mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Job.xiii" n="xiii" next="Job.xiv" prev="Job.xii" progress="6.51%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Job.xiii-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xiii-p1">In this and the two following chapters we have
Job's answer to Zophar's discourse, in which, as before, he first
reasons with his friends (see <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.13.19" parsed="|Job|13|19|0|0" passage="Job 13:19"><i>ch.</i> xiii. 19</scripRef>) and then turns to his
God, and directs his expostulations to him, from thence to the end
of his discourse. In this chapter he addresses himself to his
friends, and, I. He condemns what they had said of him, and the
judgment they had given of his character, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.1-Job.12.5" parsed="|Job|12|1|12|5" passage="Job 12:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. II. He contradicts and confronts
what they had said of the destruction of wicked people in this
world, showing that they often prosper, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.6-Job.12.11" parsed="|Job|12|6|12|11" passage="Job 12:6-11">ver. 6-11</scripRef>. III. He consents to what they
had said of the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, and the
dominion of his providence over the children of men and all their
affairs; he confirms this, and enlarges upon it, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.12-Job.12.25" parsed="|Job|12|12|12|25" passage="Job 12:12-25">ver. 12-25</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.12" parsed="|Job|12|0|0|0" passage="Job 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xiii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.1-Job.12.5" parsed="|Job|12|1|12|5" passage="Job 12:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.12.1-Job.12.5">
<h4 id="Job.xiii-p1.7">Job's Reply to Zophar. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xiii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xiii-p2">1 And Job answered and said,   2 No doubt
but ye <i>are</i> the people, and wisdom shall die with you.  
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I <i>am</i> not inferior
to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?   4 I am
<i>as</i> one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he
answereth him: the just upright <i>man is</i> laughed to scorn.
  5 He that is ready to slip with <i>his</i> feet <i>is as</i>
a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p3">The reproofs Job here gives to his friends,
whether they were just or no, were very sharp, and may serve for a
rebuke to all that are proud and scornful, and an exposure of their
folly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p4">I. He upbraids them with their
conceitedness of themselves, and the good opinion they seemed to
have of their own wisdom in comparison with him, than which nothing
is more weak and unbecoming, nor better deserves to be ridiculed,
as it is here. 1. He represents them as claiming the monopoly of
wisdom, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.2" parsed="|Job|12|2|0|0" passage="Job 12:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. He
speaks ironically: "<i>No doubt you are the people;</i> you think
yourselves fit to dictate and give law to all mankind, and your own
judgment to be the standard by which every man's opinion must be
measured and tried, as if nobody could discern between truth and
falsehood, good and evil, but you only; and therefore every
top-sail must lower to you, and, right or wrong, we must all say as
you say, and you three must be the people, the majority, to have
the casting vote." Note, It is a very foolish and sinful thing for
any to think themselves wiser than all mankind besides, or to speak
and act confidently and imperiously, as if they thought so. Nay, he
goes further: "You not only think there are none, but that there
will be none, as wise as you, and therefore that <i>wisdom must die
with you,</i> that all the world must be fools when you are gone,
and in the dark when your sun has set." Note, It is folly for us to
think that there will be any great irreparable loss of us when we
are gone, or that we can be ill spared, since God has the residue
of the Spirit, and can raise up others, more fit than we are, to do
his work. When wise men and good men die it is a comfort to think
that wisdom and goodness shall not die with them. Some think Job
here reflects upon Zophar's comparing him (as he thought) and
others to the wild ass's colt, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.12" parsed="|Job|11|12|0|0" passage="Job 11:12"><i>ch.</i> xi. 12</scripRef>. "Yes," says he, "we must
be asses; you are the only men." 2. He does himself the justice to
put in his claim as a sharer in the gifts of wisdom (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.3" parsed="|Job|12|3|0|0" passage="Job 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>But I have
understanding (a heart) as well as you;</i> nay, <i>I fall not
lower than you;</i>" as it is in the margin. "I am as well able to
judge of the methods and meanings of the divine providence, and to
construe the hard chapters of it, as you are." He says not this to
magnify himself. It was no great applause of himself to say, <i>I
have understanding as well as you;</i> no, nor to say, "I
understand this matter as well as you;" for what reason had either
he or they to be proud of understanding that which was obvious and
level to the capacity of the meanest? "<i>Yea, who knows not such
things as these?</i> What things you have said that are true are
plain truths, and common themes, which there are many that can talk
as excellently of as either you or I." But he says it to humble
them, and check the value they had for themselves as doctors of the
chair. Note, (1.) It may justly keep us from being proud of our
knowledge to consider how many there are that know as much as we
do, and perhaps much more and to better purpose. (2.) When we are
tempted to be harsh in our censures of those we differ from and
dispute with we ought to consider that they also have understanding
as well as we, a capacity of judging, and a right of judging for
themselves; nay, perhaps they are not inferior to us, but superior,
and it is possible that they may be in the right and we in the
wrong; and therefore we ought not to judge or despise them
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.14.3" parsed="|Rom|14|3|0|0" passage="Ro 14:3">Rom. xiv. 3</scripRef>), nor pretend
to be masters (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.1" parsed="|Jas|3|1|0|0" passage="Jam 3:1">Jam. iii. 1</scripRef>),
while <i>all we are brethren,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.8" parsed="|Matt|23|8|0|0" passage="Mt 23:8">Matt.
