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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. XXXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Job had often protested his integrity in general; here he does it in
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particular instances, not in a way of commendation (for he does not
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here proclaim his good deeds), but in his own just and necessary
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vindication, to clear himself from those crimes with which his friends
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had falsely charged him, which is a debt every man owes to his own
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reputation. Job's friends had been particular in their articles of
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impeachment against him, and therefore he is so in his protestation,
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which seems to refer especially to what Eliphaz had accused him of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:6-9"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 6</A>,
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&c. They had produced no witnesses against him, neither could they
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prove the things whereof they now accused him, and therefore he may
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well be admitted to purge himself upon oath, which he does very
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solemnly, and with many awful imprecations of God's wrath if he were
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guilty of those crimes. This protestation confirms God's character of
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him, that there was none like him in the earth. Perhaps some of his
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accusers durst not have joined with him; for he not only acquits
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himself from those gross sins which lie open to the eye of the world,
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but from many secret sins which, if he had been guilty of them, nobody
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could have charged him, with, because he will prove himself no
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hypocrite. Nor does he only maintain the cleanness of his practices,
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but shows also that in them he went upon good principles, that the
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reason of his eschewing evil was because he feared God, and his piety
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was at the bottom of his justice and charity; and this crowns the proof
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of his sincerity.
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I. The sins from which he here acquits himself are,
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1. Wantonness and uncleanness of heart,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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2. Fraud and injustice in commerce,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:4-8">ver. 4-8</A>.
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3. Adultery,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>.
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4. Haughtiness and severity towards his servants,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>.
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5. Unmercifulness to the poor, the widows, and the fatherless,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:16-23">ver. 16-23</A>.
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6. Confidence in his worldly wealth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:24,25">ver. 24, 25</A>.
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7. Idolatry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:26-28">ver. 26-28</A>.
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8. Revenge,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:29-31">ver. 29-31</A>.
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9. Neglect of poor strangers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:32">ver. 32</A>.
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10. Hypocrisy in concealing his own sins and cowardice in conniving at
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the sins of others,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:33,34">ver. 33, 34</A>.
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11. Oppression, and the violent invasion of other people's rights,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:38-40">ver. 38-40</A>.
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And towards the close, he appeals to God's judgment concerning his
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integrity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:35-37">ver. 35-37</A>.
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Now,
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II. In all this we may see,
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1. The sense of the patriarchal age concerning good and evil and what
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was so long ago condemned as sinful, that is, both hateful and hurtful.
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2. A noble pattern of piety and virtue proposed to us for our
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imitation, which, if our consciences can witness for us that we conform
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to it, will be our rejoicing, as it was Job's in the day of evil.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job31_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job31_8"> </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>Job's Vindication of Himself.</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 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think
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upon a maid?
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2 For what portion of God <I>is there</I> from above? and <I>what</I>
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inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
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3 <I>Is</I> not destruction to the wicked? and a strange
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<I>punishment</I> to the workers of iniquity?
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4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
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5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to
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deceit;
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6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine
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integrity.
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7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked
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after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
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8 <I>Then</I> let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring
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be rooted out.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world, are the two fatal
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rocks on which multitudes split; against these Job protests he was
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always careful to stand upon his guard.</P>
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<P>
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I. Against the lusts of the flesh. He not only kept himself clear from
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adultery, from defiling his neighbour's wives
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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but from all lewdness with any women whatsoever. He kept no concubine,
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no mistress, but was inviolably faithful to the marriage bed, though
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his wife was none of the wisest, best, or kindest. From the beginning
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it was so, that a man should have but one wife and cleave to her only;
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and Job kept closely to that institution and abhorred the thought of
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transgressing it; for, though his greatness might tempt him to it, his
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goodness kept him from it. Job was now in pain and sickness of body,
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and under that affliction it is in a particular manner comfortable if
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our consciences can witness for us that we have been careful to
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preserve our bodies in chastity and to possess those vessels in
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sanctification and honour, pure from the lusts of uncleanness. Now
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observe here,</P>
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<P>
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1. What the resolutions were which, in this matter, he kept to
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>I made a covenant with my eyes,</I> that is, "I watched against the
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occasions of the sin; <I>why then should I think upon a maid?</I>" that
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is, "by that means, through the grace of God, I kept myself from the
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very first step towards it." So far was he from wanton dalliances, or
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any act of lasciviousness, that,
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(1.) He would not so much as admit a wanton look. <I>He made a covenant
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with his eyes,</I> made this bargain with them, that he would allow
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them the pleasure of beholding the light of the sun and the glory of
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God shining in the visible creation, provided they would never fasten
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upon any object that might occasion any impure imaginations, much less
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any impure desires, in his mind; and under this penalty, that, if they
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did, they must smart for it in penitential tears. Note, Those that
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would keep their hearts pure must guard their eyes, which are both the
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outlets and inlets of uncleanness. Hence we read of <I>wanton</I> eyes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+3:16">Isa. iii. 16</A>)
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and <I>eyes full of adultery,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:14">2 Pet. ii. 14</A>.
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The first sin began in the eye,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:6">Gen. iii. 6</A>.
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What we must not meddle with we must not lust after; and what we must
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not lust after we must not look at; not the forbidden wealth
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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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not the forbidden wine
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:31">Prov. xxiii. 31</A>),
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not the forbidden woman,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:28">Matt. v. 28</A>.
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(2.) He would not so much as allow a wanton thought: "<I>Why then
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should I think upon a maid</I> with any unchaste fancy or desire
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towards her?" Shame and sense of honour might restrain him from
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soliciting the chastity of a beautiful virgin, but only grace and the
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fear of God would restrain him from so much as thinking of it. Those
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are not chaste that are not so in spirit as well as body,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:34">1 Cor. vii. 34</A>.
