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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O B</B></FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXV.</FONT>
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Bildad here makes a very short reply to Job's last discourse, as one
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that began to be tired of the cause. He drops the main question
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concerning the prosperity of wicked men, as being unable to answer the
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proofs Job had produced in the foregoing chapter: but, because he
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thought Job had made too bold with the divine majesty in his appeals to
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the divine tribunal
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+23:1-17"><I>ch.</I> xxiii.</A>),
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he in a few words shows the infinite distance there is between God and
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man, teaching us,
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I. To think highly and honourably of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:2,3,5">ver. 2, 3, 5</A>.
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II. To think meanly of ourselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:4,6">ver. 4, 6</A>.
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These, however misapplied to Job, are two good lessons for us all to
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learn.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job25_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job25_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job25_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job25_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job25_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job25_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>God Exalted and Man Abased.</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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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
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2 Dominion and fear <I>are</I> with him, he maketh peace in his high
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places.
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3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his
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light arise?
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4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be
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clean <I>that is</I> born of a woman?
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5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars
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are not pure in his sight.
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6 How much less man, <I>that is</I> a worm? and the son of man,
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<I>which is</I> a worm?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Bildad is to be commended here for two things:--
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1. For speaking no more on the subject about which Job and he differed.
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Perhaps he began to think Job was in the right, and then it was justice
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to say no more concerning it, as one that contended for truth, not for
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victory, and therefore, for the finding of truth, would be content to
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lose the victory; or, if he still thought himself in the right, yet he
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knew when he had said enough, and would not wrangle endlessly for the
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last word. Perhaps indeed one reason why he and the rest of them let
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fall this debate was because they perceived that Job and they did not
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differ so much in opinion as they thought: they owned that wicked
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people might prosper a while, and Job owned they would be destroyed at
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last; how little then was the difference! If disputants would
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understand one another better, perhaps they would find themselves
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nearer one another than they imagined.
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2. For speaking so well on the matter about which Job and he were
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agreed. If we would all get our hearts filled with awful thoughts of
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God and humble thoughts of ourselves, we should not be so apt as we are
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to fall out about matters of doubtful disputation, which are trifling
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or intricate.</P>
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<P>
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Two ways Bildad takes here to exalt God and abase man:--</P>
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<P>
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I. He shows how glorious God is, and thence infers how guilty and
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impure man is before him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:2-4"><I>v.</I> 2-4</A>.
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Let us see then,</P>
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<P>
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1. What great things are here said of God, designed to possess Job with
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a reverence of him, and to check his reflections upon him and upon his
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dealings with him:
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(1.) God is the sovereign Lord of all, and <I>with him is terrible
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majesty. Dominion and fear are with him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He that gave being has an incontestable authority to give laws, and can
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enforce the laws he gives. He that made all has a right to dispose of
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all according to his own will, with an absolute sovereignty. Whatever
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he will do he does, and may do; and none can say unto him, <I>What
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doest thou?</I> or <I>Why doest thou so?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:35">Dan. iv. 35</A>.
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His having dominion (or being <I>Dominus</I>--<I>Lord</I>) bespeaks him
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both owner and ruler of all the creatures. They are all his, and they
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are all under his direction and at his disposal. Hence it follows that
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he is to be feared (that is, reverenced and obeyed), that he is feared
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by all that know him (the seraphim cover their faces before him), and
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that, first or last, all will be made to fear him. Men's dominion is
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often despicable, often despised, but God is always terrible.
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(2.) The glorious inhabitants of the upper world are all perfectly
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observant of him and entirely acquiesce in his will: <I>He maketh peace
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in his high places.</I> He enjoys himself in a perfect tranquillity.
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The holy angels never quarrel with him, nor with one another, but
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entirely acquiesce in his will, and unanimously execute it without
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murmuring or disputing. Thus the will of God is done in heaven; and
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thus we pray that it may be done by us and others on earth. The sun,
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moon, and stars, keep their courses, and never clash with one another:
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nay, even in this lower region, which is often disturbed with storms
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and tempests, yet when God pleases he commands peace, by <I>making the
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storm a calm,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:29,Ps+65:7">Ps. cvii. 29; lxv. 7</A>.
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Observe, The high places are <I>his</I> high places; for <I>the heaven,
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even the heavens, are the Lord's</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+115:16">Ps. cxv. 16</A>)
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in a peculiar manner. Peace is God's work; where it is made it is he
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that makes it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+57:19">Isa. lvii. 19</A>.
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In heaven there is perfect peace; for there is perfect holiness, and
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there is God, who is love.
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(3.) He is a God of irresistible power: <I>Is there any number of his
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armies?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The greatness and power of princes are judged of by their armies.
