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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. XXXVIII.</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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In most disputes the strife is who shall have the last word. Job's
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friends had, in this controversy, tamely yielded it to Job, and then he
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to Elihu. But, after all the wranglings of the counsel at bar, the
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judge upon the bench must have the last word; so God had here, and so
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he will have in every controversy, for every man's judgment proceeds
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from him and by his definitive sentence every man must stand or fall
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and every cause be won or lost. Job had often appealed to God, and had
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talked boldly how he would order his cause before him, and as a prince
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would he go near unto him; but, when God took the throne, Job had
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nothing to say in his own defence, but was silent before him. It is not
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so easy a matter as some think it to contest with the Almighty. Job's
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friends had sometimes appealed to God too: "O that God would speak!"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:7"><I>ch.</I> xi. 7</A>.
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And now, at length, God does speak, when Job, by Elihu's clear and
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close arguings was mollified a little, and mortified, and so prepared
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to hear what God had to say. It is the office of ministers to prepare
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the way of the Lord. That which the great God designs in this discourse
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is to humble Job, and bring him to repent of, and to recant, his
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passionate indecent expressions concerning God's providential dealings
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with him; and this he does by calling upon Job to compare God's
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eternity with his own time, God's omniscience with his own ignorance,
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and God's omnipotence with his own impotency.
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I. He begins with an awakening challenge and demand in general,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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II. He proceeds in divers particular instances and proofs of Job's
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utter inability to contend with God, because of his ignorance and
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weakness: for,
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1. He knew nothing of the founding of the earth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:4-7">ver. 4-7</A>.
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2. Nothing of the limiting of the sea,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>.
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3. Nothing of the morning light,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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4. Nothing of the dark recesses of the sea and earth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:16-21">ver. 16-21</A>.
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5. Nothing of the springs in the clouds
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:22-27">ver. 22-27</A>),
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nor the secret counsels by which they are directed.
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6. He could do nothing towards the production of the rain, or frost, or
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lightning
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:28-30,34,35,37,38">ver. 28-30, 34, 35, 37, 38</A>),
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nothing towards the directing of the stars and their influences
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:31-33">ver. 31-33</A>),
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nothing towards the making of his own soul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:36">ver. 36</A>.
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And lastly, he could not provide for the lions and the ravens,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:39-41">ver. 39-41</A>.
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If, in these ordinary works of nature, Job was puzzled, how durst he
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pretend to dive into the counsels of God's government and to judge of
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them? In this (as bishop Patrick observes) God takes up the argument
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begun by Elihu (who came nearest to the truth) and prosecutes it in
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inimitable words, excelling his, and all other men's, in the loftiness
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of the style, as much as thunder does a whisper.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job38_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>God Answers Out of the Whirlwind.</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 the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
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2 Who <I>is</I> this that darkeneth counsel by words without
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knowledge?
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3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee,
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and answer thou me.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Let us observe here,
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1. Who speaks--<I>The Lord,</I> Jehovah, not a created angel, but the
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eternal Word himself, the second person in the blessed Trinity, for it
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is he by whom the worlds were made, and that was no other than the Son
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of God. The same speaks here that afterwards spoke from Mount Sinai.
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Here he begins with the creation of the world, there with the
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redemption of Israel out of Egypt, and from both is inferred the
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necessity of our subjection to him. Elihu had said, <I>God speaks to
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men and they do not perceive it</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:14"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 14</A>);
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but this they could not but perceive, and yet we have <I>a more sure
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word of prophecy,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+1:19">2 Pet. i. 19</A>.
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2. When he spoke--<I>Then.</I> When they had all had their saying, and
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yet had not gained their point, then it was time for God to interpose,
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whose judgment is according to truth. When we know not who is in the
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right, and perhaps are doubtful whether we ourselves are, this may
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satisfy us, That God will determine shortly <I>in the valley of
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decision,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+3:14">Joel iii. 14</A>.
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Job had silenced his three friends, and yet could not convince them of
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his integrity in the main. Elihu had silenced Job, and yet could not
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bring him to acknowledge his mismanagement of this dispute. But now God
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comes, and does both, convinces Job first of his unadvised speaking and
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makes him cry, <I>Peccavi--I have done wrong;</I> and, having humbled
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him, he puts honour upon him, by convincing his three friends that they
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had done him wrong. These two things God will, sooner or later, do for
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his people: he will show them their faults, that they may be themselves
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ashamed of them, and he will show others their righteousness, and bring
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it forth as the light, that they may be ashamed of their unjust
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censures of them.
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3. How he spoke--<I>Out of the whirlwind,</I> the rolling and involving
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cloud, which Elihu took notice of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+37:1,2,9"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 1, 2, 9</A>.
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A whirlwind prefaced Ezekiel's vision
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+1:4">Ezek. i. 4</A>),
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and Elijah's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+19:11">1 Kings xix. 11</A>.
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God is said to have <I>his way in the whirlwind</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nah+1:3">Nah. i. 3</A>),
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and, to show that even the stormy wind fulfils his word, here it was
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made the vehicle of it. This shows what a mighty voice God's is, that
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is was not lost, but perfectly audible, even in the noise of a
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whirlwind. Thus God designed to startled Job, and to command his
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attention. Sometimes God answers his own people in terrible
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corrections, as out of the whirlwind, but always in righteousness.
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4. To whom he spoke: He <I>answered Job,</I> directed his speech to
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him, to convince him of what was amiss, before he cleared him from the
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unjust aspersions cast upon him. It is God only that can effectually
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convince of sin, and those shall so be humbled whom he designs to
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exalt. Those that desire to hear from God, as Job did, shall certainly
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hear from him at length.