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See how Christ's exposition of the seventh commandment agrees with the
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ancient sense of it, and how much better Job understood it than the
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Pharisees, though they sat in Moses's chair.</P>
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<P>
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2. What the reasons were which, in this matter, he was governed by. It
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was not for fear of reproach among men, though that is to be considered
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:33">Prov. vi. 33</A>),
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but for fear of the wrath and curse of God. He knew very well,
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(1.) That uncleanness is a sin that forfeits all good, and shuts us out
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from the hope of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>What portion of God is there from above?</I> What blessing can such
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impure sinners expect from the pure and holy God, or what token of his
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favour? What inheritance of the Almighty can they look for from on
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high? There is no portion, no inheritance, no true happiness, for a
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soul, but what is in God, in the Almighty, and what comes from above,
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from on high. Those that wallow in uncleanness render themselves
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utterly unfit for communion with God, either in grace here or in glory
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hereafter, and become allied to unclean spirits, which are for ever
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separated from him; and then what portion, what inheritance, can they
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have with God? No unclean thing shall enter into the New Jerusalem,
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that holy city.
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(2.) It is a sin that incurs divine vengeance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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It will certainly be the sinner's ruin if it be not repented of in
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time. <I>Is not destruction,</I> a swift and sure destruction,
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<I>to</I> those <I>wicked</I> people, <I>and a strange punishment to
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the workers of</I> this <I>iniquity?</I> Fools make a mock at this sin,
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make a jest of it; it is with them a peccadillo, a trick of youth. But
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they deceive themselves with vain words, for because of these things,
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how light soever they make of them, the wrath of God, the unsupportable
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wrath of the eternal God, <I>comes upon the children of
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disobedience,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+5:6">Eph. v. 6</A>.
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There are some sinners whom God sometimes out of the common road of
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Providence to meet with; such are these. The destruction of Sodom is a
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strange punishment. <I>Is there not alienation</I> (so some read it)
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<I>to the workers of iniquity?</I> This is the sinfulness of the sin
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that it alienates the mind from God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:18,19">Eph. iv. 18, 19</A>),
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and this is the punishment of the sinners that they shall be eternally
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set at a distance from him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+22:15">Rev. xxii. 15</A>.
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(3.) It cannot be hidden from the all-seeing God. A wanton thought
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cannot be so close, nor a wanton look so quick, as to escape his
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cognizance, much less any act of uncleanness so secretly done as to be
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out of his sight. If Job was at any time tempted to this sin, he
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restrained himself from it, and all approaches to it, with this
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pertinent thought
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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<I>Doth not he see my ways;</I> as Joseph did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+39:9">Gen. xxxix. 9</A>),
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<I>How can I do it, and sin against God?</I> Two things Job had an eye
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to:--
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[1.] God's omniscience. It is a great truth that God's eyes are <I>upon
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all the ways of men</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+5:20,21">Prov. v. 20, 21</A>);
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but Job here mentions it with application to himself and his own
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actions: <I>Doth not he see my ways? O God! thou hast searched me and
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known me.</I> God sees what rule we walk by, what company w walk with,
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what end we walk towards, and therefore what ways we walk in.
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[2.] His observance. "He not only sees, but takes notice; he <I>counts
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all my steps,</I> all my false steps in the way of duty, all my
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by-steps into the way of sin." He not only sees our ways in general,
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but takes cognizance of our particular steps in these ways, every
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action, every motion. He keeps account of all, because he will call us
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to account, will bring every work into judgment. God takes a more exact
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notice of us than we do of ourselves; for who ever counted his own
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steps? yet God counts them. Let us therefore walk circumspectly.</P>
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<P>
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II. He stood upon his guard against the love of the world, and
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carefully avoided all sinful indirect means of getting wealth. He
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dreaded all forbidden profit as much as all forbidden pleasure. Let us
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see,</P>
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<P>
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1. What his protestation is. In general, he had been honest and just in
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all his dealings, and never, to his knowledge, did any body any wrong.
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(1.) He never <I>walked with vanity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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that is, he never durst tell a lie to get a good bargain. It was never
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his way to banter, or equivocate, or make many words in his dealings.
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Some men's constant walk is a constant cheat. They either make what
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they have more than it is, that they may be trusted, or less than it
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is, that nothing may be expected from them. But Job was a different
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man. His wealth was not acquired by vanity, though now diminished,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:11">Prov. xiii. 11</A>.
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(2.) He never <I>hasted to deceit.</I> Those that deceive must be quick
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and sharp, but Job's quickness and sharpness were never turned that
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way. He never made haste to be rich by deceit, but always acted
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cautiously, lest, through inconsideration, he should do an unjust
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thing. Note, What we have in the world may be either used with comfort
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or lost with comfort if it was honestly obtained.
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(3.) His <I>steps never turned out of the way,</I> the way of justice
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and fair dealing; from that he never deviated,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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He not only took care not to walk in a constant course and way of
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deceit, but he did not so much as take one step out of the way of
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honesty. In every particular action and affair we must closely tie
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ourselves up to the rules of righteousness.
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(4.) His heart did not <I>walk after his eyes,</I> that is, he did not
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covet what he saw that was another's, nor wish it his own. Covetousness
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is called the <I>lust of the eye,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:16">1 John ii. 16</A>.
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Achan saw, and then took, the accursed thing. That heart must needs
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wander that walks after the eyes; for then it looks no further than the
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things that are seen, whereas it ought to be in heaven whither the eyes
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cannot reach: it should follow the dictates of religion and right
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reason: if it follow the eye, it will be misled to that for which
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<I>God will bring men into judgment,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+11:9">Eccl. xi. 9</A>.
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(5.) That <I>no blot had cleaved to his hands,</I> that is, he was not
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chargeable with getting any thing dishonestly, or keeping that which
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was another's, whenever it appeared to be so. Injustice is a blot, a
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|
blot to the estate, a blot to the owner; it spoils the beauty of both,
|
|
and therefore is to be dreaded. Those that deal much in the world may
|
|
perhaps have a blot come upon their hands, but they must wash it off
|
|
again by repentance and restitution, and not let it <I>cleave to their
|
|
hands.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How he ratifies his protestation. So confident is he of his own
|
|
honesty that,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He is willing to have his goods searched
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let me be weighed in an even balance,</I> that is, "Let what I have
|
|
got be enquired into and it will be found to weigh well"--a sign that
|
|
it was not obtained by vanity, for then <I>Tekel</I> would have been
|
|
written on it--<I>weighed in the balance and found too light.</I> An
|
|
honest man is so far from dreading a trial that he desires it rather,
|
|
being well assured that God knows his integrity and will approve it,
|
|
and that the trial of it will be to his praise and honour.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He is willing to forfeit the whole cargo if there be found any
|
|
prohibited or contraband goods, any thing but what he came honestly by
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Let me sow, and let another eat,</I>" which was already agreed to
|
|
be the doom of oppressors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:5"><I>ch.</I> v. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
"and <I>let my offspring,</I> all the trees that I have planted, <I>be
|
|
rooted out.</I>" This intimates that he believed the sin did deserve
|
|
this punishment, that usually it is thus punished, but that though now
|
|
his estate was ruined (and at such a time, if ever, his conscience
|
|
would have brought his sin to his mind), yet he knew himself innocent
|
|
and would venture all the poor remains of his estate upon the issue of
|
|
the trial.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_15"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or <I>if</I> I have
|
|
laid wait at my neighbour's door;
|
|
10 <I>Then</I> let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow
|
|
down upon her.
