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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Job, Chapter XXVIII].</TITLE>
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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. XXVIII.</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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The strain of this chapter is very unlike the rest of this book. Job
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forgets his sores, and all his sorrows, and talks like a philosopher or
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a virtuoso. Here is a great deal both of natural and moral philosophy
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in this discourse; but the question is, How does it come in here?
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Doubtless it was not merely for an amusement, or diversion from the
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controversy; though, if it had been only so, perhaps it would not have
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been much amiss. When disputes grow hot, better lose the question than
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lose our temper. But this is pertinent and to the business in hand.
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Job and his friends had been discoursing about the dispensations of
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Providence towards the wicked and the righteous. Job had shown that
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some wicked men live and die in prosperity, while others are presently
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and openly arrested by the judgments of God. But, if any ask the reason
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why some are punished in this world and not others, they must be told
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it is a question that cannot be answered. The knowledge of the reasons
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of state in God's government of the world is kept from us, and we must
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neither pretend to it nor reach after it. Zophar had wished that God
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would show Job the "secrets of wisdom"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:6"><I>ch.</I> xi. 6</A>).
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No, says Job, "secret things belong not to us, but things revealed,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:29">Deut. xxix. 29</A>.
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And here he shows,
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I. Concerning worldly wealth, how industriously that is sought for and
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pursued by the children of men, what pains they take, what contrivances
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they have, and what hazards they run to get it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. Concerning wisdom,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:12">ver. 12</A>.
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In general, the price of it is very great; it is of inestimable value,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:15-19">ver. 15-19</A>.
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The place of it is very secret,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:14,20,22">ver. 14, 20, 22</A>.
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In particular, there is a wisdom which is hidden in God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:23-27">ver. 23-27</A>)
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and there is a wisdom which is revealed to the children of men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:28">ver. 28</A>.
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Our enquiries into the former must be checked, into the latter
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quickened, for that is it which is our concern.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job28_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_11"> </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>Extent of Human Discoveries.</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 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold
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<I>where</I> they fine <I>it.</I>
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2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass <I>is</I> molten <I>out
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of</I> the stone.
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3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all
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perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
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4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; <I>even the waters</I>
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forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from
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men.
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5 <I>As for</I> the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is
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turned up as it were fire.
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6 The stones of it <I>are</I> the place of sapphires: and it hath
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dust of gold.
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7 <I>There is</I> a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the
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vulture's eye hath not seen:
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8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion
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passed by it.
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9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the
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mountains by the roots.
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10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth
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every precious thing.
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11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and <I>the thing that
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is</I> hid bringeth he forth to light.
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12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where <I>is</I> the place of
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understanding?
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13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in
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the land of the living.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here Job shows,
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1. What a great way the wit of man may go in diving into the depths of
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nature and seizing the riches of it, what a great deal of knowledge and
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wealth men may, by their ingenious and industrious searches, make
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themselves masters of. But does it therefore follow that men may, by
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their wit, comprehend the reasons why some wicked people prosper and
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others are punished, why some good people prosper and others are
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afflicted? No, by no means. The caverns of the earth may be discovered,
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but not the counsels of heaven.
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2. What a great deal of care and pains worldly men take to get riches.
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He had observed concerning the wicked man
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:16"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 16</A>)
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that he <I>heaped up silver as the dust;</I> now here he shows whence
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that silver came which he was so fond of and how it was obtained, to
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show what little reason wicked rich men have to be proud of their
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wealth and pomp. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. The wealth of this world is hidden in the earth. Thence the silver
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and the gold, which afterwards they refine, are fetched,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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There they lay mixed with a great deal of dirt and dross, like a
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worthless thing, of no more account than common earth; and abundance of
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them will so lie neglected, till the earth and all the works therein
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shall be burnt up. Holy Mr. Herbert, in his poem called <I>Avarice,</I>
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takes notice of this, to shame men out of the love of money:--</P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>Money, thou bane of bliss, thou source of woe,
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<BR> Whence com'st thou, that thou art so fresh and fine?
