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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. XXI.</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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This is Job's reply to Zophar's discourse, in which he complains less
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of his own miseries than he had done in his former discourses (finding
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that his friends were not moved by his complaints to pity him in the
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least), and comes closer to the general question that was in dispute
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between him and them, Whether outward prosperity, and the continuance
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of it, were a mark of the true church and the true members of it, so
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that the ruin of a man's prosperity is sufficient to prove him a
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hypocrite, though no other evidence appear against him: this they
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asserted, but Job denied.
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I. His preface here is designed for the moving of their affections,
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that he might gain their attention,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. His discourse is designed for the convincing of their judgments and
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the rectifying of their mistakes. He owns that God does sometimes hang
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up a wicked man as it were in chains, <I>in terrorem</I>--as a terror
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to others, by some visible remarkable judgment in this life, but denies
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that he always does so; nay, he maintains that commonly he does
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otherwise, suffering even the worst of sinners to live all their days
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in prosperity and to go out of the world without any visible mark of
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his wrath upon them.
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1. He describes the great prosperity of wicked people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:7-13">ver. 7-13</A>.
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2. He shows their great impiety, in which they are hardened by their
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prosperity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:14-16">ver. 14-16</A>.
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3. He foretels their ruin at length, but after a long reprieve,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:17-21">ver. 17-21</A>.
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4. He observes a very great variety in the ways of God's providence
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towards men, even towards bad men,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:22-26">ver. 22-26</A>.
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5. He overthrows the ground of their severe censures of him, by showing
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that the destruction of the wicked is reserved for the other world, and
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that they often escape to the last in this world
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:27-34"><I>v.</I> 27</A>, to the end</A>),
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and in this Job was clearly in the right.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_6"> </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 Reply of Job to Zophar.</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 But Job answered and said,
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2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
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3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken,
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mock on.
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4 As for me, <I>is</I> my complaint to man? and if <I>it were so,</I> why
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should not my spirit be troubled?
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5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay <I>your</I> hand upon <I>your</I>
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mouth.
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6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold
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on my flesh.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Job here recommends himself, both his case and his discourse, both what
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he suffered and what he said, to the compassionate consideration of his
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friends.
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1. That which he entreats of them is very fair, that they would suffer
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him to speak
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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and not break in upon him, as Zophar had done, in the midst of his
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discourse. Losers, of all men, may have leave to speak; and, if those
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that are accused and censured are not allowed to speak for themselves,
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they are wronged without remedy, and have no way to come at their
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right. He entreats that they would hear diligently his speech
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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as those that were willing to understand him, and, if they were under a
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mistake, to have it rectified; and that they would <I>mark him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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for we may as well not hear as not heed and observe what we hear.
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2. That which he urges for this is very reasonable.
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(1.) They came to comfort him. "No," says he, "<I>let this be your
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consolations</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>);
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if you have no other comforts to administer to me, yet deny me not
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this; be so kind, so just, as to give me a patient hearing, and that
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shall pass for your consolations of me." Nay, they could not know how
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to comfort him if they would not give him leave to open his case and
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tell his own story. Or, "It will be a consolation to yourselves, in
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reflection, to have dealt tenderly with your afflicted friend, and not
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harshly."
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(2.) He would hear them speak when it came to their turn. "After I have
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spoken you may go on with what you have to say, and I will not hinder
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you, no, though you go on to mock me." Those that engage in controversy
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must reckon upon having hard words given them, and resolve to bear
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reproach patiently; for, generally, those that mock will mock on,
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whatever is said to them.
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(3.) He hoped to convince them. "If you will but give me a fair
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hearing, mock on if you can, but I believe I shall say that which will
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change your note and make you pity me rather than mock me."
