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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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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. XV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Perhaps Job was so clear, and so well satisfied, in the goodness of his
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own cause, that he thought, if he had not convinced, yet he had at
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least silenced all his three friends; but, it seems he had not: in this
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chapter they begin a second attack upon him, each of them charging him
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afresh with as much vehemence as before. It is natural to us to be fond
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of our own sentiments, and therefore to be firm to them, and with
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difficulty to be brought to recede from them. Eliphaz here keeps close
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to the principles upon which he had condemned Job, and,
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I. He reproves him for justifying himself, and fathers on him many evil
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things which are unfairly inferred thence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:2-13">ver. 2-13</A>.
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II. He persuades him to humble himself before God and to take shame to
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himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>.
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III. He reads him a long lecture concerning the woeful estate of wicked
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people, who harden their hearts against God and the judgments which are
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prepared for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:17-25">ver. 17-35</A>.
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A good use may be made both of his reproofs (for they are plain) and of
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his doctrine (for it is sound), though both the one and the other are
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misapplied to Job.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job15_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job15_16"> </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>Second 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 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
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2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly
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with the east wind?
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3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches
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wherewith he can do no good?
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4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before
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God.
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5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the
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tongue of the crafty.
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6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own
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lips testify against thee.
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7 <I>Art</I> thou the first man <I>that</I> was born? or wast thou made
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before the hills?
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8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain
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wisdom to thyself?
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9 What knowest thou, that we know not? <I>what</I> understandest
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thou, which <I>is</I> not in us?
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10 With us <I>are</I> both the grayheaded and very aged men, much
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elder than thy father.
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11 <I>Are</I> the consolations of God small with thee? is there any
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secret thing with thee?
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12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes
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wink at,
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13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest <I>such</I>
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words go out of thy mouth?
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14 What <I>is</I> man, that he should be clean? and <I>he which is</I>
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born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
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15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens
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are not clean in his sight.
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16 How much more abominable and filthy <I>is</I> man, which drinketh
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iniquity like water?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Eliphaz here falls very foul upon Job, because he contradicted what he
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and his colleagues had said, and did not acquiesce in it and applaud
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it, as they expected. Proud people are apt thus to take it very much
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amiss if they may not have leave to dictate and give law to all about
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them, and to censure those as ignorant and obstinate, and all that is
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naught, who cannot in every thing say as they say. Several great crimes
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Eliphaz here charges Job with, only because he would not own himself a
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hypocrite.</P>
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<P>
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I. He charges him with folly and absurdity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>),
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that, whereas he had been reputed a wise man, he had now quite
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forfeited his reputation; any one would say that his wisdom had
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departed from him, he talked so extravagantly and so little to the
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purpose. Bildad began thus
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:2"><I>ch.</I> viii. 2</A>),
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and Zophar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:2,3"><I>ch.</I> xi. 2, 3</A>.
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It is common for angry disputants thus to represent one another's
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reasonings as impertinent and ridiculous more than there is cause,
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forgetting the doom of him that calls his brother <I>Raca,</I> and
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<I>Thou fool.</I> It is true,
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1. That there is in the world a great deal of vain knowledge, science
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falsely so called, that is useless, and therefore worthless.
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2. That this is the knowledge that puffs up, with which men swell in a
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fond conceit of their own accomplishments.
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3. That, whatever vain knowledge a man may have in his head, if he
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would be thought a wise man he must not utter it, but let it die with
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himself as it deserves.
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4. Unprofitable talk is evil talk. We must give an account in the
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great day not only for wicked words, but for idle words. Speeches
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therefore which do no good, which do no service either to God or our
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neighbour, or no justice to ourselves, which are no way to the use of
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edifying, were better unspoken. Those words which are as wind, light
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and empty, especially which are as the east wind, hurtful and
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pernicious, it will be pernicious to fill either ourselves or others
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with, for they will pass very ill in the account.
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5. Vain knowledge or unprofitable talk ought to be reproved and
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checked, especially in a wise man, whom it worst becomes and who does
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most hurt by the bad example of it.</P>
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<P>
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II. He charges him with impiety and irreligion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Thou castest off fear,</I>" that is, "the fear of God, and that
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regard to him which thou shouldst have; and then <I>thou restrainest
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prayer.</I>" See what religion is summed up in, fearing God and praying
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to him, the former the most needful principle, the latter the most
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needful practice. Where no fear of God is no good is to be expected;
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and those who live without prayer certainly live without God in the
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world. Those who restrain prayer do thereby give evidence that they
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cast off fear. Surely those have no reverence of God's majesty, no
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dread of his wrath, and are in no care about their souls and eternity,
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who make no applications to God for his grace. Those who are prayerless
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are fearless and graceless. When the fear of God is cast off all sin
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is let in and a door opened to all manner of profaneness. It is
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especially bad with those who have had some fear of God, but have now
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cast it off--have been frequent in prayer, but now restrain it. How
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have they fallen! How is their first love lost! It denotes a kind of
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force put upon themselves. The fear of God would cleave to them, but
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they throw it off; prayer would be uttered, but they restrain it; and,
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in both, they baffle their convictions. Those who either omit prayer or
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straiten and abridge themselves in it, quenching the spirit of adoption
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and denying themselves the liberty they might take in the duty,
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restrain prayer. This is bad enough, but it is worse to restrain
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others from prayer, to prohibit and discourage prayer, as Darius,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+6:7">Dan. vi. 7</A>.
