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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. V.</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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Eliphaz, in the foregoing chapter, for the making good of his charge
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against Job, had vouched a word from heaven, sent him in a vision. In
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this chapter he appeals to those that bear record on earth, to the
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saints, the faithful witnesses of God's truth in all ages,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:1">ver. 1</A>.
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They will testify,
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I. That the sin of sinners is their ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:2-5">ver. 2-5</A>.
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II. That yet affliction is the common lot of mankind,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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III. That when we are in affliction it is our wisdom and duty to apply
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to God, for he is able and ready to help us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:8-16">ver. 8-16</A>.
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IV. That the afflictions which are borne well will end well; and Job
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particularly, if he would come to a better temper, might assure himself
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that God had great mercy in store for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:17-27">ver. 17-27</A>.
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So that he concludes his discourse in somewhat a better humour than he
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began it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_5"> </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>The Address of Eliphaz.</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 Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which
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of the saints wilt thou turn?
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2 For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly
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one.
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3 I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed
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his habitation.
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4 His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the
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gate, neither <I>is there</I> any to deliver <I>them.</I>
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5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of
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the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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A very warm dispute being begun between Job and his friends, Eliphaz
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here makes a fair motion to put the matter to a reference. In all
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debates perhaps the sooner this is done the better if the contenders
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cannot end it between themselves. So well assured is Eliphaz of the
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goodness of his own cause that he moves Job himself to choose the
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arbitrators
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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<I>Call now, if there be any that will answer thee;</I> that is,
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1. "If there be any that suffer as thou sufferest. Canst thou produce
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an instance of any one that was really a saint that was reduced to such
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an extremity as thou art now reduced to? God never dealt with any that
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love his name as he deals with thee, and therefore surely thou art none
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of them."
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2. "If there be any that say as thou sayest. Did ever any good man
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curse his day as thou dost? Or will any of the saints justify thee in
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these heats or passions, or say that these are the spots of God's
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children? Thou wilt find none of the saints that will be either thy
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advocates or my antagonists. <I>To which of the saints wilt thou
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turn?</I> Turn to which thou wilt, and thou wilt find they are all of
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my mind. I have the <I>communis sensus fidelium--the unanimous vote of
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the faithful</I> on my side; they will all subscribe to what I am going
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to say." Observe,
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(1.) Good people are called <I>saints</I> even in the Old Testament;
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and therefore I know not why we should, in common speaking (unless
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because we must <I>loqui cum vulgo--speak as our neighbours</I>),
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appropriate the title to those of the New Testament, and not say St.
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Abraham, St. Moses, and St. Isaiah, as well as St. Matthew and St.
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Mark; and St. David the psalmist, as well as St. David the British
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bishop. Aaron is expressly called <I>the saint of the Lord.</I>
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(2.) All that are themselves saints will turn to those that are so,
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will choose them for their friends and converse with them, will choose
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them for their judges and consult them. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:79">Ps. cxix. 79</A>.
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The saints shall <I>judge the world,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:1,2">1 Cor. vi. 1, 2</A>.
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<I>Walk in the way of good men</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:20">Prov. ii. 20</A>),
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<I>the old way, the footsteps of the flock.</I> Every one chooses some
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sort of people or other to whom he studies to recommend himself, and
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whose sentiments are to him the test of honour and dishonour. Now all
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true saints endeavour to recommend themselves to those that are such,
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and to stand right in their opinion.
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(3.) There are some truths so plain, and so universally known and
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believed, that one may venture to appeal to any of the saints
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concerning them. However there are some things about which they
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unhappily differ, there are many more, and more considerable, in which
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they are agreed; as the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the worth
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of the soul, the necessity of a holy life, and the like. Though they do
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not all live up, as they should, to their belief of these truths, yet
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they are all ready to bear their testimony to them.</P>
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<P>
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Now there are two things which Eliphaz here maintains, and in which he
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doubts not but all the saints concur with him:--</P>
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<P>
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I. That the sin of sinners directly tends to their own ruin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Wrath kills the foolish man,</I> his own wrath, and therefore he is
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foolish for indulging it; it is a fire in his bones, in his blood,
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enough to put him into a fever. <I>Envy</I> is the rottenness of the
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bones, and so <I>slays the silly one</I> that frets himself with it.
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"So it is with thee," says Eliphaz, "while thou quarrellest with God
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thou doest thyself the greatest mischief; thy anger at thy own
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troubles, and thy envy at our prosperity, do but add to thy pain and
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misery: turn to the saints, and thou wilt find they understand their
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interest better." Job had told his wife she spoke as the foolish women;
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now Eliphaz tells him he acted as the foolish men, the silly ones. Or
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it may be meant thus: "If men are ruined and undone, it is always their
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own folly that ruins and undoes them. They kill themselves by some lust
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or other; therefore, no doubt, Job, thou hast done some foolish thing,
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by which thou hast brought thyself into this calamitous condition."
