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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
J O B
CHAP. XXII.
Eliphaz here leads on a third attack upon poor Job, in which Bildad
followed him, but Zophar drew back, and quitted the field. It was one
of the unhappinesses of Job, as it is of many an honest man, to be
misunderstood by his friends. He had spoken of the prosperity of wicked
men in this world as a mystery of Providence, but they took it for a
reflection upon Providence, as countenancing their wickedness; and they
reproached him accordingly. In this chapter,
I. Eliphaz checks him for his complaints of God, and of his dealings
with him, as if he thought God had done him wrong,
II. He charges him with many high crimes and misdemeanours, for which
he supposes God was now punishing him.
1. Oppression and injustice,
2. Atheism and infidelity,
III. He compares his case to that of the old world,
IV. He gives him very good counsel, assuring him that, if he would take
it, God would return in mercy to him and he should return to his former
prosperity,
| Third Address of Eliphaz. | B. C. 1520. |
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1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be
profitable unto himself?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art
righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways
perfect?
4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with
thee into judgment?
Eliphaz here insinuates that, because Job complained so much of his
afflictions, he thought God was unjust in afflicting him; but it was a
strained innuendo. Job was far from thinking so. What Eliphaz
says here is therefore unjustly applied to Job, but in itself it is
very true and good,
I. That when God does us good it is not because he is indebted to us;
if he were, there might be some colour to say, when he afflicts us, “He
does not deal fairly with us.” But whoever pretends that he has by any
meritorious action made God his debtor, let him prove this debt, and he
shall be sure not to lose it,
Who has given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him again?
But Eliphaz here shows that the righteousness and perfection of the
best man in the world are no real benefit or advantage to God, and
therefore cannot be thought to merit any thing from him.
1. Man’s piety is no profit to God, no gain,
If we could by any thing merit from God, it would be by our piety, our
being righteous, and making our way perfect. If that will not merit,
surely nothing else will. If a man cannot make God his debtor by his
godliness, and honesty, and obedience to his laws, much less can he by
his wit, and learning, and worldly policy. Now Eliphaz here asks
whether any man can possibly be profitable to God. It is certain
that he cannot. By no means. He that is wise may be profitable to
himself. Note, Our wisdom and piety are that by which we ourselves
are, and are likely to be, great gainers. Wisdom is profitable to
direct,
Eccl. x. 10.
Godliness is profitable to all things,
1 Tim. iv. 8.
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself,
Prov. ix. 12.
The gains of religion are infinitely greater than the losses of it, and
so it will appear when they are balanced. But can a man be thus
profitable to God? No, for such is the perfection of God that he cannot
receive any benefit or advantage by men; what can be added to that
which is infinite? And such is the weakness and imperfection of man
that he cannot offer any benefit or advantage to God. Can the light of
a candle be profitable to the sun or the drop of the bucket to the
ocean? He that is wise is profitable to himself, for his own direction
and defence, his own credit and comfort; he can with his wisdom
entertain himself and enrich himself; but can he so be profitable to
God? No; God needs not us nor our services. We are undone, for ever
undone, without him; but he is happy, for ever happy, without us. Is
it any gain to him, any real addition to his glory or wealth, if
we make our way perfect? Suppose it were absolutely perfect, yet
what is God the better? Much less when it is so far short of being
perfect.
2. It is no pleasure to him. God has indeed expressed himself in his
word well pleased with the righteous; his countenance beholds them and
his delight is in them and their prayers; but all that adds nothing to
the infinite satisfaction and complacency which the Eternal Mind has in
itself. God can enjoy himself without us, though we could have but
little enjoyment of ourselves without our friends. This magnifies his
condescension, in that, though our services be no real profit or
pleasure to him, yet he invites, encourages, and accepts them.
II. That when God restrains or rebukes us it is not because he is in
danger from us or jealous of us
(v. 4):
“Will he reprove thee for fear of thee, and take thee down from
thy prosperity lest thou shouldst grow too great for him, as princes
sometimes have thought it a piece of policy to curb the growing
greatness of a subject, lest he should become formidable?” Satan indeed
suggested to our first parents that God forbade them the tree of
knowledge for fear of them, lest they should be as gods, and so become
rivals with him; but it was a base insinuation. God rebukes the good
because he loves them, but he never rebukes the great because he fears
them. He does not enter into judgment with men, that is, pick a
quarrel with them and seek occasion against them, through fear lest
they should eclipse his honour or endanger his interest. Magistrates
punish offenders for fear of them. Pharaoh oppressed Israel because he
feared them. It was for fear that Herod slew the children of Bethlehem
and that the Jews persecuted Christ and his apostles. But God does not,
as they did, pervert justice for fear of any. See
| Job Accused of Various Crimes. | B. C. 1520. |
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5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and
stripped the naked of their clothing.