xxiii. 8</scripRef>. It is a very reasonable allowance to be made
to all we converse with, all we contend with, that they are
rational creatures as well as we.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p5">II. He complains of the great contempt with
which they had treated him. Those that are haughty and think too
well of themselves are commonly scornful and ready to trample upon
all about them. Job found it so, at least he thought he did
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.4" parsed="|Job|12|4|0|0" passage="Job 12:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>I am as
one mocked.</i> I cannot say there was cause for this charge; we
will not think Job's friends designed him any abuse, nor aimed at
any thing but to convince him, and so, in the right method, to
comfort him; yet he cries out, <i>I am as one mocked.</i> Note, We
are apt to call reproofs reproaches, and to think ourselves mocked
when we are but advised and admonished; this peevishness is our
folly, and a great wrong to ourselves and to our friends. Yet we
cannot but say there was colour for this charge; they came to
comfort him, but they vexed him, gave him counsels and
encouragements, but with no great opinion that either the one or
the other would take effect; and therefore he thought they mocked
him, and this added much to his grief. Nothing is more grievous to
those that have fallen from the height of prosperity into the depth
of adversity than to be trodden on, and insulted over, when they
are down; and on this head they are too apt to be suspicious.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p6">1. What aggravated this grievance to him.
Two things:—(1.) That they were his <i>neighbours,</i> his
friends, his companions (so the word signifies), and the scoffs of
such are often most spitefully given, and always most indignantly
received. <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.12-Ps.55.13" parsed="|Ps|55|12|55|13" passage="Ps 55:12,13">Ps. lv. 12,
13</scripRef>, <i>It was not an enemy that reproached me; then I
would have</i> slighted it, and <i>so borne it; but it was thou, a
man, my equal.</i> (2.) That they were professors of religion, such
as <i>called upon God,</i> and said that he <i>answered them:</i>
for some understand that of the persons mocking. "They are such as
have a regard to heaven, and an interest in heaven, whose prayers I
would therefore be glad of and thankful for, whose good opinion I
cannot but covet, and therefore whose censures are the more
grievous." Note, It is sad that any who call upon God should mock
their brethren (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.9-Jas.3.10" parsed="|Jas|3|9|3|10" passage="Jam 3:9,10">Jam. iii. 9,
10</scripRef>), and it cannot but lie heavily on a good man to be
thought ill of by those whom he thinks well of, yet this is no new
thing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p7">2. What supported him under it. (1.) That
he had a God to go to, with whom he could lodge his appeal; for
some understand those words of the person mocked, that he <i>calls
upon God and he answers him;</i> and so it agrees with <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.16.20" parsed="|Job|16|20|0|0" passage="Job 16:20"><i>ch.</i> xvi. 20</scripRef>. <i>My friends
scorn me, but my eye poureth out tears to God.</i> If our friends
be deaf to our complaints, God is not; if they condemn us, God
knows our integrity; if they make the worst of us, he will make the
best of us; if they give us cross answers, he will give us kind
ones. (2.) That his case was not singular, but very common: <i>The
just upright man is laughed to scorn.</i> By many he is laughed at
even for his justice and his uprightness, his honesty towards men
and his piety towards God; these are derided as foolish things,
which silly people needlessly hamper themselves with, as if
religion were a jest and therefore to be made a jest of. By most he
is laughed at for any little infirmity or weakness, notwithstanding
his justice and uprightness, without any consideration had of that
which is so much his honour. Note, It was of old the lot of honest
good people to be despised and derided; we are not therefore to
think it strange (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.4.12" parsed="|1Pet|4|12|0|0" passage="1Pe 4:12">1 Pet. iv.