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(4.) They were not his judges
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Is my complaint to man?</I> No, if it were I see it would be to
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little purpose to complain. But my complaint is to God, and to him do I
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appeal. Let him be Judge between you and me. Before him we stand upon
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even terms, and therefore I have the privilege of being heard as well
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as you. If my complaint were to men, my spirit would be troubled, for
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they would not regard me, nor rightly understand me; but my complaint
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is to God, who will suffer me to speak, though you will not." It would
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be sad if God should deal as unkindly with us as our friends sometimes
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do.
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(5.) There was that in his case which was very surprising and
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astonishing, and therefore both needed and deserved their most serious
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consideration. It was not a common case, but a very extraordinary one.
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[1.] He himself was amazed at it, at the troubles God had laid upon him
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and the censures of his friends concerning him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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"<I>When I remember</I> that terrible day in which I was on a sudden
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stripped of all my comforts, that day in which I was stricken with sore
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boils,--when I remember all the hard speeches with which you have
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grieved me,--I confess <I>I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my
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flesh,</I> especially when I compare this with the prosperous condition
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of many wicked people, and the applauses of their neighbours, with
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which they pass through the world." Note, The providences of God, in
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the government of the world, are sometimes very astonishing even to
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wise and good men, and bring them to their wits' end.
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[2.] He would have them wonder at it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"<I>Mark me, and be astonished.</I> Instead of expounding my troubles,
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you should awfully adore the unsearchable mysteries of Providence in
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afflicting one thus of whom you know no evil; you should therefore
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<I>lay your hand upon your mouth,</I> silently wait the issue, and
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judge nothing before the time. <I>God's way is in the sea, and his
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path in the great waters.</I> When we cannot account for what he does,
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in suffering the wicked to prosper and the godly to be afflicted, nor
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fathom the depth of those proceedings, it becomes us to sit down and
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admire them. <I>Upright men shall be astonished at this,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+17:8"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 8</A>.
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Be you so."</P>
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<A NAME="Job21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job21_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Prosperity of the Wicked; Abuse of Earthly Prosperity.</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>7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in
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power?
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8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their
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offspring before their eyes.
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9 Their houses <I>are</I> safe from fear, neither <I>is</I> the rod of
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God upon them.
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10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth,
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and casteth not her calf.
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11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their
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children dance.
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12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of
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the organ.
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13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to
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the grave.
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14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire
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not the knowledge of thy ways.
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15 What <I>is</I> the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what
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profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
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16 Lo, their good <I>is</I> not in their hand: the counsel of the
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wicked is far from me.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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All Job's three friends, in their last discourses, had been very
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copious in describing the miserable condition of a wicked man in this
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world. "It is true," says Job, "remarkable judgments are sometimes
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brought upon notorious sinners, but not always; for we have many
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instances of the great and long prosperity of those that are openly and
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avowedly wicked; though they are hardened in their wickedness by their
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prosperity, yet they are still suffered to prosper."</P>
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<P>
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I. He here describes their prosperity in the height, and breadth, and
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length of it. "If this be true, as you say, pray tell me <I>wherefore
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do the wicked live?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. The matter of fact is taken for granted, for we see instances of it
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every day.
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(1.) They live, and are not suddenly cut off by the strokes of divine
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vengeance. Those yet speak who have set their mouths against the
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heavens. Those yet act who have stretched out their hands against God.
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Not only they live (that is, they are reprieved), but they <I>live in
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prosperity,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+25:6">1 Sam. xxv. 6</A>.
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Nay,
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(2.) They <I>become old;</I> they have the honour, satisfaction, and
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advantage of living long, long enough to raise their families and
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estates. We read of a <I>sinner a hundred years old,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:20">Isa. lxv. 20</A>.
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But this is not all.
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(3.) They are <I>mighty in power,</I> are preferred to places of
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authority and trust, and not only make a great figure, but bear a great
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sway. <I>Vivit imo, et in senatum venit--He not only lives, but
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appears in the senate.</I> Now wherefore is it so? Note, It is worth
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while to enquire into the reasons of the outward prosperity of wicked
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people. It is not because God has forsaken the earth, because he does
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not see, or does not hate, or cannot punish their wickedness; but it is
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because the measure of their iniquities is not full. This is the day of
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God's patience, and, in some way or other, he makes use of them and
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their prosperity to serve his own counsels, while it ripens them for
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ruin; but the chief reason is because he will make it to appear there
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is another world which is the world of retribution, and not this.</P>
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<P>
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2. The prosperity of the wicked is here described to be,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) Complete and consummate.