7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou
hast withholden bread from the hungry.
8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the
honourable man dwelt in it.
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the
fatherless have been broken.
10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear
troubleth thee;
11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of
waters cover thee.
12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height
of the stars, how high they are!
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the
dark cloud?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and
he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Eliphaz and his companions had condemned Job, in general, as a wicked
man and a hypocrite; but none of them had descended to particulars, nor
drawn up any articles of impeachment against him, until Eliphaz did so
here, where he positively and expressly charges him with many high
crimes and misdemeanours, which, if he had really been guilty of them,
might well have justified them in their harsh censures of him. “Come,”
says Eliphaz, “we have been too long beating about the bush, too tender
of Job and afraid of grieving him, which has but confirmed him in his
self-justification. It is high time to deal plainly with him. We have
condemned him by parables, but that does not answer the end; he is not
prevailed with to condemn himself. We must therefore plainly tell him,
Thou art the man, the tyrant, the oppressor, the atheist, we
have been speaking of all this while. Is not thy wickedness
great? Certainly it is, or else thy troubles would not be so great.
I appeal to thyself, and thy own conscience; are not thy iniquities
infinite, both in number and heinousness?” Strictly taken, nothing
is infinite but God; but he means this, that his sins were more than
could be counted and more heinous than could be conceived. Sin, being
committed against Infinite Majesty, has in it a kind of infinite
malignity. But when Eliphaz charges Job thus highly, and ventures to
descend to particulars too, laying to his charge that which he knew
not, we may take occasion hence,
1. To be angry at those who unjustly censure and condemn their
brethren. For aught I know, Eliphaz, in accusing Job falsely, as he
does here, was guilty of as great a sin and as great a wrong to Job as
the Sabeans and Chaldeans that robbed him; for a man’s good name is
more precious and valuable than his wealth. It is against all the laws
of justice, charity, and friendship, either to raise or receive
calumnies, jealousies, and evil surmises, concerning others; and it is
the more base and disingenuous if we thus vex those that are in
distress and add to their affliction. Eliphaz could produce no
instances of Job’s guilt in any of the particulars that follow here,
but seems resolved to calumniate boldly, and throw all the reproach he
could on Job, not doubting but that some would cleave to him.
2. To pity those who are thus censured and condemned. Innocency itself
will be no security against a false and foul tongue. Job, whom God
himself praised as the best man in the world, is here represented by
one of his friends, and he a wise and good man too, as one of the
greatest villains in nature. Let us not think it strange if at any time
we be thus blackened, but learn how to pass by evil report as well as
good, and commit our cause, as Job did his, to him that judgeth
righteously.
Let us see the particular articles of this charge.
I. He charged him with oppression and injustice, that, when he was in
prosperity, he not only did no good with his wealth and power, but did
a great deal of hurt with them. This was utterly false, as appears by
the account Job gives of himself
&c.) and the character God gave of him,
And yet,
1. Eliphaz branches out this charge into divers particulars, with as
much assurance as if he could call witnesses to prove upon oath every
article of it. He tells him,
(1.) That he had been cruel and unmerciful to the poor. As a magistrate
he ought to have protected them and seen them provided for; but Eliphaz
suspects that he never did them any kindness, but all the mischief his
power enabled him to do,–that, for an inconsiderable debt, he
demanded, and carried away by violence, a pawn of great value, even
from his brother, whose honesty and sufficiency he could not but know
(v. 6),
Thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, or, as the
LXX. reads it, Thou hast taken thy brethren for pledges, and
that for nought, imprisoned them, enslaved them, because they had
nothing to pay,–that he had taken the very clothes of his insolvent
tenants and debtors, so that he had stripped them naked, and
left them so (the law of Moses forbade this,
Exod. xxii. 26, Deut. xxiv. 13),–
he had not been charitable to the poor, no, not to poor travellers, and
poor widows: “Thou hast not given so much as a cup of cold
water (which would have cost thee nothing) to the weary to
drink, when he begged for it
(v. 7)
and was ready to perish for want of it, nay, thou hast withholden
bread from the hungry in their extremity, hast not only not given
it, but hast forbidden the giving of it, which is withholding good
from those to whom it is really due,
Prov. iii. 27.
