mh_parser/vol_split/18 - Job/Chapter 40.xml

<div2 id="Job.xli" n="xli" next="Job.xlii" prev="Job.xl" progress="20.09%" title="Chapter XL">
<h2 id="Job.xli-p0.1">J O B</h2>
<h3 id="Job.xli-p0.2">CHAP. XL.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Job.xli-p1">Many humbling confounding questions God had put to
Job, in the foregoing chapter; now, in this chapter, I. He demands
an answer to them, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.1-Job.40.2" parsed="|Job|40|1|40|2" passage="Job 40:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>. II. Job submits in a humble silence, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.3-Job.40.5" parsed="|Job|40|3|40|5" passage="Job 40:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>. III. God proceeds to
reason with him, for his conviction, concerning the infinite
distance and disproportion between him and God, showing that he was
by no means an equal match for God. He challenges him (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.6-Job.40.7" parsed="|Job|40|6|40|7" passage="Job 40:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>) to vie with him, if he
durst, for justice (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.8" parsed="|Job|40|8|0|0" passage="Job 40:8">ver.
8</scripRef>), power (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.9" parsed="|Job|40|9|0|0" passage="Job 40:9">ver.
9</scripRef>), majesty (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.10" parsed="|Job|40|10|0|0" passage="Job 40:10">ver.
10</scripRef>), and dominion over the proud (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.11-Job.40.14" parsed="|Job|40|11|40|14" passage="Job 40:11-14">ver. 11-14</scripRef>), and he gives an instance of
his power in one particular animal, here called "Behemoth,"
<scripRef id="Job.xli-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.15-Job.40.24" parsed="|Job|40|15|40|24" passage="Job 40:15-24">ver. 15-24</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Job.xli-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.40" parsed="|Job|40|0|0|0" passage="Job 40" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Job.xli-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.1-Job.40.5" parsed="|Job|40|1|40|5" passage="Job 40:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.40.1-Job.40.5">
<h4 id="Job.xli-p1.11">Job's Humble Submission. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p1.12">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xli-p2">1 Moreover the <span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p2.1">Lord</span> answered Job, and said,   2 Shall he
that contendeth with the Almighty instruct <i>him?</i> he that
reproveth God, let him answer it.   3 Then Job answered the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p2.2">Lord</span>, and said,   4 Behold, I
am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my
mouth.   5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea,
twice; but I will proceed no further.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p3">Here is, I. A humbling challenge which God
gave to Job. After he had heaped up many hard questions upon him,
to show him, by his manifest ignorance in the works of nature, what
an incompetent judge he was of the methods and designs of
Providence, he clenches the nail with one demand more, which stands
by itself here as the application of the whole. It should seem, God
paused awhile, as Elihu had done, to give Job time to say what he
had to say, or to think of what God had said; but Job was in such
confusion that he remained silent, and therefore God here put him
upon replying, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.1-Job.40.2" parsed="|Job|40|1|40|2" passage="Job 40:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>. This is not said to be spoken <i>out of the
whirlwind,</i> as before; and therefore some think God said it in a
still small voice, which wrought more upon Job than the whirlwind
did, as upon Elijah, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.12-1Kgs.19.13" parsed="|1Kgs|19|12|19|13" passage="1Ki 19:12,13">1 Kings xix.
12, 13</scripRef>. <i>My doctrine shall drop as the rain,</i> and
then it does wonders. Though Job had not spoken any thing, yet God
is said to answer him; for he knows men's thoughts, and can return
a suitable answer to their silence. Here, 1. God puts a convincing
question to him: "<i>Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty
instruct him?</i> Shall he pretend to dictate to God's wisdom or
prescribe to his will? Shall God receive instruction from every
peevish complainer, and change the measures he has taken to please
him?" It is a question with disdain. <i>Shall any teach God
knowledge?</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.22" parsed="|Job|21|22|0|0" passage="Job 21:22"><i>ch.</i> xxi.