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[1.] They are multiplied, and their family is built up, and they have
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the satisfaction of seeing it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>Their seed is established in their sight.</I> This is put first, as
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that which gives both a pleasant enjoyment and a pleasing prospect.
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[2.] They are easy and quiet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Whereas Zophar had spoken of their continual frights and terrors, Job
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says, <I>Their houses are safe</I> both from danger and from the fear
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of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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and so far are they from the killing wounds of God's sword or arrows
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that they do not feel the smart of so much as <I>the rod of God upon
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them.</I>
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[3.] They are rich and thrive in their estates. Of this he gives only
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one instance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Their cattle increase, and they meet with no disappointment in them;
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not so much as a cow casts her calf, and then their much must needs
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grow more. This is promised,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:26,De+7:14">Exod. xxiii. 26; Deut. vii. 14</A>.
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[4.] They are merry and live a jovial life
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
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<I>They send forth their little ones</I> abroad among their neighbours,
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<I>like a flock,</I> in great numbers, to sport themselves. They have
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their balls and music-meetings, at which <I>their children dance;</I>
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and dancing is fittest for children, who know not better how to spend
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their time and whose innocency guards them against the mischiefs that
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commonly attend it. Though the parents are not so very youthful and
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frolicsome as to dance themselves, yet <I>they take the timbrel and
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harp;</I> they pipe, and their children dance after their pipe, and
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they know no grief to put their instruments out of tune or to withhold
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their hearts from any joy. Some observe that this is an instance of
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their vanity, as well as of their prosperity. Here is none of that care
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taken of their children which Abraham took of his, to <I>teach them the
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way of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:19">Gen. xviii. 19</A>.
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Their children do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance, and
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sing, and <I>rejoice at the sound of the organ.</I> Sensual pleasures
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are all the delights of carnal people, and as men are themselves so
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they breed their children.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) Continuing and constant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
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<I>They spend their days,</I> all their days, <I>in wealth,</I> and
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never know what it is to want--in mirth, and never know what sadness
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means; and at last, without any previous alarms to frighten them,
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without any anguish or agony, <I>in a moment they go down to the
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grave,</I> and there are no bands in their death. If there were not
|
|
another life after this, it were most desirable to die by the quickest
|
|
shortest strokes of death. Since we must <I>go down to the grave,</I>
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|
if that were the furthest of our journey, we should wish to <I>go down
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in a moment,</I> to swallow the bitter pill, and not chew it.</P>
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<P>
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II. He shows how they abuse their prosperity and are confirmed and
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|
hardened by it in their impiety,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.</P>
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<P>
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|
1. Their gold and silver serve to steel them, to make them more
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|
insolent, and more impudent, in their wickedness. Now he mentions this
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either,
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(1.) To increase the difficulty. It is strange that any wicked people
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|
should prosper thus, but especially that those should prosper who have
|
|
arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as openly to bid defiance to God
|
|
himself, and tell him to his face that they care not for him; nay, and
|
|
that their prosperity should be continued, though they bear up
|
|
themselves upon that, in their opposition to God; with that weapon they
|
|
fight against him, and yet are not disarmed. Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) To lessen the difficulty. God suffers them to prosper; but let us
|
|
not wonder at it, for <I>the prosperity of fools destroys them,</I> by
|
|
hardening them in sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:32,Ps+73:7-9">
|
|
Prov. i. 32; Ps. lxxiii. 7-9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. See how light these prospering sinners make of God and religion, as
|
|
if because they have so much of this world they had no need to look
|
|
after another.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) See how ill affected they are to God and religion; they abandon
|
|
them, and cast off the thoughts of them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They dread the presence of God; they <I>say unto him, "Depart from
|
|
us;</I> let us never be troubled with the apprehension of our being
|
|
under God's eye nor be restrained by the fear of him." Or they bid him
|
|
depart as one they do not need, nor have any occasion to make use of.