Poor widows, who while their husbands were living troubled nobody, but
now were forced to seek relief, thou hast sent away empty from thy
doors with a sad heart,
v. 9.
Those who came to thee for justice, thou didst send away unheard,
unhelped; nay, though they came to thee full, thou didst squeeze them,
and send them away empty; and, worst of all, the arms of the
fatherless have been broken; those that could help themselves but
little thou hast quite disabled to help themselves.” This which is the
blackest part of the charge, is but insinuated: The arms of the
fatherless have been broken. He does not say, “Thou has broken
them,” but he would have it understood so, and if they be broken, and
those who have power do not relieve them, they are chargeable with it.
“They have been broken by those under thee, and thou hast connived at
it, which brings thee under the guilt.”
(2.) That he had been partial to the rich and great
(v. 8):
“As for the mighty man, if he was guilty of any crime, he was
never questioned for it: he had the earth; he dwelt in
it. If he brought an action ever so unjustly, or if an action were
ever so justly brought against him, yet he was sure to carry his cause
in thy courts. The poor were not fed at thy door, while the rich were
feasted at thy table.” Contrary to this is Christ’s rule for
hospitality
and Solomon says, He that gives to the rich shall come to
poverty.
2. He attributes all his present troubles to these supposed sins
(v. 10, 11):
“Those that are guilty of such practices as these commonly bring
themselves into just such a condition as thou art now in; and therefore
we conclude thou hast been thus guilty.”
(1.) “The providence of God usually crosses and embarrasses such; and
snares are, accordingly, round about thee, so that, which
way soever thou steppest or lookest, thou findest thyself in distress;
and others are as hard upon thee as thou hast been upon the poor.”
(2.) “Their consciences may be expected to terrify and accuse them. No
sin makes a louder cry there than unmercifulness; and, accordingly,
sudden fear troubles thee; and, though thou wilt not own it, it
is guilt of this kind that creates thee all this terror.” Zophar had
insinuated this,
(3.) “They are brought to their wits’ end, so amazed and bewildered
that they know not what to do, and that also is thy case; for thou art
in darkness that thou canst not see wherefore God contends with
thee nor what is the best course for thee to take, for abundance of
waters cover thee,” that is, “thou art in a mist, in the midst of
dark waters, in the thick clouds of the sky.” Note, Those that have not
shown mercy may justly be denied the comfortable hope that they shall
find mercy; and then what can they expect but snares, and darkness, and
continual fear?
II. He charged him with atheism, infidelity, and gross impiety, and
thought this was at the bottom of his injustice and oppressiveness: he
that did not fear God did not regard man. He would have it thought that
Job was an Epicurean, who did indeed own the being of God, but denied
his providence, and fancied that he confined himself to the
entertainments of the upper world and never concerned himself in the
inhabitants and affairs of this.
1. Eliphaz referred to an important truth, which he thought, if Job had
duly considered it, would have prevented him from being so passionate
in his complaints and bold in justifying himself
(v. 12):
Is not God in the height of heaven? Yes, no doubt he is. No
heaven so high but God is there; and in the highest heavens, the
heavens of the blessed, the residence of his glory, he is present in a
special manner. There he is pleased to manifest himself in a way
peculiar to the upper world, and thence he is pleased to manifest
himself in a way suited to this lower world. There is his throne; there
is his court: he is called the Heavens,
Dan. iv. 26.
Thus Eliphaz proves that a man cannot be profitable to God
(v. 2),
that he ought not to contend with God (it is his folly if he does), and
that we ought always to address ourselves to God with very great
reverence; for when we behold the height of the stars, how high they
are, we should, at the same time, also consider the transcendent
majesty of God, who is above the stars, and how high he is.