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Many understand it of God's wrath and jealousy. Job needed not be
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uneasy at the prosperity of the wicked, for the world's smiles can
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never shelter them from God's frowns; they are foolish and silly if
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they think they will. God's anger will be the death, the eternal death,
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of those on whom it fastens. What is hell but God's anger without
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mixture or period?</P>
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<P>
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II. That their prosperity is short and their destruction certain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:3-5"><I>v.</I> 3-5</A>.
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He seems here to parallel Job's case with that which is commonly the
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case of wicked people.
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1. Job had prospered for a time, seemed confirmed, and was secure in
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his prosperity; and it is common for foolish wicked men to do so: <I>I
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have seen them taking root</I>--planted, and, in their own and others'
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apprehension, fixed, and likely to continue. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+12:2,Ps+37:35,36">Jer. xii. 2; Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36</A>.
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We see worldly men taking root in the earth; on earthly things they fix
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the standing of their hopes, and from them they draw the sap of their
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comforts. The outward estate may be flourishing, but the soul cannot
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prosper that takes root in the earth.
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2. Job's prosperity was now at an end, and so has the prosperity of
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other wicked people quickly been.
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(1.) Eliphaz foresaw their ruin with an eye of faith. Those who looked
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only at present things blessed their habitation, and thought them
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happy, blessed it long, and wished themselves in their condition. But
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Eliphaz cursed it, suddenly cursed it, as soon as he saw them begin to
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take root, that is, he plainly foresaw and foretold their ruin; not
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that he prayed for it (<I>I have not desired the woeful day</I>), but
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he prognosticated it. <I>He went into the sanctuary,</I> and there
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<I>understood their end</I> and heard their doom read
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:17,18">Ps. lxxiii. 17, 18</A>),
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that the <I>prosperity of fools will destroy them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:32">Prov. i. 32</A>.
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Those who believe the word of God can see a <I>curse in the house of
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the wicked</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:33">Prov. iii. 33</A>),
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though it be ever so finely and firmly built, and ever so full of all
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good things; and they can foresee that the curse will, in time,
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infallibly consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+5:4">Zech. v. 4</A>.
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(2.) He saw, at length, what he had foreseen. He was not disappointed
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in his expectation concerning him; the event answered it; his family
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was undone, and his estate ruined. In these particulars he plainly and
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very invidiously reflects on Job's calamities.
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[1.] His children were crushed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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They thought themselves safe in their eldest brother's house, but were
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<I>far from safety,</I> for they were <I>crushed in the gate.</I>
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Perhaps the door or gate of the house was highest built, and fell
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heaviest upon them, <I>and there was none to deliver them</I> from
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perishing in the ruins. This is commonly understood of the destruction
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of the families of wicked men, by the execution of justice upon them,
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to oblige them to restore what they have ill-gotten. They leave it to
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their children; but the descent shall not bar the entry of the rightful
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owners, who will crush their children, and cast them by due course of
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law (and there shall be none to help them), or perhaps by oppression,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+109:9,10">Ps. cix. 9</A>,
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&c.
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[2.] His estate was plundered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Job's was so. The hungry robbers, the Sabeans and Chaldeans, ran away
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with it, and swallowed it; and this, says he, I have often observed in
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others. What has been got by spoil and rapine has been lost in the same
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way. The careful owner hedged it about with thorns, and then thought it
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safe; but the fence proved insignificant against the greediness of the
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spoilers (if hunger will break through the stone walls, much more
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through thorn hedges), and against the divine curse, which will go
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through the thorns and briers, and <I>burn them together,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:4">Isa. xxvii. 4</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Job5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job5_16"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither
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doth trouble spring out of the ground;
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7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
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8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
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9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things
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without number:
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10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the
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fields:
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11 To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn
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may be exalted to safety.
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12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their
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hands cannot perform <I>their</I> enterprise.
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13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel
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of the froward is carried headlong.
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14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the
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noonday as in the night.
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15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and
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from the hand of the mighty.
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16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Eliphaz, having touched Job in a very tender part, in mentioning both
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the loss of his estate and the death of his children as the just
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punishment of his sin, that he might not drive him to despair, here
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begins to encourage him, and puts him in a way to make himself easy.
