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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. XXVII.</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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Job had sometimes complained of his friends that they were so eager in
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disputing that they would scarcely let him put in a word: "Suffer me
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that I may speak;" and, "O that you would hold your peace!" But now, it
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seems, they were out of breath, and left him room to say what he would.
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Either they were themselves convinced that Job was in the right or they
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despaired of convincing him that he was in the wrong; and therefore
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they threw away their weapons and gave up the cause. Job was too hard
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for them, and forced them to quit the field; for great is the truth and
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will prevail. What Job had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:1-14"><I>ch.</I> xxvi.</A>)
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was a sufficient answer to Bildad's discourse; and now Job paused
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awhile, to see whether Zophar would take his turn again; but, he
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declining it, Job himself went on, and, without any interruption or
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vexation given him, said all he desired to say in this matter.
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I. He begins with a solemn protestation of his integrity and of his
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resolution to hold it fast,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:2-6">ver. 2-6</A>.
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II. He expresses the dread he had of that hypocrisy which they charged
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him with,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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III. He shows the miserable end of wicked people, notwithstanding their
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long prosperity, and the curse that attends them and is entailed upon
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their families,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:11-23">ver. 11-23</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Job27_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_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>Job's Protestation of His Sincerity.</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 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
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2 <I>As</I> God liveth, <I>who</I> hath taken away my judgment; and the
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Almighty, <I>who</I> hath vexed my soul;
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3 All the while my breath <I>is</I> in me, and the spirit of God
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<I>is</I> in my nostrils;
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4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter
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deceit.
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5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not
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remove mine integrity from me.
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6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my
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heart shall not reproach <I>me</I> so long as I live.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Job's discourse here is called a <I>parable (mashal</I>), the title of
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Solomon's proverbs, because it was grave and weighty, and very
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instructive, and he spoke as one having authority. It comes from a word
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that signifies <I>to rule,</I> or <I>have dominion;</I> and some think
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it intimates that Job now triumphed over his opponents, and spoke as
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one that had baffled them. We say of an excellent preacher that he
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knows how <I>dominari in concionibus--to command his hearers.</I> Job
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did so here. A long strife there had been between Job and his friends;
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they seemed disposed to have the matter compromised; and therefore,
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since an <I>oath for confirmation is an end of strife</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:16">Heb. vi. 16</A>),
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Job here backs all he had said in maintenance of his own integrity with
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a solemn oath, to silence contradiction, and take the blame entirely
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upon himself if he prevaricated. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. The form of his oath
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment.</I> Here,
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1. He speaks highly of God, in calling him <I>the living God</I> (which
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means <I>everliving,</I> the eternal God, that has life in himself) and
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in appealing to him as the sole and sovereign Judge. We can swear by no
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greater, and it is an affront to him to swear by any other.
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2. Yet he speaks hardly of him, and unbecomingly, in saying that he had
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taken away his judgment (that is, refused to do him justice in this
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controversy and to appear in defence of him), and that by continuing
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his troubles, on which his friends grounded their censures of him, he
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had taken from him the opportunity he hoped ere now to have of clearing
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himself. Elihu reproved him for this word
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:5"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv. 5</A>);
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for God is righteous in all his ways, and takes away no man's judgment.
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But see how apt we are to despair of favour if it be not shown us
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immediately, so poor-spirited are we and so soon weary of waiting God's
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time. He also charges it upon God that he had <I>vexed his soul,</I>
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had not only not appeared for him, but had appeared against him, and,
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by laying such grievous afflictions upon him had quite embittered his
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life to him and all the comforts of it. We, by our impatience, vex our
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own souls and then complain of God that he has vexed them. Yet see
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Job's confidence in the goodness both of his cause and of his God, that
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though God seemed to be angry with him, and to act against him for the
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present, yet he could cheerfully commit his cause to him.</P>
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<P>
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II. The matter of his oath,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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1. That he would not <I>speak wickedness, nor utter deceit</I>--that,
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in general, he would never allow himself in the way of lying, that, as
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in this debate he had all along spoken as he thought, so he would never
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wrong his conscience by speaking otherwise; he would never maintain any
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doctrine, nor assert any matter of fact, but what he believed to be
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true; nor would he deny the truth, how much soever it might make
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against him: and, whereas his friends charged him with being a
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hypocrite, he was ready to answer, upon oath, to all their
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interrogatories, if called to do so. On the one hand he would not, for
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all the world, deny the charge if he knew himself guilty, but would
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declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and take
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to himself the shame of his hypocrisy. On the other hand, since he was
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conscious to himself of his integrity, and that he was not such a man
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as his friends represented him, he would never betray his integrity,
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nor charge himself with that which he was innocent of. He would not be
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brought, no, not by the rack of their unjust censures, falsely to
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accuse himself. If we must not bear false witness against our
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neighbour, then not against ourselves.
