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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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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. XI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Poor Job's wound's were yet bleeding, his sore still runs and ceases
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not, but none of his friends bring him any oil, any balm; Zophar, the
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third, pours into them as much vinegar as the two former had done.
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I. He exhibits a very high charge against Job, as proud and false in
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justifying himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. He appeals to God for his conviction, and begs that God would take
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him to task
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:5">ver. 5</A>)
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and that Job might be made sensible,
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1. Of God's unerring wisdom and his inviolable justice,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:6">ver. 6</A>.
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2. Of his unsearchable perfections,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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3. Of his incontestable sovereignty and uncontrollable power,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:10">ver. 10</A>.
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4. Of the cognizance he takes of the children of men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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III. He assures him that, upon his repentance and reformation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:13,14">ver. 13, 14</A>),
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God would restore him to his former prosperity and safety
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:15-19">ver. 15-19</A>);
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but that, if he were wicked it was in vain to expect it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:20">ver. 20</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job11_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_6"> </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 Zophar.</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 Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
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2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a
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man full of talk be justified?
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3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou
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mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
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4 For thou hast said, My doctrine <I>is</I> pure, and I am clean in
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thine eyes.
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5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
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6 And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that <I>they
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are</I> double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of
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thee <I>less</I> than thine iniquity <I>deserveth.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is sad to see what intemperate passions even wise and good men are
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sometimes betrayed into by the heat of disputation, of which Zophar
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here is an instance. Eliphaz began with a very modest preface,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:2"><I>ch.</I> iv. 2</A>.
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Bildad was a little more rough upon Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:2"><I>ch.</I> viii. 2</A>.
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But Zophar falls upon him without mercy, and gives him very bad
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language: <I>Should a man full of talk be justified? And should thy
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lies make men hold their peace?</I> Is this the way to comfort Job? No,
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nor to convince him neither. Does this become one that appears as an
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advocate for God and his justice? <I>Tantæne animis coelestibus
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iræ?--In heavenly breasts can such resentment dwell?</I> Those that
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engage in controversy will find it very hard to keep their temper. All
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the wisdom, caution, and resolution they have will be little enough to
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prevent their breaking out into such indecencies as we here find Zophar
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guilty of.</P>
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<P>
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I. He represents Job otherwise than what he was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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He would have him thought idle and impertinent in his discourse, and
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one that loved to hear himself talk; he gives him the lie, and calls
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him <I>a mocker;</I> and all this that it might be looked upon as a
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piece of justice to chastise him. Those that have a mind to fall out
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with their brethren, and to fall foul upon them, find it necessary to
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put the worst colours they can upon them and their performances, and,
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right or wrong, to make them odious. We have read and considered Job's
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discourses in the foregoing chapters, and have found them full of good
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sense and much to the purpose, that his principles are right, his
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reasonings strong, many of his expressions weighty and very
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considerable, and that what there is in them of heat and passion a
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little candour and charity will excuse and overlook; and yet Zophar
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here invidiously represents him,
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1. As a man that never considered what he said, but uttered what came
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uppermost, only to make a noise with the multitude of words, hoping by
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that means to carry his cause and run down his reprovers: <I>Should not
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the multitude of words be answered?</I> Truly, sometimes it is no great
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matter whether it be or no; silence perhaps is the best confutation of
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impertinence and puts the greatest contempt upon it. <I>Answer not a
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fool according to his folly.</I> But, if it be answered, let reason and
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grace have the answering of it, not pride and passion. <I>Should a man
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full of talk</I> (margin, <I>a man of lips,</I> that is all tongue,
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<I>vox et præterea nihil--mere voice</I>) <I>be justified?</I> Should
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he be justified in his loquacity, as in effect he is if he be not
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reproved for it? No, for <I>in the multitude of words there wanteth not
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sin.</I> Should he be justified by it? Shall many words pass for valid
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pleas? Shall he carry the day with the flourishes of language? No, he
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shall not be accepted with God, or any wise men, <I>for his much
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speaking,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:7">Matt. vi. 7</A>.