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Now he very much changes his voice
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:20">Gal. iv. 20</A>),
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and speaks in the accents of kindness, as if he would atone for the
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hard words he had given him.</P>
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<P>
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I. He reminds him that no affliction comes by chance, nor is to be
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attributed to second causes: It <I>doth not come forth of the dust,</I>
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nor <I>spring out of the ground,</I> as the grass doth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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It doth not come of course, at certain seasons of the year, as natural
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productions do, by a chain of second causes. The proportion between
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prosperity and adversity is not so exactly observed by Providence as
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that between day and night, summer and winter, but according to the
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will and counsel of God, when and as he thinks fit. Some read it,
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<I>Sin comes not forth out of the dust, nor iniquity of the ground.</I>
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If men be bad, they must not lay the blame upon the soil, the climate,
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or the stars, but on themselves. <I>If thou scornest, thou alone shalt
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bear it.</I> We must not attribute our afflictions to fortune, for they
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are from God, nor our sins to fate, for they are from ourselves; so
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that, whatever trouble we are in, we must own that God sends it upon us
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and we procure it to ourselves: the former is a reason why we should be
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very patient, the latter why we should be very penitent, when we are
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afflicted.</P>
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<P>
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II. He reminds him that trouble and affliction are what we have all
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reason to expect in this world: <I>Man is brought to trouble</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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not as man (had he kept his innocency he would have been born to
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pleasure), but as sinful man, as <I>born of a woman</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:1"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 1</A>),
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who was in the transgression. Man is born in sin, and therefore born to
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trouble. Even those that are born to honour and estate are yet born to
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trouble in the flesh. In our fallen state it has become natural to us
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to sin, and the natural consequence of that is affliction,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:12">Rom. v. 12</A>.
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There is nothing in this world we are born to, and can truly call our
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own, but sin and trouble; both are as the sparks that fly upwards.
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Actual transgressions are the sparks that fly out of the furnace of
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original corruption; and, being called <I>transgressors from the
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womb,</I> no wonder that we <I>deal very treacherously,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+48:8">Isa. xlviii. 8</A>.
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Such too is the frailty of our bodies, and the vanity of all our
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enjoyments, that our troubles also thence arise as naturally <I>as the
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sparks fly upwards</I>--so many are they, so thick and so fast does one
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follow another. Why then should we be surprised at our afflictions as
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strange, or quarrel with them as hard, when they are but what we are
|
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born to? Man is born to <I>labour</I> (so it is in the margin), is
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sentenced to eat his bread in the sweat of his face, which should inure
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him to hardness, and make him bear his afflictions the better.</P>
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<P>
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III. He directs him how to behave himself under his affliction
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>I would seek unto God; surely I would:</I> so it is in the original.
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Here is,
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1. A tacit reproof to Job for not seeking to God, but quarrelling with
|
|
him: "Job, if I had been in thy case, I would not have been so peevish
|
|
and passionate as thou art. I would have acquiesced in the will of
|
|
God." It is easy to say what we would do if we were in such a one's
|
|
case; but when it comes to the trial, perhaps it will be found not so
|
|
easy to do as we say.
|
|
|
|
2. Very good and seasonable advice to him, which Eliphaz transfers to
|
|
himself in a figure: "For my part, the best way I should think I could
|
|
take, if I were in thy condition, would be to apply to God." Note, We
|
|
should give our friends no other counsel than what we would take
|
|
ourselves if we were in their case, that we may be easy under our
|
|
afflictions, may get good by them, and may see a good issue of them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We must by prayer fetch in mercy and grace from God, seek to him
|
|
as a Father and friend, though he contend with us, as one who is alone
|
|
able to support and succour us. His favour we must seek when we have
|
|
lost all we have in the world; to him we must address ourselves as the
|
|
fountain and Father of all good, all consolation. <I>Is any afflicted?
|
|
let him pray.</I> It is heart's-ease, a salve for every sore.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must by patience refer ourselves and our cause to him: <I>To
|
|
God would I commit my cause;</I> having spread it before him, I would
|
|
leave it with him; having laid it at his feet, I would lodge it in his
|
|
hand. "<I>Here I am, let the Lord do with me as seemeth him good.</I>"
|
|
If our cause be indeed a good cause, we need not fear committing it to
|
|
God, for he is both just and kind. Those that would seek so as to speed
|
|
must refer themselves to God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He encourages him thus to seek to God, and commit his cause to him.