|
|
11 For this <I>is</I> a heinous crime; yea, it <I>is</I> an iniquity <I>to
|
|
be punished by</I> the judges.
|
|
12 For it <I>is</I> a fire <I>that</I> consumeth to destruction, and
|
|
would root out all mine increase.
|
|
13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my
|
|
maidservant, when they contended with me;
|
|
14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he
|
|
visiteth, what shall I answer him?
|
|
15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not
|
|
one fashion us in the womb?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Two more instances we have here of Job's integrity:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That he had a very great abhorrence of the sin of adultery. As he
|
|
did not wrong his own marriage bed by keeping a concubine (he did not
|
|
so much as think upon a maid,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
so he was careful not to offer any injury to his neighbour's marriage
|
|
bed. Let us see here,
|
|
|
|
1. How clear he was from this sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He did not so much as covet his neighbour's wife; for even <I>his
|
|
heart was not deceived by a woman.</I> The beauty of another man's wife
|
|
did not kindle in him any unchaste desires, nor was he ever moved by
|
|
the allurements of an adulterous woman, such as is described,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+7:6-21">Prov. vii. 6</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. See the original of all the defilements of the life; they come from
|
|
a deceived heart. Every sin is deceitful, and none more so than the
|
|
sin of uncleanness.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He never compassed or imagined any unchaste design. He never
|
|
<I>laid wait at his neighbour's door,</I> to get an opportunity to
|
|
debauch his wife in his absence, when the good man was not at home,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+7:19">Prov. vii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:15"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. What a dread he had of this sin, and what frightful apprehensions he
|
|
had concerning the malignity of it--that it was a <I>heinous crime</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
one of the greatest vilest sins a man can be guilty of, highly
|
|
provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the soul. With
|
|
respect to the mischievousness of it, and the punishment it deserved,
|
|
he owns that, if he were guilty of that heinous crime,
|
|
|
|
(1.) His family might justly be made infamous in the highest degree
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Let my wife grind to another.</I> Let her be a <I>slave</I> (so
|
|
some), a <I>harlot,</I> so others. God often punishes the sins of one
|
|
with the sin of another, the adultery of the husband with the adultery
|
|
of the wife, as in David's case
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+12:11">2 Sam. xii. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
which does not in the least excuse the treachery of the adulterous
|
|
wife; but, how unrighteous soever she is, God is righteous. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:13">Hos. iv. 13</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Your spouses shall commit adultery.</I> Note, Those who are not just
|
|
and faithful to their relations must not think it strange if their
|
|
relations be unjust and unfaithful to them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He himself might justly be made a public example: <I>For it is an
|
|
iniquity to be punished by the judges;</I> yea, though those who are
|
|
guilty of it are themselves judges, as Job was. Note, Adultery is a
|
|
crime which the civil magistrate ought to take cognizance of and
|
|
punish: so it was adjudged even in the patriarchal age, before the law
|
|
of Moses made it capital. It is an evil work, to which the sword of
|
|
justice ought to be a terror.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It might justly become the ruin of his estate; nay, he knew it
|
|
would be so
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>It is a fire.</I> Lust is a fire in the soul: those that indulge it
|
|
are said to burn. It consumes all that is good there (the convictions,
|
|
the comforts), and lays the conscience waste. It kindles the fire of
|
|
God's wrath, which, if not extinguished by the blood of Christ, will
|
|
burn to the lowest hell. It will <I>consume</I> even <I>to</I> that
|
|
eternal <I>destruction.</I> It consumes the body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+5:11">Prov. v. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
It consumes the substance; it <I>roots out all the increase.</I>
|
|
Burning lusts bring burning judgments. Perhaps it alludes to the
|
|
burning of Sodom, which was intended for an example to those who should
|
|
afterwards, in like manner, live ungodly.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That he had a very great tenderness for his servants and ruled them
|
|
with a gentle hand. He had a great household and he managed it well. By
|
|
this he evidenced his sincerity that he had grace to govern his passion
|
|
as well as his appetite; and he that in these two things has the rule
|
|
of his own spirit is <I>better than the mighty,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:32">Prov. xvi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What were Job's condescensions to his servants
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
He did not <I>despise the cause of his man-servant,</I> no, nor of his
|
|
<I>maid-servant, when they contended with him.</I> If they contradicted
|
|
him in any thing, he was willing to hear their reasons. If they had
|
|
offended him, or were accused to him, he would patiently hear what they
|
|
had to say for themselves, in their own vindication or excuse. Nay, if
|
|
they complained of any hardship he put upon them, he did not browbeat
|
|
them, and bid them hold their tongues, but gave them leave to tell
|
|
their story, and redressed their grievances as far as it appeared they
|
|
had right on their side. He was tender of them, not only when they
|
|
served and pleased him, but even when they contended with him. Herein
|
|
he was a great example to masters, to <I>give to their servants that
|
|
which is just and equal;</I> nay, to do the same things to them that
|
|
they expect from them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+4:1,Eph+6:9">Col. iv. 1, Eph. vi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
and not to rule them with rigour, and carry it with a high hand. Many
|
|
of Job's servants were slain in his service
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:15-17"><I>ch.</I> i. 15-17</A>);
|
|
|
|
the rest were unkind and undutiful to him, and despised his cause,
|
|
though he never despised theirs
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+19:15,16"><I>ch.</I> xix. 15, 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
but he had this comfort that in his prosperity he had behaved well
|
|
towards them. Note, When relations are either removed from us or
|
|
embittered to us the testimony of our consciences that we have done our
|
|
duty to them will be a great support and comfort to us.