22</scripRef>. It is intimated that those who quarrel with God do,
in effect, go about to teach him how to mend his work. For if we
contend with men like ourselves, as not having done well, we ought
to instruct them how to do better; but is it a thing to be suffered
that any man should teach his Maker? He that contends with God is
justly looked upon as his enemy; and shall he pretend so far to
have prevailed in the contest as to prescribe to him? We are
ignorant and short-sighted, but before him all things are naked and
open; we are depending creatures, but he is the sovereign Creator;
and shall we pretend to instruct him? Some read it, <i>Is it any
wisdom to contend with the Almighty?</i> The answer is easy. No; it
is the greatest folly in the world. Is it wisdom to contend with
him whom it will certainly be our ruin to oppose and unspeakably
our interest to submit to? 2. He demands a speedy reply to it:
"<i>He that reproaches God let him answer</i> this question to his
own conscience, and answer it thus, <i>Far be it from me to contend
with the Almighty</i> or to <i>instruct him.</i> Let him answer all
those questions which I have put, if he can. Let him answer for his
presumption and insolence, answer it at God's bar, to his
confusion." Those have high thoughts of themselves, and mean
thoughts of God, who reprove any thing he says or does.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p4">II. Job's humble submission thereupon. Now
Job came to himself, and began to melt into godly sorrow. When his
friends reasoned with him he did not yield; but the voice of the
Lord is powerful. <i>When the Spirit of truth shall come, he shall
convince.</i> They had condemned him for a wicked man; Elihu
himself had been very sharp upon him (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.34.7-Job.34.8 Bible:Job.34.37" parsed="|Job|34|7|34|8;|Job|34|37|0|0" passage="Job 34:7,8,37"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv. 7, 8, 37</scripRef>); but God had
not given him such hard words. We may sometimes have reason to
expect better treatment from God, and a more candid construction of
what we do, than we meet with from our friends. This the good man
is here overcome by, and yields himself a conquered captive to the
grace of God. 1. He owns himself an offender, and has nothing to
say in his own justification (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.4" parsed="|Job|40|4|0|0" passage="Job 40:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>Behold, I am vile,</i> not
only mean and contemptible, but vile and abominable, in my own
eyes." He is now sensible that he has sinned, and therefore calls
himself <i>vile.</i> Sin debases us, and penitents abase
themselves, reproach themselves, are ashamed, yea, even confounded.
"I have acted undutifully to my Father, ungratefully to my
benefactor, unwisely for myself; and therefore I am vile." Job now
vilifies himself as much as ever he had justified and magnified
himself. Repentance changes men's opinion of themselves. Job had
been too bold in demanding a conference with God, and thought he
could make his part good with him: but now he is convinced of his
error, and owns himself utterly unable to stand before God or to
produce any thing worth his notice, the veriest dunghill-worm that
ever crawled upon God's ground. While his friends talked with him,
he answered them, for he thought himself as good as they; but, when
God talked with him, he had nothing to say, for, in comparison with
him, he sees himself nothing, less than nothing, worse than
nothing, vanity and vileness itself; and therefore, <i>What shall I
answer thee?</i> God demanded an answer, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.2" parsed="|Job|40|2|0|0" passage="Job 40:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Here he gives the reason of his
silence; it was not because he was sullen, but because he was
convinced he had been in the wrong. Those that are truly sensible
of their own sinfulness and vileness dare not justify themselves
before God, but are ashamed that ever they entertained such a
thought, and, in token of their shame, lay their hand upon their
mouth. 2. He promises not to offend any more as he had done; for
Elihu had told him that this was meet to be said unto God. When we
have spoken amiss we must repent of it and not repeat it nor stand
to it. He enjoins himself silence (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.4" parsed="|Job|40|4|0|0" passage="Job 40:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): "<i>I will lay my hand upon my
mouth,</i> will keep that as with a bridle, to suppress all
passionate thoughts which may arise in my mind, and keep them from
breaking out in intemperate speeches." It is bad to think amiss,
but it is much worse to speak amiss, for that is an allowance of
the evil thought and gives it an <i>imprimatur—a sanction;</i> it
is publishing the seditious libel; and therefore, <i>if thou hast
thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth</i> and let it go no
further (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.32" parsed="|Prov|30|32|0|0" passage="Pr 30:32">Prov. xxx. 32</scripRef>) and
that will be an evidence for thee that that which thou thoughtest
thou allowest not. Job had suffered his evil thoughts to vent
themselves: "<i>Once have I spoken</i> amiss, <i>yea, twice,</i>"
that is, "divers times, in one discourse and in another; but I have
done: <i>I will not answer;</i> I will not stand to what I have
said, nor say it again; <i>I will proceed no further.</i>" Observe
here what true repentance is. (1.) It is to rectify our errors, and
the false principles we went upon in doing as we did. What we have
long, and often, and vigorously maintained, once, yea, twice, we
must retract as soon as we are convinced that it is a mistake, not
adhere to it any longer, but take shame to ourselves for holding it
so long. (2.) It is to return from every by-path and to proceed not
one step further in it: "<i>I will not add</i>" (so the word is);
"I will never indulge my passion so much again, nor give myself
such a liberty of speech, will never say as I have said nor do as I
have done." Till it comes to this, we come short of repentance.