|
|
It will not be in vain to do so, for he is one in whom we shall find
|
|
effectual help.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He recommends to his consideration God's almighty power and
|
|
sovereign dominion. In general, he <I>doeth great things</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
great indeed, for he can do any thing, he doth do every thing, and all
|
|
according to the counsel of his own will--great indeed, for the
|
|
operations of his power are,
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>Unsearchable,</I> and such as can never be fathomed, can never
|
|
be found out <I>from the beginning to the end,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:11">Eccl. iii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The works of nature are mysterious; the most curious searches come far
|
|
short of full discoveries and the wisest philosophers have owned
|
|
themselves at a loss. The designs of Providence ar much more deep and
|
|
unaccountable,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:33">Rom. xi. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>Numerous,</I> and such as can never be reckoned up. He doeth
|
|
great <I>things without number;</I> his power is never exhausted, nor
|
|
will all his purposes ever be fulfilled till the end of time.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They are <I>marvellous,</I> and such as never can be sufficiently
|
|
admired; eternity itself will be short enough to be spent in the
|
|
admiration of them. Now, by the consideration of this, Eliphaz intends,
|
|
|
|
[1.] To convince Job of his fault and folly in quarrelling with God. We
|
|
must not pretend to pass a judgment upon his works, for they are
|
|
unsearchable and above our enquiries; nor must we strive with our
|
|
Maker, for he will certainly be too hard for us, and is able to crush
|
|
us in a moment.
|
|
|
|
[2.] To encourage Job to seek unto God, and to refer his cause to him.
|
|
What more encouraging than to see that he is one to whom power belongs?
|
|
He can do great things and marvellous for our relief, when we are
|
|
brought ever so low.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He gives some instances of God's dominion and power.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) God doeth great things in the kingdom of nature: <I>He gives rain
|
|
upon the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
put here for all the gifts of common providence, all the <I>fruitful
|
|
seasons</I> by which he <I>filleth our hearts with food and
|
|
gladness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+14:17">Acts xiv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe, When he would show what great things God does he speaks of his
|
|
giving rain, which, because it is a common thing, we are apt to look
|
|
upon as a little thing, but, if we duly consider both how it is
|
|
produced and what is produced by it, we shall see it to be a great work
|
|
both of power and goodness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He doeth great things in the affairs of the children of men, not
|
|
only enriches the poor and comforts the needy, by the rain he sends
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
but, in order to the advancing of those that are low, he <I>disappoints
|
|
the devices of the crafty;</I> for
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>
|
|
|
|
is to be joined to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Compare with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:51-53">Luke i. 51-53</A>.
|
|
|
|
He hath <I>scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,</I>
|
|
and so hath <I>exalted those of low degree,</I> and <I>filled the heart
|
|
with good things.</I> See,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] How he frustrates the counsels of the proud and politic,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:12-14"><I>v.</I> 12-14</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is a supreme power that manages and overrules men who think
|
|
themselves free and absolute, and fulfils its own purposes in spite of
|
|
their projects. Observe, <I>First,</I> The froward, that walk contrary
|
|
to God and the interests of his kingdom, are often very crafty; for
|
|
they are the seed of the old serpent that was noted for his subtlety.
|
|
They think themselves wise, but, at the end, will be fools.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The Froward enemies of God's kingdom have their
|
|
devices, their enterprises, and their counsels, against it, and against
|
|
the loyal faithful subjects of it. They are restless and unwearied in
|
|
their designs, close in their consultations, high in their hopes, deep
|
|
in their politics, and fast-linked in their confederacies,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:1,2">Ps. ii. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thirdly,</I> God easily can, and (as far as is for his glory)
|
|
certainly will, blast and defeat all the designs of his and his
|
|
people's enemies. How were the plots of Ahithophel, Sanballat, and
|
|
Haman baffled! How were the confederacies of Syria and Ephraim against
|
|
Judah, of Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, against God's Israel, the kings
|
|
of the earth and the princes against the Lord and against his anointed,
|
|
broken! The hands that have been stretched out against God and his
|
|
church have not performed their enterprise, nor have the weapons formed
|
|
against Sion prospered. <I>Fourthly,</I> That which enemies have
|
|
designed for the ruin of the church has often turned to their own ruin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He takes the wise in their own craftiness,</I> and <I>snares them in
|
|
the work of their own hands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+7:15,16,9:15,16">Ps. vii. 15, 16; ix. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is quoted by the apostle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:19">1 Cor. iii. 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
to show how the learned men of the heathen were befooled by their own
|
|
vain philosophy. <I>Fifthly,</I> When God infatuates men they are
|
|
perplexed, and at a loss, even in those things that seem most plain and
|
|
easy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They meet with darkness</I> even <I>in the day-time:</I> nay (as in
|
|
the margin), <I>They run themselves into darkness</I> by the violence
|
|
and precipitation of their own counsels. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:20,24,25"><I>ch.</I> xii. 20, 24, 25</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] How he favours the cause of the poor and humble, and espouses
|
|
that. <I>First,</I> He exalts the humble,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those whom proud men contrive to crush he raises from under their feet,
|
|
and sets them in safety,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:5">Ps. xii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The lowly in heart, and those that mourn, he advances, comforts, and
|
|
makes to <I>dwell on high,</I> in the <I>munitions of rocks,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:16">Isa. xxxiii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sion's mourners are the sealed ones, marked for safety,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+9:4">Ezek. ix. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He delivers the oppressed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The designs of the crafty are to ruin the poor. Tongue, and hand, and
|
|
sword, and all, are at work in order to this; but God takes under his
|
|
special protection those who, being poor and unable to help themselves,
|
|
being his poor and devoted to his praise, have committed themselves to
|
|
him. He saves them from the mouth that speaks hard things against them
|
|
and the hand that does hard things against them; for he can, when he
|
|
pleases, tie the tongue and wither the hand. The effect of this is
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
1. That weak and timorous saints are comforted: <I>So the poor,</I> who
|
|
began to despair, <I>has hope.</I> The experiences of some are
|
|
encouragement to others to hope the best in the worst of times; for it
|
|
is the glory of God to send help to the helpless and hope to the
|
|
hopeless.