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<BR>I know thy parentage is base and low;
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<BR> Man found thee poor and dirty in a mine.
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<BR>
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<BR>Surely thou didst so little contribute
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<BR> To this great kingdom which thou now hast got
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<BR>That he was fain, when thou wast destitute,
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<BR> To dig thee out of thy dark cave and grot.
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<BR>
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<BR>Man calleth thee his wealth, who made thee rich,
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<BR>And while he digs out thee falls in the ditch.
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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Iron and brass, less costly but more serviceable metals, are <I>taken
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out of the earth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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and are there found in great abundance, which abates their price
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indeed, but is a great kindness to man, who could much better be
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without gold than without iron. Nay, <I>out of the earth comes
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bread,</I> that is, bread-corn, the necessary support of life,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Thence man's maintenance is fetched, to remind him of his own original;
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he is of the earth, and is hastening to the earth. <I>Under it is
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turned up as it were fire,</I> precious stones, that sparkle as
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fire--brimstone, that is apt to take fire--coal, that is proper to feed
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fire. As we have our food, so we have our fuel, out of the earth. There
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the sapphires and other gems are, and thence gold-dust is digged up;,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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The wisdom of the Creator has placed these things,
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1. Out of our sight, to teach us not to set our eyes upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</A>.
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2. Under our feet, to teach us not to lay them in our bosoms, nor to
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set our hearts upon them, but to trample upon them with a holy
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contempt. See how full the <I>earth is of God's riches</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:24">Ps. civ. 24</A>)
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and infer thence, not only how great a God he is <I>whose the earth
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is</I> and <I>the fulness thereof</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1</A>),
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but how full heaven must needs be of God's riches, which is the city of
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the great King, in comparison with which this earth is a poor
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country.</P>
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<P>
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II. The wealth that is hidden in the earth cannot be obtained but with
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a great deal of difficulty.
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1. It is hard to be found out: there is but here and there <I>a vein
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for the silver,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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The precious stones, though bright themselves, yet, because buried in
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obscurity and out of sight, are called <I>stones of darkness and the
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shadow of death.</I> Men may search long before they light on them.
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2. When found out it is hard to be fetched out. Men's wits must be set
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on work to contrive ways and means to get this hidden treasure into
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their hands. They must with their lamps <I>set an end to darkness;</I>
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and if one expedient miscarry, one method fail, they must try another,
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till they have <I>searched out all perfection,</I> and turned every
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stone to effect it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They must grapple with subterraneous waters
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:4,10,11"><I>v.</I> 4, 10, 11</A>),
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and force their way through rocks which are, as it were, the roots of
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the mountains,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Now God has made the getting of gold, and silver, and precious stones,
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so difficult,
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(1.) For the exciting and engaging of industry. <I>Dii laboribus omnia
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vendunt--Labour is the price which the gods affix to all things.</I> If
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valuable things were too easily obtained men would never learn to take
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pains. But the difficulty of gaining the riches of this earth may
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suggest to us what violence the kingdom of heaven suffers.
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(2.) For the checking and restraining of pomp and luxury. What is for
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necessity is had with a little labour from the surface of the earth;
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but what is for ornament must be dug with a great deal of pains out of
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the bowels of it. To be fed is cheap, but to be fine is chargeable.</P>
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<P>
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III. Though the subterraneous wealth is thus hard to obtain, yet men
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will have it. He that loves silver is not satisfied with silver, and
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yet is not satisfied without it; but those that have much must needs
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have more. See here,
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1. What inventions men have to get this wealth. They <I>search out all
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perfection,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They have arts and engines to dry up the waters, and carry them off,
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when they break in upon them in their mines and threaten to drown the
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work,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They have pumps, and pipes, and canals, to clear their way, and,
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obstacles being removed, they tread <I>the path which no fowl
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knoweth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>),
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unseen by the vulture's eye, which is piercing and quick-sighted, and
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untrodden by the lion's whelps, which traverse all the paths of the
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wilderness.