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2. As a man that made no conscience of what he said--a liar, and one
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that hoped by the impudence of lies to silence his adversaries
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(<I>should thy lies make men hold their peace?</I>)--a mocker, one that
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bantered all mankind, and knew how to put false colours upon any thing,
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and was not ashamed to impose upon every one that talked with him:
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<I>When thou mockest shall no man make thee ashamed?</I> Is it not time
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to speak, to stem such a violent tide as this? Job was not mad, but
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spoke the words of truth and soberness, and yet was thus
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misrepresented. Eliphaz and Bildad had answered him, and said what they
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could to make him ashamed; it was therefore no instance of Zophar's
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generosity to set upon a man so violently who was already thus
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harassed. Here were three matched against one.</P>
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<P>
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II. He charges Job with saying that which he had not said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Thou hast said, My doctrine is pure.</I> And what if he had said so?
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It was true that Job was sound in the faith, and orthodox in his
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judgment, and spoke better of God than his friends did. If he had
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expressed himself unwarily, yet it did not therefore follow but that
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his doctrine was true. But he charges him with saying, <I>I am clean in
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thy eyes.</I> Job had not said so: he had indeed said, <I>Thou knowest
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that I am not wicked</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:7"><I>ch.</I> x. 7</A>);
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but he had also said, <I>I have sinned,</I> and never pretended to a
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spotless perfection. He had indeed maintained that he was not a
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hypocrite as they charged him; but to infer thence that he would not
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own himself a sinner was an unfair insinuation. We ought to put the
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best construction on the words and actions of our brethren that they
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will bear; but contenders are tempted to put the worst.</P>
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<P>
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III. He appeals to God, and wishes him to appear against Job. So very
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confident is he that Job is in the wrong that nothing will serve him
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but that God must immediately appear to silence and condemn him. We are
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commonly ready with too much assurance to interest God in our quarrels,
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and to conclude that, if he would but speak, he would take our part and
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speak for us, as Zophar here: <I>O that God would speak!</I> for he
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would certainly <I>open his lips against thee;</I> whereas, when God
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did speak, he opened his lips for Job against his three friends. We
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ought indeed to leave all controversies to be determined by the
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judgment of God, which we are sure <I>is according to truth;</I> but
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those are not always in the right who are most forward to appeal to
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that judgment and prejudge it against their antagonists. Zophar
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despairs to convince Job himself, and therefore desires God would
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convince him of two things which it is good for every one of us duly to
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consider, and under all our afflictions cheerfully to confess:--</P>
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<P>
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1. The unsearchable depth of God's counsels. Zophar cannot pretend to
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do it, but he desires that God himself would show Job so much of the
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secrets of the divine wisdom as might convince him that <I>they are at
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least double to that which is,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Note,
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(1.) There are secrets in the divine wisdom, <I>arcana
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imperii--state-secrets.</I> God's way is in the sea. Clouds and
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darkness are round about him. He has reasons of state which we cannot
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fathom and must not pry into.
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(2.) What we know of God is nothing to what we cannot know. What is
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hidden is more than double to what appears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:9">Eph. iii. 9</A>.
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(3.) By employing ourselves in adoring the depth of those divine
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counsels of which we cannot find the bottom we shall very much
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tranquilize our minds under the afflicting hand of God.
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(4.) God knows a great deal more evil of us than we do of ourselves; so
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some understand it. When God gave David a sight and sense of sin he
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said that he had <I>in the hidden part made him to know wisdom,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:6">Ps. li. 6</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. The unexceptionable justice of his proceedings. "Know therefore
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that, how sore soever the correction is that thou art under, <I>God
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exacteth of thee less than thy iniquity deserves,</I>" or (as some read
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it), "he <I>remits thee part of thy iniquity,</I> and does not deal
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with thee according to the full demerit of it." Note,
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(1.) When the debt of duty is not paid it is justice to insist upon the
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debt of punishment.