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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1. Eliphaz charges this upon Job, either,
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(1.) As that which was his own practice. He thought that Job talked of
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God with such liberty as if he had been his equal, and that he charged
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him so vehemently with hard usage of him, and challenged him so often
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to a fair trial, that he had quite thrown off all religious regard to
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him. This charge was utterly false, and yet wanted not some colour. We
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ought not only to take care that we keep up prayer and the fear of God,
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but that we never drop any unwary expressions which may give occasion
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to those who seek occasion to question our sincerity and constancy in
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religion. Or,
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(2.) As that which others would infer from the doctrine he maintained.
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"If this be true" (thinks Eliphaz) "which Job says, that a man may be
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thus sorely afflicted and yet be a good man, then farewell all
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religion, farewell prayer and the fear of God. If all things come alike
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to all, and the best men may have the worst treatment in this world,
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every one will be ready to say, <I>It is vain to serve God; and what
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profit is it to keep his ordinances?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:14">Mal. iii. 14</A>.
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<I>Verily I have cleansed my hands in vain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:13,14">Ps. lxxiii. 13, 14</A>.
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Who will be honest if the tabernacles of robbers prosper?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:6"><I>ch.</I> xii. 6</A>.
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If there be no forgiveness with God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+7:21"><I>ch.</I> vii. 21</A>),
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who will fear him?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:4">Ps. cxxx. 4</A>.
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If he <I>laugh at the trial of the innocent</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:23"><I>ch.</I> ix. 23</A>),
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if he be so difficult of access
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:32"><I>ch.</I> ix. 32</A>),
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who will pray to him?" Note, It is a piece of injustice which even wise
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and good men are too often guilty of, in the heat of disputation, to
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charge upon their adversaries those consequences of their opinions
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which are not fairly drawn from them and which really they abhor. This
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is not doing as we would be done by.</P>
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<P>
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2. Upon this strained innuendo Eliphaz grounds that high charge of
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impiety
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Thy mouth utters thy iniquity--teaches it,</I> so the word is. "Thou
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teachest others to have the same hard thoughts of God and religion that
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thou thyself hast." It is bad to <I>break even the least of the
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commandments,</I> but worse to <I>teach men so,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+5:19">Matt. v. 19</A>.
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If we ever thought evil, let us lay our hand upon our mouth to suppress
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the evil thought
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:32">Prov. xxx. 32</A>),
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and let us by no means utter it; that is putting an <I>imprimatur</I>
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to it, publishing it with allowance, to the dishonour of God and the
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damage of others. Observe, When men have cast off fear and prayer their
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mouths utter iniquity. Those that cease to do good soon learn to do
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evil. What can we expect but all manner of iniquity from those that arm
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not themselves with the grace of God against it? But <I>thou choosest
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the tongue of the crafty,</I> that is, "Thou utterest thy iniquity with
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some show and pretence of piety, mixing some good words with the bad,
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as tradesmen do with their wares to help them off." The mouth of
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iniquity could not do so much mischief as it does without the tongue of
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the crafty. The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:18">Rom. xvi. 18</A>.
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The tongue of the crafty speaks with design and deliberation; and
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therefore those that use it may be said to <I>choose</I> it, as that
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which will serve their purpose better than the tongue of the upright:
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but it will be found, at last, that honesty is the best policy.
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Eliphaz, in his first discourse, had proceeded against Job upon mere
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surmise
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:6,7"><I>ch.</I> iv. 6, 7</A>),
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but now he has got proof against him from his own discourses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Thy own mouth condemns thee, and not I.</I> But he should have
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considered that he and his fellows had provoked him to say that which
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now they took advantage of; and that was not fair. Those are most
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effectually condemned that are condemned by themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+3:11,Lu+19:22">Tit. iii. 11; Luke xix. 22</A>.
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Many a man needs no more to sink him than for his own tongue to fall
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upon him.</P>
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<P>
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III. He charges him with intolerable arrogancy and self-conceitedness.
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It was a just, and reasonable, and modest demand that Job had made
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+12:3"><I>ch.</I> xii. 3</A>),
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Allow that <I>I have understanding as well as you;</I> but see how they
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seek occasion against him: that is misconstrued, as if he pretended to
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be wiser than any man. Because he will not grant to them the monopoly
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of wisdom, they will have it thought that he claims it to himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:7-9"><I>v.</I> 7-9</A>.
