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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. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The history of Job begins here with an account,
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I. Of his great piety in general
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:1">ver. 1</A>),
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and in a particular instance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:5">ver. 5</A>.
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II. Of his great prosperity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:2-4">ver. 2-4</A>.
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III. Of the malice of Satan against him, and the permission he obtained
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to try his constancy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:6-12">ver. 6-12</A>.
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IV. Of the surprising troubles that befel him, the ruin of his estate
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:13-17">ver. 13-17</A>),
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and the death of his children,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:18,19">ver. 18, 19</A>.
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V. Of his exemplary patience and piety under these troubles,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:20-22">ver. 20-22</A>.
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In all this he is set forth for an example of suffering affliction,
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from which no prosperity can secure us, but through which integrity and
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uprightness will preserve us.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job1_3"> </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 Character and Possessions.</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 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name <I>was</I> Job; and
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that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and
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eschewed evil.
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2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
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3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three
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thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred
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she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the
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greatest of all the men of the east.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Concerning Job we are here told,</P>
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<P>
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I. That he was a man; therefore subject to like passions as we are. He
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was <I>Ish,</I> a worthy man, a man of note and eminency, a magistrate,
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a man in authority. The country he lived in was the land of Uz, in the
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eastern part of Arabia, which lay towards Chaldea, near Euphrates,
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probably not far from Ur of the Chaldees, whence Abraham was called.
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When God called one good man out of that country, yet he <I>left not
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himself without witness,</I> but raised up another in it to be a
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<I>preacher of righteousness.</I> God has his remnant in all places,
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sealed ones out of every nation, as well as out of every tribe of
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Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+7:9">Rev. vii. 9</A>.
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It was the privilege of the land of Uz to have so good a man as Job in
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it; now it was <I>Arabia the Happy</I> indeed: and it was the praise of
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Job that he was eminently good in so bad a place; the worse others were
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round about him the better he was. His name <I>Job,</I> or <I>Jjob,</I>
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some say, signifies <I>one hated</I> and counted as an enemy. Others
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make it to signify one that grieves or groans; thus the sorrow he
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carried in his name might be a check to his joy in his prosperity. Dr.
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Cave derives it from <I>Jaab--to love,</I> or <I>desire,</I> intimating
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how welcome his birth was to his parents, and how much he was <I>the
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desire of their eyes;</I> and yet there was a time when he cursed the
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day of his birth. Who can tell what the day may prove which yet begins
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with a bright morning?</P>
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<P>
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II. That he was a very good man, eminently pious, and better than his
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neighbours: <I>He was perfect and upright.</I> This is intended to show
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us, not only what reputation he had among men (that he was generally
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taken for an honest man), but what was really his character; for it is
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the judgment of God concerning him, and we are sure that is according
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to truth.
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1. Job was a religious man, <I>one that feared God,</I> that is,
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worshipped him according to his will, and governed himself by the rules
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of the divine law in every thing.
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2. He was sincere in his religion: He was <I>perfect;</I> not sinless,
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as he himself owns
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:20"><I>ch.</I> ix. 20</A>):
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<I>If I say I am perfect, I shall be proved perverse.</I> But, having a
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respect to all God's commandments, aiming at perfection, he was really
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as good as he seemed to be, and did not dissemble in his profession of
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piety; his heart was sound and his eye single. Sincerity is gospel
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perfection. I know no religion without it.
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3. He was upright in his dealings both with God and man, was faithful
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to his promises, steady in his counsels, true to every trust reposed in
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him, and made conscience of all he said and did. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</A>.
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Though he was not <I>of</I> Israel, he was indeed an <I>Israelite
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without guile.</I>
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4. The fear of God reigning in his heart was the principle that
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governed his whole conversation. This made him perfect and upright,
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inward and entire for God, universal and uniform in religion; this kept
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him close and constant to his duty. He <I>feared God,</I> had a
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reverence for his majesty, a regard to his authority, and a dread of
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his wrath.
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5. He dreaded the thought of doing what was wrong; with the utmost
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abhorrence and detestation, and with a constant care and watchfulness,
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he <I>eschewed evil,</I> avoided all appearances of sin and approaches
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to it, and this <I>because of the fear of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+5:15">Neh. v. 15</A>.
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<I>The fear of the Lord is to hate evil</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:13">Prov. viii. 13</A>)
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and then <I>by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:6">Prov. xvi. 6</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. That he was a man who prospered greatly in this world, and made a
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considerable figure in his country. He was prosperous and yet pious.
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Though it is hard and rare, it is not impossible, for <I>a rich man to
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enter into the kingdom of heaven.</I> With God even this is possible,
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and by his grace the temptations of worldly wealth are not insuperable.
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He was pious, and his piety was a friend to his prosperity; for
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godliness has the promise of the life that now is. He was prosperous,
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and his prosperity put a lustre upon his piety, and gave him who was so
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good so much greater opportunity of doing good. The acts of his piety
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were grateful returns to God for the instances of his prosperity; and,
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in the abundance of the good things God gave him, he served God the
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more cheerfully.
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1. He had a numerous family. He was eminent for religion, and yet not a
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hermit, not a recluse, but the father and master of a family. It was an
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instance of his prosperity that his house was filled with children,
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which are a <I>heritage of the Lord,</I> and his <I>reward,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:3">Ps. cxxvii. 3</A>.
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He had <I>seven sons and three daughters,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Some of each sex, and more of the more noble sex, in which the family
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is built up. Children must be looked upon as blessings, for so they
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are, especially to good people, that will give them good instructions,
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and set them good examples, and put up good prayers for them. Job had
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many children, and yet he was neither oppressive nor uncharitable, but
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very liberal to the poor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:17-21"><I>ch.</I> xxxi. 17</A>,
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&c. Those that have great families to provide for ought to consider
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that what is prudently given in alms is set out to the best interest
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and put into the best fund for their children's benefit.
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2. He had a good estate for the support of his family; his
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<I>substance</I> was considerable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Riches are called <I>substance,</I> in conformity to the common form of
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speaking; otherwise, to the soul and another world, they are but
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shadows, <I>things that are not,</I>
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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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It is only in heavenly wisdom that we <I>inherit substance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:21">Prov. viii. 21</A>.