|
|
|
|
2. What were the considerations that moved him to treat his servants
|
|
thus kindly. He had, herein, an eye to God, both as his Judge and their
|
|
Maker.
|
|
|
|
(1.) As his Judge. He considered, "If I should be imperious and severe
|
|
with my servants, <I>what then shall I do when God riseth up?</I>" He
|
|
considered that he had a Master in heaven, to whom he was accountable,
|
|
who will rise up and will visit; and <I>we</I> are concerned to
|
|
consider <I>what we shall do in the day of his visitation</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:3">Isa. x. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, considering that we should be undone if God should then be strict
|
|
and severe with us, we ought to be very mild and gentle towards all
|
|
with whom we have to do. Consider what would become of us if God should
|
|
be extreme to mark what we do amiss, should take all advantages against
|
|
us and insist upon all his just demands from us--if he should visit
|
|
every offence, and take every forfeiture--if he should always chide,
|
|
and keep his anger for ever. And let not us be rigorous with our
|
|
inferiors. Consider what will become of us if we be cruel and
|
|
unmerciful to our brethren. The cries of the injured will be heard; the
|
|
sins of the injurious will be punished. Those that showed no mercy
|
|
shall find none; and what shall we do then?
|
|
|
|
(2.) As his and his servants' Creator,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
When he was tempted to be harsh with his servants, to deny them their
|
|
right and turn a deaf ear to their reasonings, this thought came very
|
|
seasonably into his mind, "<I>Did not he that made me in the womb make
|
|
him?</I> I am a creature as well as he, and my being is derived and
|
|
depending as well as his. He partakes of the same nature that I do and
|
|
is the work of the same hand: <I>Have we not all one Father?</I>" Note,
|
|
Whatever difference there is among men in their outward condition, in
|
|
their capacity of mind, or strength of body, or place in the world, he
|
|
that made the one made the other also, which is a good reason why we
|
|
should not mock at men's natural infirmities, nor trample upon those
|
|
that are in any way our inferiors, but, in every thing, do as we would
|
|
be done by. It is a rule of justice, <I>Parium par sit ratio--Let
|
|
equals be equally estimated and treated;</I> and therefore since there
|
|
is so great a parity among men, they being all made of the same mould,
|
|
by the same power, for the same end, notwithstanding the disparity of
|
|
our outward condition, we are bound so far to set ourselves upon the
|
|
level with those we deal with as to do to them, in all respects, as we
|
|
would they should do to us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Job's Compassion to the Poor.</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>16 If I have withheld the poor from <I>their</I> desire, or have
|
|
caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
|
|
17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless
|
|
hath not eaten thereof;
|
|
18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as <I>with</I> a
|
|
father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)
|
|
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor
|
|
without covering;
|
|
20 If his loins have not blessed me, and <I>if</I> he were <I>not</I>
|
|
warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
|
|
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I
|
|
saw my help in the gate:
|
|
22 <I>Then</I> let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine
|
|
arm be broken from the bone.
|
|
23 For destruction <I>from</I> God <I>was</I> a terror to me, and by
|
|
reason of his highness I could not endure.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Eliphaz had particularly charged Job with unmercifulness to the poor
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:6-9"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 6</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.): Thou hast <I>withholden bread from the hungry, stripped the naked
|
|
of their clothing,</I> and sent <I>widows away empty.</I> One would
|
|
think he could not have been so very positive and express in his charge
|
|
unless there had been some truth in it, some ground, for it; and yet it
|
|
appears, by Job's protestation, that it was utterly false and
|
|
groundless; he was never guilty of any such thing. See here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The testimony which Job's conscience gave in concerning his constant
|
|
behaviour towards the poor. He enlarges most upon this head because in
|
|
this matter he was most particularly accused. He solemnly protests,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That he had never been wanting to do good to them, as there was
|
|
occasion, to the utmost of his ability. He was always compassionate to
|
|
the poor, and careful of them, especially the widows and fatherless,
|
|
that were destitute of help.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He was always ready to grant their desires and answer their
|
|
expectations,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
If a poor person begged a kindness of his, he was ready to gratify him;
|
|
if he could but perceive by the widow's mournful craving look that she
|
|
expected an alms from him, though she had
|
|
|
|
not confidence enough to ask it, he had compassion enough to give it,
|
|
and <I>never caused the eyes of the widow to fail.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He put a respect upon the poor, and did them honour; for he took
|
|
the fatherless children to eat with him at his own table: they should
|
|
fare as he fared, and be familiar with him, and he would show himself
|
|
pleased with their company as if they had been his own,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
As it is one of the greatest grievances of poverty that it exposes to
|
|
contempt, so it is none of the least supports to the poor to be
|
|
respected.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He was very tender of them, and had a fatherly concern for them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was a father to the fatherless, took care of orphans, brought them
|
|
up with him under his own eye, and gave them, not only maintenance, but
|
|
education. He was a guide to the widow, who had lost the guide of her
|
|
youth; he advised her in her affairs, took cognizance of them, and
|
|
undertook the management of them. Those that need not our alms may yet
|
|
have occasion for our counsel, and it may be a real kindness to them.