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2. That he would adhere to this resolution as long as he lived
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>All the while my breath is in me.</I> Our resolutions against sin
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should be thus constant, resolutions for life. In things doubtful and
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indifferent, it is not safe to be thus peremptory. We know not what
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reason we may see to change our mind: God may reveal to us that which
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we now are not aware of. But in so plain a thing as this we cannot be
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too positive that we will never speak wickedness. Something of a reason
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for his resolution is here implied--that our breath will not be always
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in us. We must shortly breathe our last, and therefore, while our
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breath is in us, we must never breathe wickedness and deceit, nor allow
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ourselves to say or do any thing which will make against us when our
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breath shall depart. The breath in us is called <I>the spirit of
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God,</I> because he breathed it into us; and this is another reason why
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we must not speak wickedness. It is God that gives us life and breath,
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and therefore, while we have breath, we must praise him.</P>
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<P>
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III. The explication of his oath
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>):
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"<I>God forbid that I should justify you</I> in your uncharitable
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censures of me, by owning myself a hypocrite: no, <I>until I die I will
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not remove my integrity from me; my righteousness I hold fast, and will
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not let it go.</I>"
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1. He would always be an honest man, would hold fast his integrity,
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and not curse God, as Satan, by his wife, urged him to do,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+2:9"><I>ch.</I> ii. 9</A>.
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Job here thinks of dying, and of getting ready for death, and therefore
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resolves never to part with his religion, though he had lost all he had
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in the world. Note, The best preparative for death is perseverance to
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death in our integrity. "<I>Until I die,</I>" that is, "though I die by
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this affliction, I will not thereby be put out of conceit with my God
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and my religion. <I>Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.</I>"
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2. He would always stand to it that he was an honest man; he would not
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remove, he would not part with, the conscience, and comfort, and credit
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of his integrity; he was resolved to defend it to the last. "God knows,
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and my own heart knows, that I always meant well, and did not allow
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myself in the omission of any known duty or the commission of any known
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sin. This is my rejoicing, and no man shall rob me of it; I will never
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lie against my right." It has often been the lot of upright men to be
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censured and condemned as hypocrites; but it well becomes them to bear
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up boldly against such censures, and not to be discouraged by them nor
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think the worse of themselves for them; as the apostle
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:18">Heb. xiii. 18</A>):
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<I>We have a good conscience in all things, willing to live
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honestly.</I></P>
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<CENTER>
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<TABLE BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi.
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<BR>
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<BR>Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,
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<BR>Still to preserve thy conscious innocence.
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<P>
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Job complained much of the reproaches of his friends; but (says he)
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<I>my heart shall not reproach me,</I> that is, "I will never give my
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heart cause to reproach me, but will keep a conscience void of offence;
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and, while I do so, I will not give my heart leave to reproach me."
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<I>Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
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justifies.</I> To resolve that our hearts shall not reproach us when we
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give them cause to do so is to affront God, whose deputy conscience is,
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and to wrong ourselves; for it is a good thing, when a man has sinned,
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to have a heart within him to smite him for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:10">2 Sam. xxiv. 10</A>.
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But to resolve that our hearts shall not reproach us while we still
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hold fast our integrity is to baffle the designs of the evil spirit
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(who tempts good Christians to question their adoption, <I>If thou be
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the Son of God</I>) and to concur with the operations of the good
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Spirit, who witnesses to their adoption.</P>
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<A NAME="Job27_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Job27_10"> </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>Condition of Hypocrites.</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 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up
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against me as the unrighteous.