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In those days, when the earth was not fully peopled, it was as now in
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some of the plantations, men might have land enough upon easy terms if
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they had but wherewithal to stock it; and therefore Job's substance is
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described, not by the acres of land he was lord of, but,
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(1.) By his cattle--<I>sheep and camels, oxen and asses.</I> The numbers
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of each are here set down, probably not the exact number, but
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thereabout, a very few under or over. The sheep are put first, because
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of most use in the family, as Solomon observes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:23,26,27">Prov. xxvii. 23, 26, 27</A>):
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<I>Lambs for thy clothing, and milk for the food of thy household.</I>
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Job, it is likely, had silver and gold as well as Abraham
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+13:2">Gen. xiii. 2</A>);
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but then men valued their own and their neighbours' estates by that
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which was for service and present use more than by that which was for
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show and state, and fit only to be hoarded. As soon as God had made
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man, and provided for his maintenance by the herbs and fruits, he made
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him rich and great by giving him <I>dominion over the creatures,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:28">Gen. i. 28</A>.
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That therefore being still continued to man, notwithstanding his
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defection
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:2">Gen. ix. 2</A>),
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is still to be reckoned one of the most considerable instances of men's
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wealth, honour, and power,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+8:6">Ps. viii. 6</A>.
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(2.) By his servants. He had a very good household or husbandry, many
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that were employed for him and maintained by him; and thus he both had
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honour and did good; yet thus he was involved in a great deal of care
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and put to a great deal of charge. See the vanity of this world; as
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goods are increased those must be increased that tend them and occupy
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them, and <I>those will be increased that eat them; and what good has
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the owner thereof save the beholding of them with his eyes?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:11">Eccles. v. 11</A>.
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In a word, <I>Job was the greatest of all the men of the east;</I> and
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they were the richest in the world: those were rich indeed who were
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<I>replenished more than the east,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:6">Isa. ii. 6</A>.
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Margin. Job's wealth, with his wisdom, entitled him to the honour and
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power he had in his country, which he describes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:1-25"><I>ch.</I> xxix.</A>),
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and made him sit chief. Job was upright and honest, and yet grew rich,
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nay, <I>therefore</I> grew rich; for honesty is the best policy, and
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piety and charity are ordinarily the surest ways of thriving. He had a
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great household and much business, and yet kept up the fear and worship
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of God; and he and his house served the Lord. The account of Job's
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piety and prosperity comes before the history of his great afflictions,
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to show that neither will secure us from the common, no, nor from the
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uncommon calamities of human life. Piety will not secure us, as Job's
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mistaken friends thought, for <I>all things come alike to all;</I>
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prosperity will not, as a careless world thinks,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:8">Isa. xlvii. 8</A>.
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I sit <I>as a queen</I> and therefore shall <I>see no sorrow.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Job1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Job's Solicitude for His Children.</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>4 And his sons went and feasted <I>in their</I> houses, every one
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his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and
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to drink with them.
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5 And it was so, when the days of <I>their</I> feasting were gone
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about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in
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the morning, and offered burnt offerings <I>according</I> to the
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number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have
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sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a further account of Job's prosperity and his piety.</P>
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<P>
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I. His great comfort in his children is taken notice of as an instance
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of his prosperity; for our temporal comforts are borrowed, depend upon
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others, and are as those about us are. Job himself mentions it as one
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of the greatest joys of his prosperous estate that his <I>children were
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about him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+29:5"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 5</A>.
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They kept a circular feast at some certain times
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
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they <I>went and feasted in their houses.</I> It was a comfort to this
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good man,
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1. To see his children grown up and settled in the world. All his
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sons were in houses of their own, probably married, and to each of them
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he had given a competent portion to set up with. Those that had been
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olive-plants round his table were removed to tables of their own.
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2. To see them thrive in their affairs, and able to feast one another,
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as well as to feed themselves. Good parents desire, promote, and
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rejoice in, their children's wealth and prosperity as their own.
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3. To see them in health, no sickness in their houses, for that would
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have spoiled their feasting and turned it into mourning.
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4. Especially to see them live in love, and unity, and mutual good
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affection, no jars or quarrels among them, no strangeness, no shyness
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one of another, no strait-handedness, but, though every one knew his
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own, they lived with as much freedom as if they had had all in common.
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It is comfortable to the hearts of parents, and comely in the eyes of
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all, to see brethren thus knit together. <I>Behold, how good and how
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pleasant it is!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+133:1">Ps. cxxxiii. 1</A>.
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5. It added to his comfort to see the brothers so kind to their
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sisters, that they sent for them to feast with them; for they were so
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modest that they would not have gone if they had not been sent for.
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Those brothers that slight their sisters, care not for their company,
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and have no concern for their comfort, are ill-bred, ill-natured, and
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very unlike Job's sons. It seems their feast was so sober and decent
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that their sisters were good company for them at it.
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6. They feasted in their own houses, not in public houses, where they
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would be more exposed to temptations, and which were not so creditable.
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We do not find that Job himself feasted with them. Doubtless they
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invited him, and he would have been the most welcome guest at any of
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their tables; nor was it from any sourness or moroseness of temper, or
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for want of natural affection, that he kept away, but he was old and
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dead to these things, like Barzillai
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+19:35">2 Sam. xix. 35</A>),
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and considered that the young people would be more free and pleasant if
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there were none but themselves. Yet he would not restrain his children
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from that diversion which he denied himself. Young people may be
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allowed a youthful liberty, provided they flee youthful lusts.</P>
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<P>
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|
|
II. His great care about his children is taken notice of as an instance
|
|
of his piety: for that we are really which we are relatively. Those
|
|
that are good will be good to their children, and especially do what
|
|
they can for the good of their souls. Observe
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
|
|
|
|
Job's pious concern for the spiritual welfare of his children,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He was jealous over them with a godly jealousy; and so we ought to
|
|
be over ourselves and those that are dearest to us, as far as is
|
|
necessary to our care and endeavour for their good. Job had given his
|
|
children a good education, had comfort in them and good hope concerning
|
|
them; and yet he said, "<I>It may be, my sons have sinned</I> in the
|
|
days of their feasting more than at other times, have been too merry,
|
|
have taken too great a liberty in eating and drinking, and have
|
|
<I>cursed God in their hearts,</I>" that is, "have entertained
|
|
atheistical or profane thoughts in their minds, unworthy notions of God
|
|
and his providence, and the exercises of religion." When they were
|
|
<I>full</I> they were ready to <I>deny God, and to say, Who is the
|
|
Lord?</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:9">Prov. xxx. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
ready to <I>forget</I> God and to say, The <I>power of our hand</I> has
|
|
<I>gotten us this wealth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:12-17">Deut. viii. 12</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. Nothing alienates the mind more from God than the indulgence of the
|
|
flesh.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. As soon as the days of their feasting were over he called them to
|
|
the solemn exercises of religion. Not while their feasting lasted (let
|
|
them take their time for that; there is a time for all things), but
|
|
when it was over, their good father reminded them that they must know
|
|
when to desist, and not think to fare sumptuously every day; though
|
|
they had their days of feasting the <I>week</I> round, they must not
|
|
think to have them the <I>year</I> round; they had something else to
|
|
do. Note, Those that are merry must find a time to be serious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He sent to them to prepare for solemn ordinances, <I>sent and
|
|
sanctified them,</I> ordered them to examine their own consciences and
|
|
repent of what they had done amiss in their feasting, to lay aside
|
|
their vanity and compose themselves for religious exercises. Thus he
|
|
kept his authority over them for their good, and they submitted to it,
|
|
though they had got into houses of their own. Still he was the priest
|
|
of the family, and at his altar they all attended, valuing their share
|
|
in his prayers more than their share in his estate. Parents cannot give
|
|
grace to their children (it is God that sanctifies), but they ought by
|
|
seasonable admonitions and counsels to further their sanctification. In
|
|
their baptism they were sanctified to God; let it be our desire and
|
|
endeavour that they may be sanctified for him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He offered sacrifice for them, both to atone for the sins he feared
|
|
they had been guilty of in the days of their feasting and to implore
|
|
for them mercy to pardon and grace to prevent the debauching of their
|
|
minds and corrupting of their manners by the liberty they had taken,
|
|
and to preserve their piety and purity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<CENTER>
|
|
<TABLE BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD>For he with mournful eyes had often spied,
|
|
<BR>Scattered on Pleasure's smooth but treacherous tide,
|
|
<BR>The spoils of virtue overpowered by sense,
|
|
<BR>And floating wrecks of ruined innocence.--Sir R. B<FONT SIZE=-1>LACKMORE</FONT>.