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2. What pains men take, and what vast charge they are at, to get this
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wealth. They work their way through the rocks and undermine the
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mountains,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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3. What hazards they run. Those that dig in the mines have their lives
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in their hands; for they are obliged to <I>bind the floods from
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overflowing</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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and are continually in danger of being suffocated by damps or crushed
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or buried alive by the fall of the earth upon them. See how foolish man
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adds to his own burden. He is sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of
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his face; but, as if that were not enough, he will get gold and silver
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at the peril of his life, though the more is gotten the less valuable
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it is. In Solomon's time silver was as stones. But,
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4. Observe what it is that carries men through all this toil and peril:
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<I>Their eye sees every precious thing,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Silver and gold are precious things with them, and they have them in
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their eye in all these pursuits. They fancy they see them glittering
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before their faces, and, in the prospect of laying hold of them, they
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make nothing of all these difficulties; for they make something of
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their toil at last: <I>That which is hidden bringeth he forth to
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light,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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What was hidden under ground is laid upon the bank; the metal that was
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hidden in the ore is refined from its dross and brought forth pure out
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of the furnace; and then he thinks his pains well bestowed. Go to the
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miners then, thou sluggard in religion; consider their ways, and be
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wise. Let their courage, diligence, and constancy in seeking the wealth
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that perisheth shame us out of slothfulness and faint-heartedness in
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labouring for the true riches. <I>How much better is it to get wisdom
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than gold!</I> How much easier and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but
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grace neglected. Will the hopes of <I>precious things</I> out of the
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earth (so they call them, though really they are paltry and perishing)
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be such a spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly
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precious things in heaven be much more so?</P>
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<A NAME="Job28_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job28_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Excellency of Wisdom.</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>14 The depth saith, It <I>is</I> not in me: and the sea saith, <I>It
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is</I> not with me.
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15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be
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weighed <I>for</I> the price thereof.
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16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the
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precious onyx, or the sapphire.
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17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange
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of it <I>shall not be for</I> jewels of fine gold.
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18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the
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price of wisdom <I>is</I> above rubies.
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19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it
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be valued with pure gold.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Job, having spoken of the wealth of the world, which men put such a
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value upon and take so much pains for, here comes to speak of another
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more valuable jewel, and that is, <I>wisdom and understanding,</I> the
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knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Those that found out all
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those ways and means to enrich themselves thought themselves very wise;
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but Job will not own theirs to be wisdom. He supposes them to gain
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their point, and to bring to light what they sought for
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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and yet asks, "<I>Where is wisdom?</I> for it is not here." This their
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way is their folly. We must therefore seek it somewhere else, and it
|
|
will be found nowhere but in the principles and practices of religion.
|
|
There is more true knowledge, satisfaction, and happiness, in sound
|
|
divinity, which shows us the way to the joys of heaven, than in natural
|
|
philosophy or mathematics, which help us to find a way into the bowels
|
|
of the earth. Two things cannot be found out concerning this
|
|
wisdom:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The price of it, for that is inestimable; its worth is infinitely
|
|
more than all the riches in this world: <I>Man knows not the price
|
|
thereof</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is,
|
|
|
|
1. Few put a due value upon it. Men know not the worth of it, its
|
|
innate excellency, their need of it, and of what unspeakable advantage
|
|
it will be to them; and therefore, though they have many a price in
|
|
their hand to get this wisdom, yet they <I>have no heart to it,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+17:16">Prov. xvii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
The cock in the fable knew not the value of the precious stone he found
|
|
in the dunghill, and therefore would rather have lighted on a
|
|
barley-corn. Men know not the worth of grace, and therefore will take
|
|
no pains to get it.