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5. What he said. We may conjecture that Elihu, or some other of the
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auditory, wrote down <I>verbatim</I> what was delivered out of the
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whirlwind, for we find
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+10:4">Rev. x. 4</A>)
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that, when the thunders uttered their voices, John was prepared to
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write. Or, if it was not written then, yet, the penman of the book
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being inspired by the Holy Ghost, we are sure that we have here a very
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true and exact report of what was said. <I>The Spirit</I> (says Christ)
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<I>shall bring to your remembrance,</I> as he did here, <I>what I have
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said to you.</I> The preface is very searching.
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(1.) God charges him with ignorance and presumption in what he had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>Who is this</I> that talks at this rate? Is it Job? What! a man?
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That weak, foolish, despicable, creature--shall he pretend to prescribe
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to me what I must do or to quarrel with me for what I have done? Is it
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Job? What! my servant Job, a perfect and an upright man? Can he so
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far forget himself, and act unlike himself? Who, where, is he <I>that
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darkens counsel thus by words without knowledge?</I> Let him show his
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face if he dare, and stand to what he has said." Note, Darkening the
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counsels of God's wisdom with our folly is a great affront and
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provocation to God. Concerning God's counsels we must own that we are
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without knowledge. They are a deep which we cannot fathom; we are quite
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out of our element, out of our aim, when we pretend to account for
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them. Yet we are too apt to talk of them as if we understood them, with
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a great deal of niceness and boldness; but, alas! we do but darken
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them, instead of explaining them. We confound and perplex ourselves
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and one another when we dispute of the order of God's decrees, and the
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designs, and reasons, and methods, of his operations of providence and
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grace. A humble faith and sincere obedience shall see further and
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better into the secret of the Lord than all the philosophy of the
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schools, and the searches of science, so called. This first word which
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God spoke is the more observable because Job, in his repentance,
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fastens upon it as that which silenced and humbled him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+42:3"><I>ch.</I> xlii. 3</A>.
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This he repeated and echoed as the arrow that stuck fast in him: "I am
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the fool that has darkened counsel." There was some colour to have
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turned it upon <I>Elihu,</I> as if God meant <I>him,</I> for he spoke
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last, and was speaking when the whirlwind began; but Job applied it to
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himself, as it becomes us to do when faithful reproofs are given, and
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not (as most do) to billet them upon other people.
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(2.) He challenges him to give such proofs of his knowledge as would
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serve to justify his enquiries into the divine counsels
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>Gird up now thy loins like a</I> stout <I>man;</I> prepare thyself
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for the encounter; <I>I will demand of thee,</I> will put some
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questions to thee, <I>and answer me</I> if thou canst, before I answer
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thine." Those that go about to call God to an account must expect to be
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catechised and called to an account themselves, that they may be made
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sensible of their ignorance and arrogance. God here puts Job in mind of
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what he had said,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+13:22"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 22</A>.
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<I>Call thou, and I will answer.</I> "Now make thy words good."</P>
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<A NAME="Job38_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job38_11"> </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>The Creation of the World.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1520.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
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declare, if thou hast understanding.
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5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who
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hath stretched the line upon it?
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6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid
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the corner stone thereof;
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7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God
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shouted for joy?
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8 Or <I>who</I> shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, <I>as
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if</I> it had issued out of the womb?
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9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness
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a swaddlingband for it,
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10 And brake up for it my decreed <I>place,</I> and set bars and
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doors,
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11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here
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shall thy proud waves be stayed?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even
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concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet
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he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven
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above or hell beneath, which are at such a distance, or of the several
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parts of matter which are so minute, and then, least of all, of the
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divine counsels.</P>
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<P>
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I. Concerning the founding of the earth. "If he have such a mighty
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insight, as he pretends to have, into the counsels of God, let him give
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some account of the earth he goes upon, which is given to the children
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of men."</P>
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<P>
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1. Let him tell where he was when this lower world was made, and
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whether he was advising of assisting in that wonderful work
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?</I> Thy
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pretensions are high; canst thou pretend to his? Wast thou present
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when the world was made?" See here,
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(1.) The greatness and glory of God: <I>I laid the foundations of the
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earth.</I> This proves him to be the only living and true God, and a
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God of power
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:21,Jer+10:11,12">Isa. xl. 21, Jer. x. 11, 12</A>),
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and encourages us to trust in him at all times,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:13,16">Isa. li. 13, 16</A>.
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(2.) The meanness and contemptibleness of man: "<I>Where wast thou</I>
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then? Thou that hast made such a figure among the children of the east,
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and settest up for an oracle, and a judge of the divine counsels, where
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was thou when the foundations of the earth were laid?" So far were we
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from having any hand in the creation of the world, which might entitle
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us to a dominion in it, or so much as being witnesses of it, by which
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we might have gained an insight into it, that we were not then in
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being. The first man was not, much less were we. It is the honour of
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Christ that he was present when this was done
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:22-31,Joh+1:1,2">Prov. viii. 22, &c., John i. 1, 2</A>);
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but <I>we are of yesterday and know nothing.</I> Let us not therefore
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find fault with the works of God, nor prescribe to him. He did not
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consult us in making the world, and yet it is well made; why should we
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expect then that he should take his measures from us in governing
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it?</P>
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<P>
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2. Let him describe how this world was made, and give a particular
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account of the manner in which this strong and stately edifice was
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formed and erected: "<I>Declare, if thou hast</I> so much
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<I>understanding</I> as thou fanciest thyself to have, what were the
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advances of that work." Those that pretend to have understanding above
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others ought to give proof of it. Show my thy faith by thy works, thy
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knowledge by thy words. Let Job declare it if he can,
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(1.) How the world came to be so finely framed, with so much exactness,
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and such an admirable symmetry and proportion of all the parts of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"Stand forth, and <I>tell who laid the measures thereof</I> and
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<I>stretched out the line upon it.</I>" Wast thou the architect that
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formed the model and then drew the dimensions by rule according to it?