|
|
</TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
</CENTER>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Job, like Abraham, had an altar for his family, on which, it is likely,
|
|
he offered sacrifice daily; but, on this extraordinary occasion, he
|
|
offered more sacrifices than usual, and with more solemnity,
|
|
<I>according to the number of them all,</I> one for each child. Parents
|
|
should be particular in their addresses to God for the several branches
|
|
of their family. "For this child I prayed, according to its particular
|
|
temper, genius, and condition," to which the prayers, as well as the
|
|
endeavours, must be accommodated. When these sacrifices were to be
|
|
offered,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He rose early, as one in care that his children might not lie long
|
|
under guilt and as one whose heart was upon his work and his desire
|
|
towards it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He required his children to attend the sacrifice, that they might
|
|
join with him in the prayers he offered with the sacrifice, that the
|
|
sight of the killing of the sacrifice might humble them much for their
|
|
sins, for which they deserved to die, and the sight of the offering of
|
|
it up might lead them to a Mediator. This serious work would help to
|
|
make them serious again after the days of their gaiety.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Thus he did <I>continually,</I> and not merely whenever an occasion
|
|
of this kind recurred; for <I>he that is washed needs to wash his
|
|
feet,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:10">John xiii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The acts of repentance and faith must be often renewed, because we
|
|
often repeat our transgressions. All days, every day, he offered up his
|
|
sacrifices, was constant to his devotions, and did not omit them any
|
|
day. The occasional exercises of religion will not excuse us from those
|
|
that are stated. He that serves God uprightly will serve him
|
|
continually.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_6"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_7"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_8"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_12"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Satan before God; Satan Permitted to Afflict Job.</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>6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
|
|
themselves before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and Satan came also among them.
|
|
7 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan
|
|
answered the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and said, From going to and fro in the earth,
|
|
and from walking up and down in it.
|
|
8 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant
|
|
Job, that <I>there is</I> none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
|
|
upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
|
|
9 Then Satan answered the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and said, Doth Job fear God for
|
|
nought?
|
|
10 Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house,
|
|
and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the
|
|
work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
|
|
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath,
|
|
and he will curse thee to thy face.
|
|
12 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath <I>is</I>
|
|
in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So
|
|
Satan went forth from the presence of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Job was not only so rich and great, but withal so wise and good, and
|
|
had such an interest both in heaven and earth, that one would think the
|
|
mountain of his prosperity stood so strong that it could not be moved;
|
|
but here we have a thick cloud gathering over his head, pregnant with a
|
|
horrible tempest. We must never think ourselves secure from storms
|
|
while we are in this lower region. Before we are told how his troubles
|
|
surprised and seized him here in this visible world, we are here told
|
|
how they were concerted in the world of spirits, that the devil, having
|
|
a great enmity to Job for his eminent piety, begged and obtained leave
|
|
to torment him. It does not at all derogate from the credibility of
|
|
Job's story in general to allow that this discourse between God and
|
|
Satan, in these verses, is parabolical, like that of Micaiah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+22:19-29">1 Kings xxii. 19</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.), and an allegory designed to represent the malice of the
|
|
devil against good men and the divine check and restraint which that
|
|
malice is under; only thus much further is intimated, that the affairs
|
|
of this earth are very much the subject of the counsels of the unseen
|
|
world. That world is dark to us, but we lie very open to it. Now here
|
|
we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Satan among the sons of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
an <I>adversary</I> (so <I>Satan</I> signifies) to God, to men, to all
|
|
good: he thrust himself into an assembly of the <I>sons of God</I> that
|
|
came to <I>present themselves before the Lord.</I> This means either,
|
|
|
|
1. A meeting of the saints on earth. Professors of religion, in the
|
|
patriarchal age, were called <I>sons of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:2">Gen. vi. 2</A>);
|
|
|
|
they had then religious assemblies and stated times for them. The King
|
|
came in to see his guests; the eye of God was on all present. But there
|
|
was a serpent in paradise, a Satan among the sons of God; when they
|
|
come together he is among them, to distract and disturb them, stands at
|
|
their right hand to resist them. <I>The Lord rebuke thee, Satan!</I>
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
2. A meeting of the angels in heaven. They are <I>the sons of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:7"><I>ch.</I> xxxviii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They came to give an account of their negotiations on earth and to
|
|
receive new instructions. Satan was one of them originally; but <I>how
|
|
hast thou fallen, O Lucifer!</I> He shall no more stand in that
|
|
congregation, yet he is here represented, as coming among them, either
|
|
summoned to appear as a criminal or connived at, for the present,
|
|
though an intruder.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His examination, how he came thither
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou?</I> He knew very well
|
|
whence he came, and with what design he came thither, that as the good
|
|
angels came to do good he came for a permission to do hurt; but he
|
|
would, by calling him to an account, show him that he was under check
|
|
and control. <I>Whence comest thou?</I> He asks this,
|
|
|
|
1. As wondering what brought him thither. <I>Is Saul among the
|
|
prophets?</I> Satan among the sons of God? Yes, for he <I>transforms
|
|
himself into an angel of light</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:13,14">2 Cor. xi. 13, 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and would seem one of them. Note, It is possible that a man may be a
|
|
child of the devil and yet be found in the assemblies of the sons of
|
|
God in this world, and <I>there</I> may pass undiscovered by men, and
|
|
yet be challenged by the all-seeing God. <I>Friend, how camest thou in
|
|
hither?</I> Or,
|
|
|
|
2. As enquiring what he had been doing before he came thither. The same
|
|
question was perhaps put to the rest of those that presented themselves
|
|
before the Lord, "Whence came you?" We are accountable to God for all
|
|
our haunts and all the ways we traverse.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The account he gives of himself and of the tour he had made. I
|
|
come (says he) <I>from going to and fro on the earth.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. He could not pretend he had been doing any good, could give no such
|
|
account of himself as the sons of God could, who <I>presented
|
|
themselves before the Lord,</I> who came from executing his orders,
|
|
serving the interest of his kingdom, and ministering to the heirs of
|
|
salvation.