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8 For what <I>is</I> the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath
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gained, when God taketh away his soul?
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9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
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10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call
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upon God?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Job having solemnly protested the satisfaction he had in his integrity,
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for the further clearing of himself, here expresses the dread he had of
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being found a hypocrite.</P>
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<P>
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I. He tells us how he startled at the thought of it, for he looked upon
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the condition of a hypocrite and a wicked man to be certainly the most
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miserable condition that any man could be in
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>Let my enemy be as the wicked,</I> a proverbial expression, like
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that
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+4:19">Dan. iv. 19</A>),
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<I>The dream be to those that hate thee.</I> Job was so far from
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indulging himself in any wicked way, and flattering himself in it,
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that, if he might have leave to wish the greatest evil he could think
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of to the worst enemy he had in the world, he would wish him the
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portion of a wicked man, knowing that worse he could not wish him. Not
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that we may lawfully wish any man to be wicked, or that any man who is
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not wicked should be treated as wicked; but we should all choose to be
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in the condition of a beggar, an out-law, a galley-slave, any thing,
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rather that in the condition of the wicked, though in ever so much pomp
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and outward prosperity.</P>
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<P>
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II. He gives us the reasons of it.</P>
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<P>
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1. Because the hypocrite's hopes will not be crowned
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>For what is the hope of the hypocrite?</I> Bildad had condemned it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+8:13,14"><I>ch.</I> viii. 13, 14</A>),
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and Zophar
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+11:20"><I>ch.</I> xi. 20</A>),
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and Job here concurs with them, and reads the death of the hypocrite's
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hope with as much assurance as they had done; and this fitly comes in
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as a reason why he would not remove his integrity, but still hold it
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fast. Note, The consideration of the miserable condition of wicked
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people, and especially hypocrites, should engage us to be upright (for
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we are undone, for ever undone, if we be not) and also to get the
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comfortable evidence of our uprightness; for how can we be easy if the
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great concern lie at uncertainties? Job's friends would persuade him
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that all his hope was but the hope of the hypocrite,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+4:6"><I>ch.</I> iv. 6</A>.
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"Nay," says he, "I would not, for all the world, be so foolish as to
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build upon such a rotten foundation; for <I>what is the hope of the
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hypocrite?</I>" See here,
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(1.) The hypocrite deceived. <I>He has gained,</I> and he has hope;
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this is his bright side. It is allowed that he has gained by his
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hypocrisy, has gained the praise and applause of men and the wealth of
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this world. Jehu gained a kingdom by his hypocrisy and the Pharisees
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many a widow's house. Upon this gain he builds his hope, such as it is.
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He hopes he is in good circumstances for another world, because he
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finds he is so for this, and he blesses himself in his own way.
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(2.) The hypocrite undeceived. He will at last see himself wretchedly
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cheated; for,
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[1.] God shall <I>take away his soul,</I> sorely against his will.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:20">Luke xii. 20</A>,
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<I>Thy soul shall be required of thee.</I> God, as the Judge, takes it
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away to be tried and determined to its everlasting state. He shall then
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fall into the hands of the living God, to be dealt with immediately.
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[2.] What will his hope be then? It will be vanity and a lie; it will
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stand him in no stead. The wealth of this world, which he hoped in, he
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must leave behind him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:17">Ps. xlix. 17</A>.