12</scripRef>), no, nor to think it hard, if it be our lot; <i>so
persecuted they</i> not only <i>the prophets,</i> but even the
saints of the patriarchal age (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.12" parsed="|Matt|5|12|0|0" passage="Mt 5:12">Matt. v.
12</scripRef>), and can we expect to fare better than they?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p8">3. What he suspected to be the true cause
of it, and that was, in short, this: they were themselves rich and
at ease, and therefore they despised him who had fallen into
poverty. It is the way of the world; we see instances of it daily.
Those that prosper are praised, but of those that are going down it
is said, "Down with them." <i>He that is ready to slip with his
feet</i> and fall into trouble, though he has formerly shone as a
lamp, is then looked upon as a lamp going out like the snuff of a
candle, which we throw to the ground and tread upon, and is
accordingly <i>despised in the thought of him that is at ease,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.5" parsed="|Job|12|5|0|0" passage="Job 12:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Even the just
upright man, that is in his generation as a burning and shining
light, if he enter into temptation (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.2" parsed="|Ps|73|2|0|0" passage="Ps 73:2">Ps.
lxxiii. 2</scripRef>) or come under a cloud, is looked upon with
contempt. See here, (1.) What is the common fault of those that
live in prosperity. Being full, and easy, and merry themselves,
they look scornfully upon those that are in want, pain, and sorrow;
they overlook them, take no notice of them, and study to forget
them. See <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.123.4" parsed="|Ps|123|4|0|0" passage="Ps 123:4">Ps. cxxiii. 4</scripRef>.
The chief butler drinks wine in bowls, but makes nothing of the
afflictions of Joseph. Wealth without grace often makes men thus
haughty, thus careless of their poor neighbours. (2.) What is the
common fate of those that fall into adversity. Poverty serves to
eclipse all their lustre; though they are lamps, yet, if taken out
of golden candlesticks, and put, like Gideon's, into earthen
pitchers, nobody values them as formerly, but those that live at
ease despise them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xiii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.6-Job.12.11" parsed="|Job|12|6|12|11" passage="Job 12:6-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.12.6-Job.12.11">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xiii-p9">6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they
that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth
<i>abundantly.</i>   7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall
teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
  8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the
fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.   9 Who knoweth not
in all these that the hand of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xiii-p9.1">Lord</span> hath wrought this?   10 In whose hand
<i>is</i> the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all
mankind.   11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste
his meat?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p10">Job's friends all of them went upon this
principle, that wicked people cannot prosper long in this world,
but some remarkable judgment or other will suddenly light on them:
Zophar had concluded with it, that <i>the eyes of the wicked shall
fail,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.20" parsed="|Job|11|20|0|0" passage="Job 11:20"><i>ch.</i> xi.
20</scripRef>. This principle Job here opposes, and maintains that
God, in disposing men's outward affairs, acts as a sovereign,
reserving the exact distribution of rewards and punishments for the
future state.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p11">I. He asserts it as an undoubted truth that
wicked people may, and often do, prosper long in this world,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.6" parsed="|Job|12|6|0|0" passage="Job 12:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Even great
sinners may enjoy great prosperity. Observe, 1. How he describes
the sinners. They are <i>robbers,</i> and such as provoke God, the
worst kind of sinners, blasphemers and persecutors. Perhaps he
refers to the Sabeans and Chaldeans, who had robbed him, and had
always lived by spoil and rapine, and yet they prospered; all the
world saw they did, and there is no disputing against sense; one
observation built upon matter of fact is worth twenty notions
framed by an hypothesis. Or more generally, All proud oppressors
are robbers and pirates. It is supposed that what is injurious to
men is provoking to God, the patron of right and the protector of
mankind. It is not strange if those that violate the bonds of
justice break through the obligations of all religion, bid defiance
even to God himself, and make nothing of provoking him. 2. How he
describes their prosperity. It is very great; for, (1.) Even
<i>their tabernacles prosper,</i> those that live with them and
those that come after them and descend from them. It seems as if a
blessing were entailed upon their families; and that is sometimes
preserved to succeeding generations which was got by fraud. (2.)
They <i>are secure,</i> and not only feel no hurt, but fear none,
are under no apprehensions of danger either from threatening
providences or an awakened conscience. But those <i>that provoke
God</i> are never the more safe for their being secure. (3.)