|
|
|
|
2. None can possibly give a valuable consideration for it, with all the
|
|
wealth this world can furnish them with. This Job enlarges upon
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:15-19"><I>v.</I> 15</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c., where he
|
|
makes an inventory of the <I>bona notabilia--the most valuable
|
|
treasures</I> of this world. Gold is five times mentioned; silver comes
|
|
in also; and then several precious stones, the onyx and sapphire,
|
|
pearls and rubies, and the topaz of Ethiopia. These are the things that
|
|
are highest prized in the world's markets: but if a man would give, not
|
|
only these, heaps of these, but all the substance of his house, all he
|
|
is worth in the world, for wisdom, it would utterly be contemned. These
|
|
may give a man some advantage in seeking wisdom, as they did to
|
|
Solomon, but there is no purchasing wisdom with these. It is a gift of
|
|
<I>the Holy Ghost,</I> which <I>cannot be bought with money,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:20">Acts viii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
As it does not run in the blood, and so come to us by descent, so it
|
|
cannot be got for money, nor does it come to us by purchase. Spiritual
|
|
gifts are conferred without money and without price, because no money
|
|
can be a price for them. Wisdom is likewise a more valuable gift to him
|
|
that has it, makes him richer and happier, than gold or precious
|
|
stones. It is <I>better to get wisdom than gold.</I> Gold is another's,
|
|
wisdom our own; gold is for the body and time, wisdom for the soul and
|
|
eternity. Let that which is most precious in God's account be so in
|
|
ours. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:14-20">Prov. iii. 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The place of it, for that is undiscoverable. <I>Where shall wisdom
|
|
be found?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
He asks this,
|
|
|
|
1. As one that truly desired to find it. This is a question we should
|
|
all put. While the most of men are asking, "Where shall money be
|
|
found?" we should ask, <I>Where may wisdom be found?</I> that we may
|
|
seek it and find it, not vain philosophy, or carnal policy, but true
|
|
religion; for that is the only true wisdom, that is it which best
|
|
improves our faculties and best secures our spiritual and eternal
|
|
welfare. This is that which we should cry after and dig for,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:3,4">Prov. ii. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. As one that utterly despaired of finding it any where but in God,
|
|
and any way but by divine revelation: <I>It is not found in</I> this
|
|
<I>land of the living,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
We cannot attain to a right understanding of God and his will, of
|
|
ourselves and our duty and interest, by reading any books or men, but
|
|
by reading God's book and the men of God. Such is the degeneracy of
|
|
human nature that there is no true wisdom to be found with any but
|
|
those who are born again, and who, through grace, partake of the divine
|
|
nature. As for others, even the most ingenious and industrious, they
|
|
can tell us no tidings of this lost wisdom.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Ask the miners, and by them <I>the depth will say, It is not in
|
|
me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who dig into the bowels of the earth, to rifle the treasures
|
|
there, cannot in these dark recesses find this rare jewel, nor with all
|
|
their art make themselves masters of it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Ask the mariners, and by them <I>the sea will say, It is not in
|
|
me.</I> It can never be got either by trading on the waters or diving
|
|
into them, can never be <I>sucked from the abundance of the seas or the
|
|
treasures hidden in the sand.</I> Where there is a vein for the silver
|
|
there is no vein for wisdom, none for grace. Men can more easily break
|
|
through the difficulties they meet with in getting worldly wealth than
|
|
through those they meet with in getting heavenly wisdom, and they will
|
|
take more pains to learn how to live in this world than how to live for
|
|
ever in a better world. So blind and foolish has man become that it is
|
|
in vain to ask him, <I>Where is the place of wisdom,</I> and which is
|
|
the road that leads to it?</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job28_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Wisdom Hidden from Man; The Wisdom Revealed to Man.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where <I>is</I> the place of
|
|
understanding?
|
|
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close
|
|
from the fowls of the air.
|
|
22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof
|
|
with our ears.
|
|
23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place
|
|
thereof.
|
|
24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, <I>and</I> seeth under
|
|
the whole heaven;
|
|
25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters
|
|
by measure.