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The happiness of the other world, which he hoped for, he will certainly
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miss of. He hoped to go to heaven, but he will be shamefully
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disappointed; he will plead his external profession, privileges, and
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performances, but all his pleas will be overruled as frivolous:
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<I>Depart from me, I know you not.</I> So that, upon the whole, it is
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certain that a formal hypocrite, with all his gains and all his hopes,
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will be miserable in a dying hour.</P>
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<P>
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2. Because the hypocrite's prayer will not be heard
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him?</I> No, he will
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not; it cannot be expected he should. If true repentance come upon him,
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God will hear his cry and accept him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:18">Isa. i. 18</A>);
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but, if he continue impenitent and unchanged, let him not think to find
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favour with God. Observe,
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(1.) Trouble will come upon him, certainly it will. Troubles in the
|
|
world often surprise those that are most secure of an uninterrupted
|
|
prosperity. However, death will come, and trouble with it, when he must
|
|
leave the world and all his delights in it. The judgment of the great
|
|
day will come; fearfulness will surprise the hypocrites,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:14">Isa. xxxiii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Then he will cry to God, will pray, and pray earnestly. Those who
|
|
in prosperity slighted God, either prayed not at all or were cold and
|
|
careless in prayer, when trouble comes will make their application to
|
|
him and cry as men in earnest. But,
|
|
|
|
(3.) Will God hear him then? In the troubles of this life, God has told
|
|
us that he will not hear the prayers of those who regard iniquity in
|
|
their hearts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:19">Ps. lxvi. 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and set up their idols there
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:4">Ezek. xiv. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
nor of those who turn away their ear from hearing the law,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:9">Prov. xxviii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Get you to the gods whom you have served,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:14">Judg. x. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
In the judgment to come, it is certain, God will not hear the cry of
|
|
those who lived and died in their hypocrisy. Their doleful lamentations
|
|
will all be unpitied. <I>I will laugh at your calamity.</I> Their
|
|
importunate petitions will all be thrown out and their pleas rejected.
|
|
Inflexible justice cannot be biassed, nor the irreversible sentence
|
|
revoked. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+7:22,23,Lu+13:26">Matt. vii. 22, 23; Luke xiii. 26</A>,
|
|
|
|
and the case of the foolish virgins,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:11">Matt. xxv. 11</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Because the hypocrite's religion is neither comfortable nor constant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Will he delight himself in the Almighty?</I> No, not at any time
|
|
(for his delight is in the profits of the world and the pleasures of
|
|
the flesh, more than in God), especially not in the time of trouble.
|
|
<I>Will he always call upon God?</I> No, in prosperity he will not call
|
|
upon God, but slight him; in adversity he will not call upon God but
|
|
curse him; he is weary of his religion when he gets nothing by it, or
|
|
is in danger of losing. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those are hypocrites who, though they profess religion, neither
|
|
take pleasure in it nor persevere in it, who reckon their religion a
|
|
task and a drudgery, a weariness, and snuff at it, who make use of it
|
|
only to serve a turn, and lay it aside when the turn is served, who
|
|
will call upon God while it is in fashion, or while the pang of
|
|
devotion lasts, but leave it off when they fall into other company, or
|
|
when the hot fit is over.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The reason why hypocrites do not persevere in religion is because
|
|
they have no pleasure in it. Those that do not delight in the Almighty
|
|
will not always call upon him. The more comfort we find in our religion
|
|
the more closely we shall cleave to it. Those who have no delight in
|
|
God are easily inveigled by the pleasures of sense, and so drawn away
|
|
from their religion; and they are easily run down by the crosses of
|
|
this life, and so driven away from their religion, and will not always
|
|
call upon God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Job27_23"> </A>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Heritage 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>11 I will teach you by the hand of God: <I>that</I> which <I>is</I> with
|
|
the Almighty will I not conceal.
|
|
12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen <I>it;</I> why then are ye
|
|
thus altogether vain?
|
|
13 This <I>is</I> the portion of a wicked man with God, and the
|
|
heritage of oppressors, <I>which</I> they shall receive of the
|
|
Almighty.
|
|
14 If his children be multiplied, <I>it is</I> for the sword: and
|
|
his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
|
|
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his
|
|
widows shall not weep.
|
|
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as
|
|
the clay;
|
|
17 He may prepare <I>it,</I> but the just shall put <I>it</I> on, and the
|
|
innocent shall divide the silver.
|
|
18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth <I>that</I> the
|
|
keeper maketh.
|
|
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered:
|
|
he openeth his eyes, and he <I>is</I> not.
|
|
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him
|
|
away in the night.
|
|
21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a
|
|
storm hurleth him out of his place.
|
|
22 For <I>God</I> shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain
|
|
flee out of his hand.
|
|
23 <I>Men</I> shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out
|
|
of his place.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Job's friends had seen a great deal of the misery and destruction that
|
|
attend wicked people, especially oppressors; and Job, while the heat of
|
|
disputation lasted, had said as much, and with as much assurance, of
|
|
their prosperity; but now that the heat of the battle was nearly over
|
|
he was willing to own how far he agreed with them, and where the
|
|
difference between his opinion and theirs lay.