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(2.) Whatever punishment is inflicted upon us in this world we must own
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that it is less than our iniquities deserve, and therefore, instead of
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complaining of our troubles, we must be thankful that we are out of
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hell,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:39,Ps+103:10">Lam. iii. 39; Ps. ciii. 10</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Job11_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job11_12"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the
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Almighty unto perfection?
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8 <I>It is</I> as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than
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hell; what canst thou know?
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9 The measure thereof <I>is</I> longer than the earth, and broader
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than the sea.
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10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can
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hinder him?
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11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he
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not then consider <I>it?</I>
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12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born <I>like</I> a wild
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ass's colt.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Zophar here speaks very good things concerning God and his greatness
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and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly: these two compared
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together, and duly considered, will have a powerful influence upon our
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submission to all the dispensations of the divine Providence.</P>
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<P>
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I. See here what God is, and let him be adored.</P>
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<P>
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1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature
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and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any
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adequate conceptions of, and whose counsels and actings we cannot
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therefore, without the greatest presumption, pass a judgment upon. We
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that are so little acquainted with the divine nature are incompetent
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judges of the divine providence; and, when we censure the dispensations
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of it, we talk of things that we do not understand. We cannot find out
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God; how dare we then find fault with him? Zophar here shows,
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(1.) That God's nature infinitely exceeds the capacities of our
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understandings: "<I>Canst thou find out God, find him out to
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perfection?</I> No, <I>What canst thou do? What canst thou know?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
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Thou, a poor, weak, short-sighted creature, a worm of the earth, that
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art but of yesterday? Thou, though ever so inquisitive after him, ever
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so desirous and industrious to find him out, yet darest thou attempt
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the search, or canst thou hope to speed in it? We may, by searching
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find God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+17:27">Acts xvii. 27</A>),
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but we cannot find him out in any thing he is pleased to conceal; we
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may apprehend him, but we cannot comprehend him; we may know that he
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is, but cannot know what he is. The eye can see the ocean but not see
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over it. We may, by a humble, diligent, and believing search, find out
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something of God, but cannot find him out to perfection; we may know,
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but cannot know fully, what God is, nor find out his work <I>from the
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beginning to the end,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:11">Eccl. iii. 11</A>.
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Note, God is unsearchable. The ages of his eternity cannot be numbered,
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nor the spaces of his immensity measured; the depths of his wisdom
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cannot be fathomed, nor the reaches of his power bounded; the
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brightness of his glory can never be described, nor the treasures of
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his goodness reckoned up. This is a good reason why we should always
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speak of God with humility and caution and never prescribe to him nor
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quarrel with him, why we should be thankful for what he has revealed of
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himself and long to be where we shall see him as he is,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+13:9,10">1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10</A>.
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(2.) That it infinitely exceeds the limits of the whole creation: <I>It
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is higher than heaven</I> (so some read it), <I>deeper than hell,</I>
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the great abyss, <I>longer than the earth, and broader than the
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sea,</I> many parts of which are to this day undiscovered, and more
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were then. It is quite out of our reach to comprehend God's nature.
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<I>Such knowledge is too wonderful for us,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:6">Ps. cxxxix. 6</A>.
