meet the armed men he doth not stand to receive a charge but he seeks it What any have a great mind to that they are very forward in you need not press a volunteer nor spur a free a valiant horse on to the battel you can hardly hold him in with bit bridle 'T is so in any service where there is a heart set to it with a love to it O how do we go forth to it we need not to be haled nor driven to it So in spirituals a heart of that temper answers every call Psal 27.8 When thou saidst seek my face my heart said unto thee thy face Lord will I seek He presently answers the Lords call to any duty who hath a heart for it What zeal what freedom what forwardness have we to that we have a will and a mind to An up-hill way is all down-hill to a willing mind JOB Chap. 39. Vers 22 23 24 25. 22. He mocketh at fear and is not afraid neither turneth he back from the sword 23. The quiver ratleth against him the glittering spear and the shield 24. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet 25. He cries among the trumpets Ha ha and he smelleth the battel afar off the thunder of the Captains and the shoutings THese four verses continue and compleat the description oâ— the goodly valiant War-horse in his second qualification of boldness and courage of which this Text gives as many proofs as can be imagined or expected Vers 22. He mocketh at fear And what greater argument of valour than that Fear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spâ—rnit quod plenum est timoris Vataâ—l Contemnit omnia metuenda Elegans prosopopeia est qua tribuitur experti rationis animali quod hominis proprium est sc ridere arma the abstract is here put for the concrete he laughs at fear that is at those things which are most to be feared or which carry the greatest command of fear in them It is usual in Scripture to express things greatly to be feared by fear As things greatly ly hoped for are called our hope and things rejoyced in greatly are called our joy so things greatly to be feared are called our fear and in that sence above all God is called the fear of his people he is so much the object of fear that the Scripture calls him fear Jacob in his treating and contract with his Uncle Laban Gen. 31.53 Sware by the fear of his father Isaac that is he sware by God who alone hath this high honour to be sworn by in a sacred way To swear is a great part of divine worship and is sometime put for the whole of worship Jacob sware by the fear of Isaac that is by God who his father Isaac feared and in whose fear he walked all his dayes Thus spake the Prophet Isa 8.12 13. Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts in your hearts and let him be your fear which is quoted by the Apostle 1 Pet. 3.15 Now as God himself is called fear because he is so exceedingly to be feared so those things which carry in them much fear or which are much fâ—ared in Scripture sense and eloquence are called fear He scorneth or mocketh at fear Those things which make others tremble he as it were makes a sport at and plays with them So the words are an exposition of what was spoken at the close of the 21th ver He goeth on to meet the armies or the armed men who are much to be feared and dreaded In general whatsoever is or may be matter of fear that the horse mocks or laughs at that is he counts no more of it than we do of those things we laugh at Quae non curant hominis rident What men regard not care not for that they laugh at mock at We say of a valiant stout-hearted man he knows not what fear means When once a Noble person in great danger was admonished not to be afraid he laid his hand upon his breast and said Fear was never here yet and I hope shall never enter Thus the Horse is here represented as one into whose heaâ—t fear never entred he mocketh at fear And as it followeth is not affrighted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dejectus abjectus stratus metaphocè consternatus fuit mente jacuit The word which we render affrighted imports the greatest consternation of mind when the mind lyes as it were prostrate under utter dispondency breakings of spirit and discouragements Deut. 1.21 Neither any dreadful noise nor terrible sight neither the appearance nor the reallity of danger abate the spirit or prowess of the Horse He is not affrighted Hence Note Danger is the element of courage We see it in the Horse and it is much more seen in couragious men You can no more cast down true courage by representing dangers than you can drown a fish by casting it into the water it is in its element It was the speech of that great Alexander being in a most hazardous undertaking Now I see a danger sutable to my mind Jam video animo meo par periculum a match for my courage The Horse mocketh at fear Note Secondly That which is not feared is usually derided It is so with beasts and it is so with men and what more usual with some men than to mock most at those things which they should be most afraid of As there is a nobleness of courage in some men which makes a mock of fear so besides that there is a baseness of spirit a stupidness in other men that make a mock at fear Such was the spirit of Lots Sons-in-law Gen. 19.14 who when Lot reported to them the most dreadful thing that ever was in the world a shower of fire and brimstone ready to fall down from heaven upon the whole City to consume it He was to them as one that mocked the meaning is his Sons-in-law mocked at what he reported they laugh'd at his admonition Such a kind of mocking at fear we read in those hardned and debauched spirits among the ten Tribes when that good King sent and admonished them to return to the true worship of God and laid before them those dreadful judgments that would surely overtake them if they did not 2 Chron. 30.10 They laughed to scorn the messengers and mockt them As if they had said What do you tell us of the wrath of God and of his judgments if we persist in our way and course we scorn your admonition we regard not your threatnings The character given of that people 2 Chron. 36.16 when wrath was breaking out upon them without remedy was this They mockt the messengers of God and despised his words To such mockers at fear I might take occasion to say as the Prophet in a like case Isa 28.22 Be ye not mockers least your bands be made strong There are some fears that it is our honour to mock
are then with-held from going on in their wickedness or from prosecuting and promoting their evil designs and puâ—poses as if their faces were wrapt or muffled quite up with a garment and their feet fast bound Another gives the sense thus That they namely the wicked may be made to stand as covered over with a garment The custome of old was to cover the faces of malefactors when found and declared guilty of horrid crimes Both these Interpretations correspond clearly with the Context both before and after the Lord giving this as a special service that the day-spring or light doth to mankind the discovery and destruction of evil men as will be seen more fully in opening the next verse Vers 15. And from the wicked their light is withholden It was shewed before that this 15th verse seems to be an Exposition of the latter part of the 13th verse There it was said The light takes hold of the ends of the earth that the wicked might be shaken out of it here it followeth From the wicked their light is with-holden that is wicked men when the light hath discovered them are with-holden from their light or their light is with-holden from them But it may be enquired What is this light called their light which is with-holden from them I answer First The light of their prosperity and peace the light of the good things of this woâ—ld Secondly The light of the Sun Deus lucem subducit impiis i. e. vita illos orbat Frangitquo eorum superbiam tyrannidem Codur even that shall be with-holden from them they shall be shut up in close and dark prisons and dungeons they shall not have the light of the Sun who have abused that light or have done such things in the dark as the Sun would even blush to look on Thirdly The light of their life or their life shall be withholden from them that is they shall be put to death for their wickedness All these may be called their light because they sometime enjoyed them and their light in all or any of these notions is said to be with-holden from them not as if they had a right to hold it longer but because they would fain have held it longer if they might Thus from the wicked their light is with-holden as if it had been said they are totally and finally deprived of all their good Now whereas light in the sense opened is called their light that is the light of the wicked Note Even the wicked have a title to light or to good things God gives light or good things to the evil as well as to the good Mat. 5.45 He maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good even they who are evil and are daily doing evil enjoy the light of the Sun and the light of all outward good things thorow the patience and goodness of God Much more may the godly when they see the light or good of this world look upon it as theirs as a part of their inheritance here below As hereafter all the godly shall have an inheritance among the Saints in light so many of them have an inheritance of light here the Sun is a piece of their portion God having adopted them to be his children the Sun is a debtor to them and they may reckon it among their good things though not as their good God having provided better things for them than the light of this world or of any good thing which they hold onely in common with the world From the wicked their lâ—ght is with-holden Note Secondly Wicked men forfeit and so are deprived of the good things which God gives to them The wicked cannot long shall not alwayes enjoy the good things of this world When wicked men abuse the light especially when they resist the light of nature shining into their consciences and refuse the light of the Gospel shining in the Scriptures and Ordinances and resolve to walk on in the darkness of their minds then from them that light of comfort and prosperity is with-holden yea they are often thrust out of the light of the Sun and out of the light of this present life into that inner darkness of the grave and into that outer darkness of hell Matth. 25.30 that is into a darkness furthest remote or at greatest distance from light even out of the reach of light Doth God say to his own people when they sin Jer. 5.25 Your sins have with-holden good things from you Much more then shall the light and all good things or all the good things of light be with holden from the wicked whose whole trade and business lies in works of darkness or in sinning against God 'T is bad with man when God with-holds natural light the light of the Sun the good things of this world from him but 't is infinitely worse with man when God with-holds the light of the Gospel and the light of his countenance any spiritual light or good from him and shuts any up in the contrary darkness From the wicked light is with-holden And the high arm shall be broken Cadunt impii à foelicitate sua vires id significat brachium excelsum debilitanturâ—â— redduntur infirmae Vatabl. Brachium elatum est poâ—entia superbia impiorum Pisc Whose high arm Surely the high arm of the wicked they shall be deprived both of their light of comfort and of their arm of strength wherein Fiâ—st They prided themselves And Secondly Wherewith they oppressed others The former is the effect of their strength the latter is the use which they usually put their strength to Strength is often exprest in Scripture by the arm read Psal 10.15 Psal 37.17 Ezek. 30.22 And a high arm notes great strength The Lord is said to do his great things with a stretched out or a high arm Mans arm may here be called an high arm because the arm of man useth to be lifted up on high to strike hard and home The higher the arm is lifted up the heavier it falls and the deeper impression it makes To sin with a high hand is in Scripture language to sin presumptuously and audaciously They sin with a high hand who sin against light or in the face of counsel and reproof And as they sin mightily or with all their might who sin with a high hand so they act mightily or with all their might they lay on load as we say who resolving to do any thing have a high arm to do it wiâ—h When the arms of wicked men are high they must needs act highly in wickedness Now when any act evil to the height with heat and boldness God will take a course with them as it followeth in the close of the verse The high arm that is such a high arm Shall be broken 'T is an allusion to the punishing of malefactors Damnabitur ad mortem quidem cruciabilem qualis est in rota fractio Grot. by breaking their bodies or
God is here compared to a Mother for the same reason for which he was before compared to a Father We are to note saith Aquinas upon this place that Cold is the cause of Ice which is a feminine or womanish quality but the cause of rain and dew is heat which is a masculine or manly quality And therefore the Lord speaking of the generation of rain and dew useth the word Father and about the generation of Ice and Frost he useth a word most proper to the Mother Out of whose womb came the Ice The word rendred womb signifies the whole belly yea the whole body Thus Psal 132.11 Of the fruit of thy body c. The Hebrew is belly so the word is used Gen. 15.4 2 Chron. 22.21 but according to our Translation it strictly relates to the Mother as if God would take upon him both sexes and be as the Father of the rain and dew so the Mother of the Ice and Frost The Ancients insist much upon this setting forth the glory of God in the former verse as a Father and here as a Mother out of whose womb the Ice comes and they tell us of some who never had Scripture light Clemens Alexandrinus l. 5. Strom. Docet Deum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab Orpheo vocatum that yet did speak of God according to this Notion calling him Mother-Father They looked to God and honoured him as having not onely the power of a Father but the care of a Mother conceiving nourishing nursing and educating the Creature as a Mother doth her children and therefore called God Mother-Father and so much this change of the word in the Text doth imply Out of whose womb Came the Ice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gelu Radix evulsit pilos quia gelu terram gramine arbâ—res plantasquefolits dejectis quasi glabrat Yet this manner of speaking signifies no more than this that Ice and Frost are caused and brought forth by the power of God The word rendred Ice comes from a root which signifies to make bald or to pull off the hair because when Frost and Ice come they quickly pull off the leaves from the trees and the flowers from the hearbs they mâ—ke all bare-headed and so Ice hath its denomination from that effect Out of whose womb came the Ice And the hoary frâ—st of heaven who hath gendred it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Texit operuit The word rendred hoary frost signifies to cover over because the â—oary frost covers all over The trees and hearbs all things above ground aâ—e covered with the hoary frost therefore it hath its name from covering and here the Lord calls it The hoary Frost Of Heaven Because the cold which makes the hoary Frost comes from the Air which is oâ—ten in Scripture called Heaven Hence Note The Lord will be acknowledged as the Author of Ice and Frost They are the effects of his power and declaration of his glory and therefore the Lord calls such-like meteors to praise him Psal 148.8 as evidences or pâ—â—ofs of his power and wonderous works Psal 147.16 17. He scattereth his hoar Frost like ashes he casteth forth his Ice like morsels who can stand before his cold The Lord takes the Ice and Frost and Cold to be his it is not onely his Sun but his Ice and his Frost he scatters his hoar Frost like ashes The Frost is compared to ashes in a threefold respect first Because the hoar Fâ—ost gives a little interruption to the fight Iâ— you scatter ashes into the Air it darkens the light so doth the hoaâ—y Frost Secondly hoary Frost is like ashes because near in colour to ashes Thirdly 'T is like ashes because there is a kind of burning in it Fâ—ost burns the tender buds and blossoms Vnde pruinae nomen è perurendo quod fruges perurit vocant Carbunculationem iâ— nips them and dries them up The hoary Frost hath its denomination in the Latine Tongue from burning it diffeâ—s but a very little from that word which is commonly used in Latine for a coal of fire The cold Frost hath a kind of scotching in it as well as the hot Sun Unseasonable Frosts in the Spring scorch the tender fruits which bad effect of Frost is usually exprest by Carbunculation or blasting Frost is sometimes a great benefit and sometimes a great scourge when it comes opportunely and in season 't is a great benefit but if it comes in the spring of the year if it comes when the youth of the spring buds and blossomes are put forth it proves very detrimental and kills that hopeful spring of the Earth which the warmth of a benigne Sun and wind had invited out The Frost of a few nights hath spoiled the hopes of Husbandmen and Vine-dressers for the whole year Frost is both a benefit and a scourge whether it proves the one or the other it is God who gendreth it and must therefore be acknowledged in it As in this 29th verse Goâ— declares himself the Author of the Frost and of the Ice and in opening it somewhat hath been said of their effects so in the next verse one remarkable and very forcible effect of the Frost is held forth that we may learn and 't is no more than our exâ—erience and eye-sâ—ght have often taught us what Cold or Frost can do Why what can it do It can tuâ—n water into stones Such is the power of Cold that it hardens the liquid water like a stone Ice in its very first appearance hath the resemblâ—nce of a stone and being very thick as in long Frosts 't is like a rock like a mountain of stone Thus tâ—e Text speaks Vers 30. The waters are hid as with a stone That is when extream cold freezes the waters into Ice the waters are not seen they are loâ—kt up and as it were paved over with a stone or the waters seem to suffer a strange metamorphosis and leaving their natural liquidiâ—y and softness are condensed or hardened into râ—cks such is the force of cold Some express it actively not as we The waters are hid but the waters hide themselves like a stone Thus Mr. Broughton expresseth it Naturalists tell us that in some cold Countries Nives in Chrystallum durantur Plin. l. 37. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Aqua frigore conâ—reta where there are great falls of snow and rain the snow and rain grow into such a hardness that you cannot reduce them into waâ—er Chrystal say they is nothing but water hardened by câ—ld And thus water is more than hid as with a stone for it becomes a stone Hence Note The Lord can make wonderful changes in Nature What is more fluid than water more moveable than water it was of old grown into a divine Proverb Gen. 49.4 Vnstable as water yet this unstable body can the Lord change into a stone and make it hard as a rock Histories are full of strange reports concerning the effects
at the last day Our late Annotators dealing with these words as reported Luk. 17.37 say that by the flight of the Eagle is signified the sudden assembling of the Saints unto Christ coming unto judgement answerable to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.52 as also to that 1 Thes 4.17 Now though according to this allegorical interpretation of the Texts in St. Matthew and Luke Christ is the carcass and believers the Eagles yet I shall close my interpretation of thâ—s Text in Job to which both the Evangelists allude by shewing that in other Scriptures such things are spoken of Christ himselâ— as hold out a likeness between him and the Eagle in many respeâ—â—s First As the Eagle is the royal bird the Princess or Queen of birds so Jesus Christ is the Prince of the Kings of the earth Rev. 1.5 And again Rev. 19.16 King of Kings and Lord of Lords As the Eagle among birds so Christ among both men and Angels hath the preheminence Secondly As the Eagle mounts up so also did Jesus Christ Psal 68.18 Thou hast ascended on high yea so high hath Christ ascended that the Eaglâ—â—annot follow him The Heaven to which natural Eagles mount is as I may say but a pavement to that which Jesus Christ ascended to Christ had a high slight he mounted up to the heaven of heavens far above all visible heavens Eph. 4.10 he is made higher than the Heavens Heb. 7.26 Thirdly Hath the Eagle a piercing eye so hath Jesus Christ he not only from the height of the clouds whither the Eagle mounts but from the highest heavens can look into the secret of every mans heart even into the hell of a bad mans heart and see what 's doing there what 's lying there It was said of Christ while on earth John 2.25 He needed not that any should testifie of man for he knew what was in man and still he looks quite through man through the wisest closest and most reserved among the sons of men All things are naked and open before the eyes of him this Eagle with whom we have to do his eyes behold afar off Fourthly Historians tell us the Eagle fights or wars with Dragons and Serpents and overcomes them Jesus Christ this Eagle hath fought with that great dragon the devil and bruised the head of the Serpent Gen. 3.15 Fifthly The Eagle is very tender and careful of her young ones Now as an Eagle saith Moses Deut. 32.11 12. stirreth up her nest that is those in her nest fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings taketh them beareth them on her wings so the Lord alone did lead him and there was no strange God with him God bare the Israelites on Eagles wings out of Egypt and brought them to himself Exod. 19.5 that is he brought them speedily and safely and so he bore them all the years of their journeying in the wilderness The Eagle beareth her young ones upon her wings that they may be safe she must be hurt before her young ones can while she bears them there Thus Christ bears his people on his wings yea in his bosome The eternal God is their refuge and underneath are the everlasting Arms Deut. 33.27 Sixthly Naturalists tell us the Eagle gives her young ones of her own blood Aelian l. 14. cap. 14. when she cannot get other blood for them to drink or suck This is most true of Christ he suffered himself to be wounded for us his hands and feet yea his very heart was pierced that we might have his blood to drink in believing My blood saith he Joh. 6. is drink indeed Seventhly The Eagle is long lived Aquila vocatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propter longae vitatem vivit annos centum Epiphan The Greek expresseth her by a word signifying longevity and some give the reason not only from the excellent temperament and constitution of her body but also because she lives in such pure air free from ill vapours and noisom smells Jesus Christ is not only long lived but he lives for ever he was from everlasting and will be to everlasting he is the King eternal 1 Tim. 1.17 the eternal father Isa 9.6 Thus we see how Christ is like the Eagle in these seven particulars I shall shew seven more wherein true Christians also are like the Eagle First Doth the Eagle flie high so do they by the wings of faith They mount up saith the Prophet Isa 40.31 with wings as the Eagle Secondly Hath the Eagle a clear sight doth she see far off so Saints by faith can see far off Isa 33.17 Their eyes see the King in his beauty they behold the Land that is very far off Which Scripture though it be properly and litterally meant of beholding King Hezekiah in his earthly glory yet it is much more verified of a believers seeing his King the Lord Jesus Christ in his heavenly glory and of his beholding Heaven which may well be called the Land of farness and distances or as we translate The Land very far off Stephen the Protomartyr had a clear intellectual spiritual eye when he said Acts 7.56 Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God Believers have a clear Eagle-eye here and they shall have a much clearer eye hereafter when they shall see Christ as he is 1 John 3.2 All Saints will be more than eagle-eyed in glory Thirdly Doth the Eagle dwell on a rock so doth every true believer Isa 33.16 His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks bread shall be given him his water shall be sure The Apostle tells us who the rock is 1 Cor. 10.4 The rock which followed them was Christ Fourthly Doth the Eagle renew her strength So do believers when any oldness is coming upon the new creature as it doth sometimes then they renew their strength by looking to Jesus Christ who is at once their righteousness and their strength He satisfieth their mouth with good things so that their youth is renewed as the Eagles Psal 103.5 As the Lord often bâ—ings his people low by bodily sickness and weakness and then renews their natural health and strength So when there are decays and declinings upon their souls he renews their spiritual health and strength Isa 40.31 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strengh and then as was said before they shall mount up with wings as Eagles The Eagles youth is renewed by the growth and succession of new feathers of the same kind in the place of the old but a believer reneweth his youth or strength by casting off gradually the remainders of the old man which is corrupt and by putting on more of the new man who is quite of another kind created after God in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4.24 Fifthly Can the Eagle look fully upon the Sun Surely helievers have not only as clear but as strong a sight as the Eagle they can look upon Jesus Christ the
Son of righteousness with open face For as this Son of righteousness hath said behold me behold me Isa 65.1 and again Look to me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth Isa 45.22 that is all ye that dwell on earth even to the ends of it so he gives a power or a spiritual eye to behold and look upon him and that beholding or looking is a healing to them as the beholding of the Sun is to the natural eye of the Eagle Mal. 4.2 To them that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings Sixthly Do Eagles suck blood both young and old so do believers The first living of the new creature is upon blood every godly man drinks the blood of Jesus Christ by faith as offered to him both in the promises and in the Ordinances of the Gospel A believer could not live a moment nor have any subsistence in grace if he had not as the Eagle blood to suck in and drink A godly man is nourished by a believing contemplation upon the sufferings of Christ and the effusion of his blood Seventhly Doth the Eagle feed upon the slain so believers feed upon Christ as slain Christ by his death is become our food to eternal life Joh. 6.51 53. Though the raised and glorified body of Christ be entred into the full possession of a divine and eternal life and though we by faith look to Jesus Christ not according to the flesh nor as dead but as living and sitting for ever at the right hand of the Father there making intercession for us yet we must look to him as entring into the holy place by the sacrifice of himself and with his own blood not with the blood of others Heb. 9.24 25 26. The Apostle told the Corinthians I determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified that is so to know him as to feed upon him my self and so to make him known to you that you might feed upon him also Further It is considerable that as believers in Scripture are compared to Eagles and the Lord is said to have born the old Church of the Jews upon Eagles wings so under the Gospel Eagles wings are said to have been given to the Christian Church whereupon she was born out of the reach of danger Rev. 12.13 15. And when the Dragon saw that he was cast to the earth he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man-child And to the woman were given two wings of a great Eagle that she might flie into the Wilderness that is convenient and sufficient means to further her slight and retirement into her place wheresoever it is where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent All the means of the Churches escape from danger are shadowed by two wings not but that God hath more means than two by which his providence works and procures the safety of the Church but because it had been improper speaking of her flight to express more wings than two For the Seraphims which are described having each one six wings Isa 6.2 yet two of them only were put to that use of flying And these two wings given the Church are said to be the two wings of an Eagle because among all the winged tribes Eagles are stâ—ongest and swiftest of wing they can fly fastest and they can fly furthest as in height so in length Nor are the wings given the Church barely called the wings of an Eagle but of a great Eagle implying not only the best kind of wings but the best wings of that kind not only the wings of an Eagle but of a great Eagle By all which is meant the wise and tender care of God over his Church in times of greatest danger when the Dragon become a Serpent or the Serpentine Dragon seeks most to annoy her Thus far the Lord hath been interrogating Job not only about the inanimate creatures the Heavens the Air the Sea the Earth but also about several Animals in the least of which because they not only have a being but life sense and motion more of the power wisdom and goodness of God shines forth than in the greatest of the former And all the questions proposed to Job in these two Chapters have as hath been hinted heretofore and should be constantly minded this general scope to convince as then Job so now all men both of their own nothingness and of the all-sufficiency wisdom care and power of God who hath so wisely made and doth so wisely dispose of all the creatures which he hath made And therefore man who hath received more from God than they all and of whom God is more tender than of them all should submit to the dispose of God in all things without disputing about much more without murmuring at or complaining of his dispensations in one kind or other The Lord though he had done much in the way of interrogating hath not yet done interrogating Job concerning the works of his hands Nevertheless before he proceeded any further to enquire of him about the creatures he saw it fit to feel his pulse a little by a close application of what he had already said mingled with high language and cutting reproofs thereby to try what effect this forepassed discourse had wrought upon him or whether he were come to a more humble and submitting frame than before as will appear in opening the former part of the Chapter following JOB Chap. 40. Vers 1 2. 1. Moreover the Lord answered Job and said 2. Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him he that reproveth God let him answer it IN the two former Chapters we have heard what the Lord said to Job out of the Whirlwind with what questions he apposed him about the works of Creation and Providence To all or any of which Job being unable to make Answer especially to give a present and perfect Answer the Lord it seems gave him some little respite to recollect himself in expectation of his Answer but finding him silent proceeds in this Chapter to urge him yet further upon the whole matter for an Answer yea the Lord having said all this to him â—sets it home upon him with this sharp reprehension Moreover the Lord answered Job and said shall he c. As if he had said O Job hadst thou diligently considered my work of Creation in making and my work of Providence in governing this whole world even the motions of the least and most inferiour Creatures therein contained surely thou hadst never ventured to think what thou hast uttered and now thou canst not but see how unduly thou hast complained of my proceedings with thee nor canst thou be unconvinced how unable thou art to enter into the secrets of my Counsel for as much as the causes of many lesser and common things in the world are secrets unto thee and such as exceed the reach of thy understanding Thus
petitioner to the Lord for instruction having confessed his own ignorance and weakness And that he had formerly profited under the teachings of God and was now in a further way of profiting is evident by that which followeth Vers 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee Job had no sooner asked for teaching but God taught him though not formally and explicitely as he desired yet really and effectually as he needed For this verse seems to be a real answer to the petition he made in the former verse and in it Job asserts two things First That he had heard of God by the hearing of the ear Secondly That now his eye did see him There are two opinions about the general sense of this verse and I shall conclude in a third First Some conceive these discoveries of God to Job were only inward to his soul so that when he saith I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee we are not to understand him as if he had had any visible appearance of God but that these words may be taken First as a comparison between a slight hearing when the mind is not intent upon what the ear heareth and a serious hearing which brings the mind fully into the ear As if Job had formerly been a careless hearer but now an attentive one and so the knowledge which Job had of God formerly was little compared with his present knowledge He had a knowledge of God by hearing only before but his mind was not intent upon it he heard only with the hearing of his ear but his eye did not see that is he had not a clear sight or knowledge which is an intellectual sight of the things which he heard But doubtless Job was no slight hearer of the word in former times he did not hear the word in the dayes of his prosperity as if he had only as we say given it the hearing for had he not seriously hearkned to the voice of God in those dayes he had never obtained such a testimony as God gave of him towards the end of those dayes yea this very phrase I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear implyeth serious and attentive hearing Secondly Others who deny any visible manifestation of God to Job grant that the first part of the verse notes serious hearing and receiving of the word the latter more so that here say they is a comparison between that lesser light or knowledge which Job had of the will of God before and that fuller light which he got upon this discourse which the Lord had with him the former being but as of a matter heard this as of things seen The Scripture sometimes calls clear knowledge sight So that look how much that which we see with our bodily eyes is clearer to us than that whereof we have only heard the report by so much the knowledge which Job had now of the things of God especially about the whole mystery of Gods dealing with him was clearer and fuller than what he had before even as if he now saw what before he only heard As we say One eye-witness is better than ten ear-witnesses so one eying of the word of God the eye of the mind fully and distinctly taken in what is heard is better than ten earings of it that is when little or nothing is taken in at the ear but a sound of words For then only we may be said to know divine things by the seeing of the eye when we know them not only from without by the report of others but from experience within our selves The Apostle saith of those who took joyfully the spoyling of their goods for the truths sake They knew in themselves that they had in heaven a better and a more enduring substance Heb. 10.34 that is they had even got a sight of that heavenly enduring substance Hence in Scripture vision is applied to spiritual things heard and we are said to see the Word of God Jer. 2.31 O generation see ye the Word of the Lord have I been a wilderness c. As if the Lord had said Ye have heard it before but now see it Seeing notes the highest knowledge then we see what we hear when we fully understand what we have heard Thus they expound this Text who judge there was no outward vision at all but that Jobs seeing was only spiritual and intellectual Secondly Others affirm that Job had an outward apparition and that the eye of his sense was affected And concerning this First Some are so much of this opinion that they say Christ appeared in humane shape to Job as he did to many of the holy Patriarks and Prophets of old which apparitions are by the Ancients called preludes to his incarnation And some Jewish Writers tell us that Job upon this sight of God had a spirit of prophesie given him but they need not insist upon that for several have had apparitions who were no Prophets Secondly others say the appearance of God to Job was only in or by a cloud with the whirlwind But that he had a vision or sight of God one way or other is asserted as by many of the Jewish Writers so by most of the Christian Ancients And doubtless when the Lord spake to him out of the whirlwind he had a vision or an extraordinary manifestation of God even to his eye Not that God in himself can be seen No man hath seen God at any time 1 John 4.12 It is reported by the Jewish Writers that the Prophet Isaiah was sawn asunder by his own Nation for saying that he had seen the Lord Isa 6.1 I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up This they counted blasphemy and put him to death for it say some yet others say he was put to death for his plainness in reproving the Princes and people of Israel in those words Isa 1.10 Hear the word of the Lord ye Rulers of Sodom give ear to the Law of our God ye people of Gomorrah But of that by the way I say God in himself cannot be seen he is seen only by those visible demonstrations of his presence which he is pleased to make of himself as here he spake to Job out of the whirlwind I conceive we may take in both so that when Job speaketh of his hearing by the ear he intends that teaching which he had in former times by the Ministry of his Ancestors And that when he saith But now mine eye seeth thee he intends that teaching which he had from the present appearance of God to him for his instruction and humiliation I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee As if he had said Lord heretofore I heard of thee for I was religiously brought up I had Parents and Ancestors who declared to me who the Lord was and I heard many things of thee which
judgment and procedure with Job and therefore they must hear of it a second time or as we say at both ears Secondly The Lord telleth them again of it that he might fasten the sense of their sin more upon them We very hardly take the impression of our follies and failings we are ready to let the thoughts of them wear off and slip from us they abide not but glide away as water from a stone or from the swans-back unless fixed by renewed mindings and for this reason the Lord repeateth the mention of sin so often in the the ears of his people by the ministry of his word that the evil of it may more fully appear to them or that they may the more clearly see and the better know how bad how base how foolish a thing it is to sin against him Thirdly I conceive the Lord repeated these words to confirm the judgment which he had given before concerning them in those woâ—ds Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Quicquid in divino colloquiâ— reâ—etitur robustius confirmatur Greg. lib. 35. moral c. 8. As if the Lord had said that which I said before I say again I do not change my opinion either concerning you or my servant Job and therefore I say it once more the repâ—â—ting of a matter is for the confirmation of it as Joseph told Pharaoh about the doubling of his dream Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Like my servant Job These words also are a repetition yea a triplication and more than so this is the fourth time that the Lord hath called Job his servant in the compass of two verses three times in this 8th verse and once in the 7th But what should be the meaning of this why did the Lord call Job his servant so often even four times as it were in one breath I answer First It intimates that Job was the Lords steady servant that what he was at first he was then at last and what he had been long ago he was still Some have been called the servants of God who have given it over in the plain field but here the Lord calleth Job his servant over and over four times over as being his sure servant Secondly It was to shew that as Job retained the same duty and respect to the service of God so God retained the same opinion of Job and of his service then as at first Thirdly The Lord in repeating this relational title servant so often would assure us that he knew not how if I may speak so to speak more honourably of him The Lord gave no other title to Moses Num. 12.7 nor to Caleb Num. 14.24 nor to David 2 Sam. 7.5 8. The Lord did not speak this so often because he wanted other titles to give him or because he had not variety of phrases to express himself by but as if he knew not where to find a more honourable title I grant that title of relation Son is more noble and more endearing but that is not at all spoken of in the Old Testament nor is it given to any particular person in the New Believers as to their state are all the sons of God but no one believer is spoken either to or of under this title Son The Apostle Paul still called himself only a servant of God He that is the Lords servant is the best of free-men We have enough to glory in when we are his servants The History reports of the French King That the Ambassador of the King of Spain repeating many great titles of his Master the King of France commanded this only to be mentioned of him King of France King of France implying that this single title King of France was as honourable as that large roll of titles given the King of Spain Thus the Lord calleth Job his servant his servant his servant to shew that all honour is wrapt up in this word A servant of God Fourthly This repetition may signifie That Job had been a very great good and faithful servant to the Lord not only a servant but a laborious and profitable servant to the Lord so the Scripture calls those who are laborious in his service though at best as to the Lord we are unprofitable servants nor can any be profitable unto him Fifthly The Lord multiplieth this title upon him because whatsoever a godly man doth is service to the Lord. This word service is comprehensive of all duties to hear the Word is to serve the Lord to pray to fast to give almes is to serve the Lord all is service to the Lord. Job was every way a servant of the Lord. First As he was a Ruler To rule well in a family is to serve the Lord to rule Nations is to serve the Lord much more Job was a ruler and he ruled well in both capacities as was shewed in opening the 29th 30th and 31st chapters Secondly Job was a great servant of the Lord as he was a worshipper Thirdly Job was a great servant of the Lord as he was a sacrificer he had the honour of the priest-hood Fourthly Job was a great servant of the Lord as a teacher of the truth he had instructed many as Eliphaz acknowledged chap. 4.3 And as he was a great servant of the Lord in teaching the truth so in opposing error he stood firm to his own opinion the truth against the tenent of his friends Fifthly Job served the Lord as he was a sufferer To suffer is very great service especially as he did to suffer greatly We serve the Lord as much with his cross upon our backs as with his yoke upon our necks or his burden upon our shoulders Job was a great servant of the Lords as in holding forth the doctrine of the cross or maintaining that God afflicts his choicest servants so in bearing the cross himself Sixthly Job was a great servant of the Lord in praying for his friends and in being so willing to be reconciled to them and therefore the Lord having had so many services of him and so many ways repeateth my servant Job my servant Job as if he could not say this word often enough My servant Job Thus we have the Lords command or charge given to Eliphaz and his two friends what they must do for the quenching of that fire which was kindled in his breast against them for their folly in dealing with his se vant Job How they answered that command will appear in the next words Vers 9. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them the Lord also accepted Job This verse holds out the obedience of Eliphaz and his two friends to the charge and command which the Lord gave them in the eighth verse where the Lord said to these three men Take to you seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt offering
people which are are called by my Name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked wayes then will I hear in heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land This was performed to the Ninivites a heathen Nation when they repented of the evil which they had done God repented of the evil which he threatned to do unto them or bring upon them and did it not brought it not But I shall not stay upon this useful poynt here because it is grounded upon a translation which is not as I conceive so clearly grounded upon the Original as our own The Lord turned the Captivity of Job In Hebraeo est pulchra paranomasia nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est vertere aut convertere et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 captivitas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hebrew is very elegant He turned the turning or captivity of Job Why his Captivity Job was never lead captive in person he was not carryed away prisoner by the Chaldeans anâ— Sabeans who captivated his cattel How then is it here said The Lord turned the captivity of Job I answer These words The Lord turned the Captivity of Job may be taken two wayes First thus Jehova restituit quod captum fuerit Jobo Jun. Captivitas ponitur pro ipsis captivis Drus He turned that to Job whatsoever it was which was lead into Captivity So some translate The Lord restored that which was taken from Job His Cattel which were taken away by violent men his children which were taken away by a vehement wind were returned or restored to him again The word Captivity is elsewhere in Scripture taken tropically for things or persons captivated that which is captivated is called captivity The Lord turned the captivity of Job that is he returned that which was captivated or taken away Take a Scripture or two for that sâ—nse of the word captivity Judg. 5.12 Awake awake Deborah awake awake utter a song arise Barak and lead thy captivity captive thou son of Abinoam .. That is bring them back who were taken captives or thus lead those captive who have taken thy people captives So Psal 68.18 which is quoted by the Apostle Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he lead captivity captive The Psalmist gives us a prophesie and the Apostle reports the history of the glorious ascension of Christ When he ascended up on high he lead captivity captive Which text as the formâ—r may be taken two ways First Christ ascending led those captive who had led poor soulâ—â—aptive that is the devils which the Apostle expresseth thuâ— Col. 2.15 And having spoiled principalities and powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it that is in his cross or â—ufferingâ— or as our Maâ—gin hath it in himself And as Christ spoiled those principalities and triumphed over them not only really but openly in his passion so he led them captive and triumphed over them more openly in his ascention Secondly He led those that were captives sinful men captive he brought them out of a miserable captivity into a blessed captivity that is from the capâ—ivity of sin Satan and the world into a cap iviâ—y to himself The Apostle speaks so of the mighty power of the Word in the miniâ—tery of the Gospel The weapons of our warfare that is the weapons with which we the Ministers of the Gospel mâ—ke war upon sinners to convert them are not carnal that is weak but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations c. and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience Christ 2 Cor. 10.4 5. Not only are our persons but our thoughts captivated to Christ by the power of the Spirit ministred in the Gospel Thus the Scripture speaks of captivity in both these notions the captivaters and the captivated are called captivity Here in this place we may take it in the latter sence the Lord turned the captivity of Job that is what was captivated or taken away the Lord as it were fetch 't back again and restored it to him In this sense Abraham when he heard that his Nephew Lot was taken captive led captivity captive Gen. 14.16 He pursued them that had taken him captive he brought back Lot and the rest of the prisoners together with the spoils Thus the Lord did not only deliver Job from all those evils which he was under but restored the good things to him which he had lost or were carried away Secondly We may take it thus The Lord turned the captivity of Job that is he took away or called in Satans commission which he had given him over Jobs estate and body and by which Satan held Job in captivity or as his captive for as we read chap. 2.6 Satan could not touch him till he had leave or a letter of license from God till God said Behold all that he hath is in thy power only upon himself put not forth thy hand chap. 1.12 Nor could he touch his person till his commission was enlarged and the Lord said again Behold he is in thine hand but or only save his life chap. 2.6 And as soon as his commission was taken away or called in by God he could trouble him no longer The Lord forbidding the devil to meddle any more with him Turned the captivity of Job Hence Observe First To be in any affliction is to be in bonds or captivity The afflicted condition of Job was a captivity Troubles in our estate troubles in our relations troubles in our bodies troubles in our souls are like bonds and prisons It is a very uneasie and an uncomfortable condition to be in prison and so it is to be in any afflicted condition considered in it self Job spake as much of himself while his affliction continued upon him strongly chap. 13.27 Thou puttest my feet in the stocks and thou lookest narrowly unto all my paths Job was not only as a man in captivity but as a man in the stocks which is a great hardship in captivity David calleth such an estate an imprisonment Psal 69.33 The Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his prisoners Some are prisoners strictly being under restraint all are prisoners largely or as we say prisoners at large who are in any distress The Lord maketh many prisoners by sickness and weakness of body as also by poverty and the want of bodily comforts and conveniences The afflicted condition of the Church in any kind is expressed by captivity as captivity in kind is sometimes the affliction of the Church The ten tribes were led into captivity by Salmanazar Judah by Nebuchadnazzar Hence that promise Jerem. 30.18 Behold I will bring again the captivity of Jacobs tents And that prayer Psal 14.7 O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people Jacob shall rejoyce and Israel shall be glad This Scripture may be taken both strictly