|
|
26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the
|
|
lightning of the thunder:
|
|
27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and
|
|
searched it out.
|
|
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that
|
|
<I>is</I> wisdom; and to depart from evil <I>is</I> understanding.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The question which Job had asked
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
he asks again here; for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall,
|
|
until we speed in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we
|
|
find, till we get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent
|
|
prosecution of this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue,
|
|
that there is a twofold wisdom, one <I>hidden in God,</I> which is
|
|
secret and <I>belongs not to us,</I> the other made known by him and
|
|
revealed to man, which <I>belongs to us and to our children.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The knowledge of God's secret will, the will of his providence, is
|
|
out of our reach, and what God has reserved to himself. It <I>belongs
|
|
to the Lord our God.</I> To know the particulars of what God will do
|
|
hereafter, and the reasons of what he is doing now, is the knowledge
|
|
Job first speaks of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This knowledge is hidden from us. It is high, we cannot attain unto
|
|
it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:21,22"><I>v.</I> 21, 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>It is hid from the eyes of all living,</I> even of philosophers,
|
|
politicians, and saints; it is <I>kept close from the fowls of the
|
|
air;</I> though they fly high and in the open firmament of heaven,
|
|
though they seem somewhat nearer that upper world where the source of
|
|
this wisdom is, though their eyes behold afar off
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+39:29"><I>ch.</I> xxxix. 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet they cannot penetrate into the counsels of God. No, man is <I>wiser
|
|
than the fowls of heaven,</I> and yet comes short of this wisdom. Even
|
|
those who, in their speculations, soar highest, and think themselves,
|
|
like the fowls of the air, above the heads of other people, yet cannot
|
|
pretend to this knowledge. Job and his friends had been arguing about
|
|
the methods and reasons of the dispensations of Providence in the
|
|
government of the world. "What fools are we" (says Job) "to fight in
|
|
the dark thus, to dispute about that which we do not understand!" The
|
|
line and plummet of human reason can never fathom the abyss of the
|
|
divine counsels. Who can undertake to give the rationale of Providence,
|
|
or account for the maxims, measure, and methods of God's government,
|
|
those <I>arcana imperii--cabinet counsels</I> of divine wisdom? Let us
|
|
then be content not to know the future events of the Providence until
|
|
time discover them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:7">Acts i. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
and not to know the secret reasons of Providence until eternity
|
|
discover them. God is now a God that hideth himself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:15">Isa. xlv. 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>clouds and darkness are round about him.</I> Though this wisdom be
|
|
hidden from all living, yet <I>destruction and death say, We have heard
|
|
the fame of it.</I> Though they cannot give an account of themselves
|
|
(for there is <I>no wisdom, nor device, nor knowledge at all in the
|
|
grave,</I> much less this), yet there is a world on the other side
|
|
death and the grave, on which those dark regions border, and to which
|
|
we must pass through them, and there we shall see clearly what we are
|
|
now in the dark about. "Have a little patience," says Death to the
|
|
inquisitive soul: "I will fetch thee shortly to a place where even this
|
|
wisdom will be found." When <I>the mystery of God shall be finished</I>
|
|
it will be laid open, and we shall know as we are known; when the veil
|
|
of flesh is rent, and the interposing clouds are scattered, we shall
|
|
know what God does, though we know not now,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:7">John xiii. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. This knowledge is hidden in God, as the apostle speaks,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+3:9">Eph. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Known unto God are all his works,</I> though they are not known to
|
|
us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+15:18">Acts xv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
There are good reasons for what he does, though we cannot assign them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>God understands the way thereof.</I> Men sometimes do they know not
|
|
what, but God never does. Men do what they did not design to do; new
|
|
occurrences put them upon new counsels, and oblige them to take new
|
|
measures. But God does all according to the purpose which he purposed
|
|
in himself, and which he never alters. Men sometimes do that which they
|
|
cannot give a good reason for, but in every will of God there is a
|
|
counsel: he knows both what he does and why he does it, the whole
|
|
series of events and the order and place of every occurrence. This
|
|
knowledge he has in perfection, but keeps to himself. Two reasons are
|
|
here given why God must needs understand his own way, and he
