition) shall grow up in his place, and be as secure as ever he
|
|
was, not warned by his fall. The way of worldlings is their folly, and
|
|
yet there is a race of those that <I>approve their sayings,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:13">Ps. xlix. 13</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job8_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job8_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job8_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect <I>man,</I> neither will
|
|
he help the evil doers:
|
|
21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with
|
|
rejoicing.
|
|
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the
|
|
dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Bildad here, in the close of his discourse, sums up what he has to say
|
|
in a few words, setting before Job life and death, the blessing and the
|
|
curse, assuring him that as he was so he should fare, and therefore
|
|
they might conclude that as he fared so he was.
|
|
|
|
1. On the one hand, if he were a perfect upright man, God would not
|
|
<I>cast him away,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though now he seemed forsaken of God, he would yet return to him, and
|
|
by degrees would <I>turn his mourning into dancing</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:11">Ps. xxx. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
and comforts should flow in upon him so plentifully that his
|
|
<I>mouth</I> should be <I>filled with laughing,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
So affecting should the happy change be,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+126:2">Ps. cxxvi. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that loved him would rejoice with him; but those that hated him,
|
|
and had triumphed in his fall, would be ashamed of their insolence,
|
|
when they should see him restored to his former prosperity. Now it is
|
|
true that <I>God will not cast away an upright man;</I> he may be cast
|
|
down for a time, but he shall not be cast away for ever. It is true
|
|
that, if not in this world, yet in another, the mouth of the righteous
|
|
shall be <I>filled with rejoicing.</I> Though their sun should set
|
|
under a cloud, yet it shall rise again clear, never more to be clouded;
|
|
though they go mourning to the grave, that shall not hinder their
|
|
entrance into the joy of their Lord. It is true that the enemies of the
|
|
saints will be <I>clothed with shame</I> when they see them crowned
|
|
with honour. But it does not therefore follow that, if Job were not
|
|
perfectly restore to his former prosperity, he would forfeit the
|
|
character of a perfect man.
|
|
|
|
2. On the other hand, if he were a wicked man and an evil-doer, God
|
|
would not help him, but leave him to perish in his present distresses
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and his <I>dwelling-place</I> should <I>come to nought,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
And here also it is true that God <I>will not help the evil-doers;</I>
|
|
they throw themselves out of his protection, and forfeit his favour. He
|
|
<I>will not take the ungodly by the hand</I> (so it is in the margin),
|
|
will not have fellowship and communion with them; for <I>what
|
|
communion</I> can there be <I>between light and darkness?</I> He will
|
|
not lend them his hand to pull them out of the miseries, the eternal
|
|
miseries, into which they have plunged themselves; they will then
|
|
stretch out their hand to him for help, but it will be too late: he
|
|
will not take them by the hand. <I>Between us and you there is a great
|
|
gulf fixed.</I> It is true that <I>the dwelling-place of the
|
|
wicked,</I> sooner or later, <I>will come to nought.</I> Those only
|
|
<I>who make God their dwelling-place</I> are safe for ever,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:1,91:1">Ps. xc. 1; xci. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who make other things their refuge will be disappointed. Sin
|
|
brings ruin on persons and families. Yet to argue (as Bildad, I doubt,
|
|
slyly does) that because Job's family was sunk, and he himself at
|
|
present seemed helpless, therefore he certainly was an ungodly wicked
|
|
man, was neither just nor charitable, as long as there appeared no
|
|
other evidence of his wickedness and ungodliness. Let us <I>judge
|
|
nothing before the time,</I> but wait till the secrets of all hearts
|
|
shall be made manifest, and the present difficulties of Providence be
|
|
solved to universal and everlasting satisfaction, when the <I>mystery
|
|
of God shall be finished.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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