head for yet my prayer shall be in their calamities that is if ever they who are my reprovers fall into calamity though they may think they have provoked me so by reproving me that they have lost my love and have cast them out of my prayers or that I will never speak well of them or for them again yet I will pray for them with all my heart as their matters shall require I will pray for them when they have most need of prayer even in their calamity Some heighten the sense thus The more they sharpen their reproof the more I think my self bound to pray for them It shews an excellent spirit not to be hindred from doing good to others by any thing they do or speak against us nor by their sharpest though perhaps mistaken reproofs of us Thus it was with this good man Job prayed for his friends who had spoken much against him and not only reproved him without cause but reproached him without charity and God turned his captivity when he prayed for them Hence observe Secondly Prayer for friends especially for unkind friends is very pleasing to God and profitable to us We never reap more fruit or benefit by prayer our selves than when we lay out our selves in prayer for others and then most when we pray for those who have deserved least at our hands Prayer for unkind friends is the greatest kindness we can do them and the noblest way of recompencing their unkindness Holy David was much in this way of duty and found the benefit of it Psal 35.12 13. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoyling of my soul but as for me when they were sick my cloathing was sackcloth I humbled my soul with fasting that is I was greatly affected with and afflicted for them in their affliction and see what followed My prayer returned into my own bosom There is some difference about the Exposition of those words but I conceive that is clear in it self as well as to my purpose that David received fruit and a good reward for those prayers As if he had said If my prayer did them no good it did me good if it did not profit them it profited me my prayer returned into my own bosom I found comfortable effects of it We never gain more by prayer than when we pray for those by whom we have been losers we never find more comfort by prayer than when we pray heartily for those by whom we have found much sorrow whatever good we pray for in the behalf of others falls upon our own heads and the more we pray for good upon the heads of those that have done evil to us the more good is like to fall upon our own heads and hearts Christ saith Mat. 10.13 When ye come into an house salute it Christ means not a Courtly complemental salute but a Christian spiritual salute wishing them mercy and peace as is plain by that which followeth and if the house be worthy let your peace come upon it but if it be not worthy let your peace return to you As if he had said When ye come into an house good or bad salute it if the house be good they shall receive the benefit of your prayer if not you shall have the benefit of it your selves though they get no good by your good wishes to them or prayers for them yet you shall This is more expresly assured us again by our blessed Saviour Luke 10.6 Into whatsoever house ye enter first say peace be to this house bestow a prayer upon them and if the Son of peace be there your peace shall rest upon it if not it shall turn to you again your prayers shall not be lost nor shall ye be losers by your prayers Hence take these two Inferences First If when we pray for friends for unkind friends God be ready to do us good then he will be much more ready to do us good when we as he hath commanded us pray for professed or real enemies The worse they are if not so bad as to be past prayer by the Apostles rule 1 John 5.16 for whom we pray the better are our prayers and an argument as of our greater faith in God so of our greater love to man Yet this is not to be understood as if we should pray for the prosperity of enemies or evil men in their evil purposes or practices this were to pray at once for the misery of Sion for the downfal of Jerusalem and the dishonour of God Our prayer for enemies should only be that God would change their hearts and pardon their sins as was touched before I grant we may in some cases pray Lord overturn overturn them or as David against Achitophel Lord turn their counsels into foolishness yet even then we should also pray with respect to their persons Lord turn them turn them The Gospel teacheth us to do so Luke 6.28 Bless them that curse you pray for them that despitefully use you Not that we should pray for a blessing on them as they are cursers and despisers but that they may repent and give over their cursed cursings and despiteful usages The Apostle is full for this Rom. 12.14 Bless them that persecute you bless and curse not vers 19. Avenge not your selves And as we should not avenge our selves so we should be sparing in prayer that God would take vengeance and if ever we put up such prayers beware they flow not from a spirit of revenge We indeed are sometimes afraid to be over-gentle and kind-hearted towards them that offend us and this bad Proverb is too much remembred If we play the Sheep the Wolf will eat us up as if to do our duty were to run further into danger and that it must needs turn to our wrong not to avenge our wrongs But know if we carry it meekly like sheep we have a great Shepheard who will take care of us and is able to preserve us from the Wolf Consider these two things in praying for enemies or for those that have any way wronged us First If by prayer we gain them 't is possible by prayer to turn a Wolf into a Sheep then it will be well with us they will be our friends Secondly If they continue Wolves and enemies still God will be more our friend and turn the evil which they either intend or do us to our good A second Inference is this If God be ready to deliver us from evil and do us good when we pray for others then he will be ready to do us good and deliver us from evil when we pray for our selves This Inference appears every where in Scripture And as the Lord himself hath often invited or encouraged us to the duty of prayer for our selves by this promise take one instance for all Psal 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me that is thou shalt have both occasion and a heart to glorifie
his Cause in hand or that he would have the hearing of it Thus he spake at the third verse of the three and twentieth Chapter O that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his Seat I would order my Cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments Zophar also one of Jobs friends made the same request concerning Job Chap. 11.2 O that God would speak and open his lips against thee As if he had said Eliphaz hath been speaking and Bildad hath been speaking and I am now about to speak but O that God would speak It was the wish of Job that God would speak and it was the wish of this his friend and now behold God appears possibly beyond their expectation though not beside their wish for 't is like they had not faith enough to beleeve that God would answer those wishes So then God may be said here to answer because as it was prayed he now took the matter into his own hand and in person as I may say argued the Case with Job and finally determined his Cause Hence Note The wishes requests and prayers of good men have sometimes been heard though they were over-bold in making them or had no clear ground to make them Job had no rule for such a Petition that he might presently have a trial at the Tribunal of God yet God was so gracious as to answer him in it not onely to his reproof but to his comfort The Name of God is O thou that hearest prayer Psal 65.2 If carnal men have their extravagant prayers and wishes granted 't is in wrath but if the Lord grant the passionate prayers and wishes of a godly man it proves though sometimes a present affliction yet alwayes upon one account or other a mercy in the issue When the lusting Israelites wisht for flesh the Lord heard their wishes take Quails your bellies full till they come out at your nostrils but while the meat was in their mouths the wrath of God fell upon them If the Lord grants what lust asketh such pay dear for what they have for the asking It hath been anciently said Multi irato deo exaudiuntur many have their prayers heard in meer anger so are all theirs who pray for what they have not in meer discontent with what they have The Lord heard Job and not in anger but in favour and condescention to him Now if some not well grounded nor warranted requests of good men may be granted and answered the Lord pitying their weakness and eyeing their uprightness in favour how much more may they be confident that their gracious and humble requests such requests as are every way sutable to the Word and Will of God shall be graciously answered Secondly The Lord answered as the Prayer and Wish so the Complaints of Job He had complained sometimes though he were a mirror of patience impatiently These complaints the Lord answered but it was with severe and sharp reproofs as we find in the next verse To conclude this query we may say God had two great ends or designs in answering both the wishes and complaints of Job First That he might humble and convince him that he might stop his mouth and silence his complainings for ever as he did most effectually Secondly That after his humiliation and repentance he might justifie and acquit him and also restore him to his former comforts and enjoyments as he did most mercifully This being the design of the Lord in speaking to Job what he said may well be called an Answer But how or in what manner did the Lord answer him Surely in such a manner as never man was answered The Lord answered Job Out of the Whirlwind He answered him as we say to some Tune A Whirlwind makes strange kind of Musick A Whirlwind is a sudden mighty loud-blustring Wind taking away or bearing down all before it A Whirlwind is a Wind which moves whirling and gyring about all the points of the Compass no man knows where to have it nor how to shelter himself from it I have had occasion to speak of the Wind and of the natural ordinary Whirlwind in the former Chapter But here 's a Whirlwind extraordinary if not supernatural There 's much questioning among some Interpreters how we are to conceive of this Whirlwind I would answer that point a little and then give some account why the Lord spake to Job out of such a Whirlwind First Some affirm that it was onely a Visional Whirlwind As if the Lord appeared as it were in a Tempest or Whirlwind to Job in a deep sleep such as was upon Adam Gen. 2.21 when the Lord took one of his ribs and made the Woman In such a deep sleep say they Job saw a Whirlwind and heard the Lord speaking to him out of it As Ezekiel who in a Vision looked and behold a Whirlwind came out of the North as we read in the first Chapter of that Prophesie verse 4. Secondly Others conceive that it was not a Visional but a Metaphorical Whirlwind or a Whirlwind in a figure and we may give you a threefold Metaphor or three things to which this passage of Providence may allude to a speaking out of a Whirlwind First God answered Job out of the Whirlwind that is when there was a great bussle or storm among the Disputants conflicting about Jobs case one moving this way another thar all being tossed about as it were with the wind of their several opinions in ventitalating his condition Out of this Whirlwind it was say some or while all were thus discomposed in their spirits and could not compose the matter in difference between them and Job during this hurry or troublesome state of things and minds the Lord arose and answered Job Secondly The Lord may be said to answer Job out of the Whirlwind because he spake to him angrily displeasedly and reprovingly Anger especially the Lords Anger or Displeasure is often in Scripture compared to a Storm or Tempest As if this Whirlwind were nothing else but a sharp angry chiding When a man chides we say The man 's in a storm and we may say with reverence when the Lord speaks chidingly as he did to Job he is in a storm or according to the Text speakes out of a Sto my Whirlwind Thus also when the Lord speaks pleasingly and gently then he may be said to speak in a calm There 's a truth in that Thirdly The Lord answered in a Whirlwind that is while Job both as to his outward condition and inward disposition or the frame of his spirit was evidently in a great storm or toss For doubtless his spirit was very stormy and tossed up and down at that time that is much troubled and disquieted upon the with-drawings of God and the unkindness of his friends Now when Job had this Stoâ—m this Whirlwind in his spirit the Lord appeared and answered him Thus some conceive it though not a Visional Whirlwind yet a
than a Whirle-wind yet Job found this storme ushering in a sweet calme and a most comfortable sunshine Job said chap. 9.16 17. If I had called and he had answered me yet would I not have beleeved that he had hearkened to my v ice for he breaketh me with a tempest or a Whirld-wind Now the Lord came in a Whirl-wind and Job finds the quite contrary God came in a Whirl-wind not to break him but to bind him up not to condemn him but to convince him not to discourage him but to comfort him comfort comes out of a storme Thus comfort hath come to many a poor soule and it comes thus sometimes to the whole Church of God When Jacob was in a stormy condition because of his brother Esau then the Lord came to him Gen. 32. but how came he to him one would have thought that Jacob being in such a condition the Lord who came to comfort him would have taken him by the hand and embraced him or walkt aside with him and told him I am come to help thee and deliver thee be of good cheer let not thy heart be troubled at the approach of thy bloody brother for I am with thee One would have thought I say the Lord should have treated him in some such manner but what saith the text v. 24 there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day Poor Jacob was tugging and swetting all night as if he would sweat his heart out here was a strange kind of greeting 't is not said the man saluted him or spake a kind word to him much less complemented with him he only wrestled with him and when he had toyled a geat while he put his thigh out of joyâ—t which was very course usage and only said Let me goe which was very course language yet the Lord came at that time with a full purpose to bless him deliver him out of the hand of Esau Then be not afraid of storms for the Lord hath sunshine in his heart when there 's nothing but a storm in his face The Lord may come to you in poverty and sickness he may chasten you with pain upon your bed Perpetuum deo est vulnerare quos vult sanare percellere quos vult consulari ostendere se maximum cum vult optimum demonstrare and the multitude of your bones with strong pains till you say as Hezekiah in his sickness Isa 38.13 I reckoned till morning that as a Lion so will he break all my bones and yet intend so much mercy that you shll say as David Ps 35.10 All my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him yea the poor and needy from him that spoileth him The Lord hath gracious purposes towards his people in saddest appearances Then the Lord answered Job out of the Whilrl-wind and said What said he His saying was as stormy as his appearing Vers 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge This Verse and ths next are a Preface to what God had further to say unto his afflicted servant Job The former verse was the Historians Preface these two are the Lords Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge We have here First A check lighting somewhere Who is this Secondly We have the matter for which this person is checkt and that is for darkening counsel Thirdly We have that by which he is charged to have darkned counsel and that is By words without knowledge and his ignorance or want of knowledge is implied as discovered in speaking or rather complaining so much concerning his own sufferings and the severity of Gods dealings with him whereby he had at once cast a cloud upon the Justice and reflected upon the goodness and mercy of God Who 's is this The words may be taken First as a bare enquiry after he man Who is this what man is this as Saul spake of David after the victory which he had got over Goliah Whose son is this youth 1 Sam. 17.55 but that I conceive is too flat and lean a sense in this place as if the Lord did only make enquiry after the man Therefore Secondly These words Who is this carry in them a rebuke who is it that hath done this As if God pointing at Job had said is it you I could not have believed that my servant Job would have so much forgotten himself or have been so bold with me as to reflect upon my just though severe proceedings by his weak reasonings which faith only can make him understand aright Such Questions in Scripture often carry a rebuke in them yea Thirdly more then a rebuke they carry a slight or contempt of the person about whom the question is put As when men presume as some blasphemously have done to say Who is the Lord What is the Almighty that we should serve him they speak contemptuously and slightingly of God So when God speaks thus to man who is this he may be said to speak slightingly of man Again as when man speaking of himself saith as Psal 8.4 What is man that thou art mindful of him he slights or vilifies himself so when the Lord saith who is this or who is the other it carryeth the same sense Interrogations are quick sharp speeches and usually those speeches are quick and sharp which begin with an Interrogation and doubtless this Interrogation hath a double sharpness or two stings in it First Of rebuke or reprehension Forma ipsa interrogationis qua nullum exprimitur proprium nomen solet ad contemptum pertinere exprobrationem Secondly Of a slight or diminution Job though indeed a man of an excellent spirit had been too bold with God and therefore no wonder if God spake though he contemned him not contemningly to him Who is this Yet here it is questioned who the person was whether Job or no that is aimed at or intended in this rebuking or contemning Question There are two opinions about it and the matter is carried on both sides as one expresseth it by no inconsiderable Arguments First Some conceive Elihu was the person concerned in this Question Who is this and they give several reasons for it I shall only mention two First because he was the man that spake last we had him speaking six Chapters quite through while Job spake not a word and therefore say they it seems most probable that when God came to speak he would undertake him that spake last Who is this Secondly Because Elihu had not carryed the matter so clearly and fully with Job as he should but had failed though not as Jobs three friends had done before and that therefore as the Lord reproved and taxed them by name in the 42d Chapter so here Elihu is taxed more covertly for obsâ—uring his Counsel Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge These are the two chief Arguments which fasten the
counsel of God too he delivered his own mind and sentiments so darkly the delivering of a mans mind is his counsel about the counsel of God that he rather obscured both than cleared either And there are several things wherein Job may be charged to have spoken obscurely Did he not darken the counsel of God when he complained so very much and so often of his afflictions Did he not darken his own counsel and the counsel of God when as if the dispensations of God were every where alike to all he said Chap. 9.22 God destroyeth the perfect and the wicked If the scourge slay suddenly he laugheth at the trial of the innocent Did he not darken counsel when he said God dealt with him as an enemy oâ— as with an enemy Surely he did not well attend the counsel of God in afflicting him while he made such constructions of his affliction The things which Job spake were true yet Job delivered himself so darkly that his friends mis-understood him they understood him as if he meant that God dealt in his providences with the righteous as with the wicked and were to the wicked as he is to the righteous that is as if he had no more regard to any godly man than to a wicked man in afflicting him In these and some other things Job did not sufficiently explaine himself and he exceedingly stumbled or offended his friends and hearers and so might be said to darken the counsel of God that is the purpose of God or what God hath in his counsels concerning his people when under his afflicting hand All such like passages falling from Job the Lord might call a darkening of his counsel or the casting of a cloud upon his righteous dealings and at least an intimation that God had done him wrong Words of such a tenour and tendency are justly charged to be words Without knowledge Not that Job spake altogether ignorantly understanding neither what he said nor whereof he affirmed as the Apostle charged some who desired to be teachers of the Law 1 Tim. 1.7 the Text cannot be so taken but his words and affirmations were such as did not hold out a clear light of knowledge either in his own understanding or at least not to the understanding of his hearers Thus Elihu charged Job Chap. 35.16 He openeth his mouth in vain he multipileth words without knowledge To speak one word without knowledge is too many what is it then to multiply words without knowledge He multiplieth words without knowledge that is he hath not given his sense and meaning in many things clearly as he might and should Here the Lord seems to take up the same charge against Job Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge God consents with Elihu as to the matter of his reproof Elihu telling him that he had multiplied words without knowledge and God telling him that he had darkened counsel by words without kowledge Words ought to give light to the things we speak of or about what we speak should be for the clearing up both of our own counsel and the counsel of God So that it was a very great failing in Job to darken either his own counsel or the counsel of God by words without knowledge Out own counsel should be delivered plainly and so should the counsel of God much more It is sad to gather clouds or raise a mist about our hearers when we are professing to hold out the light To puzzle and amâ—â—e those whom we undertake to teach is one of the worst accidents 't is too too bad when 't is the intent of a Teacher And therefore Job though he had no intent to do it is justly reproved for doing it Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge These woâ—ds as was said being at best an enquiry after the man or a citation to appear and answer Note God will bring every man to a reckoning for what he hath done and siad God would not let his servant Job pass he censured Job that Job might censure himself and points at him that he might even see himself pointed at As if he had said What! is this my servâ—â—t Job is it he that I heard speaking at such a rate of impatience and obscurity I could not have thought that he would have uttered such words about my wayes and works either towards himself or others Every one of us saith the Apostle Rom. 14.12 shall give an account of himself to God Some have more to account for than themselves Heb. 13.17 but all must give account for than themselves Give an account of thy stewardship Luke 19.2 will be said one day to every one To be a Steward is the special office of some men in reference to men but 't is the general office of all men in reference to God They cannot stand in the day of account who have not repented of the evil they have done nor rested on Christ by faith for the doing away of that evil For the Lord will say to one who is this that hath perverted my Truth to another who is this that hath disobeyed my Commands to a third who is this that hath distrusted my Promises to a fourth who is this that hath been so unthankful for my Mercies and Favours He will also say who is this that hath oppressed his Neighbour and who is this that hath been self-proud and wanton The offender must appear and so will his offences Yea a citation will come out as against all those who have against knowledge refused to walk in the light of Gods counsel so to all those as here to Job who have darkened counsel any way for want of the light of knowledge And who can stand in any of these accounts either for not doing good or for doing evil without a Mediatour upon whose account alone we are accepted Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge Secondly Taking these words as an humbling rebuke upon Job for his over-boldness in speaking of God and his wayes Note God will humble all men his own people especially and make them know themselves God will make all men know who they are who himself is and what they have done or spoken When the Scripture saith who is this and what is man When the Scripture asketh what or who we are it is either to abase the pride of man or to convince him of his base fear of the proudest men as appears specially in these two Scriptures When good men are over-troubled at or afraid of the power of man then the Lord chides and shames them with this question Isa 51.12 Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man As if he had said what a fool art thou what an ignorant creature are thou the Lord spake there to his own people and to them altogether as is they were but one man Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man
that shall be made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy Maker What a kind of creature art thou to set so much by a man let him be who he will that thou shouldest be unduely afraid of him who by nature is like thy self frail and mortal is if thou hadst nor the immortal God thy Maker for thy helper and defender They act below men who over-fear men while they are in a way of duty to God Who art thou c. Secondly The Scripture useth such questions when man is over-bold with or not enough in the fear of God which is the case here in the Text If any man intrench upon the prerogative of God he is like to hear of it with a Who art thou The Apostle Rom. 9.20 by way of prevention represents man so bold with God as to darken his counsel even his eternal counsel by words without knowledge Thou wilt say then unto me why doth he yet find fault who hath resisted his will When God to shew his unquestionable Sovereignty saith Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy Then man begins to complain of God and thinks he hath cause for it But saith the Apostle Who art thou that repliest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus When-ever man give occasion to say that he fears man too much or God too little he is like to hear these rebuking and humbling questions Who is this or Who art thou Many have too high thoughts of others and most of themselves as if they were as we say some-body that is more than any-body as if they were of some greater worth or had some greater worthiness than their neighbours Now whosoever have too hign thoughts either of others or of themselves they alwayes have too low thoughts of God and therefore God to shew them their vanity that all men are but emptiness yea very nothingness compared with him makes the best of men strike sail or God shoots down their top-sail with such questions as these Who are you and who is this Thirdly Note We may quickly darken the counsels of God while we think to explain them Job had no intent to darken the counsel of God yet he did it Some make it their business when they speak of the counsels of God to darken them and raise a dust these are either angry with the light or envious at it and unwilling that others should enjoy it Some Patrons of Popery the better to make their own excuse for obscuring or hiding the Scriptures in darkness from the People have not feared to charge them with darkness obscurity And others by their ill and unskilfull handling of the Scriptures have brought darkness and obscurity upon them Though the Scriptures have many dark places in them yet woe to those who say the Scriptures are dark and let all take heed of darkening them for they are the counsel of God It is an easie matter to paddle in a clear stream till it runs muddily but it will not be for any mans ease or peace to do so in the clear crystal streams of the holy Scriptures It is the unhappiness of some that they cannot but speak and write about the counsels of God obscurely and there are others who glory that they can It was said of a dark Pen Dum legi vâ—luit quae scripsisset intelligi noluit quae logerentur that While he wâ—uld have that read which he had written he would not have that understood which was read and while some would have that heard which they speak they speak as if they would not have that understood which is heard It is a great sin purposely and designedly to darken the Counsels of God and 't is a failing and an affliction to darken them though we as Job did not design it not We should labour to deliver our minds plainly concerning the mind of God that what we utter may not be sound a darkning of his Counsel but as much as in us is a clearing of it Counsel as was toucht before is the giving of light in dark cases and therefore we should enlighten Counsel Two things are the grace and excellency of a spaker First To speak boldly and freely to speak the truth out not to clip nor straiten it Secondly To speak plainly to open the truth and not to intricate nor involve it Both these are comprised in one word by the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.12 where he saith as we translate therefore we use great plainness of speech but the Margin hath great boldness of speech the same word in the Greek signifies both plainness of speech and boldness of speech and these are the two great vertues and ornaments of him that speaketh Both these are again implied in that direction of the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.11 If any man speak about the things of God let him speak as the Oracles of God that is let him speak as becomes him that hath to do with the Oracles of God reverently freely and boldly not as if he were speaking the opinions of men much less Old Wives fables Or let him speak as the Oracles of God speak that is plainly cleerly not as the Oracles of the Heathens spake darkly doubtfully Let us take heed of wrapping up the truth of God or entangling it in uncertain expressions which may be interpreted either way or to quite contrary purposes there is a great danger in this We may give our selves some scope or take more liberty when we are debating about worldly matters or disputing the subtil questions and curiosities of Schoolmen But when we have to do with the Secrets and Counsels of God then let us beware and be sober Some speak as rashly and inevidently of deepest Gospel Mysteries as they talk of other mens crotchers or as of their own trifles Fifthly Consider How did Job darken the Counsel of God It was by words without knowledge Hence Note The ignorant are very apt to speak amiss of the things and Counsels of God If Job who had so great a measure of knowledge darkened the Counsel of God by words without knowledge what will they do that have upon the matter no knowledge at all The Apostle speaks of such as more than darkening even as wresting the Counsel of God 2 Pet. 3.16 In Pauls Epitles saith he are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other Scriptures unto their own destruction Some things in the Word are hard to be known and they are made harder by such unlearned ones as utter their own notions of them by words without knowledge 'T is very true that many learned men have wrested and perverted the Word of God and some of them have employed their learning on purpose to wrest and pervert it but they that have not a comperent degree of learning and knowledge what can they do
second of Providence in general chiefly in the Meteors from the 22d verse to the end of this Chapter the third of special Providence towards the Beast of the Earth and the Fowls of the Ayre from the first verse of the 39th Chapter to the end So that the proof of this Assumption that Job had no hand gâ—ve no counsel no furtherance no assistance in the Works of Creation and Providence I say this Assumption contains the history of the greatest things in all the parts of Nature for whatsoever belongs to true Philosophy may be reduced to it or clearly diâ—covered in it and herein we are taught the true use of Philosophy even to raise the mind of man to the contemplation of the Eternity Power and Wisdom of God as also of our own frailty weakness nothingness and so to sit down in an humble submission to whatsoever the Lord doth with us or ours in this world So much of the argument and general scope of this whole discourse The Lord begins with the Work of Creation thereby humbling Job to this Confession that he had nothing at all to do with it Vers 4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Quando deus interrogat ubi eras revocat in mentem Jobo quis sit ex quo quam brevis aevi Codur We have the Creation asserted in these words and God is pleased to speak of it metaphorically by a comparison drawn from Architecture or the model of a Building Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Eliphaz put a question of a near impoâ—t with this Chap. 15.7 Art thou the first man that was born or wast thou made before the hills Here the Lord speaks the same language Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Wast thou made before the World Antelunares There was a sort of men spoken of by the Ancients called Proselunes Men made before the Moon who boasted that they were a people before the Moon was made others said they were before the Earth The Scripture tells us that man was made out of the Earth well then might the Lord demand Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Wast thou before the Earth Or before the Moon Where wast thou Surely thou wast no where thou wast not in being when I laid the foundations of the Earth foâ—asmuch as thy foundation is of the Earth thou art but dust of the Earth therefoâ—e where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth Thou hadst no Being then unless in my decree and purpose for the bringing of thee forth in thy season and generation We may say every man was somewhere when God laid the foundations of the Earth he was in the Purpose Decree and Counsel of God which was from Eternity Every man had a being in the mind of God when God laid the foundations of the Earth but where wast thou or any man as to any existence when I laid the foundations of the Earth Now if this be thy case thou hast no reason to be so high and big in thy own thoughts or to speak so discontentedly about my dealings with thee Do I need thy counsel in governing the World who needed it not in making the World Where wast thou c. And here we may take notice of the difference of Scripture language in this point with respect to our Lord Jesus Christ by considering the different language of the Scripture concerning Christ we have a clear argument to prove the God-head of Christ or that he is God by Nature forasmuch as he had his existence when God laid the foundation of the Earth Hear what Wisdom substantial Wisdom that is Jesus Christ spake of himself Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way that is in the beginning of his ways of Creation before his works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was Where wast thou saith God to Job when I laid the foundations of the Earth But Jesus Christ the true Wisdom saith he was before the Earth was When there was no depth I was brought forth when there was no fountain abounding with water While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the fields nâ—r the highest parts of the dust of the World When he prepared the Heavens I was there When he set a compass upon the face of the depth When he established the Clouds above when he strengthened the fountains of the deep When he gave to the Sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandements When he appointed the foundations of the Earth Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing alwayes before him c. You see how the Spirit speaks concerning Christ the true Wisdom the substantial Wisdom he was before God laid the foundations of the Earth therefore he is God he is eternal But when God comes to speak to Job a man he saith Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth John 1.1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and by him all things were made Jesus Christ had a hand in making the World in laying the foundations of it the work is ascribed to him Here 's the glory of Jesus Christ above all creatures and this is an unanswerable proof of the God-head and Divinity of Jesus Christ as 't is of mans frailty when the Lord demands Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth 'T is as if the Lord had said Remember how short a time thou hast been how little a while it is since thou cam'st into the World There are two things which men should much consider First How little a while they have been in this World Secondly How little a time they have to stay in this World Where wast thou When I laid the foundations of the Earth The Hebrew is but one word Where wast thou when I founded the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In fundare me vel cum fundarem we say When I laid the foundations of the Earth What 's a foundation There are four things to be noted about a foundation First A foundation is the lowest part of a building The Top or Head-stone Zach. 4.7 and the foundation-stone are at utmost distance the one highest the other lowest the one first laid down the other last set up Secondly The foundation is an unseen part of the building we behold the super-structure the walls and towers when raised we behold the battlements and pinnacles but we cannot behold the foundation that 's an unseen part of the building Thirdly The foundation is the most necessary part of the building There are some parts of a building which are onely for ornament and beauty there are other parts of a building which though they are somewhat necessary yet not much necessary the building might stand
verse they confess not only their being in him throughout all generations but his most blessed Being before all generations Before Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God The first Being is an eternal Being and therefore the Prophet saith Isa 57.15 God inhabiteth Eternity The Eternal dwells in Eternity But what is Eternity One of the Ancients calleth it Aeternitas est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfect possessio Boeth de Consol l. 6. The perfect possession of a boundless or limitless life whole and all at once Eternity hath no terms nor bounds of beginning or ending 'T is a possession of all at once there is nothing past or to come but all is alwayes present to God Note Fourthly God is the fountain of all being he hath given a being to all things The Apostle Paul Acts 17.28 discoursing with the Athenians having said In him we live and move and have our being convinceth them further by that saying of their own Poets for we are also his off-spring We spring from him as from a root or fountain With him is the fountain of lives Psal 36.9 even of natural life as well as of spiritual and eternal Every life every being is but a stream issuing from Jehovah And as every life is from God so also is the being of all things without life The Lord gave the liveless Earth its being its beginning Some Naturalists have asserted the eternity of the World and so the eternity of the Earth They could not compass which way or how the World could have a beginning and therefore said it had none Here we have the Founder of the World God himself teaching man this Divine Philosophy about the beginning of the World and taking it to himself I laid the foundations of the Earth When the Heathen Philosopher read what Moses had written concerning the Creation of the World Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the host of them Ger. 2.1 He presently said The man speaks wonders but how doth he prove what he hath spoken Where are his demonstrations He would put Moses to his proof but Moses's proof was faith in the testimony of God Through faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear Heb. 11.3 We understand the Work of Creation yet not by the strength of natural reason but through faith which gives credit to the Word of God and perswades the heart that the report therein made is a truth Plato in Timaeo For though some Philosophers have evinced by arguments grounded upon reason that the World was made yet that it was made by the Word of God either the Essential Word the Son of God spoken of John 1.1 who is the efficient cause of it or by the Declarative Word spoken of in this place of the Hebrews which was the means or instrumental cause of making the World Gen. 1.3 6. This I say cannot at all be understood by reason but purely and only by faith because it is so revealed in the Scriptures Fifthly In that the Lord here saith I laid the foundations of the Earth Observe God hath made the Earth firm and immoveable The stability of the Earth is of God as much as the being and existence of it Psal 104.5 He laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever There have been many Earthquakes or movings of the Earth in several parts of it but the whole body of the Earth was never removed so much as one hairs breadth out of its place since the foundations thereof were laid Archimedes the great Mathematician said If you will give me a place to set my Engine on I will remove the Earth It was a great bâ—ag but the Lord hath laid it fast enough for mans removing Himself can make it quake and shake he can move it when he pleaseth but he never hath nor will remove it He hath laid the foundations of the Earth that it shall not be removed nor can it be at all moved but at his pleasure and when it moves at any time it is to mind the sons of men that they by their sins have moved him to displeasure There hath been or will be a shaking of the Earth in mercy for we have it in a promise Heb. 12.26 Whose voice then namely at the giving of the Law shook the Earth but now he hath promised saying yet once more I shake not the Earth only but also Heaven Some understand this promise as fulfilled at the coming of Christ in the flesh at which time indeed there were notable and amazing motions and alterations both in Heaven and Earth Others expound it of the Day of the ultimate Judgement not a few of some great providential dispensations of God which shall shake not the Earth only but also the Heavens as taken in a Metaphor for earthly and heavenly things referring to the Church of God and the Kingdomes of Men. I shall not interpose in this matter about the sense of that Text but onely say whatever the Apostle meant by Earth or Heaven and the shaking of it yet this remains as an unshaken Axiom that the Fabrick of the Earth properly taken stands fast The Lord hath laid the foundations of it that it should not be removed David to shew the stedfastness of his faith put that supposition Psal 46.2 Therefore will not we fear though the Earth be moved The Prophet also did the like to assure us of the stability of the Covenant of Grace Isa 54.10 yet we need not fear that either the Earth shall be removed or the Mountains depart Such suppositions shew indeed the immoveableness of the Word which God hath spoken not the moveableness by any natural power or natural decay of the Earth whose foundations he hath laid And hence the Psalmist argues the Lords faithfulness to his Word Psal 119.90 Non magis moveronaturaliter terra quam quiescere coelum potest Bold All earthly things move but the Earth wherein all these motions are made stands still Eccl. 1.4 The Earth can no more move than the Heavens can stand still Some modern Philosophers have turned the scale of Nature and would perswade us that the Heavens stand still and the Earth moves but 't is good for us to stand to and abide by the Scripture which tells us the Earth stands still and abideth or it abideth that is it standeth as the Margin explains it Psal 119.90 And that it standeth still or abideth not only because it hath still a being as things in motion have but because it is still or stands without moving is so much my faith as well as my sense that I see no reason to be moved from it Sixthly The Power and Will of God are the onely foundation of the Earth 'T is said by the Psalmist
he hath founded it upon the waters as was shewed before yet that cannot be meant properly for how can water a fluid body naturally bear up or sustain the Earth a heavy body and not at all boyant We all see it hangeth or standeth in the ayre But what foundation can the ayre be to the Earth which will scarcely bear a feather It remains then undeniable that the Will and Power of God are the foundations of the Earth Rationi nihil occurrit cui innitatur terra si divinam exceperis voluntatem Nazian Orat. 24. There 's nothing can be given or assigned in reason if you look not to the Will of God for the foundation of the Earth Besides that there 's no bottom for it One of the Ancients giving a description of the Creation saith All things are laid up in his Power and Will these are the foundations the stay and establishment of all things Omnia reposita existimo in ejus potestate quod voluntas ejus sit fundamentum universorum Ambr. l. 1. Hexam c. 6. And as it is so with respect to the standing of the Earth so with respect to all those great things which God hath promised to do in the Earth the foundation of them all is his own Power and Will or his Powerful Will The foundation laid in Election and the foundation laid in Redemption by Jesus Christ other foundation can no man lay for all our spiritual comforts present priviledges and future hopes 1 Cor. 3.11 These foundations I say were laid in the Will of God Lo I come to do thy Will O God Heb. 10.7.9 The Will of God is the foundation and establishment of all things whether Natural or Civil Spiritual or Eternal Seventhly From the scope of these words we may Observe God who hath made the Earth by his Power doth also govern it and man who inhabits it And therefore man ought to be quiet and sit down in his governing as well as in his Creating Will. To convince and perswade Job of this is as hath been toucht the purpose of God in all that followeth He that hath made the World governs the World and if so shall poor creatures you or I or any other though a Job find fault with his government of it Will a Master-Builder suffer any one to find fault with his work who understands not how to lay a stone in it much less to give the rule or direction for the whole work Forasmuch then as the Lord is not only the Master-Builder but the sole Maker of this great House the World it becomes man for whose use it was made to acquiesce or rest quietly in his Government of it Surely the Maker of all things hath a right to dispose of all things and therefore all persons are to be satisfied in his disposal of them From the whole verse and the observations given upon it take these Scripture inferences First The Scripture makes this inference from it God is one and there is none like to him Isa 40.26 Isa 46.8 To whom will ye liken me to whom will you compare me I am he that stretched out the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth there 's none like to him in Wisdome none in Power who laid the foundation of the Earth There was never such a visible piece of work done in the World as the making of the World therefore theâ—e is none such as the Maker of the World The hypocrite is brought in dreaming that God was altogether such as himself Psal 50.21 And 't is as it hath been the common guise of Idolaters to think that God is no better than their Idol But what the Lord by his Prophet Jer. 10.11 12 taught the captive Jews to say to their great Lords the Babylonians the same hath he taught us to say to all Hypocrites and Idolaters The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens Then presently followeth as in Job He hath made the earth by his power he hath established the world by his wisdom and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion As if it had been said Will ye imagine that the Idols which you have made are like him who made you and all things And 't is considerable that whereas the whole Prophesie of Jeremy is written in the Hebrew Tongue this eleventh verse which holds out at once a testimony and a threatning against those Idolaters is written in the Chaldean Language with which the Jews by their long Captivity in Babylon were well acquainted that so the Babylonians might hear of it and know that the God of Israel who made heaven and earth was altogether unlike their gods who did never so much as arrogate to themsâ—lves any hand in much less the sole power of making heaven and earth Secondly Take this Scripture inference Seeing the Lord hath laid the foundations of the earth by his own Power and Wisdome then He is the Proprietor of the whole earth or the whole earth is the Lords proper possession Psal 34.1 The earth is the Lords aâ—d the fulness thereof the Lord made it and it is his He was not called nor set a work to build this great House for another but he made iâ— as by his own power so for his own pleasure all the inhabitants of the earth are his tenants and not only the earth but the whole stock and furniture of it is his For as the Lord made the earth so all that the earth is stored with Thus spake Abraham Gen. 14.22 to the King of Sodome who bid him take the goods to himself I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord the most high God possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take from a threed even to a shoe latchet c. As if he had said The Lord who is possessor of heaven and earth is my portion my possession and he can give me enough of the earth yea he will give me heaven also therefore I will not take any thing of thine lest thou shouldest say I have made Abraham rich The Lord who is possessor of the earth can give his people what earthly portions or possessions of the earth he pleaseth And let us remember what earthly portions soever we have in this world we have no reason to boast seeing all is the Lords and we are but his stewards and tenants at will And because 't is the Lords earth which we possess let us also remember to pay our rent our quit-rent to him that is thanks duly and daily lest we provoke him to distrain upon us or to take the forfeiture and turn us out of all Many hold lands from great Lords to pay only some small rent or service in a way of acknowledgement O let us remember to pay our rent to our Great Land-Lord The Lord of the whole earth They who acknowledge what they have is his or that they have and hold all they have
As he hath laid his measures in framing the earth so we should keep our measures in living upon the earth He hath stretched out his line upon it and we should take heed that we do not exceed our line God hath given a line by which mans conversation should be squared as exactly as any building is or can be by line As the work of God for us is beautiful so should our works be We as to our spiritual state are a Creation a new noble Creation And certainly he who made the earth this old outward Creation in such exactness hath also made the new Creation our spiritual heavenly state much more if more may be exactly he hath made it by measure and by line Let us therefore walk and speak yea and think by measure and by line let us appear and approve our selves as the building of God as the work of Gods holy Spirit fair and beautiful Many profess godliness but do they appear as Gods Workmanship as if God had stretched his line and laid the measure of the New Spiritual Creation upon them Beleevers are the Workmanship of God Eph. 2.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so they should appear as created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them The Apostle saith Phil. 1.27 Let your conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ whom ye believe in The Gospel is an exact thing ordered in all things as David spake of it 2 Sam. 23.5 under the notion of the everlasting Covenant Now saith St. Paul Let your conversation be as becometh the Gospel of Christ let it be an orderly conversation I may say also let your conversation be such as becometh the earth ye walk upon that 's an accurate frame the Lord hath made it in measure and stretched the line upon it Let us take heed we be not found walking besides that line those measures which he hath given us Fourthly If God hath been thus exact in framing the earth as it were by line and measure for us if he hath given us so perfect a piece to inhabit and dwell in while we are in this sinful state What do you think is that paradise which he hath prepared for us in our sinless state VVhat are the measures of our heavenly City VVhat the lines that have been stretched out upon those eternal Mansions If visible things which our eye seeth are so taking what are things invisible And if this earth which we tread on be a Looking-glass as indeed it is wherein we may see the wisdom and power of God what will heaven be How will that reflect the wisdom power and goodness of God If this world be a beauty and is therefore expressed by a word in the Greek signifying beauty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comeliness decency what will that world be which is to come Thus much of the exactness of the building The next verse holds out the strength and firmness of it Vers 6. Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened Or who hath laid the corner-stone thereof Two things make a building strong and firm First The fastening of the foundations Secondly The right laying of the Corner-stone VVe had the laying of the foundations at the fourth verse here we have the fastening of them If a foundation be laid loosly the building will not stand Christ in the Parable Mat. 7.27 speaks of a foundation laid in the loose sand that could not make a firm building But the house which had its foundation laid on a compacted rock or had the rock for a foundation stood fast in all winds and weathers The Lord hath not only laid the foundations of the earth lis qui nos percunctantur cuinam corpori veluti subjecto fundamento tam immensum hoc terrae pondus innitatur dicamus oportet quod in manu terrae sunt omnes fines terrae Basil in Psal 94. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Immersus infâ—ous impressus hinc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oâ—â—ulus quod digito vel potius digitus ei infigitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basis columna â—ui aliquid innititur imponitur atque ab ea gestatur but hath fastened the foundations he hath built upon a Rock You will say what is that rock-like thing upon which the foundations of the earth are fastened I answer it is nothing but the power and will of God The will and power of God are the pillars or bases upon which the earth is fastened and made sure for ever The word which we translate foundations is often in Scripture rendred sockets Exod. 26.19 chap. 35.11 chap. 38.27 Cant. 5.15 Now sockets are places cut in timber and stone or cast in mettal in which the several strengthning pieces of a building are fastened and such is the foundation to a house the fastening of it Foundations are laid in the ground and beams are fastened with sockets Mr. Broughton translates Whereupon are the foundations thereof sunk fast We usually say we must sink a foundation Foundations are sunk and then the Superstructure fastened on it Further Take notice The word which here we render foundations or sockets is not that which properly signifieth a foundation And from it the word Adon is derived which signifieth a Lord or Master or chief among men because Lords and Princes are or should be as the sockets and pillars of a Nation to fasten and secure all in their places and upon the fall of Princes often followeth the fall and ruin of Nations The Spanish word Don or Lord is supposed a derivative from it Per literam in fine additam praecedente Camets And from this Appellative one of the proper Names of God is formed by the addition of a letter in the end Under which royal Title he is represented to our faith as the Lord and Upholder of all things Some have observed that God is called by this Name one hundred thirty and four times in Scripture All which shew that he who is the Creator is also the Sustainer and Supporter of the whole fabrick of Nature such is the significancy of this word Now when the Lord asks Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened There 's no answer can be given to this question but what was given to the former God hath fastened them upon himself in his power and will they stand sure Or who hath laid the Corner-stone thereof Or Who hath cast her Corner-stone As if he had said Videntur obscure significari poli terrae Grot. Lapis anguli i. e. qui positus est in angulo Pisc Who made the parts of the earth to keep so close together and to keep up one another This is another very considerable part in a building As strong buildings must have a sure foundation to hold up the whole so they must have corner-stones to hold the parts together The corner-stone bindeth and strengtheneth the fabrick as well as gives beauty and ornament to it There are two sorts