Further observe, Those who dispute with God will be silenced at
last. Job had been very bold and forward in demanding a conference
with God, and talked very boldly, how plain he would make his case,
and how sure he was that he should be justified. <i>As a prince he
would go near unto him</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.37" parsed="|Job|31|37|0|0" passage="Job 31:37"><i>ch.</i> xxxi. 37</scripRef>); he would <i>come even
to his seat</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Job.23.3" parsed="|Job|23|3|0|0" passage="Job 23:3"><i>ch.</i> xxiii.
3</scripRef>); but he has soon enough of it; he lets fall his plea
and will not answer. "Lord, the wisdom and right are all on thy
side, and I have done foolishly and wickedly in questioning
them."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xli-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.6-Job.40.14" parsed="|Job|40|6|40|14" passage="Job 40:6-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.40.6-Job.40.14">
<h4 id="Job.xli-p4.9">Divine Justice and Power; God's Dominion
over the Proud. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p4.10">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xli-p5">6 Then answered the <span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p5.1">Lord</span> unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
  7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee,
and declare thou unto me.   8 Wilt thou also disannul my
judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
  9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a
voice like him?   10 Deck thyself now <i>with</i> majesty and
excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.   11 Cast
abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one <i>that is</i>
proud, and abase him.   12 Look on every one <i>that is</i>
proud, <i>and</i> bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their
place.   13 Hide them in the dust together; <i>and</i> bind
their faces in secret.   14 Then will I also confess unto thee
that thine own right hand can save thee.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p6">Job was greatly humbled for what God had
already said, but not sufficiently; he was brought low, but not low
enough; and therefore God here proceeds to reason with him in the
same manner and to the same purport as before, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.6" parsed="|Job|40|6|0|0" passage="Job 40:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Observe, 1. Those who duly
receive what they have heard from God, and profit by it, shall hear
more from him. 2. Those who are truly convinced of sin, and
penitent for it, yet have need to be more thoroughly convinced and
to be made more deeply penitent. Those who are under convictions,
who have their sins set in order before their eyes and their hearts
broken for them, must learn from this instance not to catch at
comfort too soon; it will be everlasting when it comes, and
therefore it is necessary that we be prepared for it by deep
humiliation, that the wound be searched to the bottom and not
skinned over, and that we do not make more haste out of our
convictions than good speed. When our hearts begin to melt and
relent within us, let those considerations be dwelt upon and
pursued which will help to make a thorough effectual thaw of
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p7">God begins with a challenge (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.7" parsed="|Job|40|7|0|0" passage="Job 40:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), as before (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.3" parsed="|Job|38|3|0|0" passage="Job 38:3"><i>ch.</i> xxxviii. 3</scripRef>): "<i>Gird up
thy loins now like a man;</i> if thou hast the courage and
confidence thou hast pretended to, show them now; but thou wilt
soon be made to see and own thyself no match for me." This is that
which every proud heart must be brought to at last, either by its
repentance or by its ruin; and thus low must every mountain and
hill be, sooner or later, brought. We must acknowledge,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p8">I. That we cannot vie with God for justice,
that the Lord is righteous and holy in his dealings with us, but
that we are unrighteous and unholy in our conduct towards him; we
have a great deal to blame ourselves for, but nothing to blame him
for (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.8" parsed="|Job|40|8|0|0" passage="Job 40:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>Wilt
thou disannul my judgment?</i> Wilt thou take exceptions to what I
say and do, and bring a writ of error, to reverse the judgment I
have given as erroneous and unjust?" Many of Job's complaints had
too much of a tendency this way: <i>I cry out of wrong,</i> says
he, <i>but I am not heard;</i> but such language as this is by no