2. He charged it upon Job that he made a bad use of this doctrine,
which he might have made so good a use of,
“This is holding the truth in unrighteousness, fighting against
religion with its own weapons, and turning its own artillery upon
itself: thou art willing to own that God is in the height of
heaven but thence thou inferrest, How doth God know?” Bad
men expel the fear of God out of their hearts by banishing the eye of
God out of the world
and care not what they do if they can but persuade themselves that God
does not know. Eliphaz suspected that Job had such a notion of God as
this, that, because he is in the height of heaven,
(1.) It is therefore impossible for him to see and hear what is done at
so great a distance as this earth, especially since there is a dark
cloud
(v. 13),
many thick clouds
(v. 14),
that come between him and us, and are a covering to him, so that
he cannot see, much less can he judge of, the affairs of this lower
world; as if God had eyes of flesh,
ch. x. 4.
The interposing firmament is to him as transparent crystal,
Distance of place creates no difficulty to him who fills immensity, any
more than distance of time to him who is eternal. Or,
(2.) That it is therefore below him, and a diminution to his glory, to
take cognizance of this inferior part of the creation: He walks in
the circuit of heaven, and has enough to do to enjoy himself and
his own perfections and glory in that bright and quiet world; why
should he trouble himself about us? This is gross absurdity, as well as
gross impiety, which Eliphaz here fathers upon Job; for it supposes
that the administration of government is a burden and disparagement to
the supreme governor and that the acts of justice and mercy are a toil
to a mind infinitely wise, holy, and good. If the sun, a creature, and
inanimate, can with his light and influence reach this earth, and every
part of it
(Ps. xix. 6),
even from that vast height of the visible heavens in which he is, and
in the circuit of which he walks, and that through many a thick and
dark cloud, shall we question it concerning the Creator?
| Judgments Executed on the Wicked. | B. C. 1520. |
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15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was
overflown with a flood:
17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the
Almighty do for them?
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the
counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh
them to scorn.
20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of
them the fire consumeth.
Eliphaz, having endeavoured to convict Job, by setting his sins (as he
thought) in order before him, here endeavours to awaken him to a sight
and sense of his misery and danger by reason of sin; and this he does
by comparing his case with that of the sinners of the old world; as if
he had said, “Thy condition is bad now, but, unless thou repent, it
will be worse, as theirs was–theirs who were overflown with a
flood, as the old world
(v. 16),
and theirs the remnant of whom the fire consumed”
(v. 20),
namely, the Sodomites, who, in comparison of the old world, were but a
remnant. And these two instances of the wrath of God against sin and
sinners are more than once put together, for warning to a careless
world, as by our Saviour
&c.) and the apostle,
Eliphaz would have Job to mark the old way which wicked men have
trodden
(v. 15)
and see what came of it, what the end of their way was. Note, There is
an old way which wicked men have trodden. Religion had but newly
entered when sin immediately followed it. But though it is an old way,
a broad way, a tracked way, it is a dangerous way and it leads to
destruction; and it is good for us to mark it, that we may not dare to
walk in it. Eliphaz here puts Job in mind of it, perhaps in opposition
to what he had said of the prosperity of the wicked; as if he had said,
“Thou canst find out here and there a single instance, it may be, of a
wicked man ending his days in peace; but what is that to those two
great instances of the final perdition of ungodly men–the drowning of
the whole world and the burning of Sodom?” destructions by wholesale,
in which he thinks Job may, as in a glass, see his own face. Observe,
1. The ruin of those sinners
(v. 16):
They were cut down out of time; that is, they were cut off in
the midst of their days, when, as man’s time then went, many of them
might, in the course of nature, have lived some hundreds of years
longer, which made their immature extirpation the more grievous. They
were cut down out of time, to be hurried into eternity. And
their foundation, the earth on which they built themselves and all
their hopes, was overflown with a flood, the flood which was
brought in upon the world of the ungodly,
2 Pet. ii. 5.
Note, Those who build upon the sand choose a foundation which will be
overflown when the rains descend and the floods come
and then their building must needs fall and they perish in the ruins of
it, and repent of their folly when it is too late.
2. The sin of those sinners, which brought that ruin
(v. 17):
They said unto God, Depart from us. Job had spoken of some who
said so and yet prospered,
“But these did not (says Eliphaz); they found to their cost what it was
to set God at defiance. Those who were resolved to lay the reins on
the neck of their appetites and passions began with this; they said
unto God, Depart; they abandoned all religion, hated the
thoughts of it, and desired to live without God in the world;
they shunned his word, and silenced conscience, his deputy. And what
can the Almighty do for them?” Some make this to denote the
justness of their punishment. They said to God, Depart from us;
and then what could the Almighty do with them but cut them off?