|
|
The world is the portion they have chosen, and take up with, and think
|
|
themselves happy in; while they have that they can live without God.
|
|
Justly will God say <I>Depart</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:41">Matt. xxv. 41</A>)
|
|
|
|
to those who have bidden him depart; and justly does he now take them
|
|
at their word.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They dread the knowledge of God, and of his will, and of their
|
|
duty to him: <I>We desire not the knowledge of thy ways.</I> Those that
|
|
are resolved not to walk in God's ways desire not to know them, because
|
|
their knowledge will be a continual reproach to their disobedience,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=John+3:19">John iii. 19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) See how they argue against God and religion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>What is the Almighty?</I> Strange that ever creatures should speak
|
|
so insolently, that ever reasonable creatures should speak so absurdly
|
|
and unreasonably. The two great bonds by which we are drawn and held to
|
|
religion are those of duty and interest; now they here endeavour to
|
|
break both these bonds asunder.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They will not believe it is their duty to be religious: <I>What is
|
|
the Almighty, that we should serve him?</I> Like Pharaoh
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+5:2">Exod. v. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?</I> Observe,
|
|
<I>First,</I> How slightly they speak of God: <I>What is the
|
|
Almighty?</I> As if he were a mere name, a mere cipher, or one they
|
|
have nothing to do with and that has nothing to do with them.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> How hardly they speak of religion. They call it a
|
|
<I>service,</I> and mean a hard service. Is it not enough, they think,
|
|
to keep up a fair correspondence with the Almighty, but they must serve
|
|
him, which they look upon as a task and drudgery. <I>Thirdly,</I> How
|
|
highly they speak of themselves: "<I>That we should serve him;</I> we
|
|
who are rich and mighty in power, shall we be subject and accountable
|
|
to him? No, we are lords,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:31">Jer. ii. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They will not believe it is their interest to be religious:
|
|
<I>What profit shall we have if we pray unto him?</I> All the world are
|
|
for what they can get, and <I>therefore</I> wisdom's merchandise is
|
|
neglected, because they think there is nothing to be got by it. <I>It
|
|
is vain to serve God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+3:13,14">Mal. iii. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Praying will not pay debts nor portion children; nay, perhaps serious
|
|
godliness may hinder a man's preferment and expose him to losses; and
|
|
what then? Is nothing to be called gain but the wealth and honour of
|
|
this world? If we obtain the favour of God, and spiritual and eternal
|
|
blessings, we have no reason to complain of losing by our religion.
|
|
But, if we have not profit by prayer, it is our own fault
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:3,4">Isa. lviii. 3, 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
it is because we ask amiss,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:3">Jam. iv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Religion itself is not a vain thing; if it be so to us, we may thank
|
|
ourselves for resting in the outside of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:26">Jam. i. 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He shows their folly herein, and utterly disclaims all concurrence
|
|
with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Lo, their good is not in their hand,</I> that is, they did not get
|
|
it without God, and therefore they are very ungrateful to slight him
|
|
thus. It was <I>not their might, nor the power of their hand,</I> that
|
|
got them this wealth, and therefore they ought to remember God who gave
|
|
it them. Nor can they keep it without God, and therefore they are very
|
|
unwise to lose their interest in him and bid him to depart from them.