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The vast bulk of the earth is moulded as regularly as if it had been
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done by line and measure; but who can describe how it was cast into
|
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this figure? Who can determine its circumference and diameter, and all
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the lines that are drawn on the terrestrial globe? It is to this day a
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|
dispute whether the earth stands still or turns round; how then can we
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determine by what measures it was first formed?
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(2.) How it came to be so firmly fixed. Though it is hung upon nothing,
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yet it is established, that it cannot be moved; but who can tell
|
|
<I>upon what the foundations of it are fastened,</I> that it may not
|
|
sink with its own weight, or <I>who laid the corner-stone thereof,</I>
|
|
that the parts of it may not fall asunder?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>What God does, it shall be for ever</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:14">Eccl. iii. 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
and therefore, as we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not
|
|
be in fear concerning it; it will last, and answer the end, the works
|
|
of his providence as well as the work of creation; the measures of
|
|
neither can never be broken; and the work of redemption is no less
|
|
firm, of which Christ himself is both the foundation and the
|
|
corner-stone. The church stands as fast as the earth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Let him repeat, if he can, the songs of praise which were sung at
|
|
that solemnity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>when the morning-stars sang together,</I> the blessed angels (the
|
|
first-born of the Father of light), who, in the morning of time, shone
|
|
as brightly as the morning star, going immediately before the light
|
|
which God commanded to shine out of darkness upon the seeds of this
|
|
lower world, the earth, which was without form and void. They were
|
|
<I>the sons of God,</I> who <I>shouted for joy</I> when they saw the
|
|
foundations of the earth laid, because, though it was not made for
|
|
them, but for the children of men, and though it would increase their
|
|
work and service, yet they knew that the eternal Wisdom and Word, whom
|
|
they were to worship
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+1:6">Heb. i. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
would <I>rejoice in the habitable parts of the earth,</I> and that much
|
|
of his <I>delight would be in the sons of men,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+8:31">Prov. viii. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
The angels are called <I>the sons of God</I> because they bear much of
|
|
his image, are with him in his house above, and serve him as a son does
|
|
his father. Now observe here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The glory of God, as the Creator of the world, is to be celebrated
|
|
with joy and triumph by all his reasonable creatures; for they are
|
|
qualified and appointed to be the collectors of his praises from the
|
|
inferior creatures, who can praise him merely as objects that exemplify
|
|
his workmanship.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The work of angels is to praise God. The more we abound in holy,
|
|
humble, thankful, joyful praise, the more we do the will of God as they
|
|
do it; and, whereas we are so barren and defective in praising God, it
|
|
is a comfort to think that they are doing it in a better manner.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They were unanimous in singing God's praises; they sang together
|
|
with one accord, and there was no jar in their harmony. The sweetest
|
|
concerts are in praising God.
|
|
|
|
(4.) They all did it, even those who afterwards fell and left their
|
|
first estate. Even those who have praised God may, by the deceitful
|
|
power of sin, be brought to blaspheme him, and yet God will be
|
|
eternally praised.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Concerning the limiting of the sea to the place appointed for it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c. This refers to the third day's work, when God said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:9">Gen. i. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place,
|
|
and it was so.</I>
|
|
|
|
1. Out of the great deep or chaos, in which earth and water were
|
|
intermixed, in obedience to the divine command the waters <I>broke
|
|
forth like a child out of the</I> teeming <I>womb,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Then the waters that had covered the deep, and stood above the
|
|
mountains, retired with precipitation. At <I>God's rebuke they
|
|
fled,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:6,7">Ps. civ. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. This newborn babe is clothed and swaddled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The cloud</I> is made <I>the garment thereof,</I> with which it is
|
|
covered, and <I>thick darkness</I> (that is, shores vastly remote and
|
|
distant from one another and quite in the dark one to another) <I>is a
|
|
swaddling-band for it.</I> See with what ease the great God manages the
|
|
raging sea; notwithstanding the violence of its tides, and the strength
|
|
of its billows, he manages it as the nurse does the child in swaddling
|
|
clothes. It is not said, He made <I>rocks and mountains</I> its
|
|
swaddling bands, but <I>clouds and darkness,</I> something that we are
|
|
not aware of and should think least likely for such a purpose.
|
|
|
|
3. There is a cradle too provided for this babe: <I>I broke up for it
|
|
my decreed place,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Valleys were sunk for it in the earth, capacious enough to receive it,
|
|
and there it is laid to sleep; and, if it be sometimes tossed with
|
|
winds, that (as bishop Patrick observes) is but the rocking of the
|
|
cradle, which makes it sleep the faster. As for the sea, so for every
|
|
one of us, there is a decreed place; for he that determined the times
|
|
before appointed determined also the bounds of our habitation.
|
|
|
|
4. This babe being made unruly and dangerous by the sin of man, which
|
|
was the original of all unquietness and danger in this lower world,
|
|
there is also a prison provided for it; <I>bars and doors are set,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it is said to it, by way of check to its insolence, <I>Hitherto
|
|
shalt thou come, but no further.</I> The sea is God's for he made it,
|
|
he restrains it; he says to it, <I>Here shall thy proud waves be
|
|
stayed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
This may be considered as an act of God's power over the sea. Though it
|
|
is so vast a body, and though its motion is sometimes extremely
|
|
violent, yet God has it under check. Its waves rise no higher, its
|
|
tides roll no further, than God permits; and this is mentioned as a
|
|
reason why we should stand in awe of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:22">Jer. v. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and yet why we should encourage ourselves in him, for he that stops the
|
|
noise of the sea, even the noise of her waves, can, when he pleases,
|
|
still the tumult of the people,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:7">Ps. lxv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is also to be looked upon as an act of God's mercy to the world of
|
|
mankind and an instance of his patience towards that provoking grace.