|
|
|
|
2. That daring threatening sinners are confounded: <I>Iniquity stops
|
|
her mouth,</I> being surprised at the strangeness of the deliverance,
|
|
ashamed of its enmity against those who appear to be the favourites of
|
|
Heaven, mortified at the disappointment, and compelled to acknowledge
|
|
the justice of God's proceedings, having nothing to object against
|
|
them. Those that domineered over God's poor, that frightened them,
|
|
menaced them, and falsely accused them, will not have a word to say
|
|
against them when God appears for them. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:8,9,Isa+26:11,Mic+7:16">Ps. lxxvi. 8, 9; Isa. xxvi. 11;
|
|
Mic. vii. 16</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job5_27"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 Behold, happy <I>is</I> the man whom God correcteth: therefore
|
|
despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
|
|
18 For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his
|
|
hands make whole.
|
|
19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there
|
|
shall no evil touch thee.
|
|
20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from
|
|
the power of the sword.
|
|
21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither
|
|
shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
|
|
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt
|
|
thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
|
|
23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field:
|
|
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
|
|
24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle <I>shall be</I> in peace;
|
|
and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
|
|
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed <I>shall be</I> great, and
|
|
thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
|
|
26 Thou shalt come to <I>thy</I> grave in a full age, like as a
|
|
shock of corn cometh in in his season.
|
|
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it <I>is;</I> hear it, and know
|
|
thou <I>it</I> for thy good.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Eliphaz, in this concluding paragraph of his discourse, gives Job (what
|
|
he himself knew not how to take) a comfortable prospect of the issue of
|
|
his afflictions, if he did but recover his temper and accommodate
|
|
himself to them. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The seasonable word of caution and exhortation that he gives him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.</I> Call it a
|
|
chastening, which comes from the father's love and is designed for the
|
|
child's good. Call it the chastening of the Almighty, with whom it is
|
|
madness to contend, to whom it is wisdom and duty to submit, and who
|
|
will be a God all-sufficient (for so the word signifies) to all those
|
|
that trust in him. Do not <I>despise</I> it;" it is a copious word in
|
|
the original.
|
|
|
|
1. "Be not averse to it. Let grace conquer the antipathy which nature
|
|
has to suffering, and reconcile thyself to the will of God in it." We
|
|
need the rod and we deserve it; and therefore we ought not to think it
|
|
either strange or hard if we feel the smart of it. Let not the heart
|
|
rise against a bitter pill or potion, when it is prescribed for our
|
|
good.