Those who will not submit to God’s golden sceptre must expect to be
broken to pieces with his iron rod. Others make it to denote the
injustice of their sin: But what hath the Almighty done against
them? What iniquity have they found in him, or wherein has he
wearied them?
Others make it to denote the reason of their sin: They say unto God,
Depart, asking what the Almighty can do to them. “What
has he done to oblige us? What can he do in a way of wrath to make us
miserable, or in a way of favour to make us happy?” As they argue,
The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Eliphaz
shows the absurdity of this in one word, and that is, calling God
the Almighty; for, if he be so, what cannot he do? But it is not
strange if those cast off all religion who neither dread God’s wrath
nor desire his favour.
3. The aggravation of this sin: Yet he had filled their houses with
good things,
v. 18.
Both those of the old world and those of Sodom had great plenty of all
the delights of sense; for they ate, they drank, they bought, they
sold, &c.
so that they had no reason to ask what the Almighty could do for
them, for they lived upon his bounty, no reason to bid him depart
from them who had been so kind to them. Many have their houses full of
goods but their hearts empty of grace, and thereby are marked for ruin.
4. The protestation which Eliphaz makes against the principles and
practices of those wicked people: But the counsel of the wicked is
far from me. Job had said so
and Eliphaz will not be behind him. If they cannot agree in their own
principles concerning God, yet they agree in renouncing the principles
of those that live without God in the world. Note, Those that differ
from each other in some matters of religion, and are engaged in
disputes about them, yet ought unanimously and vigorously to appear
against atheism and irreligion, and to take care that their disputes do
not hinder either their vigour or unanimity in that common cause of
God, that righteous cause.
5. The pleasure and satisfaction which the righteous shall have in
this.
(1.) In seeing the wicked destroyed,
They shall see it, that is, observe it, and take notice of it
(Hos. xiv. 9);
and they shall be glad, not to see their fellow-creatures
miserable, or any secular turn of their own served, or point gained,
but to see God glorified, the word of God fulfilled, the power of
oppressors broken, and thereby the oppressed relieved–to see sin
shamed, atheists and infidels confounded, and fair warning given to all
others to shun such wicked courses. Nay, they shall laugh them to
scorn, that is, they justly might do it, they shall do it, as God
does it, in a holy manner,
They shall take occasion thence to expose the folly of sinners and show
how ridiculous their principles are, though they call themselves wits.
Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; and see what
comes of it,
Some understand this of righteous Noah and his family, who beheld the
destruction of the old world and rejoiced in it, as he had grieved for
their impiety. Lot, who saw the ruin of Sodom, had the same reason to
rejoice,
(2.) In seeing themselves distinguished
(v. 20):
“Whereas our substance is not cut down, as theirs was, and as
thine is; we continue to prosper, which is a sign that we are the
favourites of Heaven, and in the right.” The same rule that served him
to condemn Job by served him to magnify himself and his companions by.
His substance is cut down; therefore he is a wicked man;
ours is not; therefore we are righteous. But it is a deceitful
rule to judge by; for none knows love or hatred by all that is before
him. If others be consumed, and we be not, instead of censuring them
and lifting up ourselves, as Eliphaz does here, we ought to be thankful
to God and take it for a warning to ourselves to prepare for similar
calamities.
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21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good
shall come unto thee.
22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his
words in thine heart.
23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou
shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir
as the stones of the brooks.
25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have
plenty of silver.
26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and
shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee,
and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established
unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is
lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is
delivered by the pureness of thine hands.