|
|
|
|
1. He agreed with them that wicked people are miserable people, that
|
|
God will surely reckon with cruel oppressors, and one time or other,
|
|
one way or other, his justice will make reprisals upon them for all the
|
|
affronts they have put upon God and all the wrongs they have done to
|
|
their neighbours. This truth is abundantly confirmed by the entire
|
|
concurrence even of these angry disputants in it. But,
|
|
|
|
2. In <I>this</I> they differed--they held that these deserved
|
|
judgments are presently and visibly brought upon wicked oppressors,
|
|
that <I>they travail with pain all their days,</I> that in prosperity
|
|
<I>the destroyer comes upon them,</I> that they <I>shall not be
|
|
rich,</I> nor their <I>branch green,</I> and that <I>their destruction
|
|
shall be accomplished before their time</I> (so Eliphaz,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+15:20,21,29,32"><I>ch.</I> xv. 20, 21, 29, 32</A>),
|
|
|
|
that the <I>steps of their strength shall be straitened,</I> that
|
|
<I>terrors shall make them afraid on every side</I> (so Bildad,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:7,11"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 7, 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he himself <I>shall vomit up his riches,</I> and that <I>in the
|
|
fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits,</I> so Zophar,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:15,22"><I>ch.</I> xx. 15, 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now Job held that, in many cases, judgments do not fall upon them
|
|
quickly, but are deferred for some time. That vengeance strikes slowly
|
|
he had already shown
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:1-34,24:1-25"><I>ch.</I> xxi. and xxiv.</A>);
|
|
|
|
now he comes to show that it strikes surely and severely, and that
|
|
reprieves are no pardons.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Job here undertakes to set this matter in a true light
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will teach you.</I> We must not disdain to learn even from those
|
|
who are sick and poor, yea, and peevish too, if they deliver what is
|
|
true and good. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What he would teach them: "<I>That which is with the Almighty,</I>"
|
|
that is, "the counsels and purposes of God concerning wicked people,
|
|
which are hidden with him, and which you cannot hastily judge of; and
|
|
the usual methods of his providence concerning them." This, says Job,
|
|
<I>will I not conceal.</I> What God has not concealed from us we must
|
|
not conceal from those we are concerned to teach. <I>Things revealed
|
|
belong to us and our children.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. How he would teach them: <I>By the hand of God,</I> that is, by his
|
|
strength and assistance. Those who undertake to teach others must look
|
|
to the hand of God to direct them, to open their ear
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:4">Isa. l. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to open their lips. Those whom God teaches with a strong hand are
|
|
best able to teach others,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:11">Isa. viii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. What reason they had to learn those things which he was about to
|
|
teach them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
that it was confirmed by their own observation--<I>You yourselves have
|
|
seen it</I> (but what we have heard, and seen and known, we have need
|
|
to be taught, that we may be perfect in our lesson), and that it would
|
|
set them to rights in their judgment concerning him--"<I>Why then are
|
|
you thus altogether vain,</I> to condemn me for a wicked man because I
|
|
am afflicted?" Truth, rightly understood and applied, would cure us of
|
|
that vanity of mind which arises from our mistakes. That particularly
|
|
which he offers now to lay before them is <I>the portion of a wicked
|
|
man with God,</I> particularly of <I>oppressors,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:29"><I>ch.</I> xx. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their portion in the world may be wealth and preferment, but their
|
|
portion with God is ruin and misery. They are above the control of any
|
|
earthly power, it may be, but the Almighty can deal with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He does it, by showing that wicked people may, in some instances,
|
|
prosper, but that ruin follows them in those very instances; and that
|
|
is their portion, that is their heritage, that is it which they must
|
|
abide by.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They may prosper in their children, but ruin attends them. <I>His
|
|
children</I> perhaps <I>are multiplied</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>)
|
|
|
|
or <I>magnified</I> (so some); they are very numerous and are raised to
|
|
honour and great estates. Worldly people are said to be <I>full of
|
|
children</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, as it is in the margin there, <I>their children are full.</I> In
|
|
them the parents hope to live and in their preferment to be honoured.