means to be suffered. God's judgment cannot, must not, be
disannulled, for we are sure it is according to truth, and
therefore it is a great piece of impudence and iniquity in us to
call in question. "<i>Wilt thou,</i>" says God, "<i>condemn me,
that thou mayest be righteous?</i> Must my honour suffer for the
support of thy reputation? Must I be charged as dealing unjustly
with thee because thou canst not otherwise clear thyself from the
censures thou liest under?" Our duty is to condemn ourselves, that
God may be righteous. David is <i>therefore</i> ready to own the
evil he has done in God's sight, that <i>God may be justified when
he speaks and clear when he judges,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.4" parsed="|Ps|51|4|0|0" passage="Ps 51:4">Ps. li. 4</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Job.xli-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.33 Bible:Dan.9.7" parsed="|Neh|9|33|0|0;|Dan|9|7|0|0" passage="Ne 9:33,Da 9:7">Neh. ix. 33; Dan. ix. 7</scripRef>. But those are
very proud, and very ignorant both of God and themselves, who, to
clear themselves, will condemn God; and the day is coming when, if
the mistake be not rectified in time by repentance, the eternal
judgment will be both the confutation of the plea and the confusion
of the prisoner, for the heavens shall declare God's righteousness
and all the world shall become guilty before him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p9">II. That we cannot vie with God for power;
and therefore, as it is great impiety, so it is great impudence to
contest with him, and is as much against our interest as it is
against reason and justice (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.9" parsed="|Job|40|9|0|0" passage="Job 40:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): "<i>Hast thou an arm like God,</i> equal to his in
length and strength? <i>Or canst thou thunder with a voice like
him,</i> as he did (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.37.1-Job.37.2" parsed="|Job|37|1|37|2" passage="Job 37:1,2"><i>ch.</i>
xxxvii. 1, 2</scripRef>), or does now out of the whirlwind?" To
convince Job that he was not so able as he thought himself to
contest with God, he shows him, 1. That he could never fight it out
with him, nor carry his cause by force of arms. Sometimes, among
men, controversies have been decided by battle, and the victorious
champion is adjudged to have justice on his side; but, if the
controversy were put upon that issue between God and man, man would
certainly go by the worse, for all the forces he could raise
against the Almighty would be but like briers and thorns before a
consuming fire, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.4" parsed="|Isa|27|4|0|0" passage="Isa 27:4">Isa. xxvii.
4</scripRef>. "Hast thou, a poor weak worm of the earth, an arm
comparable to his who upholds all things?" The power of creatures,
even of angels themselves, is derived from God, limited by him, and
dependent on him; but the power of God is original, independent,
and unlimited. He can do every thing without us; we can do nothing
without him; and therefore we have not an arm like God. 2. That he
could never talk it out with him, nor carry his cause by noise and
big words, which sometimes among men go a great way towards the
gaining of a point: "<i>Canst thou thunder with a voice like
him?</i> No; his voice will soon drown thine and one of his
thunders will overpower and overrule all thy whispers." Man cannot
speak so convincingly, so powerfully, nor with such a commanding
conquering force as God can, who <i>speaks, and it is done.</i> His
creating voice is called his <i>thunder</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.7" parsed="|Ps|104|7|0|0" passage="Ps 104:7">Ps. civ. 7</scripRef>), so is that voice of his with
which he terrifies and discomfits his enemies, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.10" parsed="|1Sam|2|10|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:10">1 Sam. ii. 10</scripRef>. The wrath of a king may
sometimes be like the roaring of a lion, but can never pretend to
imitate God's thunder.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p10">III. That we cannot vie with God for beauty
and majesty, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.10" parsed="|Job|40|10|0|0" passage="Job 40:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
"If thou wilt enter into a comparison with him, and appear more
amiable, put on thy best attire: <i>Deck thyself now with majesty
and excellency.</i> Appear in all the martial pomp, in all the
royal pageantry that thou hast; make the best of every thing that
will set thee off: <i>Array thyself with glory and beauty,</i> such
as may awe thy enemies and charm thy friends; but what is it all to
the divine majesty and beauty? No more than the light of a
glow-worm to that of the sun when he goes forth in his strength."