of corner-stones First There is a corner-stone laid below or beneath in the earth with the foundation The Master-builder is very careful to set that right Secondly There is a corner-stone laid upon the foundation or in the joyning of the walls both below as soon as the building appears above ground and up to the top or utmost height of the building Our Lord Jesus Christ is expressed in Scripture under the notion of a corner-stone as to both these uses First He is the corner-stone laid below in the earth with the foundation Isa 28.16 Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone a tried stone a precious corner-stone a sure foundation In fundamentum fundatum Quae sorte fundamenti repetitio significat infimam fundamenti partem 〈◊〉 out potissimam So we translate this latter part of the verse Some others render it thus A corner-stone founded upon a foundation implying that Châ—ist is the lowest the chiefest and firmest foundation stone as well as a tried precious corner-stone The Apostle affirms both these of Christ in one verse Eph. 2.20 Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets not upon their persons but doctrine which is Christ Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone Christus dicitur caput anguli quod non solum sit principium sed fâ—rtis spiritualis aedificii Nyssen In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy Temple in the Lord. Again 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house c. Some conceive that in this place the Lord fore-shewed Job the Incarnation of Christ who is the true corner-stone knitting all in One. For mostly when the Scripture would set forth the security of our salvation by Christ it doth it by this resemblance Upon him believers are founded and in him fastened If we had not Christ a corner-stone for our salvation it were not possible that our salvation should be sure to us The building cannot be fixt without it Christ is said to be our peace who hath made both one Eph. 2.14 where the Apostle speaks first of taking away the middle wall of partition and then of making both that is Jews and Gentiles one by Christ the only corner stone By one and the same faith in Christ two people Jews and Gentiles are joyned in one As in the corner of a building two walls alwayes meet and are closed together by the corner-stone And as Christ is a corner-stone laid in with the foundation so he is a corner-stone upon the foundation in the continued rising of the building till raised to the top As the corner-stone hath its use in any part of the corner from the foundation to the roof so it is placed in the highest part of the building There Christ is the chief corner-stone The Prophet speaks thus of Christ Zach. 4.7 And he that is Zerubbabel shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings crying grace grace unto it which seems to signifie that Christ should be manifested and brought publickly forth like the chief or uppermost corner-stone The corner-stone is called the Head-stone because 't is set above in the building and 't is called also the Head-stone because it is polished and appeareth above the rest like an head above the body Educet lapidem capitis Heb. Quod instar capitis promineat aut quod emineat in supremo loco Thus you see the use of the corner-stone in Scripture as applied to Christ in allusion to a building for the security and firmness of it the corner-stone being that which bindeth the building and fastens the contiguous walls together Here the Lord speaking of his framing the Earth tells us of a corner-stone to shew that the frame of the earth shall stand and continue unshaken undivided In opposition to this phrase when the prophet describeth the irreparable destruction of Babylon or that it shall be ruined without recovery he expresseth it thus Jer. 51.26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner nor a stone for foundation but thou shalt be desolate for ever saith the Lord. Babylon shall have neither foundation nor corner-stone as much as to say it shall never be built Magistrates and chief Governours are also called corner-stones Psal 118.22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner Which words as they relate to Christ chiefly so also to King David as a type of Christ The Scripture in several other places gives that title to great men 1 Sam. 14.38 Judges 20.2 Isa 20. Zeph. 3.6 In all these Texts Princes and great men are called corners or corner-stones because as the corner-stone holdeth the wall together so they hold Nations in their civil capacity together Who laid the corner-stone thereof saith God to Job Tell me who did it Didst thou do it Did Angels do it Consider the greatness the firmness of the work and thou wilt be convinced that it was I that laid the corner-stone thereof So then the general sense of this verse is to shew the stability of the Work of God Here are foundations and foundations fastened in the wisdom and power of God who is an everlasting strength the rock of ages Isa 26.4 Here also the corner-stone is laid therefore all is sure and firm Now what did the Lord aime at in all this Surely it was not barely to convince Job that the earth was a beautiful piece and a strong one There was somewhat else in it and what was that Even to convince Job that forasmuch as he could not deny but this admirable and well ordered building was the work of God that therefore he should sit down satisfied in all his other works If God alone perfected this work by his power if he contrived it by his wisdom shall man find fault with any of the works of God Doth not he who put the world into this beautiful frame wherein we see it carry on all his works on earth in beauty and order though we see it not And is there not a firmness and strength in all his works Is there not a measure laid in all his providences and a line stretched out upon all his dealings with the children of men Hath he not fastened the foundations and laid the corner-stone of all his dispensations right Job seemed to speak sometimes as if the Lord had not dealt with him in measure nor stretched an equal line upon his proceedings he looked upon all as off the hooks and out of course Now saith the Lord have I laid the measures of the earth and stretched the line upon it Have I fastened the foundations and laid the corner-stone thereof Have I done all these things and dost thou think that I will let the world in general or any mans case in particular run to ruin as if my works of providence had
neither foundation nor corner-stone Remember O Job and well consider that as when in the beginning I saw the earth without form and void Gen. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I by a creating word commanded it into form and fulness So when thou seest nothing but Tohu and Bohu confusion and disorder voidness and darkness in the earth even then I am laying the measures of Justice and stretching the line of Truth and Equity upon all that is done or suffered and will bring forth my work in full perfection Nothing shall be amiss or out of order when my work is finished how much soever it may seem to be amiss as to beginnings or present actings Therefore O Job leave off thy complainings and rest quietly in my dealings Some have questioned the Natural Works of God yet 't is impossible to mend any part or the least pin of them And 't is as impossible for the wit and understanding of Men or Angels to mend any thing in the Providential Works of God That 's the scope of this discourse even that the consideration of Gods power and wisdom in making the world should bâ—idle our curiosity and awe our spirits when they begin to quarrel with yea but to query about any thing that God hath done though it appear to us altogether irregular and confused or as done without either line or measure The Lords work is beautiful and glorious 't is also sure and strong As his Promise or Covenant is ordered in all things and sure 2 Sam. 23.5 So are his Providences too for they are the issues and accomplishments of his Promises oâ—dered as to means and sure as to the end They shall end oâ— issue in b inging about the things which are laid in the foundation and corner-stone of his purposes counsels and decrees all which work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose Rom. 8.28 And to convince Job from the Works of Creation that he ought not only to acquiesce or rest quietly under the Works of Providence whatsoever they were but to rejoyce in them the Lord tells him in the next verse that there was great rejoycing yea shouting for joy when the foundations of the earth were fastened and the corner-stone thereof laid JOB Chap. 38. Vers 7. 7. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy THere are two opinions among learned Interpreters concerning the general state of this verse First Some here reassuming the first words of these questions proposed at the fourth verse by God to Job Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth c. make this the second instance of Gods mighty power in the works of Creation Where wast thou when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy As if the Lord had said I have as yet questioned thee only where thou wast when I made the earth which is the most inferiour part of the world But now I purpose to rise higher in my discourse and therefore I put these questions to thee Where wast thou when I set up the morning stars those sparkling lights which shine to the earth through the firmament of heaven as also the sons of God those blessed spirits all which sang together and shouted for joy at the appearance of my power and wisdom Secondly Others connect these words in a continued sense and sentence with the verse going before Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth c. at which sight the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy Taking the words thus they carry an allusion to or are a similitude taken from noble buildings or structures whose foundations use to be laid with solemnity and their corner-stones to be set up with shouting and acclamation That it was anciently customary to make such acclamations at the laying of the foundation of some eminent building besides what is clear out of humane Authors and Histories we have several Scripture evidences The 87th Psalm throughout setting forth the structure of the Gospel Church of the spiritual Zion by way of prophesie begins thus His foundation is in the holy mountains there 's the foundation of Zion laid Then followeth as at the second verse The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God! Selah As if he had said there was a great acclamation high praises at the laying the foundation of Zion with which the Psalme closeth more expresly v. 7. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there all my Springs are in thee Again Psal 118.22 23 24. there is no sooner mention made of the corner-stone the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner but presently we have acclamations about it This is the Lords doing it is marvelous in our eyes This is a blessed work indeed This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it That corner-stone of salvation Jesus Christ being laid as I may say all the stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy This is the day which the Lord hath made If we go to those material buildings which were figurative of the Church and Christ we shall find the like Ezra 3.10 When the Jewes at the return of their Captivity began to build the Temple the Text saith at the tenth verse And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord then they set the Priests in their apparel and with their voices with the Levits and the sons of Asaph to praise the Lord. As soon as the foundation was laid they were all in song and raised up in holy rejoycings though some of the old men who remembred the first Temple wept when the foundation of this was laid That Scripture Zach. 4.7 speaks of the same thing where the Prophet in the Spirit fore-seeing the disappointments of all the enemies of the people of God thus triumphs over them by faith Who art thou O great Mountain before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shouting That is the building of Hierusalem or the restoring of the Temple shall be brought to perfection and then they shall cry grace grace unto it Now in allusion to the practice both of men in common and of the people of God in special at the raising of great structures the Lord tells us here that when he laid the foundations of the earth and when he fastened the corner-stone thereof there was a Triumph made Then the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy Thus we have the state of this verse either taking it for another instance of the power of God in creating the Stars and the Angels or else subjoyning it as an acclamation
of thy workmanship have cause to do it more than and above all they cannot but be speaking and talking of thy Kingdome and Power which are very glorious Upon which account the tongue of Man especially the tongue of a Godly Man is called his glory I will sing and give praisâ— said David Psal 108.1 even with my glory What is that his tongue the chief bodily instrument of divine praises The Stars in their courses once fought against the enemies of God Judg. 5.20 and they alwayes in their places sing the praises of God Let it not be said that Saints are silent So much of these words as the Stars are taken properly There are some as I said before who take these Stars metaphorically or figuratively for the Angels and then their singing is proper and there are two reasons given why by the stars in this place we should understand the Angels First If we consider the truth or course of the History because the Earth being created the first day the Stars were not in being till the fourth day unless we comprehend them as was said before as to their matter and reallity under those words of Moses In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth but as to their appearance and formality so they were not till the fourth day and if so how could they sing the praises of God at the laying of the foundations of the Earth A second reason is given from this Chapter because God speaks of the Stars afterwards vers 31 32. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades the seven Stars so called or loose the bands of Orion c. Here the Lord treats with Job about the Stars in proper sense therefore probably the Morning Stars here mentioned are not to be taken properly but tropically for the Angels And the Angels may very well be called Stars or Morning Stars by a Metaphor because of their spiritual beauty and excellency in which they out-shine all the Morning Sâ—ars yea that special Morning Star commonly known by the Name of Lucifer or Light-bringer Though the Angels have not a visible bodily beauty yet they have a better beauty than any body 'T is said of Stephen Acts 6.15 when he stood before the Council They beheld his face as it had been the face of an Angel Angels being Spirits have no visible faces but because Angels are in their nature and qualities beautiful creatures therefore Stephen having an extraordinary beauty stampt upon him is said to have the face of an Angel And as beautiful persons may be said to look like or resemble Angels so Angels may be said to look like or resemble Stars The Church for the lustre of her graces is said to look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon clear as the Sun Cant. 6.10 and so may the Angels as the Stars The Apostle saith of those false Apostles who would needs be accounted Stars faithful Ministers of Christ in the Firmament of the Church they are transformed into Angels of light 2 Cor. 11.14 that is they would appear like Angels of light The holy Angels are Angels of light The seven Stars are the seven Angels saith Christ expounding the Vision to John Revel 1.20 This shews that Angels and Stars have a ve y great similitude so that as there in one sense so here in another the Stars may signifie the Angels And the Angels may very well be called Morning Stars because they were the first of living Creâ—tures their Creation being supposed to be though Moses expresseth nothing of it comprehended within that of the Heavens In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth the Heaven and the heavenly Inhabitants the Angels The evil Angel the Devil that fallen Angel is also called a Morning Star That Title Lucifer Son of the Morning which the Prophet bestows on the Assyrian Isa 14.12 for his pomp and pride properly belongs to the Devil the Arch-Devil a fallen Angel or the Primier of the fallen Angels yea Jesus Christ himself is called the Day-Star 2 Pet. 1.19 and under another far different expression the Morning Star Rev. 2.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and he saith of himself Rev. 22.16 I am the bright and Morning Star Thus Christ who is the Angel of the Covenant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord of Angels the Creator of Angels is called the Morning Star All these Scriptures bear testimony that it is not strange to expound Stars by Angels And therefore when the Lord saith The Stars sang together according to this interpretation upon which yet I shall not insist but leave the Reader to his own opinion it is but the same with that which followes in the close of the verse to which I now proceed And all the Sons of God shouted for joy Acies Angelorum Chald. Angeli mei Sept. The Chaldee Paraphrase is express that the Sons of God are the Angels rendring The Armies of Angels shouted for joy And the Septuagint are as clear for it saying When all my Angels sung for joy both leave out our Translation the Sons of God and put that which is the Exposition into the Text the Angels of God That the Angels are called Sons of God hath been shewed before chap. 1.6 There was a day when the Sons of God came together that is the Angels and Satan the evil Angel came also among them The Devil or evil spirit thrust himself into the assembly of the good Spirits or holy Angels who are the Sons of God If any ask how the Angels are the Sons of God I answer First Negatively They are not the Sons of God as Jesus Christ is Angels became the Sons of God in time Jesus Christ is the Son of God from Eternity The Apostle Heb. 1.5 puts the question To which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee The Angels are the created Sons of God Jesus Christ onely is his onely begotten Son Angels are the Sons of God by meeâ— gâ—ace and favour the Lord accounting them as Sons accepting them as Sons using and respecting them as Sons as he doth also all true believers who likewise are the Sons of God But Jesus Christ alone is the Son of God by Naâ—ure or by an eternal generation and was so declared in the fulness of time both by his Incarnation and Resurrection which many conceive to be the Apostles intendment in those words This day have I begotten thee taken out of the second Psalm and quoted Acts 13.33 as also Heb. 1.5 Secondly In the Negative The Angels are not the Sons of God by Regeneration nor by Adoption Thus Believers only are the Sons of God John 1.12 To as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to as many as believed on his Name Believers are the Sons of God regenerated and adopted Angels are not so The holy Angels needed not Regeneration nor as they were created
hard labour This makes the sense of the whole Context run more clearly than our reading of it And so we have Sea-doors of two sorts in this Context In this eighth verse the doors of the Sea are the doors by which the Sea came forth and in the tenth verse we have the doors by which the Sea is kept in whereas according to our rendring the doors in both places are interpreted as keeping the Sea in and so there would be a mention of the same doors twice which though it may be admitted yet this latter seems to be the clearest as taking the first doors for those by which the Sea was let out or had its birth and the latter for those doors by which the Sea is kept within its bounds Who shut up the Sea with doors When it brake forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exivit cum impâ—tu The word which we translate to break forth signifies in other places of Scripture the breaking forth of a Child in the birth David useth it Psal 22.9 Thou art he that took me out of the womb there it is taken as Grammarians speak transitively here intransitively When it brake foterth noting a kind of rapture or violence as when Tamar was in travel Gen. 38.27 28. There were twins in her womb and it came to pass when she travelled that the one put out his hand and the Midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet threed saying this came out first and it came to pass as he drew back his hand that behold his brother came forth and she said how hast thou broken forth this breach be upon thee therefore his Name was called Pharez Thus the Sea brake forth violently as if it had issued Out of the womb Ex occulto divinae providentiae Aquin. Creavit deus terram non inanem sed gravidam aquis quae licet eodem temporis momento 〈◊〉 What Womb Some say of the Providence of God say others of the Decree or Counsel of God for that is the womb out of which all things proceed A third saith out of the Power and Omnipotence of God All these sayings are true either of these is as the womb out of which all things issue but these the Providence the Decree and Counsel the Power and Omnipotence of God are the Common Womb out of which all things issue whereas here the Lord seems to speak of some special womb out of which the Sea issued And therefore I rather adhere to that Interpretation which saith plainly that the womb out of which the Sea is said to issue was the Abysse or bowels of the Earth The Sea brake forth out of the bowels of the Earth as out of a womb The Earth is the Common Parent the Parent of the Sea the Sea was created in the bowels of the Earth or the Earth was created big with the waters of the Sea as a woman big with child and shortly after the Lord caused the earth like a woman with child to travel and bâ—ing forth the Sea So that the Lord doth here more distinctly open to us the manner of the Creation of the Sea than in the first of Genesis It is true the Element of Water hath its seat naturally above the Earth it being the lighter Element but as to the first conception of it this Scripture implies that its place was within the Earth and that it issued forth from the Earth The bowels of the Earth were the womb in which the Sea was conceived and out of which by the Word of the Lord it issued The waters were not at first created above the Earth as some have affirmed but they being created with the Earth and conceived within the Earth brake out of the Earth and invested or covered it all over and so continued in that condition till the third day and then the Lord commanded them to retire into certain vast channels now called Sea that so the dry land might appear Thus the Lord when the waters were issued forth disposed of them in their proper place According to this Interpretation we are to take these words of the time past Who is he that shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth that is after it had broken forth after it had issued out Who was he that then shut it up with doors This description of the Nativity of the Sea may be drawn out into these concluâ—ions First The Earth and Waters were created both together Secondly The Waters were at first created within the bowels of the Earth for saith the Text They issued forth they brake forth Thirdly At the Command of God the Waters were brought forth out of the Earth as a Child out of the Mothers Womb Psal 33.7 He gathereth the waters of the Sea together as an heap he layeth up the deep in store-houses Psal 104 vers 5 9. Bless the Lord c. who laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment the Waters stood above the Mountains Fourthly The Waters being thus brought forth did at first cover the Earth and so would have continued if God had let them alone In the method of Nature things lie thus First The earth is lowest being the grossest element Secondly The water riseth above the earth as being more pure than that Thirdly The air is above the water as being much more pure than the water Fourthly The fire gets above all as being the thinnest and purest of all the elements and therefore the water issuing out of the earth would have continually covered the face of the earth if the Lord by his power had not ordered it off and shut it up with doors when come off according to our reading the words in this verse and according to the general reading of the tenth verse where the whole earth being covered with water the Lord brake up for it his decreed place and there kept it fast Thus David Psal 104.7 8. speaking of the waters above the mountains and over-flowing all presently adds At thy rebuke they fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away they go up by the mountains they go down by the vallies unto the place which thou hast founded for them There the Lord by David as here by himself sets forth his mighty power in the disposal of the waters to a certain place But if we take that other reading of this verse Who hath annointed the doors of the Sea then by doors we are not to understand that which stops the Sea from over-flowing the earth as in the tenth verse but for those passages at which the waters brake out of the earth as an infant from the womb which seems most distinct and clear And because the Sea is so huge a body so great a part of the world we may not unprofitably I hope before I pass from this verse consider a three-fold representation of the Sea or the Sea as a glass
bones upon a wheel To be broken is to be utterly spoiled A broken heart is a great mercy Psal 51.17 but a broken arm notes a great misery This Scripture threatens the high arm with breaking yet it leaves us unresolved or faith nothing expresly about these three Queries First Whose high arm is here threatned with breaking Secondly By whom the high arm shall be broken Thirdly How or by what means or in what manner it shall be broken I answer to the first These terrible words are not levell'd nor intended against any high arm eo nomine upon that account because it is high God is not angry with the highness of men They who are highest and have the highest arm among men may be highly pleasing unto God The highest powers on earth are of Gods ordaining and appointing now God cannot be against his own ordinances and appointments therefore he never bâ—eaks the high arm because 't is high in power but because 't is high in wickedness So then we may be confident 't is only the high arm of the wicked which is here threatned to be broken To the second and third Queries I answer in a word It is God who breaks the high arm and he breaks it in what manner and by what means soever pleaseth him In which we may see a signal work of divine Providence which doth not suffer the difference of good and evil of right and wrong to pass long unobserved And in this passage possibly the Lord might intend a refutation of what Job said Chap. 10.3 That God shined upon the Counsels of the wicked For seeing the very light or life of the wicked is with-holden from them and their high arm broken doth not God declare and testifie that he loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity And if the ministration of Divine Justice lye in the dark at any time doth not the return of the light every day intimate that a day of the revelation of the righteous Judgment of God is at hand The high arm shall be broken Hence Note First Wicked men may grow high and have a very high and strong arm Therefore be not scandalized when 't is so The most high God often suffers it to be so The wicked man in the Text is he that hath the high arm Note Secondly As all men by nature are altogether wâ—cked in their state so some of them are extreamly wicked in their lives They sin with an high hand or with an high arm they sin as if they would dare God himself Not onely have wicked men been high in power and high in place but there they have sinned highly and stretched forth their hand against Heaven it self Note Thirdly Observa in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hoc versiculo v. 13. literam צ in Bibliis magnis â—â—empl emendatis suspensam esse i. e. non eodem tenore cum aliis scriptam sed supra caeteras sursum versas penderâ— hoc modo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod forsun mysterio non caret quasi lux impiis totus eorum splendor sit in suspenso non stabilis Merc. The wicked how high or how strong soever they are they shall be broken A learned Interpreter takes notice that in the larger Bibles and most correct Copies the Hebrew Word signifying the wicked both in this 15th verse and in the 13th verse hath one letter raised up higher than the rest and exceeding the ordinary form of writing as may be seen if the Reader please to cast his eye upon the quotation in the Margin This saith my Author is not possibly without a mistery even to intimate thus much that all the prosperity and outward splendor of the wicked hangs in suspence or is very tottering and unstable But whatever occasioned that irregularity in the Hebrew writing or whatever it may import this is a sure truth that the highest estate of the wicked is very unsure The Lord who as Solomon saith Eccl. 5.8 is higher than the highest on earth can quickly bring down the highest and break or crush the strong arm as one would break a reed or crush a moth Thus the Lord bespake Edom by his Prophet Jer. 49.16 O thou that dwellest in the clifts of the rock that holdest the height of the hill though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the Eagle I will bring thee down from thence saith the Lord. And thus the Lord spake by another Prophet concerning the Amorite Amos 2.9 His height was like the height of the Cedars and he was strong as the Oaks yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath that is I utterly destroyed him Yea the very being of the wicked high and strong is an argument that they shall be brought low destroyed and broken to pieces When Babylons arm shall be in its highest height When she shall say in her heart I sit as a Queen that is on high and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow When Babylon is thus prophecying all good of her self and promising all good to her self then shall her plague come in one day death and famine and mourning and she shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord who judgeth her Rev. 18.7 8. He will break her high arm and break it when she thinks it highest and her self safest David whose arm God raised on high affirmed all this of wicked high ones in general or of all those who should be found high in wickedness Psal 92.7 8. When the wicked spring as grass and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever As if he had said that 's the meaning of their prosperity you may spell that our of it or make that interpretation of it they shall be destroyed for ever As the Lord remembers his people in their low estate because his mercy endureth for ever Psal 136.23 so he will take vengeance on the wicked in their high estate because his justice endureth for ever The least sin deserves a breaking but when the arm of sin is grown very high we may say the Lords arm cannot hold he must break such high arms The Prophet Jeremy chap. 6.6 speaking of Jerusalem saith This City is to be visited how visited There is a twofold visiting First In favour care and kindness Secondly In wrath and judgement Usually when the Scripture speaks of visiting a City or a Land it is meant in wrath and in judgement Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord Jer. 5.9 Surely I shall there is no avoiding my visitation What kind of visitation is meant the next woâ—ds evidence Shall not my soul be avenged on such a Nation as this To be visited with vengeance and wrath is a sad Visitation and so was Jerusalem to be visited But why was the City Jerusalem to be visited in wrath there 's no City whose inhabitants are so just and righteous but the Lord may visit them in
As we took no care of our selves nor could before we were so all the care we take for our selves while we are can avail us nothing without God Which of us by taking care can add one cubit to his stature Matth. 6.25 and which of us by taking care can add one moment to his life all is in the hand of God And 't is our duty to live as free from all troublesome cares while we are in the world as we were free from any care at all before we came into the world It is enough that God hath undertaken for us and would have us sit down in his care of us Christ said Matth. 10.29 30. with respect to sufferings Fear not for are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them falleth not to the ground without your Father It is God who orders and disposeth the life of a silly bird and by him the very hairs of our head worthless excressions are numbred surely then the days of your lives and all the changes of them are ordered disposed and numbred by him And if so we should in this sense be as quiet and as much at ease in our spirits concerning the things of this life as we were before we lived Light had its dwelling place appointed and darkness was disposed of without any care of ours and all our care can neither create light for us nor remove any darkness that is upon us Let us onely be careful of that duty we are called to and leave the burden of our cares to him who hath called for them Psal 55.22 and would have us rest in this assurance that he careth for us 1 Pet. 5.7 what cannot he command for us in our places who commands light and darkness to their places therefore it will be our wisdome at once to take as much pains and as little care as we can JOB Chap. 38. Vers 22 23. 22. Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail 23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble against the day of battel and war JOB was last questioned about the habitation and interchanges of light and darkness Here the Lord questions him about those two Meteors the Snow the Hail As if he had said Possibly thou wilt confess thou knowest not how to answer the former question but perhaps thou art better skill'd in and acquainted with the matter which I shall next propose well then I ask again Vers 22. Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow c. There is a two-fold entring into any place First In body Secondly In mind The body of Job nor of any man never entred into the treasures here spoken of nor could Jobs mind nor the mind of any man enter fully into them that is comprehend how vast how great they are We had this phrase Hast thou entred at the 16th verse of this Chapter There the question was put about his entring into the springs of the sea here about his entring into The treasures or store-houses of the snow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thesaurus Aspotheca promptuarium The word imports any place or repository where stores of any kind are laid up and kept for use The Poet calleth Bee-hives the Treasuries of honey and so may Cellars be called the Treasuries of Wine and Oil c. The Clouds are the Treasuries which contain the stores or treasures of Snow and Hail Those places out of which God is said either to bring good for the use and comfort of man or evil for his hurt and punishment are usually in Scripture expressed by this Word Thus spake Moses encouraging the people of Israel to obedience Deut. 28.12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure the heaven to give thee rain unto thy land in his season c. And God hath his just and righteous treasures of wrath even as men heap up and have their evil and unrighteous treasures of sin Deut. 32.34 Rom. 2.5 Thus the Apostle James tells ungodly rich men chap. 5.3 Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days Which may be understood of their getting their treasures of riches so unrighteously in their days as would prove a heaping together of wrath against themselves in the last days or day of the last Judgement Treasures of good or evil imply three things First The secrecy of what is laid up Secondly The safety of it or that it is surely laid up Thirdly That there is store or great quantities of it laid up A little is not a treasure The snow may well be called a treasure in all these respects for 't is secretly laid up no man can see it and 't is safely laid up none can reach or take it away there are also vast quantities or great abundance of it Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow As if the Lord had said Thou O Job hast often seen the snow fall and thou mayest easily perceive that it falls out of the clouds but hast thou ascended or can any ascend unto those airy regions where snow is generated and laid up as in a treasure If not surely then no man can ascend to heaven and there search out or discover the mysteries and secrets of Wisdom and Justice in my works here below unless by the wings of faith and the light of a spiritual understanding which sits down satisfied in this conclusion that all is wisely and justly done which God doth whether in heaven or earth To bring Job to this acknowledgment was the design and purpose of God as hath been toucht before in all the questions propounded to him in this and the next Chapter Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow What the snow is the nature and the wonders of it was spoken of and shewed at the sixth verse of the 37th Chapter All that I shall further add for the opening of this question is that when God speaks here of the treasures of snow we are not to understand it as if he had great heaps of snow formally amassed up together in any place of the air as men lay up treasures of money or corn or of any other useful matter but the words are an elegant Metaphor the meaning onely this God hath abundance of snow ready at his will and dispose at his call and command whensoever or wheresoever he is pleased to make use of it for 't is as easie with God at any time to draw out and powre down abundance of snow as if he had infinite store of it kept alwayes by him He no sooner speaks the word but the face of the earth is covered and its bosomes filled with silver showers Hast thou entred into the treasures of the snow Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail These treasures of hail are of the same nature with those of snow and so to be understood as the former but there is a difference in the form of snow and
shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isa 32.2 All which metaphors signifie one and the same thing that Christ will be comfortable to his people either immediately or by provision of means in the most troublesome times there intended by wind and tempest by a dry place and a weary land And that he had been all this to his in such a day the same prophet assures us chap. 25.4 Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall The History of the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians set down by Jeremy tells us that he was fully heard and answered when he pâ—ayed chap. 17.17 Be not thou a terror to me thou art my hope in the day of evil Jeremy found the Lord very favourable to him and giving him favour in the eyes of the enemy when that evil day the day of battel and war came upon Jerusalem Thus sometimes God stayeth his rough wind in the day of the East-wind Isa 27.8 that is he forbeareth to shew himself rough harsh or grievous to his people when great troubles are otherwise upon them noted by the East-wind which naturally is a blasting blustring and boisterous wind and therefore a day of great trouble is elegantly expressed or called a day of the East-wind When the Psalmist had described the fained humiliations of the people of Israel in the Wilderness which he calls their flattering God with their lips and lying unto him with their tongues This was enough to provoke God to make their day of trouble terrible to them yet saith that Scripture He being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath Psal 78.38 Though they all stirred him to wrath yet he did not stir up all his wrath when it was worst with them that would have made it a terrible day indeed This is the Lords way with his people in an evil day But when it is a day of battel and war with the wicked world or with the wicked of the world he opens his treasures of wrath and will let them see and feel what stores of snow and hail he hath reserved against that time And hence it is that such are represented in the day of the Lord going into the clifts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth Isa 3.21 Lastly Note Snow and hail are Gods weapons and artillery with which he sometimes fights against sinful man The Lord of Hosts hath such instruments of war in his Armory as no Prince can produce nor make use of either to offend his enemies or to defend himself An ancient Poet said of Theodosius the Emperour Onimium dilecte dei cui militat aether Et conjurati veniunt ad classiâ—a venti Claudian Euseb Eccl. Histor l. 5. c. 5. O thou greatly beloved of God for whom the heavens sight and at the sound of whose trumpets the winds the confederate winds present their service and assistance The Thundering Legion in the Army of Aurelius the Emperour is famous in the Church History and hath been mentioned before upon other passages of this Book together with the occasion of that honourable Title bestowed upon them in that age The Scriptures give frequent instances of the Lords avenging himself upon his and his peoples enemies by storms of hail This was one of the ten grievous plagues which God sent upon Pharaoh and the Land of Egypt Exod. 9.17 18. As yet exaltest thou thy self against my people that thou wilt not let them go behold to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof and until now It was with hail-stones that God fought against and discomfited the Army of five confederate Kings in the days of Joshua Josh 10.11 The Lord cast great stones from heaven upon them and they died they were more which died with the hail stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword There are two things singular and extraordinary if not miraculous in this passage of providence First The magnitude and weight of these hail-stones together with the violence of their motion was such that like bullets discharged from Canon or great Ordnance they slew them out-right or dead on the place upon whom they fell Secondly That the Israelites being in pursuit of these Canaanites and doubtless mixed with them as in a barrel where they come to handy stroaks it must needs be that yet none of them were hurt by the hail stones but the Canaanites onely God who â—o shew his goodness causeth his Sun to shine and his rain to fall indifferently upon the good and upon the bad knows how that he may shew his Justice to cause his hail to fall distinctly upon the bad and not upon the good Deborah saith in her song Judg. 5.20 The stars in their courses fought against Sisera Joseph lib. 3. Antiquit. Judaicarum c. 6. It is reported by Josephus describing this battel that as soon as the armies joyned battel God sent a violent shower of hail which say some being naturally caused by the influences of the stars or heavenly bodies the stars may be said to have fought in their courses like souldiers drawn up in battalia against Sisera and his army And thus by great thunder the Lord discomfited the host of the Philistins in the days of Samuel 1 Sam. 7.10 The prophet gives out several threatnings under the notion of hail Isa 28.17 chap. 30.30 and so doth that last prophesie Rev. 16.21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven every stone about the weight of a talent All which places though not taken literally and properly but metaphorically and symbolically for great and sore judgements of one kind or other yet are a clear proof that proper hail stones have sometimes been the instruments of Gods sorest revenge upon his hardned enemies So then sometimes God doth as it were pitch his Military Tent or Râ—yal Pavilion in the Air there he seems to muster his Army to bring forth his weapons and from thence to confound his foes God useth the clouds both as his shield to protect his people Exod. 14.19 and as his bow to shoot at and wound the wicked Armamentaria Coeli Juven Satyr 16. From thence Psal 11.6 He rains upon the wicked snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup That is they shall have nothing else in their cup to drink but this and of this they shall drink deep even the very dregs and wring them out Psal 75.8 A heathen Poet called the Clouds
the Armories or Arcenals of Heaven and the Scripture both in this Text of Job and in several other places besides those which have been mentioned sheweth what Ammunition what instruments of the Lords fierce anger and fiery indignation are stored laid up or reserved there against the time of trouble against the day of battel and war with the rebellious world Now Forasmuch as snow and hail c. are at once the Lords Host and his Arms by which he fights against the wicked we may take notice of these five following inferences for the help of our meditations about this matter and to make all that hath been already held forth from these two verses more profitable to us First God needeth not borrow help from man on earth when he would be avenged on his enemies If he doth but speak the word and declare his will it is enough The heavens the clouds of heaven will bâ—ing him Armies and Arms without number He that covers the earth a foot deep with snow can cover all as we say over head and ears with it He that powres down showres of hail no bigger than a pease can send it of a talent weight as 't is expressed Rev. 16.21 God cannot want Armies at any time for his day of battel and war who can make any thing serve him effectively as an Army and therefore they who being in distress see no more help in man than David when he said Psal 142.4 I looked on my right hand and beheld but there was no man that would know me how well soever I was known to him refuge failed me there was no man that cared for my soul that is that regarded what became of me I was left at six and sevens to sink or swim to shift for my self as well as I could they I say who are thus distressed having an interest in God need not despair nor despond seeing the Lord can charge or press any creature for our aid and help yea can help us without the aid of any creature Secondly Take heed of provoking God who hath sâ—ch Armes and Armies alwayes at command 'T is dangerous medling wiâ—h a prepared enemy God can never be suâ—prised not taken unprovided As the wicked bend their bow and make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart Psal 11.2 So the Lord hath his bow alwayes bent and his arrow made ready upon the string openly to shoot at the false in heart Though it be usually long before he takes revenge yet 't is not because he is unready and cannot but because patient and will not take it sooner He is alwayes able to avenge himself not onely speedily but presently As he will do what he hath spoken so he can do what he will with a word speaking Thirdly Would we not fear snow or hail or any missive weapon of heaven then let us get God to be our friend in whose hand and at whose command they are No creature moves but by direction from God and surely he will never direct them to the hurt though often to the affliction and correction of those whom he loves As such are in league with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field are at peace with them so also are the stars of heaven and all the meteors snow and hail c. in the air Fourthly God will charge them with hardness of heart and impenitency who humble not themselves when he fights against them with these weapons Every judiciary shower of hail though it break not our heads yet it should break our hearts That hail which doth any hurt to the works of our hands should work good upon our hearts And therefore the Lord complained when his hail-stones left no more sign or impression upon his peoples hearts than they did upon a rock or stone Hag. 2.17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all your labours yet ye turned not to me saith the Lord. This Scripture teacheth us two useful lessons First When God smites any thing that is ours or belongs to us he smites us If our fields or gardens be smitten we are smitten Secondly God expects we should and even wonders if we do not turn upon such smitings He looks upon them as hardned sinners who melt not by every afflictive fall of hail from heaven They are even resolved to be bad who mind not being good or better when evils fall upon either them or theirs Fifthly Hasten to make peace with God when he gives signs and alarums of war God had no sooner said to Israel Amos 4.12 Therefore that is because thou hast not taken the alarum by former judgement therefore thus will I do unto thee O Israel that is I will bring some sorer judgement upon thee than any of those already brought but he adds and because I will do this unto thee unless prevented by speedy repentance prepare to meet thy God O Israel As if God had said Consider as Christ adviseth on another occasion Luke 14.31 whether thou art able with thy ten thousand to meet me with my twenty thousand all the power of man is not onely less by half as ten thousand to twenty thousand but indeed nothing at all to the power of God and if not as I know thou art not then I counsel thee while I onely tell thee I will do thus unto thee but am yet a great way off possibly from coming to do it prepare to meet me send an Embassage of prayers and tears and desire conditions of peace It will be too late to call for a composition or to think of a treaty when the trumpets have sounded and the battel is joyned If we get not through Christ our peace made before the day of battel and war in this world I mean before temporal judgements aâ—e actually come upon us and have taken hold of us we may smart soundly before we have our peace and pay dearly for it before we have it But if we prepare not to meet God and get our peace made through Christ before the day of battel and war in the next world I mean before Death and the Eternal Judgement come upon us we shall not onely smart soundly and pay dearly for that wretched neglect of our season but must perish for ever under an impossibility of having our peace made The Day of Gods battel and war with the wicked in the next world is Eternity Here in this world God saith to the worst of sinners to him that is but briars and thorns Isa 27.5 Let him take hold of my strength that is of my Grace or of my Son which are my strength to save sinners that he may make peace with me and I assure him his assay shall not be in vain he shall make peace with me I am no inexorable God yea I am easie to be intreated if treated with when and in whom and in such a way as I have offered my self