<i>Into their hand God brings abundantly. They have more than heart
could wish</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.73.7" parsed="|Ps|73|7|0|0" passage="Ps 73:7">Ps. lxxiii.
7</scripRef>), not for necessity only, but for delight—not for
themselves only, but for others—not for the present only, but for
hereafter; and this from the hand of Providence too. God brings
plentifully to them. We cannot therefore judge of men's piety by
their plenty, nor of what they have in their heart by what they
have in their hand.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p12">II. He appeals even to the inferior
creatures for the proof of this—the beasts, and fowls, and trees,
and even the earth itself; consult these, and they shall tell thee,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.7-Job.12.8" parsed="|Job|12|7|12|8" passage="Job 12:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. Many a
good lesson we may learn from them, but what are they here to teach
us?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p13">1. We may from them learn that <i>the
tabernacles of robbers prosper</i> (so some); for, (1.) Even among
the brute creatures the greater devour the less and the stronger
prey upon the weaker, and men are as the fishes of the sea,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.1.14" parsed="|Hab|1|14|0|0" passage="Hab 1:14">Hab. i. 14</scripRef>. If sin had not
entered, we may suppose there would have been no such disorder
among the creatures, but the wolf and the lamb would have lain down
together. (2.) These creatures are serviceable to wicked men, and
so they declare their prosperity. Ask the herds and the flocks to
whom they belong, and they will tell you that such a robber, such
an oppressor, is their owner: the fishes and fowls will tell you
that they are served up to the tables, and feed the luxury, of
proud sinners. The earth brings forth her fruits to them (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.24" parsed="|Job|9|24|0|0" passage="Job 9:24"><i>ch.</i> ix. 24</scripRef>), and the whole
creation groans under the burden of their tyranny, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.20 Bible:Rom.8.22" parsed="|Rom|8|20|0|0;|Rom|8|22|0|0" passage="Ro 8:20,22">Rom. viii. 20, 22</scripRef>. Note, All the
creatures which wicked men abuse, by making them the food and fuel
of their lusts, will witness against them another day, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.5.3-Jas.5.4" parsed="|Jas|5|3|5|4" passage="Jam 5:3,4">Jam. v. 3, 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p14">2. We may from them learn the wisdom,
power, and goodness of God, and that sovereign dominion of his into
which plain and self-evident truth all these difficult
dispensations must be resolved. Zophar had made a vast mystery of
it, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.11.7" parsed="|Job|11|7|0|0" passage="Job 11:7"><i>ch.</i> xi. 7</scripRef>. "So
far from that," says Job, "that what we are concerned to know we
may learn even from the inferior creatures; for <i>who knows not
from all these?</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.9" parsed="|Job|12|9|0|0" passage="Job 12:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. Any one may easily gather from the book of the
creatures that <i>the hand of the Lord has wrought this,</i>" that
is, "that there is a wise Providence which guides and governs all
these things by rules which we are neither acquainted with nor are
competent judges of." Note, From God's sovereign dominion over the
inferior creatures we should learn to acquiesce in all his
disposals of the affairs of the children of men, though contrary to
our measures.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p15">III. He resolves all into the absolute
propriety which God has in all the creatures (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.10" parsed="|Job|12|10|0|0" passage="Job 12:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>In whose hand is the soul
of every living thing.</i> All the creatures, and mankind
particularly, derive their being from him, owe their being to him,
depend upon him for the support of it, lie at his mercy, are under
his direction and dominion and entirely at his disposal, and at his
summons must resign their lives. All souls are his; and may he not
do what he will with his own? The name <i>Jehovah</i> is used here
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.9" parsed="|Job|12|9|0|0" passage="Job 12:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), and it is
the only time that we meet with it in all the discourses between
Job and his friends; for God was, in that age, more known by the
name of <i>Shaddai—the Almighty.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p16">IV. Those words—(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.11" parsed="|Job|12|11|0|0" passage="Job 12:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>Doth not the ear try
words, as the mouth tastes meat?</i> may be taken either as the
conclusion to the foregoing discourse or the preface to what
follows. The mind of man has as good a faculty of discerning
between truth and error, when duly stated, as the palate has of
discerning between what is sweet and what is bitter. Job therefore
demands from his friends a liberty to judge for himself of what
they had said, and desires them to use the same liberty in judging
of what he had said; nay, he seems to appeal to any man's impartial
judgment in this controversy; let the ear try the words on both
sides, and it would be found that he was in the right. Note, The
ear must try words before it receives them so as to subscribe to
them. As by the taste we judge what food is wholesome to the body
and what not, so by the spirit of discerning we must judge what
doctrine is sound, and savoury, and wholesome, and what not,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.15 Bible:1Cor.11.13" parsed="|1Cor|10|15|0|0;|1Cor|11|13|0|0" passage="1Co 10:15,11:13">1 Cor. x. 15; xi.