|
|
Though he could easily cover the earth again with the waters of the sea
|
|
(and, methinks, every flowing tide twice a day threatens us, and shows
|
|
what the sea could do, and would do, if God would give it leave), yet
|
|
he restrains them, being not willing that any should perish, and having
|
|
<I>reserved the world that now is unto fire,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:7">2 Pet. iii. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Works of God.</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>12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; <I>and</I> caused
|
|
the dayspring to know his place;
|
|
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the
|
|
wicked might be shaken out of it?
|
|
14 It is turned as clay <I>to</I> the seal; and they stand as a
|
|
garment.
|
|
15 And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high
|
|
arm shall be broken.
|
|
16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou
|
|
walked in the search of the depth?
|
|
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou
|
|
seen the doors of the shadow of death?
|
|
18 Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if
|
|
thou knowest it all.
|
|
19 Where <I>is</I> the way <I>where</I> light dwelleth? and <I>as for</I>
|
|
darkness, where <I>is</I> the place thereof,
|
|
20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that
|
|
thou shouldest know the paths <I>to</I> the house thereof?
|
|
21 Knowest thou <I>it,</I> because thou wast then born? or <I>because</I>
|
|
the number of thy days <I>is</I> great?
|
|
22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast
|
|
thou seen the treasures of the hail,
|
|
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against
|
|
the day of battle and war?
|
|
24 By what way is the light parted, <I>which</I> scattereth the east
|
|
wind upon the earth?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The Lord here proceeds to ask Job many puzzling questions, to convince
|
|
him of his ignorance, and so to shame him for his folly in prescribing
|
|
to God. If we will but try ourselves with such interrogatories as
|
|
these, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in
|
|
comparison with what we know not. Job is here challenged to give an
|
|
account of six things:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Of the springs of the morning, the day-spring from on high,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:12-15"><I>v.</I> 12-15</A>.
|
|
|
|
As there is no visible being of which we may be more firmly assured
|
|
that it is, so there is none which we are more puzzled in describing,
|
|
nor more doubtful in determining what it is, than the light. We welcome
|
|
the morning, and are glad of the day-spring; but,
|
|
|
|
1. It is not commanded since our days, but what it is it was long
|
|
before we were born, so that it was neither made by us nor designed
|
|
primarily for us, but we take it as we find it and as the many
|
|
generations had it that went before us. The day-spring knew its place
|
|
before we knew ours, for we are but of yesterday.
|
|
|
|
2. It was not we, it was not any man that commanded the morning-light
|
|
at first, or appointed the place of its springing up and shining forth,
|
|
or the time of it. The constant and regular succession of day and night
|
|
was no contrivance of ours; it is the glory of God that it shows, and
|
|
his handy work, not ours,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+19:1,2">Ps. xix. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. It is quite out of our power to alter this course: "<I>Hast thou
|
|
countermanded the morning since thy days?</I> Hast thou at any time
|
|
raised the morning light sooner than its appointed time, to serve thy
|
|
purpose when thou hast waited for the morning, or ordered the
|
|
day-spring for thy convenience to any other place than its own? No,
|
|
never. Why then wilt thou pretend to direct the divine counsels, or
|
|
expect to have the methods of Providence altered in favour of thee?" We
|
|
may as soon break the covenant of the day and of the night as any part
|
|
of God's covenant with his people, and particularly this, <I>I will
|
|
chasten them with the rod of men.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. It is God that has appointed the day-spring to visit the earth, and
|
|
diffuses the morning light through the air, which receives it as
|
|
readily as the clay does the seal
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
immediately admitting the impressions of it, so as of a sudden to be
|
|
all over enlightened by it, as the seal stamps its image on the wax;
|
|
<I>and they stand as a garment,</I> or as if they were clothed with a
|
|
garment. The earth puts on a new face every morning, and dresses itself
|
|
as we do, puts on light as a garment, and is then to be seen.