canst thou guid them as a Father guids his Family his Wife Children and Servants canst thou direct them their course how or which way to go Some think he useth the word guid because this constellation represents the form of a Wain or Wagon and is by us commonly called Charles-wain or the greater Bear Canst thou guid Arcturus That 's another Constellation seated in the Northern Pole notably conspicuous to us in a clear night 'T is the Sea-mans mark or guid The Lord who guids that Star hath made it a guid to the Sea-man in the night by looking to that he knows how to make his course Canst thou guid Arcturus With his Sons Some read Arcturus and her Daughters Master Broughton and her Children We render in the Masculine Gender and his Sons There is one principal Star and several other Stars that stand as Children about their Father or Mother and therefore the Lord expresseth them by that familiar Allusion Arcturus and his Sons canst thou guid them Hence Note First The Stars have a Guid a Governour The Stars move as directed God himself is the guid of the Stars not Man As a Shepheard guids his flock in the fields so the Lord guids the Stars in that spacious field of the heavens yea he names and numbers them as a Shepheard doth his flock Psal 147. He telleth the number of the Stars and call's them all by their names The Prophet exhorting the people to lift up their eyes on high that is to the heavens presently adds and behold who hath created these things Isa 40.26 that is the heavens and the fuâ—niture of them he bringeth out their host by number that is the host of the Stars As an Army is enrolled and numbered how many thousands they are so doth the Lord bring forth that host by number and calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth There 's not one of the host of heaven not one of the Stars that faileth but comes forth at Gods call and appears as it were in rank and file when and where the Lord gives command Thus the Prophet speaks of the Stars as Gods host and of the Lord as a Commander or General of an army knowing their number nature place and office mustering and marshalling them oâ—dering them out upon service as he pleaseth And whereas in the best disciplin'd armies of men many fail when drawn out to service some for fear others through unfaithfulness not a few through weakness and sickness here 's neither weak nor sick neither an unfaithful nor a fearful one in this host not one faileth Nor doâ—h the Lords memory fail for he calls them all by their names which shews the perfect remembrance and exact knowledge which the Lord hath of them all It is reported as a wonder Plin. lib. 7. c. 24. Valerius Maximus lib. 3. c. 7. of Cyrus King of Persia that he having a vast Army yet knew them by face and was able to call every man by his name What then shall we say of this wonder The Lord who guideth Arcturus and his Sons who leads out this innumerable Army of the Stars knows every one of them by name and sends them forth by name upon what enterprise or service he pleaseth The Lord having questioned Job about those four eminent and well known Constellations Pleiades in the Spring Orion in the Winter Mazzaroth in the Summer and Arcturus with his Sons in the Autumn to convince him that as he was not able nor any man else to alter the natural motions or courses of the Stars so that neither he nor any man else was able to alter the course of his providence The Lord I say having done questioning Job about these four notable Constellations of heaven in special proceeds to interrogate him more generally about the whole heavens in the next Verse Vers 33. Knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven canst thou set the Dominions thereof in the earth Surely as thou knowest not the special laws by which I govern the Pleiades Orion Mazzaroth and Arcturus so not the general laws by which the heavens are governed Knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven The word here rendred Ordinances is often rendred in the Psalms statutes laws decrees knowest thou the laws or statutes of heaven The word rendred heaven is of the dual number as Grammarians speake because in what part soever of the earth any man stands the heaven is cut in two parts as to him by the Horizon whereof one part is over him and the other under him As there is a heaven above us so a heaven below us though wheresoever any man is on earth heaven is above him Knowest thou The Ordinances of heaven Now the Ordinances of heaven may be of two sorts First Those which God hath given to the heavens The heavenly bodies move according to his constitutions who made heaven and earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Secondly Those which the heavens give to the earth or to man on earth The heavens may be said to impose their laws upon the earth men being guided and directed by the changes and motions of the heavens how to order many of their motions and actions on the earth those especially which concern the earth The heavens give these common laws as I may say to men concerning the earth First When to Till the earth Secondly When to cast their Seed into the earth Thirdly When to reap and gather the fruit of the earth When to perform any part of Husbandry to the earth is known only by the heavens that is the heavens by their motions and vicissitudes shew men the seasons of doing these and these works on earth And if men obey not these laws of heaven nor observe their seasons they loose all their labour and cost bestowed on the earth Again when he saith knowest thou the Ordinances of heaven the meaning may be this Are the heavenly bodies disposed or impowered by thy wisdome hast thou given them vertue to work upon inferiour bodies I hast thou made the statutes by which they are governed or by which they govern That 's the Lords Prerogative Hence note First The heavens are under a law they have their statutes They are under a law in a three-fold Respect 1. In respect of their motion how and whither they shall move 2ly They are under a law as to their influences where and on whom they shall drop them down 3ly Which necessarily follows the former They are under a law as to their effects and operations upon the Creatures whether for good or for evil The heavens can neither hurt nor help us but according to higher order This threefold law may be understood in that one Scripture Jer. 31.35 Thus saith the Lord which giveth the Sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night Note Secondly What all the Laws and Ordinances of heaven
Christ would make to help comfort and relieve her by the speedy running of the young Hart. 2. Jesus Christ is so compared with respect to his lovingness that 's the Epithete which Solomon gives the Hind Prov. 5.19 Let her thy Wife be as the loving Hind and pleasant Râ—e Now as the Wise should be tendered by her Husband as a loving Hind so Jesus Christ is like the Hind for his exceeding lovingness to his Spouse or Wife Christ is so full of love that he is called love it self One of the Antients speaking of Christ dying said My Love was crucified 3. Jesus Christ is shadowed by the Hind with respect to his sufferings for he was hunted as a Hind with Hounds with blood-hounds with the hell-hounds of this world the worst of wicked men Therefore it is remarkable that in the 22. Psalme which is throughout a prophecy of Christ the first words being the last he spake in this world My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The title of that Psalm is To the chief musician upon Aijeleh Sahar and if you would know what that signifies look into the Maâ—gin of your larger Bibles there you shall find The Hind of the morning Hunters use to single out that special Deer Hart or Hind early in the morning which they purpose for game that day signifying that Jesus Christ who is so much spoke of in that Psalm was a Hind not only sorely and fiercely but early hunted by wicked men to death Again The Scripture speaks of the Hind with respect unto godly men First As to the freeness and cheerfulness of their spirits in the wayes and things of God The Prophet Isa 35.6 shews how it shall be with those that receive the Gospel though they have been lame impotent cripples before not able to take one step God-ward yet saith he The lame shall leap as a Hart or as a Hind that is they shall exceedingly rejoyce at the receiving of the Gospel and be very active in the obedience of it Secondly As to that exceeding thirst strong appetite or desire which true believers have to and after Jesus Christ who is the living water the water of life Thus David spake of himself Psal 42.1 As the Hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my soul after thee O God Some render as the she Hart that is the Hind panteth after the water brooks c. When David would express the exceeding ardency of his souls thirst after Christ he compares it to the thirst of a hunted Hart or Hind Thirdly The Hind is very swift of foot so are believers as they have strong desires so speedy pursuits after Jesus Christ David had a holy confidence that God would make him swift in spirit when he said Psal 18.33 The Lord shall make my feet like Hinds feet that is he will make me very active agile and nimble not only for the avoiding of corporal evils but also in following of spiritual good things Fâ—u thly The Hind loves high places or to be and breath in the free air Thus the Prophet Habakkuk speaks of himself Hab. 3.19 The Lord will make my feet like Hinds feet he will make me walk upon my high places He means not the high places of worldly preferment or power but of peace and safety nor either of them so much as those truly high places of a holy life and joy in spiritual meditation and conversation to which we resort by the wings of saith in and love unto God Vpon these high places thou wilt make me to walk As if the Prophet had said I shall go lightly and sweetly on in my journey to heaven having my soul supplied and suppled as it were with the oyl of spiritual joy and gladness As it is said of Jacob Gen. 29.1 after that he had that blessed vision at Bethel in the close of the 28th Chapter He weâ—t on his journey or as we put in the margin He lift up his feet his feet were like Hinds feet lithe and nimble for his journey going on in faith towards God and in the light of his countenance Fifthly It is observed by Naturalists that Hinds are very charitable and helpful one to another and they give that special instance when swimming over any River or deep water the second is supported by the first and the third by the second and so to the last they help one another over which doth excellently shadow the usefulness that should be among Christians and their helpfulness mutual they should be as Harts and Hinds always in this respect and then most when they come into the Rivers and deep waters of sorrow and trouble then they should support and bear up each one his brother The Apostles word is Gal. 6.2 Bear one anothers burdens and so fulfil the Law of Christ The burdens which he there intends are not only the infirmities which are in us but the afflictions and troubles which possibly we may at any time be in And again Phil. 2.4 Let not every man mind his own things but let him mind the things which are anothers that is let him be helpful to others in outward things much more let him be helpful to others in spiritual things Thus the Scripture speaks both of Jesus Christ and of those that are his under the similitude of the Hind From both parts of the verse in that the Lord puts the question here to Job Knowest thou the time when the wilde Goats of the rocks bring forth or canst thou mark the time when the Hinds do calve Note First The Lord himself takes special care of the wildest creatures even of those which are most remote from the help and care of man The care and tenderness of God toward beasts turns to his praise as well as the care which he hath of and the tenderness which he shews to believers And as it doth exceedingly advance the glory of God that he takes care of wilde beasts so it may exceedingly strengthen the faith of man that he will take care of him Doth the Lord take care of wilde Goats and of Hinds then certainly he takes care of those that particularly belong to him as hath been already shewed or inferred from such like instances as we have here in the Text. Secondly From the particular Point upon which the care of God is here intimated with respect to the wilde Goats and Hinds namely their bringing forth and calving we learn that There is a special providence of God towards these and such like creatures for the production of their young He if I may so speak with reverence shews his Midwifry in helping these savage beasts when their pains come upon them As the Lord takes man in an eminent manner out of the womb Psal 22.9 so in a manner he takes beasts out of the womb too Psal 29.8 9. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness it shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh So we translate it but the word which we render shaketh is
and cause them to travel more than needs in pain every day Secondly The Lord instanceth here in the Hinds for hard travel and Naturalists observe the Hind hath the sorest travel in bringing forth of any creature woman excepted And that the Hinds have very sore travel in bringing forth beside what Naturalists speak may be collected from those expressions in the Text They bow themselves they bring forth their young ones they cast out their sorrows That Scripture also intimates as much Psal 29.9 when among other wonderful effects of thunder The breaking of Cedars c. This is added The voice of the Lord maketh the Hinds to calve as if it did require the special help of God to give the Hinds ease and deliverance in the time of their travel The voice of God doth it that is Tunc officis ut cervae quae alioquin aegerrimè essent pariturae commodius pareant dum ante partum purgantur herba quadam quae Seselis dicitur faciliore ita utentes utero Jun. Plin. l. 8. c. 32. Arist l. 9 de Histor animal c. 5. Cicero l. 2 de nat Deorum either the thunder or some extraordinary power sent out for that purpose doth it And here we may consider the goodness of God even to this wilde beast in ordering her natural helps to ease her the more speedily of her grievous pains in bringing forth her young ones The natural Historian tells us concerning the Hind that she by common instinct a litle before she calves feeling her pains coming upon her seeks out a certain herb called Seselis feeding upon which doth exceedingly facilitate her pains in bringing forth Women who have understanding and reason as also the assistance of friends about them have many means for their ease in that hour of extremity but the Lord hath made this poor creature both Physician and Midwife to her self Further 't is reported of them that when they have brought forth they use the same and other herb to help themselves against their after-pains Once more Naturalists observe A partu duas habent herbas quae Aros Seselis appellamur Plin. l. 8. c. 32. that they usually bring forth at that time of the year when there is much thunder according to that before mentioned Psal 29. The voice of the Lord or thunder maketh the Hinds to calve For the Hind being of a fearful nature that dreadful noise doth so astonish her that it either makes her put out all her strength to bring forth or makes her less sensible of her pains in bringing forth That 's the second thing here considerable in Hinds their painful bringing forth They bow themselves they bring forth their young ones they cast out their sorrows Hence take this inference with respect to women who come under the like pains This should be a staff of consolation to them in the time of their travel If the Lord directs these creatures to the best posture and most proper means for their help and ease in that condition how much more will he take care of them especially of them who call upon him and trust in him We may well make that interpretation of the Apostles words 1 Tim. 2.15 She shall be saved in child-bearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety This early care of God for mankind is described Psal 22.9 10. Thou art he that took me out of the womb I was cast upon thee from the womb thou art my God from my mothers belly And again Psal 71.6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb thou art he that took me out of my mothers bowels my praise shall be continually of thee St. Augustine applies this matter of the Hinds bringing forth to the spiritual birth First Because the time is unknown or known only to God when any soul comes to the new birth Secondly Because every soul which travelleth with this new birth boweth and humbleth himself greatly under the sense of sin before the Lord. Thirdly Because this new birth is usually accompanied with great and grievous pangs alwayes with the truth of godly sorrow The Lord having spoken thus of the Hindes bringing forth their young ones speaks next as I may say of the education and bringing up of their young ones Vers 4. Their young ones are in good liking they grow up with Corn they go forth and return not unto them This Verse holds out three things First The good plight of their young ones They are in good liking As if it had been said Though the Hinds have much pain in bringing them forth yet they are slick and fat as soon as or soon after they are brought forth The word which we render in good liking notes a growing into health and strength 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat aliquando valere incolumem esse Licet matres difficilem habent partum filii tamen salvi incolumes sunt beneque valent alii pinguescunt Drus Facti sumuâ— sicut consolati melius quam ab aliis somniantes c. Bold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ager unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sera agrestis Sed hic est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod in lingua Chaldaeorum extra denotat unde Barbarus geninalis syllabis Drus Mira est providentia Dei in subulonum himulorum nutricatione qui nullo custode nullo opilione reguntur sicut vituli haedi vel agni tamen pinguescum Codrec which we call recovering Isa 38.9 16. The writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sick and was recovered c. And 't is said of Naaman 2 Kings 5.14 his flesh came to him or he recovered his flesh as the flesh of a little Child The same word is used Psal 126.1 When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion we were like to them that dream which others translate thus and conceive it nearer the Oâ—iginal Text When the Lord turned the Captivity of Sion then we were like them that are fed and grow fat at the dugg and so are chearely or in a comfortable condition Thus the Hinds young ones grow fat lusty and strong As the Lord takes care for their bringing forth so of their bringing up he that maketh the Hinds to calve makes their calves of good liking too as he makes the Babe thrive at the Mothers breast so the Calf at the Hinds dugg And when they have a while grown fat at the dam's dugg then Secondly They grow up with Corn. They come to harder meat they soon leave sucking and feed upon corn Some read they grow up in the fields or by the field that is by that which groweth in the field Thus it is with our Children they are fed first at the breast spoon afterwards with flesh or any wholesom food According to every degree of life God provides sutable food the Infant shall have milk and when a little grown stronger meat As it is in spirituals when we are new born babes
from serving To be be free to serve is infinitely better than to be free from service nothing is more ingenuous nothing shews a more noble spirit in man than to be free to serve as all are being once freed from spiritual or sin-slavery Rom. 6.19 As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yield your selves servants to righteousness unto holiness for as it follows when ye were the servants of sin ye were free from righteousness or as it is in the margin free to righteousness not free to do righteousness but free not to do it Righteousness had then no command yielded to no power submitted to over you whereas over a gracious heart righteousness hath the greatest command A godly man is at the beck of God in all the wayes of righteousness and as he is free to serve Masters so he is free to be subject to Magistrates or higher powers according to that rule of the Apostle Rom. 13.1 And that all in their places may be mindful of this duty they are upon all occasions to be put in mind of it as the same Apostle directed Titus in his Epistle to him Chap. 3.1 The Lord having spoken of the freedom of the Ass proceeds to described his dwelling Vers 6. Whose house I have made the wilderness and the barren laid his dwellings These words contain the second part of the care and providence of God towards the wild Ass he hath not only made them free and loosed their bonds but he hath provided a dwelling for them and where in the wilderness a wild place and therefore fit for wild beasts The wilderness strictly taken is the dwelling of beasts not of men we read I grant in Scripture not only of Houses but of Cities in the wilderness yet take the wilderness strictly and 't is a place un-inhabited by man and that 's the place where the Lord hath appointed the wild Ass to dwell 't is his house there he abideth as men do in their houses The wilderness is a place undressed untilled uncared for by man yet by the care and goodness of God it affords sufficient provision for the support of these creatures whom no man provides for Whose house I have made the wilderness The wild Ass hath a large and open house some conceive the wilderness here intended was the wilderness of Arabia which as Historians tell us was much stockt or abounded with wild Asses The word Arabia signifies a wilderness the whole country being so like a wilderness is so called after its own likeness The Chaldee Paraphrast reads it whose house I have made a plain as if these wild Asses were in this opposed to the wild Goats ver 1. who live on high hills and craggy rocks The word is translated a plain Deut. 1.1 yet rather as we the wilderness And the barren land his dwellings the Hebrew is and the salt place his dwellings A barren place and a salt place are the same Judg. 9.45 When Abimeleck took that City he sowed it with salt in token that an everlasting curse of barrenness should come upon it according to that Psal 107.34 A fruitful land turned he into barrenness the margin saith into saltness Once more Jer. 17.5 6. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm he shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited that is in a barren land unfit for any to inhabit There is a reason in nature why salt land is barren salt being hot and dry draweth up the strength and moisture of the land that should make is fruitful This salt or barren land which yeilds little grass or herbage the Lord hath appointed for the wild Ass to dwell in Hence note First God provides a place of dwelling for the meanest creatures Where the wild Ass shall dwell or inhabit comes under a Divine appointment How much more hath God appointed dwelling places for the children of men The Apostle tells us Acts 12.26 That he hath not only made men to dwell on all the face of the earth but he hath also determined the bounds of their habitation that is God hath not only made the whole earth habitable for man-kind but he hath by his providence disposed every man to his special habitation in this or that part of the earth Secondly The dwelling which God appoints to any creature is sutable to its nature This wild creature dwells in a wild place in a wilderness This barren creature as to any benefit he brings to man God appoints to dwel in a barren land It is said of Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 5.21 when for his pride he was put from his dominion that he had his dwelling with wild Asses he himself carried it like a beast and he had a dwelling sutable to his beastial disposition among the beasts he was proud and would not bare the Lords yoke he cast off the bonds which God laid upon him and thought it enough for him to lay bonds upon men therefore the Lord to humble him thrust him among the beasts As like will to like mostly in way of election so sometimes like shall to like though they like it not in way of compulsion and usually like are put to like persons or places in way of gracious ordination God himself appoints wild beasts to the barren wildernesses tame beasts to the fruitful enclosed pastures he placeth men in well built Houses Towns or Cities and he hath appointed faithful men and women his Church to dwell in which is therefore called though in a wilderness the house of God 1 Tim. 3.15 David found that house more pleasing to him than any of his Royal Pallaces and therefore made it his great request The one thing of his desires Psal 27.7 That he might dwel in the house of the Lord for ever Even as he bitterly complained Psalm 120.5 Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the tents of Kedar And as the Lord hath provided sutable habitations for beasts wild and tame for men good and bad here on earth so he hath provided sutable habitations for all men when they leave this earth He hath provided hell for their house and dwelling place for ever who are disobedient 〈◊〉 â—nbelieving and he hath provided heaven for their house and dwelling place for ever who believe and obey As now all godly men dwell in God by faith Psal 90.1 so they shall hereafter dwell always with him by fruition He that gives the wilderness for a house and the barren land for a dwelling to the wild Ass will provide a Paradise for the house and a Spring-garden of everlasting joys and sweetnesses for his faithful servants Thirdly From these words the barren land his dwelling Note As some lands are barren by a Divine Malediction so some by Common Constitution Some lands become barren
there is oppression Better be sometimes in a starving condition than alwayes in a fearing condition alwayes hearing the cry of the Driver The wild Ass is content to fare hard so he may be free how much more then is he below a man who parts with his true liberty as Esau did with his Birth-right for a morsel of meat or a mess of broth Fourthly Note To be driven and forced is grievous to beasts much more to men The wild Ass regards not the crying of the Driver because he knows the Driver cannot reach him with his cry much less with his whip The tame Ass must regard and attend the cry of the Driver though he hath no will to it whether he will or no. It was said by the Moralists Man would be led not driven perswaded not compelled The disputes have been great what man may do and how far he may go to that matter but I shall not meddle with it any further than to say that when Christ in the Parable said Luke 14.23 Compel them to come in The compulsion there intended is only that of argumentation exhortation and perswasion by his Ministers whose divine Rhetorick in beseeching sinners to come in and to be reconciled unto God hath such a power in it as amounts unto and may be called a compulsion I grant many use their liberty or rather abuse it as an occasion to the flesh and turn it into wantonness these are indeed no better than wild Asses and though they are such as regard not the cry of the Driver yet they need it Thus the Lord hath shewed Job the house and dwelling as also the liberties and priviledges of the wild Ass in the next verse the Lord shews him the food or diet of the wilde Ass Vers 8. The range of the mountains is his pasture and he searcheth after every green thing This verse tells us where the Lord hath made provision for the wild Ass The Range or as some render the search of the mountains is his pasture Investigatio montium est pascuum ejus i. e. quicquid in montibus investigari potest id ei pabuli loco est Bez. that is whatsoever he searcheth and findeth out upon the mountains is his pasture Job speaketh of wicked men Chap. 24.5 after the manner of these wild Asses finding food in the wilderness for themselves and for their children The range of the mountains is his pasture Some interpret it choice things that is the best things or those things that are most savoury to the pallat of that beast those he picks up for his food Mr. Broughton translates Chosen places in the mountains are for his pasture As if it had been said Though he be wilde yet he is prudent he takes not what comes next but he chuseth what is best for him for as it followeth He searcheth after every green thing The word notes a very diligent search after every green thing Green things are his delicacies he lives upon them and delights in them he searcheth after all and feeds upon that which is best for him he looks not that man should fodder him in winter as they do tame and working cattel he looks out his own living and picks up some green thing or other all the year long Hence note Where God gives dwelling he gives feeding God hath made the wilderness and barren places for the wild Ass to dwell in yet there is something for him to feed on Secondly His food is every green thing Whence learn God gives food to all creatures convenient to their nature He gives green things grass to the beasts of the field but he doth not feed man with grass he feedeth man with the finest of the wheat and with honey out of the rock Psal 81.16 And as the Lord provides sutable food for the bodies of men so for their souls he hath spiritual green pastures for them Psal 23.1 2. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want he maketh me to lye down in green pastures that is in his Word and Ordinances They are green pastures for his people he makes them lie down in the Promises and in the Commandments in the holy Prophecies and Histories of the written word all which are written for our instruction or learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. 15.4 that is that our faith having the truth of the Word especially in the promises to feed upon our hope may be said to wait for the good of the Word patiently The holy Scriptures I say are the green pastures which the Lord hath provided for the souls of men to feed in and grow fat upon The Scriptures are a bare common a dry heath to unbelievers they find nothing there which is food for them but to believers they are fat pastures and full of such green things as are most sutable to their taste and nourishing to their souls Thus spake the Prophet Isa 49.9 10. Their pastures shall be in all high places they shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor the Sun smite them that is they shall have safe passage and sufficient food both for soul and body for their souls especially when delivered out of their soul-prisons or spiritual captivity there spoken or prophecyed of under the Gospel Thirdly Wild Asses seaâ—ch after every green thing they take pains for their living iâ— it be not neer they will travel for it and seek after it Hence note Hunger makes irrational creatures every living creature industrious They who love not labour will yet take some pains at least so much as serves them to get food and keep them alive Those beasts which are most at liberty are in a kind of bondage to their bellies The wild Asses saith the Prophet Jer. 14.6 did stand in the high places they snuffed up the wind like Dragons because there was no grass How will they search after grass who are thus afflicted for want of grass And will not spiritual hunger make us as industrious as natural hunger doth Hungry souls will be seeking after every green thing after every divine precept after very precious promise these are the green things which the soul searcheth for and is satisfied with Naturalists say of the wild Ass that he utterly refuseth to feed upon those things that are dry and dead he must have gâ—een That 's true of every believer he cannot feed upon dead and dry things upon what is chaffy and husky he must have green sappy juicy lively food such hath God provided for him and he will be satisfied with none but such JOB Chap. 39. Vers 9 10 11 12. 9. Will the Vnicorn be willing to serve thee or abide by thy crib 10. Canst thou bind the Vnicorn with his hands in the furrow or will he harrow the valleys after thee 11. Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great or wilt thou leave thy labour with him 12. Wilt thou believe him that he will
by many Scriptures that the Reem is an animal of the same kind with Bullocks forasmuch as the sense of the discourse of God about him is as if he had said Seeing among those beasts which are prepared by men to help them in their work and whose labour they ease in tilling and subduing the earth the Ox is chief as being mans most laborious helper in husbandry and which in most Countreys is more used in it than any other beast according to that Prov. 14.4 Much encrease is by the strength of the Ox. How comes it to pass that men do not make use of the Reem for those services seeing he is of the same kind with Oxen and so may seem to be made by nature for that purpose as much as other Oxen and is by so much the fitter for that service than any other Oxen or Bulls whatsoever by how much his strength is greater than theirs yet no man attempts to use him in it or if any did it were to no purpose forasmuch as I the Lord of nature have created this beast as also the wild Ass before spoken of altogether untameable This seems to be the meaning of God in his discourse about the Reem And hence also it appears that the Reem is not the Bisons seeing he as well as many other wild beasts being skilfully handled proves tame and gentle and may be formed to the use and obedience of man It remains therefore that this Reem is the beast called Vrus because this property of untameableness is ascribed to that beast Caesar in his 6th book of the Gallican war saith The Vri no not the young ones will not be tamed by men wherefore being caught in pits they are killed Pliny also saith as much of them Lib. 8. cap. 21. And as in this particular his untameable wildness there is a full agreement between the Vrus and Reem so those other things which the Scripture speaks of the Reem agree to him also as those forreign Authors witness who have written his History For Cesar writes that he is in bigness little less than an Elephant but of the kind colour and figure or shape of a Bull. And Pliny in two places lib. 8. cap. 15. lib. 28. cap. 10. names wild Oxen as the Genus with respect both to the Vri and Bisontes The learned Doctor adds many more proofs out of ancient Authors which the Reader may peruse if he please at his leisure And from all he concludeth It is not therefore to be doubted but that the Reems are the Vri and indeed so much the less because not only the Northern Regions in divers parts of which it is said by Writers that not only the Bisontes but Vri are found at this day are the proper soyl where these Animals are bred but the Eastern parts also bring them forth Pliny writes that the Indian woods are full of them and so doth Aristotle I collect also out of Diodorus lib. 3. that the Country of the Trogloditicks which is seated at the bosom of the Red-Sea opposite to Africa hath these Vri in it And though no Author doth affirm that Syria and Palestine yield these wild Oxen yet this doth not hinder but that in old times when the Israelites first inhabited those Countreys they were there since it is no new thing that the whole kind of some wild creatures should be utterly extinct in these Countreys where formerly they have abounded of which England gives us a plain testimony in Wolves Dion also reports the same of Lions which sometimes were bred in some parts of Europe but now for many ages have not appeared there And the same witnesseth Ammianus lib. 22. concerning the Hippopotami in Egypt of which none are to be found now in that Country Thus far the learned Doctor whose discourse may be of much advantage and profit to the Reader for the better understanding of this place But I find he hath a great Antagonist who though he agreeth with him in the negative part of his opinion and discourse Bochaâ—tus parte poster l. 3. c. 27. That the Reem here spoken of in Job is neither the Vnicorn nor the Rhinocerote nor the Bufalus nor the Bisons yet he doth not agree with him in the affirmative part of his opinion that the Reem is that savage beast or wild Ox called Vrus but first gives a large account why the Reem cannot be that beast called Vrus nor any of that kind and then concludes that it is a kind of Goat or of the Goatish kind by name the Oryx being an animal in colour pure white in stature tall in disposition fierce and untractable in his gate stately lifting up his head and horns on high That this beast is the Reem here spoken of he proves by various testimonies taken especially out of the ancient Arabian Chaldean and Hebrew Writers and endeavours to remove several objections arising from the seeming incompetency of any beast of the Goatish rank or kind to answer the description given of that noble animal called Reem both in the Text and in many other places of Scripture Thus the learned are much divided in opinion about this creature and upon which to determine is not easie Yet because the word Reem is every where in Scripture rendred by our Translators as also by many others of great authority Vnicorn I shall leave that matter of difference to the Readers judgement and do that reverence to our Translation as to open the Text distinctly in all that is here said by the Lord concerning the Reem under that name or title Vnicorn Will the Vnicorn be willing to serve thee In these words the Lord presents man as it were inviting wooing hiring the Unicorn to serve him But when he hath used all his skill and cunning when he hath done his best and worst too that is used all manner of means the Unicorn will not by any means be wrought upon to come under mans yoak or do his work Will the Vnicorn Be willing to serve thee To will is an act of reason and therefore to be willing is not proper to irrational Animals yet to will and to be willing may allusively be given to them They have a kind of will and an understanding befitting their kind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 voluit propensa animo suit unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pater à propensa voluntate erga liberos The Hebrew word signifies to will with much readiness and propensity of mind it signifies willingness with delight and thence comes the Hebrew word for a Father because a Father is willing and ready to take care of and provide for his children though it cost him much travel and pains But Num acquiescet aut consentiet ex suapte natura ut tibi subjiciatur Will the Vnicorn be willing to serve thee will he be a ready servant to thee he will not As if it had been said The Vnicorn is an indocible and an untractable animal he will
alone will not do it For that there may be an increase these five things must concur First The skill and industry of the Husband-man Secondly The strength and labour of the Ox or Horse Thirdly The vertue and fatness of the earth Fourthly The showers and influences of heaven Fifthly And above all the blessing of God Old Isaac said of his Son Jacob Gen. 27.27 See the smell of my Son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed As there is no increase without the blessing of God how much soever men or oxen labour so there is great increase the Lord adding his blessing by the labour of men and oxen Labour and increase usually go together and where no labour is there except by miracle is no increase Where no labour is the barn is empty the crib is empty the belly is empty the purse is empty Of doing nothing comes nothing but want and misery 'T is said when the Ox is weariest he treads surest To be sure they who are most wearied by honest pains-taking tread surest upon honest profit Secondly observe Seed sown is not lost but returns and comes home again That which was scattered abroad in the field is gathered into the barn Some may think when they see the Husbandman cast his seed into the ground that he casts it away but by the labour of the Ox by the skill of the Husbandman and the blessing of God upon all the seed cometh home again Thus the Apostle spake in a spiritual sense He that ploweth should plow in hope and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope 1 Cor. 9.10 It should be so according to the ordination of God as to the faithful Ministers of God of whose labour in plowing up souls by the word and sowing those souls with the word the Apostle there treats And it is so through the benediction of God as to laborious Husband-men and their cattel in plowing and sowing the soyl of the earth Yea thus it is in all we do our actions good or bad are as seed sown which will certainly come again they will not be lost Good done will assuredly turn to good and evil done and not undone by repentance will as surely turn to evil The Apostle gives us this double assurance Gal. 6.7 8. Whatsoever a man soweth that not numerically but specifically shall he also reap For He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting And thus in special works of charity or our distributions to the necessities of others are more significantly called sowing Psal 112.9 He hath dispersed he hath given to the poor That is he hath sowed his alms abundantly what then It followeth His righteousness endureth for ever his horn shall be exalted with honor To give to the poor especially to Gods poor to the godly poor or to those that are made poor for Gods sake is sowing good seed and he that soweth thus shall receive a fruitful crop Grain sowed in the field may yield a good increase but that which is rightly sowed in the bowels of the poor shall certainly yield a better What we give is like seed sowed in the field which increaseth thirty sixty an hundred fold What we keep by us is like corn stored up in the garner which we bring forth and spend and there 's an end of it Here 's great encouragement to do good yea to abound in doing good to others What we so part with is not lost but sowed it will come back to the barn it will come home again and that with a great increase And doubtless where there hath been a plowing up of the heart by a work of grace there will be a free sowing in every good work And though we are not to do good works meerly eying a return or our personal advantage yet we may have an eye to it as Moses had in his holy sufferings and services to the recompence of reward yea and take incouragement from the Lords bounty to be more in duty more in charity even unto bounty We may consider the harvest while we are diligent in sowing yea to make us more diligent in sowing Having thus opened the several properties of this creature here called the Vnicorn properly taken and given out some meditations upon them it will not be I conceive either unuseful or unacceptable to the Reader if for the conclusion of the whole matter in hand I shew how the holy Scriptures together with some of the Ancients make use of this creature tropically or in a figure to resemble and represent First The state of the Church and people of God Thus Moses reports Balaam shadowing the power and blessedness of Israel when he came and was hired to curse them Numb 23.22 God saith he brought them that is the children of Israel out of Egypt he hath as it were the strength of an Vnicorn Most expound the word He collectively concerning that whole people as one body He that is Israel hath as it were the strength of an Vnicorn that is he is exceeding strong Some expound it of God He that is God who brought them out of Egypt the mighty God of Jacob hath as it were the strength of an Unicorn God is indeed infinitely strong stronger than the Unicorn That which is most eminent in any creature or for which any creature is most eminent the Scripture often ascribes in a way of super-eminency unto God The Lord hath strength like the strongest and how strong soever he is he is strong for his Israel yea he is the strength of his Israel So that if we take the word in this latter sense it reaches the same thing setting forth the power and strength of Israel by the strength of the Unicorn for the Lord who is their strength will make them strong like Unicorns Balaam spake thus again Numb 24.8 God brought him all Israel as one man out of Egypt he hath as it were the strength of an Vnicorn he shall eat up the Nations his enemies and shall break their bones and pierce them through with his arrows Thus also Moses spake or prophecyed of the Tribe of Joseph Deut. 33.17 His glory is like the firstling of his Bullock and his horns are like the horns of Vnicorns with them shall he push the people or peoples the word is plural together to the ends of the earth and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh Moses sets out the fruitfulness of Ephraim beyond that of Manasseh ten for one and in both joyntly shews how powerful how prevailing they shall be even as if they pusht their enemies with horns like those of Unicorns In all these Scriptures the Lord fore-shewed the wonderful force of the Jewish Church of old his portion and peculiar people by that of the Unicorn David also as was said before expresseth his assurance of
Horse of Darius neighed first and so got his Master the Empire the Persian histories will inform the Reader But to the point in hand 'T is evident from what hath been said that 't is no uncouth nor far fetcht much less forced metaphor to express the neighing of a furious fretting Horse by thundering And as the word rendred thunder signifies in the Verbe to be moved with choler and indignation so a noble-spirited Horse charging an enemy shews a high strain of rage and indignation in which respect together with his neighing his neck may seem to be cloathed with thunder And though it be said that as the neck is not reckoned among the instruments of speaking in man so it cannot be conveniently reckoned among the instruments of neighing in a Horse that properly belonging to the throat and though I grant that when the Scripture saith Psal 75.5 Speak not with a stiff neck the word neck is not there to be taken for the means or instrument of speech but notes only the manner of speaking namely that there the Lord forbids wicked men to speak scornfully pertinaciously or as Hannah expresseth it in her Song 1 Sam. 2.3 that they should talk no more so exceeding proudly nor let arrogancy come out of their mouth Yet the throat being placed in and being a part of the neck we may by a common synecdoche of the whole for the part avoid that difficulty Nor doth the metaphor of cloathing though I confess it most sutable to the first interpretation that of the mane oppose this third of neighing For when a Horse neighs strongly the sound coming out of his mouth compasseth him his neck especially round about as with a garment David describing a wicked man saith he cloathed himself with cursing Psal 109.18 Cursing goes out of the mouth of a wicked man as neighing out of the mouth of a Horse and therefore as when a man is much in cursing he may be said to cloath himself with cursing as with a garment so a Horse which neigheth much may I conceive be said to have his neck cloathed with neighing Having thus far drawn out these expositions of this second question which the Lord put to Job about the Horse Hast thou cloathed his neck with thunder I shall submit them to the Readers judgment and only say that the first if that word Ragnemah may signifie a Horses-mane is the clearest and most literal of them all and that among the second sort of expositions the third is most received and approved From the first interpretation we learn God hath bestowed not only strength but ornaments upon the Horse The mane of a Horse is of little use and therefore some cut it quite off but it is a great ornament to the Horse From the two last interpretations Observe First The Horse in his heat and rage is very terrible Thunder is so and so must he needs be whose neck is cloathed with any thing resembling thunder Note Secondly It is of God that the Horse is terrible The Horse hath thunder about his neck but it is God who hath cloathed his neck with it If any Horse or any other creature be delightful to us God hath made it so and if any Horse or any other creature be thunder dreadful and terrible to us it is the Lord who hath made it so This we find more clearly held out in the next verse Vers 20. Canst thou make him afraid as the Grass-hopper the glory of his nostrils is terrible In the first part of this verse we have the courage of the Horse set forth That creature is full of courage that cannot be made afraid Thus the Lord speaks to Job concerning the Horse Canst thou make him afraid as the Grass-hopper The Chaldee with whom one of the Rabbins joyns rendereth Canst thou cause him to make a noise like a Grass-hopper Abenefra ut senitim edat Vehement motion causeth a sound or noise in the air When many grass-hoppers fly together they make a kind of rushing noise This exposition agrees well enough with the word which at second hand signifieth to make a noise that being caused by motion Yet other considerations hinder from resting in this interpretation For seeing the whole discourse here insists upon the descripâ—ion of a generous horse and his qualifications the noise or sound which a Horse makes in running makes nothing to that purpose for as much as it is common to all Horses even the basest sort of them to make a sound with their feet when they run And if it should be granted that great and generous horses have somewhat peculiar in this and make a greater sound than common horses in running yet to take the comparison from the sound which Grass-hoppers make in flying doth easily refute this exposition We know indeed what Pliny saith Grass-hoppers make such a sound with their wings in flying Lib. 11. cap. 29. that they may be thought some other kind of fowls Yet we cannot therefore believe that it is a proper similitude to compare the sound which horses make in running who as Poets use to phrase it make the earth tremble and groan with that crassing noise which Grass-hoppers make while they fly in the air For if the comparison may at all be taken from flying-fowls great fowls were much fitter for it who use to fly in flocks together Yet these greater fowls make no very great noise in flying much less can Grass-hoppers And therefore the Poets both Greek and Latine though they affect to shaddow great sounds and clamours by a similitude taken from flying-fowls yet they do not take the resemblance from the sound which their flying makes with their wings but from the sound or chattering which they make with their bills while they fly Bootius animad sacrae of which the Reader may find many instances given by the learned Author named in the Margin Seeing then fowls do not make any such noise in flying as may serve for a sutable resemblance of any great sound surely that small noise which Grass-hoppers make in flying cannot be a proper resemblance of it Further here is nothing said of many or of a troop and body of horses but of a single horse or of horses singly and a part considered Now that some one horse should be compared with one Grass-hopper as to the sound which the one and the other makes in their motion were no small absurdity This therefore may suffice for the laying aside of that first interpretation of the whole clause though the force of the word doth not oppose it Secondly Others read the Text thus An commovebis eum in morem locustae Drus Canst thou make him move leap or skip like the grass-hopper As if the Lord had said It is not of thee O Job but of me that the horse hath this property to move himself like a Grass-hopper The motion of a horse may be compared to that of a Grass-hopper in two respects