|
|
But the more children they leave, and the greater prosperity they leave
|
|
them in, the more and the fairer marks do they leave for the arrows of
|
|
God's judgments to be levelled at, his three sore judgments, <I>sword,
|
|
famine, and pestilence,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:13">2 Sam. xxiv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Some of them shall die by the sword, the sword of war perhaps
|
|
(they brought them up to live by their sword, as Esau,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+27:40">Gen. xxvii. 40</A>,
|
|
|
|
and those that do so commonly die by the sword, first or last), or by
|
|
the sword of justice for their crimes, or the sword of the murderer for
|
|
their estates.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Others of them shall die by famine
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>His offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.</I> He thought he
|
|
had secured to them large estates, but it may happen that they may be
|
|
reduced to poverty, so as not to have the necessary supports of life,
|
|
at least not to live comfortably. They shall be so needy that they
|
|
shall not have a competency of necessary food, and so greedy, or so
|
|
discontented, that what they have they shall not be satisfied with,
|
|
because not so much, or not so dainty, as what they have been used to.
|
|
<I>You eat, but you have not enough,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hag+1:6">Hag. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Those that <I>remain shall be buried in death,</I> that is, shall
|
|
die of the plague, which is called <I>death</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:8">Rev. vi. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and be buried privately and in haste, as soon as they are dead, without
|
|
any solemnity, <I>buried with the burial of an ass;</I> and even their
|
|
<I>widows shall not weep;</I> they shall not have wherewithal to put
|
|
them in mourning. Or it denotes that these wicked men, as they live
|
|
undesired, so they die unlamented, and even their widows will think
|
|
themselves happy that they have got rid of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They may prosper in their estates, but ruin attends <I>them</I> too,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:16-18"><I>v.</I> 16-18</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We will suppose them to be rich in money and plate, in clothing
|
|
and furniture. <I>They heap up silver</I> in abundance <I>as the
|
|
dust,</I> and <I>prepare raiment as the clay;</I> they have heaps of
|
|
clothes about them, as plentiful as heaps of clay. Or it intimates that
|
|
they have such abundance of clothes that they are even a burden to
|
|
them. <I>They lade themselves with thick clay,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:6">Hab. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what is the care and business of worldly people--to heap up worldly
|
|
wealth. Much would have more, until the silver is cankered and the
|
|
garments are moth-eaten,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+5:2,3">Jam. v. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
But what comes of it? He shall never be the better for it himself;
|
|
death will strip him, death will rob him, if he be not robbed and
|
|
stripped sooner,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:20">Luke xii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, God will so order it that <I>the just shall wear his raiment and
|
|
the innocent shall divide his silver.</I>
|
|
|
|
[1.] They shall have it, and divide it among themselves. In some way or
|
|
other Providence shall so order it that good men shall come honestly by
|
|
that wealth which the wicked man came dishonestly by. <I>The wealth of
|
|
the sinner is laid up for the just,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+13:22">Prov. xiii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
God disposes of men's estates as he pleases, and often makes their
|
|
wills against their wills. The just, whom he hated and persecuted,
|
|
shall have rule over all his labour, and, in due time, recover with
|
|
interest what was violently taken from him. The Egyptians' jewels were
|
|
the Israelites' pay. Solomon observes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:26">Eccl. ii. 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
that God makes the sinners drudges to the righteous; for the <I> sinner
|
|
he gives travail to gather and heap up, that he may give to him that is
|
|
good before God.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] They shall do good with it. The innocent shall not hoard the
|
|
silver, as he did that gathered it, but shall divide it to the poor,
|
|
shall <I>give a portion to seven and also to eight,</I> which is laying
|
|
up the best securities. Money is like manure, good for nothing if it be
|
|
not spread. When God enriches good men they must remember they are but
|
|
stewards and must give an account. What bad men bring a curse upon
|
|
their families with the ill-getting of good men bring a blessing upon
|
|
their families with the well-using of. <I>He that by unjust gain
|
|
increaseth his substance shall gather it for him that will pity the
|
|
poor,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:8">Prov. xxviii. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We will suppose them to have built themselves strong and stately
|
|
houses; but they are like the house which the moth makes for herself in
|
|
an old garment, out of which she will soon be shaken,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is very secure in it, as a moth, and has no apprehension of danger;
|
|
but it will prove of as short continuance as <I>a booth which the
|
|
keeper makes,</I> which will quickly be taken down and gone, and his
|
|
place shall know him no more.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Destruction attends their persons, though they lived long in health
|
|
and at ease
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The rich man shall lie down</I> to sleep, to repose himself in the
|
|
abundance of his wealth (<I>Soul, take thy ease</I>), shall lie down in
|
|
it as his strong city, and seem to others to be very happy and very
|
|
easy; <I>but he shall not be gathered,</I> that is, he shall not have
|
|
his mind composed, and settled, and gathered in, to enjoy his wealth.