Methinks I can almost forgive Eliphaz his hard censures of Job, which
we had in the beginning of the chapter, though they were very unjust
and unkind, for this good counsel and encouragement which he gives him
in these verses with which he closes his discourse, and than which
nothing could be better said, nor more to the purpose. Though he
thought him a bad man, yet he saw reason to have hopes concerning him,
that, for all this, he would be both pious and prosperous. But it is
strange that out of the same mouth, and almost in the same breath, both
sweet waters and bitter should proceed. Good men, though they may
perhaps be put into a heat, yet sometimes will talk themselves into a
better temper, and, it may be, sooner than another could talk them into
it. Eliphaz had laid before Job the miserable condition of a wicked
man, that he might frighten him into repentance. Here, on the other
hand, he shows him the happiness which those may be sure of that do
repent, that he might allure and encourage him to it. Ministers must
try both ways in dealing with people, must speak to them from Mount
Sinai by the terrors of the law, and from Mount Sion by the comforts of
the gospel, must set before them both life and death, good and evil,
the blessing and the curse. Now here observe,
I. The good counsel which Eliphaz gives to Job; and good counsel it is
to us all, though, as to Job, it was built upon a false supposition
that he was a wicked man and now a stranger and enemy to God.
1. Acquaint now thyself with God. Acquiesce in God; so some. It
is our duty at all times, especially when we are in affliction, to
accommodate ourselves to, and quiet ourselves in, all the disposals of
the divine Providence. Join thyself to him (so some); fall in
with his interests, and act no longer in opposition to him. Our
translators render it well, “Acquaint thyself with him; be not
such a stranger to him as thou hast made thyself by casting off the
fear of him and restraining prayer before him.” It is the duty and
interest of every one of us to acquaint himself with God. We must get
the knowledge of him, fix our affections on him, join ourselves to him
in a covenant of friendship, and then set up, and keep up, a constant
correspondence with him in the ways he has appointed. It is our honour
that we are made capable of this acquaintance, our misery that by sin
we have lost it, our privilege that through Christ we are invited to
return to it; and it will be our unspeakable happiness to contract and
cultivate this acquaintance.
2. “Be at peace, at peace with thyself, not fretful, uneasy,
and in confusion; let not thy heart be troubled, but be quiet and calm,
and well composed. Be at peace with thy God; be reconciled to him. Do
not carry on this unholy war. Thou complainest that God is thy enemy;
be thou his friend.” It is the great concern of every one of us to make
our peace with God, and it is necessary in order to our comfortable
acquaintance with him; for how can two walk together except they be
agreed?
Amos iii. 3.
This we must do quickly, now, before it be too late. Agree with thy
adversary while thou art in the way. This we are earnestly urged to
do. Some read it, “Acquaint thyself, I pray thee, with him, and
be at peace.” God himself beseeches us; ministers, in Christ’s stead,
pray us to be reconciled. Can we gainsay such entreaties?
3. Receive the law from his mouth,
v. 22.
“Having made thy peace with God, submit to his government, and resolve
to be ruled by him, that thou mayest keep thyself in his love.” We
receive our being and maintenance from God. From him we hope to
receive our bliss, and from him we must receive law. Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?
Acts ix. 6.
Which way soever we receive the intimations of his will we must have
our eye to him; whether he speaks by scripture, ministers, conscience,
or Providence, we must take the word as from his mouth and bow our
souls to it. Though, in Job’s time, we do not know that there was any
written word, yet there was a revelation of God’s will to be received.
Eliphaz looked upon Job as a wicked man, and was pressing him to repent
and reform. Herein consists the conversion of a sinner–his receiving
the law from God’s mouth and no longer from the world and the flesh.
Eliphaz, being now in contest with Job, appeals to the word of God for
the ending of the controversy. “Receive that, and be determined by
it.” To the law and to the testimony.
4. Lay up his word in thy heart. It is not enough to receive
it, but we must retain it,
We must lay it up as a thing of great value, that it may be safe; and
we must lay it up in our hearts, as a thing of great use, that it may
be ready to us when there is occasion and we may neither lose it wholly
nor be at a loss for it in a time of need.
5. Return to the Almighty,
v. 23.
“Do not only turn from sin, but turn to God and thy duty. Do not only
turn towards the Almighty in some good inclinations and good
beginnings, but return to him; return home to him, quite to him,
so as to reach to the Almighty, by a universal reformation, an
effectual thorough change of thy heart and life, and a firm resolution
to cleave to him;” so Mr. Poole.
6. Put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle. This was the
advice Zophar gave him,
“Let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle. Put iniquity far
off, the further the better, not only from thy heart and hand, but from
thy house. Thou must not only not be wicked thyself, but must reprove
and restrain sin in those that are under thy charge.” Note, Family
reformation is needful reformation; we and our house must serve the
Lord.