God decks himself with such majesty and glory as are the terror of
devils and all the powers of darkness and make them tremble; he
arrays himself with such glory and beauty as are the wonder of
angels and all the saints in light and make them rejoice. David
could dwell all his days in God's house, to behold the beauty of
the Lord. But, in comparison with this, what is all the majesty and
excellency by which princes think to make themselves feared, and
all the glory and beauty by which lovers think to make themselves
beloved? If Job think, in contending with God, to carry the day by
looking great and making a figure, he is quite mistaken. <i>The sun
shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded, when God shines
forth.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p11">IV. That we cannot vie with God for
dominion over the proud, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.11-Job.40.14" parsed="|Job|40|11|40|14" passage="Job 40:11-14"><i>v.</i>
11-14</scripRef>. here the cause is put upon this short issue: if
Job can humble and abase proud tyrants and oppressors as easily and
effectually as God can, it shall be acknowledged that he has some
colour to compete with God. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p12">1. The justice Job is here challenged to
do, and that is to bring the proud low with a look. If Job will
pretend to be a rival with God, especially if he pretend to be a
judge of his actions, he must be able to do this.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p13">(1.) It is here supposed that God can do it
and will do it himself, else he would not have put it thus upon
Job. By this God proves himself to be God, that he resists the
proud, sits Judge upon them, and is able to bring them to ruin.
Observe here, [1.] That proud people are wicked people, and pride
is at the bottom of a great deal of the wickedness that is in this
world both towards God and man. [2.] Proud people will certainly be
abased and brought low; for <i>pride goes before destruction.</i>
If they bend not, they will break; if they humble not themselves by
true repentance, God will humble them, to their everlasting
confusion. The wicked will be <i>trodden down in their place,</i>
that is, Wherever they are found, though they pretend to have a
place of their own, and to have taken root in it, yet even there
they shall be trodden down, and all the wealth, and power, and
interest, to which their place entitles them, will not be their
security. [3.] The wrath of God, scattered among the proud, will
humble them, and break them, and bring them down. If he casts
abroad the rage of his wrath, as he will do at the great day and
sometimes does in this life, the stoutest heart cannot hold out
against him. <i>Who knows the power of his anger?</i> [4.] God can
and does easily abase proud tyrants; he can <i>look upon them, and
bring them low,</i> can overwhelm them with shame, and fear, and
utter ruin, by one angry look, as he can, by a gracious look,
revive the hearts of the contrite ones. [5.] He can and will at
last do it effectually (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.13" parsed="|Job|40|13|0|0" passage="Job 40:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), not only bring them to the dust, from which they
might hope to arise, but <i>hide them in the dust,</i> like the
proud Egyptian whom Moses slew and <i>hid in the sand</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xli-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.2.12" parsed="|Exod|2|12|0|0" passage="Ex 2:12">Exod. ii. 12</scripRef>), that is,
they shall be brought not only to death, but to the grave, that pit
out of which there is no return. They were proud of the figure they
made, but they shall be buried in oblivion and be no more
remembered than those that are hidden in the dust, out of sight and
out of mind. They were linked in leagues and confederacies to do
mischief, and are now bound in bundles. They are hidden
<i>together;</i> not their rest, but their shame together <i>is in
the dust,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.17.16" parsed="|Job|17|16|0|0" passage="Job 17:16"><i>ch.</i> xvii.
16</scripRef>. Nay, they are treated as malefactors (who, when
condemned, had their faces covered, as Haman's was: He <i>binds
their faces in secret</i>) or as dead men: Lazarus, in the grave,
had his face bound about. Thus complete will be the victory that
God will gain, at last, over proud sinners that set themselves in
opposition to him. Now by this he proves himself to be God. Does he
thus hate proud men? Then he is holy. Will he thus punish them?
Then he is the just Judge of the world. Can he thus humble them?