|
|
|
|
5. This is made a terror to evil-doers. Nothing is more comfortable to
|
|
mankind than the light of the morning; it is pleasant to the eyes, it
|
|
is serviceable to life and the business of it, and the favour of it is
|
|
universally extended, for <I>it takes hold of the ends of the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and we should dwell, in our hymns to the light, on its advantages to
|
|
the earth. But God here observes how unwelcome it is to those that do
|
|
evil, and therefore hate the light. God makes the light a minister of
|
|
his justice as well as of his mercy. It is designed <I>to shake the
|
|
wicked out of the earth,</I> and for that purpose <I>it takes hold of
|
|
the ends of it,</I> as we take hold of the ends of a garment to shake
|
|
the dust and moths out of it. Job had observed what a terror the
|
|
morning light is to criminals, because it discovers them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:13-16"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 13</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.), and God here seconds the observation, and asks him whether the
|
|
world was indebted to him for that kindness? No, the great Judge of the
|
|
world sends forth the beams of the morning light as his messengers to
|
|
detect criminals, that they may not only be defeated in their purposes
|
|
and put to shame, but that they may be brought to condign punishment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
that their light may be <I>withholden</I> from them (that is, that they
|
|
may lose their comfort, their confidence, their liberties, their lives)
|
|
and that their <I>high arm,</I> which they have lifted up against God
|
|
and man, may be <I>broken,</I> and they deprived of their power to do
|
|
mischief. Whether what is here said of the morning light was designed
|
|
to represent, as in a figure, the light of the gospel of Christ, and to
|
|
give a type of it, I will not say; but I am sure it may serve to put us
|
|
in mind of the encomiums given to the gospel just at the rising of its
|
|
morning-star by Zecharias in his <I>Benedictus</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:78">Luke i. 78</A>,
|
|
|
|
By the <I>tender mercy of our God the day-spring from on high has
|
|
visited us, to give light to those that sit in darkness,</I> whose
|
|
hearts are turned to it <I>as clay to the seal,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+4:6">2 Cor. iv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
and by the virgin Mary in her <I>Magnificat</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:51">Luke i. 51</A>),
|
|
|
|
showing that God, in his gospel, has <I>shown strength with his arm,
|
|
scattered the proud, and put down the mighty,</I> by that light by
|
|
which he designed to shake the wicked, to shake wickedness itself out
|
|
of the earth, and break its high arm.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Of the springs of the sea
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Hast thou entered into</I> them, or <I>hast thou walked in the
|
|
search of the depth?</I> Knowest thou what lies in the bottom of the
|
|
sea, the treasures there hidden in the sands? Or canst thou give an
|
|
account of the rise and original of the waters of the sea? Vapours are
|
|
continually exhaled out of the sea. Dost thou know how the recruits
|
|
are raised by which it is continually supplied? Rivers are constantly
|
|
poured into the sea. Dost thou know how they are continually
|
|
discharged, so as not to overflow the earth? Art thou acquainted with
|
|
the secret subterraneous passages by which the waters circulate?" God's
|
|
way in the government of the world is said to be <I>in the sea,</I> and
|
|
<I>in the great waters</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+77:19">Ps. lxxvii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
intimating that it is hidden from us and not to be pried into by
|
|
us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Of the gates of death: <I>Have</I> these <I>been open to thee?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Death is a grand secret.
|
|
|
|
1. We know not beforehand when, and how, and by what means, we or
|
|
others shall be brought to death, by what road we must go the way
|
|
whence we shall not return, what disease or what disaster will be the
|
|
door to let us into the house appointed for all living. <I>Man knows
|
|
not his time.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. We cannot describe what death is, how the knot is untied between
|
|
body and soul, nor how the <I>spirit of a man goes upward</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:21">Eccl. iii. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
to be we know not what and live we know not how, as Mr. Norris
|
|
expresses; with what dreadful curiosity (says he) does the soul launch
|
|
out into the vast ocean of eternity and resign to an untried abyss! Let
|
|
us make it sure that the gates of heaven shall be opened to us on the
|
|
other side death, and then we need not fear the opening of the gates of
|
|
death, though it is a way we are to go but once.
|
|
|
|
3. We have no correspondence at all with separate souls, nor any
|
|
acquaintance with their state. It is an unknown undiscovered region to
|
|
which they are removed; we can neither hear from them nor send to them.
|
|
While we are here, in a world of sense, we speak of the world of
|
|
spirits as blind men do of colours, and when we remove thither we shall
|
|
be amazed to find how much we are mistaken.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Of the breadth of the earth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Hast thou perceived</I> that? The knowledge of this might seem most
|
|
level to him and within his reach; yet he is challenged to declare this
|
|
if he can. We have our residence on the earth, God has given it to the
|
|
children of men. But who ever surveyed it, or could give an account of
|
|
the number of its acres? It is but a point to the universe? yet, small
|
|
as it is, we cannot be exact in declaring the dimensions of it. Job had
|
|
never sailed round the world, nor any before him; so little did men
|
|
know the breadth of the earth that it was but a few ages ago that the
|
|
vast continent of America was discovered, which had, time out of mind,
|
|
lain hidden. The divine perfection is longer than the earth and broader
|
|
than the sea; it is therefore presumption for us, who perceive not the
|
|
breadth of the earth, to dive into the depth of God's counsels.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Of the place and way of light and darkness. Of the day-spring he had
|
|
spoken before
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
and he returns to speak of it again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Where is the way where light dwells?</I> And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>By what way is the light parted?</I> He challenges him to describe,
|
|
|
|
1. How the light and darkness were at first made. When God, in the
|
|
beginning, first spread darkness upon the face of the deep, and
|
|
afterwards commanded the light to shine out of darkness, by that mighty
|
|
word, <I>Let there be light,</I> was Job a witness to the order, to the
|
|
operation? can he tell where the fountains of light and darkness are,
|
|
and where those mighty princes keep their courts distance, while in one
|
|
world they rule alternately? Though we long ever so much either for the
|
|
shining forth of the morning or the shadows of the evening, we know not
|
|
whither to send, or go, to fetch them, nor can tell <I>the paths to the