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God is not only himself almighty, but he has numberless numbers of
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armies at his beck and disposal,--standing armies that are never
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disbanded,--regular troops, and well disciplined, that are never to
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seek, never at a loss, that never mutiny,--veteran troops, that have
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been long in his service,--victorious troops, that never failed of
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success nor were ever foiled. All the creatures are his hosts, angels
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especially. He is Lord of all, Lord of hosts. He has numberless armies,
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and yet makes peace. He could make war upon us, but is willing to be at
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peace with us; and even the heavenly hosts were sent to proclaim
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<I>peace on earth</I> and <I>good will towards men,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:14">Luke ii. 14</A>.
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(4.) His providence extends itself to all: <I>Upon whom does not his
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light arise?</I> The light of the sun is communicated to all parts of
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the world, and, take the year round, to all equally. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+19:6">Ps. xix. 6</A>.
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That is a faint resemblance of the universal cognizance and care God
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takes of the whole creation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:45">Matt. v. 45</A>.
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All are under the light of his knowledge and are naked and open before
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him. All partake of the light of his goodness: it seems especially to
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be meant of <I>that.</I> He is good to all; the earth is full of his
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goodness. He is <I>Deus optimus--God, the best of beings,</I> as well
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as <I>maximus--the greatest:</I> he has power to destroy; but his
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pleasure is to show mercy. All the creatures live upon his bounty.</P>
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<P>
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2. What low things are here said of man, and very truly and justly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean?</I>
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Man is not only mean, but vile, not only earthly, but filthy; he cannot
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be justified, he cannot be clean,
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(1.) In comparison with God. Man's righteousness and holiness, at the
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best, are nothing to God's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:6">Ps. lxxxix. 6</A>.
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(2.) In debate with God. He that will quarrel with the word and
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providence of God must unavoidably go by the worst. God will be
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justified, and then man will be condemned,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:4,Ro+3:4">Ps. li. 4; Rom. iii. 4</A>.
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There is no error in God's judgment, and therefore there lies no
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exception against it, nor appeal from it.
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(3.) In the sight of God. If God is so great and glorious, how can man,
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who is guilty and impure, appear before him? Note,
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[1.] Man, by reason of his actual transgressions, is obnoxious to God's
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justice and cannot in himself be justified before him: he can neither
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plead <I>Not guilty,</I> nor plead any merit of his own to balance or
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extenuate his guilt. The scripture has concluded all under sin.
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[2.] Man, by reason of his original corruption, as he is born of a
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woman, is odious to God's holiness, and cannot be clean in his sight.
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God sees his impurity, and it is certain that by it he is rendered
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utterly unfit for communion and fellowship with God in grace here and
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for the vision and fruition of him in glory hereafter. We have need
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therefore to be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost, and to be
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bathed again and again in the blood of Christ, that fountain
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opened.</P>
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<P>
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II. He shows how dark and defective even the heavenly bodies are in the
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sight of God, and in comparison with him, and thence infers how little,
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and mean, and worthless, man is.
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1. The lights of heaven, though beauteous creatures, are before God as
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clods of earth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Behold even to the moon,</I> walking in brightness, and the stars,
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those glorious lamps of heaven, which the heathen were so charmed with
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the lustre of that they worshipped them--yet, in God's sight, in
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comparison with him, they shine not, they are not pure; they have no
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glory, by reason of the glory which excelleth, as a candle, though it
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burn, yet does not shine when it is set in the clear light of the sun.
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The glory of God, shining in his providences, eclipses the glory of the
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brightest creatures,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+24:23">Isa. xxiv. 23</A>.
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<I>The moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of
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hosts shall reign in Mount Sion.</I> The heavenly bodies are often
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clouded; we plainly see spots in the moon, and, with the help of
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glasses, may sometimes discern spots upon the sun too: but God sees
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spots in them that we do not see. How durst Job then so confidently
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appeal to God, who would discover that amiss in him which he was not
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aware of in himself?
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2. The children of men, though noble creatures, are before God but as
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worms of the earth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+25:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>How much less</I> does <I>man</I> shine in honour, how much less is
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he pure in righteousness <I>that is a worm, and the son of man,</I>
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whoever he be, <I>that is a worm!--a vermin</I> (so some), not only mean
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and despicable, but noxious and detestable; <I>a mite</I> (so others),
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the smallest animal, which cannot be discerned with the naked eye, but
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through a magnifying glass. Such a thing is man.
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(1.) So mean, and little, and inconsiderable, in comparison with God
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and with the holy angels: so worthless and despicable, having his
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original in corruption, and hastening to corruption. What little reason
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has man to be proud, and what great reason to be humble!
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(2.) So weak and impotent, and so easily crushed, and therefore a very
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unequal match for Almighty God. Shall man be such a fool as to contend
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with his Maker, who can tread him to pieces more easily than we can a
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worm?
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(3.) So sordid and filthy. Man is not pure for he is a worm, hatched in
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putrefaction, and therefore odious to God. Let us therefore wonder at
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God's condescension in taking such worms as we are into covenant and
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communion with himself, especially at the condescension of the Son of
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God, in emptying himself so far as to say, <I>I am a worm, and no
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man,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+22:6">Ps. xxii. 6</A>.</P>
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