Then he is the Lord Almighty. When he had abased proud Pharaoh, and
hidden him in the sand of the Red Sea, Jethro thence inferred that
doubtless <i>the Lord is greater than all gods, for wherein the
proud</i> enemies of his <i>Israel dealt proudly he was above
them,</i> he was too hard for them, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.18.11" parsed="|Exod|18|11|0|0" passage="Ex 18:11">Exod. xviii. 11</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Job.xli-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.1-Rev.19.2" parsed="|Rev|19|1|19|2" passage="Re 19:1,2">Rev. xix. 1, 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p14">(2.) It is here proposed to Job to do it.
He had been passionately quarrelling with God and his providence,
casting abroad the rage of his wrath towards heaven, as if he
thought thereby to bring God himself to his mind. "Come," says God,
"try thy hand first upon proud men, and thou wilt soon see how
little they value the rage of thy wrath; and shall I then regard
it, or be moved by it?" Job had complained of the prosperity and
power of tyrants and oppressors, and was ready to charge God with
mal-administration for suffering it; but he ought not to find
fault, except he could mend. If God, and he only, has power enough
to humble and bring down proud men, no doubt he has wisdom enough
to know when and how to do it, and it is not for us to prescribe to
him or to teach him how to govern the world. Unless we had an arm like God we must not think
to take his work out of his hands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p15">2. The justice which is here promised to be
done him if he can perform such mighty works as these (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.14" parsed="|Job|40|14|0|0" passage="Job 40:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): "<i>They will I also
confess unto thee that thy right hand</i> is sufficient to save
thee, though, after all, it would be too weak to contend with me."
It is the innate pride and ambition of man that he would be his own
saviour (would have his own hands sufficient for him and be
independent), but it is presumption to pretend that he is. Our own
hands cannot save us by recommending us to God's grace, much less
by rescuing us from his justice. Unless we could by our own power
humble our enemies, we cannot pretend by our own power to save
ourselves; but, if we could, God himself would confess it. He never
did nor ever will defraud any man of his just praise, nor deny him
the honour he has merited. But, since we cannot do this, we must
confess unto him that our own hands cannot save us, and therefore
into his hand we must commit ourselves.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Job.xli-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.15-Job.40.24" parsed="|Job|40|15|40|24" passage="Job 40:15-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Job.40.15-Job.40.24">
<h4 id="Job.xli-p15.3">Description of Behemoth. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Job.xli-p15.4">b. c.</span> 1520.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Job.xli-p16">15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee;
he eateth grass as an ox.   16 Lo now, his strength <i>is</i>
in his loins, and his force <i>is</i> in the navel of his belly.
  17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones
are wrapped together.   18 His bones <i>are as</i> strong
pieces of brass; his bones <i>are</i> like bars of iron.   19
He <i>is</i> the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can
make his sword to approach <i>unto him.</i>   20 Surely the
mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field
play.   21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of
the reed, and fens.   22 The shady trees cover him <i>with</i>
their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.   23
Behold, he drinketh up a river, <i>and</i> hasteth not: he trusteth
that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.   24 He taketh it
with his eyes: <i>his</i> nose pierceth through snares.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p17">God, for the further proving of his own
power and disproving of Job's pretensions, concludes his discourse
with the description of two vast and mighty animals, far exceeding
man in bulk and strength, one he calls <i>behemoth,</i> the other
<i>leviathan.</i> In these verses we have the former described.
"<i>Behold now behemoth,</i> and consider whether thou art able to
contend with him who made that beast and gave him all the power he
has, and whether it is not thy wisdom rather to submit to him and
make thy peace with him." <i>Behemoth</i> signifies <i>beasts</i>
in general, but must here be meant of some one particular species.
Some understand it of the <i>bull;</i> others of an amphibious
animal, well known (they say) in Egypt, called the <i>river-horse
(hippopotamus</i>), living among the fish in the river Nile, but
coming out to feed upon the earth. But I confess I see no reason to
depart from the ancient and most generally received opinion, that
it is the elephant that is here described, which is a very strong
stately creature, of very large stature above any other, of
wonderful sagacity, and of so great a reputation in the animal
kingdom that among so many four-footed beasts as we have had the
natural history of (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.1-Job.39.30" parsed="|Job|38|1|39|30" passage="Job 38:1-39:30"><i>ch.</i>
xxxviii. and xxxix.</scripRef>) we can scarcely suppose this should
be omitted. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p18">I. The description here given of the
behemoth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p19">1. His body is very strong and well built.