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We cannot fathom God's designs, nor find out the reasons of his
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proceedings. His judgments are a great deep. Paul attributes such
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immeasurable dimensions to the divine love as Zophar here attributes to
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the divine wisdom, and yet recommends it to our acquaintance.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:18,19">Eph. iii. 18, 19</A>,
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<I>That you may know the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, of
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the love of Christ.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. God is a sovereign Lord
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>If he cut off</I> by death (margin, <I>If he make a change,</I> for
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death is a change; if he make a change in nations, in families, in the
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posture of our affairs),--if he <I>shut up</I> in prison, or in the net
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of affliction
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:11">Ps. lxvi. 11</A>),--
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if he seize any creature as a hunter his prey, he will gather it (so
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bishop Patrick) and who shall force him to restore? or if he <I>gather
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together,</I> as tares for the fire, or <I>if he gather to himself
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man's spirit and breath</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:14"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv. 14</A>),
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<I>then who can hinder him?</I> Who can either arrest the sentence or
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oppose the execution? Who can control his power or arraign his wisdom
|
|
and justice? If he that made all out of nothing think fit to reduce all
|
|
to nothing, or to their first chaos again,--if he that separated between
|
|
light and darkness, dry land and sea, at first, please to gather them
|
|
together again,--if he that made unmakes, <I>who can turn him away,</I>
|
|
alter his mind or stay his hand, impede or impeach his proceedings?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. God is a strict and just observer of the children of men
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He knows vain men.</I> We know little of him, but he knows us
|
|
perfectly: <I>He sees wickedness also,</I> not to approve it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:13">Hab. i. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
but to animadvert upon it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He observes vain men. Such all are (<I>every man, at his best
|
|
estate, is altogether vanity</I>), and he considers it in his dealings
|
|
with them. He knows what the projects and hopes of vain men are, and
|
|
can blast and defeat them, the workings of their foolish fancies; he
|
|
sits in heaven, and laughs at them. He takes knowledge of the vanity of
|
|
men (that is, their little sins; so some) their vain thoughts and vain
|
|
words, and unsteadiness in that which is good.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He observes bad men: <I>He sees</I> gross <I>wickedness also,</I>
|
|
though committed ever so secretly and ever so artfully palliated and
|
|
disguised. All the wickedness of the wicked is naked and open before
|
|
the all-seeing eye of God: <I>Will he not then consider it?</I> Yes,
|
|
certainly he will, and will reckon for it, though for a time he seem to
|
|
keep silence.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. See here what man is, and let him be humbled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
God sees this concerning vain man that he <I>would be wise,</I> would
|
|
be thought so, <I>though he is born like a wild ass's colt,</I> so
|
|
sottish and foolish, unteachable and untameable. See what man is.
|
|
|
|
1. He is a vain creature--<I>empty;</I> so the word is. God made him
|
|
full, but he emptied himself, impoverished himself, and now he is
|
|
<I>raca,</I> a creature that has nothing in him.
|
|
|
|
2. He is a foolish creature, has become <I>like the beasts that
|
|
perish</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:20,73:22">Ps. xlix. 20, lxxiii. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
an idiot, born like an ass, the most stupid animal, an ass's colt, not
|
|
yet brought to any service. If ever he come to be good for any thing,
|
|
it is owing to the grace of Christ, who once, in the day of his
|
|
triumph, served himself by an ass's colt.
|
|
|
|
3. He is a wilful ungovernable creature. An ass's colt may be made good
|
|
for something, but the wild ass's colt will never be reclaimed, nor
|
|
regards the crying of the driver. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:5-7">Job xxxix. 5-7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Man thinks himself as much at liberty, and his own master, as the wild
|
|
ass's colt does, that is <I>used to the wilderness</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:24">Jer. ii. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
eager to gratify his own appetites and passions.