|
|
This Job says he did <I>from his youth, from his mother's womb.</I> He
|
|
had something of tenderness and compassion woven in his nature; he
|
|
began betimes to do good, ever since he could remember; he had always
|
|
some poor widow or fatherless child under his care. His parents taught
|
|
him betimes to pity and relieve the poor, and brought up orphans with
|
|
him.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He provided food convenient for them; they ate of the same morsels
|
|
that he did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
did not eat after him, of the crumbs that fell from his table, but with
|
|
him, of the best dish upon his table. Those that have abundance must
|
|
not eat their morsels alone, as if they had none but themselves to take
|
|
care of, nor indulge their appetite with a dainty bit by themselves,
|
|
but take others to share with them, as David took Mephibosheth.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He took particular care to clothe those that were without
|
|
covering, which would be more expensive to him than feeding them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Poor people may perish for want of clothing as well as for want of
|
|
food--for want of clothing to lie in by night or to go abroad in by
|
|
day. If Job knew of any that were in this distress, he was forward to
|
|
relieve them, and instead of giving rich and gaudy liveries to his
|
|
servants, while the poor were turned off with rags that were ready to
|
|
be thrown to the dunghill, he had good warm strong clothes made on
|
|
purpose for them of <I>the fleece of his sheep</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that their <I>loins,</I> whenever they girt those garments about
|
|
them, <I>blessed him;</I> they commended his charity, blessed God for
|
|
him, and prayed God to bless him. Job's sheep were burned with fire
|
|
from heaven, but this was his comfort that, when he had them, he came
|
|
honestly by them, and used them charitably, fed the poor with their
|
|
flesh and clothed them with their wool.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That he had never been accessory to the wronging of any that were
|
|
poor. It might be said, perhaps, that he was kind here and there to a
|
|
poor orphan that was a favourite, but to others he was oppressive. No,
|
|
he was tender to all and injurious to none. He never so much as
|
|
<I>lifted up his hand against the fatherless</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
never threatened or frightened them, or offered to strike them; never
|
|
used his power to crush those that stood in his way or squeeze what he
|
|
could out of them, though he <I>saw his help in the gate,</I> that is,
|
|
though he had interest enough, both in the people and in the judges,
|
|
both to enable him to do it and to bear him out when he had done it.
|
|
Those that have it in their power to do a wrong thing and go through
|
|
with it, and a prospect of getting by it, and yet do justly, and love
|
|
mercy, and are firm to both, may afterwards reflect upon their conduct
|
|
with much comfort, as Job does here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The imprecation with which he confirms this protestation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"If I have been oppressive to the poor, <I>let my arm fall from my
|
|
shoulder-blade and my arm be broken from the bone,</I>" that is, "let
|
|
the flesh rot off from the bone and one bone be disjointed and broken
|
|
off from another." Had he not been perfectly clear in this matter, he
|
|
durst not thus have challenged the divine vengeance. And he intimates
|
|
that it is a righteous thing with God to break the arm that is lifted
|
|
up against the fatherless, as he withered Jeroboam's arm that was
|
|
stretched out against a prophet.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The principles by which Job was restrained from all
|
|
uncharitableness and unmercifulness. He durst not abuse the poor; for
|
|
though, with his help in the gate, he could overpower them, yet he
|
|
could not make his part good against that God who is the patron of
|
|
oppressed poverty and will not let oppressors go unpunished
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Destruction from God was a terror to me,</I> whenever I was tempted
|
|
to this sin, and <I>by reason of his highness I could not endure</I>
|
|
the thought of making him my enemy." He stood in awe,
|
|
|
|
1. Of the majesty of God, as a God above him. He thought of his
|
|
highness, the infinite distance between him and God, which possessed
|
|
him with such a reverence of him as made him very circumspect in his
|
|
whole conversation. Those who oppress the poor, and pervert judgment
|
|
and justice, forget that <I>he who is higher than the highest
|
|
regards,</I> and <I>there is a higher than they,</I> who is able to
|
|
deal with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:8">Eccl. v. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
but Job considered this.
|
|
|
|
2. Of the wrath of God, as a God that would certainly be against him if
|
|
he should wrong the poor. <I>Destruction from God,</I> because it would
|
|
be a certain and an utter ruin to him if he were guilty of this sin,
|
|
was a constant terror to him, to restrain him from it. Note, Good men,
|
|
even the best, have need to restrain themselves from sin with the fear
|
|
of destruction from God, and all little enough. This should especially
|
|
restrain us from all acts of injustice and oppression that God himself
|
|
is the avenger thereof. Even when salvation from God is a comfort to
|
|
us, yet destruction from God should be a terror to us. Adam, in
|
|
innocency, was awed with a threatening.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_32"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Job's Abhorrence of Idolatry.</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>24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold,
|
|
<I>Thou art</I> my confidence;
|
|
25 If I rejoiced because my wealth <I>was</I> great, and because
|
|
mine hand had gotten much;
|
|
26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking <I>in</I>
|
|
brightness;
|
|
27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath
|
|
kissed my hand:
|
|
28 This also <I>were</I> an iniquity <I>to be punished by</I> the judge:
|
|
for I should have denied the God <I>that is</I> above.
|
|
29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or
|
|
lifted up myself when evil found him:
|
|
30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse
|
|
to his soul.
|
|
31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his
|
|
flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
|
|
32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: <I>but</I> I opened my
|
|
doors to the traveller.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Four articles more of Job's protestation we have in these verses,
|
|
which, as all the rest, not only assure us what he was and did, but
|
|
teach us what we should be and do:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He protests that he never set his heart upon the wealth of this
|
|
world, nor took the things of it for his portions and happiness. He had
|
|
gold; he had fine gold. His <I>wealth was great,</I> and he <I>had
|
|
gotten much.</I> Our wealth is either advantageous or pernicious to us
|
|
according as we stand affected to it. If we make it our rest and our
|
|
ruler, it will be our ruin; if we make it our servant, and an
|
|
instrument of righteousness, it will be a blessing to us. Job here
|
|
tells us how he stood affected to his worldly wealth.
|
|
|
|
1. He put no great confidence in it: he did not <I>make gold his
|
|
hope,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those are very unwise that do, and enemies to themselves, who depend
|
|
upon it as sufficient to make them happy, who think themselves safe and
|
|
honourable, and sure of comfort, in having abundance of this world's
|
|
goods. Some make it their hope and confidence for another world, as if
|
|
it were a certain token of God's favour; and those who have so much
|
|
sense as not to think so yet promise themselves that it will be a
|
|
portion for them in this life, whereas the things themselves are
|
|
uncertain and our satisfaction in them is much more so. It is hard to
|
|
have riches and not to trust in riches; and it is this which makes it
|
|
so difficult for <I>a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:23,Mk+10:23">Matt. xix. 23; Mark x. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He took no great complacency in it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>If I rejoiced because my wealth was great</I> and boasted that <I>my
|
|
hand had gotten much.</I> He took no pride in his wealth, as if it
|
|
added any thing to his real excellency, nor did he think that his might
|
|
and the power of his hand obtained it for him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:17">Deut. viii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
He took no pleasure in it in comparison with the spiritual things which
|
|
were the delight of his soul. His joy did not terminate in the gift,
|
|
but passed through it to the giver. When he was in the midst of his
|
|
abundance he never said, <I>Soul, take thy ease</I> in these things,
|
|
<I>eat, drink, and be merry,</I> nor blessed himself in his riches. He
|
|
did not inordinately rejoice in his wealth, which helped him to bear
|
|
the loss of it so patiently as he did. The way to <I>weep as though we
|
|
wept not</I> is to <I>rejoice as though we rejoiced not.</I> The less
|
|
pleasure the enjoyment is the less pain the disappointment will be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He protests that he never gave the worship and glory to the
|
|
creature which are due to God only; he was never guilty of idolatry,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:26-28"><I>v.</I> 26-28</A>.