|
|
|
|
2. "Do not think ill of it; do not put it from thee (as that which is
|
|
either hurtful or at least not useful, which there is not occasion for
|
|
nor advantage by) only because for the present it is not joyous, but
|
|
grievous." We must never scorn to stoop to God, nor think it a thing
|
|
below us to come under his discipline, but reckon, on the contrary,
|
|
that God really magnifies man when he thus <I>visits and tries him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+7:17,18"><I>ch.</I> vii. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. "Do not overlook and disregard it, as if it were only a chance, and
|
|
the production of second causes, but take great notice of it as the
|
|
voice of God and a messenger from heaven." More is implied than is
|
|
expressed: "<I>Reverence the chastening of the Lord;</I> have a humble
|
|
awful regard to this correcting hand, and tremble when the lion roars,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:8">Amos iii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Submit to the chastening, and study to answer the call, to answer the
|
|
end of it, and then you reverence it." When God by an affliction draws
|
|
upon us for some of the effects he has entrusted us with we must honour
|
|
his bill by accepting it, and subscribing it, resigning him his own
|
|
when he calls for it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The comfortable words of encouragement which he gives him thus to
|
|
accommodate himself to his condition, and (as he himself had expressed
|
|
it) to receive evil at the hand of God, and not despise it as a gift
|
|
not worth the accepting.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. If his affliction was thus borne,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The nature and property of it would be altered. Though it looked
|
|
like a man's misery, it would really be his bliss: <I>Happy is the man
|
|
whom God correcteth</I> if he make but a due improvement of the
|
|
correction. A good man is happy though he be afflicted, for, whatever
|
|
he has lost, he has not lost his enjoyment of God nor his title to
|
|
heaven. Nay, he is happy because he is afflicted; correction is an
|
|
evidence of his sonship and a means of his sanctification; it mortifies
|
|
his corruptions, weans his heart from the world, draws him nearer to
|
|
God, brings him to his Bible, brings him to his knees, works him for,
|
|
and so is working for him, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
|
|
glory. <I>Happy</I> therefore <I>is the man whom God correcteth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:12">Jam. i. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The issue and consequence of it would be very good,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Though <I>he makes sore</I> the body with sore boils, the mind
|
|
with sad thoughts, yet he <I>binds up</I> at the same time, as the
|
|
skilful tender surgeon binds up the wounds he had occasion to make with
|
|
his incision-knife. When God makes sores by the rebukes of his
|
|
providence he binds up by the consolations of his Spirit, which
|
|
oftentimes abound most as afflictions do abound, and counterbalance
|
|
them, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the patient sufferers.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Though <I>he wounds,</I> yet <I>his hands make whole</I> in due
|
|
time; as he supports his people, and makes them easy under their
|
|
afflictions, so in due time he delivers them, and makes a way for them
|
|
to escape. All is well again; and he comforts them <I>according to the
|
|
time wherein he afflicted them.</I> God's usual method is first to
|
|
wound and then to heal, first to convince and then to comfort, first to
|
|
humble and then to exalt; and (as Mr. Caryl observes) he never makes a
|
|
wound too great, too deep, for his own cure. <I>Una eademque manus
|
|
vulnus opemque tulit--The hand that inflicts the wound applies the
|
|
cure.</I> God tears the wicked and goes away; let those heal that will,
|
|
if they can
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:14">Hos. v. 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
but the humble and penitent may say, <I>He has torn and he will heal
|
|
us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1">Hos. vi. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is general, but,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:19-27">following verses</A>
|
|
|
|
Eliphaz addresses himself directly to Job, and gives him many precious
|
|
promises of great and kind things which God would do for him if he did
|
|
but humble himself under his hand. Though then they had no Bibles that
|
|
we know of, yet Eliphaz had sufficient warrant to give Job these
|
|
assurances, from the general discoveries God had made of his good will
|
|
to his people. And, though in every thing which Job's friends said they
|
|
were not directed by the Spirit of God (for they spoke both of God and
|
|
Job some things that were not right), yet the general doctrines they
|
|
laid down expressed the pious sense of the patriarchal age, and as St.
|
|
Paul quoted
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:13,1Co+1:19">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 13</A>
|
|
|
|
for canonical scripture, and as the command
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:17,Heb+12:5">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 17</A>
|
|
|
|
is no doubt binding on us, so these promises here may be, and must be,
|
|
received and applied as divine promises, and we may <I>through patience
|
|
and comfort of this</I> part of <I>scripture have hope.</I> Let us
|
|
therefore give diligence to make sure our interest in these promises,
|
|
and then view the particulars of them and take the comfort of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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|
(1.) It is here promised that as afflictions and troubles recur
|
|
supports and deliverances shall be graciously repeated, be it ever so
|
|
often: <I>In six troubles he shall</I> be ready to <I>deliver thee;
|
|
yea, and in seven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
This intimates that,as long as we are here in this world, we must
|
|
expect a succession of troubles, that the clouds will return after the
|
|
rain. After six troubles may come a seventh; after many, look for more;
|
|
but out of them all will God deliver those that are his,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ti+3:11,Pa+34:19">2 Tim. iii. 11; Ps. xxxiv. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Former deliverances are not, as among men, excuses from further
|
|
deliverances, but earnests of them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+19:19">Prov. xix. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, whatever troubles good men may be in, <I>there shall no evil
|
|
touch them;</I> they shall do them no real harm; the malignity of them,
|
|
the sting, shall be taken out; they may hiss, but they cannot hurt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+91:10">Ps. xci. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>evil one toucheth not</I> God's children,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+5:18">1 John v. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Being kept from sin, they are kept from the evil of every trouble.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That, when desolating judgments are abroad, they shall be taken
|
|
under special protection,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Do many perish about them for want of the necessary supports of life?