Neque consistit firmus cum sonus tubae editur Jun. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Mr. Broughton renders expresly Neither stands he still when the sound of the trumpet is heard This interpretation suits best with the scope of the place nor doth the force of the Hebrew Verb oppose it for the Adjective which comes from the Participle of it is often used to signifie firm stable sure durable yea and the Verb it self is often taken in that sense Psal 78.37 They were not stedfast or stood not fast in his covenant So Deut. 28.59 the Lord threatned Plagues of long continuance that is standing Plagues or such as should hold long and not stir from the place Thus also it is said Exod. 17.12 The hands of Moses were steady until the going down of the Sun The same word doth elegantly signifie both to believe and to be steady or stand fast seeing it is faith or believing in God which alone makes us steady or stand fast in all occasions or temptations to the contrary and therefore in this place we may most conveniently render He standeth not firm he stands not still or keeps not his place at the sound of the trumpet but is unquiet and in motion as having an ardent desire to be in the battel as soon as ever he hears the trumpet sound Stare loco nescit Virg. One of the ancient Poets expresseth this quality of a valiant horse almost in the same words and altogether to the same sense He knows not how to keep his place or he cannot as we say for his heart stand still So that as the eagerness of the horse for the battel even before the signal given is set forth in those words vers 21. He paweth in the valley and in the former part of this verse where 't is said He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage so the same height of spirit after the signal given is further expressed in these words thus translated He standeth not still no ground will hold him he will be gone if he can get head when once he hears the sound of the trumpet Hence note What we have much mind to do we are glad of an opportunity to do it and readily embrace it The Apostle saith of the old Patriarks Heb. 11.15 Truly if they had been mindful of that is if they had had a mind to that Country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned Now as a man will not do that for which he hath an opportunity when he hath no mind to it so if a man hath a mind to do any thing how soon doth he make use of the very first opportunity to do it And doubtless it was a great trouble to the Philippians who had a true desire to shew their care of and love to the Apostle Paul that they lacked opportunity to shew it and give a real proof of it Phil. 4.10 As opportunity is a gale to carry us on to action so a willing mind is a gale to carry us to the improvement of any offered opportunity for action Let us do good saith the Apostle Gal. 6.10 as we have opportunity He that is slack to do good when he hath a fair gale of opportunity to it declares plainly that his mind is becalmed and that he hath not the least breath or gale of willingness in his mind to do good It is our duty not only to accept an opportunity to do good when it falls tight in our way but even to step out of our way so it be in a good way to seek it Davids enemies sought occasion and so did Daniels Chap. 6. to do him a mischief and shall not we seek occasions to shew mercy c. Let us like the horse in the Text no sooner hear the sound of the Trumpet a lawful call to any duty for which we have also an open door but as he rejoyce in it stand still no longer with a dull shall we shall we in our mouths but be gone up and be doing Vers 25. He saith among the trumpets ha ha and he smelleth the battel afar off the thunder of the Captains and the shouting This verse seems to give a reason of what was last said in the former especially according to the latter Translation of it As if it had been said Therefore the generous horse cannot stand still but is impatient of every moments delay when he hears the trumpet sound because he is not only not astonished at it but rejoyceth wishing for nothing more than the battel of which he knows the sounding of the trumpet to be a signal He saith among the trumpets Ha ha Some render these words not barely as we among the trumpets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Quando tubarum clangor validus intenditur vox 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 constat praepositione Beth particula 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae non est tantum adjectitia Euphonica sed copiam etiam significat Codurc but thus At the full sound of the trumpet or When the trumpet hath sounded long and sufficiently then he saith Ha ha Reading the words thus we may connect them with the latter part of the former verse Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet that is when the trumpet begins to sound he doubts whether it be to the battel or no but when the trumpet sounds long when the sufficiency of the trumpet sounds or when it sounds sufficiently so that it manifestly appears the battel is nigh or at hand then he saith Ha ha That the word de in Bede is significative and imports sufficiency is the opinion of many interpreters and that it is of the same sense in this Text as in that Isa 40.16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering Thus here at the sufficiency of the trumpet that is when the trumpet sounds sufficiently abundantly or clearly or as our old English translation hath it when the trumpets make most noise he saith ha ha There are others of note who judge that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de is only a syllabical addition of no signification or adding nothing to the Preposition ב Be Ad tubae soninitum Trem. Inter buccinas Pag. and so render the words only thus At the sound of the trumpet or as we Among the trumpets he saith ha ha And that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De is only expletive not significative and so that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bede is no more than the Preposition ב Be put alone some would confirm by other Texts of Scripture where it is conceived to be so used Hab. 2.13 Behold is it not of the Lord that the people shall labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the fire and the people shall weary themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for vanity Arnold Boot Animad Sac. l. 3. c. 11. These words are sound also Jer. 51.58 in both which saith
gives them this character 2 Sam. 1.23 They were stronger than Lions and swifter than Eagles that is they were exceeding swift Our adversaries were swifter than the Eagles said the poor captivated Church when the Assyrian came in against them Lam. 4.19 Read also Deut. 28.49 Hos 8.1 Hab. 1.8 Cicero the Orator in his second book of Divination tells us that when one who was to run a race reported to an Interpreter Vicisti ista enim ave volat nulla vehementior Cicer. l. 2. de divin that he dreamed he was turned into an Eagle the Interpreter presently answered Then you shall overcome or get the mastery For the Eagle is the strongest and swiftest of all flying fowls Secondly The Eagle exceeds all as in swiftness so in the uprightness of her flying She flies right up that 's it which the Text takes notice of She mounteth up she mounts up like an arrow out of a bow Non obliquo tramite ut caeterae aves vel per gyrum ut accipiter sed recto sursum fertur Aelian lib. 14 c. 10. Aquila derem volatu superat sublimius evadit Oppian Aquila in nuhibus whereas other fowls when they flie high they do it obliquely or side-long by gyration or fetching a compass but the Eagle asceâ—ds directly not as I may say by winding stairs but in a right line Thirdly As the swiftness and uprightness of the Eagles motion so the highness of it is wonderful The Eagle mounts till she is quite out of sight no bodily creature can reach the Eagles altitude One of the Ancients saith The Eagle soars above the air he means I suppose the lower region of the air as if she would visit the starry heavens And hence it is said proverbially of any thing which we cannot easily reach or come at 'T is an Eagle in the clouds Her common attribute or epithete is The high-flying Eagle If it be questioned why doth the Eagle mount up so high these two reasons may be given of it First That she may come down or stoop with greater force upon her prey and that makes the Eagle so formidable to all the fowls of the air Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à â—oetis dictus And hence the Poets call her a Thunder bringer because she mounts up on purpose to that amazing height that she may come down upon her prey more forcibly even like a thunder-bolt And thus proud men desire to get on high that they may more easily make a prey of and crush as the Eagle doth those that are below them Secondly The Eagle mounts thus high to please her self 't is sutable to her spirit Every one would be in action as he is in disposition The Eagle hath a high spirit and she must flie high and at high things The Eagle will not catch flies she scorns that game Doth the Eagle mount up At thy command The Hebrew is At thy mouth so the word is rendred in several other Scriptures Numb 13.3 And Moses by the commandement of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran that is he sent the men that were to search the Land The Hebrew is Moses by the mouth of the Lord sent them to search the Land Again 2 Kings 24.3 Surely at the commandement of the Lord came this upon Judah to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseth As if it had been said When the enemy made inrodes upon the children of Israel and Judah how came this to pass surely at the command of the Lord or at the mouth of the Lord came this upon Judah It is the word in the Text Doth the Eagle mount up at thy command or at thy mouth One would think that it is not only the Eagles nature to mount up there is somewhat in that but that 's not all it is at the Lords mouth at his command and that we are specially to take notice of here What means this discourse about the Hawk and Eagle but to make us mount up our hearts to God and acknowledge him in the motion of every creature It is at Gods mouth that the Eagle mounts up but what 's the command that the Eagle receives from God Doth not the Eagle mount up by a natural instinct or according to the Law of nature planted in her I answer she doth Yet because that natural instinct of the Eagle is of God therefore we are to look upon the Eagle mounting up as by a special order and command of God And thus we are to understand the motion of all the creatures Facit hoc aquila naturali instinctu Omnis autem naturalis cursus rerum est quaedam motio creaturae ad praeceptum Dei Aquin. Dedistinè hanc naturam aquilae ut attollat se in altum Vatabl. as consequential of a command given out by God Psal 148.8 Fire and hail snow and vapour stormy wind fulfilling his word or his command Though there be a natural cause of the creatures motion of the motion of the wind of the vapour of the snow and hail yet we must not stop at the natural causes and look no farther neither rain nor snow fall nor winds blow but at the command of the Lord Not doth the Eagle mount up at the bidding or teaching of man but at the command of God acting her natural instinct in doing so Doth the Eagle mount up at thy command Hence Note The special motions of the creature are of God Mans mouth or command cannot make any creature stir foot or wing Who can make the Eagle mount the wind blow or the rain fall besides God Secondly As to the manner of this motion it s a mounting motion Note The motion of the creature upward hath much of the command of God in it Some have I know mounting motions at the command of the Devil the Lord hath the command of them though they are not commanded by him that is the proud imaginations the lofty thoughts of man these mounting motions are not at the command but against the command of the Lord the Lord suffers them but they are from Satan he puffs men up he blows them up with pride But both the natural mounâ—ings of the sensitives creatures and the gracious mountings of the new creature on high are by the command of God True believers have lowest or lowliest spirits yet highest and noblest aimes not grovelling on nor bowing to the earth but like an Eagle mounting up on high As this high flight of the soul is highly pleasing unto God so 't is made by his strength and at his command A believer flies high First In the contemplation of divine things What towering thoughts hath he concerning God and the concernments of salvation by Jesus Christ he is not mingling his soul with the dust nor mudding it upon the dunghils of this world As his conversation or trade is for things above so his mind and meditation is upon them Secondly As he flies high
that we are vile in vain do we cry for deliverance or hope for mercy When we are lowest in our own eyes we are nearest to our exaltation when once we say in our hearts we are nothing we deserve nothing we have spoken lightly we have done lightly salvation will not tarry 1 Pet. 5.7 Humble your selves under the mighty hand of God and he will lift you up in due time If we would be lifted up out of any affliction we must be at this humbling work We shall never work as I may say upon the heart of God unless we are thus at work with our own hearts or till this work be done upon our hearts Our great work lies within especially in a day of tryal and tribulation such as Job was in Job was speedily reduced to his former honour and greatness when once through grace he had wrought his heart to this confession Behold I am vile What shall I answer thee As if Job had said truly I have nothing to answer thee Thou O Lord hast given such demonstrations of thy greatness of thy power of the excellency of thy wisdom of thy goodness that I have nothing to say but this that I can say nothing What shall I answer thee I know not what to answer or I have nothing to answer As in a great strait when we know not what to do we usually say What shall we do So here it sheweth that Job was no way able to answer when he said What shall I answer The Hebrew is What shall I return or turn back We may exemplifie this passionate interrogation by that of the Patriark Judah Gen. 44.16 when Joseph would have detained Benjamin having found the cup in his sacks mouth Judah said What shall we say unto my Lord what shall we speak or how shall we clear our selves Here are three questions to shew that he had nothing to answer First What shall we say to my Lord Secondly What shall we speak Thirdly How shall we clear our selves Truly we know not what to say nor speak nor how to clear our selves The plain truth is we have nothing at all to answer for our selves but to yield our selves to thy mercy Thus Job I am vile what shall I answer thee the great God the holy God the mighty God the wise God what shall I answer thee Hence note When God is opponent no man can be respondent God can put such questions and make such objections as no man is able to answer Thus spake Job at the 3d verse of the ninth Chapter If he that is God will contend with him that is with man he cannot answer him one of a thousand Which implyeth that not only not one among very many men but that not one among all men or that not any man is able to answer if God will contend The Apostle saith of all men in a state of sin Rom. 3.19 We know that what things soever the law saith it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God If the Lord should make objections against or charge sinners according to the strictness and severity of the law the best the holiest of men could not find an answer or no answer would be found in their mouths how much less could any answer him who not only were altogether born in sin as all are and as the proud Pharisees told the poor man in the Gospel he was Joh. 9.34 but abide and continue in sin How will the mouthes of all such be stopt with a sense of their self-guiltiness how mute how answerless will they stand before God or say as Job in the Text but in a ten thousand times sadder plight than he What shall we answer It is the happiness of humbled sinners that they have Christ to answer for them seeing in that case no sinner can answer for himself And such is the Majesty and glory of God when it breaks forth in any case to a poor creature that it leaves him quite answerless and takes away not only all matter of dispute but of speech and therefore Job resolves upon silence as appears by what he saith in the last clause of this verse I will lay my hand upon my mouth As if he had said That all may see I know not what to answer I will stop up the conveyance of answers What this Scripture phrase to lay the hand upon the mouth imports hath been opened Chap. 21.5 In brief Jobs meaning in resolving thus was as if he had said I will impose silence upon my self Or thus Lord thou shalt not need to silence me or to stop my mouth I will do it my self I know not what to answer thee but if I did if I could gather up something that might look like an answer yet I will not answer I will lay my hand upon my mouth Further when he saith I will lay my hand upon my mouth it may imply that he would fain have been answering though he could not tell what to answer The tongue if left at liberty if not checkt will be making answers Constituo linguae licentiam perâ—nitèr coercere when it cannot answer any thing to purpose and therefore as David said Psal 39.1 I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me So would Job here while the Holy one was before him fearing he might give further offence while he went about to take off offences The tongue of a good man needs a bridle and the better any man is the more he bridles his tongue Job had offended with his tongue though he had not spoken wickedly yet he had spoken rashly and inconsiderately and now he saith I will lay my hand upon my mouth Hence note We should be very watchful over that which hath been an instrument or an occasion of sin He that hath offended with his mouth should lay his hand upon his mouth and take order with his tongue It is better to be silent than to offend in speaking Socrates l. 4. hist Eccles cap. 18. Pambâ— as the Church Historian reports confessed that in forty nine years he had scarcely learned the meaning of or the duty contained in the first and â—econd verses of the thirty ninth Psalm concerning the due restraint and government of the tongue Secondly Note Hoc suppliâ—ii gonus linguarium appellant Sanct. It is necessary sometimes to abridge our selves in what we may do lest we should do what we may not This is a holy revenge and it is one of those seven effects of Godly sorrow which works repentance not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.11 We should in some cases forbear to speak at all for fear we should speak amiss They who are truly wise are much asham'd to speak when once they see their error in speaking or how apt they are to erre in speaking and therefore lay that penalty upon their tongues either to spare speaking or
by contesting with God but by humbling our selves before him there 's no obtaining with God by contending with him much less by condemning him Vers 9. Hast thou an arm like God or canst thou thunder with a voice like him THe Lord at the 6th verse of this Chapter entered upon a vehement expostulation with Job to humble him and bring down his spirit and that Job might be thorowly humbled here the Lord in this 9th verse sheweth what a disparity there was between himself and Job as before in his righteousness Wilt thou condemn me that thou mayst be righteous art thou more righteous than I So here in his power Vers 9. Hast thou an arm like God canst thou thunder with a voice like him As if the Lord had said Let me see what thou canst do or whether thou canst do like God seeing thou carriest thy self so unlike a man That 's the scope and tendency of this 9th verse as of those that went immediately before The whole verse consists of two convincing questions The first in those words Hast thou an arm like God The second in these Canst thou thunder with a voice like him Hast thou an arm like God The arm properly taken is a noble and an eminent limb or member of mans body Nor hath any creature nor is any creature so much as said to have an arm but man And some may say seeing the arm is a bodily member how can God who hath no body be said to have an arm I answer 't is true God is a spirit without distinction of parts yet frequently in Scripture as humane passions so bodily parts are ascribed to God improperly or by a figure And because the arm is a strong and noble member of mans body that member by which man puts forth the greatness of his strength that member by which he doth and atchieves great things therefore the arm in Scripture signifies power and is the embleme of might and strength In this language the Lord threatned old Eli the High Priest 1 Sam. 2.31 Behold the days come that I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy fathers house c. that is I will take away thy power and the power of thy family Thus Zech. 11.17 Wo to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock the sword shall be upon his arm that is his power shall be broken and he made useless as that man is whose arm is wounded And as the arm notes ministerial power so magistratical power whether abused or rightly used Job 35.9 They cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty and Chap. 38.15 The high arm shall be broken Now as the arm is put for the power of man so for the power of God Psal 98.1 O sing unto the Lord a new song for he hath done marvellous things his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory Read also Isa 59.16 and Isa 63.12 and here in the Text Hast thou an arm like God Is thy arm like Gods arm that is is thy power like Gods power Hence Note First God hath a mighty power He hath an arm There are three Scripture expressions which in a gradation hold forth the power of God First The finger of God Exod. 18.9 When the Magicians could not imitate Moses in the Plague of Lice then they said unto Pharaoh This is the finger of God that is the power of God is eminent in this miracle it exceeds our power we not only cannot do the like but nothing like it as we did before in semblance of those former miracles Thus Christ himself being blasphemed by some of the Jews who said He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of devils answered Lu. 11.20 If I by the finger of God cast out devils c. that is If I by the power of God or by the holy Spirit so another Gospel hath it Mat. 12.28 If I by the Spirit of God cast out divels c. Secondly The power of God is expressed by the hand which containeth all the fingers Isa 59.1 Behold the Lords hand is not shortened that it cannot save that is his power is not abated he hath a long hand still his power to save is as great as ever it was The same Prophet saith Chap. 9.17 The hand of the Lord is stretched out still that is his power is still at work to punish impenitent sinners How much and how long soever God hath punished sinners he can punish them longer and more if they continue longer in sin or sin more and more Thirdly We have here in this Text and in many others the arm of God that 's more than his hand signifying the fullness of his power Not that there are any real gradations in the power of God but there are gradations in the exerting and putting forth of his power Sometimes God putteth forth his power as it were by a finger only as Rehoboam said 1 Kings 12.10 My little finger shall be thicker than my Fathers loins that is the least that I will do in my government shall be more afflictive and burdensom to you if you call it a burden than the most that my Father Solomon did in his At another time God putteth forth his power by his hand you may see his whole hand that is fuller and clearer evidences of his power in what he doth or hath done that is in his works of providence whether in breaking down or building up And lastly he sheweth his arm his stretched-out arm that is the fullness of his power God hath power great power mighty power he hath an arm an out-stretched arm and this arm of God is spoken of in Scripture for a four-fold use First For the safe guarding of his people 't is a protecting arm The arm of God with us signifieth our safety The Prophet speaking of the dealings of God with his ancient people saith Isa 63.12 He led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm that is his protecting arm by which he saved that people from the wrath of Pharaoh in their first advance out of Egypt and from the wrath of all their enemies in all their encampings and marches to Canaan was very glorious This glorious arm of his is a defence upon all his glory Isa 4.5 that is upon his whole Church for there his truth holiness and holy worship which are his glory are held up and held out The Church of God is so much for the glory of God that 't is called his glory Secondly As the Lord hath a protecting arm from evil so an arm delivering and pulling out of evil The deliverance which God wrought for the Israelites in bringing them out of Egypt Exod. 6.16 Deut. 5.15 and Deut. 7.19 is said to be done by an out-stretched arm that is by his power visibly put forth and even to the utmost in the wonderful effects of it All the while God did not deliver Israel out of their bondage he might be said to
chief and dwelt as King in the Army Now should we look upon Jobs arm not as when God spake this to him lean and thin and extreamly fallen away if not quite withered but as I was at best fullest thickest strongest before he fell into that affliction or after his restauration out of it yet what was Jobs arm or power in his highest advancement to the arm and power of God! might not God then have said to him as well as when he said it Hast thou an arm like God or hath any man at this day Surely saith David Psal 62.10 men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lye to be laid in the ballance that is if they are truly weighed especially if they are weighed with God they are altogether lighter than vanity For First the power of man to help is weak and vain Psal 33.16 There is no King saved by the multitude of an Hâ—st a mighty man is not delivered by much strength And that 's an unquestionable truth whether we understand it of his own strength or of the strength of any others who come in and contribute their utmost to his aid and assistance And this is one reason why the Lord calls us off from trusting to the arm of man Psal 146.3 Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help True may some say it were a a folly to trust in weak Princes to trust in them for help who have no power to help but we will apply to mighty Princes we hope there is help in them No those words In whom there is no help are not a distinction of weak Princes from strong but a conclusion that there is no help in the strongest That 's strange what no help in strong Princes If he had said no help in mean men carnal reason would have consented but when he saith Trust not in Princes nor in any son of man one or other who can believe this yet this is a divine truth we may write insufficiency insufficiency and a third time insufficiency upon them all the close of that verse in the Psalm may be their Motto There is no help in them And if any shall trust in man for help some one of if not all these evils or sad issues will follow First He will be deceived and disappointed what he looked upon as a rock will prove but a sand what he took for a Cedar will prove but a reed and the more he leans upon it the more it fails him as the Scripture speaks Secondly He will be ashamed and vexed Isa 20.5 They shall be afraid ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation of Egypt their glory that is which they gloried in and believed would b ing them in much glory or into a very glorious condition They probably expected help from Ethiopia but they gloried in the fore-thoughts of that help which they presumed Egypt would give them but they gloried in that which soon proved their shame Thirdly If any trust in any arm of flesh it will bring a curse upon him Jer. 17.5 Cursed be the man that maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Nor doth the Prophet only pronounce a curse upon that man but explains the curse or tells him plainly what it shall be both in the negative and in the affirmative He shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places of the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited Then cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Whatsoever account is to be made of man this is not that he should be trusted in We may apply to men for help but we must not trust in them as if they could carry the matter for us Have men an arm like God Mans is but a weak and withered arm and as the arm of man is not to be trusted in for any help he can give us so Secondly The arm of man is not to be feared for any hurt he can do us These two have a near relation to and dependance upon each other for they who are so strong that we are ready to trust them if we can make them our friends those we are as ready to fear if they turn our enemies and they who never trust in man unduly will not fear man but according to duty And we have no reason if we consider that and what the arm of man is in the hand of God to fear the arm of man The Scripture speaks often of the Lords dealing with the strongest arm of man Ezek. 30.21 Son of man I have broken the arm of Pharoah King of Egypt and loe it shall not be bound up to be healed to put a roller to bind it to make it strong to hold the sword Pharoah had an hurting arm an arm stretched out against the Israel of God but God did more than hurt he broke that arm And consider how the Spirit of God followeth the metaphor It shall not be bound up Pharoah would fain have got his broken arm set hoping it might be stronger than ever No saith God It shall not be bound up to be healed to put a roller to bind it to make it strong As if the Lord had said Pharoah may call for his Chyrurgions to bind up his broken arm yet it shall be without effect all their skill and Chyrurgery shall be in vain his arm shall not be healed nor made strong Again Jer. 48.25 The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken A savage beast cannot hurt us when his horn is cut off nor can a cruel-hearted man with a broken arm In these and many other Scriptures we see both that mans arm is in the hand of God and what God doth often to mans arm upon which considerations he infers Isa 51.12 I am he that comforteth thee Who art thou that art afraid of a man that shall die and of the son of man that shall be made as the grass and forgettest the Lord thy maker As if the Lord had said dost thou hear and believe that I have a stronger arm than man and art thou who hast an interest in me afraid of a man We have cause to fear man when we do that which is evil the magistrates arm beareth not the sword in vain for he is the Minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Rom. 13.4 But to all them who remain peaceably in their duty to God and man Jesus Christ hath said Luke 12.4 5. Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him Christ who gave but a single prohibition of our fear of man gave a double
God having many Idol gods nor did he own them as his people and therefore the Apostle did not nor could he in truth say of the Gentiles They changed their glory c. But thus he saith They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things The Gentiles did not change the incorruptible God their glory into an image but they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image c. And in that respect the idolatry of the Jews a people knowing the true God yea and glorying in him was worse than the idolatry of the Gentiles who knew him not nor ever gloried in him nor accounted him their glory But to the point in hand As that is Gods glory which manifests his glory So in general any thing which maketh man shine forth commendably or honourably to others or gives him a preheminence above many others as neer relation to God specially doth may be called his glory Whatsoever is best in us or to us is our glory The soul of man is his glory because it is his best part The body is a poor thing to the soul the body is but a shell the soul is the kernel the body is but the sheath as the Chaldee calls it Deut. 7.15 the soul is the sword though usually we take more pains for the body than for the soul as if we prized it more When Jacob said Gen. 49.6 O my soul come thou not into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united he meant some say the same thing by his soul and by his honour or glory because the soul is the most glorious and honourable part in man and that which men should be most careful of Thus likewise the tongue of man is called his glory Psal 57.8 Awake my glory that is my tongue The tongue being that organ or instrument whereby the wisdom and prudence of man is held forth and he made glorious in the world 't is therefore called his glory The tongue of man is also called his glory because with that he giveth glory to God by praising him and confessing his name together with his truth unto salvation And as glory is the best of man so of any other creature 1 Cor. 15.61 There is one glory of the Sun and another of the Moon and another glory of the Stars for one Star differs from another Star in glory that is there is one excellency uâ—e or operation in this Star and another in that Or One Star differs from another Star in glory that is their light influences effects differ some being more others less operative upon sublunary bodies When the Lord said to Job Array thy self with glory his meaning is shew thy best and he means the same when he adds Array thy self with beauty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beauty is the natural ornament of the body of the face or countenance especially These two words glory and beauty are often joyned together in Scripture Psal 21.5 Psal 45.3 where we render them honour and majesty We may thus distinguish between them taking the one for that which appears outwardly in vestures and gestures in actions and works and the other as importing that revâ—â—ence veneration which is given to such Verba originalia fero sunt synonima as appear in that splendor and dignity or which their splendor and dignity stirs up in others But we need not stand to distinguish them the words being often used promiscuously And here the Lord is pleased to imploy many words to the same purpose to shew what great state he had need be in that contends with him As if he had said O Job although thou didst not sit upon a dunghil or wert not bound to thy bed by the cords of thy affliction but didst sit upon a Kingly throne shining in robes of royalty couldst thou in all those ornaments equal thy self to me in majesty and excellency in glory and beauty Deck thy self with majesty and excellency c. Hence note First God himself is full of Majesty of Excellency of Glory and of Beauty I put them all together in one Observation because the tendency of them all is one The Scripture often sets forth the Lord thus adorned thus decked Psal 93.1 The Lord reigneth he is cloathed with majesty he is cloathed with strength wherewith he hath girded himself Again Psal 69.6 Honour and majesty are before him strength beauty are in his sanctuary Psal 104.1 Bless the Lord O my soul O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with honour and majesty This cloathing this array which the Lord called Job to put on is properly his own and though God will not give his glory to another yet here he bids Job take his glory and shew himself in it to the utmost if he could Many have affected or invaded Gods glory but none could ever attain or reach it God calls man really to partake of glory with him but man cannot take his glory upon him and be man The humane nature of Christ could never have received nor born that glory but as united to and subsisting in the person of the Son of God according to that prayer of his John 17.5 More distinctly If God be thus cloathed Then First We should tremble before him Majesty is dreadful The majesty of Kings who in nature are but men is very dreadful how much more the majesty of God who is King of Kings the King immortal and reigns for ever We have this trembling three times repeated with respect to the majesty of God Isa 2.10 19 21. where the mightiest and greatest of the world called there high Mountains and strong Towers Oaks and Cedars are said to go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth And though the people of God have great cause to rejoyce at his majesty as 't is prophesied they shall Isa 24.14 They shall lift up their voices they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord nothing causeth the hearts of the righteous to rejoyce more than the majesty of God yet they ought to rejoyce and so they do with trembling Psal 2.11 or with a holy awe of God impressed upon their hearts for the majesty of God is a very dreadful tremendous awful majesty And the more we have truly tasted the goodness and mercy of God the more shall we tremble at his majesty yea the Lord will have his majesty not only taken notice of but trembled at and therefore he reproves those Isa 26.10 who would not behold his majesty The majesty of the Lord like himself cannot be seen or beheld in it self yet it sheweth it self many wayes though few behold it or tremble at it and the reason why they tremble not at it is because they do not
Secondly Consider the wicked proud man as one whom God treadeth down Then Observe God punisheth sinners with that which is most crosse to their lusts What more crosse to a high-spirited man than to be brought low and who can be brought lower than he that is trodden down As God sometimes punisheth Drunkards with thirst and Gluttons with hunger and covetous persons with poverty There is one saith Solomon Prov. 11.29 that with-holdeth more than is meet he doubtless is a covetous man that doth so it tendeth to poverty So God punisheth proud ones by that which is most contrary to their nature he abaseth and layeth them low The Prophet tells us Isa 3.16 17. how the Lord would punish wanton women who were proud either of their natural beauty or artificial dresses and ornaments The daughters of Zion saith he are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes walking and mincing as they go and making a tinckling with their feet there 's their pride but what was their punishment the next words resolve us Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion and the Lord will discover their secret parts they were proud of that which covered their skin and therefore the Lord punisht them with scabs or covered their skin with scurfe and scabs and as there the Lord shews what he would bring upon so what he would take from them Vers 18. In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinckling ornaments about their feet and their Caules and their round tyres like the Moon And Vers 24. it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink and instead of a girdle a rent and instead of well set hair baldness and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth and burning instead of beauty What could be more contrary to the pride of these women than that which the Lord brought upon them or punished them with What do proud women more desire than beauty and bravery And what do proud men look after but to be respected honoured and to have every one point the finger at them or bow the knee to them Now when the Lord blasts proud women in their beauty and bravery when he blasts proud men in their honour and estimation when he thus abaseth and treads them down he toucheth them in that which the spirit of pride prizeth most and with greatest regret parteth from Pride is a base height of spirit therefore the Lord abaseth the proud There are five words in the Text all tending directly to crosse the spirit of a proud man First He shall be abased Secondly He shall be brought low A proud man would fain be high he would sit at the upper end of the Table yea he would sit at the upper end of the World too but saith the Lord he shall be brought low Thirdly What would a proud man do He would tread upon the necks of all others but he shall be trodden under foot Fourthly Where would the proud man be He would be conspicuous in high places but he shall be hid in the dust Fifthly He would be lookt at by all men with admiration but saith God his face shall be bound in secret he loves to appear and make a fair shew in the flesh but he shall not appear at all .. Proud ones cannot get so high but God in his Justice will get above them and strip them of that wherein they have chiefly prided themselves Read Isa 14.11 12 13 14 24 25. and Isa 23.9 Those Scriptures tell us how the Lord deals with proud men according to their pride or rather contrary to their pride he gives them that which they most disgust and takes that from them which they most passionately desire Secondly Take wicked men in the common notion for those that do evil at the highest rate that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin as it were with cart-ropes Then Observe First Wicked men that is impenitent sinners high-handed sinners are in a very sad condition and shall come to a sad conclusion The Lord will tread them down Psal 9.16 17. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands yea the wicked shall be turned into hell That is the utmost of sorrow and suffering shall be their portion Isa 3.11 Wo to the wicked for the reward of their doings shall be given them Isa 57.21 There is no peace saith my God to the wicked As the tumultuousness of their own spirits will not let them be at peace so neither will the righteousnesse of God Secondly From those expressions Tread down the wicked in their place hide them in the dust together bind their faces in secret Observe God will at last purge and rid the world of wicked men As wicked men would fain purge and rid the world of godly men they would destroy all the seed of the righteous so certainly God will destroy the wicked of the world and rid the world of them though not at once of every wicked man yet in their times and seasons that they shall not do the mischief which their hearts are full of The last of the Prophets speaks as much of the Lords vengeance upon all the wicked Mal. 4.1 The day of the Lord. speaking of some great day of the Lords appearance shall burn as an oven and all the proud yea and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch 'T is utter ruin to be destroyed root and branch such shall the ruin of the wicked be Thus also the Prophet Isaiah comforts the Church Chap. 52.1 Awake awake put on thy strength O Zion put on thy beautiful garments O Jerusalem the holy City for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean The wicked of the world are the uncircumcised they have not the spiritual circumcision the circumcision of the heart these shall no more trouble Jerusalem nor tread in Zions Courts Nahum 1.15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publisheth peace O Judah keep thy solemn feasts perform thy Vows for the wicked shall no more passe through thee he is utterly cut off The Hebrew is Belial shall no more passe through thee That is such as cast off the yoke of Jesus Christ shall no more bring Judah under their yoke This is also witnessed by another holy Prophet Zech. 14.21 In that day there shall be no more the Cananite in the house of the Lord of hosts they shall no more mingle themselves with the faithful servants of God much less rule over them Canaanites have often been in the house of the Lord but the Canaanite shall not always be there God will sweep them out of his house Answerable to these prophesies speaks the last prophesie Rev. 21.27 Chap. 22.15 which
would confess that his own right hand could save him Note He that can destroy all others can save himself Illa facere posse seipsum salvare unius ejusdem sunt virtutis There goes no more to save our selves out of any trouble than to destroy all others The Apostle James saith Chap. 4.12 There is one law-giver who is able to save and destroy God is this law-giver he is able to do both and because he can destroy all he can save all and will save all that trust in him The devil is called a destroyer he is called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek that is a destroyer Rev. 9.11 but he cannot destroy all if he could he would soon make sad work none should be saved There is but one law-giver who can save and destroy take away life and give life he can do the one as well as the other and both as often as he will The Lord hath an absolutely supream power over men and may dispose of them for life or death as he pleaseth even eternal life and death salvation and damnation are in his hand 't is therefore a fearful thing to fall into the hand the revenging hand of the living God Heb. 10.31 upon the neglect much more upon the despising and contempt of the covenant of life and peace by Jesus Christ as 't is said at the 29th verse of that Chapter Christ is the best friend and the worst enemy To him belong the issues from death Psal 68.20 and he hath the keyes af death and hell Rev. 1.18 Let us rejoyce with trembling before him who is able to save and destroy Secondly Note Man cannot save himself by the best of his power No not by his own right hand Man cannot save himself First from temporal evils he cannot save himself from sickness nor from poverty he cannot save himself from any danger that is ready to fall upon him nor can the strongest creatures save him Psal 33.17 A horse is a vain thing to save a man and man is as vain a thing to save himself a horse cannot deliver us by his great strength or by the greatness of his skill and wisdom Secondly much less can man save himself from spiritual and eternal evils While we consider First out of what misery we are saved Secondly from what mighty enemies we are saved Thirdly from whose wrath we are saved Fourthly what price was required that we might be saved Fifthly what mercy and grace were needful to save us we must needs confess that our right hand cannot save us spiritually and eternally Who can save himself out of the hand of that great enemy the devil and his legions of darkness who can save himself from that gulf of misery into which sin hath plunged us who can deliver himself from the curse of the Law or from sin the sting of death who can deliver himself from the power of his lusts from the pride unbelief covetousness and hardness of his own heart Our own right hand cannot save us from any of these evils The devil and the world are too strong for us and so is every lust and corruption of our own evil hearts Can we by any power of our own convert our selves or preserve our selves after conversion Can we get out of the Kingdom of darkness by our own power or put our selves into the Kingdom of light by our own poâ—er That we are either temporally or spiritually or eternally saved is all from the power from the right hand of God not at all from our own Unless we give all to God we take all from him He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death Psal 68.20 Salvation of every kind and the issues from every kind of death are of the Lord. Thirdly Note God can save alone or by his own right hand That the Lord would have Job understand and this we understand from other Scriptures Psal 17.7 Shew thy marvellous loving kindness O thou that savest by thy right hand those that put their trust in thee This is one of Gods royal Titles Thou that savest by thy right hand Psal 98.1 O sing unto the Lord a new song for he hath done marvellous things his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory Psal 44.4 Thou art my King of old commanding deliverances for Jacob. How easily can the Lord save with his hand who can save with his tongue and deliver by commanding deliverances Nor is it one deliverance only which the Lord commands but many yea any That Psalm gives it plurally commanding deliverances The Prophet speaks of this sole and solitary saving power of God Isa 59.16 He saw that there was no man that is no man that offered any help and wondred that there was no intercessor that is no man to speak a good word for them therefore his arm brought salvation to him and his righteousness it sustained him And again Isa 63.5 I looked and there was none to help and I wondred that there was none to uphold therefore mine own arm brought salvation to me This is it which was said before vers 3. I have trodden the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me Hence we may infer First If the Lords right hand can save alone Then there can never be too few hands for God to save us by There may be sometimes too many for God to save us by but never too few Why because he can save by his own right hand The Lord said to Gideon Judg. 7.2 The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands they were so many that the sole salvation of God would not appear lest Israel vaunt themselves against me saying mine own hand hath saved me Though we have but little strength yet it may be too much for Gods purpose we being apt to boast our selves when we have any hands to save us as if our own right hand had saved us Secondly If God can save by his own right hand Then when we see none when we see nothing to save us by let us trust God alone If God be with us we have strength enough and hands enough with us It is all one with the Lord to save by few or by many yea by few or by none at all for his own right hand can do it Thirdly Then trust in Gods right hand alone for salvation how many hands soever you have at any time at work for your salvation This is our sin that when we have many hands to save us we trust in them rather than in the right hand of God The Lord often and usually makes use of mans hand to save us by Obad. ver ult And Saviours shall come upon mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau and the Kingdom shall be the Lords Now though the Lord useth other right hands to save us by and to judge
to approach unto him 20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food where all the beasts of the field play 21. He lieth under the shady trees in the covert of the reeds and fens 22. The shady trees cover him with their shadow the willows of the brook compass him about 23. Behold he drinketh up a river and hasteth not he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth 24. He taketh it with his eyes his nose pierceth through snares THe Lord having spoken in the former context concerning proud men whom he alone is able to abase to lay low to tread down as 't is there exprest he presently subjoyns not only the mention but a very large and accurate description of two huge vast and as to bigness monstrous creatures the one belonging to the Land the other to the water In the making and governing of both which his mighty power and wonderful providence are clearly seen and ought to be religiously both acknowledged and adored these being such as man could not subdue nor make any use of unless God had ordered and over-ruled them for the service and benefit of man one of them he hath subdued to the service of man Behemoth and the other to the benefit of man even the great Leviathan Many of the Ancients draw this whole discourse about Behemoth Leviathan into an Allegory understanding by them First The devil Secondly Antichrist together with all the oppressive and afflictive powers of this world But though we may make some use and improvement of the Allegory yet doubtless these two creatures are here intended primarily in a proper and literal sense Nec illud nos fugit in diabolum haec dicta esse nonnullos existimasse verâ—m primò historiae danda est opera deinde utilitati succurrendum auditoris nec contemnenda Anagogia Chrysost even as the Lord before in a proper and literal sense discoursed with Job concerning the Lion the wilde Goat the wilde Ass the Unicorn the Horse and several other creatures mentioned in the 39th Chapter of this Book And therefore it was well said by an ancient Writer upon this place We are not ignorant that many have expounded this Scripture in an allegorical way of the devil but we must first attend the History and then make some use for the profit of the hearer out of the Allegory The Lord in presenting this and that other vast creature to Job seems thus to bespeak him That thou O Job mayst know the better how to take measure of thy self and how to keep thy due distance in speaking to me of which Job had not been so observant as he should I set before thee two stupendious creatures both the work of my hands both at my dispâ—se and command and by thy inability to deal with them thou mayst learn how unable thou art to strive or contend with me Or thus If thou O Job dost not yet understand what a poor creature thou art and how uncomely a thing it is for thee to murmur at and find fault about my proceedings with and providences towards thee in laying those sore afflictions upon thee or if thâ—u dost not yet understand how uncomely thou hast carried it towards me in calling me to account for my actions with thee yet learn it at least at the sight or upon consideration of these beasts Canst thou match either the Elephaâ—t or the Leviathan Canst thou find any error in their frame or constitution when thou hast viewed all their parts which I will particularly set out before thee Art thou strong as Behemoth and mighty as Leviathan Canst thou withstand their strength or might darest thou contend with them or stand before them If not how darest thou contend with me how darest thou speak words which may bear so much as the shadow of any contention with me or dissatisfaction with what I have done Thus the Lord who had exemplified his power and wisdom to Job in divers creatures of a lesser size and port now gives instance in two of the greatest the Elephant and Leviathan which may well be called The chief patterns or pieces of divine power and skill that so Job might be further convinced and more deeply humbled by these visible things of the invisible power of God or might learn how mighty that God is that made them how mighty that God is who rules and over-rules them The one would trouble all at Land and the other all at Sea if God did not binde and bridle them This doubtless or somewhat like this is the general scope of the Lords long discourse about these two famous creatures even to shew how much man is below God seeing he is so much in many things below these beasts or that man who in many things is no match for these creatures cannot possibly be a match for God who made them Thus much in general Vers 15. Behold now Behemoth We have a description of Behemoth six wayes in this context First He is described by his procreating or efficient cause God himself Behold now Behemoth which I made He is my work my workmanship Secondly He is described by his conserving cause or that which is the matter of his nourishment and preservation in the close of the 15th verse He eateth grass like an Ox. And ver 20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food Thirdly He is described by his mighty strength by the strength of his loynes and belly ver 16. by the strength of his tail and genitals ver 17. and by the strength of his bones ver 18. from all which the Lord concludes in the 19th verse which are the words I shall chiefly insist upon his excellency above all other beasts He is the chief of the wayes of God and yet how great and vast soever he is his strength is weakness in comparison of God for as 't is said God is able to tame him and subdue him in the latter end of the 19th verse He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him The former part of this 19th verse heightens all that hath been spoken before concerning the power of Behemoth which is the third thing whereby he is described Fourthly He is described by his harmlessness towards other beasts ver 20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food where all the beasts of the field play As if God had said this is no ravenous beast though a great beast for all the beasts of the field little or great one and the other play about him they do not run away they are not frighted at the sight of him as if they saw a Lion or a Tyger Fifthly He is described by the place of his repose and shelter where he delights to rest himself and take his ease ver 21 22. He lieth under the shady trees under the covert of the reeds and fens the shady trees cover him with their shadow the willows of the brook compass him about Sixthly He is described by his deep