|
|
|
|
We do not find that Job's friends charged him with this. But there were
|
|
those, it seems, at that time, who were so sottish as to worship the
|
|
sun and moon, else Job would not have mentioned it. Idolatry is one of
|
|
the old ways which wicked men have trodden, and the most ancient
|
|
idolatry was the worshipping of the sun and moon, to which the
|
|
temptation was most strong, as appears
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:19">Deut. iv. 19</A>,
|
|
|
|
where Moses speaks of the danger which the people were in of being
|
|
driven to worship them. But as yet it was practised secretly, and durst
|
|
not appear in open view, as afterwards the most abominable idolatries
|
|
did. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How far Job kept from this sin. He not only never bowed the knee to
|
|
Baal (which, some think, was designed to represent the sun), never fell
|
|
down and worshipped the sun, but he kept his eye, his heart, and his
|
|
lips, clean from this sin.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He never so much as beheld the sun or the moon in their pomp and
|
|
lustre with any other admiration of them than what led him to give all
|
|
the glory of their brightness and usefulness to their Creator. Against
|
|
spiritual as well as corporal adultery he made a covenant with his
|
|
eyes; and this was his covenant, that, whenever he looked at the lights
|
|
of heaven, he should by faith look through them, and beyond them, to
|
|
the Father of lights.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He kept his heart with all diligence, that that should not be
|
|
secretly enticed to think that there is a divine glory in their
|
|
brightness, or a divine power in their influence, and that therefore
|
|
divine honours are to be paid to them. Here is the source of idolatry;
|
|
it begins in the heart. Every man is tempted to that, as to other sins,
|
|
when he is <I>drawn away by his own lust and enticed.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He did not so much as put a compliment upon these pretended
|
|
deities, did not perform the least and lowest act of adoration: <I>His
|
|
mouth did not kiss his hand,</I> which, it is likely, was a ceremony
|
|
then commonly used even by some that yet would not be thought
|
|
idolaters. It is an old-fashioned piece of civil respect among
|
|
ourselves, in making a bow, to kiss the hand, a form which, it seems,
|
|
was anciently used in giving divine honours to the sun and moon. They
|
|
could not reach to kiss them, as <I>the men that sacrificed kissed the
|
|
calves</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:2,1Ki+19:18">Hos. xiii. 2, 1 Kings xix. 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
but, to show their good will, they kissed their hand, reverencing those
|
|
as their masters which God has made servants to this lower world, to
|
|
hold the candle for us. Job never did it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How ill Job thought of this sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He looked upon it as an affront to the civil magistrate: It
|
|
<I>were an iniquity to be punished by the judge,</I> as a public
|
|
nuisance, and hurtful to kings and provinces. Idolatry debauches men's
|
|
minds, corrupts their manners, takes off the true sense of religion
|
|
which is the great bond of societies, and provokes God to give men up
|
|
to a reprobate sense, and to send judgments upon a nation; and
|
|
therefore the conservators of the public peace are concerned to
|
|
restrain it by punishing it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He looked upon it as a much greater affront to the God of heaven,
|
|
and no less than high treason against his crown and dignity: For <I>I
|
|
should have denied the God that is above,</I> denied his being as God
|
|
and his sovereignty as God above. Idolatry is, in effect, atheism;
|
|
hence the Gentiles are said to be <I>without God (atheists) in the
|
|
world.</I> Note, We should be afraid of every thing that does but
|
|
tacitly deny the God above, his providence, or any of his
|
|
perfections.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He protests that he was so far from doing or designing mischief to
|
|
any that he neither desired nor delighted in the hurt of the worst
|
|
enemy he had. The forgiving of those that do us evil, it seems, was
|
|
Old-Testament duty, though the Pharisees made the law concerning it of
|
|
no effect, by teaching, <I>Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy
|
|
enemy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:43">Matt. v. 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Job was far from revenge. He did not only not return the injuries
|
|
that were done him, not only not destroy those who hated him; but,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He did not so much as rejoice when any mischief befel them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many who would not wilfully hurt those who stand in their light, or
|
|
have done them a diskindness, yet are secretly pleased and laugh in
|
|
their sleeve (as we say) when hurt is done them. But Job was not of
|
|
that spirit. Though Job was a very good man, yet, it seems, there were
|
|
those that hated him; but evil found them. He saw their destruction,
|
|
and was far from rejoicing in it; for that would justly have brought
|
|
the destruction upon him, as it is intimated,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:17,18">Prov. xxiv. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He did not so much as wish in his own mind that evil might befel
|
|
them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
He never <I>wished a curse to his soul</I> (curses to the soul are the
|
|
worst of curses), never desired his death; he knew that, if he did, it
|
|
would turn into sin to him. He was careful <I>not to offend with his
|
|
tongue</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:1">Ps. xxxix. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
would not <I>suffer his mouth to sin,</I> and therefore durst not
|
|
imprecate any evil, no, not to his worst enemy. If others bear malice
|
|
to us, that will not justify us in bearing malice to them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He was violently urged to revenge, and yet he kept himself thus
|
|
clear from it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The men of his tabernacle,</I> his domestics, his servants, and
|
|
those about him, were so enraged at Job's enemy who hated him, that
|
|
they could have eaten him, if Job would but have set them on or given
|
|
them leave. "<I>O that we had of his flesh!</I> Our master is satisfied
|
|
to forgive him, but <I>we cannot be so satisfied.</I>" See how much
|
|
beloved Job was by his family, how heartily they espoused his cause,
|
|
and what enemies they were to his enemies; but see what a strict hand
|
|
Job kept upon his passions, that he would not avenge himself, though he
|
|
had those about him that blew the coals of his resentment. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) A good man commonly does not himself lay to heart the affronts
|
|
that are done him so much as his friends do for him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Great men have commonly those about them that stir them up to
|
|
revenge. David had so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+24:4,26:8,2Sa+16:9">1 Sam. xxiv. 4; xxvi. 8;
|
|
2 Sam. xvi. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
But if they keep their temper, notwithstanding the spiteful
|
|
insinuations of those about them, afterwards it shall be no grief of
|
|
heart to them, but shall turn very much to their praise.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He protests that he had never been unkind or inhospitable to
|
|
strangers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The stranger lodged not in the street,</I> as angels might lately
|
|
have done in the streets of Sodom if Lot alone had not entertained
|
|
them. Perhaps by that instance Job was taught (as we are,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:2">Heb. xiii. 2</A>)
|
|
|
|
not to be forgetful to entertain strangers. He that is at home must
|
|
consider those that are from home, and put his soul into their soul's
|
|
stead, and then do as he would be done by. Hospitality is a Christian
|
|
duty,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+4:9">1 Pet. iv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Job, in his prosperity, was noted for good house-keeping: <I>He opened
|
|
his door to the road</I> (so it may be read); he kept the street-door
|
|
open, that he might see who passed by and invite them in, as Abraham,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:1">Gen. xviii. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job31_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Job's Protestation of His Integrity.</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>33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine
|
|
iniquity in my bosom:
|
|
34 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of
|
|
families terrify me, that I kept silence, <I>and</I> went not out of
|
|
the door?