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As if he thought he had the advantage of all mankind,
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1. In length of acquaintance with the world, which furnishes men with
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so much the more experience: "<I>Art thou the first man that was
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born;</I> and, consequently, senior to us, and better able to give the
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sense of antiquity and the judgment of the first and earliest, the
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wisest and purest, ages? Art thou prior to Adam?" So it may be read.
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"Did not he suffer for sin; and yet wilt not thou, who art so great a
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sufferer, own thyself a sinner? <I>Wast thou made before the hills,</I>
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as Wisdom herself was?
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:23">Prov. viii. 23</A>,
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&c. Must God's counsels, which are as the great mountains
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+36:6">Ps. xxxvi. 6</A>),
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and immovable as the everlasting hills, be subject to thy notions and
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bow to them? Dost thou know more of the world than any of us do? No,
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thou art but of yesterday even as we are,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:9"><I>ch.</I> viii. 9</A>.
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Or,
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2. In intimacy of acquaintance with God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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"<I>Hast thou heard the secret of God?</I> Dost thou pretend to be of
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the cabinet-council of heaven, that thou canst give better reasons than
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others can for God's proceedings?" There are secret things of God,
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which belong not to us, and which therefore we must not pretend to
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account for. Those are daringly presumptuous who do. He also represents
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him,
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(1.) As assuming to himself such knowledge as none else had: "<I>Dost
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thou restrain wisdom to thyself,</I> as if none were wise besides?" Job
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had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+13:2"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 2</A>),
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<I>What you know, the same do I know also;</I> and now they return upon
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him, according to the usage of eager disputants, who think they have a
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privilege to commend themselves: <I>What knowest thou that we know
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not?</I> How natural are such replies as these in the heat of argument!
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|
But how simple do they look afterwards, upon the review!
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(2.) As opposing the stream of antiquity, a venerable name, under the
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shade of which all contending parties strive to shelter themselves:
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"<I>With us are the gray-headed and very aged men,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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We have the fathers on our side; all the ancient doctors of the church
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are of our opinion." A thing soon said, but not so soon proved; and,
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|
when proved, truth is not so soon discovered and proved by it as most
|
|
people imagine. David preferred right scripture-knowledge before that
|
|
of antiquity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:100">Ps. cxix. 100</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy
|
|
precepts.</I> Or perhaps one or more, if not all three, of these
|
|
friends of Job, were older than he
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+32:6"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be in
|
|
the right. This also serves contenders to make a noise with to very
|
|
little purpose. If they are older than their adversaries, and can say
|
|
they knew such a thing before their opponents were born, this will not
|
|
serve to justify them in being arrogant and overbearing; for the oldest
|
|
are not always the wisest,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+32:9"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He charges him with a contempt of the counsels and comforts that
|
|
were given him by his friends
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Are the consolations of God small with thee?</I>
|
|
|
|
1. Eliphaz takes it ill that Job did not value the comforts which he
|
|
and his friends administered to him more than it seems he did, and did
|
|
not welcome every word they said as true and important. It is true they
|
|
had said some very good things, but, in their application to Job, they
|
|
were miserable comforters. Note, We are apt to think that great and
|
|
considerable which we ourselves say, when others perhaps with good
|
|
reason think it small and trifling. Paul found that those who <I>seemed
|
|
to be somewhat, yet, in conference, added nothing to him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+2:6">Gal. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He represents this as a slight put upon divine consolations in
|
|
general, as if they were of small account with him, whereas really they
|
|
were not. If he had not highly valued them, he could not have borne up
|
|
as he did under his sufferings. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The consolations of God are not in themselves small. Divine
|
|
comforts are great things, that is, the comfort which is from God,
|
|
especially the comfort which is in God.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The consolations of God not being small in themselves, it is very
|
|
lamentable if they be small with us. It is a great affront to God, and
|
|
an evidence of a degenerate depraved mind, to disesteem and undervalue
|
|
spiritual delights and despise the pleasant land. "What!" (says
|
|
Eliphaz) "<I>is there any secret thing with thee?</I> Hast thou some
|
|
cordial to support thyself with, that is a <I>proprium,</I> an
|
|
<I>arcanum,</I> that nobody else can pretend to, or knows any thing
|
|
of?" Or, "Is there some secret sin harboured and indulged in thy bosom,
|
|
which hinders the operation of divine comforts?" None disesteem divine
|
|
comforts but those that secretly affect the world and the flesh.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He charges him with opposition to God himself and to religion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Why doth thy heart carry thee away</I> into such indecent
|
|
irreligious expressions?" Note, <I>Every man is tempted when he is
|
|
drawn away of his own lust,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:14">Jam. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we fly off from God and our duty, or fly out into anything amiss, it
|
|
is our own heart that carries us away. <I>If thou scornest, thou alone
|
|
shalt bear it.</I> There is a violence, an ungovernable impetus, in the
|
|
turnings of the soul; the corrupt heart carries men away, as it were,
|
|
by force, against their convictions. "What is it that thy eyes wink at?