|
|
|
|
4. Yet he is a proud creature and self-conceited. He <I>would be
|
|
wise,</I> would he thought so, values himself upon the honour of
|
|
wisdom, though he will not submit to the laws of wisdom. He would be
|
|
wise, that is, he reaches after forbidden wisdom, and, like his first
|
|
parents, aiming to be wise above what is written, loses the tree of
|
|
life for the tree of knowledge. Now is such a creature as this fit to
|
|
contend with God or call him to an account? Did we but better know God
|
|
and ourselves, we should better know how to conduct ourselves towards
|
|
God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job11_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands
|
|
toward him;
|
|
14 If iniquity <I>be</I> in thine hand, put it far away, and let not
|
|
wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
|
|
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou
|
|
shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
|
|
16 Because thou shalt forget <I>thy</I> misery, <I>and</I> remember <I>it</I>
|
|
as waters <I>that</I> pass away:
|
|
17 And <I>thine</I> age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou
|
|
shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
|
|
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou
|
|
shalt dig <I>about thee, and</I> thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
|
|
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make <I>thee</I> afraid;
|
|
yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
|
|
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not
|
|
escape, and their hope <I>shall be as</I> the giving up of the ghost.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Zophar, as the other two, here encourages Job to hope for better times
|
|
if he would but come to a better temper.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He gives him good counsel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
as Eliphaz did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:8"><I>ch.</I> v. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and Bildad,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:5"><I>ch.</I> viii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
He would have him repent and return to God. Observe the steps of that
|
|
return.
|
|
|
|
1. He must look within, and get his mind changed and the tree made
|
|
good. He must <I>prepare his heart;</I> there the work of conversion
|
|
and reformation must begin. The heart that wandered from God must be
|
|
reduced--that was defiled with sin and put into disorder must be
|
|
cleansed and put in order again--that was wavering and unfixed must be
|
|
settled and established; so the word here signifies. The heart is then
|
|
prepared to seek God when it is determined and fully resolved to make a
|
|
business of it and to go through with it.
|
|
|
|
2. He must look up, and <I>stretch out his hands towards God,</I> that
|
|
is, must stir up himself to take hold on God, must pray to him with
|
|
earnestness and importunity, striving in prayer, and with expectation
|
|
to receive mercy and grace from him. To <I>give the hand to the
|
|
Lord</I> signifies to yield ourselves to him and to covenant with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+30:8">2 Chron. xxx. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
This Job must do, and, for the doing of it, must prepare his heart. Job
|
|
had prayed, but Zophar would have him to pray in a better manner, not
|
|
as an appellant, but as a petitioner and humble suppliant.
|
|
|
|
3. He must amend what was amiss in his own conversation, else his
|
|
prayers would be ineffectual
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>If iniquity be in thy hand</I> (that is, if there be any sin which
|
|
thou dost yet live in the practice of) <I>put it far away,</I> forsake
|
|
it with detestation and a holy indignation, stedfastly resolving not to
|
|
return to it, nor ever to have any thing more to do with it.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+18:31,Ho+14:9,Isa+30:22">Ezek. xviii. 31;
|
|
Hos. xiv. 9; Isa. xxx. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
If any of the gains of iniquity, any goods gotten by fraud or
|
|
oppression, be in thy hand, make restitution thereof" (as Zaccheus,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:8">Luke xix. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
"and <I>shake thy hands from holding them,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The guilt of sin is not removed if the gain of sin be not restored.
|
|
|
|
4. He must do his utmost to reform his family too: "<I>Let not
|
|
wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles;</I> let not thy house harbour or
|
|
shelter any wicked persons, any wicked practices, or any wealth gotten
|
|
by wickedness." He suspected that Job's great household had been
|
|
ill-governed, and that, where there were many, there were many wicked,
|
|
and the ruin of his family was the punishment of the wickedness of it;
|
|
and therefore, if he expected God should return to him, he must reform
|
|
what was amiss there, and, though wickedness might come into his
|
|
tabernacles, he must not suffer it to dwell there,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+101:3-8">
|
|
Ps. ci. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He assures him of comfort if he took this counsel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:15-20"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. If he
|
|
would repent and reform, he should, without doubt, be easy and happy,
|
|
and all would be well. Perhaps Zophar might insinuate that, unless God
|
|
did speedily make such a change as this in his condition, he and his
|
|
friends would be confirmed in their opinion of him as a hypocrite and a
|
|
dissembler with God. A great truth, however, is conveyed, That, <I>the
|
|
work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness
|
|