|
|
He does not sleep so contentedly as people think he does. He <I>lies
|
|
down,</I> but <I>his abundance will not suffer him to sleep,</I> at
|
|
least not so sweetly as the <I>labouring man,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:12">Eccl. v. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
He lies down, but he is full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of
|
|
the day, and then <I>he opens his eyes and he is not;</I> he sees
|
|
himself, and all he has, hastening away, as it were, in the twinkling
|
|
of an eye. His cares increase his fears, and both together make him
|
|
uneasy, so that, when we attend him to his bed, we do not find him
|
|
happy there. But, in the close, we are called to attend his exit, and
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see how miserable he is in death and after death.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He is miserable in death. It is to him the king of terrors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
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When some mortal disease seizes him what a fright is he in! <I>Terrors
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take hold of him as waters,</I> as if he were surrounded by the flowing
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tides. He trembles to think of leaving this world, and much more of
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removing to another. This mingles <I>sorrow and wrath with his
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sickness,</I> as Solomon observes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:17">Eccl. v. 17</A>.
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These terrors put him either
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[1.] Into a silent and sullen despair; and then the tempest of God's
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wrath, the tempest of death, may be said <I>to steal him away in the
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night,</I> when no one is aware or takes any notice of it. Or,
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[2.] Into an open and clamorous despair; and then he is said <I>to be
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carried away,</I> and hurled out of his place as with a storm, and with
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an east wind, violent, and noisy, and very dreadful. Death, to a godly
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man, is like a fair gale of wind to convey him to the heavenly country,
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but, to a wicked man, it is like an east wind, a storm, a tempest, that
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hurries him away in confusion and amazement, to destruction.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He is miserable after death.
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[1.] His soul falls under the just indignation of God, and it is the
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terror of that indignation which puts him into such amazement at the
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approach of death
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
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<I>For God shall cast upon him and not spare.</I> While he lived he had
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the benefit of sparing mercy; but now the day of God's patience is
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over, and he will not spare, but pour out upon him the full vials of
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|
his wrath. What God casts down upon a man there is no flying from nor
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bearing up under. We read of his <I>casting down great stones from
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heaven</I> upon the Canaanites
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+10:11">Josh. x. 11</A>),
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which made terrible execution among them; but what was that to his
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casting down his anger in its full weight upon the sinner's conscience,
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like the <I>talent of lead?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+5:7,8">Zech. v. 7, 8</A>.
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The damned sinner, seeing the wrath of God break in upon him, would
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|
fain flee out of his hand; but he cannot: the gates of hell are locked
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|
and barred, and the great gulf fixed, and it will be in vain to call
|
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for the shelter of rocks and mountains. Those who will not be persuaded
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|
now to fly to the arms of divine grace, which are stretched out to
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receive them, will not be able to flee from the arms of divine wrath,
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|
which will shortly be stretched out to destroy them.
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[2.] His memory falls under the just indignation of all mankind
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+27:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
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<I>Men shall clap their hands at him,</I> that is, they shall rejoice
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in the judgments of God, by which he is cut off, and be well pleased in
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his fall. <I>When the wicked perish there is shouting,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+11:10">Prov. xi. 10</A>.
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When God buries him men shall hiss him out of his place, and leave on
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his name perpetual marks of infamy. In the same place where he has been
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caressed and cried up he shall be laughed at
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+52:7">Ps. lii. 7</A>)
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and his ashes shall be trampled on.</P>
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