|
|
house thereof,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
We were not then born, nor is the number of our days so great that we
|
|
can describe the birth of that first-born of the visible creation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Shall we then undertake to discourse of God's counsels, which were from
|
|
eternity, or to find out the paths to the house thereof, to solicit for
|
|
the alteration of them? God glories in it that he forms the light and
|
|
creates the darkness; and if we must take those as we find them, take
|
|
those as they come, and quarrel with neither, but make the best of
|
|
both, then we must, in like manner, accommodate ourselves to the peace
|
|
and the evil which God likewise created.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:7">Isa. xlv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. How they still keep their turns interchangeably. It is God that
|
|
<I>makes the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to rejoice</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:8">Ps. lxv. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
for it is his order, and no order of ours, that is executed by the
|
|
outgoings of the morning light and the darkness of the night. We cannot
|
|
so much as tell whence they come nor whither they go
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>By what way is the light parted</I> in the morning, when, in an
|
|
instant, it shoots itself into all the parts of the air above the
|
|
horizon, as if the morning light flew upon the wings of an east wind,
|
|
so swiftly, so strongly, is it carried, scattering the darkness of the
|
|
night, as the east wind does the clouds? Hence we read of the <I>wings
|
|
of the morning</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:9">Ps. cxxxix. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
on which the light is conveyed <I>to the uttermost parts of the
|
|
sea,</I> and <I>scattered like an east wind upon the earth.</I> It is a
|
|
marvellous change that passes over us every morning by the return of
|
|
the light and every evening by the return of the darkness; but we
|
|
expect them, and so they are no surprise nor uneasiness to us. If we
|
|
would, in like manner, reckon upon changes in our outward condition, we
|
|
should neither in the brightest noon expect perpetual day nor in the
|
|
darkest midnight despair of the return of the morning. God has set the
|
|
one over against the other, like the day and night; and so must we,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:14">Eccl. vii. 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Of the <I>treasures of the snow and hail</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Hast thou entered</I> into these and taken a view of them?" In the
|
|
clouds the snow and hail are generated, and thence they come in such
|
|
abundance that one would think there were treasures of them laid up in
|
|
store there, whereas indeed they are produced
|
|
<I>extempore</I>--<I>suddenly,</I> as I may say, and <I>pro re
|
|
nata</I>--<I>for the occasion.</I> Sometimes they come so opportunely,
|
|
to serve the purposes of Providence, in God's fighting for his people
|
|
and against his and their enemies, that one would think they were laid
|
|
up as magazines, or stores of arms, ammunition, and provisions, against
|
|
the time of trouble, <I>the day of battle and war,</I> when God will
|
|
either contend with the world in general (as in the deluge, when the
|
|
windows of heaven were opened, and the waters fetched out of these
|
|
treasures to drown a wicked world, that waged war with Heaven) or with
|
|
some particular persons or parties, as when God out of these treasures
|
|
fetched great hail-stones wherewith to fight against the Canaanites,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+10:11">Josh. x. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what folly it is to strive against God, who is thus prepared for
|
|
battle and war, and how much it is our interest to make our peace with
|
|
him and to keep ourselves in his love. God can fight as effectually
|
|
with snow and hail, if he please, as with thunder and lightning or the
|
|
sword of an angel!</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job38_41"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>God's Sovereign Dominion and Goodness.</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>25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of
|
|
waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
|
|
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, <I>where</I> no man <I>is; on</I>
|
|
the wilderness, wherein <I>there is</I> no man;
|
|
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste <I>ground;</I> and to cause the
|
|
bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
|
|
28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of
|
|
dew?
|
|
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of
|
|
heaven, who hath gendered it?
|
|
30 The waters are hid as <I>with</I> a stone, and the face of the
|
|
deep is frozen.
|
|
31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose
|
|
the bands of Orion?
|
|
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst
|
|
thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
|
|
33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the
|
|
dominion thereof in the earth?
|
|
34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance
|
|
of waters may cover thee?
|
|
35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto
|
|
thee, Here we <I>are?</I>
|
|
36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given
|
|
understanding to the heart?
|
|
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the
|
|
bottles of heaven,
|
|
38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave
|
|
fast together?
|
|
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite
|
|
of the young lions,
|
|
40 When they couch in <I>their</I> dens, <I>and</I> abide in the covert
|
|
to lie in wait?
|
|
41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones
|
|
cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince
|
|
him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same
|
|
manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he
|
|
knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it
|
|
is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the
|
|
proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does,
|
|
and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an
|
|
equal match for him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God has thunder, and lightning, and rain, and frost, at command, but
|
|
Job has not, and therefore let him not dare to compare himself with
|
|
God, or to contend with him. Nothing is more uncertain than what
|
|
weather it shall be, nor more out of our reach to appoint; it shall be
|
|
what weather pleases God, not what pleases us, unless, as becomes us,
|
|
whatever pleases God pleases us. Concerning this observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How great God is.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He has a sovereign dominion over the waters, has appointed them
|
|
their course, even then when they seem to overflow and to be from under
|
|
his check,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
He has <I>divided a water-course,</I> directs the rain where to fall,
|
|
even when the shower is most violent, with as much certainty as if it
|
|
were conveyed by canals or conduit-pipes. Thus the hearts of kings are
|
|
said to be <I>in God's hand;</I> and as the rains, those rivers of God,
|
|
he turns them whithersoever he will. Every drop goes as it is directed.