|
|
Some give this sense of it: "Their good is in their barns and their
|
|
bags, hoarded up there; it is not in their hand, to do good to others
|
|
with it; and then what good does it do them?" "Therefore," says Job,
|
|
"<I>the counsel of the wicked is far from me.</I> Far be it from me
|
|
that I should be of their mind, say as they say, do as they do, and
|
|
take my measures from them. Their <I>posterity approve their
|
|
sayings,</I> though <I>their way</I> be <I>their folly</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:13">
|
|
Ps. xlix. 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
but I know better things than to walk in their counsel."</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Certain Punishments of the Wicked; Divine Sovereignty.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and <I>how oft</I>
|
|
cometh their destruction upon them! <I>God</I> distributeth sorrows in
|
|
his anger.
|
|
18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the
|
|
storm carrieth away.
|
|
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth
|
|
him, and he shall know <I>it.</I>
|
|
20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of
|
|
the wrath of the Almighty.
|
|
21 For what pleasure <I>hath</I> he in his house after him, when the
|
|
number of his months is cut off in the midst?
|
|
22 Shall <I>any</I> teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those
|
|
that are high.
|
|
23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and
|
|
quiet.
|
|
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened
|
|
with marrow.
|
|
25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never
|
|
eateth with pleasure.
|
|
26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall
|
|
cover them.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Job had largely described the prosperity of wicked people; now, in
|
|
these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He opposes this to what his friends had maintained concerning their
|
|
certain ruin in this life. "Tell me <I>how often</I> do you see <I>the
|
|
candle of the wicked put out?</I> Do you not as often see it burnt down
|
|
to the socket, until it goes out of itself?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
How often do you see <I>their destruction come upon them,</I> or <I>God
|
|
distributing sorrows in his anger</I> among them? Do you not as often
|
|
see their mirth and prosperity continuing to the last?" Perhaps there
|
|
are as many instances of notorious sinners ending their days in pomp as
|
|
ending them in misery, which observation is sufficient to invalidate
|
|
their arguments against Job and to show that no certain judgment can be
|
|
made of men's character by their outward condition.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He reconciles this to the holiness and justice of God. Though
|
|
wicked people prosper thus all their days, yet we are not therefore to
|
|
think that God will let their wickedness always go unpunished. No,
|
|
|
|
1. Even while they prosper thus they are <I>as stubble and chaff
|
|
before the stormy wind,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are light and worthless, and of no account either with God or with
|
|
wise and good men. They are fitted to destruction, and continually lie
|
|
exposed to it, and in the height of their pomp and power there is but a
|
|
step between them and ruin.
|
|
|
|
2. Though they spend all their days in wealth God is <I>laying up
|
|
their iniquity for their children</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he will visit it upon their posterity when they are gone. The
|
|
oppressor lays up his goods for his children, to make them gentlemen,
|
|
but God lays up his iniquity for them, to make them beggars. He keeps
|
|
an exact account of the fathers' sins, <I>seals them up among his
|
|
treasures</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:34">Deut. xxxii. 34</A>),
|
|
|
|
and will justly punish the children, while the riches, to which the
|
|
curse cleaves, are found as assets in their hands.
|
|
|
|
3. Though they prosper in this world, yet they shall be reckoned with
|
|
in another world. God <I>rewards him</I> according to his deeds at last
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
though the sentence passed against his evil works be not executed
|
|
speedily. Perhaps he may not now be made to fear the wrath to come,
|
|
but he may flatter himself with hopes that he shall have peace though
|
|
he go on; but he shall be made to feel it in the day of the revelation
|
|
of the righteous judgment of God. He shall know it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His eyes shall see his destruction</I> which he would not be
|
|
persuaded to believe. They <I>will not see, but they shall see,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:11">Isa. xxvi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
The eyes that have been wilfully shut against the grace of God shall be
|
|
opened to see his destruction. <I>He shall drink of the wrath of the
|
|
Almighty;</I> that shall be the portion of his cup. Compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+11:6,Re+14:10">Ps. xi. 6 with Rev. xiv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
The misery of damned sinners is here set forth in a few words, but very
|
|
terrible ones. They lie under the wrath of an Almighty God, who, in
|
|
their destruction, both shows his wrath and makes known his power; and,
|
|
if this will be his condition in the other world, what good will his
|
|
prosperity in this world do him? <I>What pleasure has he in his house
|
|
after him?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Our Saviour has let us know how little pleasure the rich man in hell
|
|
had in his house after him, when the remembrance of the good things he
|
|
had received in his life-time would not cool his tongue, but added much
|
|
to his misery, as did also the sorrow he was in lest his five brethren,
|
|
whom he left in his house after him, should follow him to that place of
|
|
torment,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:25-28">Luke xvi. 25-28</A>.