quietness and assurance for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:17">Isa. xxxii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that sincerely turn to God may expect,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. A holy confidence towards God: "<I>Then shalt thou lift up thy face
|
|
towards heaven</I> without spot; thou mayest come boldly to the throne
|
|
of grace, and not with that terror and amazement expressed,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:34"><I>ch.</I> ix. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
If our hearts condemn us not for hypocrisy and impenitency, then have
|
|
we confidence in our approaches to God and expectations from him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+3:21">1 John iii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we are looked upon in the face of the anointed, our faces, that were
|
|
dejected, may be lifted up--that were polluted, being washed with the
|
|
blood of Christ, may be lifted up without spot. We may <I>draw near in
|
|
full assurance of faith</I> when we are <I>sprinkled from an evil
|
|
conscience,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:22">Heb. x. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some understand this of the clearing up of his credit before men,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:6">Ps. xxxvii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we make our peace with God, we may with cheerfulness look our
|
|
friends in the face.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. A holy composedness in themselves: <I>Thou shalt be stedfast, and
|
|
shalt not fear,</I> not <I>be afraid of evil tidings,</I> thy heart
|
|
being fixed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+112:7">Ps. cxii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Job was now full of confusion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+10:15"><I>ch.</I> x. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
while he looked upon God as his enemy and quarrelled with him; but
|
|
Zophar assures him that, if he would submit and humble himself, his
|
|
mind would be composed, and he would be freed from those frightful
|
|
apprehensions he had of God, which put him into such an agitation. The
|
|
less we are frightened the more we are fixed, and consequently the more
|
|
fit we are for our services and for our sufferings.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. A comfortable reflection upon their past troubles
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt forget thy misery,</I> as the mother forgets her
|
|
travailing pains, for joy that the child is born; thou shalt be
|
|
perfectly freed from the impressions it makes upon thee, and <I>thou
|
|
shalt remember it as waters that pass away,</I> or are poured out of a
|
|
vessel, which leave no taste or tincture behind them, as other liquors
|
|
do. The wounds of thy present affliction shall be perfectly healed, not
|
|
only without a remaining scar, but without a remaining pain." Job had
|
|
endeavoured to forget his complaint
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:27"><I>ch.</I> ix. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
but found he could not; his soul <I>had still in remembrance the
|
|
wormwood and the gall:</I> but here Zophar puts him in a way to forget
|
|
it; let him by faith and prayer bring his griefs and cares to God, an
|
|
leave them with him, and then he shall forget them. Where sin sits
|
|
heavily affliction sits lightly. If we duly remember our sins, we
|
|
shall, in comparison with them, forget our misery, much more if we
|
|
obtain the comfort of a sealed pardon and a settled peace. He whose
|
|
iniquity is forgiven shall <I>not say, I am sick,</I> but shall forget
|
|
his sickness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:24">Isa. xxxiii. 24</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. A comfortable prospect of their future peace. This Zophar here
|
|
thinks to please Job with, in answer to the many despairing expressions
|
|
he had used, as if it were to no purpose for him to hope ever to see
|
|
good days again in this world: "Yea, but thou mayest" (says Zophar)
|
|
"and good nights too." A blessed change he here puts him in hopes
|
|
of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That though now his light was eclipsed it should shine out again,
|
|
and more brightly than ever
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),--
|
|
|
|
that even his setting sun should out-shine his noon-day sun, and his
|
|
evening be fair and clear as the morning, in respect both of honour and
|
|
pleasure.--that his light should shine <I>out of obscurity</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:10">Isa. lviii. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the thick and dark cloud, from behind which his sun should break
|
|
forth, would serve as a foil to its lustre,--that it should shine even
|
|
in old age, and those evil days should be good days to him. Note, Those
|
|
that truly turn to God then begin to shine forth; their path is as the
|
|
shining light which increases, the period of their day will be the
|
|
perfection of it, and their evening to this world will be their morning
|
|
to a better.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, though now he was in a continual fear and terror, he should
|
|
live in a holy rest and security, and find himself continually safe and
|
|
easy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope.</I> Note, Those who
|
|
have a good hope, through grace, in God, and of heaven, are certainly
|
|
safe, and have reason to be secure, how difficult soever the times are
|
|
through which they pass in this world. He that walks uprightly may thus
|
|
walk surely, because, though there are trouble and danger, yet there is
|
|
hope that all will be well at last. Hope is <I>an anchor of the
|
|
soul,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:19">Heb. vi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt dig about thee,</I>" that is, "Thou shalt be as safe as
|
|
an army in its entrenchments." Those that submit to God's government
|
|
shall be taken under his protection, and then they are safe both day
|
|
and night.