|
|
Why so careless and mindless of what is said to thee, hearing it as if
|
|
thou wert half asleep? Why so scornful, disdaining what we say, as if
|
|
it were below thee to take notice of it? What have we said that
|
|
deserves to be thus slighted--nay, <I>that thou turnest thy spirit
|
|
against God?</I>" It was bad that his heart was carried away from God,
|
|
but much worse that it was turned against God. But those that forsake
|
|
God will soon break out in open enmity to him. But how did this appear?
|
|
Why, "Thou lettest such words go out of thy mouth, reflecting on God,
|
|
and his justice and goodness." It is the character of the wicked that
|
|
they <I>set their mouth against the heavens</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:9">Ps. lxxiii. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
which is a certain indication that the spirit is turned against God. He
|
|
thought Job's spirit was soured against God, and so turned from what it
|
|
had been, and exasperated at his dealings with him. Eliphaz wanted
|
|
candour and charity, else he would not have put such a harsh
|
|
construction upon the speeches of one that had such a settled
|
|
reputation for piety and was now in temptation. This was, in effect, to
|
|
give the cause on Satan's side, and to own that Job had done as Satan
|
|
said he would, had <I>cursed God to his face.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. He charges him with justifying himself to such a degree as even to
|
|
deny his share in the common corruption and pollution of the human
|
|
nature
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>What is man, that he should be clean?</I> that is, that he should
|
|
pretend to be so, or that any should expect to find him so. What is
|
|
<I>he that is born of a woman,</I> a sinful woman, <I>that he should be
|
|
righteous?</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Righteousness is cleanness; it makes us acceptable to God and easy
|
|
to ourselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:24">Ps. xviii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Man, in his fallen state, cannot pretend to be clean and righteous
|
|
before God, either to acquit himself to God's justice or recommend
|
|
himself to his favour.
|
|
|
|
3. He is to be adjudged unclean and unrighteous because born of a
|
|
woman, from whom he derives a corrupt nature, which is both his guilt
|
|
and his pollution. With these plain truths Eliphaz thinks to convince
|
|
Job, whereas he had just now said the same
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:4"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 4</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?</I> But does it
|
|
therefore follow that Job is a hypocrite, and a wicked man, which is
|
|
all that he denied? By no means. Though man, as born of a woman, is not
|
|
clean, yet, as born again of the Spirit, he is clean.
|
|
|
|
4. Further to evince this he here shows,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the brightest creatures are imperfect and impure before God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
God places no confidence in saints and angels; he employs both, but
|
|
trusts neither with his service, without giving them fresh supplies of
|
|
strength and wisdom for it, as knowing they are not sufficient of
|
|
themselves, neither more nor better than his grace makes them. He takes
|
|
no complacency in the heavens themselves. How pure soever they seem to
|
|
us, in his eye they have many a speck and many a flaw: <I>The heavens
|
|
are not clean in his sight.</I> If the stars (says Mr. Caryl) have no
|
|
light in the sight of the sun, what light has the sun in the sight of
|
|
God! See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+24:23">Isa. xxiv. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That man is much more so
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>How much more abominable and filthy is man!</I> If saints are not to
|
|
be trusted, much less sinners. If the heavens are not pure, which are
|
|
as God made them, much less man, who is degenerated. Nay, he is
|
|
abominable and filthy in the sight of God, and if ever he repent he is
|
|
so in his own sight, and therefore he abhors himself. Sin is an odious
|
|
thing, it makes men hateful. The body of sin is so, and is therefore
|
|
called <I>a dead body,</I> a loathsome thing. Is it not a filthy thing,
|
|
and enough to make any one sick, to see a man eating swine's food or
|
|
drinking some nauseous and offensive stuff? Such is the filthiness of
|
|
man that he <I>drinks iniquity</I> (that abominable thing which the
|
|
Lord hates) as greedily, and with as much pleasure, as a man drinks
|
|
water when he is thirsty. It is his constant drink; it is natural to
|
|
sinners to commit iniquity. It gratifies, but does not satisfy, the
|
|
appetites of the old man. It is like water to a man in a dropsy. The
|
|
more men sin the more they would sin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job15_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 I will show thee, hear me; and that <I>which</I> I have seen I
|
|
will declare;
|
|
18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not
|
|
hid <I>it:</I>
|
|
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed
|
|
among them.
|
|
20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all <I>his</I> days, and the
|
|
number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
|
|
21 A dreadful sound <I>is</I> in his ears: in prosperity the
|
|
destroyer shall come upon him.
|
|
22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and
|
|
he is waited for of the sword.
|
|
23 He wandereth abroad for bread, <I>saying,</I> Where <I>is it?</I> he
|
|
knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
|
|
24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall
|
|
prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
|
|
25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and
|
|
strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
|
|
26 He runneth upon him, <I>even</I> on <I>his</I> neck, upon the thick
|
|
bosses of his bucklers:
|
|
27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh
|
|
collops of fat on <I>his</I> flanks.