|
|
|
|
2. He would not own he had been doing any hurt, that he had been
|
|
drawing men from the allegiance to God, deceiving and destroying souls;
|
|
no. <I>I have done no wickedness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:20">Prov. xxx. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy servant went nowhere.</I> In saying that he had <I>walked to and
|
|
fro through the earth,</I> he intimates that he had kept himself within
|
|
the bounds allotted him, and had not transgressed his bounds; for
|
|
<I>the dragon is cast out into the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+12:9">Rev. xii. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
and not yet confined to his place of torment. While we are on this
|
|
earth we are within his reach, and with so much subtlety, swiftness,
|
|
and industry, does he penetrate into all the corners of it, that we
|
|
cannot be in any place secure from his temptations.
|
|
|
|
3. He yet seems to give some representation of his own character.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Perhaps it is spoken proudly, and with an air of haughtiness, as
|
|
if he were indeed the <I>prince of this world,</I> as if <I>the
|
|
kingdoms of the world and the glory of them</I> were his
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+4:6">Luke iv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he had now been walking in circuit through his own territories.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Perhaps it is spoken fretfully, and with discontent. He had been
|
|
walking to and fro, and could find no rest, but was as much a fugitive
|
|
and a vagabond as Cain in the land of Nod.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Perhaps it is spoken carefully: "I have been hard at work, going
|
|
to and fro," or (as some read it) "searching about in the earth,"
|
|
really in quest of an opportunity to do mischief. He walks abut seeking
|
|
whom he may devour. It concerns us therefore to be sober and
|
|
vigilant.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The question God puts to him concerning Job
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Hast thou considered my servant Job?</I> As when we meet with one
|
|
that has been in a distant place, where we have a friend we dearly
|
|
love, we are ready to ask, "You have been in such a place; pray did you
|
|
see my friend there?" Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How honourably God speaks of Job: He is <I>my servant.</I> Good men
|
|
are God's servants, and he is pleased to reckon himself honoured in
|
|
their services, and they are to him for <I>a name and a praise</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:11">Jer. xiii. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>and a crown of glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+62:3">Isa. lxii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Yonder is <I>my servant Job;</I> there is <I>none like him,</I> none I
|
|
value like him, of all the princes and potentates of the earth; one
|
|
such saint as he is worth them all: <I>none like him</I> for
|
|
uprightness and serious piety; many do well, but <I>he excelleth them
|
|
all;</I> there is not to be found <I>such great faith, no, not in
|
|
Israel.</I>" Thus Christ, long after, commended the centurion and the
|
|
woman of Canaan, who were both of them, like Job, strangers to that
|
|
commonwealth. The saints glory in God--<I>Who is like thee among the
|
|
gods?</I> and he is pleased to glory in them--<I>Who is like Israel
|
|
among the people?</I> So here, <I>none like Job,</I> none in earth,
|
|
that state of imperfection. Those in heaven do indeed far outshine him;
|
|
those who are least in that kingdom are greater than he; but <I>on
|
|
earth there is not his like.</I> There is none like him in that land;
|
|
so some good men are the glory of their country.
|
|
|
|
2. How closely he gives to Satan this good character of Job: <I>Hast
|
|
thou set thy heart to my servant Job?</I> designing hereby,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To aggravate the apostasy and misery of that wicked spirit: "How
|
|
unlike him are thou!" Note, The holiness and happiness of the saints
|
|
are the shame and torment of the devil and the devil's children.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To answer the devil's seeming boast of the interest he had in this
|
|
earth. "I have been walking to and fro in it," says he, "and it is all
|
|
my own; all flesh have corrupted their way; they all sit still, and are
|
|
at rest in their sins,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+1:10,11">Zech. i. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Nay, hold," saith God, "Job is my faithful servant." Satan may boast,
|
|
but he shall not triumph.
|
|
|
|
(3.) To anticipate his accusations, as if he had said, "Satan, I know
|
|
thy errand; thou hast come to inform against Job; but <I>hast thou
|
|
considered him?</I> Does not his unquestionable character give thee the
|
|
lie?" Note, God knows all the malice of the devil and his instruments
|
|
against his servants; and we have an advocate ready to appear for us,
|
|
even before we are accused.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The devil's base insinuation against Job, in answer to God's
|
|
encomium of him. He could not deny but that Job feared God, but
|
|
suggested that he was a mercenary in his religion, and therefore a
|
|
hypocrite
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Doth Job fear God for nought?</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How impatient the devil was of hearing Job praised, though it was
|
|
God himself that praised him. Those are like the devil who cannot
|
|
endure that any body should be praised but themselves, but grudge the
|
|
just share of reputation others have, as Saul
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+18:5-16">1 Sam. xviii. 5</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.) and the Pharisees,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:15">Matt. xxi. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. How much at a loss he was for something to object against him; he
|
|
could not accuse him of any thing that was bad, and therefore charged
|
|
him with by-ends in doing good. Had the one half of that been true
|
|
which his angry friends, in the heat of dispute, charged him with
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:4,22:5"><I>ch.</I> xv. 4, xxii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
Satan would no doubt have brought against him now; but no such thing
|
|
could be alleged, and therefore,
|
|
|
|
3. See how slyly he censured him as a hypocrite, not asserting that he
|
|
was so, but only asking, "Is he not so?" This is the common way of
|
|
slanderers, whisperers, backbiters, to suggest that by way of query
|
|
which yet they have no reason to think is true. Note, It is not strange
|
|
if those that are approved and accepted of God be unjustly censured by
|
|
the devil and his instruments; if they are otherwise unexceptionable,
|
|
it is easy to charge them with hypocrisy, as Satan charged Job, and
|
|
they have no way to clear themselves, but patiently to wait for the
|
|
judgment of God. As there is nothing we should dread more than being
|
|
hypocrites, so there is nothing we need dread less that being called
|
|
and counted so without cause.