|
|
|
|
So little will the gain of the world profit him that has lost his
|
|
soul.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He resolves this difference which Providence makes between one
|
|
wicked man and another into the wisdom and sovereignty of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Shall any pretend to teach God knowledge?</I> Dare we arraign God's
|
|
proceedings or blame his conduct? Shall we take upon us to tell God how
|
|
he should govern the world, what sinner he should spare and whom he
|
|
should punish? He has both authority and ability to judge those that
|
|
are high. Angels in heaven, princes and magistrates on earth, are
|
|
accountable to God, and must receive their doom from him. He manages
|
|
them, and makes what use he pleases of them. Shall he then be
|
|
accountable to us, or receive advice from us? He is the Judge of all
|
|
the earth, and therefore no doubt he will do right
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:25,Ro+3:6">Gen. xviii. 25, Rom. iii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and those proceedings of his providence which seem to contradict one
|
|
another he can make, not only mutually to agree, but jointly to serve
|
|
his own purposes. The little difference there is between one wicked
|
|
man's dying so in pain and misery, when both will at last meet in hell,
|
|
he illustrates by the little difference there is between one man's
|
|
dying suddenly and another's dying slowly, when they will both meet
|
|
shortly in the grave. So vast is the disproportion between time and
|
|
eternity that, if hell be the lot of every sinner at last, it makes
|
|
little difference if one goes singing thither and another sighing.
|
|
See,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How various the circumstances of people's dying are. There is one
|
|
way into the world, we say, but many out; yet, as some are born by
|
|
quick and easy labour, others by that which is hard and lingering, so
|
|
dying is to some much more terrible than to others; and, since the
|
|
death of the body is the birth of the soul into another world,
|
|
death-bed agonies may not unfitly be compared to child-bed throes.
|
|
Observe the difference.
|
|
|
|
(1.) One dies suddenly, <I>in his full strength,</I> not weakened by
|
|
age or sickness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>being wholly at ease and quiet,</I> under no apprehension at all of
|
|
the approach of death, nor in any fear of it; but, on the contrary,
|
|
because <I>his breasts are full of milk and his bones moistened with
|
|
marrow</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, he is healthful and vigorous, and of a good constitution (like
|
|
a milch cow that is fat and in good liking), he counts upon nothing but
|
|
to live many years in mirth and pleasure. Thus fair does he bid for
|
|
life, and yet he is cut off in a moment by the stroke of death. Note,
|
|
It is a common thing for persons to be taken away by death when they
|
|
are in their full strength, in the highest degree of health, when they
|
|
least expect death, and think themselves best armed against it, and are
|
|
ready not only to set death at a distance, but to set it at defiance.
|
|
Let us therefore never be secure; for we have known many well and dead
|
|
in the same week, the same day, the same hour, nay, perhaps, the same
|
|
minute. Let us therefore be always ready.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Another dies slowly, and with a great deal of previous pain and
|
|
misery
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>in the betterness of his soul,</I> such as poor Job was himself now
|
|
in, <I>and never eats with pleasure,</I> has no appetite to his food
|
|
nor any relish of it, through sickness, or age, or sorrow of mind. What
|
|
great reason have those to be thankful that are in health and always
|
|
eat with pleasure! And what little reason have those to complain who
|
|
sometimes do not eat thus, when they hear of many that never do!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How undiscernible this difference is in the grave. As rich and poor,
|
|
so healthful and unhealthful, meet there
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover
|
|
them,</I> and feed sweetly on them. Thus, if one wicked man die in a
|
|
palace and another in a dungeon, they will meet in the congregation of
|
|
the dead and damned, and the worm that dies not, and the fire that is
|
|
not quenched, will be the same to them, which makes those differences
|
|
inconsiderable and not worth perplexing ourselves about.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job21_34"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Punishment of the Wicked.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices <I>which</I> ye
|
|
wrongfully imagine against me.