|
|
28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, <I>and</I> in houses which no
|
|
man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
|
|
29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
|
|
neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
|
|
30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up
|
|
his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
|
|
31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity
|
|
shall be his recompence.
|
|
32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch
|
|
shall not be green.
|
|
33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall
|
|
cast off his flower as the olive.
|
|
34 For the congregation of hypocrites <I>shall be</I> desolate, and
|
|
fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
|
|
35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their
|
|
belly prepareth deceit.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Eliphaz, having reproved Job for his answers, here comes to maintain
|
|
his own thesis, upon which he built his censure of Job. His opinion is
|
|
that those who are wicked are certainly miserable, whence he would
|
|
infer that those who are miserable are certainly wicked, and that
|
|
therefore Job was so. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His solemn preface to this discourse, in which he bespeaks Job's
|
|
attention, which he had little reason to expect, he having given so
|
|
little heed to and put so little value upon what Job had said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will show thee</I> that which is worth hearing, and not reason,
|
|
as thou dost, with unprofitable talk." Thus apt are men, when they
|
|
condemn the reasonings of others, to commend their own. He promises to
|
|
teach him,
|
|
|
|
1. From his own experience and observation: "<I>That which I have</I>
|
|
myself <I>seen,</I> in divers instances, <I>I will declare.</I>" It is
|
|
of good use to take notice of the providences of God concerning the
|
|
children of men, from which many a good lesson may be learned. What
|
|
good observations we have made, and have found benefit by ourselves, we
|
|
should be ready to communicate for the benefit of others; and we may
|
|
speak boldly when we declare what we have seen.
|
|
|
|
2. From the wisdom of the ancients
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Which wise men have told from their fathers.</I> Note, The wisdom
|
|
and learning of the moderns are very much derived from those of the
|
|
ancients. Good children will learn a good deal from their good parents;
|
|
and what we have learned from our ancestors we must transmit to our
|
|
posterity and not hide from the generations to come. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:3-6">Ps. lxxviii. 3-6</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the thread of the knowledge of many ages be cut off by the
|
|
carelessness of one, and nothing be done to preserve it pure and
|
|
entire, all that succeed fare the worse. The authorities Eliphaz
|
|
vouched were authorities indeed, men of rank and figure
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>unto whom alone the earth was given,</I> and therefore you may
|
|
suppose them favourites of Heaven and best capable of making
|
|
observations concerning the affairs of this earth. The dictates of
|
|
wisdom come with advantage from those who are in places of dignity and
|
|
power, as Solomon; yet there is a wisdom <I>which none of the princes
|
|
of this world knew,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+2:7,8">1 Cor. ii. 7, 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The discourse itself. He here aims to show,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That those who are wise and good do ordinarily prosper in this
|
|
world. This he only hints at
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
that those of whose mind he was were such as had the earth given to
|
|
them, and to them only; they enjoyed it entirely and peaceably, and no
|
|
stranger passed among them, either to share with them or give
|
|
disturbance to them. Job had said, <I>The earth is given into the hand
|
|
of the wicked,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+9:24"><I>ch.</I> ix. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
"No," says Eliphaz, "it is given into the hands of the saints, and runs
|
|
along with the faith committed unto them; and they are not robbed and
|
|
plundered by strangers and enemies making inroads upon them, as thou
|
|
art by the Sabeans and Chaldeans." But because many of God's people
|
|
have remarkably prospered in this world, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
|
|
it does not therefore follow that those who are crossed and
|
|
impoverished, as Job, are not God's people.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That wicked people, and particularly oppressors and tyrannizing
|
|
rulers, are subject to continual terrors, live very uncomfortably, and
|
|
perish very miserably. On this head he enlarges, showing that even
|
|
those who impiously dare God's judgments yet cannot but dread them and
|
|
will feel them at last. He speaks in the singular number--<I>the wicked
|
|
man,</I> meaning (as some think) Nimrod; or perhaps Chedorlaomer, or
|
|
some such mighty hunter before the Lord. I fear he meant Job himself,
|
|
whom he expressly charges both with the tyranny and with the
|
|
timorousness here described,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:9,10"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here he thinks the application easy, and that Job might, in this
|
|
description, as in a glass, see his own face. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Let us see how he describes the sinner who lives thus miserably.