|
|
God has <I>sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more return to cover
|
|
the earth;</I> and we see that he is able to make good what he has
|
|
promised, for he has the rain in a water-course.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He has dominion over the lightning and the thunder, which go not
|
|
at random, but in the way that he directs them. They are mentioned here
|
|
because he <I>prepares the lightnings for the rain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:7">Ps. cxxxv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let not those that fear God be afraid of the lightning or the thunder,
|
|
for they are not blind bullets, but go the way that God himself, who
|
|
means no hurt to them, directs.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) In directing the course of the rain he does not neglect the
|
|
wilderness, the desert land
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>where no man is.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] Where there is no man to be employed in taking care of the
|
|
productions. God's providence reaches further than man's industry. If
|
|
he had not more kindness for many of the inferior creatures than man
|
|
has, it would go ill with them. God can make the earth fruitful without
|
|
any art or pains of ours,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+2:5,6">Gen. ii. 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
When <I>there was not a man to till the ground,</I> yet there went up a
|
|
mist and watered it. But we cannot make it fruitful without God; it is
|
|
he that gives the increase.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Where there is no man to be provided for nor to take the benefit
|
|
of the fruits that are produced. Though God does with very peculiar
|
|
favour visit and regard man, yet he does not overlook the inferior
|
|
creatures, but causes <I>the bud of the tender herb to spring forth for
|
|
food for all flesh,</I> as well as <I>for the service of man.</I> Even
|
|
the wild asses shall have their thirst quenched,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+104:11">Ps. civ. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God has enough for all, and wonderfully provides even for those
|
|
creatures that man neither has service from nor makes provision
|
|
for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He is, in a sense, <I>the Father of the rain,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
It has no other father. He produces it by his power; he governs and
|
|
directs it, and makes what use he pleases of it. Even the small drops
|
|
of the dew he distils upon the earth, as the God of nature; and, as the
|
|
God of grace, he rains righteousness upon us and is himself as the dew
|
|
unto Israel. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:5,Mic+5:7">Hos. xiv. 5, 6; Mic. v. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) The ice and the frost, by which the waters are congealed and the
|
|
earth incrustrated, are produced by his providence,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:29,30"><I>v.</I> 29, 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
These are very common things, which lessens the strangeness of them.
|
|
But, considering what a vast change is made by them in a very little
|
|
time, how the waters are hid as with a stone, as with a grave-stone,
|
|
laid upon them (so thick, so strong, is the ice that covers them), and
|
|
the face even of the deep is sometimes frozen, we may well ask, "<I>Out
|
|
of whose womb came the ice?</I> What created power could produce such a
|
|
wonderful work?" No power but that of the Creator himself. Frost and
|
|
snow come from him, and therefore should lead our thoughts and
|
|
meditations to him who does such great things, past finding out. And we
|
|
shall the more easily bear the inconveniences of winter-weather if we
|
|
learn to make this good use of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How weak man is. Can he do such things as these? Could Job? No,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:34,35"><I>v.</I> 34, 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He cannot command one shower of rain for the relief of himself or
|
|
his friends: "<I>Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,</I> those
|
|
bottles of heaven, <I>that abundance of waters may cover thee,</I> to
|
|
water thy fields when they are dry and parched?" If we lift up our
|
|
voice to God, to pray for rain, we may have it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+10:1">Zech. x. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
but if we lift up our voice to the clouds, to demand it, they will soon
|
|
tell us they are not at our beck, and we shall go without it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+14:22">Jer. xiv. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The heavens will not her the earth unless God hear them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:21">Hos. ii. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what poor, indigent, depending creatures we are; we cannot do
|
|
without rain, nor can we have it when we will.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He cannot commission one flash of lightning, if he had a mind to
|
|
make use of it for the terror of his enemies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go</I> on thy errand, and
|
|
do the execution thou desirest? Will they come at thy call, and say
|
|
unto thee, <I>Here we are?</I>" No, the ministers of God's wrath will
|
|
not be ministers of ours. Why should they, since the <I>wrath of man
|
|
works not the righteousness of God?</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+9:55">Luke ix. 55</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God has the stars of heaven under his command and cognizance, but
|
|
we have them not under ours. Our meditations are now to rise higher,
|
|
far above the clouds, to the glorious lights above. God mentions
|
|
particularly, not the planets, which move in lower orbs, but the fixed
|
|
stars, which are much higher. It is supposed that they have an
|
|
influence upon this earth, notwithstanding their vast distance, not
|
|
upon the minds of men or the events of providence (men's fate is not
|
|
determined by their stars), but upon the ordinary course of nature;
|
|
they are set for signs and seasons, for days and years,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+1:14">Gen. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
And if the stars have such a dominion over this earth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
though they have their place in the heavens and are but mere matter,
|
|
much more has he who is their Maker and ours, and who is an Eternal
|
|
Mind. Now see how weak we are.
|
|
|
|
1. We cannot alter the influences of the stars
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
not theirs that are instrumental to produce the pleasures of the
|
|
spring: <I>Canst thou loose the bands of Orion?</I>--that magnificent
|
|
constellation which makes so great a figure (none greater), and
|
|
dispenses rough and unpleasing influences, which we cannot control nor
|
|
repel. Both summer and winter will have their course. God can change
|
|
them when he pleases, can make the spring cold, and so bind the sweet
|
|
influences of Pleiades, and the winter warm, and so loose the bands of
|
|
Orion; but we cannot.
|
|
|
|
2. It is not in our power to order the motions of the stars, nor are
|
|
we entrusted with the guidance of them. God, who <I>calls the stars by
|
|
their names</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:4">Ps. cxlvii. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
calls them forth in their respective seasons, appointing them the time
|
|
of their rising and setting. But this is not our province; we cannot
|
|
<I>bring forth Mazzaroth</I>--the stars in the southern signs, nor
|
|
<I>guide Arcturus</I>--those in the northern,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
God can bring forth the stars to battle (as he did when in their
|
|
courses they fought against Sisera) and guide them in the attacks they
|
|
are ordered to make; but man cannot do so.
|
|
|
|
3. We are not only unconcerned in the government of the stars (the
|
|
government they are under, and the government they are entrusted with,
|
|
for they both rule and are ruled), but utterly unacquainted with it; we
|
|
<I>know not the ordinances of heaven,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
So far are we from being able to change them that we can give no
|
|
account of them; they are a secret to us. Shall we then pretend to know
|
|
God's counsels, and the reasons of them? If it were left to us to set
|
|
the dominion of the stars upon the earth, we should soon be at a loss.
