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1994-03-02
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21256
* Job complains of unkind usage. (1-7) God was the Author of his
afflictions. (8-22) Job's belief in the resurrection. (23-29)
#1-7 Job's friends blamed him as a wicked man, because he was so
afflicted; here he describes their unkindness, showing that what
they condemned was capable of excuse. Harsh language from
friends, greatly adds to the weight of afflictions: yet it is
best not to lay it to heart, lest we harbour resentment. Rather
let us look to Him who endured the contradiction of sinners
against himself, and was treated with far more cruelty than Job
was, or we can be.
21263
#8-22 How doleful are Job's complaints! What is the fire of hell
but the wrath of God! Seared consciences will feel it hereafter,
but do not fear it now: enlightened consciences fear it now, but
shall not feel it hereafter. It is a very common mistake to
think that those whom God afflicts he treats as his enemies.
Every creature is that to us which God makes it to be; yet this
does not excuse Job's relations and friends. How uncertain is
the friendship of men! but if God be our Friend, he will not
fail us in time of need. What little reason we have to indulge
the body, which, after all our care, is consumed by diseases it
has in itself. Job recommends himself to the compassion of his
friends, and justly blames their harshness. It is very
distressing to one who loves God, to be bereaved at once of
outward comfort and of inward consolation; yet if this, and
more, come upon a believer, it does not weaken the proof of his
being a child of God and heir of glory.
21278
#23-29 The Spirit of God, at this time, seems to have powerfully
wrought on the mind of Job. Here he witnessed a good confession;
declared the soundness of his faith, and the assurance of his
hope. Here is much of Christ and heaven; and he that said such
things are these, declared plainly that he sought the better
country, that is, the heavenly. Job was taught of God to believe
in a living Redeemer; to look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come; he comforted himself with the
expectation of these. Job was assured, that this Redeemer of
sinners from the yoke of Satan and the condemnation of sin, was
his Redeemer, and expected salvation through him; and that he
was a living Redeemer, though not yet come in the flesh; and
that at the last day he would appear as the Judge of the world,
to raise the dead, and complete the redemption of his people.
With what pleasure holy Job enlarges upon this! May these
faithful sayings be engraved by the Holy Spirit upon our hearts.
We are all concerned to see that the root of the matter be in
us. A living, quickening, commanding principle of grace in the
heart, is the root of the matter; as necessary to our religion
as the root of the tree, to which it owes both its fixedness and
its fruitfulness. Job and his friends differed concerning the
methods of Providence, but they agreed in the root of the
matter, the belief of another world.
21285
* Zophar speaks of the short joy of the wicked. (1-9) The ruin
of the wicked. (10-22) The portion of the wicked. (23-29)
#1-9 Zophar's discourse is upon the certain misery of the
wicked. The triumph of the wicked and the joy of the hypocrite
are fleeting. The pleasures and gains of sin bring disease and
pain; they end in remorse, anguish, and ruin. Dissembled piety
is double iniquity, and the ruin that attends it will be
accordingly.
21294
#10-22 The miserable condition of the wicked man in this world
is fully set forth. The lusts of the flesh are here called the
sins of his youth. His hiding it and keeping it under his
tongue, denotes concealment of his beloved lust, and delight
therein. But He who knows what is in the heart, knows what is
under the tongue, and will discover it. The love of the world,
and of the wealth of it, also is wickedness, and man sets his
heart upon these. Also violence and injustice, these sins bring
God's judgments upon nations and families. Observe the
punishment of the wicked man for these things. Sin is turned
into gall, than which nothing is more bitter; it will prove to
him poison; so will all unlawful gains be. In his fulness he
shall be in straits, through the anxieties of his own mind. To
be led by the sanctifying grace of God to restore what was
unjustly gotten, as Zacchaeus was, is a great mercy. But to be
forced to restore by the horrors of a despairing conscience, as
Judas was, has no benefit and comfort attending it.