|
|
|
|
4. How unjustly he accused him as mercenary, to prove him a hypocrite.
|
|
It was a great truth that Job did not fear God for nought; he got much
|
|
by it, for godliness is great gain: but it was a falsehood that he
|
|
would not have feared God if he had not got this by it, as the event
|
|
proved. Job's friends charged him with hypocrisy because he was
|
|
greatly afflicted, Satan because he greatly prospered. It is no hard
|
|
matter for those to calumniate that seek an occasion. It is not
|
|
mercenary to look at the eternal recompence in our obedience; but to
|
|
aim at temporal advantages in our religion, and to make it subservient
|
|
to them, is spiritual idolatry, worshipping the creature more than the
|
|
Creator, and is likely to end in a fatal apostasy. Men cannot long
|
|
<I>serve God and mammon.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. The complaint Satan made of Job's prosperity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What God had done for Job. He had protected him, made a hedge about
|
|
him, for the defence of his person, his family, and all his
|
|
possessions. Note, God's peculiar people are taken under his special
|
|
protection, they and all that belong to them; divine grace makes a
|
|
hedge about their spiritual life, and divine providence about their
|
|
natural life, so they are safe and easy. He had prospered him, not in
|
|
idleness or injustice (the devil could not accuse him of them), but in
|
|
the way of honest diligence: <I>Thou hast blessed the work of his
|
|
hands.</I> Without that blessing, be the hands ever so strong, ever so
|
|
skilful, the work will not prosper; but, with that, <I>his substance
|
|
has wonderfully increased in the land.</I> The blessing of the Lord
|
|
makes rich: Satan himself owns it.
|
|
|
|
2. What notice the devil took of it, and how he improved it against
|
|
him. The devil speaks of it with vexation. "I see thou hast <I>made a
|
|
hedge about him, round about;</I>" as if he had walked it round, to see
|
|
if he could spy a single gap in it, for him to enter in at, to do him a
|
|
mischief; but he was disappointed: it was a complete hedge. <I>The
|
|
wicked</I> one <I>saw it and was grieved,</I> and argued against Job
|
|
that the only reason why he served God was because God prospered him.
|
|
"No thanks to him to be true to the government that prefers him, and to
|
|
serve a Master that pays him so well."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VII. The proof Satan undertakes to give of the hypocrisy and
|
|
mercenariness of Job's religion, if he might but have leave to strip
|
|
him of his wealth. "Let it be put to this issue," says he
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>);
|
|
|
|
"make him poor, frown upon him, turn thy hand against him, and then see
|
|
where his religion will be; touch what he has and it will appear what
|
|
he is. <I>If he curse thee not to thy face,</I> let me never be
|
|
believed, but posted for a liar and false accuser. Let me perish if he
|
|
curse thee not;" so some supply the imprecation, which the devil
|
|
himself modestly concealed, but the profane swearers of our age
|
|
impudently and daringly speak out. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How slightly he speaks of the affliction he desired that Job might
|
|
be tried with: "Do but touch all that he has, do but begin with him, do
|
|
but threaten to make him poor; a little cross will change his tone."
|
|
|
|
2. How spitefully he speaks of the impression it would make upon Job:
|
|
"He will not only let fall his devotion, but turn it into an open
|
|
defiance--not only think hardly of thee, but <I>even curse thee to thy
|
|
face.</I>" The word translated curse is <I>barac,</I> the same that
|
|
ordinarily, and originally, signifies to <I>bless;</I> but cursing God
|
|
is so impious a thing that the holy language would not admit the name:
|
|
but that where the sense requires it it must be so understood is plain
|
|
form
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+21:10-13">1 Kings xxi. 10-13</A>,
|
|
|
|
where the word is used concerning the crime charged on Naboth, that he
|
|
did blaspheme God and the king. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is likely that Satan did think that Job, if impoverished, would
|
|
renounce his religion and so disprove his profession, and if so (as a
|
|
learned gentleman has observed in his <I>Mount of Spirits</I>) Satan
|
|
would have made out his own universal empire among the children of men.
|
|
God declared Job the best man then living: now, if Satan can prove him
|
|
a hypocrite, it will follow that God had not one faithful servant among
|
|
men and that there was no such thing as true and sincere piety in the
|
|
world, but religion was all a sham, and Satan was king <I>de facto--in
|
|
fact,</I> over all mankind. But it appeared that <I>the Lord knows
|
|
those that are his</I> and is not deceived in any.
|
|
|
|
(2.) However, if Job should retain his religion, Satan would have the
|
|
satisfaction to see him sorely afflicted. He hates good men, and
|
|
delights in their griefs, as God has <I>pleasure in their
|
|
prosperity.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VIII. The permission God gave to Satan to afflict Job for the trial of
|
|
his sincerity. Satan desired God to do it: <I>Put forth thy hand
|
|
now.</I> God allowed him to do it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>All that he has is in thy hand;</I> make the trial as sharp as thou
|
|
canst; do thy worst at him." Now,
|
|
|
|
1. It is a matter of wonder that God should give Satan such a
|
|
permission as this, should <I>deliver the soul of his turtle-dove</I>
|
|
into the hand of the adversary, such a lamb to such a lion; but he did
|
|
it for his own glory, the honour of Job, the explanation of Providence,
|
|
and the encouragement of his afflicted people in all ages, to make a
|
|
case which, being adjudged, might be a useful precedent. He suffered
|
|
Job to be tried, as he suffered Peter to be sifted, but took care that
|
|
<I>his faith should not fail</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:32">Luke xxii. 32</A>)
|
|
|
|
and then the trial of it was <I>found unto praise, and honour, and
|
|
glory,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+1:7">1 Pet. i. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
2. It is a matter of comfort that God has the devil <I>in a chain,</I>
|
|
in a great chain,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+20:1">Rev. xx. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
He could not afflict Job without leave from God first asked and
|
|
obtained, and then no further than he had leave: "<I>Only upon himself
|
|
put not forth thy hand;</I> meddle not with his body, but only with his
|
|
estate." It is a limited power that the devil has; he has no power to
|
|
debauch men but what they give him themselves, nor power to afflict men
|
|
but what is <I>given him from above.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IX. Satan's departure from this meeting of the sons of God. Before they
|
|
broke up, Satan went forth (as Cain,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:16">Gen. iv. 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>from the presence of the Lord;</I> no longer detained before him (as
|
|
Doeg was,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+21:7">1 Sam. xxi. 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
than till he had accomplished his malicious purpose. He went forth,
|
|
|
|
1. Glad that he had gained his point, proud of the permission he had
|
|
to do mischief to a good man; and,
|
|
|
|
2. Resolved to lose no time, but speedily to put his project in
|
|
execution. He went forth now, not to go to and fro, rambling through
|
|
the earth, but with a direct course, to fall upon poor Job, who is
|
|
carefully going on in the way of his duty, and knows nothing of the
|
|
matter. What passes between good and bad spirits concerning us we are
|
|
not aware of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job1_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Calamities Brought on Job; The Death of Job's Children.</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>13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters <I>were</I>
|
|
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
|
|
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were
|
|
plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
|
|
15 And the Sabeans fell <I>upon them,</I> and took them away; yea,
|
|
they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I
|
|
only am escaped alone to tell thee.