<i>His strength is in his loins,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.16" parsed="|Job|40|16|0|0" passage="Job 40:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. <i>His bones,</i> compared
with those of other creatures, <i>are like bars of iron,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xli-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.18" parsed="|Job|40|18|0|0" passage="Job 40:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. His
back-bone is so strong that, though his tail be not large, yet he
moves it like a cedar, with a commanding force, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.17" parsed="|Job|40|17|0|0" passage="Job 40:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Some understand it of the
trunk of the elephant, for the word signifies any extreme part, and
in that there is indeed a wonderful strength. So strong is the
elephant in his back and loins, and the sinews of his thighs, that
he will carry a large wooden tower, and a great number of fighting
men in it. No animal whatsoever comes near the elephant for
strength of body, which is the main thing insisted on in this
description.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p20">2. He feeds on the productions of the earth
and does not prey upon other animals: He <i>eats grass as an ox</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xli-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.15" parsed="|Job|40|15|0|0" passage="Job 40:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), the
<i>mountains bring him forth food</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.20" parsed="|Job|40|20|0|0" passage="Job 40:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), and the beasts of the field
do not tremble before him nor flee from him, as from a lion, but
they play about him, knowing they are in no danger from him. This
may give us occasion, (1.) To acknowledge the goodness of God in
ordering it so that a creature of such bulk, which requires so much
food, should not feed upon flesh (for then multitudes must die to
keep him alive), but should be content with the grass of the field,
to prevent such destruction of lives as otherwise must have ensued.
(2.) To commend living upon herbs and fruits without flesh,
according to the original appointment of man's food, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.29" parsed="|Gen|1|29|0|0" passage="Ge 1:29">Gen. i. 29</scripRef>. Even the strength of an
elephant, as of a horse and an ox, may be supported without flesh;
and why not that of a man? Though therefore we use the liberty God
has allowed us, yet <i>be not among riotous eaters of flesh,</i>
<scripRef id="Job.xli-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.23.20" parsed="|Prov|23|20|0|0" passage="Pr 23:20">Prov. xxiii. 20</scripRef>. (3.) To
commend a quiet and peaceable life. Who would not rather, like the
elephant, have his neighbours easy and pleasant about him, than,
like the lion, have them all afraid of him?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p21">3. He <i>lodges under the shady trees</i>
(<scripRef id="Job.xli-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.21" parsed="|Job|40|21|0|0" passage="Job 40:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), which
<i>cover him with their shadow</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.22" parsed="|Job|40|22|0|0" passage="Job 40:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), where he has a free and open
air to breathe in, while lions, which live by prey, when they would
repose themselves, are obliged to retire into a close and dark den,
to live therein, and to abide in the covert of that, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.40" parsed="|Job|38|40|0|0" passage="Job 38:40"><i>ch.</i> xxxviii. 40</scripRef>. Those who
are a terror to others cannot but be sometimes a terror to
themselves too; but those will be easy who will let others be easy
about them; and the reed and fens, and the willows of the brook,
though a very weak and slender fortification, yet are sufficient
for the defence and security of those who <i>therefore</i> dread no
harm, because they design none.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p22">4. That he is a very great and greedy
drinker, not of wine or strong drink (to be greedy of that is
peculiar to man, who by his drunkenness makes a beast of himself),
but of fair water. (1.) His size is prodigious, and therefore he
must have supply accordingly, <scripRef id="Job.xli-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.23" parsed="|Job|40|23|0|0" passage="Job 40:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. He drinks so much that one
would think he could drink up a river, if you would give him time,
and not hasten him. Or, when he drinks, <i>he hasteth not,</i> as
those do that drink in fear; he is confident of his own strength
and safety, and therefore makes no haste when he drinks, no more
haste than good speed. (2.) His eye anticipates more than he can
take; for, when he is very thirsty, having been long kept without
water, <i>he trusts that he can drink up Jordan in his mouth,</i>