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Shall we then teach God how to govern the world?</P>
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<P>
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III. God is the author and giver, the father and fountain, of all
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wisdom and understanding,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
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The souls of men are nobler and more excellent beings than the stars of
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heaven themselves, and shine more brightly. The powers and faculties of
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reason with which man is endued, and the wonderful performances of
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|
thought, bring him into some alliance to the blessed angels; and whence
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|
comes this light, but from the Father of lights? <I>Who</I> else <I>has
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|
put wisdom into the inner parts</I> of man, and <I>given understanding
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|
to the heart?</I>
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1. The rational soul itself, and its capacities, come from him as the
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God of nature; for he forms the spirit of man within him. We did not
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|
make our own souls, nor can we describe how they act, nor how they are
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|
united to our bodies. He only that made them knows them, and knows how
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to manage them. He fashioneth men's hearts alike in some things, and
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yet unlike in others.
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2. True wisdom, with its furniture and improvement, comes from him as
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|
the God of grace and the Father of every good and perfect gift. Shall
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|
we pretend to be wiser than God, when we have all our wisdom from him?
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Nay, shall we pretend to be wise above our sphere, and beyond the
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limits which he that gave us our understanding sets to it? He designed
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we should with it serve God and do our duty, but never intended we
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|
should with it set up for directors of the stars or the lightning.</P>
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<P>
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|
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IV. God has the clouds under his cognizance and government, but so have
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|
not we,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
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Can any man, with all his wisdom, undertake to <I>number the
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|
clouds,</I> or (as it may be read) to <I>declare and describe the
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|
nature of them?</I> Though they are near us, in our own atmosphere, yet
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|
we know little more of them than of the stars which are at so great a
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|
distance. And when the clouds have poured down rain in abundance, so
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|
that <I>the dust grows into</I> solid mire and <I>the clods cleave fast
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together</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:38"><I>v.</I> 38</A>),
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<I>who can stay the bottles of heaven?</I> Who can stop them, that it
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|
may not always rain? The power and goodness of God are herein to be
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|
acknowledged, that he gives the earth rain enough, but does not surfeit
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|
it, softens it, but does not drown it, makes it fit for the plough, but
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|
not unfit for the seed. As we cannot command a shower of rain, so we
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|
cannot command a fair day, without God; so necessary, so constant, is
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|
our dependence upon him.</P>
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<P>
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V. God provides food for the inferior creatures, and it is by his
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|
providence, not by any care or pains of ours, that they are fed. The
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following chapter is wholly taken up with the instances of God's power
|
|
and goodness about animals, and therefore some transfer to it the last
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|
three verses of this chapter, which speak of the provision made,
|
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|
1. For the lions,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:39,40"><I>v.</I> 39, 40</A>.
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|
"Thou dost not pretend that the clouds and stars have any dependence
|
|
upon thee, for they are above thee; but on the earth thou thinkest
|
|
thyself paramount; let us try that then: <I>Wilt thou hunt the prey for
|
|
the lion?</I> Thou valuest thyself upon thy possessions of cattle which
|
|
thou wast once owner of, the oxen, and asses, and camels, that were fed
|
|
at thy crib; but wilt thou undertake the maintenance of the lions, and
|
|
<I>the young lions, when they couch in their dens,</I> waiting for a
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|
prey? No, needest not do it, they can shift for themselves without
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|
thee: thou canst not do it, for thou hast not wherewithal to satisfy
|
|
them: thou darest not do it; shouldst thou come to feed them, they
|
|
would seize upon thee. But I do it." See the all-sufficiency of the
|
|
divine providence: it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every
|
|
living thing, even the most ravenous. See the bounty of the divine
|
|
Providence, that, wherever it has given life, it will give livelihood,
|
|
even to those creatures that are not only not serviceable, but
|
|
dangerous, to man. And see its sovereignty, that it suffers some
|
|
creatures to be killed for the support of other creatures. The
|
|
harmless sheep are torn to pieces, to <I>fill the appetite of the young
|
|
lions,</I> who yet sometimes are made to lack and suffer hunger, to
|
|
punish them for their cruelty, while those that fear God want no good
|
|
thing.
|
|
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|
2. For the young ravens,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:41"><I>v.</I> 41</A>.
|
|
|
|
As ravenous beasts, so ravenous birds, are fed by the divine
|
|
Providence. <I>Who</I> but God <I>provides for the raven his food?</I>
|
|
Man does not; he takes care only of those creatures that are, or may
|
|
be, useful to him. But God has a regard to all the works of his hands,
|
|
even the meanest and least valuable. The ravens' <I>young ones</I> are
|
|
in a special manner necessitous, and God supplies them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:9">Ps. cxlvii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
God's feeding the fowls, especially these fowls
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:26">Matt. vi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
is an encouragement to us to trust him for our daily bread. See here,
|
|
|
|
(1.) What distress the young ravens are often in: <I>They wander for
|
|
lack of meat.</I> The old ones, they say, neglect them, and do not
|
|
provide for them as other birds do for their young: and indeed those
|
|
that are ravenous to others are commonly barbarous to their own, and
|
|
unnatural.
|
|
|
|
(2.) What they are supposed to do in that distress: They <I>cry,</I>
|
|
for they are noisy clamorous creatures, and this is interpreted as
|
|
crying to God. It being the cry of nature, it is looked upon as
|
|
directed to the God of nature. The putting of so favourable a
|
|
construction as this upon the cries of the young ravens may encourage
|
|
us in our prayers, though we can but cry, <I>Abba, Father.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) What God does for them. Some way or other he provides for them, so
|
|
that they grow up, and come to maturity. And he that takes this care of
|
|
the young ravens certainly will not be wanting to his people or theirs.
|
|
This, being but one instance of many of the divine compassion, may give
|
|
us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what
|
|
we are aware of.</P>
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|
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