|
|
16 While he <I>was</I> yet speaking, there came also another, and
|
|
said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up
|
|
the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am
|
|
escaped alone to tell thee.
|
|
17 While he <I>was</I> yet speaking, there came also another, and
|
|
said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the
|
|
camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants
|
|
with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell
|
|
thee.
|
|
18 While he <I>was</I> yet speaking, there came also another, and
|
|
said, Thy sons and thy daughters <I>were</I> eating and drinking wine
|
|
in their eldest brother's house:
|
|
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness,
|
|
and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
|
|
young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell
|
|
thee.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here a particular account of Job's troubles.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Satan brought them upon him on the very day that his children began
|
|
their course of feasting, at their <I>eldest brother's house</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
where, he having (we may suppose) the double portion, the entertainment
|
|
was the richest and most plentiful. The whole family, no doubt, was in
|
|
perfect repose, and all were easy and under no apprehension of the
|
|
trouble, now when they revived this custom; and this time Satan chose,
|
|
that the trouble, coming now, might be the more grievous. <I>The night
|
|
of my pleasure has he turned into fear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:4">Isa. xxi. 4</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They all come upon him at once; while one messenger of evil tidings
|
|
was speaking another came, and, before he had told his story, a third,
|
|
and a fourth, followed immediately. Thus Satan, by the divine
|
|
permission, ordered it,
|
|
|
|
1. That there might appear a more than ordinary displeasure of God
|
|
against him in his troubles, and by that he might be exasperated
|
|
against divine Providence, as if it were resolved, right or wrong, to
|
|
ruin him, and not give him time to speak for himself.
|
|
|
|
2. That he might not have leisure to consider and recollect himself,
|
|
and reason himself into a gracious submission, but might be overwhelmed
|
|
and overpowered by a complication of calamities. If he have not room to
|
|
pause a little, he will be apt to speak in haste, and then, if ever, he
|
|
will curse his God. Note, The children of God are often in heaviness
|
|
through manifold temptations; deep calls to deep; waves and billows
|
|
come one upon the neck of another. Let one affliction therefore quicken
|
|
and help us to prepare for another; for, how deep soever we have drunk
|
|
of the bitter cup, as long as we are in this world we cannot be sure
|
|
that we have drunk our share and that it will finally pass from us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They took from him all that he had, and made a full end of his
|
|
enjoyments. The detail of his losses answers to the foregoing inventory
|
|
of his possessions.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He had 500 <I>yoke of oxen,</I> and 500 <I>she-asses,</I> and a
|
|
competent number of servants to attend them; and all these he lost at
|
|
once,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The account he has of this lets him know,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That it was not through any carelessness of his servants; for then
|
|
his resentment might have spent itself upon them: <I>The oxen were
|
|
ploughing,</I> not playing, and the asses not suffered to stray and so
|
|
taken up as waifs, but <I>feeding beside them,</I> under the servant's
|
|
eye, each in their place; and those that passed by, we may suppose,
|
|
blessed them, and said, <I>God speed the plough.</I> Note, All our
|
|
prudence, care, and diligence, cannot secure us from affliction, no,
|
|
not from those afflictions which are commonly owing to imprudence and
|
|
negligence. <I>Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman,</I> though
|
|
ever so wakeful, <I>wakes but in vain.</I> Yet it is some comfort under
|
|
a trouble if it found us in the way of our duty, and not in any
|
|
by-path.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That is was through the wickedness of his neighbours the Sabeans,
|
|
probably a sort of robbers that lived by spoil and plunder. They
|
|
carried off the oxen and asses, and slew the servants that faithfully
|
|
and bravely did their best to defend them, and <I>one only escaped,</I>
|
|
not in kindness to him or his master, but that Job might have the
|
|
certain intelligence of it by an eye-witness before he heard it by a
|
|
flying report, which would have brought it upon him gradually. We have
|
|
no reason to suspect that either Job or his servants had given any
|
|
provocation to the Sabeans to make this inroad, but Satan put it into
|
|
their hearts to do it, to do it now, and so gained a double point, for
|
|
he made both Job to suffer and them to sin. Note, When Satan has God's
|
|
permission to do mischief he will not want mischievous men to be his
|
|
instruments in doing it, for he is a <I>spirit that works in the
|
|
children of disobedience.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He had 7000 <I>sheep,</I> and shepherds that kept them; and all
|
|
those he lost at the same time by lightning,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Job was perhaps, in his own mind, ready to reproach the Sabeans, and
|
|
fly out against them for their injustice and cruelty, when the next
|
|
news immediately directs him to look upwards: <I>The fire of God has
|
|
fallen from heaven.</I> As thunder is his voice, so lightning is his
|
|
fire: but this was such an extraordinary lightning, and levelled so
|
|
directly against Job, that all his sheep and shepherds were not only
|
|
killed, but consumed by it at once, and one shepherd only was left
|
|
alive to carry the news to poor Job. The devil, aiming to make him
|
|
curse God and renounce his religion, managed this part of the trial
|
|
very artfully, in order thereto.