II. The good encouragement which Eliphaz gives Job, that he shall be
very happy, if he will but take this good counsel. In general,
“Thereby good shall come unto thee
(v. 21);
the good that has now departed from thee, all the good thy heart can
desire, temporal, spiritual, eternal good, shall come to thee. God
shall come to thee, into covenant and communion with thee; and he
brings all good with him, all good in him. Thou art now ruined and
brought down, but, if thou return to God, thou shalt be built up
again, and thy present ruins shall be repaired. Thy family shall be
built up in children, thy estate in wealth, and thy soul in holiness
and comfort.” The promises which Eliphaz here encourages Job with are
reducible to three heads:–
1. That his estate should prosper, and temporal blessings should be
bestowed abundantly on him; for godliness has the promise of the life
that now is. It is promised,
(1.) That he shall be very rich
(v. 24):
“Thou shalt lay up gold as dust, in such great abundance, and
shalt have plenty of silver
(v. 25),
whereas now thou art poor and stripped of all.” Job had been rich.
Eliphaz suspected he got his riches by fraud and oppression, and
therefore they were taken from him: but if he would return to God and
his duty,
[1.] He should have more wealth than ever he had, not only thousands of
sheep and oxen, the wealth of farmers, but thousands of gold and
silver, the wealth of princes,
Abundantly more riches, true riches, are to be got by the service of
God than by the service of the world.
[2.] He should have it more sure to him: “Thou shalt lay it up
in good hands, and hold that which is got by thy piety by a surer
tenure than that which thou didst get by thy iniquity.” Thou shalt
have silver of strength (for so the word is), which, being honestly
got, will wear well–silver like steel.
[3.] He should, by the grace of God, be kept from setting his heart so
much upon it as Eliphaz thought he had done; and then wealth is a
blessing indeed when we are not ensnared with the love of it. Thou
shalt lay up gold; but how? Not as thy treasure and portion, but
as dust, and as the stones of the brooks. So little shalt
thou value it or expect from it that thou shalt lay it at thy feet
(Acts iv. 35),
not in thy bosom.
(2.) That yet he shall be very safe. Whereas men’s riches usually
expose them to danger, and he had owned that in his prosperity he
was not in safety
(ch. iii. 26),
now he might be secure; for the Almighty shall be thy defender;
nay, he shall be thy defence,
v. 25.
He shall be thy gold; so it is in the margin, and it is the same
word that is used
(v. 24)
for gold, but it signifies also a strong-hold, because money is a
defence,
Eccl. vii. 12.
Worldlings make gold their god, saints make God their gold; and those
that are enriched with his favour and grace may truly be said to
have abundance of the best gold, and best laid up. We read it,
“He shall be thy defence against the incursions of neighbouring
spoilers: thy wealth shall not then lie exposed as it did to Sabeans
and Chaldeans,” which, some think, is the meaning of that, Thou
shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle, taking it as a
promise. “The iniquity or wrong designed against thee shall be put off
and shall not reach thee.” Note, Those must needs be safe that have
Omnipotence itself for their defence,
2. That his soul should prosper, and he should be enriched with
spiritual blessings, which are the best blessings.
(1.) That he should live a life of complacency in God
(v. 26):
“For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty; and
thus the Almighty comes to be thy gold by thy delighting in him,
as worldly people delight in their money. He shall be thy wealth, thy
defence, thy dignity; for he shall be thy delight.” The way to have our
heart’s desire is to make God our heart’s delight,
If God give us himself to be our joy, he will deny us nothing that is
good for us. “Now, God is a terror to thee; he is so by thy own
confession
but, if thou wilt return to him, then, and not till then, he will be
thy delight; and it shall be as much a pleasure to thee to think of
him as ever it was a pain.” No delight is comparable to the delight
which gracious souls have in the Almighty; and those that acquaint
themselves with him, and submit themselves entirely to him, shall find
his favour to be, not only their strength, but their song.
(2.) That he should have a humble holy confidence towards God, such as
those are said to have whose hearts condemn them not, 1
“Then shalt thou lift up thy face to God with boldness,
and not be afraid, as thou now art, to draw near to him. Thy
countenance is now fallen, and thou lookest dejected; but, when thou
hast made thy peace with God, thou shalt blush no more, tremble no
more, and hang thy head no more, as thou dost now, but shalt
cheerfully, and with a gracious assurance, show thyself to him, pray
before him, and expect blessings from him.”