|
|
They shall be supplied. "<I>In famine he shall redeem thee from
|
|
death;</I> whatever becomes of others, thou shalt be <I>kept alive,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:19">Ps. xxxiii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Verily, thou shalt be fed,</I> nay, even <I>in the days of famine
|
|
thou shalt be satisfied,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:3,19">Ps. xxxvii. 3, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>In</I> time of <I>war,</I> when thousands fall on the right and left
|
|
hand, he shall redeem thee <I>from the power of the sword.</I> If God
|
|
please, it shall not touch thee; or if it wound thee, if it kill thee,
|
|
it shall not hurt thee; it can but kill the body, nor has it power to
|
|
do that unless it be given from above."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) That, whatever is maliciously said against them, it shall not
|
|
affect them to do them any hurt,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou shalt</I> not only be protected from the killing sword of war,
|
|
but shalt <I>be hidden from the scourge of the</I> tongue, which, like
|
|
a scourge, is vexing and painful, though not mortal." The best men, and
|
|
the most inoffensive, cannot, even in their innocency, secure
|
|
themselves from calumny, reproach, and false accusation. From these a
|
|
man cannot hide himself, but God can hide him, so that the most
|
|
malicious slanders shall be so little heeded by him as not to disturb
|
|
his peace, and so little heeded by others as not to blemish his
|
|
reputation: and the remainder of wrath God can and does restrain, for
|
|
it is owing to the hold he has of the consciences of bad men that the
|
|
scourge of the tongue is not the ruin of all the comforts of good men
|
|
in this world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) That they shall have a holy security and serenity of mind, arising
|
|
from their hope and confidence in God, even in the worst of times. When
|
|
dangers are most threatening they shall be easy, believing themselves
|
|
safe; and they <I>shall not be afraid of destruction,</I> no, not when
|
|
they see it coming
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor <I>of the beasts of the field</I> when they set upon them, nor of
|
|
men as cruel as beasts; nay, <I>at destruction and famine thou shalt
|
|
laugh</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
not so as to despise any of God's chastenings or make a jest of his
|
|
judgments, but so as to triumph in God, in his power and goodness, and
|
|
therein to triumph over the world and all its grievances, to be not
|
|
only easy, but cheerful and joyful, in tribulation. Blessed Paul
|
|
laughed at destruction when he said, <I>O death! where is thy
|
|
sting?</I> when, in the name of all the saints, he defied all the
|
|
calamities of this present time to <I>separate us from the love of
|
|
God,</I> concluding that <I>in all these things we are more than
|
|
conquerors,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:35-39">Rom. viii. 35</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:22">Isa. xxxvii. 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(6.) That, being at peace with God, there shall be a covenant of
|
|
friendship between them and the whole creation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
"When thou walkest over thy grounds thou shalt not need to fear
|
|
stumbling, for <I>thou shalt be at league with the stones of the
|
|
field,</I> not to dash thy foot against any of them, nor shalt thou be
|
|
in danger from <I>the beasts of the field,</I> for they shall all be at
|
|
peace with thee;" compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:18">Hos. ii. 18</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field.</I>
|
|
This implies that while man is at enmity with his Maker the inferior
|
|
creatures are at war with him; but <I>tranquillus Deus tranquillat
|
|
omnia--a reconciled God reconciles all things.</I> Our covenant with
|
|
God is a covenant with all the creatures that they shall do us no hurt
|
|
but be ready to serve us and do us good.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(7.) That their houses and families shall be comfortable to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Peace and piety in the family will make it so. "<I>Thou shalt know</I>
|
|
and be assured <I>that thy tabernacle</I> is and <I>shall be in
|
|
peace;</I> thou mayest be confident both of its present and its future
|
|
prosperity." <I>That peace is thy tabernacle</I> (so the word is);
|
|
peace is the house in which those dwell who dwell in God, and are at
|
|
home in him. "<I>Thou shalt visit</I>" (that is, enquire into the
|
|
affairs of) "<I>thy habitation,</I> and take a review of them, <I>and
|
|
shalt not sin.</I>"
|
|
|
|
[1.] God will provide a settlement for his people, mean perhaps and
|
|
movable, a cottage, a tabernacle, but a fixed and quiet habitation.