|
|
35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire <I>is, that</I> the
|
|
Almighty would answer me, and <I>that</I> mine adversary had written a
|
|
book.
|
|
36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, <I>and</I> bind it <I>as</I>
|
|
a crown to me.
|
|
37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince
|
|
would I go near unto him.
|
|
38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise
|
|
thereof complain;
|
|
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have
|
|
caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
|
|
40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of
|
|
barley. The words of Job are ended.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here Job's protestation against three more sins, together with
|
|
his general appeal to God's bar and his petition for a hearing there,
|
|
which, it is likely, was intended to conclude his discourse (and
|
|
therefore we will consider it last), but that another particular sin
|
|
occurred, from which he thought it requisite to acquit himself. He
|
|
clears himself from the charge,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of dissimulation and hypocrisy. The general crime of which his
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friends accused him was that, under the cloak of a profession of
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religion, he had kept up secret haunts of sin, and that really he was
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|
as bad as other people, but had the art of concealing it. Zophar
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|
insinuated
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:12"><I>ch.</I> xx. 12</A>)
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that he <I>hid his iniquity under his tongue.</I> "No," says Job, "I
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never did
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
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<I>I never covered my transgression as Adam,</I> never palliated a sin
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|
with frivolous excuses, nor made fig-leaves the shelter of my shame,
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|
nor ever <I>hid my iniquity in my bosom,</I> as a fondling, a darling,
|
|
that I could by no means part with, or as stolen goods which I dreaded
|
|
the discovery of." It is natural to us to cover our sins; we have it
|
|
from our first parents. We are loth to confess our faults, willing to
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|
extenuate them and make the best of ourselves, to devolve the blame
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|
upon others, as Adam on his wife, not without a tacit reflection upon
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|
God himself. But <I>he that</I> thus <I>covers his sins shall not
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|
prosper,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:13">Prov. xxviii. 13</A>.
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Job, in this protestation, intimates two things, which were certain
|
|
evidences of his integrity:--
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|
|
1. That he was not guilty of any great transgression or iniquity,
|
|
inconsistent with sincerity, which he had now industriously concealed.
|
|
In this protestation he had dealt fairly, and, while he denies some
|
|
sins, was not conscious to himself that he allowed himself in any.
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|
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2. That what transgression and iniquity he had been guilty of (<I>Who
|
|
is there that lives and sins not?</I>) he had always been ready to own
|
|
it, and, as soon as ever he perceived he had said or done amiss, he was
|
|
ready to unsay it and undo it, as far as he could, by repentance,
|
|
confessing it both to God and man, and forsaking it: this is doing
|
|
honestly.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
II. From the charge of cowardice and base fear. His courage in that
|
|
which is good he produces as an evidence of his sincerity in it
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|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Did I fear a great multitude, that I kept silence?</I> No, all that
|
|
knew Job knew him to be a man of undaunted resolution in a good cause,
|
|
that boldly appeared, spoke, and acted, in defence of religion and
|
|
justice, and did not fear the face of man nor was ever threatened or
|
|
brow-beaten out of his duty, but set his face as a flint. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What great conscience Job had made of his duty as a magistrate, or
|
|
a man of reputation, in the place where he lived. He did not, he durst
|
|
not, keep silence when he had a call to speak in an honest cause, or
|
|
keep within doors when he had a call to go abroad to do good. The case
|
|
may be such that it may be our sin to be silent and retired, as when we
|
|
are called to reprove sin and bear our testimony against it, to
|
|
vindicate the truths and ways of God, to do justice to those who are
|
|
injured or oppressed, or in any way to serve the public or to do honour
|
|
to our religion.
|
|
|
|
2. What little account Job made of the discouragements he met with in
|
|
the way of his duty. He valued not the clamours of the mob, feared not
|
|
a great multitude, nor did he value the menaces of the mighty: <I>The
|
|
contempt of families never terrified him.</I> He was not deterred by
|
|
the number or quality, the scorns or insults, or the injurious from
|
|
doing justice to the injured; no, he scorned to be swayed and biassed
|
|
by any such considerations, nor ever suffered a righteous cause to be
|
|
run down by a high hand. He feared the great God, not the multitude,
|
|
and his curse, not the contempt of families.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. From the charge of oppression and violence, and doing wrong to his
|
|
poor neighbours. And here observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What his protestation is--that the estate he had he both got and used
|
|
honestly, so that his <I>land</I> could not <I>cry out against him nor
|
|
the furrows thereof complain</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
as they do against those who get the possession of them by fraud and
|
|
extortion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:9-11">Hab. ii. 9-11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The whole creation is said to groan under the sin of man; but that
|
|
which is unjustly gained and held cries out against a man, and accuses
|
|
him, condemns him, and demands justice against him for the injury.