13</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xiii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.12-Job.12.25" parsed="|Job|12|12|12|25" passage="Job 12:12-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.12.12-Job.12.25">
<p class="passage" id="Job.xiii-p17">12 With the ancient <i>is</i> wisdom; and in
length of days understanding.   13 With him <i>is</i> wisdom
and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.   14 Behold,
he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a
man, and there can be no opening.   15 Behold, he withholdeth
the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they
overturn the earth.   16 With him <i>is</i> strength and
wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver <i>are</i> his.   17 He
leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
  18 He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins
with a girdle.   19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and
overthroweth the mighty.   20 He removeth away the speech of
the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.  
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of
the mighty.   22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness,
and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.   23 He
increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the
nations, and straiteneth them <i>again.</i>   24 He taketh
away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth
them to wander in a wilderness <i>where there is</i> no way.  
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to
stagger like <i>a</i> drunken <i>man.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p18">This is a noble discourse of Job's
concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering
and disposing of all the affairs of the children of men, according
to the counsel of his own will, which none dares gainsay or can
resist. Take both him and them out of the controversy in which they
were so warmly engaged, and they all spoke admirably well; but, in
<i>that,</i> we sometimes scarcely know what to make of them. It
were well if wise and good men, that differ in their apprehensions
about minor things, would see it to be for their honour and
comfort, and the edification of others, to dwell most upon those
great things in which they are agreed. On this subject Job speaks
like himself. Here are no passionate complaints, no peevish
reflections, but every thing masculine and great.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p19">I. He asserts the unsearchable wisdom and
irresistible power of God. It is allowed that among men there is
<i>wisdom and understanding,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.12" parsed="|Job|12|12|0|0" passage="Job 12:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. But it is to be found only
with some few, <i>with the ancient,</i> and those who are blessed
with length of days, who get it by long experience and constant
experience; and, when they have got the wisdom, they have lost
their strength and are unable to execute the results of their
wisdom. But now <i>with God there are</i> both <i>wisdom and
strength,</i> wisdom to design the best and strength to accomplish
what is designed. He does not get counsel or understanding, as we
do, by observation, but he has it essentially and eternally in
himself, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.13" parsed="|Job|12|13|0|0" passage="Job 12:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.
What is the wisdom of ancient men compared with the wisdom of the
ancient of days! It is but little that we know, and less that we
can do; but God can do every thing, and <i>no thought can be
withheld from him.</i> Happy are those who have this God for their
God, for they have infinite wisdom and strength engaged for them.
Foolish and fruitless are all the attempts of men against him
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.14" parsed="|Job|12|14|0|0" passage="Job 12:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>He
breaketh down, and it cannot be built again.</i> Note, There is no
contending with the divine providence, nor breaking the measures of
it. As he had said before (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.9.12" parsed="|Job|9|12|0|0" passage="Job 9:12"><i>ch.</i>
ix. 12</scripRef>), <i>He takes away, and who can hinder him?</i>
so he says again. What God says cannot be gainsaid, nor what he
does undone. There is no rebuilding what God will have to lie in
ruins; witness the tower of Babel, which the undertakers could not
go on with, and the desolations of Sodom and Gomorrah, which could
never be repaired. See <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.2 Bible:Ezek.26.14 Bible:Rev.18.21" parsed="|Isa|25|2|0|0;|Ezek|26|14|0|0;|Rev|18|21|0|0" passage="Isa 25:2,Eze 26:14,Re 18:21">Isa. xxv. 2; Ezek. xxvi. 14; Rev.
xviii. 21</scripRef>. There is no releasing those whom God has
condemned to a perpetual imprisonment; if <i>he shut up</i> a man
by sickness, reduce him to straits, and embarrass him in his
affairs, <i>there can be no opening.</i> He shuts up in the grave,
and none can break open those sealed doors—shuts up in hell, in
chains of darkness, and none can pass that great gulf fixed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p20">II. He gives an instance, for the proof of
this doctrine in nature, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.15" parsed="|Job|12|15|0|0" passage="Job 12:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. God has the command of <i>the waters, binds them as
in a garment</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.4" parsed="|Prov|30|4|0|0" passage="Pr 30:4">Prov. xxx.