|
|
He does not begin with that, but brings it in as a reason of his doom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:25-28"><I>v.</I> 25-28</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is no ordinary sinner, but one of the first rate, an
|
|
<I>oppressor</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
a <I>blasphemer, and a persecutor,</I> one that <I>neither fears God
|
|
nor regards man.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] He bids defiance to God, and to his authority and power,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Tell him of the divine law, and its obligations; he breaks those bonds
|
|
asunder, and will not have, no, not him that made him, to restrain him
|
|
or rule over him. Tell him of the divine wrath, and its terrors; he
|
|
bids the Almighty do his worst, he will have his will, he will have his
|
|
way, in spite of him, and will not be controlled by law, or conscience,
|
|
or the notices of a judgment to come. <I>He stretches out his hand
|
|
against God,</I> in defiance of him and of the power of his wrath. God
|
|
is indeed out of his reach, but he stretches out his hand against him,
|
|
to show that, if it were in his power, he would ungod him. This applies
|
|
to the audacious impiety of some sinners who are really <I>haters of
|
|
God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:30">Rom. i. 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
and whose carnal mind is not only an enemy to him, but enmity itself,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:7">Rom. viii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, alas! the sinner's malice is as impotent as it is impudent; what
|
|
can he do? <I>He strengthens himself</I> (<I>he would be valiant,</I>
|
|
so some read it) <I>against the Almighty.</I> He thinks with his
|
|
exorbitant despotic power to <I>change times and laws</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+7:25">Dan. vii. 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, in spite of Providence, to carry the day for rapine and wrong,
|
|
clear of the check of conscience. Note, It is the prodigious madness of
|
|
presumptuous sinners that they enter the lists with Omnipotence. <I>Woe
|
|
unto him that strives with his Maker.</I> That is generally taken for a
|
|
further description of the sinner's daring presumption
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He runs upon him,</I> upon God himself, in a direct opposition to
|
|
him, to his precepts and providences, <I>even upon his neck,</I> as a
|
|
desperate combatant, when he finds himself an unequal match for his
|
|
adversary, flies in his face, though, at the same time, he falls on his
|
|
sword's point, or the sharp spike of his buckler. Sinners, in general,
|
|
run from God; but the presumptuous sinner, who sins with a high hand,
|
|
runs upon him, fights against him, and bids defiance to him; and it is
|
|
easy to foretel what will be the issue.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He wraps himself up in security and sensuality
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He covers his face with his fatness.</I> This signifies both the
|
|
pampering of his flesh with daily delicious fare and the hardening of
|
|
his heart thereby against the judgments of God. Note, The gratifying of
|
|
the appetites of the body, feeding and feasting that to the full, often
|
|
turns to the damage of the soul and its interests. Why is God forgotten
|
|
and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of and happiness
|
|
placed in the delights of sense? Those that fill themselves with wine
|
|
and strong drink abandon all that is serious and flatter themselves
|
|
with hopes that <I>tomorrow shall be as this day,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+56:12">Isa. lvi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Woe to those that are thus at ease in Zion,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+6:1,3,4,Lu+12:19">Amos vi. 1, 3, 4; Luke xii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
The fat that covers his face makes him look bold and haughty, and that
|
|
which covers his flanks makes him lie easy and soft, and feel little;
|
|
but this will prove poor shelter against the darts of God's wrath.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He enriches himself with the spoils of all about him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
He dwells in cities which he himself has made desolate by expelling the
|
|
inhabitants out of them, that he might be placed alone in them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:8">Isa. v. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Proud and cruel men take a strange pleasure in ruins, when they are of
|
|
their own making, in <I>destroying cities</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:6">Ps. ix. 6</A>)
|
|
|
|
and triumphing in the destruction, since they cannot make them their
|
|
own but by making them <I>ready to become heaps,</I> and frightening
|
|
the inhabitants out of them. Note, Those that aim to engross the world
|
|
to themselves, and grasp at all, lose the comfort of all, and make
|
|
themselves miserable in the midst of all. How does this tyrant gain his
|
|
point, and make himself master of cities that have all the marks of
|
|
antiquity upon them? We are told
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>)
|
|
|
|
that he does it by malice and falsehood, the two chief ingredients of
|
|
<I>his</I> wickedness who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning,
|
|
<I>They conceive mischief,</I> and then they effect it by <I>preparing
|
|
deceit,</I> pretending to protect those whom they design to subdue, and
|
|
making leagues of peace the more effectually to carry on the operations
|
|
of war. From such wicked men God deliver all good men.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condition of this wicked man,
|
|
both in spiritual and temporal judgments.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed. He seems to those about
|
|
him to be easy, and they therefore envy him and wish themselves in his
|
|
condition; but he who knows what is in men tells us that a wicked man
|
|
has so little comfort and satisfaction in his own breast that he is
|
|
rather to be pitied than envied. <I>First,</I> His own conscience
|
|
accuses him, and with the pangs and throes of that <I>he travaileth in
|
|
pain all his days,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is continually uneasy at the thought of the cruelties he as been
|
|
guilty of and the blood in which he has imbrued his hands. His sins
|
|
stare him in the face at every turn. <I>Diri conscia facti mens habet
|
|
attonitos--Conscious guilt astonishes and confounds. Secondly,</I> He
|
|
is vexed at the uncertainty of the continuance of his wealth and power:
|
|
<I>The number of years is hidden to the oppressor.</I> He knows,
|
|
whatever he pretends, that they will not last always, and has reason to