|
|
|
|
[1.] By day, when they employ themselves abroad: "<I>Thou shalt dig in
|
|
safety,</I> thou and thy servants for thee, and not be again set upon
|
|
by the plunderers, who fell upon thy servants at plough,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:14,15"><I>ch.</I> i. 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is no part of the promised prosperity that he should live in
|
|
idleness, but that he should have a calling and follow it, and, when he
|
|
was about the business of it, should be under the divine protection.
|
|
Thou shalt dig and be safe, not rob and be safe, revel and be safe. The
|
|
way of duty is the way of safety.
|
|
|
|
[2.] By night, when they repose themselves at home: <I>Thou shalt take
|
|
thy rest</I> (and <I>the sleep of the labouring man is sweet</I>) <I>in
|
|
safety,</I> notwithstanding the dangers of the darkness. The pillar of
|
|
cloud by day shall be a pillar of fire by night: "<I>Thou shalt lie
|
|
down</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
not forced to wander where there is no place to lay thy head on, nor
|
|
forced to watch and sit up in expectation of assaults; but thou shalt
|
|
go to bed at bedtime, and not only shall non hurt thee, but none shall
|
|
make thee afraid nor so much as give thee an alarm." Note, It is a
|
|
great mercy to have quiet nights and undisturbed sleeps; those say so
|
|
that are within the hearing of the noise of war. And the way to be
|
|
quiet is to seek unto God and keep ourselves in his love. Nothing
|
|
needs make those afraid who <I>return to God as their rest</I> and take
|
|
him for their habitation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That, though now he was slighted, yet he should be courted:
|
|
"<I>Many shall make suit to thee,</I> and think it their interest to
|
|
secure thy friendship." Suit is made to those that are eminently wise
|
|
or reputed to be so, that are very rich or in power. Zophar knew Job so
|
|
well that he foresaw that, how low soever this present ebb was, if once
|
|
the tide turned, it would flow as high as ever; and he would be again
|
|
the darling of his country. Those that rightly make suit to God will
|
|
probably see the day when others will make suit to them, as the foolish
|
|
virgins to the wise, <I>Give us of your oil.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Zophar concludes with a brief account of the doom of wicked people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>But the eyes of the wicked shall fail.</I> It should seem, he
|
|
suspected that Job would not take his counsel, and here tells him what
|
|
would then come of it, setting death as well as life before him. See
|
|
what will become of those who persist in their wickedness, and will not
|
|
be reformed.
|
|
|
|
1. They shall not reach the good they flatter themselves with the hopes
|
|
of in this world and in the other. Disappointments will be their doom,
|
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their shame, their endless torment. Their eyes shall fail with
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expecting that which will never come. <I>When a wicked man dies his
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expectation perishes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:7">Prov. xi. 7</A>.
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<I>Their hope shall be as a puff of breath</I> (margin), vanished and
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gone past recall. Or their hope will perish and expire as a man does
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when he gives up the ghost; it will fail them when they have most need
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of it and when they expected the accomplishment of it; it will die
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away, and leave them in utter confusion.
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2. They shall not avoid the evil which sometimes they frighten
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themselves with the apprehensions of. They shall not escape the
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execution of the sentence passed upon them, can neither out-brave it
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nor outrun it. Those that will not fly to God will find it in vain to
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think of flying from him.</P>
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