4</scripRef>), holds them <i>in the hollow of his hand</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.12" parsed="|Isa|40|12|0|0" passage="Isa 40:12">Isa. xl. 12</scripRef>); and he can
punish the children of men either by the defect or by the excess of
them. As men break the laws of virtue by extremes on each hand,
both defects and excesses, while virtue is in the mean, so God
corrects them by extremes, and denies them the mercy which is in
the mean. 1. Great droughts are sometimes great judgments: <i>He
withholds the waters, and they dry up;</i> if the heaven be as
brass, the earth is as iron; if the rain be denied, fountains dry
up and their streams are wanted, fields are parched and their
fruits are wanted, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.4.7" parsed="|Amos|4|7|0|0" passage="Am 4:7">Amos iv.
7</scripRef>. 2. Great wet is sometimes a great judgment. He raises
the waters, and <i>overturns the earth,</i> the productions of it,
the buildings upon it. A sweeping rain is said to <i>leave no
food,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.3" parsed="|Prov|28|3|0|0" passage="Pr 28:3">Prov. xxviii. 3</scripRef>.
See how many ways God has of contending with a sinful people and
taking from them abused, forfeited, mercies; and how utterly unable
we are to contend with him. If we might invert the order, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.15" parsed="|Job|12|15|0|0" passage="Job 12:15">this verse</scripRef> would fitly refer to
Noah's flood, that ever memorable instance of the divine power. God
then, in wrath, sent the waters out, and they overturned the earth;
but in mercy he withheld them, shut the windows of heaven and the
fountains of the great deep, and then, in a little time, they dried
up.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p21">III. He gives many instances of it in God's
powerful management of the children of men, crossing their purposes
and serving his own by them and upon them, overruling all their
counsels, overpowering all their attempts, and overcoming all their
oppositions. What changes does God make with men! what turns does
he give them! how easily, how surprisingly!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p22">1. In general (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.16" parsed="|Job|12|16|0|0" passage="Job 12:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>With him are strength and
reason</i> (so some translate it), strength and consistency with
himself: it is an elegant word in the original. With him are the
very quintessence and extract of wisdom. <i>With him are power and
all that is;</i> so some read it. He is what he is of himself, and
by him and in him all things subsist. Having this strength and
wisdom, he knows how to make use, not only of those who are wise
and good, who willingly and designedly serve him, but even of those
who are foolish and bad, who, one would think, could be made no way
serviceable to the designs of his providence: <i>The deceived and
the deceiver are his;</i> the simplest men that are deceived are
not below his notice; the subtlest men that deceive cannot with all
their subtlety escape his cognizance. The world is full of deceit;
the one half of mankind cheats the other, and God suffers it to be
so, and from both will at last bring glory to himself. The
deceivers make tools of the deceived, but the great God makes tools
of them both, wherewith he works, and none can hinder him. He has
wisdom and might enough to manage all the fools and knaves in the
world, and knows how to serve his own purposes by them,
notwithstanding the weakness of the one and the wickedness of the
other. When Jacob by a fraud got the blessing the design of God's
grace was served; when Ahab was drawn by a false prophecy into an
expedition that was his ruin the design of God's justice was
served; and in both <i>the deceived and the deceiver</i> were at
his disposal. See <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.9" parsed="|Ezek|14|9|0|0" passage="Eze 14:9">Ezek. xiv.
9</scripRef>. God would not suffer the sin of the deceiver, nor the
misery of the deceived, if he knew not how to set bounds to both
and bring glory to himself out of both. <i>Hallelujah, the Lord God
omnipotent</i> thus reigns; and it is well he does, for otherwise
there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world that
it would all have been in confusion and ruin long ago.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p23">2. He next descends to the particular
instances of the wisdom and power of God in the revolutions of
states and kingdoms; for thence he fetches his proofs, rather than
from the like operations of Providence concerning private persons
and families, because the more high and public the station is in
which men are placed the more the changes that befal them are taken
notice of, and consequently the more illustriously does Providence
shine forth in them. And it is easy to argue, If God can thus turn
and toss the great ones of the earth, like a ball in a large place
(as the prophet speaks, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.18" parsed="|Isa|22|18|0|0" passage="Isa 22:18">Isa. xxii.