|
|
Rather than his oppression shall go unpunished the very ground and the
|
|
furrows of it shall witness against him, and be his prosecutors. Two
|
|
things he could say safely concerning his estate:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he <I>never ate the fruits of it without money,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>.
|
|
|
|
What he purchased he paid for, as Abraham for the land he bought
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+23:16">Gen. xxiii. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and David,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:24">2 Sam. xxiv. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The labourers that he employed had their wages duly paid them, and, if
|
|
he made use of the fruits of those lands that he let out, he paid his
|
|
tenants for them, or allowed it in their rent.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he never caused the owners thereof to lose their life, never
|
|
got an estate, as Ahab got Naboth's vineyard, by killing the heir and
|
|
seizing the inheritance, never starved those that held lands of him nor
|
|
killed them with hard bargains and hard usage. No tenant, no workman,
|
|
no servant, he had, could complain of him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How he confirms his protestation. He does it, as often before, with
|
|
a suitable imprecation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>):
|
|
|
|
"If I have got my estate unjustly, <I>let thistles grow instead of
|
|
wheat,</I> the worst of weeds instead of the best of grains." When men
|
|
get estates unjustly they are justly deprived of the comfort of them,
|
|
and disappointed in their expectations from them. They sow their land,
|
|
but they sow not that body that shall be. God will give it a body. It
|
|
was sown wheat, but shall come up thistles. What men do not come
|
|
honestly by will never do them any good. Job, towards the close of his
|
|
protestation, appeals to the judgment-seat of God concerning the truth
|
|
of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:35-37"><I>v.</I> 35-37</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>O that he would hear me,</I> even <I>that the Almighty would answer
|
|
me!</I> This was what he desired and often complained that he could not
|
|
obtain; and, now that he had drawn up his own defence so particularly,
|
|
he leaves it upon record, in expectation of a hearing, files it, as it
|
|
were, till his cause be called.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) A trial is moved for, and the motion earnestly pressed: "<I>O that
|
|
one,</I> any one, <I>would hear me;</I> my cause is so good, and my
|
|
evidence so clear, that I am willing to refer it to any indifferent
|
|
person whatsoever; but my desire is that the Almighty himself would
|
|
determine it." An upright heart does not dread a scrutiny. He that
|
|
means honestly wishes he had a window in his breast, that all men might
|
|
see the intents of his heart. But an upright heart does particularly
|
|
desire to be determined in every thing by the judgment of God, which we
|
|
are sure is according to the truth. It was holy David's prayer,
|
|
<I>Search me, O God! and know my heart;</I> and it was blessed Paul's
|
|
comfort, <I>He that judgeth me is the Lord.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The prosecutor is called, the plaintiff summoned, and ordered to
|
|
bring in his information, to say what he has to say against the
|
|
prisoner, for he stands upon his deliverance: "<I>O that my adversary
|
|
had written a book</I>--that my friends, who charge me with hypocrisy,
|
|
would draw up their charge in writing, that it might be reduced to a
|
|
certainty, and that we might the better join issue upon it." Job would
|
|
be very glad to see the libel, to have a copy of his indictment. He
|
|
would not hide it under his arm, but <I>take it upon his shoulder,</I>
|
|
to be seen and read of all men, nay, he would <I>bind it as a crown</I>
|
|
to him, would be pleased with it, and look upon it as his ornament;
|
|
for,
|
|
|
|
[1.] If it discovered to him any sin he had been guilty of, which he
|
|
did not yet see, he should be glad to know it, that he might repent of
|
|
it and get it pardoned. A good man is willing to know the worst of
|
|
himself and will be thankful to those that will faithfully tell him of
|
|
his faults.
|
|
|
|
[2.] If it charged him with what was false, he doubted not but to
|
|
disprove the allegations, that his innocency would be cleared up as the
|
|
light, and he should come off with so much the more honour. But,
|
|
|
|
[3.] He believed that, when his adversaries came to consider the matter
|
|
so closely as they must do if they put the charge in writing, the
|
|
accusations would be trivial and minute, and every one that saw them
|
|
would say, "If this was all they had to say against him, it was a shame
|
|
they gave him so much trouble."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The defendant is ready to make his appearance and to give his
|
|
accusers all the fair play they can desire. He will <I>declare unto
|
|
them the number of his steps,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
He will let them into the history of his own life, will show them all
|
|
the stages and scenes of it. He will give them a narrative of his
|
|
conversation, what would make against him as well as what would make
|
|
for him, and let them make what use they pleased of it; and so
|
|
confident he is of his integrity that as a prince to be crowned, rather
|
|
than a prisoner to be tried, he would <I>go near to him,</I> both to
|
|
his accuser to hear his charge and to his judge to hear his doom. Thus
|
|
the testimony of his conscience was his rejoicing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD>Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi--
|
|
<BR>
|
|
<BR>Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,
|
|
<BR>Still to preserve thy conscience innocence.
|
|
</TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Those that have kept their hands without spot from the world, as Job
|
|
did, may lift up their faces without spot unto God, and may comfort
|
|
themselves with the prospect of his judgment when they lie under the
|
|
unjust censures of men. <I>If our hearts condemn us not, then have we
|
|
confidence towards God.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Thus <I>the words of Job are ended;</I> that is, he has now said all he
|
|
would say in answer to his friends: he afterwards said something in a
|
|
way of self-reproach and condemnation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+40:4,5,42:2-6"><I>ch.</I> xl. 4, 5, xlii. 2</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.), but here ends what he had to say in a way of self-defence and
|
|
vindication. If this suffice not he will say no more; he knows when he
|
|
has said enough and will submit to the judgment of the bench. Some
|
|
think the manner of expression intimates that he concluded with an air
|
|
of assurance and triumph. He now keeps the field and doubts not but to
|
|
win the field. <I>Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?
|
|
It is God that justifies.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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