|
|
fear that they will not last long and this he frets at. <I>Thirdly,</I>
|
|
He is under a <I>certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery
|
|
indignation</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:27">Heb. x. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
which puts him into, and keeps him in, a continual terror and
|
|
consternation, so that he dwells with Cain in the land of Nod, or
|
|
<I>commotion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:16">Gen. iv. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and is made like, <I>Pashur, Magor-missabib--a terror round about,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+20:3,4">Jer. xx. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>A dreadful sound is in his ears,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
He knows that both heaven and earth are incensed against him, that God
|
|
is angry with him and that all the world hates him; he has done nothing
|
|
to make his peace with either, and therefore he thinks that every one
|
|
who <I>meets him will slay him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:14">Gen. iv. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or he is like a man absconding for debt, who thinks every man a
|
|
bailiff. Fear came in, at first, with sin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:10">Gen. iii. 10</A>)
|
|
|
|
and still attends it. Even in prosperity he is apprehensive that the
|
|
destroyer will come upon him, either some destroying angel sent of God
|
|
to avenge his quarrel or some of his injured subjects who will be their
|
|
own avengers. Those who are the <I>terror of the mighty in the land of
|
|
the living</I> usually <I>go down slain to the pit</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+32:25">Ezek. xxxii. 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
the expectation of which makes them a terror to themselves. This is
|
|
further set forth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He is,</I> in his own apprehension, <I>waited for of the sword;</I>
|
|
for he knows that <I>he who killeth with the sword must be killed with
|
|
the sword,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a <I>flaming sword turning
|
|
every way</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:24">Gen. iii. 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
and himself inevitably running on it. Again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He knows that the day of darkness</I> (or the <I>night</I> of
|
|
darkness rather) <I>is ready at his hand,</I> that it is appointed to
|
|
him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening on apace and cannot be
|
|
put off. This day of darkness is something beyond death; it is that
|
|
<I>day of the Lord</I> which to all wicked people will be darkness and
|
|
not light and in which they will be doomed to utter, endless, darkness.
|
|
Note, Some wicked people, though they seem secure, have already
|
|
received the sentence of death, eternal death, within themselves, and
|
|
plainly see hell gaping for them. No marvel that it follows
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Trouble and anguish</I> (that inward tribulation and anguish of soul
|
|
spoken of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:8,9">Rom. ii. 8, 9</A>,
|
|
|
|
which are the effect of God's <I>indignation and wrath</I> fastening
|
|
upon the conscience) <I>shall make him afraid</I> of worse to come.
|
|
What is the hell before him if this be the hell within him? And though
|
|
he would fain shake off his fears, drink them away, and jest them away,
|
|
it will not do; <I>they shall prevail against him,</I> and overpower
|
|
him, <I>as a king ready to the battle,</I> with forces too strong to be
|
|
resisted. He that would keep his peace, let him keep a good conscience.
|
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> If at any time he be in trouble, he despairs of
|
|
getting out
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,</I> but he
|
|
gives himself up for gone and lost in an endless night. Good men expect
|
|
<I>light at evening time, light out of darkness;</I> but what reason
|
|
have those to expect that they shall return out of the darkness of
|
|
trouble who would not return from the darkness of sin, but <I>went on
|
|
in it?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+82:5">Ps. lxxxii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is the misery of damned sinners that they know they shall never
|
|
return out of that utter darkness, nor pass the gulf there fixed.
|
|
<I>Fifthly,</I> He perplexes himself with continual care, especially if
|
|
Providence ever so little frown upon him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Such a dread he has of poverty, and such a waste does he discern upon
|
|
his estate, that he is already, in his own imagination, <I>wandering
|
|
abroad for bread,</I> going a begging for a meal's meat, and <I>saying,
|
|
Where is it?</I> The rich man, in his abundance, cried out, <I>What
|
|
shall I do?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:17">Luke xii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Perhaps he pretends fear of wanting, as an excuse of his covetous
|
|
practices; and justly may he be brought to this extremity at last. We
|
|
read of those who <I>were full,</I> but have <I>hired out themselves
|
|
for bread</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:5">1 Sam. ii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
which this sinner will not do. He cannot dig; he is too fat
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
but to beg he may well be ashamed. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+109:10">Ps. cix. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
David never saw the righteous so far forsaken as to beg their bread;
|
|
for, verily, they shall be fed by the charitable unasked,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:3,25">Ps. xxxvii. 3, 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
But the wicked want it, and cannot expect it should be readily given
|
|
them. How should those find mercy who never showed mercy?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] His outward prosperity will soon come to an end, and all his
|
|
confidence and all his comfort will come to an end with it. How can he
|
|
prosper when God runs upon him? so some understand that,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whom God runs <I>upon</I> he will certainly run <I>down;</I> for when
|
|
he judges he will overcome. See how the judgments of God cross this
|
|
worldly wicked man in all his cares, desires, and projects, and so
|
|
complete his misery. <I>First,</I> He is in care to get, but <I>he
|
|
shall not be rich,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
His own covetous mind keeps him from being truly rich. He is not rich
|
|
that has not enough, and he has not enough that does not think he has.