field it will not fit a sheep nor a bullock What is said of Behemoth exceeds the proportion and constitution of all such and many other beasts Fourthly Behemoth is said to feed where all the beasts of the field do play ver 20. and therefore we cannot understand all the beasts of the field by him no nor which some of the Jewish writers insist much upon all the greater beasts of the field And therefore we may conclude that this word Behemoth though in it self a plural word is here intended of a singular beast and because there is no greater beast upon the earth than the Elephant therefore most interpreters both ancient and modern determine it upon the Elephant to whom among all the beasts of the earth those six particulars mentioned in the following description of Behemoth are supposed most fitly to agree Behemoth forma plurali nuncupatur Elephantus more Hebraeorum qui pluralibus nonnunquam pro superlativis uti solent Latini quoque historici saepe cum de Elephanto loquuntur Belluam absolutè nominant Drus And whereas 't is objected the word Behemoth is of the plural number that is easily answered and wiped off for nothing is more usual in the Hebrew language than to express great things by a plural word and so the Elephant may be called the beasts Either First with respect to the vastness of his body as if he did comprize or were a comprehension of all other beasts Or Secondly with respect to some extraordinary qualification or eminency found in him in which respect it is said at the 19th verse He is the chief of the ways of God As the Hebrew sets out excellent things by words of the superlative degree so likewise by words of the plural number or it useth the plural number to signifie the superlative degree The Elephant is the Beast the Beast of Beasts a beast above all beasts Thus Prov. 1.20 Christ is called in the plural number wisdoms because of the excellency of his wisdom Again Prov. 9.1 Wisdom so we translate but the word is wisdoms hath built her house that is Jesus Christ hath And he is exprest by a plural word to note that all sorts and degrees of wisdom meet in him according to that of the Apostle Col. 2.3 In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledg As David when he would shew how very foolish and beastly he had been in mis-judging the dispensations of God First in afflicting the godly Secondly in prospering evil men When I say he considered how foolishly he had done in envying at or in being troubled about their prosperity he concludes ver 22. So foolish was I and ignorant even as a beast before thee The Hebrew useth the word in the Text Behemoth even as beasts before thee As if he had said the beastliness of all beasts centred in me and all their ignorance while my spirit was so troubled in this matter concerning the providences of God towards my self who serve him and those who serve him not Thus David that he might fully acknowledg how very a beast he was in so speaking and so thinking calls himself Behemoth Beasts This may suffice to satisfie the Reader why we expound the Text of a particular beast and why most pitch it upon the Elephant among all beasts in special though the word be of the plural number There being no proper or peculiar name in Scripture for the Elephant it is most probable that he is here named by this Appellative word plural Yet before I step further into that large description which the Lord gives of Behemoth I cannot forbear to take notice that the same industrious and learned Author Bochartus parte poster lib. 5 c. 15. who varyeth in opinion as was there shewed about the Reem by us rendred the Vnicorn varyeth here as much in his Opinion about Behemoth intimated by our translators in the Margin and affirmed as himself confesseth by the most general voice of modern interpreters to be the Elephant I suppose it will not be unacceptable to the Reader if I here offer a brief account of those reasons which prevailed with him to turn off from the common opinion concerning this Animal which he gives as followeth In the fortieth and forty-first Chapters of the book of Job saith he Behemoth and Leviathan are so described â—hat 't is apparent they are beasts of a huge bulk Whence it comes to pass that most of the later Writers have thought Behemoth to be the Elephant and Leviathan the Whale this being without controversie the greatest Animal that lives in the waters and that the greatest that lives upon the Land To whose Judgement I should have willingly assented but that considering the matter more narrowly I saw many things spoken of them even in approved versions which no way agree with the nature of the Elephant and the Whale I shall not say that Interpreters prepossessed with this opinion have wrested some things another way which if they were rightly unfolded according to the Hebrew it would appear as clear as the light that under these names Behemoth and Leviathan two animals are characteriz'd extreamly different from the Elephant and the Whale but which they are is not easie to determine Yet it doth not a little please me that Beza and Diodate men of a most clear judgement and of no ordinary learning do conclude Leviathan to be the Crocodile of Nilus Whence I have a strong conjecture that Behemoth is an animal of the same neighbourhood even an Inhabitant of Nilus called Hippopotamus or the River-horse I would have none troubled with the newness of this opinion but first weigh my reasons whereof let this be the first That as upon the former stage in the close of the 38th and throughout the 39th Chapter only terrestrial animals were presented so it seems most congruous that upon this only aquatical or water-animals should be presented lest the course of proceeding should be disordered So that Leviathan as all agree being a creature that lives in the water 't is probable Behemoth doth so too both being described in the same series of discourse That the ancient Jews were of this opinion may be collected out of the second Book of Esdras Chap. 6. vers 47 48 49. where Behemoth is placed among the aquatical Animals created the fifth day Further the Hippopotame and the Crocodile are fitly joyned together because there is a great likeness of nature between these two for both are very big and fierce and amphibious and four-footed and both have one common habitation the River Nilus which Pliny also takes notice of lib. 28. cap. 8. and therefore most Writers handle them together Nor doth the name Behemoth unfit the Hippopotame seeing the Hebrew word Behema is appliable to all four-footed beasts to those especially which are of greater bulk as is the Hippopotame of which the Ancients speak variously because the stature of beasts of the same kind is also various None
the beasts that perish How sad is it to see men who have understanding yea who are as to worldly concerns men of great understanding like horses and mules who have no understanding They who have not a right understanding an understanding to know and do the will of God a good understanding have all they and none but they that do his commandements Psal 111.10 are in Scripture sense men of no understanding What a reproach is it to any man what a blot in the Eschucheon of a man in honour that it should be said of him and he not able with truth to gain-say it that he hath not so much understanding as an Elephant that he is not so docile and teachable as an Elephant that he is not so gentle and tractable as an Elephant What not so obedient to due commands not so submissive as an Elephant what not so serviceable and useful as an Elephant what not so modest and chast as an Elephant what not so compassionate not so faithful as an Elephant O how should it shame us The Scripture often shames us with our coming behind beasts Isa 1.3 The Ox knoweth his owner and the Ass his masters crib but Israel doth not know my people do not consider They have not so much knowledge nor consideration as the Ox and the Ass So again Jerem. 8.7 The Stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming but my people know not the judgment of their God Nor was this a reproof to the prophane world but to the professing people of God the Jews that they were not so knowing nor skilled in the judgments of God that is to know and do what the judgments of God called them to do and be as the Crane and Swallow were observant of and knew what to do and where to be in all changes of times and seasons And thus the slothful man is reproved Prov. 6.6 Go to the Ant thou sluggard consider her ways and be wise thou hast not so much wit as an Ant. This were a shameful rebuke upon Heathens let it not fall upon any who profess themselves Christians Fourthly If beasts exceed man in some things then how much doth God exceed man in all things The reason why God presented this Behemoth to Job was to let him see how much himself exceeds man seeing Behemoth is not so much to him as the least fly to man All creatures put together are but as the dust of the ballance and as the drop of the bucket to God Thus we should raise our selves and wind up our hearts into a consideration of the greatness and Almightiness of God when we behold great and mighty creatures The greatness of the creatures should be as a ladder to lift us up to God and thereby to take measure as we are able or as well as we can for indeed we cannot of his immensurable greatness that 's the right use of their greatness And if by the sight and consideration of these creatures we do not fall down and humble our selves if we lye not at the foot of God who is infinitely above these creatures and our selves too we neglect the scope of this Scripture and of all Scriptures of like import God is known via eminentiae by way of eminency in every creature mostly in the most eminent creatures such as this whose description hath been thus far opened Now having had this high encomium of Behemoth from the Lords own mouth he is the chief of the ways of God what follows even this that how great soever this creature is God knows how to deal with him and God would have Job understand that also that how great soever he had made him he was able to match him yea to over-match him Behemoth is no match for God For as it followeth in the close of this 19th verse He that made him can make his Sword to approach unto him He that made him These words are a periphrasis or a circumlocution of God The Text doth not say God can make his Sword to approach unto him but He that made him can c. Hence Note God must and will and he loves to be owned as a Maker God hath often revealed himself under this Title The Maker of heaven and of earth and of all things both in heaven and in earth God is the Maker of all in a threefold sense and he loves to be acknowledged as such in them all First he is the Maker of all things persons in their natural being Secondly he is the Maker of all persons in their civil being He makes the rich and he makes the poor he makes the high and he makes the low that is he makes one man rich and another poor one high and another low in this world Thirdly he is the Maker of all persons in their spiritual or holy being he makes a man good who was bad he makes him humble who was proud he makes him heavenly that was earthly he makes him spiritual who was carnal and not only fleshly but in the flesh Rom. 8.8 The making of the new-man is that for which the Lord is specially to be owned and honoured We are to honour God as he is the Maker of all creatures but we are especially to honour him as he is the Maker of the New-creature To be the Maker of the creatures great or small is the sole priviledg of God And let us remember that as God himself hath made all things so he hath made all things for himself that is All beings ought to live unto him and act for him who is the first being to him who hath given us life and breath and all things and in whom we live and move and have our being unto him we should dedicate our life and breath and all things And did we truly know which every one presumes he knoweth God to be our Maker or as our Maker it would have a mighty influence upon our hearts and lives and even make us live to God What should not we do for him that made us and what cannot he do with us that made us as the Text here speaks of the great Behemoth He that made him Can make his Sword approach unto him There are two readings of these words First thus He that made him made his Sword to be near him That is as God made Behemoth so God made a Sword for him that is according to this reading for his use or for him to use God hath made him a weapon But what is the Sword which God hath made him They who insist upon this reading taking also Behemoth to be the Elephant say 't is that natural member commonly called his Trunk that is to the Elephant as a Sword both to defend himself and to offend and wound those that molest him Thus Mr. Beza glosseth it God who made him hath furnished him with convenient weapons or with a weapon fit
great things and we should use means proportionable for the doing of every thing You cannot batter down a stone wall or a strong tower with paper-shot nor with a pot-gun no you must plant cannon for that service Again when this Scripture saith Canst thou draw out Leviathan The emphasis as was shewed before in opening the words lieth in the word thou As if the Lord had said thou canst not but I can Hence note The Lord is able to do the greatest things by smallest means Leviathan to God is but as any little fish to us which is taken with a hook and line To take up Leviathan to do the greatest thing is as easie to God as the least to man As the power of God supplyeth all the weakness of the creature to do any thing so it surpasseth all that strength and greatness of the creature which may seem to hinder him from doing any thing with it or upon it He saith the Apostle Phil. 3.21 shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body how shall he do this according to the working of his mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself The Lord can doubtless subdue Leviathan to himself by the working of that mighty power which subdueth all things to himself And it is much more easie for Christ to subdue any Leviathan than to change our vile body into the likeness of his own glorious body For as Jesus Christ was once declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection that is his own resurrection from the dead so he will again declare himself to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of power by our resurrection from the dead He that can draw our dust out of the grave with a word can soon draw Leviathan out of the deepest gulf in the Sea by his hook and cord This may comfort those and strengthen their faith who at any time see Leviathans ready to swallow them up as the Whale did Jonah As the Lord prepared that great fish to swallow up Jonah Jonah 1.17 so he commanded that great fish to deliver him back safe again or as that Scripture saith Chap. 2.10 He spake to the fish and he vomited out Jonah upon the dry land Both were acts of great power and teach us that the Lord hath a soveraign commanding power over all even the greatest creatures The Lord hath a hook for Leviathan He had hooks for Pharaoh The great Dragon in the midst of his Rivers Ezek. 29.3 4. And of him the Lord commanded the same Prophet to speak in a like notion Ezek. 32.2 Son of man take up a lamentation for Pharaoh and say to him thou art like a young Lion of the Nations and thou art as a Whale in the Seas and thou camest forth with thy Rivers and troubledst the waters with thy feet and fouledst their Rivers therefore I will spread out my net over thee and they shall bring thee up in my net I have a net for thee saith this Chapter I have hooks for thee saith that other The Prophet Isaiah to engage the Lord to do some great thing for his Church minded him of what he had formerly and anciently done for Israel Isa 51.9 Awake awake put on strength O arm of the Lord awake as in the ancient dayes as in the generations of old art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the Dragon This Rahab was Egypt and the Dragon was Pharoah as Interpreters generally agree The Psalmist reports the dealings of God with Pharoah and Egypt in language nearer that of the Text Psal 74.13 14. Thou breakest the heads of the Dragons in the waters thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness that is the remembrance of that mercy and of the mighty power of God in destroying Pharoah and his Egyptian Host who pursued them after their departure from Egypt to the red Sea was to be food for their faith in all the dangers and hardships which they were like to meet with in their travels through the howling wilderness to the Land of promise Take one Scripture-instance more 2 Kin. 19.28 Sennacherib was a Leviathan he came up against Hezekiah to destroy him and his people which provoked the Lord to speak thus of him Because thy rage against me is come into my ears therefore I will put my hook into thy nose and my bridle in thy lips and turn thee back by the way thou camest Thus far of the first thing in the description of Leviathan his greatness The second part of his description sheweth the stoutness and stubbornness of his spirit he will not comply he will not yield he will not any way submit This is laid down in the 3d 4th and 5th verses Vers 3. Will he make many supplications to thee The word in the Hebrew properly signifies deprecation Precamur bona deprecamur tantum mala which is prayer for the turning away of evil when evil is near then we deprecate it Will he do this not he He will not petition thee he scorns to petition thee or to cry for quarter But it may be said can fishes pray or make supplications to do so is at least the work of rational creatures I answer Per Prosopopoeian tribuit ei orationem these words are to be understood by that figure Prosopopoeia frequently used in Scripture when acts of Reason are attributed to irrational yea to senseless and lifeless creatures The very hills and valleys the Seas and waters praise God by a figure and here by a like figure Leviathan will not make supplications unto man which shews the stoutness of his spirit As some prisoners taken in war scorn to ask their lives so if Leviathan were taken with a hook he would make no supplications nor beg your favour so stout is he his heart is too great his stomack too big for any kind of submission Will he make many supplications unto thee no he will make none at all This is further expressed in the latter part of the verse Will he speak soft words to thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mollibus vel blandis vâ—rbis aut sermonibus Pisc Mr. Broughton renders or Will he speak to thee tenderly Will he flatter or humour thee that he may get loose or be freed from thee When the Gibeonites Josh 9.9 were afraid they should be taken and destroyed they came and begged peace they spake soft words There are words of two sorts Some are very hard words and hard words wound like hard blows And though no blows are given The Lord will come to execute judgement upon the ungodly for all their hard speeches Jude vers 15. Many speak words as hard as stones they throw hard words at the heads and about the
me or in his undertaking me about this matter And when that 's done I shall easily and quickly convince him or make him both see and confess that he is a poor weakling that he is nothing or if any thing vile compared with me For if I do but oppose to him the parts powers and comliness of Leviathan he will find himself over-matched Thus I say some conceive the Lord referreth to the former words as promising to him right that should accept the challenge there made and say that he had prevented God or had been aforehand with him Alii non tacerem mendacia ita sumitur ejus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enim cap. 11.3 Merc. Others give it thus if any man shall venture to answer my challenge I will not conceal his lies so the word by us translated parts is rendred Chap. 11.3 nor his boasting words not the rhetorical ornaments nor the comely proportion of his speech in pleading and arguing with me all which will be found upon trial to be but lies vain flourishes and mear sophistical fallacies But I rather take this verse as a general Preface to that which the Lord intended further to say in the description of this mighty creature Leviathan As if he had said O Job that thou mayst be yet more fully convinced how unable thou art to deal with this mighty fish and mayst therein see yet more clearly how unable thou art to stand before my power who have given both being and power to this creature I shall go on to give thee a more lively picture a more particular narrative a fuller character of him and as it were anatomize this sea monster in all his parts powers and proportions So then in this context and forward to the end of the 32d verse we have the fourth part of the description of Leviathan even by the distinct parts of his body together with the wonderful powers effects and operations that appear in them as acted by that courage stoutness and greatness of spirit with which God have clothed him I will not conceal his parts The Hebrew is I will not be silent about his parts And when the Lord saith I will not conceal nor be silent his meaning is I will fully Meiosis celebrarem ejus membra Drus largely and evidently declare the parts the power and the comely proportion of Leviathan I will view as it were all that is most observable in and about him I will do it exactly not slightly or perfunctorily but like an Oratour declare all his excellencies I will not let slip nor omit any thing that is material or conducible to his commendation So that when the Lord saith I will not conceal he intends much more than he expresseth As the Prophet also did Isa 62.1 when he said For Zions sake will I not hold my peace meaning that he would pour out his heart and make a loud cry in prayers and supplications for Zions sake That 's the import of his words I will not hold my peace As also of those vers 6. Ye that make mention of the Lord or ye that are the Lords remembrancers in the concerns of Zion keep not silence The meaning is speak much for Zion A man doth not keep silence nor hold his peace who speaketh only a word or two But the Lords remembrancers must speak to the full much and often they must urge him with many arguments and plead hard till he bring forth salvation in Zion I urge this Scripture as parallel to the Text in hand where the Lord saith I will not conceal when his purpose was to speak copiously and largely And here the Lord setteth down three things concerning Leviathan which he will not conceal First His parts Secondly His power Thirdly His comely proportion To these three heads all that can be said of Leviathan is reducible I will not conceal his parts or members 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This creature is made up of several heterogeneal parts or members The word rendred parts properly signifieth the bar or bolt of a door as also the boughs of a tree There is a great elegancy in that metaphor because the members of the body in any creature are as so many boughs shot out from the stock of a tree I will not conceal his parts But what are the parts which the Lord mentions or would not conceal I answer The word parts in our language and common speech signifieth the inward abilities and faculties of any man We say such a one is a man of excellent parts or he hath good parts that is he is a wise man an understanding man a well-spoken man But here in this place the word parts notes only the limbs members and organs of the body or the several pieces of the whole compages or frame of the body Of these parts the Lord speaketh in the following part of the Chapter And he speaketh First Of his skin ver 13. Secondly Of his jaws and teeth ver 14. Thirdly Of his scales ver 1◠16 17. Fourthly Of his nostrils eyes and mouth ver 18 19 20 21. Fifthly Of his neck ver 22. Sixthly Of his flesh all over ver 23. Seventhly Of his heart ver 24. All these if not more particular parts the Lord mentions in this Chapter and therefore he might well say I will not conceal his parts Nor his power Parts are one thing and power is another There may be great bodily parts where there is but little power That which maketh parts excellent is when they are full of power or when outward parts are accompanied with inward parts which are the accomplishments of them I will not conceal his power Notum ut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prore sumatur Drus The Hebrew is The word or matter of his power Master Broughton renders I will not conceal the speech of strength that is the matter of his strength The Hebrew word signifies not only a word but matter or thing I will not conceal the things of his power These powers are expressed afterwards First In his nostrils By his neefings a light doth shine in the former part of the 18th verse Secondly In his eyes They are like the eye-lids of the morning in the latter part of the 18th verse Thirdly In his mouth Out of his mouth go burning lamps and sparks of fire leap out ver 19. Heat riseth out of the vital power of any creature Leviathans heat is so great that it is called fire and from thence smoke goeth out of his nostrils as out of a seething-pot or cauldron ver 20. yea his breath kindleth coals and a flame goeth out of his mouth ver 21. All these expressions shew the mighty heat within him Fourthly In his neck ver 22. In his neck remaineth strength He hath not only a neck but a strong neck Fifthly In his heart ver 24. His heart is as firm as a stone yea as hard as a piece of the nether mill-stone Sixthly Such is his power
Leviathan There 's a continual fire in his mouth then what is in the kitchin of his stomack for the digestion and concoction of his meat If sparks of fire leap out of his mouth as out of the mouth of a furnace then we may conclude there 's a great fire kept within Vers 20. Out of his nostrils goeth smoak We had fire before and now comes smoak We usually say Where there 's smoak there is some fire and surely where there is so great a heat there must be or hath been some smoak Out of his nostrils goeth a smoak Fumus est der adustus ex multitudine caloris Aquin. What is smoak 'T is air adust say Phylosophers Much heat draws out the airy part of the fewel and turns it into smoak Leviathan having such a fire in his bowels needs must smoak go out of his nostrils which are as a double chimney to vent it or to keep the metaphor in the Text Smoak goeth out of his nostrils As out of a seething pot or caldron The Hebrew is a blown pot because blowing makes a pot seeth quickly and fiercely A Caldron is a great vessel wherein much may be sodden or boyled at once and boyling sends out a great fume or smoak The Hebrew word rendred Caldron properly signifies a copper or brazen Kettle in which dying stuff is boyled for the colouring of cloth It signifies also a pond and so a great vessel like a pond as that in the Temple was called a Sea for its greatness Vers 21. His breath kindleth coals and a flame goeth out of his mouth This verse with the former three tend all to one purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ahenum reddidimus ex conjectura propriè ahenum magnum instar stagni quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicitur Drus Leviathans heat is so vehement that his breath kindleth coals The Hebrew is His soul or life kindleth coals The soul and life of irrational creatures is the same and both are but breath His breath kindleth coals that is his breath is so hot that it will even kindle dead or unkindled coals Mr. Broughton renders His breath would set coals on fire The breath of the Whale is not only compared to a great wind issuing out of a pair of bellows which soon kindleth a spark into a great fire but is it self here compared to a fire by a strong Hyperbole like that which concludes this matter And a flame goeth out of his mouth That is a heat as from a flame or such a heat as a flame giveth These four verses may be improved for our use in two things First to inform us how terrible some creatures are There is nothing which is not terrible in this His mouth sends out a burning lamp and sparks of fire smoak goeth out of his nostrils coals are kindled by his breath and a flame goeth out of his mouth What 's the meaning and import of all this not that Leviathan hath these or doth these things indeed but in his wrath for this is the description of an enraged Leviathan he appears as if he were nothing but heat and would set the very element of water on fire and turn the very billows of the Sea into burning flames Secondly If the Lord hath put such a fierceness into this creature when he is angry what is there in the Lord himself when he is angry The Lord in his anger is described like this Leviathan Psal 18.7 8. Then the earth shook and trembled the foundation also of the hills moved and were shaken because he was wroth what follows There went up a smoak out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured coals were kindled by it The words are almost word for word the same with those in the Text. The Lord is set forth as ushered by fire Psal 50.2 3. Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God hath shined Our God shall come and shall not keep silence a fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him Again Psal 97.2 Clouds and darkness are round about him vers 3. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about that is he destroyeth his enemies in his anger as if he consumed them by fire Once more Isa 33.14 The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrites who among us shall dwell in the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Thus the Scripture speaks of the Lord in his wrath And doubtless the flaming anger of Leviathan when provoked is but like a warm Sun-shine compared with the provoked anger and hot displeasure of God against presumptuous sinners Who is able to abide his wrath who in sin can dwell with those everlasting burnings who unpardoned can stand before the devouring fire and flames of the Lords displeasure Thus we have the discovery of Leviathans furious heat he is all in a flame Now the Lord having shewed what work Leviathan makes with his mouth and nostrils which belong to his head he comes next to his neck Vers 22. In his neck remaineth strength and sorrow is turned into joy before him Leviathans head is strongly joyned to the rest of his body by his strong neck yet some question whether the Whale hath any neck or no because no distinction which in other creatures is visible appears between his head and his body The learned Bochartus makes this another argument against the Whale and a little reflects upon Diodate who joyning fully with him in opinion that Leviathan is the Crocodile yet le ts go this hold yielding that the Crocodile hath no more neck than the Whale as the neck is taken strictly for that discernable distance between head and shoulders and though he himself grants that several other Authors by him alleadged say the Crocodile hath no neck yet he answers 't is safer to credit Aristotle who saith the Crocodile hath a neck and gives this reason for it because those animals which have no neck at all cannot move their heads whereas the Crocodile by the testimony of Pliny and others can turn his head upwards or hold it up backwards to bite his prey To this some answer and I conceive their answer may satisfie in this Point That how little or how undiscernable soever the space is between the head and the body of any animal the very joyning or coupling of them together may be called his neck and in that sense the Whale hath a neck as well as the Crocodile To this I may add that the shorter the neck of any animal is the stronger it is and that complies fully with what is here said of the neck of Leviathan In his neck remaineth strength The Hebrew is Lodgeth And so Mr. Broughton renders In his neck alwayes lodgeth strength that is he is alwayes strong very strong neckt his neck is so stiff and strong that strength it self may seem to have taken up its residence there That 's the
elegancy of the Hebrew So then these words shew the great strength of Leviathan A stiff or thick neck signifies both strength of body and stoutness of spirit Naturalists say Qui collum habent grossum fortes sunt imbecilles autem qui illud habent gracile Aristot in Physiognomicis those creatures are very strong that are thick neckt as Bulls c. and they are weak that have thin slender necks The Scripture intimates the stiffness and unyieldingness of mans will to the commands of God by the stiffness of his neck Psalm 75.5 Lift not up your horn on high speak not with a stiff neck that is with a neck that will not bow to the Lords yoak nor obey his commands Humble ones bow their heads to worship God and yield their necks to his will For though to bow down the head like a bull rush for a day be not the Fast which God hath chosen Isa 58.5 for that is but an out-side repentance and they who do so may still remain stiff-spirited and pertinacious in their sins yet the bowing of the head hath in it the appearance of a bowed or humbled heart and a stiff neck is the badge of a proud impenitent one To speak with a stiff neck is to speak arrogantly Hannah in her Song 1 Sam. 2.3 useth this language to the stiff ones of the world Talk no more so exceeding proudly let not arrogancy come out of your mouth we put in the margin let not hardness come out of your mouth that is let it not appear at your mouths that your hearts are hard that your spirits are high and stiff speak no more as if you were Leviathans as if you could not bow your necks 'T is good to have a neck strong to bear but there is nothing worse than a strong neck that will not bow yet the strength of Leviathans neck seems rather to imply his courage than his pertinacy as it followeth In his neck remaineth strength And sorrow is turned into joy before him There are three other readings of these words which I shall name and come to our own Ante cum exilit moeror Jun. i. e. moerore afficit omnes obvios ac si de illis triumphans exultaret moeror effectus ab ea humonitus dictum Jun. First Some thus In his neck remaineth strength and before him danceth fear Several of the learned insist much upon this translation and their meaning is this all that come near Leviathan or within sight of him are afraid all the fish in the sea and all the mariners upon the sea that see him dance or hast away for fear as if fear caused by him triumphing over them danced before them He makes such a combustion by stirring the waters and rolling in them that be frights every living thing he meets with none dare stand him Secondly Master Broughton renders it thus Before him danceth carefulness that is as himself glosseth he takes or hath no care meeting with any fish to feed upon that his taking thought is a gladness He is so strong that he knows he can master all the fish that comes near him and can have prey enough for the taking to satisfie his vast stomack and fill his belly therefore he takes no care for tomorrow before him danceth carefulness Christ saith to his disciples take no thought for the morrow It were well if such carefulness danced before us as Leviathans cares dance before him We say of some men they sing care away and all carking heart-cutting and dividing cares should even dance away before all men The Apostles counsel is 1 Cor. 7.32 I would have you without carefulness as much as to say let carefulness dance before you or put it from you use the means and be not solicitous about successes or issues The moâ—e we live by faith the less we live in care or the more our cares dye and they whose hearts are full of faith cannot but have their heads emptied of cares Some say we have a great family many bellies to fill and backs to cloth how can we be without carefulness Consider one Leviathan needs more food than many families yet he takes no care God provides for him though he know it not and will he not provide for those that know him therefore let carefulness dance before you That 's a good reading for our use and comfort Thirdly Others translate thus before him passeth pennury Faciem ejus praecedit egestas Vulg. The meaning of that reading is wheresoever Leviathan comes he leaves nothing but pennury behind him he devours all before him and all little enough scarce enough for him all the fish he meets with all in the sea he eats them up the sea hardly affords enough to fill his huge belly satisfie his hungry appetite As 't is said of Behemoth he thinks he can draw up Jordan that is all the waters of Jordan so Leviathan thinks he can draw up the sea that is all the fish in the sea so that how much soever he meets with he looks upon it as pennury at most as but enough for him So that this translation Before him passeth pennury may have or bear these two interpretations Either First That he makes all pennury where he comes as it s said of the Turkish wars where the Grand Signiors horse treads the grass will not grow he treads down and spoils all Or as 't is said in Scripture of those enemies The land was before them like the garden of Eden and behind them as a desolate wilderness Or Secondly That he thinks all to be but pennury and scarcity how plentiful soever it is that is before him That which may suffice many is scarce a morsel or a mouthful for him as if all the fish in the sea could not serve him for a break-fast As 't is said of Alexander the Great when he had conquered the known world he was as hungry and sharp-set as ever he looked upon all as pennury and wished there were another world for him to conquer Thus plenty is pennury to Leviathan he is an unsatiable gulf that 's a third reading our own saith Sorrow is turned into joy before him The meaning I conceive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exultavit Mont. vertetur in laetitiam Pagn Quicquid solicitudinem aliis parit excitat exhilerat ipsius animum Bez. is this Leviathan is so strong and powerful such strength remaineth in his neck that nothing can daunt him or bring down his spirit nothing can trouble him much less terrifie him he fears nothing he fears none and if any object of sorrow present it self to him 't is presently his joy That which hath greatest matter of sorrow in it is to him matter of sport or he makes a sport of it he even rejoyceth in the midst of those things that makes others sad he either makes nothing of them or no such thing of them as they appear to others Sorrow is turned into joy before
hurt Leviathan but those armes which a man puts on to save himself from hurt cannot protect him Leviathan will be too hard for him though he weareth a Coat of Male an habergeon though he be clothed all over with iron back and breast Cap-a-Pe yet Leviathan can easily crush him he can rend his corslet as if it were but a rotten-ragg and tear it off as easily as a wisp of straw for as it followeth Vers 27. He esteemeth iron as straw and brass as rotten-wood That is he makes no more of iron and brass than we do of a straw or of a piece of rotten-wood which crumbles between our fingers and is broken with the least strain You may as soon wound him with a straw as with a sword and pierce his Buckler-scales by throwing a rotten stick at him as well as by casting a dart or javelin at him he slights all your artillery as if he had reason to do it and fully understood that his skin and scales were an armour of proof against all assaults Vers 28. The arrow cannot make him flee Arrows are notable weapons used at a distance which being shot from a strong bow and drawn home by a strong arm wound deeply and deadly yet Leviathan regards not whole showers of arrows poured upon him The Hebrew elegancy gives it thus The sons of the bow cannot make him flee Master Broughtons translation holds the metaphor untranslated The bows child drives him not away Arrows are sometimes called the sons of the bow and sometimes they are called the sons of the quiver Lament 3.13 because arrows are first taken out of a quiver where they are kept and so are as it were children of the quiver and then arrows are put upon the string of the bow and being shot out of it may be called also sons of the bow Arrows come out of the quiver and the bow as children from parents And as in this Scripture arrows are called children so in another children are compared to arrows Psal 127.4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man so are children of the youth happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them that is who hath many children Here by the way give me leave to mind the Reader that 't is usual in Scripture to call any thing that comes out of or proceeds from another its son or child Thus corn is called the son of the floore Isa 21.10 O my threshing and the corn of my floor the Hebrew is O my threshing and the son of my floor Corn is called the son of the floor because it comes from the floor where it is threshed and delivered by the force of the flail out of the husk or chaff in which it was bred and lay as a child in his mothers womb Thus also sparks which come from the coal are called sons of the coal Job 5.7 According to this frequent Hebraisme arrows are here called the sons of the bow The arrow cannot make him flee Though arrows fly at Leviathan he scorns to flee from arrows he will stir no more when you shoot a feathered arrow at him than if you shot only a feather at him And as he contemns arrows so Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble Bows and slings were of great use in war before the invention of guns Those Benjamites were famous who as the holy History reports them could sling stones at a hairs breadth and not miss Judg. 20.16 David went out against Goliah the Giant weaponed only with a sling and five stones Slings are no contemptible weapons seing with a sling-stone David overthrew Goliah the Philistine who made the whole host of Israel tremble Yet sling-stones with this Sea-goliah Leviathan are turned into stubble that is he even blows them away like stubble nor cares he at all for their blows When the Psalmist would shew how easily the Lord could subdue the enemies of Israel he prayeth against them in this manner Psal 83.13 Make them O my God as a wheel and as the stubble before the wind that is render them weak and altogether unable to do mischief The Prophet describes the easie overthrow of the wicked enemy by this metaphor Isa 40.24 The whirl-wind shall take them away as stubble And when the Prophet would shew how mighty the Lord assisted Abraham against his enemies he saith Isa 42.2 He gave them as the dust to his sword and as driven stubble to his bow Now as in all these Scriptures it appears from this similitude how unable the strongest are to stand before the Lord so when the Lord would shew how impregnable this Leviathan is he saith Sling-stones are no more to him than stubble yea and he doubles it Vers 29. Darts are counted as stubble We had darts in the 26th verse yet the original words differ and 't is very probable that as the words differ so the weapons intended by them differed also though now unknown to us and so we want names for them or know not how to name them with a difference Tanquam stipula habentur ab ipso machinae bellieae Bez. Some interpret the word in distinction from the former not for darts cast out of a mans hand but for stones darted out of engines The Ancients used engines which cast ponderous stones with mighty violence against walls and towers to batter them down as we do now with ordnance or great guns Some have queried whether great guns were not used in that time The word may bear it But plainly it may signifie an engine out of which stones were slung These Leviathan counts as stubble yea He laugheth at the shaking of the spear Cetus non timet comminationem Aquin. To shake a spear is as it were to threaten one with a spear and so to brandish a sword against an enemy is to defie him or to bid him do his worst or it tells him that you will do your best to overcome and conquer him Leviathan scorns when any threaten him with their weapons in hand If you shake your spear at him he laughs at it that is he slights it he regards it not 'T is the same word which is used Job 39.22 concerning the horse at fear he mockâ—th or laugheth that is he laughs at those things which give occasion yea just cause of fear and are indeed such as most are afraid of So doth Leviathan He laughs at the shaking of the spear Eliphaz saith of a godly man Job 5.22 at destruction and famine he shall laugh The godly man is so fortified with a promise and assurance of protection and provision by God that neither sword nor famine can daunt his spirit yea he as it were laughs at them as Leviathan at the shaking of a spear Thus I have passed or posted rather through these four verses the general sense of them all being the same and that to shew that Leviathan is so armed by nature that no artificial arms can hurt him This part also of
Leviathans description is taken by Bochartus as a further proof that the Leviathan here spoken of is the Crocodile whose scales are not penetrable by the force of any weapon whereas saith he the skin of the Whale gives passage to the forcible stroke or thrust of any sharp-edged or sharp-pointed instrument For answer to this I have no more to say than what hath been said at the 15th 16th and 17th verses of this Chapter concerning the scales of Leviathan to which I refer the Reader and shall pass on when I have given three or four hints by way of improvement from the whole First If the Lord hath made a creature that no weapon can hurt then surely the Lord himself is exalted above all hurt from the creature as it is said in another place of this Book Chap. 35.6 If thou sinnest what dost thou against him or if thy transgressions be multiplyed what dost thou unto him that is thou canst not hurt God with thy sin Though men by sin lay at him as with sword and spear though they throw their sling-stones of blasphemy at him they cannot hurt him Gamaliel Acts 5.39 gives warning against this take heed what ye do refrain from these men lest haply ye be found even to fight against God They fight against God who set themselves to do mischief but what mischief soever they do to men or among men they can do none to God their weapons reach him not As Solomon tells us Prov. 21.30 There is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord so there is no weapon against the Lord Sword and spear and dart whether material or metaphorical are but stubble before him And as the Lord himself is beyond the reach of weapons and the rage of man so are they who are under the Lords protection therefore it is said of the Church Isa 54.17 No weapon formed against thee shall prosper that is it shall not have the intended effect of the Smith that made it as that Scripture speaks nor of the hand that weilds it The sword of him that layeth at the Church of God shall not hold the spear the dart nor the habergeon As none are so much assaulted as the Church so none are so well armed and defended Secondly As no offensive weapon can hurt the Lord so no defensive weapon can shelter us from hurt if under the wrath of the Lord. Though we have got an Habergeon though we have scales or bucklers like Leviathan yet the Lord hath a sword a spear a dart that can strike through them that is through all the defences of the most hardned sinners in the world There is no shelter to be found nor defence to be made against the weapons of divine wrath but only in and by Jesus Christ God is a shield and Buckler a Helmet and an Habergeon for believers against all offensive weapons of men or devils but where shall unbelievers find a shield or a buckler to secure themselves against the offensive weapons of God! Again some in allegorizing this Scripture say that Leviathan is an emblem of the Devil Now though it be a truth that no outward weapon no sword nor dart can terrifie or hurt the Devil yet the Lord hath furnished us with weapons that can pierce the Devil that Leviathan and defend us from his power Eph. 6.14 15 16. The sword of the Spirit the Word of God will wound that old Leviathan the Breast-plate of Righteousness the Helmet of Salvation the Shield of Faith will preserve us from woundings in the midst of all his fiery darts How soon would the Devil that cunning and cursed and cruel Darter and Archer wound our souls to death with his fiery darts and poysonous arrows if the Lord had not given us a shield a breast-plate and an helmet more impenetrable than the scales of Leviathan Lastly This description of Leviathan carrieth in it a fit resemblance of a hardned sinner of a sinner resolved upon his evil wayes Some sinners come at last to such a hardness that they are like Leviathan nothing will pierce them the sword of the Spirit doth not enter them Though you lay at them with all your might in the Ministry of the Word though you cast darts and shoot arrows of terrible threatnings against them they esteem them but straw and stubble sin hath so hardned them that they as we may express it are Sermon-proof threatning-proof yea judgement-proof too as to amendment by them though they are broken and perish under them Let God say what he will in his Word or do what he will in his works they regard it not they laugh at the shaking of these spears As a man that hath armour of proof cares not for sword or spears fears not an arrow nor a bullet so 't is in a spiritual sense with resolved sinners God having as a just judgement for former sins given them a shield upon their hearts as the word signifieth Lam 3.65 which we render sorrow of heart and put in the margin obstinacy that is hardness of heart they then account reproofs threats admonitions the most terrible words in all the armoury of God no more than a straw or rotten wood Woe to these Leviathans to those who harden their hearts against the Word of God Who hath hardned himself against the Word of the Lord and prospered And let all such know that as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 10.4 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal that is weak dull edgeless pointless tools but mighty through God c. And that though now they prevail not to conversion yet they will prevail to condemnation and that while they go on to sin they are but going as Solomon speaks of the young wanton Prov. 7.22 As an Ox goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks till a dart strike through his liver God will have a dart at last which shall enter a dart which those Leviathans shall not count stubble nor find to be so The Lord proceeds to describe Leviathan and as we may conceive to give a further demonstration of the hardness of his scales and skin Vers 30. Sharp stones are under him he spreadeth sharpe pointed things upon the mire Mr. Broughton reads it His underneath-places be as sharp-sheards The word rendred Sharp stones properly signifies the sharp pieces of a pot-sâ—â—â—rd that is stones or other hard things as sharp and pricking as the pieces of a broken pot-sheard We may expound this verse two wayes First As being a proof of the hardness and firmness of Leviathans skin and flesh so hard they are that he can lye down and rest himself upon hard and sharp stones even upon the sharp tops of rocks in the Sea as we lye down upon our beds Sharp stones are under him but he feels them not which may be the meaning also of the next words He spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire That is Leviathan like some hardy man or iron-sides scorns to lye