|
|
|
|
(1.) His sheep, with which especially he used to honour God in
|
|
sacrifice, were all taken from him, as if God were angry at his
|
|
offerings and would punish him in those very things which he had
|
|
employed in his service. Having misrepresented Job to God as a false
|
|
servant, in pursuance of his old design to set Heaven and earth at
|
|
variance, he here misrepresented God to Jacob as a hard Master, who
|
|
would not protect those flocks out of which he had so many
|
|
burnt-offerings. This would tempt Job to say, <I>It is in vain to serve
|
|
God.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The messenger called the lightning the <I>fire of God</I> (and
|
|
innocently enough), but perhaps Satan thereby designed to strike into
|
|
his mind this thought, that God had <I>turned to be his enemy and
|
|
fought against him,</I> which was much more grievous to him than all
|
|
the insults of the Sabeans. He owned
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:23"><I>ch.</I> xxxi. 23</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>destruction from God was a terror to him.</I> How terrible then
|
|
were the tidings of this destruction, which came immediately from the
|
|
hand of God! Had the fire from heaven consumed the sheep upon the
|
|
altar, he might have construed it into a token of God's favour; but,
|
|
the fire consuming them in the pasture, he could not but look upon it
|
|
as a token of God's displeasure. There have not been the like since
|
|
Sodom was burned.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He had 3000 <I>camels,</I> and servants tending them; and he lost
|
|
them all at the same time by the Chaldeans, who came in three bands,
|
|
and drove them away, and slew the servants,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the fire of God, which fell upon Job's honest servants, who were in
|
|
the way of their duty, had fallen upon the Sabean and Chaldean robbers
|
|
who were doing mischief, God's judgments therein would have been like
|
|
the great mountains, evident and conspicuous; but when the way of the
|
|
wicked prospers, and they carry off their booty, while just and good
|
|
men are suddenly cut off, God's righteousness is like the great deep,
|
|
the bottom of which we cannot find,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. His dearest and most valuable possessions were his ten children;
|
|
and, to conclude the tragedy, news if brought him, at the same time,
|
|
that they were killed and buried in the ruins of the house in which
|
|
they were feasting, and all the servants that waited on them, except
|
|
one that came express with the tidings of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was the greatest of Job's losses, and which could not but go
|
|
nearest him; and therefore the devil reserved it for the last, that, if
|
|
the other provocations failed, this might make him curse God. Our
|
|
children are pieces of ourselves; it is very hard to part with them,
|
|
and touches a good man in as tender a part as any. But to part with
|
|
them all at once, and for them to be all cut off in a moment, who had
|
|
been so many years his cares and hopes, went to the quick indeed.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They all died together, and not one of them was left alive. David,
|
|
though a wise and good man, was very much discomposed by the death of
|
|
one son. How hard then did it bear upon poor Job who lost them all,
|
|
and, in one moment, was written childless!
|
|
|
|
(2.) They died suddenly. Had they been taken away by some lingering
|
|
disease, he would have had notice to expect their death, and prepare
|
|
for the breach; but this came upon him without giving him any warning.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They died when they were feasting and making merry. Had they died
|
|
suddenly when they were praying, he might the better have borne it. He
|
|
would have hoped that death had found them in a good frame if their
|
|
blood had been mingled with their feast, where he himself used to be
|
|
jealous of them that they had <I>sinned, and cursed God in their
|
|
hearts</I>--to have that day come upon them unawares, like a thief in
|
|
the night, when perhaps their heads were overcharged with surfeiting
|
|
and drunkenness--this could not but add much to his grief, considering
|
|
what a tender concern he always had for his children's souls, and that
|
|
they were now out of the reach of the sacrifices he used to offer
|
|
<I>according to the number of them all.</I> See how all things come
|
|
alike to all. Job's children were constantly prayed for by their
|
|
father, and lived in love one with another, and yet came to this
|
|
untimely end.
|
|
|
|
(4.) They died by a wind of the devil's raising, who is <I>the prince
|
|
of the power of the air</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:2">Eph. ii. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
but it was looked upon to be an immediate hand of God, and a token of
|
|
his wrath. So Bildad construed it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:4"><I>ch.</I> viii. 4</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy children have sinned against him, and he has cast them away in
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their transgression.</I>
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(5.) They were taken away when he had most need of them to comfort him
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under all his other losses. Such miserable comforters are all
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creatures. In God only we have a present help at all times.</P>
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<A NAME="Job1_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job1_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job1_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Job's Sorrow and Submission.</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>20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head,
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and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
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21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked
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shall I return thither: the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> gave, and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath taken
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away; blessed be the name of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The devil had done all he desired leave to do against Job, to provoke
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him to curse God. He had touched all he had, touched it with a witness;
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he whom the rising sun saw the richest of all the men in the east was
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before night poor to a proverb. If his riches had been, as Satan
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insinuated, the only principle of his religion now that he had lost his
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riches he would certainly have lost his religion; but the account we
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have, in these verses, of his pious deportment under his affliction,
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sufficiently proved the devil a liar and Job an honest man.</P>
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<P>
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I. He conducted himself like a man under his afflictions, not stupid
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and senseless, like a stock or stone, not unnatural and unaffected at
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the death of his children and servants; no
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
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he <I>arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head,</I> which were
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the usual expressions of great sorrow, to show that he was sensible of
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the hand of the Lord that had gone out against him; yet he did not
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break out into any indecencies, nor discover any extravagant passion.
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He did not faint away, but arose, as a champion to the combat; he did
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not, in a heat, throw off his clothes, but very gravely, in conformity
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to the custom of the country, rent his mantle, his cloak, or outer
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garment; he did not passionately tear his hair, but deliberately shaved
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his head. By all this it appeared that he kept his temper, and bravely
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maintained the possession and repose of his own soul, in the midst of
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all these provocations. The time when he began to show his feelings is
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observable; it was not till he heard of the death of his children, and
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then he arose, then he rent his mantle. A worldly unbelieving heart
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would have said, "Now that the meat is gone it is well that the mouths
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are gone too; now that there are no portions it is well that there are
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no children:" but Job knew better, and would have been thankful if
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Providence had spared his children, though he had little of nothing for
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them, for <I>Jehovah-jireh--the Lord will provide.</I> Some expositors,
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remembering that it was usual with the Jews to rend their clothes when
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they heard blasphemy, conjecture that Job rent his clothes in a holy
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indignation at the blasphemous thoughts which Satan now cast into his
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mind, tempting him to curse God.</P>
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<P>
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II. He conducted himself like a wise and good man under his affliction,
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like a <I>perfect and upright man,</I> and <I>one that feared God</I>
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and <I>eschewed</I> the <I>evil</I> of sin more than that of outward
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trouble.</P>
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<P>
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1. He humbled himself under the hand of God, and accommodated himself
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to the providences he was under, as one that knew how to want as well
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as how to abound. When God called to weeping and mourning he wept and
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mourned, <I>rent his mantle and shaved his head;</I> and, as one that
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abased himself even to the dust before God, he <I>fell down upon the
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ground,</I> in a penitent sense of sin and a patient submission to the
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will of God, <I>accepting the punishment of his iniquity.</I> Hereby he
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showed his sincerity; for <I>hypocrites cry not when God binds
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them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+36:13"><I>ch.</I> xxxvi. 13</A>.