(3.) That he should maintain a constant communion with God, “The
correspondence, once settled, shall be kept up to thy unspeakable
satisfaction. Letters shall be both statedly and occasionally
interchanged between thee and heaven,”
[1.] “Thou shalt by prayer send letters to God: Thou shalt make thy
prayer” (the word is, Thou shalt multiply thy prayers) “unto
him, and he will not think thy letters troublesome, though many and
long. The oftener we come to the throne of grace the more welcome.
Under all thy burdens, in all thy wants, cares, and fears, thou shalt
send to heaven for guidance and strength, wisdom, and comfort, and good
success.”
[2.] “He shall, by his providence and grace, answer those letters, and
give thee what thou askest of him, either in kind or kindness: He
shall hear thee, and make it to appear he does so by what he does
for thee and in thee.”
[3.] “Then thou shalt by thy praises reply to the gracious answers
which he sent thee: Thou shalt pay thy vows, and that shall be
acceptable to him and fetch in further mercy.” Note, When God performs
that which in our distress we prayed for we must make conscience of
performing that which we then promised, else we do not deal honestly.
If we promised nothing else we promised to be thankful, and that is
enough, for it includes all,
(4.) That he should have inward satisfaction in the management of all
his outward affairs
(v. 28):
“Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall be established unto
thee,” that is, “Thou shalt frame all thy projects and purposes
with so much wisdom, and grace, and resignation to the will of God,
that the issue of them shall be to thy heart’s content, just as thou
wouldst have it to be. Thou shalt commit thy works unto the Lord
by faith and prayer, and then thy thoughts shall be established;
thou shalt be easy and pleased, whatever occurs,
This the grace of God shall work in thee; nay, sometimes the providence
of God shall give thee the very thing thou didst desire and pray for,
and give it thee in thy own way, and manner, and time. Be it unto
thee even as thou wilt.” When at any time an affair succeeds just
according to the scheme we laid, and our measures are in nothing
broken, nor are we put upon new counsels, then we must own the
performance of this promise, Thou shalt decree a thing and it shall
be established unto thee. “Whereas now thou complainest of darkness
round about thee, then the light shall shine on thy ways;” that
is, “God shall guide and direct thee, and then it will follow, of
course, that he shall prosper and succeed thee in all thy undertakings.
God’s wisdom shall be thy guide, his favour thy comfort, and thy ways
shall be so under both those lights that thou shalt have a comfortable
enjoyment of what is present and a comfortable prospect of what is
future,”
(5.) That even in times of common calamity and danger he should have
abundance of joy and hope
(v. 29):
“When men are cast down round about thee, cast down in their
affairs, cast down in their spirits, sinking, desponding, and ready to
despair, then shalt thou say, There is lifting up. Thou shalt
find that in thyself which will not only bear thee up under thy
troubles, and keep thee from fainting, but lift thee up above thy
troubles and enable thee to rejoice evermore.” When men’s hearts
fail them for fear, then shall Christ’s disciples lift up their
heads for joy,
Luke xxi. 26-28.
Thus are they made to ride upon the high places of the earth
and that which will lift them up is the belief of this, that God will
save the humble person. Those that humble themselves shall be exalted,
not only in honour, but in comfort.
3. That he should be a blessing to his country and an instrument of
good to many
(v. 30):
God shall, in answer to thy prayers, deliver the island of
the innocent, and have a regard therein to the pureness of thy
hands, which is necessary to the acceptableness of our prayers,
But, because we may suppose the innocent not to need deliverance (it
was guilty Sodom that wanted the benefit of Abraham’s intercession), I
incline to the marginal reading, The innocent shall deliver the
island, by their advice
and by their prayers and their interest in heaven,
Or, He shall deliver those that are not innocent, and they are
delivered by the pureness of thy hands; as it may be read, and most
probably. Note, A good man is a public good. Sinners fare the better
for saints, whether they are aware of it or no. If Eliphaz intended
hereby (as some think he did) to insinuate that Job’s prayers were not
prevailing, nor his hands pure (for then he would have relieved others,
much more himself), he was afterwards made to see his error, when it
appeared that Job had a better interest in heaven than he had; for he
and his three friends, who in this matter were not innocent, were
delivered by the pureness of Job’s hands,
ch. xlii. 8.
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