worthy and learned men are of opinion that by thought we are to understand the thought of God Gods own thought and so these words are but the carrying on of the same thing or a further explication what was said before I know that thou canst do every thing that is whatsoever is in thy thought or in thy heart to do no power in the world can with-hold thee from doing it no thought that is not any one of thy thoughts can be with-holden from thee that is from thy fulfilling it or bringing it to pass what thou hast in thy mind thou wilt perform with thy hand If thou hast but a thought to do such a thing thou canst not be hindered of thy thought it shall be done The words hold out a very glorious truth concerning God if we take thought in this sense and as it is a great truth in it self so it is a very useful one to us The Observation is this Whatsoever God hath a thought to do he will do it he cannot be hindered in the effect of a thought As none of Gods thoughts are vain so none of them are in vain or ineffectual they all reach their end Isa 43.13 I will work and who shall lett it God will work if he hath but a thought to work and if all the Powers in the world set themselves against him they shall not be able to disappoint any one of his thoughts Prtv. 19.21 There are many devices in a mans heart yet the counsel of the Lord shall stand that is there are many thoughts in mans heart opposite to the counsel and thought of God Men think this and that they make up many things in their thoughts yet can make nothing of them because against the thoughts of God for all the devices that are in mans heart cannot hinder the effect of Gods counsel his counsel shall stand fast and firm without any bowing without any bending while their devices fall and are utterly broken The conclusion of wise Solomon is Prov. 21.30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. Let men take or give counsel as long as they will against the Lord they cannot avoid the effect of his counsels We have both these the standing of the Lords counsel and the overthrowing of all counsels that are against him in that one Scripture Psal 33.10 11. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought he maketh the devices of the people of none effect The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever the thoughts of his heart to all generations God never lost a thought all come to pass This sheweth the mighty efficacy of the counsel of God this is more than can be said of any man or men in the world the wisest and greatest have had many thoughts withholden from them They have thought to do this and that but could not effect it nor bring it about Psal 146.4 Their thoughts perish they have a great many plots in their heads but they prove not they often live to see their own thoughts dye Their thoughts perish not only when they dye but they live to see them perish and dye The Prophet Isa 44.25 sheweth how the Lord frustrates the counsels of men and turneth them backward he shews also that without him they cannot go forward Lamen 3.37 Who is he that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not But some may object the Lord speaketh of the builders of Babel as Job here speaketh of him Gen. 11.6 Behold the people is one and they have all one language and this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do as if he had said there will be no with-holding of them from their thoughts 'T is very true amongst men there was nothing to stop them they being all as one man and of one mind would have accomplished any thing that they did imagine but though there was nothing upon earth nothing among men that could restrain them yet God could do it and he did it he confounded their language and one brought morter when he should have brought brick and another brought stones when he should have brought timber they thought to build a tower that should reach as high as heaven they would be drowned no more but they and their thoughts were soon scattered and blown away This point hath in it also abundance of comfort as the former for take thought for the thought of God and it runs parallel with what I spake before of the work of God he can do every thing every thing that is in his thought to do we may take fresh comfort from it Can no thought be with-holden from God what a comfort is this to all that he hath good thoughts of or thoughts for good The heart of God is full of good thoughts to his people though he many times speaks hard words to them and doth hard things against them yet he hath good thoughts concerning them Psal 40.5 Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which thou hast to us-ward Thoughts to us-ward are thoughts for us that is thoughts of good intended us Now hath the Lord many good thoughts for us and none of these shall be with-holden is not this comfort When the Church of the Jews was in Babilon the Lord dealt very hardly with them though not so hardly as they deserved But what were his thoughts Jer. 29.11 I know the thoughts that I think towards you you do not know the thoughts that I have towards you but I do what are they thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end that is the end which you expect and wait for What a mercy is this that no thought of God can be with-holden whenas he hath so many thoughts of mercy and good things to his people Again I might shew how dreadful this is to wicked men for the Lord hath nothing but thoughts of revenge and evil towards them But 't is enough to hint it Before I pass from this interpretation some may object If all the thoughts of God shall be brought to pass and none can withhold them if God will do what he hath a purpose to do then what need we trouble our selves so much in prayer For if God hath any thoughts of good to us it shall be done but if not we cannot bring it to pass by prayer And so some urge what need we repent and humble our selves the thoughts of God shall be fulfilled To this I say in general take heed of such reasonings for as they are very absurd and reasonless so they are very dangerous and leave us remediless More particularly I answer thus Though God hath thoughts and purposes of good to his people yet whatsoever good he will do for his people he will be sought unto to do it for them and therefore prayer repentance and humiliation are needful to
took impression upon my heart heretofore but I never had such an impression as in this tempest I never heard God speaking thus immediately to me nor did he ever give me any such visible demonstration of his presence as he hath vouchsafed me at this time speaking out of the whirlwind And from all we may conclude that as Job had a powerful illumination of the Spirit so an outward apparition of the Glory and Majesty of God or of Gods glorious Majesty to convince and humble him So that though Job had a saving knowledge of God formerly yet this discourse of God with him and discovery of God to him had made him a better Scholar than all his earthly teachers I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear But now mine eye seeth thee That is now I have as clear a sight or knowledge of thy mind and will of thy justice and goodness of thy power and soveraignty as if I had seen thee with mine eyes and had seen or looked into thy heart Or thus Not only hast thou graciously instructed me by speaking so much to me but thou hast manifested thy self present with me by an aspectable sign Mine eye hath seen thee that is thou hast given me to see that which assures me thou art neer unto me namely the Cloud out of which thou hast been pleased to speak and make known thy mind to me who am but dust and ashes The Lord may be seen these four wayes First In his Word Secondly In his works Thirdly In outward apparitions Fourthly And above all God is seen in his Son our Lord Jesus Christ whom the Apostle calls Heb. 1.3 The brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and in whose face the light of the knowledge of God shineth 2 Cor. 4.6 And hence Christ saith John 14.9 He that hath seen me hath seen the father The invisible father is seen in his Son who was made visible in our flesh John 1.18 Thus God may be seen But in his nature God is altogether invisible he cannot be seen Moses saw him that is invisible Heb. 11.27 that is he saw him by an eye of faith who is invisible to the eye of sense I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee Hence note First It is a great mercy and much to be acknowledged that we have the word of God sounding in our ears Faith cometh by hearing Rom. 10.17 The Prophet saith Isa 55.3 Hear and your soul shall live Now if faith and life come by hearing to have the word of God sounding in our ears must needs be a great mercy Though to have the word only sounding in our ear will do no man good yet 't is good to hear that joyful sound Though that sad Prophesie mentioned by Christ Mat. 13.14 be fulfilled in many By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive Yet he said to his faithful followers vers 16. Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear They receive a blessing by hearing whose ears are blessed when they hear O how many souls are blessing God that ever they heard of himself and his Son our Lord Jesus Christ by the hearing of the ear To have an ear to hear is a common blessing but to have an hearing ear or to hear by the hearing of the ear is a special blessing Observe Secondly We should hear the Word very diligently That phrase I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear as the Hebrew Writers note signifieth a very attentive hearing Every hearing is not an hearing with the ear nor every seeing like that we intend when a man saith I saw it with my eyes One may see and not see hear and not hear The Word of God is to be heard with a hearing Such doublings in Scripture have a great emphasis in them As when the Lord saith They are cursed with a curse it notes a great and a certain curse is coming so to hear by the hearing of the ear implyeth fruitful hearing and a laying up of that in the mind which hath been heard Psal 44.1 We have heard with our ears O God our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their dayes in the times of old They who thus hear with their ears treasure up in their hearts and do with their hands what they have heard The Lord charged Ezekiel Chap. 44.5 Son of man mark well and behold with thine eyes and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee that is mind diligently what I shew and say unto thee The Lord called for the exercise of both senses in attending to what he spake to the Prophet He did not only say Hear with thine ears but see with thine eyes that is hear as if thou didst even see that which thou hearest For though possibly the Lord presented somewhat to the eye of the Prophet as well as he spake to his ear yet the former notion may well be taken in yea and intended in that command Many hear as if they had no ears and see as if they had no eyes One of the Ancients taking notice of that saith Such kind of hearers are like Malchus in the Gospel who had his ear cut off From those words But now mine eye seeth thee taken distinctly Observe Thirdly God revealeth himself more clearly and fully at one time than at another Seeing is somewhat more than hearing though it be attentive hearing As the full and clear manifestation which we shall have of God in the next life is expressed by seeing and called vision so the fullest and clearest apprehension which we have of God and the things of God in this life is a degree of seeing both him and them 't is the sight of faith and may also be called vision A true and strong believer tasts and feels and sees the truths of the Gospel which he hath heard his faith which is the eye of his soul is the evidence of those things to him which are not seen nor can be seen by an eye of sense He by the help of the Holy Ghost looks stedfastly into heaven and with this eye seeth the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God in his measure as blessed Stephen did Acts 7.55 This sight of God and spirituals hath three things in it beyond that ordinary though real knowledge which comes in by the hearing of the ear First a surpassing clearness Secondly an undoubted certainty Thirdly a ravishing sweetness and the overflowings of consolation Fourthly Note According to the measure of Gods revealing himself to us such is the measure of our profiting in the knowledge of God The word is spoken to all in the publick Ministry of it it is scattered upon all but they only learn to know God themselves truly to whom God doth inwardly reveal it whose hearts he toucheth and openeth by
the eye of my soul is so over-prest with the present weight of his glory that I cannot in this frail condition bear it but must sink under it Wo is me I am undone As the wicked shall at last cry wo and alass at the angry presence of God and shall indeed be undone for ever So a godly man may now cry Wo is me at any unusual appearance of the holiness and glory of God and cry out I am undone I know not how to bear it Isaiah was not only a Prophet and a true Prophet but a very holy Prophet an Evangelical Prophet one that spake glorious things of Christ to come yet he had never seen so much of God before nor was he ever so deeply humbled before he never cried out before I am undone which word implieth the greatest sence of his own nothingness vileness and wretchedness The true reason why men carry it so high at any time with God is because their notions and apprehensions of God fall so infinitely below him Did we know God more how should we fear before him and stand as men astonished at the presence of his majesty It is our darkness about God which emboldens us beyâ—nd our bounds or the line of creatures The Prophet Habakkuk faith of himself chap. 3.16 When I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered into my bones and I trembled in my self that I might rest in the day of trouble When I heard that is when God revealed himself to me by that speech at the 2d verse of the chapter O Lord I have heard thy speech and was afraid then said he at the 16. verse When I heard my belly trembled The reason why carnal men and hypocrites carry it so stoutly before God is because they know not God aright they may boast of their knowledge but as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 8.2 He that thinketh he knoweth any thing knoweth nothing as he ought The Scripture tells us what that knowledge is which a carnal man hath of God He knows God in his own light not in the light of God or he judgeth what God is by what himself is Psal 50.21 Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self Not that he thought God was a man he had not such gross thoughts of God but he thought God as to his holiness was such a one as himself who was indeed notwithstanding his pretentions to holiness a very unholy a meer carnal man When the Lord said to him Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thy self it is as if he had said Thou measuredst me by thy self and because such things pleased thee thou wouldst needs conclude that they pleased me too Had men a clear knowledge of God as he hath revealed himself they would soon be convinced that God is not only not altogether but not at all such a one as themselves We never see how imperfect we are till we see our selves in the light of Gods perfection and when we duely see our selves in that glass we greatly abhor our selves for we cannot but see much deformity in our selves Nusquam so melius deprohendit modus humanae imperfectionis quam in lumine vultus Dei in speâ—ulo divinae visionis ubi in die qui est plus plus videns quid sibi deest â—mendâ—t indies similitudine quicquid deliquit dissimilitudine Similitudine appropinquans ei à quo longè factus est dissimilitudine August l. 11. Confess c. 9. when we behold the beauty and glory of God And as when we behold that beauty we shall abhor our selves for our deformity and defilements so we shall be daily mending and cleansing our selves from them according to that matchless beauty which we behold in him As we have departed from God by our unlikeness so we shall get nearer to him by getting more of his image and likeness Secondly This wherefore in the Text refers to the fight that Job had of himself as well as of God When Job saw more of himself or himself more then he said I abhor my self Hence Observe The more we see and know our selves the more we shall be abased and lye low in our selves and abhor our selves The reason why we are so proud of our selves is because we are so ignorant of our selves Did we know our own ignorance and mis-understandings as Job now at last did we should strike sail and come lower much more did we know all those abominations that are in our hearts did we know what pride and coveousness and earthly-mindedness lye there what inordinate creature love what passions lye there what envy lyeth there did we understand how deceitful and false our hearts are both towards God our selves and towards one another we should abhor our selves exceedingly There are two things which we should study that we may walk humbly First To know God Secondly To know our selves A Heathen said that word know thy self came down from heaven and did we once know our selves aright what frail and blind and sinful creatures we are how humble and heavenly should we be rightly to know that we are creatures would cause us to live more like new creatures David s eing some men do things so unlike men Psal 9.20 prayed thus Put them in fear O Lord that the Nations may know themselves to be but men There are such in the world as know not themselves to be but men they behave themselves as if they were gods and not men as if they were all-sufficient or as if all their sufficiency proceeded of themselves and they the founders of their own greatness and power The Assyrian said in plain terms I will be like unto the most high Isa 14.14 I do not reckon my self amongst mortals There are many who never attained that Assyrian Princes height who yet have much of his spirit and speak as if they knew themselves to be more than men at least as if they knew not themselves to be but men nor considered themselves as frail dying and accountable creatures Did we remember that we are but creatures that we are the work of Gods hand this would keep us low and humble but did we know what sinful polluted creatures we are we should soon come not only to a lower estimate but an utter abhorrence of our selves We over-think our selves because we do not know our selves we over-rate our selves because we do not understand our selves Even Job was too high in his own thoughts in his own books till he came to know and understand that he had uttered things that he knew not that he understood not Wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Observe Thirdly True repentance is joyned with self-abhorrence and with an abhorrence of all that we do of all that we are True repentance is joyned with an abhorrence First Of sinful self or of our selves for sin The Prophet speaking of their repentance who had gone a whoring from God saith
that is their own peace interest and advantage is all that moves them to it or is designed and aimed at by them in it they mind not the glory of God nor his reparation in honour which hath been by their sin greatly impaired The Lord was down-right with Israel in this Jer. 4.1 If thou wilt return O Israel saith the Lord return unto me intimating that Israel used to make some kind of repenting turns but short of God they minded not God sincerely in them but the removal of some rod or trouble that was come or which they feared was coming upon them They return to God in repenting who repent with a holy resolve upon their hearts to obey God and with a longing desire to enjoy God all the days of their life Thus upon the occasion of Jobs saying I repent I have briefly opened the duty of repentance of such a repentance as without all peradventure Job was then exercised in His was the grace of repentance his repentance was wrought in his heart chiefly by the immediate word and speakings of God to him He turned fully in it from all his passions and expostulations with God which were at that time his special sin to a meek quiet submission to the will of God and a resting in his dispensations All this was wrapped up in this short word I repent Further consider when Job said I repent in dust and ashes he was not then to begin his repentance he had repented long before yet then he began a new work of repentance or then he renewed his repentance Hence note First New sinnings call for new repentings As the new leakings of a ship calls for new pumpings and repairs so I say new sins call for new repentings There is a first repentance and there is a second repentance First Repentance is our coming out of a state of sin of which Christ spake Mat. 11.20 21. Then began he to upbraid the Cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Wo unto you Chorazin and wo unto you Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes that is they had come out of their sins Those converts in the Acts of the Apostles chap. 2.38 repented that is they came out of a sinful state Now as there is a repentance which I call our coming out of a state of sin so there is a repentance which is a coming off from this and that act of sin and this is the repentance which Job was upon Again this repentance as to acts of sin is two-fold First Our ordinary and every days repentance Secondly Our extraordinary repentance When we have fallen greatly when we have sinned extraordinary of when the Lord brings any extraordinary judgment upon us then the Lord expects extraordinary repentance such was Davids repentance in the 51. Psalm and such was Jobs repentance here as it was in general for sin so for some extraordinary sinful failings Secondly Consider what was Jobs sin Job was no vile person he had committed no gross acts of wickedness If you would know what Jobs sin was it was impatience under Gods dealings with him and his distrustfulness as to Gods delivering of him yet even his were great sins Hence note Not only gross sins murder adultery and the oppression of our neighbours are great sins but impatiency under the hand of God and unwary speeches concerning the dealings of God with us are great sins Every great sin is not a gross sin Drunkenness and swearing and adultery and murder are gross sins but impatience under afflictions and unbelief not resting upon God in an evil day these are great sins though not gross sins Remember not only are gross sins great sins but many sins which appear not to the eye nor to the ear may yet be great sins especially as to the person that committeth them Thirdly note Not gross sins only but slips of the tongue and impatiency under Gods hand are to be repented of Job not only acknowledged these to be sins but repenteth of these nor had he any other matter to repent of When we are under some great sickness or any other affliction as we are to repent of former sins so let us repent of our sickness and affliction-sins that is of impatience or any unwary speeches in our affliction These Job repented of Again how did Job repent It was in dust and ashes Hence Observe Fourthly Open sins must have open repentance That 's intended by repenting in dust and ashes We are not bound to repent openly of all our sins but in in these two cases we are First When we have done any thing that hath openly dishonoured God Secondly When we have scandalized or offended others In these cases we must repent openly so far that they who are concerned may have a testimony of our repentance When Job repented in dust and ashes he like those servants of Benhadad who came with ropes about their necks testified that he deserved to be thrown into the dust or to be burnt to ashes We can neither edifie nor satisfie such as are grieved by our sins unless our repentance be visible and we appear repenting As the light of our zeal must so shine before men that they may see our good works so the light of our repentance must so shine before men that they may see us humbled for and turning from our evil works and glorifie our father which is in heaven Fifthly Note We may testifie our repentance by outward signs Here was not only the reallity of repentance but the ceremony of it There are many outward signs of repentance spoken of in Scripture Such are First Smiting upon the thigh thus Ephraim is described repenting Jerem. 31.19 Secondly Smiting upon the breast so the Publican is described repenting Luke 18.13 He smote upon his breast and said God be merciful to me a sinner Thirdly Laying aside our ornaments thus the Lord commanded the Israelites Exod. 33.5 Put off thy ornaments from thee that I may know to do unto thee as if God had said humble thy self openly and repent Fâ—urthly The putting on of sack-cloth this the Jews were called to do Isa 22.12 Fifthly Holding down the head The Jews Isa 58.5 were not reproved for doing that but because they did it like a bull-rush only when a storm was upon them Sixthly Renting the garment and walking softly So did Ahab 1 Kings 21.27 Seventhly as in the text Job saith he did sitting in dust and ashes I do not say these or the like are absolutely necessary to repentance but they are lawful and have their use When the Prophet Joel 2.13 said Rent your hearts not your garments that is rent your hearts rather than your garments it was not a prohibition but a direction or if rent your garments be sure you rent your hearts also else all your outward modes of repentance are in vain
sin First the greatness of the punishment laid upon the sinner Secondly the greatness of the means used for the healing of that breach which sin hath made I answer Secondly the number seven being a Symbol of perfection as was said before figured the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ who by one offering hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 A perfect number of sacrifices was fittest to shadow the infinite perfection of that one sacrifice which makes and which only makes all the comers thereunto perfect For though a person under the Law having offered his sacrifice was no more reckoned guilty of that sin by men yet his conscience did still accuse him of and charge him with sin and therefore sacrifices were renewed Heb. 10.1 2. nor could the accusings of conscience be quieted but by looking to Christ by faith whom the sacrifice shadowed and the sacrificer was to point at Fifthly In that the Lord sent Eliphaz and his two friends unto Job with their sacrifice Observe We must reconcile our selves to those we have wronged before we can look to be reconciled unto God against whom we have sinned or to be accepted of him in any service The counsel of Christ directs to this Mat. 5.23 24. If thou bringest thy gift unto the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift This general command of Christ is the same in effect with what the Lord here long before gave particularly and personally to Eliphaz and his two friends they must first go and be reconciled to Job and then offer their sacrifice This the Apostle also gave in charge 1 Tim. 2.8 I will therefore that men pray every where holding up holy hands but how without wrath and doubting There are two things required if we look to be accepted of God in any service First Faith Secondly Love or charity There must be faith else we cannot lift up holy hands without doubting There must be love else we cannot lift up holy hands without wrath They who are suing for and expecting favour and mercy from God have need to discharge themselves of all wrath and revenge towards man With what face can any expect favour from God who will not acknowledge wherein they have wronged man Sixthly Observe God is very tender of the credit of his faithful servants he will not be reconciled unless they are righted Job had been wronged no man more by the censures of his friends and God was so tender of his honour and reputation that his friends must make him reparation before God will accept their sacrifice One reason why God is so tender of the credit of his servants is because they are tender of his and will undergo any wrong rather than his Name shall be blasphemed or wronged As God will himself honour them who honour him 1 Sam. 2.30 so he will one time or other some way or other retrench and cast back upon men all that dishonor which they have received from men or cause them to take it off and wipe them clean whom they have undeservedly aspersed Observe Seventhly God will humble proud and high spirits and make them submit to those whom they have wronged There is a twofold submission which is the duty of a Christian First to God James 4.7 Secondly to man and this is twofold First To those that are over us and above us in power Rom. 13.1 Tit. 3.1 And thus not only are subjects to submit to Magistrates but all of a lower degree are to submit to their superiours servants to their Masters wives to their Husbands children to their parents Secondly There is a submission to those that are wronged by us and though they be our inferiours yet in this sense we are to submit to them that is acknowledge that we have wronged them The Apostle James intimates such a submission Chap. 5.16 and the Apostle Paul speaks it plainly Eph. 5.21 Submitting your selves to one another in the fear of God Here is a mutual submission a submission in case of wrong and doubtless that rule of Scripture is extendible to other cases not only of equals one to another but of superiours to inferiours Our spirits like not this we hardly submit to those that we have wronged but there 's no remedy we must Some say they will submit to God but they cannot submit to man they cannot stoop to that Let such remember that without this submission even to an inferiour whom we have knowingly wronged or are made to know which was the case here that we have wronged we cannot hopefully apply to God for peace and reconciliation Eighthly Observe They that are wronged by others must forgive them their wrongs God sent Eliphaz and his two friends to Job not only that they should acknowledge they had wronged him but that Job might freely and fully testifie so far as concerned him his forgiveness of that wrong As it is the duty of them that have wronged others to submit to them in the acknowledgement of it so they that are wronged ought to forgive receive them in that submission We must forgive as we look to be forgiven Mat. 6.12 We cannot pray believingly that God would forgive us the guilt of our iniquity committed against himself or others unless we forgive others the injury which they have done us Observe Ninthly Good men are ready to give and take satisfaction in point of wrong Jobs friends had done him wrong and as they good men were ready to give satisfaction so Job good man was as ready to take it Many wrong others but will give no satisfaction many are wronged by others and will take no satisfaction nothing will quiet or appease them Jobs friends and himself were highly to be commended that they were willing to give and he to take satisfaction The Apostle urgeth this Eph. 4.26 27. Be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devil They give up their hearts as lodging-chambers to the devil who let the Sun go down upon their wrath therefore it followeth vers 31.32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you They that know what it is to be forgiven by God they that know what need they have continually of Gods forgiving grace mercy will be as ready to accept satisfaction as any can be to give it This was eminent in Job as will appear further in opening the next words in this verse Go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering And my servant Job shall pray for you How eminent Job was in prayer and how available his prayers or intercessions were for others may
a favourite Abraham was a favourite God called him his friend and Job was a favourite The Lord shews favour to many who yet are not his favourites Kings and Pâ—inces shew favour to all their faithful subjects yet but one possibly is a Favourite The Lords chief favourite is his Son Jesus Christ he hath his ear continually I knew said Christ John 11.42 that thou hearest me alwayes Now as Christ is a favourite above all men so among good men some have favour with God above others A King will hear a favourite when he will not a common person Our Annotators upon this very place tell us out of Mr. Fox that when Sir John Gostwich had falsely accused Arch-Bishop Cranmer to King Henry the VIII he would not hear him nor be reconciled to him till Cranmer himself whom he had wronged came and spake for him Thus the Lord will not be reconciled to some till the wronged party intercedes for them Yet we must remember that the power or effect of all our prayers depends upon Jesus Christ alone by him it is that any have access to the father and he is the way to the holiest the beloved in whom God is well pleased whom he heareth always and through whom God heareth his best beloved favourites on earth Observe Fifthly It is a great mercy to have the prayers of a good man going for us The Lord told not Eliphaz and his two friends of any thing else that Job should do for them he only saith Job my servant shall pray for you If the Lord doth but stir up the heart of a Job of a Moses of a Jacob a Wrestler in prayer to pray for us who knows what mercy we may receive by it And therefore when the Lord forbids his favourites to pray for a people as sometimes he doth it is a sign that such are in a very sad condition yea that their case is desperate Jeremiah was a mighty man with the Lord in prayer and the Lord said to him Jer. 14.11 Pray not to me for this people for good Jeremiah was forward to pray for them but the Lord stopt him Pray no more not that the Lord disliked his prayer but because he was resolved not to forgive them though he prayed for them therefore he said pray not The Lord would not let such precious waters run wast as the prayers of Jeremiah were They are in a remediless ill condition of whom the Lord saith pray not for them Of such the Apostle spake 1 John 5.16 If any man see his brother sin a sin not unto death he shall ask and God shall give him life There is a sin unto death I say not that he shall pray for it The pardon of a sin unto death is not to be prayed for Every sin deserves death but every sin is not unto death They who sin so are past prayer and in how woful a plight are they whose sins are past prayers They who have been much in prayer themselves and afterwards fall off from or walk contrary unto their prayers come at last to this miserable issue that either they give over praying for themselves or others are stopt from praying for them And though an outward bar be not laid upon their friends prayer as in Israels case yet there may be a bar upon the spirit of such as used to pray for them It is a bad sign when the Lord shuts up the heart from praying for any one and it is a sign of mercy when the Lord inlargeth the heart of any that are godly to pray for others Sixthly Observe Prayer for another doth not profit him unless he be faithful himself I ground it upon the text Job shall pray for you but you must carry a sacrifice which implied their faith and they must carry a sacrifice to Job and that implied their repentance and both implied that they prayed for themselves also It is in vain to offer a sacrifice without faith and repentance being in this frame My servant Job shall pray for you Conjunctis precibus nihil impetratu impossibile est Conjunctae autem preces esse non possunt ubi est offensio Coc. vid. The prayer of faith prevails not for those that go on in their unbelief and impenitency Job prayed for his friends and they repenting and believing he prevailed for them The reason why the Prophet Jeremiah in the place before mentioned as also chap. 7.16 was commanded not to pray for that people was because they were a hardened people in their sins and therefore his prayers could do them no good Yea the Lord told him cha 15.2 that though not only he but other great favourites joyned in prayer for them it should do them no good Though Moses and Samuel stood before me my mind could not be towards this people The reason why those eminent favourites and mighty men in prayer could do no good was as was said before because they were unbelieving and hardned in their sins as appears upon the place The Prophet Ezekiel speaks the same thing chap. 14.14 Though these three men Noah Daniel and Job this Job that we have in the text were in it they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness saith the Lord. Jobs prayers obtained good for his friends but the children of Israel were in such a condition that though Noah Daniel and Job were praying for them they should get no good by it their sins were so high and their hearts so hard that the prayers of the holiest men in the world could not prevail with God for mercy It cannot be denied but the prayers of a godly man may profit a wicked man an unbeliever an impenitent person for his conversion to the faith and the bringing of him to repentance but they profit not any man who as he hath not faith so continues in his unbelief Yet I grant that the prayers of a believer may profit such an unbeliever as to the avoiding of some temporal evil or as to the obtaining of some temporal good as is clear in Abrahams prayer for Abimelech Gen. 20.7 But how much soever a godly man prayeth for the pardon of a wicked mans sin or the salvation of his soul he shall never be pardoned or saved unless himself repent and believe They who never pray in faith for themselves shall not get favour with God by any prayer of faith made by others for them Now as from this and such like Scriptures it appears that the prayers of godly men for good men here on earth are very pleasing unto the Lord and receive great answers So they do absurdly who from this Scripture infer that the Saints departed pray for us as if they knew or understood our condition and they do more absurdly who living here on earth pray to the Saints in heaven to pray for them The Scripture speaks nothing of prayers to departed Saints nor of departed Saints praying for us the Scripture speaks only of the living
on earth praying for those that live on earth Job was alive in the body and so were those three men to whom the Lord said My servant Job shall pray for you The Lord having assured Eliphaz and his two friends that Job would pray for them giveth them encouâ—agement to go and desiâ—e his prayers by a gracious promise For saith he him will I accept and threatneth them in case they should forbear in the next words Lest I deal with you according to your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job First Of the gracious promise him will I accept The Hebrew saith his face will I lift up Acceptation with God is the lifting up of the face of man then man lifteth up his face with boldness when he is accepted with God When God refused to accept Cain and his offering his countenaâ—ce fell or was cast down Gen. 4.5 Unless the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us as David prayed Psal 4.6 we cannot with any comfort much less with true confidence lift up our face or countenance unto God That 's the significancy of the word Him will I accept God is no accepter of persons as the word is often used in Scripture Deut. 10.17 The Lord is a great God mighty and terrible which regardeth not persons It is the same phrase in the Hebrew with this in the Text he lifteth not up faces that is the Lord doth not accept persons upon any outward respect First The Lord doth not accept persons for their personableness as I may say the Lord doth not delight in any mans legs his delight is in them that fear him Psal 147.10 11. he doth not accept men for their goodly stature as he told Samuel when he would needs have poured the oile upon the first-born of the Sons of Jesse 1 Sam. 16.7 Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart 'T is the beauty of holiness and integrity in the heart not the beauty of fairness upon the face with which God is taken 't is a lowly mind not a high stature which God accepts Secondly The Lord is no accepter of persons as to the nation or country where they were born or live Thus the Apostle Peter spake Acts 10.35 I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him God doth not prefer Jews before Gentiles Barbarians or Scythians that a man had his birth in this or that Nation neither helps nor hinders acceptation with God Thirdly The Lord accepteth no mans person for his riches Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath No mans person is acceptable to God for his purse or his penny no not at all Fouâ—thly The Lord â—ccepteth no mans person for his worldly greatness honour and dignity He poureth contempt upon Princes Psal 107.40 The day of the Lord is against the hills and mountains Isa 2.14 The great God regardeth not any man meerly for greatness the Lord accepts no mans person upon these or any such like accounts He only accepts the persons of those that fear him and do his will Suscipit faciem Deus quando precantem câ—audit The Lords acceptance of any person in the sense of this promise concerning Job is First To shew favour and manifest affection to him Secondly To honour aâ—d highly esteem him Thirdly Which is here specially intended to answer his prayers and grant his requests not only for himself but for others When a person is once accepted his prayers shall not be denied nor suffer a repulse The Lord accepteth persons as a King the persons of those loyal Subjects who come to intreat his favour and pardon for those that have offended him and rebelled against him he grants their suit and treats them fairly In this sense the Lord maketh promise to Eliphaz and his two friends that he will accept Job Hence Observe First It is a very high favour and priviledge to be accepted of God Him will I accept saith the Lord of Job This was a favour beyond all the favours that follow after in the close of the book about the doubling of his estate If Jacob Gen 32.20 was so taken with a hope of acceptance by his brother Esau Peradventure he will accept me If when he was accepted by Esau he said chap. 33.10 I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God and thou wast pleased with me Then how much more should we rejoyce in this assurance that God hath accepted of us and that he is pleased with us If the Apostle Rom. 15.3 prayed so earnestly and desired others to strive with him in prayer to God that his service which he had for Jerusalem might be accepted of the Saints then how much more should we pray that our services may be accepted of God and rejoyce when they are accepted The Apostle made it his chief work to get acceptation with God 2 Cor. 5.9 Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent that is whether living or dying we may be accepted with him we are ambitious of divine acceptation The word which we translate labour noteth a labouring after honour which ambitious men labour much after implying that to be accepted with the Lord is a very high honour indeed the highest honour There is a two-fold acceptation First Of our persons Secondly Of our services The former is the ground of the latter and Jesus Christ is the foundation of both Ephes 1.6 He through glorious grace hath made us accepted in the beloved Jesus Christ is so dearly beloved of the father that he is called The Beloved as if only beloved The acceptation of our services is often promised in Scripture as a high favouâ— Exod. 28.38 Ezek. 20.40 41. Isa 56.7 This Moses prayed for in the behalf of the Tribe of Levy which Tribe was appointed to offer sacrifice and to pray for the people Deut. 33.11 Bless Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands What was the work of Levies hands it was to offer sacrifice to which prayer and intercession was joyned That Levi who had the priest-hoâ—d fixed in the family of Aaron should be accepted in the work of his hands was a blessing not only to himself but to many more This David prayed earnestly for Psal 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer He put up a like prayer Psal 119.108 Accept I beseech thee the free-will-offerings of my mouth O Lord. This was the prayer of Araunah for David 2 Sam. 24.23 The Lord thy God accept thee So great a priviledge it is for our persons and services to be accepted with the Lord
that when once we have it we may rejoyce all our days Eccles 9.7 Go thy way eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart for God now accepteth thy works Solomon doth not mean it of a sensitive joy only much less of any sensual joy but of a gracious and spiritual joy In this joy we may eat and drink when our work is accepted and our work is never accepted till our persons are Now if it be so great a priviledge to be accepted with the Lord how great a misery is it not to be accepted this inference floweth naturally from that great truth And how great a misery it is not to be accepted of God several Scriptures hold out The Prophet Amos 5.22 declareth no other judgment upon that people but this The Lord accepteth them not And the same declaration is made by several other Prophets Jerem. 14.10 12. Hos 8.13 Mal. 1.8 10. Acceptance is our greatest mercy and non-acceptance our greatest misery and that 's the reason why the understanding and faithful servants of God are so strict or as the world accounts it precise and scrupleous that they will not turn aside no not in those things which are called small matters and of which many think God will take no notice They desire to be accepted of God in every thing and because they know in some measure what is acceptable to him therefore they would do nothing no not the least thing which is unacceptable to him Prov. 10.32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable The lips are organs or instruments of speech not of knowledge the understanding knoweth the lips only speak Yet here Solomon ascribes the work of the understing to the lips and this he doth because there is or should be a great cognation between the understanding and the lips we should speak nothing but what we understand we should speak only what we know and according to our knowledge The lips of the righteous have such an intercourse with their understanding that their very lips may be said to know what is acceptable and therefore they speak what is acceptable It is said of David that he guided the people with the skilfulness saith our with the discretion saith another translation with the understanding of his hands saith the original Psal 78.72 The hand hath no more understanding skill or discretion seated in it than the lips yet because David consulted with his understanding in what he did with his hand it is said He guided them by the skilfulness or discretion or understanding of his hand Thus the lips of the righteous understand and know what is acceptable and they know that unless they have an aime to honour God in small matters yea in all matters they greatly dishonour him and so cannot be accepted with him at all The excellency of a gracious heart appears greatly when he maketh conscience of doing the least thing which he knows ye only fears will be unacceptable to God or wherein he may run the hazard of this priviledge his acceptation with him There are three things which shew why it is so great a priviledg to be accepted with God and why his servants are so careful not to do any thing that is unacceptable unto him First Because Once accepted with God and always accepted For though possibly a person accepted may have some frowns from God upon his uneven walkings or sinful actings yet his state of acceptation continues firm in the main The Lord doth not utterly cast off his favourites no nor any whom he taketh into his favour or a nearness with himself Secondly If we are once accepted with God he can make us accepted with men and that not only with good men Rom. 14.18 but even with bad men God can give us favour in the eyes of those men who have not an eye to see that we are in his favour Daniel who was so careful to keep up his acceptation with God That he purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the portion of the Kings meat Dan. 1.8 9. Of him it is said ver 9. God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the Prince of the Eunuches He a conscientious Jew had great acceptation with him who was an idolatrous Heathen Thirdly If once accepted of the Lord we need not be much troubled though we are reprobate to the world though the world reject and cast us off yea cast us out The Lords acceptation of us will bear or may bear up our spirits in the midst of the worlds reproaches repulses and rejections Again When the Lord saith Him will I accept Observe The Lord accepts some godly men more than others Jobs three friends were godly men questionless they were yet they had not that acceptation with God which Job had All that are godly have acceptation with God but they have not all alike acceptation Acts 10.35 In every Nation they that fear him and work righteousness are accepted with him Which we must not take meerly for a moral or legal righteousness but as in conjunction with an Evangelical righteousness Now let them be who they will that fear God and work righteousness they are accepted but all are not equally accepted him will I accept saith the Lord concerning Job with an Emphasis why was it so because Job was one of the most eminent persons for godliness yea the most eminent at that time upon the face of the whole earth as was shewed at the 2d verse of the first chapter Noah was a man highly accepted of the Lord above others and he was righteous above others Gen. 7.1 Thee saith God have I seen righteous before me in this generation Possibly there might be others righteous but there was no man so righteous as Noah and none so accepted as he And if it be enquired who amongst good men are most accepted or accepted beyond other good men I answer First They among good men are most accepted who live most by faith As without faith it is impossible to please God in any degree Heb. 11.6 so they that live most by faith please God most or in the highest degree and are most accepted by him Abraham who lived so much by faith that he was called the father of the faithful was so much accepted of God that he is called The friend of God Jam. 2.23 Secondly Among godly men they who are most upright in their walkings who walk with a single eye and with a right foot are most acceptable such a man was Job The character given him Chap. 1.1 was A man perfect and upright Thirdly They that walk most humbly are most acceptable unto God For 〈◊〉 God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble Jam. 4.6 so he sheweth grace that is favour or graceth and adorneth them with his favours When one said Mich. 6.6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord c. The Prophet answered vers 8. He hath shewed thee O man what is