18</scripRef>), much more the little ones; and with him to whom
states and kingdoms must submit it is surely the greatest madness
for us to contend. Some think that Job here refers to the
extirpation of those powerful nations, the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the
Emim, and the Horites (mentioned <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.14.5-Gen.14.6 Bible:Deut.2.10 Bible:Deut.2.20" parsed="|Gen|14|5|14|6;|Deut|2|10|0|0;|Deut|2|20|0|0" passage="Ge 14:5,6,De 2:10,20">Gen. xiv. 5, 6; Deut. ii. 10,
20</scripRef>), in which perhaps it was particularly noticed how
strangely they were infatuated and enfeebled: if so, it is designed
to show that whenever the like is done in the affairs of nations it
is God that does it, and we must therein observe his sovereign
dominion, even over those that think themselves most powerful,
politic, and absolute. Compare this with that of Eliphaz, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.12-Job.5.14" parsed="|Job|5|12|5|14" passage="Job 5:12-14"><i>ch.</i> v. 12</scripRef>, &amp;c. Let us
gather up the particular changes here specified, which God makes
upon persons, either for the destruction of nations and the
planting of others in their room or for the turning out of a
particular government and ministry and the elevation of another in
its room, which may be a blessing to the kingdom; witness the
glorious Revolution in our own land twenty years ago, in which we
saw as happy an exposition as ever was given of this discourse of
Job's. (1.) Those that were wise are sometimes strangely
infatuated, and in this the hand of God must be acknowledged
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.17" parsed="|Job|12|17|0|0" passage="Job 12:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>He
leadeth counsellors away spoiled,</i> as trophies of his victory
over them, spoiled of all the honour and wealth they have got by
their policy, nay, spoiled of the wisdom itself for which they have
been celebrated and the success they promised themselves in their
projects. His counsel stands, while all their devices are brought
to nought and their designs baffled, and so they are spoiled both
of the satisfaction and of the reputation of their wisdom. <i>He
maketh the judges fools.</i> By a work on their minds he deprives
them of their qualifications for business, and so they become
really fools; and by his disposal of their affairs he makes the
issue and event of their projects to be quite contrary to what they
themselves intended, and so he makes them look like fools. The
counsel of Ahithophel, one in whom this scripture was remarkably
fulfilled, became foolishness, and he, according to his name,
<i>the brother of a fool.</i> See <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.19.13" parsed="|Isa|19|13|0|0" passage="Isa 19:13">Isa. xix. 13</scripRef>, <i>The princes of Zoan have
become fools; they have seduced Egypt, even those that are the stay
of the tribes thereof.</i> Let not the wise man therefore glory in
his wisdom, nor the ablest counsellors and judges be proud of their
station, but humbly depend upon God for the continuance of their
abilities. Even the aged, who seem to hold their wisdom by
prescription, and think they have got it by their own industry and
therefore have an indefeasible title to it, may yet be deprived of
it, and often are, by the infirmities of age, which make them twice
children: He <i>taketh away the understanding of the aged,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.20" parsed="|Job|12|20|0|0" passage="Job 12:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. The aged,
who were most depended on for advice, fail those that depended on
them. We read of an old and yet foolish king, <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.13" parsed="|Eccl|4|13|0|0" passage="Ec 4:13">Eccl. iv. 13</scripRef>. (2.) Those that were high and in
authority are strangely brought down, impoverished, and enslaved,
and it is God that humbles them (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.18" parsed="|Job|12|18|0|0" passage="Job 12:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>He looseth the bond of
kings,</i> and taketh from them the power wherewith they ruled
their subjects, perhaps enslaved them and ruled them with rigour;
he strips them of all the ensigns of their honour and authority,
and all the supports of their tyranny, unbuckles their belts, so
that the sword drops from their side, and then no marvel if the
crown quickly drops from their head, on which immediately follows
the <i>girding of their loins with a girdle,</i> a badge of
servitude, for servants went with their loins girt. Thus <i>he
leads</i> great <i>princes away spoiled</i> of all their power and
wealth, and that in which they pleased and prided themselves,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.19" parsed="|Job|12|19|0|0" passage="Job 12:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Note, Kings
are not exempt from God's jurisdiction. To us they are gods, but
men to him, and subject to more than the common changes of human
life. (3.) Those that were strong are strangely weakened, and it is
God that weakens them (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.21" parsed="|Job|12|21|0|0" passage="Job 12:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>) and <i>overthrows the mighty.</i> <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.11" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.19" parsed="|Job|12|19|0|0" passage="Job 12:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Strong bodies are weakened by
age and sickness; powerful armies moulder and come to nothing, and
their strength will not secure them from a fatal overthrow. No
force can stand before Omnipotence, no, not that of Goliath. (4.)