|
|
only:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Because all events are now directed by an all-seeing and almighty
|
|
Providence,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:24,25"><I>v.</I> 24, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that governs the world is,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Omniscient; <I>for he looks to the ends of the earth,</I> both in
|
|
place and time; distant ages, distant regions, are under his view. We
|
|
do not understand our own way, much less can we understand God's way,
|
|
because we are short-sighted. How little do we know of what is doing in
|
|
the world, much less of what will be done? But <I>the eyes of the Lord
|
|
are in every place;</I> nay, they <I>run to and fro through the
|
|
earth.</I> Nothing is, or can be, hidden from him; and therefore the
|
|
reasons why some wicked people prosper remarkably and others are
|
|
remarkably punished in this world, which are secret to us, are known to
|
|
him. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such a reference to,
|
|
and such a dependence upon, another's, that he only to whom all events
|
|
and all affairs are naked and open, and who sees the whole at one
|
|
entire and certain view, is a competent Judge of every part.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He is omnipotent. He can do every thing, and is very exact in all
|
|
he does. For proof of this Job mentions the winds and waters,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
What is lighter than the wind? Yet God hath ways of poising it. He
|
|
knows how <I>to make the weight for the winds,</I> which he <I>brings
|
|
out of his treasuries</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
keeping a very particular account of what he draws out, as men do of
|
|
what they pay out of their treasuries, not at random, as men bring out
|
|
their trash. Nothing sensible is to us more unaccountable than the
|
|
wind. We <I>hear the sound of it, yet cannot tell whence it comes, nor
|
|
whither it goes;</I> but God gives it out by weight, wisely ordering
|
|
both from what point it shall blow and with what strength. The waters
|
|
of the sea, and the rain-waters, he both weighs and measures, allotting
|
|
the proportion of every tide and every shower. A great and constant
|
|
communication there is between clouds and seas, the waters above the
|
|
firmament and those under it. Vapours go up, rains come down, air is
|
|
condensed into water, water rarefied into air; but the great God keeps
|
|
an exact account of all the stock with which this trade is carried on
|
|
for the public benefit and sees that none of it be lost. Now if, in
|
|
these things, Providence be so exact, much more in dispensing frowns
|
|
and favours, rewards and punishments, to the children of men, according
|
|
to the rules of equity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Because all events were from eternity designed and determined by
|
|
an infallible prescience and immutable decree,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
When he settled the course of nature he foreordained all the operations
|
|
of his government.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He settled the course of nature. Job mentions particularly <I>a
|
|
decree for the rain</I> and <I>a way for the thunder and
|
|
lightning.</I> The general manner and method, and the particular uses
|
|
and tendencies, of these strange performances, both their causes and
|
|
their effects, were appointed by the divine purpose; hence God is said
|
|
to <I>prepare lightnings for the rain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7,Jer+10:13">Ps. cxxxv. 7; Jer. x. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] When he did that he laid all the measures of his providence, and
|
|
drew an exact scheme of the whole work from first to last. Then, from
|
|
eternity, did he see in himself, and declare to himself, the plan of
|
|
his proceedings. Then he prepared it, fixed it, and established it, set
|
|
every thing in readiness for all his works, so that, when any thing was
|
|
to be done, nothing was to seek, nor could any thing unforeseen occur,
|
|
to put it either out of its method or out of its time; for all was
|
|
ordered as exactly as if he had studied it and searched it out, so
|
|
that, whatever he does, <I>nothing can be put to it nor taken from
|
|
it,</I> and therefore <I>it shall be for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:14">Eccl. iii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some make Job to speak of wisdom here as a person, and translate it,
|
|
<I>Then he saw her and showed her,</I> &c., and then it is parallel
|
|
with that of Solomon concerning the essential wisdom of the Father, the
|
|
eternal Word,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:22-31">Prov. viii. 22</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. <I>Before the earth was, then was I by him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+1:1,2">John i. 1, 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The knowledge of God's revealed will, the will of his precept, and
|
|
this is within our reach; it is level to our capacity, and will do us
|
|
good
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom.</I>
|
|
Let it not be said that when God concealed his counsels from man, and
|
|
forbade him that tree of knowledge, it was because he grudged him any
|
|
thing that would contribute to his real bliss and satisfaction; no, he
|
|