|
|
It is contentment only that is great gain. Providence remarkably keeps
|
|
some from being rich, defeating their enterprises, breaking their
|
|
measures, and keeping them always behind-hand. Many that get much by
|
|
fraud and injustice, yet do not grow rich: it goes as it comes; it is
|
|
got by one sin and spent upon another. <I>Secondly,</I> He is in care
|
|
to keep what he has got, but in vain: <I>His substance shall not
|
|
continue;</I> it will dwindle and come to nothing. God blasts it, and
|
|
what <I>came up in a night perishes in a night. Wealth gotten by vanity
|
|
will certainly be diminished.</I> Some have themselves lived to see the
|
|
ruin of those estates which have been raised by oppression; but, where
|
|
this is not the case, that which is left goes with a curse to those who
|
|
succeed. <I>De male quæsitis vix gaudet tertius
|
|
hæres--Ill-gotten property will scarcely be enjoyed by the third
|
|
generation.</I> He purchases estates <I>to him and his heirs for
|
|
ever;</I> but to what purpose? <I>He shall not prolong the perfection
|
|
thereof upon the earth;</I> neither the credit nor the comfort of his
|
|
riches shall be prolonged; and, when those are gone, where is the
|
|
perfection of them? How indeed can we expect the perfection of any
|
|
thing to be prolonged upon the earth, where every thing is transitory,
|
|
and we soon see the end of all perfection? <I>Thirdly,</I> He is in
|
|
care to leave what he has got and kept to his children after him. But
|
|
in this he is crossed; the branches of his family shall perish, in whom
|
|
he hoped to live and flourish and to have the reputation of making them
|
|
all great men. <I>They shall not be green,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The flame shall dry them up,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
he shall shake them off as blossoms that never knit, or as the
|
|
<I>unripe grape,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
They shall die in the beginning of their days and never come to
|
|
maturity. Many a man's family is ruined by his iniquity.
|
|
<I>Fourthly,</I> He is in care to enjoy it a great while himself; but
|
|
in that also he is crossed.
|
|
|
|
1. He may perhaps be taken from it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away,</I> and leave his
|
|
wealth to others; that is, by God's wrath, which, <I>like a stream of
|
|
brimstone, kindles</I> the fire that devours him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:33">Isa. xxx. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
or by his word; he speaks, and it is done immediately. <I>This night
|
|
thy soul shall be required of thee;</I> and so <I>the wicked is driven
|
|
away in his wickedness,</I> the worldling in his worldliness.
|
|
|
|
2. It may perhaps be taken from him, and fly away like an eagle towards
|
|
heaven: <I>It shall be accomplished</I> (or cut off) <I>before his
|
|
time</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
|
|
that is, he shall survive his prosperity, and see himself stripped of
|
|
it. <I>Fifthly,</I> He is in care, when he is in trouble, how to get
|
|
out of it (not how to get good by it); but in this also he is crossed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He shall not depart out of darkness.</I> When he begins to fall,
|
|
like Haman, all men say, "Down with him." It was said of him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness.</I> He
|
|
frightened himself with the perpetuity of his calamity, and God also
|
|
shall <I>choose his delusions</I> and <I>bring his fears upon him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:4">Isa. lxvi. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
as he did upon Israel,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:28">Num. xiv. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
God says <I>Amen</I> to his distrust and despair. <I>Sixthly,</I> He is
|
|
in care to secure his partners, and hopes to secure himself by his
|
|
partnership with them; but that is in vain too,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The congregation</I> of them, the whole confederacy, they and all
|
|
their tabernacles, <I>shall be desolate</I> and consumed with fire.
|
|
Hypocrisy and bribery are here charged upon them; that is, deceitful
|
|
dealing both with God and man--God affronted under colour of religion,
|
|
man wronged under colour of justice. It is impossible that these should
|
|
end well. <I>Though hand join in hand</I> for the support of these
|
|
perfidious practices, <I>yet shall not the wicked go unpunished.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The use and application of all this. Will the prosperity of
|
|
presumptuous sinners end thus miserably? Then
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>let not him that is deceived trust in vanity.</I> Let the mischiefs
|
|
which befal others be our warnings, and let not us rest on that broken
|
|
reed which always failed those who leaned on it.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those who trust to their sinful ways of getting wealth <I>trust in
|
|
vanity,</I> and <I>vanity will be their recompence,</I> for they shall
|
|
not get what they expected. Their arts will deceive them and perhaps
|
|
ruin them in this world.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those who trust to their wealth when they have gotten it,
|
|
especially to the wealth they have gotten dishonestly, trust in vanity;
|
|
for it will yield them no satisfaction. The guilt that cleaves to it
|
|
will ruin the joy of it. They sow the wind, and will reap the
|
|
whirlwind, and will own at length, with the utmost confusion, that <I>a
|
|
deceived heart turned them aside,</I> and that they cheated themselves
|
|
with <I>a lie in their right hand.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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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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