|
|
"Thou shalt not sin," or <I>wander;</I> that is, as some understand it,
|
|
"thou shalt not be a fugitive and a vagabond" (Cain's curse), "but
|
|
shalt dwell in the land, and verily, not uncertainly as vagrants, shalt
|
|
thou be fed."
|
|
|
|
[2.] Their families shall be taken under the special protection of the
|
|
divine Providence, and shall prosper as far as is for their good.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They shall be assured of peace, and of the continuance and entail
|
|
of it. "Thou shalt know, to thy unspeakable satisfaction, that peace is
|
|
sure to thee and thine, having the word of God for it." Providence may
|
|
change, but the promise cannot.
|
|
|
|
[4.] They shall have wisdom to govern their families aright, to order
|
|
their affairs with discretion, and to look well to the ways of their
|
|
household, which is here called <I>visiting their habitation.</I>
|
|
Masters of families must not be strangers at home, but must have a
|
|
watchful eye over what they have and what their servants do.
|
|
|
|
[5.] They shall have grace to manage the concerns of their families
|
|
after a godly sort, and not to sin in the management of them. They
|
|
shall call their servants to account without passion, pride,
|
|
covetousness, worldliness, or the like; they shall look into their
|
|
affairs without discontent at what is or distrust of what shall be.
|
|
Family piety crowns family peace and prosperity. The greatest
|
|
blessing, both in our employments and in our enjoyments, is to be kept
|
|
from sin in them. When we are abroad it is comfortable to hear that our
|
|
tabernacle is in peace; and when we return home it is comfortable to
|
|
visit our habitation with satisfaction in our success, that we have not
|
|
failed in our business, and with a good conscience, that we have not
|
|
offended God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(8.) That their posterity shall be numerous and prosperous. Job had
|
|
lost all his children; "but," says Eliphaz, "if thou return to God, he
|
|
will again build up thy family, and thy seed shall be many and as great
|
|
as ever, and thy offspring increasing and flourishing <I>as the grass
|
|
of the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and thou shalt know it." God has blessings in store for the seed of the
|
|
faithful, which they shall have if they do not stand in their own light
|
|
and forfeit them by their folly. It is a comfort to parents to see the
|
|
prosperity, especially the spiritual prosperity, of their children; if
|
|
they are truly good, they are truly great, how small a figure soever
|
|
they may make in the world.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(9.) That their death shall be seasonable, and they shall finish their
|
|
course, at length, with joy and honour,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a great mercy,
|
|
|
|
[1.] To live to a full age, and not to have the number of our months
|
|
cut off in the midst. If the providence of God do not give us long
|
|
life, yet, if the grace of God give us to be satisfied with the time
|
|
allotted us, we may be said to come to a full age. That man lives long
|
|
enough that has done his work and is fit for another world.
|
|
|
|
[2.] To be willing to die, to come cheerfully to the grave, and not to
|
|
be forced thither, as he whose soul was required of him.
|
|
|
|
[3.] To die seasonably, as the corn is cut and housed when it is fully
|
|
ripe; not till then, but then not suffered to stand a day longer, lest
|
|
it shed. Our times are in God's hand; it is well they are so, for he
|
|
will take care that those who are his shall die in the best time:
|
|
however their death may seem to us untimely, it will be found not
|
|
unseasonable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:27">last verse</A>
|
|
|
|
he recommends these promises to Job,
|
|
|
|
(1.) As faithful sayings, which he might be confident of the truth of:
|
|
"<I>Lo, this we have searched, and so it is.</I> We have indeed
|
|
received these things by tradition from our fathers, but we have not
|
|
taken them upon trust; we have carefully searched them, have compared
|
|
spiritual things with spiritual, have diligently studied them, and been
|
|
confirmed in our belief of them from our own observation and
|
|
experience; and we are all of a mind that so it is." Truth is a
|
|
treasure that is well worth digging for, diving for; and then we shall
|
|
know both how to value it ourselves and how to communicate it to others
|
|
when we have taken pains in searching for it.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As well worthy of all acceptation, which he might improve to his
|
|
great advantage: <I>Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.</I> It is
|
|
not enough to hear and know the truth, but we must improve it, and be
|
|
made wiser and better by it, receive the impressions of it, and submit
|
|
to the commanding power of it. <I>Know it for thyself</I> (so the word
|
|
is), with application to thyself, and thy own case; not only "This is
|
|
true," but "this is true concerning me." That which we thus hear and
|
|
know for ourselves we hear and know for our good, as we are nourished
|
|
by the meat which we digest. That is indeed a good sermon to us which
|
|
does us good.</P>
|
|
|
|
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