|
|
28 For ye say, Where <I>is</I> the house of the prince? and where
|
|
<I>are</I> the dwelling places of the wicked?
|
|
29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not
|
|
know their tokens,
|
|
30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they
|
|
shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
|
|
31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay
|
|
him <I>what</I> he hath done?
|
|
32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in
|
|
the tomb.
|
|
33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every
|
|
man shall draw after him, as <I>there are</I> innumerable before him.
|
|
34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there
|
|
remaineth falsehood?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Job opposes the opinion of his friends, which he saw they still
|
|
adhered to, that the wicked are sure to fall into such visible and
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remarkable ruin as Job had now fallen into, and none but the wicked,
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upon which principle they condemned Job as a wicked man. "<I>I know
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your thoughts,</I>" says Job
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>);
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"I know you will not agree with me; for your judgments are tinctured
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and biassed by your piques and prejudices against me, <I>and the
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devices which you wrongfully imagine against</I> my comfort and honour:
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and how can such men be convinced?" Job's friends were ready to say, in
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|
answer to his discourse concerning the prosperity of the wicked,
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|
"<I>Where is the house of the prince?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
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Where is Job's house, or the house of his eldest son, in which his
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|
children were feasting? Enquire into the circumstances of Job's house
|
|
and family, and then ask, <I>Where are the dwelling-places of the
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|
wicked?</I> and compare them together, and you will soon see that Job's
|
|
house is in the same predicament with the houses of tyrants and
|
|
oppressors, and may therefore conclude that doubtless he was such a
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|
one."</P>
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<P>
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II. He lays down his own judgment to the contrary, and, for proof of
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|
it, appeals to the sentiments and observations of all mankind. So
|
|
confident is he that he is in the right that he is willing to refer the
|
|
cause to the next man that comes by
|
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
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|
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|
"<I>Have you not asked those that go by the way</I>--any indifferent
|
|
person, any that will answer you? I say not, as Eliphaz
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:1"><I>ch.</I> v. 1</A>),
|
|
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|
to which of the <I>saints,</I> but to which of <I>the children of
|
|
men</I> will you turn? Turn to which you will, and you will find them
|
|
all of my mind, that the punishment of sinners is designed more for the
|
|
other world than for this, according to the prophecy of Enoch, the
|
|
seventh from Adam,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:14">Jude 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Do you not know the tokens</I> of this truth, which all that have
|
|
made any observations upon the providences of God concerning mankind in
|
|
this world can furnish you with?" Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What is it that Job here asserts? Two things:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That impenitent sinners will certainly be punished in the other
|
|
world, and, usually, their punishment is put off until then.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That therefore we are not to think it strange if they prosper
|
|
greatly in this world and fall under no visible token of God's wrath.