Those that were famed for eloquence, and entrusted with public
business, are strangely silenced, and have nothing to say
(<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.12" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.20" parsed="|Job|12|20|0|0" passage="Job 12:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>He
removeth away the speech of the trusty,</i> so that they cannot
speak as they intended and as they used to do, with freedom and
clearness, but blunder, and falter, and make nothing of it. Or they
cannot speak what they intended, but the contrary, as Balaam, who
blessed those whom he was called to curse. Let not the orator
therefore be proud of his rhetoric, nor use it to any bad purposes,
lest God take it away, who made man's mouth. (5.) Those that were
honoured and admired strangely fall into disgrace (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.13" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.21" parsed="|Job|12|21|0|0" passage="Job 12:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): He <i>poureth
contempt upon princes.</i> He leaves them to themselves to do mean
things, or alters the opinions of men concerning them. If princes
themselves dishonour God and despise him, if they offer indignities
to the people of God and trample upon them, they shall be lightly
esteemed, and God will pour contempt upon them. See <scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.40" parsed="|Ps|107|40|0|0" passage="Ps 107:40">Ps. cvii. 40</scripRef>. Commonly none more
abject in themselves, nor more abused by others when they are down,
than those who were haughty and insolent when they were in power.
(6.) That which was secret, and lay hidden, is strangely brought to
light and laid open (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.15" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.22" parsed="|Job|12|22|0|0" passage="Job 12:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>): <i>He discovers deep things out of darkness.</i>
Plots closely laid are discovered and defeated; wickedness closely
committed and artfully concealed is discovered, and the guilty are
brought to condign punishment—secret treasons (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.16" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.20" parsed="|Eccl|10|20|0|0" passage="Ec 10:20">Eccl. x. 20</scripRef>), secret murders, secret
whoredoms. The cabinet-councils of princes are before God's eye,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.17" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.6.11" parsed="|2Kgs|6|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 6:11">2 Kings vi. 11</scripRef>. (7.)
Kingdoms have their ebbings and flowings, their waxings and
wanings; and both are from God (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.18" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.23" parsed="|Job|12|23|0|0" passage="Job 12:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): He sometimes <i>increases
their numbers,</i> and enlarges their bounds, so that they make a
figure among the nations and become formidable; but after a while,
by some undiscerned cause perhaps, they are destroyed and
straitened, made few and poor, cut short and many of them cut off,
and so they are rendered despicable among their neighbours, and
those that were the head become the tail of the nations. See
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.19" osisRef="Bible:Ps.107.38-Ps.107.39" parsed="|Ps|107|38|107|39" passage="Ps 107:38,39">Ps. cvii. 38, 39</scripRef>. (8.)
Those that were bold and courageous, and made nothing of dangers,
are strangely cowed and dispirited; and this also is the Lord's
doing (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.20" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.24" parsed="|Job|12|24|0|0" passage="Job 12:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>):
<i>He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people,</i> that
were their leaders and commanders, and were most famed for their
martial fire and great achievements; when any thing is to be done
they are heartless, and ready to flee at the shaking of a leaf.
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.21" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.5" parsed="|Ps|76|5|0|0" passage="Ps 76:5">Ps. lxvi. 5</scripRef>. (9.) Those that
were driving on their projects with full speed are strangely
bewildered and at a loss; they know not where they are nor what
they do, are unsteady in their counsels and uncertain in their
motions, off and on, this way and that way, wandering like men in a
desert (<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.22" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.24" parsed="|Job|12|24|0|0" passage="Job 12:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>),
groping like men in the dark, and staggering like men in drink,
<scripRef id="Job.xiii-p23.23" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.25 Bible:Isa.59.10" parsed="|Job|12|25|0|0;|Isa|59|10|0|0" passage="Job 12:25,Isa 59:10"><i>v.</i> 25. Isa. lix.
10</scripRef>. Note, God can soon nonplus the deepest politicians
and bring the greatest wits to their wits' end, to show that
wherein they deal proudly he is above them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xiii-p24">Thus are the revolutions of kingdoms
wonderfully brought about by an overruling Providence. Heaven and
earth are shaken, but the Lord sits King for ever, and with him we
look for <i>a kingdom that cannot be shaken.</i></p>
</div></div2>