and even <i>takes it with his eyes,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.24" parsed="|Job|40|24|0|0" passage="Job 40:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. As a covetous man causes his
eyes to fly upon the wealth of this world, which he is greedy of,
so this great beast is said to snatch, or draw up, even a river
with his eyes. (3.) His nose has in it strength enough for both;
for, when he goes greedily to drink with it, he <i>pierces through
snares</i> or nets, which perhaps are laid in the waters to catch
fish. He makes nothing of the difficulties that lie in his way, so
great is his strength and so eager his appetite.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Job.xli-p23">II. The use that is to be made of this
description. We have taken a view of this mountain of a beast, this
over-grown animal, which is here set before us, not merely as a
show (as sometimes it is in our country) to satisfy our curiosity
and to amuse us, but as an argument with us to humble ourselves
before the great God; for, 1. He made this vast animal, which is so
fearfully and wonderfully made; it is the work of his hands, the
contrivance of his wisdom, the production of his power; it is
<i>behemoth which I made,</i> <scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.15" parsed="|Job|40|15|0|0" passage="Job 40:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Whatever strength this, or any
other creature, has, it is derived from God, who therefore must be
acknowledged to have all power originally and infinitely in
himself, and such an arm as it is not for us to contest with. This
beast is here called <i>the chief,</i> in its kind, <i>of the ways
of God</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.19" parsed="|Job|40|19|0|0" passage="Job 40:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>),
an eminent instance of the Creator's power and wisdom. Those that
will peruse the accounts given by historians of the elephant will
find that his capacities approach nearer to those of reason than
the capacities of any other brute-creature whatsoever, and
therefore he is fitly called <i>the chief of the ways of God,</i>
in the inferior part of the creation, no creature below man being
preferable to him. 2. He made him with man, as he made other
four-footed beasts, on the same day with man (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.25-Gen.1.26" parsed="|Gen|1|25|1|26" passage="Ge 1:25,26">Gen. i. 25, 26</scripRef>), whereas the fish and fowl
were made the day before; he made him to live and move on the same
earth, in the same element, and therefore man and beast are said to
be jointly preserved by divine Providence as fellow-commoners,
<scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.6" parsed="|Ps|36|6|0|0" passage="Ps 36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</scripRef>. "It is
<i>behemoth, which I made with thee;</i> I made that beast as well
as thee, and he does not quarrel with me; why then dost thou? Why
shouldst thou demand peculiar favours because I made thee
(<scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.10.9" parsed="|Job|10|9|0|0" passage="Job 10:9"><i>ch.</i> x. 9</scripRef>), when I
made the <i>behemoth</i> likewise with thee? I made thee as well as
that beast, and therefore can as easily manage thee at pleasure as
that beast, and will do it whether thou refuse or whether thou
choose. I made him with thee, that thou mayest look upon him and
receive instruction." We need not go far for proofs and instances
of God's almighty power and sovereign dominion; they are near us,
they are with us, they are under our eye wherever we are. 3. <i>He
that made him can make his sword to approach to him</i> (<scripRef id="Job.xli-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.40.19" parsed="|Job|40|19|0|0" passage="Job 40:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), that is, the same
hand that made him, notwithstanding his great bulk and strength,
can unmake him again at pleasure and kill an elephant as easily as
a worm or a fly, without any difficulty, and without the imputation
either of waste or wrong. God that gave to all the creatures their
being may take away the being he gave; for may he not do what he
will with his own? And he <i>can</i> do it; he that has power to
create with a word no doubt has power to destroy with a word, and
can as easily speak the creature into nothing as at first he spoke
it out of nothing. The <i>behemoth</i> perhaps is here intended (as
well as the <i>leviathan</i> afterwards) to represent those proud
tyrants and oppressors whom God had just now challenged Job to
abase and bring down. They think themselves as well fortified
against the judgments of God as the elephant with his bones of
brass and iron; but he that made the soul of man knows all the
avenues to it, and can make the sword of justice, his wrath, to
approach to it, and touch it in the most tender and sensible part.
He that framed the engine, and put the parts of it together, knows
how to take it in pieces. Woe to him therefore that strives with
his Maker, for he that made him has therefore power to make him
miserable, and will not make him happy unless he will be ruled by
him.</p>
</div></div2>