|
|
<I>Therefore</I> they are spared now, because they are to be punished
|
|
then; <I>therefore</I> the <I>workers of iniquity flourish, that they
|
|
may be destroyed for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+92:7">Ps. xcii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sinner is here supposed,
|
|
|
|
[1.] To live in a great deal of power, so as to be not only <I>the
|
|
terror of the mighty in the land of the living</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+32:27">Ezek. xxxii. 27</A>),
|
|
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|
but the terror of the wise and good too, whom he keeps in such awe that
|
|
none dares <I>declare his way to his face,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
None will take the liberty to reprove him, to tell him of the
|
|
wickedness of his way, and what will be in the end thereof; so that he
|
|
sins securely, and is not made to know either shame or fear. <I>The
|
|
prosperity of fools destroys them,</I> by setting them (in their own
|
|
conceit) above reproofs, by which they might be brought to that
|
|
repentance which alone will prevent their ruin. Those are marked for
|
|
destruction that are let alone in sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:17">Hos. iv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, if none dares declare his way to his face, much less dare any
|
|
repay him what he has done and make him refund what he has obtained by
|
|
injustice. He is one of those great flies which break through the
|
|
cobwebs of the law, that hold only the little ones. This emboldens
|
|
sinners in their sinful ways that they can brow-beat justice and make
|
|
it afraid to meddle with them. But there is a day coming when those
|
|
shall be told of their faults who now would not bear to hear of them,
|
|
those shall have their sins set in order before them, and their way
|
|
declared to their face, to their everlasting confusion, who would not
|
|
have it done here, to their conviction, and those who would not repay
|
|
the wrongs they had done shall have them repaid to them.
|
|
|
|
[2.] To die, and be buried in a great deal of pomp and magnificence,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:32,33"><I>v.</I> 32, 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
There is no remedy; he must die; that is the lot of all men; but every
|
|
thing you can think of shall be done to take off the reproach of death.
|
|
<I>First,</I> He shall have a splendid funeral--a poor thing for any
|
|
man to be proud of the prospect of; yet with some it passes for a
|
|
mighty thing. Well, <I>he shall be brought to the grave</I> in state,
|
|
surrounded with all the honours of the heralds' office and all the
|
|
respect his friends can then pay to his remains. <I>The rich man died,
|
|
and was buried,</I> but no mention is made of the poor man's burial,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:22">Luke xvi. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He shall have a stately monument erected over him.
|
|
<I>He shall remain in the tomb</I> with a <I>Hic jacet--Here lies,</I>
|
|
over him, and a large encomium. Perhaps it is meant of the embalming
|
|
of his body to preserve it, which was a piece of honour anciently done
|
|
by the Egyptians to their great men. He <I>shall watch in the tomb</I>
|
|
(so the word is), shall abide solitary and quiet there, as a watchman
|
|
in his tower. <I>Thirdly, The clods of the valley shall be sweet to
|
|
him;</I> there shall be as much done as can be with rich odours to take
|
|
off the noisomeness of the grave, as by lamps to set aside the darkness
|
|
of it, which perhaps was referred to in the foregoing phrase of
|
|
<I>watching in the tomb.</I> But it is all a jest; what is the light,
|
|
or what the perfume, to a man that is dead? <I>Fourthly,</I> It shall
|
|
be alleged, for the lessening of the disgrace of death, that it is the
|
|
common lot: He has only yielded to fate, <I>and every man shall draw
|
|
after him, as there are innumerable before him.</I> Note, Death is the
|
|
way of all the earth: when we are to cross that darksome valley we must
|
|
consider,
|
|
|
|
1. That there are innumerable before us; it is a tracked road, which
|
|
may help to take off the terror of it. To die is <I>ire ad plures--to
|
|
go to the great majority.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. That every man shall draw after us. As there is a plain track
|
|
before, so there is a long train behind; we are neither the first nor
|
|
the last that pass through that dark entry. Every one must go in his
|
|
own order, the order appointed of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. From all this Job infers the impertinency of their discourses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their foundation is rotten, and they went upon a wrong hypothesis:
|
|
"<I>In your answers there remains falsehood;</I> what you have said
|
|
stands not only unproved but disproved, and lies under such an
|
|
imputation of falsehood as you cannot clear it from."
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their building was therefore weak and tottering: "<I>You comfort
|
|
me in vain.</I> All you have said gives me no relief; you tell me that
|
|
I shall prosper again if I turn to God, but you go upon this
|
|
presumption, that piety shall certainly be crowned with prosperity,
|
|
which is false; and therefore how can your inference from it yield me
|
|
any comfort?" Note, Where there is not truth there is little comfort to
|
|
be expected.</P>
|
|
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