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Hereby he prepared himself to get good by the affliction; for how can
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we improve the grief which we will not feel?</P>
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<P>
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2. He composed himself with quieting considerations, that he might not
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be disturbed and put out of the possession of his own soul by these
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events. He reasons from the common state of human life, which he
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describes with application to himself: <I>Naked came I</I> (as others
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do) <I>out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither,</I>
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into the lap of our common mother--the earth, as the child, when it is
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sick or weary, lays its head in its mother's bosom. <I>Dust we were</I>
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in our original, and <I>to dust we return</I> in our exit
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:19">Gen. iii. 19</A>),
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<I>to the earth as we were</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+12:7">Eccl. xii. 7</A>),
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<I>naked shall we return thither,</I> whence we were taken, namely, to
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the clay,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:6"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 6</A>.
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St. Paul refers to this of Job,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+6:7">1 Tim. vi. 7</A>.
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<I>We brought nothing</I> of this world's goods <I>into the world,</I>
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|
but have them from others; and <I>it is certain that we can carry
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|
nothing out,</I> but must leave them to others. We come into the world
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naked, not only unarmed, but unclothed, helpless, shiftless, not so
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|
well covered and fenced as other creatures. The sin we are born in
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|
makes us naked, to our shame, in the eyes of the holy God. We go out of
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|
the world naked; the body does, though the sanctified soul goes
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|
clothed,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+5:3">2 Cor. v. 3</A>.
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|
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Death strips us of all our enjoyments; clothing can neither warm nor
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|
adorn a dead body. This consideration silenced Job under all his
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|
losses.
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|
(1.) He is but where he was at first. He looks upon himself only as
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|
naked, not maimed, not wounded; he was himself still his own man, when
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|
nothing else was his own, and therefore but reduced to his first
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|
condition. <I>Nemo tam pauper potest esse quam natus est--no one can be
|
|
so poor as he was when born.--Min. Felix.</I> If we are impoverished,
|
|
we are not wronged, nor much hurt, for we are but as we were born.
|
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|
(2.) He is but where he must have been at last, and is only unclothed,
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|
or unloaded rather, a little sooner than he expected. If we put off our
|
|
clothes before we go to bed, it is some inconvenience, but it may be
|
|
the better borne when it is near bed-time.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He gave glory to God, and expressed himself upon this occasion with
|
|
a great veneration for the divine Providence, and a meek submission to
|
|
its disposals. We may well rejoice to find Job in this good frame,
|
|
because this was the very thing upon which the trial of his integrity
|
|
was put, though he did not know it. The devil said that he would, under
|
|
his affliction, curse God; but he blessed him, and so proved himself an
|
|
honest man.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
(1.) He acknowledged the hand of God both in the mercies he had
|
|
formerly enjoyed and in the afflictions he was now exercised with:
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|
<I>The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.</I> We must own the
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|
divine Providence,
|
|
|
|
[1.] In all our comforts. God gave us our being, <I>made us, and not we
|
|
ourselves,</I> gave us our wealth; it was not our own ingenuity or
|
|
industry that enriched us, but God's blessing on our cares and
|
|
endeavours. He gave us power to get wealth, not only made the creatures
|
|
for us, but best owed upon us our share.
|
|
|
|
[2.] In all our crosses. The same that gave hath taken away; and may he
|
|
not do what he will with his own? See how Job looks above instruments,
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|
and keeps his eye upon the first Cause. He does not say, "The Lord
|
|
gave, and the Sabeans and Chaldeans have taken away; God made me rich,
|
|
and the devil has made me poor;" but, "He that gave has taken;" and for
|
|
that reason he is dumb, and has nothing to say, because God did it. He
|
|
that gave all may take what, and when, and how much he pleases. Seneca
|
|
could argue thus, <I>Abstulit, sed et dedit--he took away, but he also
|
|
gave;</I> and Epictetus excellently (cap. 15), "When thou art deprived
|
|
of any comfort, suppose a child taken away by death, or a part of thy
|
|
estate lost, say not <B><I>apolesa auto</I></B>--<I>I have lost it;</I>
|
|
but <B><I>apedoka</I></B>--<I>I have restored it to the right
|
|
owner;</I> but thou wilt object (says he), <B><I>kakos ho
|
|
aphelomenos</I></B>--<I>he is a bad man that has robbed me;</I> to
|
|
which he answers, <B><I>ti de soi melei</I></B>--<I>What is it to thee
|
|
by what hand he that gives remands what he gave?</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He adored God in both. When all was gone he fell down and
|
|
worshipped. Note, Afflictions must not divert us from, but quicken us
|
|
to, the exercises of religion. Weeping must not hinder sowing, nor
|
|
hinder worshipping. He eyed not only the hand of God, but the name of
|
|
God, in his afflictions, and gave glory to that: <I>Blessed be the name
|
|
of the Lord.</I> He has still the same great and good thoughts of God
|
|
that ever he had, and is as forward as ever to speak them forth to his
|
|
praise; he can find in his heart to bless God even when he takes away
|
|
as well as when he gives. Thus must we <I>sing both of mercy and
|
|
judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+101:1">Ps. ci. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He blesses God for what was given, though now it was taken away.
|
|
When our comforts are removed from us we must thank God that ever we
|
|
had them and had them so much longer than we deserved. Nay,
|
|
|
|
[2.] He adores God even in taking away, and gives him honour by a
|
|
willing submission; nay, he gives him thanks for good designed him by
|
|
his afflictions, for gracious supports under his afflictions, and the
|
|
believing hopes he had of a happy issue at last.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> Here is the honourable testimony which the Holy Ghost
|
|
gives to Job's constancy and good conduct under his afflictions. He
|
|
passed his trials with applause,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
In all this Job did not act amiss, for he did not attribute folly to
|
|
God, nor in the least reflect upon his wisdom in what he had done.
|
|
Discontent and impatience do in effect charge God with folly. Against
|
|
the workings of these therefore Job carefully watched; and so must we,
|
|
acknowledging that as God has done right, but we have done wickedly, so
|
|
God has done wisely, but we have done foolishly, very foolishly. Those
|
|
who not only keep their temper under crosses and provocations, but keep
|
|
up good thoughts of God and sweet communion with him, whether their
|
|
praise be of men or no, it will be of God, as Job's here was.</P>
|
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