let him know as much as he was concerned to know in order to his duty
|
|
and happiness; he shall be entrusted with as much of his sovereign mind
|
|
as is needful and fit for a subject, but he must not think himself fit
|
|
to be a privy-counsellor. He said to <I>Adam</I> (so some), to the
|
|
first man, in the day in which he was created; he told him plainly it
|
|
was not for him to amuse himself with over-curious searches into the
|
|
mysteries of creation, nor to pretend to solve all the phenomena of
|
|
nature; he would find it neither possible nor profitable to do so. No
|
|
less wisdom (says archbishop Tillotson) than that which made the world
|
|
can thoroughly understand the philosophy of it. But let him look upon
|
|
this as his wisdom, to fear the Lord and to depart from evil; let him
|
|
learn that, and he is learned enough; let this knowledge serve his
|
|
turn. When God forbade man the tree of knowledge he allowed him the
|
|
tree of life, and this is that tree,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:18">Prov. iii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
We cannot attain true wisdom but by divine revelation. <I>The Lord
|
|
giveth wisdom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:6">Prov. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now the matter of that is not found in the secrets of nature or
|
|
providence, but in the rules for our own practice. Unto man he said,
|
|
not, "Go up to heaven, to fetch happiness thence;" or, "Go down to the
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deep, to draw it up thence." No, <I>the word is nigh thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+30:14">Deut. xxx. 14</A>.
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<I>He hath shown thee, O man!</I> not what is great, but <I>what is
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good,</I> not what the Lord thy God designs to do with thee, but what
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he <I>requires of thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+6:8">Mic. vi. 8</A>.
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<I>Unto you, O men! I call,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:4">Prov. viii. 4</A>.
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Lord, what is man that he should be thus minded, thus visited! Behold,
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mark, take notice of this; he that has ears let him hear what the God
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of heaven says to the children of men: <I>The fear of the Lord, that is
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the wisdom.</I> Here is,
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1. The description of true religion, pure religion, and undefiled; it
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is to <I>fear the Lord and depart from evil,</I> which agrees with
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God's character of Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:1"><I>ch.</I> i. 1</A>.
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The <I>fear of the Lord</I> is the spring and summary of all religion.
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There is a slavish fear of God, springing from hard thoughts of him,
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which is contrary to religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:24">Matt. xxv. 24</A>.
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There is a selfish fear of God springing from dreadful thoughts of him,
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which may be a good step towards religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+9:5">Acts ix. 5</A>.
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But there is a filial fear of God, springing from great and high
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thoughts of him, which is the life and soul of all religion. And,
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|
wherever this reigns in the heart, it will appear by a constant care to
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<I>depart from evil,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:6">Prov. xvi. 6</A>.
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This is essential to religion. We must first cease to do evil, or we
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shall never learn to do well. <I>Virtus est vitium fugere--Even in our
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flight from vice some virtue lies.</I>
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2. The commendation of religion: it is <I>wisdom</I> and
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<I>understanding.</I> To be truly religious is to be truly wise. As the
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wisdom of God appears in the institution of religion, so the wisdom of
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man appears in the institution of religion, so the wisdom of man
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|
appears in the practice and observance of it. It is understanding, for
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|
it is the best knowledge of truth; it is wisdom, for it is the best
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management of our affairs. Nothing more surely guides our way and
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gains our end than being religious.</P>
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