good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God That is as he requireth of thee to exercise justice toward all men and mercy to the poor or any in misery so to walk humbly with himself that is to acknowledge thou hast need of the righteousness of a Saviour and of the mercy of a God how much righteousness and mercy soever thou hast exercised towards others When we are low in our own eyes then are we highest in Gods eye when we as it were reject our selves and all that we have done as unworthy of any acceptation then are we most accepted of the Lord. Fourthly Among Believers they are most accepted with God who are most fruitful in their lives and do most good in their places and according to their opportunities The Lord loveth a fruitful Christian Many are barren trees unfruitful ground little can be seen of good which they do these are a burden to God But when a Christian as it is said of Christ Act. 10.38 goeth about doing good when a Christian as Christ giveth the account of his own life John 17.4 Glorifieth God on earth and finisheth the work which God gives him to do O how acceptable is such a one to God! And therefore Let us labour to know and do what is acceptable to the Lord. The Apostle would have us prove what is acceptable to the Lord Eph. 5.10 that is First study the Word to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. Secondly approve and embrace with our whole hearts what we find to be so Thirdly practice and do what we have so approved or embraced And because the Scripture speaks of some duties which are specially acceptable to the Lord I shall instance the Point in a few particulars First Doing right to every one Prov. 21.3 To do justice and judgement is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice This is true or may be affiâ—med of justice both commutative and distributive To do justice in our dealings with men called commutative justice is more acceptable than sacrifice that is than any outward worship given to God without this 'T is true also of distributive justice which is done by Magistrates in rewarding good men and in punishing them that do evil these works of justice also are more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice Secondly The true worship and service of God which the Apostle calls sacrifice is highly acceptable to God Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service These first Table-duties when in consort with those former second Table-duties are highly honourable and therefore cannot but be highly acceptable to the Lord. Sacrifice to God without justice to man is meer hypocrisie Justice to man without sacrifice to God is no better than Heathenish morality Both united are the beauty of Christianity Thirdly To serve Christ that is to aim at the honouring as well as the enjoying of Christ with our Gospel-priviledges and liberties is exceeding acceptable The Apostle having said Rom. 14.17 The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost presently adds vers 18. He that in these things that is in righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Ghost serveth Christ is acceptable unto God that is this shews he is a person accepted with God The doing of things purely acceptable to God is a clear and strong argument of our acceptation with him Fourthly To do any good we do be it little or much with a willing mind is very acceptable to God 2 Cor. 8.12 If there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath Though it be little that we have yet if the mind be free if there be much of the will in it though but little of the purse if we have no more to give or give according to what we have if there be much of the heart in it though but little of the hand if we do according to the power that is in our hand the Lord hath a very great respect to it Fifthly To be much in prayer for others especially for those that are in power over us is very acceptable to the Lord 1 Tim. 2.2 3. I exhort that supplications c. be made for all men for Kings and all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour As it is good and acceptable in the sight of God that we should lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty under Kings and all in authority so that we should pray for Kings and those that are in authority Sixthly When children do well requite their parents that saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 5.4 is acceptable unto God Seventhly To suffer patiently for well-doing is greatly pleasing unto God 1 Pet. 2.20 In a word they among good men are most acceptable of God who are most zealous in doing any thing in a right manner which for the matter is acceptable unto God Observe Thirdly As the Lord accepteth some godly men more than others so he accepteth some godly men for others The Lord doth not speak here of accepting Job strictly for himself but of his acceptation in the behalf of his friends Him will I accept that is for you I will be intreated by him I will not give you the honour to be intreated by you but to him I give it I will be intreated by him The Prophet Elisha said to the King of Israel 2 Kings 3.14 Were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah I would not look toward thee nor see thee he would not vouchsafe that bad King a look but for the respect that he bare to good Jehoshaphat And it is a truth that God would not have so much respect to some good men were it not for the sake of some others who are better Yet that the Lord accepts one mans person more than anothers or one mans person for another is primarily and principally in and for the sake of Jesus Christ Job had acceptation with God more than his friends and for his friends he had the former by his being in Christ and the latter as he was a figure of Christ No mans person no mans work is accepted of otherwise than in relation to Christ The Apostle affirms this fully Eph. 1.6 He hath made us accepted in the Beloved Christians are beloved but Christ only is the Beloved we are accepted in him the beloved as to our selves and 't is in the beloved that any are accepted more than others or for others Take this Inference from the whole The Lord accepted Job praying for others then he will accept a good man praying upon right
grounds and for right ends against another It is dangerous to stand in the way of their prayers who are accepted of God That man is more safe against whom a thousand are acting than he against whom any one godly man upon a just ground is praying The Lord hath done great things against evil men upon the prayers of the faithful as well as he hath done great things for good men at their prayer David by one ejaculatory petition spoyled the plot of Achitophel the Lord according to that short prayer turned his counsel into foolishness and so overturned the whole design laid against his servant David Thus far of the promise which the Lord gave Eliphaz and his two friends for their encouragement to go unto Job and entreat him to offer up a burnt-offering and to pray for them for him will I accept Now followeth a threat in case they did not Lest I deal with you according to your folly As if the Lord had said Do not slight this advice that I give you no nor forslow it make hast to make your address to Job I will accept him and I tell you I will not accept you alone therefore make hast and do as I have commanded else I shall deal with you according to your folly There is some difference in the reading of these words First Some read Lest I do or act folly to you But how can the Lord do or act folly towards any We may expound this translation by that Psal 18.26 where David saith of the Lord With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward or perverse thou wilt shew thy self froward or perverse But how doth the Lord shew himself froward with those that are froward there is no frowardness in the Lord he is alwayes in a composed and sedate frame infinitely beyond any passion or perturbation the meaning is only this The Lord will deal with men according to what they are the actings and effects of his providence shall be towards a froward man as if he were froward If a man deal perversely with God he will deal with him as if he were perverse and with the pure God will shew himself pure that is he will carry it purely towards them they shall receive good who are and do good Thus here go saith the Lord and do as I bid you Lest I deal folly to you In the Hebrew Language to do kindness with one is the same as to exercise or shew kindness to him That form of speech is used Gen. 20.13 Gen. 24.49 Gen. 40.14 And so to do folly with one is to shew or exercise folly to to him The Lord doth folly to them that do folly that is he makes them see by his wise doing how foolishly they have done Others express it thus Lest I deal foolishly with you or folly to you that is lest I do that which may be accounted foolishness in me You having appeared Advocates in my cause and pleaded for me 't is folly to pay any man with unkindness for the service he hath done us Well saith the Lord look to it I will not accept you but deal folly to you or foolishly with you in the sense of some men possibly but wisely in my own The Lord is alwayes to be admired in his wisdom holiness and in the serenity of his spirit yet in the opinion of the wise men of this world he may seem to deal foolishly or do folly Secondly The words may be rendred Lest I do that which may be disgraceful to you Thus the Chaldee paraphrase readeth Lest I put a disgrace or an affront upon you and make it appear to your shame that you have not carried it aright in this matter but have been shamefully out The word here used is several times used in Scripture to note the defiling or disgrace of a thing Nahum 3.6 I will cast abominable filth upon thee and I will make thee vile that is I will disgrace thee and as it followeth I will set thee for a gazing stock So Micah 7.6 when the Lord would shew the exceeding sinfulness of those times he saith Trust ye not in a friend put ye not confidence in a guide keep the door of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosom for the son dishonoureth the father it is this word the son disgraceth the father he dealeth with his father as if he were a Nabal a very fool When a son knoweth not his distance nor performeth his dury he dishonoureth his father The Prophet Jer. 14 21. speaks in a way of deprecation Do not abhor us for tâ—y name sake do not disgrace the throne of thy glory The Lord is â—ometimes so angry with his people that he even casteth dirt upon the throne of his glory that is upon his Church in and by which he should be glorified as upon his Throne The Lord disgraceth his Church the throne of his glory when his Church disgraceth him and dishonours his gloriâ—us name Deut. 32.15 Jesurun waxed fat and kicked that is Israel the Church was waxen fat the Lord fed Jesurun his Church to the full they had not a lean seâ—vice of it but what did Jâ—surun he forsook God wh ch made him and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation The word which we translaâ—e he lightly esteemed is the word of the Text Now when Jesurun did lightly esteem or disgrace the Lord he soon after disgraced Jesurun his Church The throne of his glory This is a good sense of the words do as I diâ—ect lest I put a disgrace upon you Thus folly is put foâ— the punishment of folly as sin often for the penal effects and fruits of sin as 't is said 1 King 13.34 This thing â—ecame sin to the house of Jeroboam even to cut it off Our reading saith Lest I deal with you according to your folly that is according to your sin and the hard censures which you have given of my servant Job and as it followeth In that you have not sp ken of me the thing that is right These things have been your folly and 〈◊〉 do not speedily repair with your sacrifice to Job and get him to pray for you what you can do your selves will not makâ— amends for your folly nor mend this breach but I will deal with you according to your folly you shall taste of the fruit of your doings the reward of your hands or of your tongues shall be given to you That 's the general sence of our translation As if the Lord had said Lest I make you understand by your sad experiences by the punishments and chastisements laid upon you that you have done very foolishly and were greatly mistaken in your apprehensions of me and of my providences concerning Job Or thus ye have declared much folly in the management of this matter with my servant Job ye have offended against the common Laws of friendship and humanity insulting over a man in misery and your folly hath been
Christ in his person is of infinite worth and his sacrifice of so great a value that it became a price sufficient for the ransom and redemption of all sinners yet it was of free grace that Christ was made a ransom for sinners and we accepted through him Secondly Take this Inference If the Lord be ready to hear a Job for his friends then the Lord will much more hear a Job for himself That the prayers and supplications which Believers put up to the Lord obtain mercy and good things for others may strengthen faith that they shall obtain for themselves Thirdly We may infer Job was become a great favourite with God after his humiliation and self-abhorrence He no sooner fell out with himself for his former miscarriages but the Lord as it were fell in love with him afresh What a favourite was he grown who could thus readily get an answer and obtain favour for those against whom the Lord said My wrath is kindled Thus much concerning the judgment and determination of God in this matter which put a period to the long continued controversie between Job and his three friends and reconciled both parties both unto God and between themselves O how blessed is the issue of the Lords Judgment and undertaking towards his servants and children When once he was pleased to appear in the case he soon silenced both sides and made them in the conclusion both of one heart and of one mind And no sooner was this humbling and reconciling work done and over but restoring and restitution work followed as will appear in opening the third and last part of this Chapter which is also the last part of the whole Book JOB Chap. 42. Vers 10. 10. And the Lord turned the Captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends Also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before THis verse begins the third part of the Chapter We have seen Jâ—b humbled before God in the first part we have seen Jobs friends reconciled to God and his anger turned away from them in the second In this third we have Job himself restored or the restitution of Job to as good yea to a better estate than he had before and this was done when he prayed for his friends The Crown is set upon the head of prayer The restitution of Job is set down two wayes First more generally in this verse where it is described three wayes First by the Author of it The Lord it was he that turned the Captivity of Job Secondly by the season of it When he prayed for his friends Thirdly by the degree and measure of it Also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before His was not a bare return or restitution but with advantage and that to a duplication And the Lord turned the captivity of Job Before I open the words as translated by us I shall briefly mind the Reader of another translation Probarem si esset 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi nunc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conversio paenitentia Drus Dominus quoque conversus est ad paenitentiam Job Vulg. The word which we render Captivity is by some rendred Repentance and there is a twofold interpretation of that rendring First Some refer it to God and read the words thus The Lord was turned to repentance concerning Job And then the meaning is the Lord repented or changed his dispensation with respect to the affliction of Job when he prayed for his friends The Scripture speaks of the Lords repentance two wayes First that he repenteth of the good which he hath done for or bestowed upon man Gen. 6.6 It repented the Lord that he had made man he seemed as one troubled in his mind that ever he had set up man in such a condition And as there the Lord repented of his making mankind in general in that good natural state so elsewhere he is said to repent of his doing good to some men in particular as to their civil state 1 Sam. 15.11 The Lord repented that he had made Saul King that he had set him upon a Throne to rule men on earth who had no better obeyed the Rule given from his own Throne in heaven Secondly The Lord is said to repent of the evil which he hath either actually brought upon man or threatned to bring upon him In the former sense Moses saith Deut. 32.36 The Lord shall judge his people and repent himself for his servanss when he seeth that their power is gone and there is none shut up or left that is when they are in an afflicted low condition the Lord taketh the opportunity or season to restore them and then he is said to repent concerning any afflictive evil brought upon his people In the latter sense as he is said to repent of the evil threatned it is said of repenting Niniveh Jonah 3.10 The Lord repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not Thus the Lord is turned to repentance with respect to evil either brought or threatned to be brought upon a people for which we have that remarkable promise Jer. 18.7 8. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdome to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil I thought to do unto them If they turn I will turn Another word is used in the Hebrew there but it imports the same thing Repentance in God is not any change of his Will Counsel or Purpose it only notes a change in his providences and dispensations The Lord is of one mind who can turn him Job 23.13 But he is not alwayes of one way he repenteth that is he changeth his way somtimes and so he did towards Job He once cast him down and left him as a captive bound hand and foot under the power of Satan as to his outward man and worldly enjoyments but the Lord turned and repented that is turned his Captivity This sense and reading is much insisted on by several Interpreters and it is a comfortable truth yet I am not satisfied that it is the truth intended in this place Secondly Others who follow that translation refer this repentance to Job and so the sense is this The Lord turned at the repentance or upon the repentance of Job when he prayed for his friends of which repentance we read in the foâ—mer part of the Chapter The Observation which naturally ariseth from this interpretation is clear from many other Texts of Scripture When persons or Nations pray and depart from iniquity when they joyn true repentance with prayer the Lord turneth to them in mercy and turneth evil away from them The Lord turned in mercy to repenting Job when he prayed for his friends And this was promised to Gods peculiar people the Jewish Nation 2 Chron. 7.14 If my
Jun. the Lord added all his cattle double in number Yet we need not tye up the word double or twice as much strictly to that sense Therefore Secondly Double may be taken largely and so double or twice as much is very much He added to him double that is he made a very great addition possibly in some things treble yea fourfold to what he had before And thus the Lord made good what Bildad had spoken to Job closely hinting that surely Job lay in some secret sin and was not right with God because God let him lye in that forlorn condition and did not so much as restore him to the same much less raise him to a better estate than he had before chap. 8.6 7. If thou wert pure and upright surely now he would awake for thee and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous Though thy beginning was small yet thy latter end should greatly increase It is usual in the Hebrew to say those things are double which excel and are great Thus spake Zophar chap. 11.6 O that God would speak and open his lips against thee and that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom that they are double to that which is Know therefore c. The secrets of Divine wisdom are double to what is namely to what they appear or are apprehended to be The wisdom of God is double yea an hundred fold more than what man is able to conceive it to be The secrets of Gods wisdom are unsearchable and past any creatures finding out Thus in other Scriptures double is put for very much Isa 40.2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the Lords hand double for all her sins We must not think that Jerusalem made satisfaction to the Lord for her sinâ— much less may we imagine that Jerusalems sufferings did exceed her sins or the desert of her sins For 't is said Ezra 9.13 Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve And Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed But the meaning of double thâ—re is plainly this she hath received a very great punishment the Loâ—d hath made her feel the sorrowful effects of her sin fully For said Daniel chap. 9.12 Vnder the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done unto Jerusalem This is called a double recompence by another Prophet Jerem. 16.18 I will recompence their iniquity and their sin double because they have defiled my land And thus Jeremy prayed against the opposers and despisers of his prophesie chap. 17.18 Destroy them with double destruction So then when it is said the Lord added double or twice as much to Job as he had before it noteth at least a very great addition to the prosperous estate which Job had before even in outward things Hence Observe First When we are about spirituals the Lord takes occasion to minister to us in temporals The Lord not only turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends but gave him twice as much Job did not pray for the doubling of his estate or for great things in the world we find him many times giving up his hopes as to temporals when he would not give up his hopes as to spirituals and eternals Though he kill me yet will I trust in him he also shall be my salvation He submitted his life to God in hope of a better life but he had little or no expectation about the things of this life yet the Lord gave him abundance with his life as also an aboundant or long life as we read at the end of this Book There are two special reasons why the Lord gave Job a great increase in temporals First Because in those Old Testament times the promises went much in temporals Secondly Because Job having lost his credit in the world when he lost his estate spiritual supplies would never have set him right in the eye of the world he had suffered as to his reputation in spirituals by his loss in temporals and therefore the Lord doubled his estate to vindicate his reputation in the eye of the world And the Lord did this unsought unthought of by Job therefore as the point saith it is a truth that while we are careful about spirituals the Lord takes care of our temporals Mat. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Secondly Note The Lord is a bountiful rewarder of his servants and a liberal repairer of their losses The Lord is a bountiful rewarder two ways First For what we do we shall not lose our labour in serving him God gives good and great wages 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as-much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord that is labour abundantly for your labour shall have an aboundant reward Not only shall it not be in vain but richly rewarded The Lord is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 The Lord should be unrighteous to forget our labour of love not because any labour of ours can endebt him to reward us but because he hath freely promised to reward us Secondly The Lord is a bountiful rewarder of us for what we suffer And that First When we suffer under his own hand Secondly When for his sake we suffer peaceably and patiently under the hand of men Job was a great sufferer both ways he suffered greatly under the afflicting hand of God and he suffered greatly under the violent hands and reproachful tongues of men and the Lord was to him a bountiful rewarder with respect to both For he did not only heal his wounded state and make him up as well as he was before according to that in Jerem. 30.17 I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thy wounds but he did it double insomuch that he who in the days of his former prosperity was only the greatest of all the men of the East became in the days of his latter prosperity greater than he had been himself The Lord hath plentiful rewards for the godly and so he hath though of another kind for the wicked He saith David plentifully rewardeth the proud doer Psal 31.23 There is a reward of wrath as well as a reward of favour Wrath is the reward of proud men Thus the Lord will plentifully reward proud Babilon at one time or other by some hand or other Revel 18.6 Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works In the cup which she hath filled fill to her double Babilon shall at last lose double blood for the blood that she hath drawn yea as the Text saith double double that is four times as much and who knows how much that double unto her double means For 't
is said ver 7. How much she hath glorified her self and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her Now as no man can tell nor imagine how much she hath glorified her self nor how deliciously she hath lived so no man can tell how much torment and sorrow she shall have Yea we read not only of a double and quadruble but of a seven-fold reward of wrath for evil men Psal 79.12 Render unto our neighbours seven-fold into their bosome And surely that Scripture means bad neighbours Now as the Lord doth plentifully reward the proud and evil doers in a way of wrath so he will plentifully reward well-doers and well-sufferers whether under his own hand or the hand of man in ways of mercy And if so then First Fear not to lose by God and that in a two-fold respect First When he cometh to borrow of you for the poor He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord Prov. 19.17 Every time we are asked to give to the poor upon due occasion God sends to borrow of us and he will surely repay what he hath borrowed therefore fear not to lose by God when he borrows of you for the poor Secondly Fear not to lose by God when he takes all from you and makes you poor Sometimes God doth not come a borrowing but he cometh a taking he will have all whether you will or no He will sometimes take all away by fire by losses at sea or land in these and such like cases fear not â—o be losers by God But First Trust him as Job did Secondly Be patient as Job was They that have an interest in God and a portion in the promise need not fear they shall lose a thread or a shoe-latchet by God though his providence takes all away and strips them as it did Job naked What God takes from his servants he keeps for them and will restore to them either in the same kind with much more as he did to Job at last or in some other kind which is much better as he did to Job at first While Job was deprived of his all worldly good things God gave him much patience at first so that when all was lost and gone he could say Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. While this frame of heart lasted it was better than all that he had lost and though through the extremity of his pains and temptations it was somewhat abated and his patience somewhat ruffled yet it was never wholly lost and when it was worst with him his faith failed not which was best of all Now what the Apostle spake concerning those troubles which befel the Israelites in the wilderness They happened for examples 1 Cor. 10.11 So all these troubles and takings away happened to Job as our example or which the Greek word signifieth as a type that we should be patient under the Lords hand in taking and remember for the encouragement of our faith the Lords bounty in restoring For this end the Apostle James calleth us to consider this dealing of God with Job Jam. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. What is that to us may some say that Job was patient Yes all the matter is to us it was written for our example and admonition and saith the Apostle ye have not only heard of the patience of Job but have seen the end of the Lord. Here is an exercise of those two noble senses Hearing and Seeing mentioned and doubtless for great purposes both But why doth he adde ye have seen the end of the Lord Some interpret these words as a second instance the Apostle mentioning Job in the former words and Christ in these Ye have seen the end of the Lord that is how it was with Christ in his sufferings The Lord Jesus Christ was well rewarded for all that he suffered God highly exalted him Phil. 2.7 because he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross 'T is a truth if we take those latter words of the verse Ye have seen the end of the Lord for the issue of Christs sufferings But I rather conceive that the whole verse relateth unto Job and so the end of the Lord in the latter part is the end which the Lord made with Job As if the Apostle James had said Hath it not been set before your eyes what end the Lord made with him or how he gave him double in the end Be not afraid to lose by God either borrowing or taking for he is a bountiful rewarder Secondly As we should not be afraid to lose by God when he comes either to borrow a part or as the case was with Job to take all from us so let us not be afraid to lose for God which was toucht before together with the former Inference upon the 11th verse of the 41 Chapter We have no ground in the world of fear when all that we have in the world is taken from us for Gods sake that is for righteousness sake seeing God who here restored to Job double all that himself had taken from him hath also promised to give his faithful servants double for all that is taken from them upon his account by men or which they lose for him That 's the meaning of the Prophet Isa 61.7 For your shame ye shall have double that is ye having suffered shame or been put to shame for Gods sake or for doing that which is honourable and commendable in it self shall receive double What double As by shame we are to understand any evil suffered so by double any good promised as a reward for suffering that evil especially such good as stands in direct opposition to that evil As if it had been said ye shall have double honour for shame and double riches for poverty and double health for sickness and and double liberty for imprisonment and captivity 'T is much to have double reparation of any loss yet this doubling is a poor matter to what is promised in another place to those who lose for God We have Christs word with an asseveration for it Mat. 19.28 29. Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel And every one that hath forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name sake here are great sufferings but behold a greater reward followeth not like Jobs twofold but an hundred-fold so saith that Text shall receive an hundred-fold and which is ten-thousand-fold more than that shall inherit everlasting life Be not afraid to lose for God Job had double who lost by God and so may you but if ye lose
for God here is an hundred-fold for you But some may say this hundred-fold is a great way off in the next Life I answer If it be so yet do not think ye shall be losers for if ye should never see good day more in this world yet if ye are assured of everlasting life in the world to come is not that enough What pitiful spirits have they that are not willing to take their hundred-fold in the life to come Yet mark it Jesus Christ doth not put us off so neither therefore another Gospel expresseth the promise fully to meet with this objection Mark 10.29 30. when some told Christ they had left all to follow him Jesus answered and said Verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life Jesus Christ gives present recompences as well as future in this time as well as in the time or rather eternity to come And that there is a kind of Synchronism or neer joyning in time of payment and loss of suffering and rewarding some have found in the letter they have had great worldly exaltations soon after their depressions in this world And Jesus Christ who made this promise hath made it good in spirituals to the experiences of many thousands who have lost all for him they have had that at present given into their souls which hath been to them or in their estimation an hundred-fold better than what they lost They that have indeed suffered loss for Christ never complained of their sufferings or losses they have often triumphed in them and rejoyced as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Epist 1.8 with joy unspeakable and full of glory If any think they do foolishly who suffer worldly losses for Christs sake let them remember this return of a hundred-fold and be ashamed of their own folly in thinking so It is not foolishness but true wisdom to lose much for the gain of more Are not they wise who lose one upon good assurance to get an hundred have we not Christs word for it and is not that good assurance that it shall be so Sure no Merchant can put off his goods at a better market than he that putteth them all off for God How rich would men be if they could get an hundred for one Such a rich trade hath Christ opened and they are the wisest Merchants now who venture in it and will be so accounted in the end even by those who now call them fools and mad-men That which is lost for Christ is sown and though the seed that is cast into the ground may seem cast away yet it will spring up again Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 And what Christ saith of the good ground is most true in this case that seed of light is sown in such ground as will bring forth to some thirty to some sixty to some an hundred-fold Therefore to conclude this Inference Be not afraid to lose for God he will not only see you indempnified but at least doubly rewarded Job who once lost by God or by the hand of God upon him was repayed by the same hand with him double in kind and if we have double in a better kind double faith in God and double love to God and double zeal for God and double peace in our own consciences this is an hundred-fold better than all we can lose for him in or of this world JOB Chap. 42. Vers 11. 11. Then came there unto him all his brethren and all his sisters and all they that had been of his acquaintance before did eat bread with him in his house and they bemoaned him and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him every man also gave him a piece of money and every one an ear-ring of gold IN the former verse we have the blessed turn of Jobs state in general The Lord gave him twice as much as he had before In this verse begins the particular account of Jobs restorings There were four things wherein Job suffered loss First He suffered the loss of his estate Secondly The loss of his children Thirdly The loss of his health Fourthly The loss of his friends Jobs repair begins with his last loss his friends were the last that he lost in the day of his affliction Inter adversitates Jobi quasi praecipua erat quod fuerat ab amicis suis desertus ideo hujus adversitatis primò remedium ponitur Aquin. but the first that he recovered in the day of his restoration The first budding or spring of Jobs felicity after so long and sharp a Winter of sorrow as he had gone thorough was the putting forth of fresh and fragrant acts of love from his ancient friends that of late had forsaken him and left him in the hour of his temptation This verse wherein the account is given about this first mercy I may call or intitle The address of Jobs friends and in it we may consider First How they are described or what they are called First as to their relation His brethren his sisters and acquaintance came Secondly in their quantity or number they came all Here is all all all All his brethren and all his sisters and all that had been of his acquaintance before there was not one missing not one that forbore to make this friendly address unto him Secondly As we have an account who they were that came to him so what they did when they came and that is set forth four wayes in this one verse First They did eat bread with him Secondly They bemoaned him Thirdly They comforted him Fourthly They were very bountiful and very respectful to him They gave him every one a piece of mony and every one an ear-ring of gold Thus you have the state and parts of this verse which I call The address of Jobs friends unto him Then came there unto him all his brethren and all his sisters Then The word in the Hebrew is the ordinary copulative And which hath various rendrings in Scripture according to the state of the place Here we translate it Then which may have a double reference First to the turn of his captivity Then they came Secondly to his prayer for his friends and the Lords acceptance of him when God had so eminently declared his favour to him and his friends upon his intercession Then there came unto him All his brethren and all his sisters Brethren and sisters are taken two wayes in Scripture First Strictly and so they that are of or have the same parents at least one of them are brethren and sisters Secondly Brethren and sisters are taken largely for all of the
ascend into the hill of the Lord c. and answered it vers 4 5. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lift up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness that is a righteous reward or a reward according to righteousness from the God of his salvation Solomon asserts the present performance of what is only promised in this Psalm he saith not The just shall receive the blessing but they have actually received it Prov. 10.6 Blessings are upon the head of the just By the just man we may understand First him that is in a justified state or him that is just by faith Secondly him that walks in a just way or that do justly And they who are indeed justified are not only engaged by that high act of grace to do justly but are either constantly kept in doing so or are soon brought to see they have not done so and to repentance for it Just and upright men in these two notions are so much blessed that they are a blessing Prov. 11.11 By the blessing of the upright is the City exalted As an upright man wisheth and prayeth for a blessing upon the City where he liveth so he is a blessing to it and that no small one but to the greatning enriching and exaltation of it He that is good in his person becomes a common good to Cities yea to whole Nations such are a blessing because they receive so many blessings Pro. 28.20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings This faithful man is one that acts and doth all things faithfully as appears by his opposition in the same verse to him that maketh hast to be rich of whom the Text saith he shall not be innocent that is he must needs deal unfaithfully or unrighteously for in making such post-hast to riches he usually rides as we say over hedge and ditch and cannot keep the plain way of honesty Thirdly As they who are in a state of grace and they who act graciously in that state so they who worship holily or holy worshippers have a special promise of the blessing As Sion is the seat of holy worship so there the Lord commandeth the blessing upon holy worshippers Psal 133.3 And again Psal 115.12 13. He will bless the house of Israel he will bless the house of Aaron he will bless them that fear the Lord both small and great that is the generality of holy worshippers shall be blessed The fear of the Lord is often put in Scripture for the worship of the Lord and so they that fear him are the same with them that worship him Fourthly They are the blessed of the Lord who trust the Lord for all and so make him the all of their trust Psal 34.8 O tast and see that the Lord is gracious blessed is the man that trustith in him that is in him only or alone being convinced of the utter insufficiency of the creature That man is cursed who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm Jer. 17.5 therefore pure trust in God hath the blessing Fifthly They that are a blessing unto others shall have the blessing from the Lord. What it is to be a blessing to others read at large in the 29th Chapter of this Book vers 11. and in 31. Chapter vers 20. They that do good to others they especially who do good to the souls of others are a blessing to others Now they who do good they shall receive good themselves Prov. 11.25 The liberal shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself He that watereth is a common good a blessing to the place where he lives a blessing to the rich a blessing to the poor a blessing to relations a blessing to strangers upon such the Scripture assures the blessing of the Lord. Sixthly They who promote the worship and service of God they that are friends to the Ark of God shall be blessed 2 Sam. 6.11 The Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom because he entertained the Ark shewed kindness to the Ark and was ready to do any service for the Ark of God he will be a friend to the true friends of his Church Seventhly They shall receive a blessing of God who strive in prayer for his blessing Jacob was blessed but he wâ—estled for it They that would have it must ask it with a gracious importunity they that seek it diligently shall find it These are the chief characters of the persons whom the Lord will bless And seeing his blessing is so effectual for the procurement of our good we should above all things labour to procure his blessing When Jacob wrestled with the Angel he asked nothing of him but a blessing Gen. 32.26 He did not say I will not let thee go except thou deliver me from my brother Esau he did not say I will not let thee go unless thou make me rich or great he only said I will not let thee go except thou bless me let me be blessed and let me be what thou wilt or I can be What should we desire in comparison of the blessing of God seeing his blessing strictly taken is the fruit of his fatherly love A man may be rich and great and honoured among men yet not beloved but he that is indeed blessed is certainly beloved of God Esau could not obtain the blessing Now what saith the Lord by the Prophet of him as the Apostle quotes the Prophet Rom. 9.13 Esau have I hated Esau got much riches but he could not get the blessing for he was hated of the Lord and therefore it is said Heb. 12.17 He found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears that is he could not make Isaac repent of blessing Jacob though through a mistake yet according to Gods appointment he could not prevail with him no not by tears to take off the blessing from his brother Jacob and place it upon himself And the reason why the blessing remained with Jacob was because he was loved of God The blessing must go where the love goes The loved of the Lord are and shall be blessed and they who are blessed have all good with a blessing Read Gen. 24.35 Gen. 26.13 Gen. 28.3 2 Sam. 6.11 Psal 107.38 Yea as God giveth all good with a blessing so he giveth himself who is the chief good best of all and blessed for evermore to those whom he blesseth Then how should we desire the blessing of God or to be blessed by God It is wonderful how passionately and even impatiently the Votaries of Rome desire the Popes blessing they think themselves made men if they can but have his blessing I have read of a Cardinal who seeing the people so strangely desirous of his blessing Quando quidem populus hic vult decipi dicipiatur said Seeing this people will be deceived let them be deceived But we cannot be too desirous of a blessing from
he called the name of the first Jemima He That is Job I say it was he Though some make a question whether it was he or no or whether Job gave the name or the people I shall determine it upon Job he Called the name of the first The Hebrew is he called the name of one Every first is one but every one is not first and therefore to distinguish who this one was we render the word First 'T is usual in Scripture to call that one which is First Thus spake Moses describing the works of creation Gen. 1.5 So the evening and the morning were the first day The Hebrew strictly is The evening was and the morning was day one Any day is one day the fift day was one day and the sixt day was one day as well as the first but the fift or sixth were not the first day therefore we translate for one day the first day Thee here he called the name of one that is of the first Jemima There is a two fold firstness First In order of time Secondly In order of honour First here is first in time The other two might equal yea exceed the first in worth and dignity but this was Jobs first-born daughter his first in time He called the name of the first Jemima Hence note First It is a duty to give names to our children 'T is not meerly matter of prudence 't is not humane invention to give names God himself gave the name to the first man God called him by the name which doubtless himself had given him when he called him Adam The proper name of the first man is a name common to all men Adam signifying red earth sheweth us of what matter all men are made And as God called the first man by that name Adam so Adam gave a name to the first woman his wife Gen. 3.20 He called his wifes name Eve because she was the mother of all living And as God gave the first man a name and he named the first woman so God appointed the first man to give names to all living creatures Gen. 2.19 The Lord brought all the beasts of the field to Adam to see what he would call them whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof The Lord would have nothing nameless or without a name surely then he would have men and women known by their names Abraham was once called Abram a high father but God changed his name and would have him called Abraham the father of a multitude Were it not for names we should be in a great confusion both about persons and things we could not distinguish men had we not names to call them by Nomon quasi notamon Shem quasi Sham positum and therefore the Latines say the word nomen signifying a name comes from notamen a word which signifieth a mark of distinction Whatsoever God is made known by is called his name in Scripture because men and all things else are known by their names Though some in a special manner are called men of name in Scripture Gen. 6.4 which we therefore translate men of renown and men of no account or reputation among men are called men of no name yet the poorest the obscurest man hath a name by which he is known and distinguisht from other men And as by names we distinguish persons at present so we preserve the memory of persons and of their actions and of their sayings whether good or bad for hereafter How can it be cold who did or who said this of that unless we had their names who said or did it Secondly He called that is Job called the name of c. Hence note It is the fathers priviledge to give the name to his children To give a name is an act of power and therefore the Lord as I shewed before brought all the creatures to Adam as their Lord Having said Gen. 1.28 Have thou dominion over the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea He brought them to Adam as their Lord to receive their names Gen. 2.19 It is an act of great power either to give or to change names When Saul Acts 9. was converted or changed the Lord changed his name he was no more called Saul but Paul In signum herilis potestatis being now become the Lords servant and as it were one of his menial or houshold servents he gave him a new name The Prince of the Eunuchs changed the names of Daniel and his three companions He gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar and to Hananiah of Shadrach c. Dan. 1.7 Yet we read in Scripture that women very often gave names to their children 'T is conceived that Eve gave the name to Cain I have gotten a man from the Lord Gen. 4.1 yea as some expound her meaning in those words she thought she had gotten That man the Lord even the Lord Jesus Christ the promised seed Gen. 3.15 and then she had gotten somewhat indeed a possession to purpose as the name Cain signifieth In the history of Jacob we find the mothers Leah and Rachel still giving the name Gen. 29.32 33 34 35. chap. 30.6 8. c. 1 Sam. 1.20 But as it is well distinguished though the nomination was often from the mother yet the imposition or confirmation of the name Nominatio à matre impositio nominis à patro was always from the father the mother desired the name the father ratified it as is plain in the case of John the Baptist Luke 1.59.60 61 62 63. Friends present at his circumcision called him Zacharias after the name of his father his mother answered not so but his name shall be called John How was this matter determined They made signes to his father how he would have him called he must end the matter and he called for a writing table and wrote saying his name is John There have been many nominations from the Mother but the imposition ever was from the Father and usually the Father only is mentioned in giving the name Gen. 5.3 29. as also here in the Text 't is said of Job alone He called the name of the first Jemima and the name of the second Kezia and the name of the third Keren-hapuch I shall First Consider the signification of these names in the original Language Secondly Give some account why Job gave them these names for we must not think they were given as we say at a venture nor in a fancy He called the name of the first Jemima 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Diem Vulg. A Radicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The root of this name in the Hebrew signifieth Day or the light of the day and so both the Septuagint and the vulgar Latine translate as if we should render it in English He called the name of the first Day He called the name of the second Kezia That in the Hebrew signifieth a Spice or
as a prayer for their return out of proper captivity and largely for their deliverance out of any adversity So Psal 126.1 When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion we were like them that dream Read also Zeph. 2.7 Secondly From the author of this turn The Lord turned the captivity c. Observe Deliverance out of an afflicted state is of the Lord. He is the authour of these comfortable turns and he is to be acknowledged as the authour of them The Psalmist prayed thrice Turn us again Psal 80.3 7 19. The waters of affliction would continually rise and swell higher and higher did not the Lord stop and turn them did not he command them back and cause an ebb Satan would never have done bringing the floods of affliction upon Job if the Lord had not forbidden him and turned them It was the Lord who took all from Job as he acknowledged chap. 1.21 and it was the Lord who restored all to him again as we see here the same hand did both in his case and doth both in all such cases Hos 6.1 Let us return to the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up David ascribed both to God Psal 66.11 12. Thou broughtest us into the net thou layedst affliction upon our loins thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and through water The hand of God led them in that fire and water of affliction through which they went but who led them out The Psalmist tells us in the next words Thou broughtest us into a wealthy place the Margin saith into a moist place They were in fire and water before Fire is the extremity of heat and driness water is the extremity of moistneâ—s and coldness A moist place notes a due temperament of â—eat and cold of driness and moistness and therefore elâ—gantly shadows that comfortable and contentful condition into which the good hand of God had brought them which is significantly expressed in our translation by a wealthy place those places flourishing most in fruitfulness and so in wealth which are neither over-hot nor over-cold neither oveâ—-dry nor over-moist And as in that Psalm David acknowledged the hand of God in this so in another he celebrated the Lords power and goodness for this Psal 68.20 He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death that is the out-lets or out-gates from death are from the Lord he delivereth from the grave and from every grief The Lord turned the captivity of Job not only p eserving him from death but filling him with the good things and comforts of this life Thirdly Note The Lord can suddenly make a change or turn As he can quickly make a great change from prosperity to adversity and in a moment bâ—ing darkness upon those who injoy the sweetest light so he can quickly make a change from adversity to prosperity from captivity to liberty and turn the darkest night into a morning light For such a turn the Church prayed Psal 126.4 Turn again our captivity O Lord as the streams in the south that is do it speedily The south is a dry place thither streams come not by a slow constant currant but as mighty streams or land-floods by a sudden unexpected rain like that 1 Kings 18.41 45. Get thee up said Eliah to Ahab for there is a sound of aboundance of rain and presently the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain When great rains come after long drought they make sudden floods and streams Such a sudden income of mercy or deliverance from captivity the Church then prayed for and was in the faith and hope of nor was that hope in vain nor shall any who in that condition wait patiently upon God be ashamed of their hope The holy Evangelist makes report Luke 13.16 that Satan had bound a poor woman eighteen years all that time he had her his prisoner but Jesus Christ in a moment made her free Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day The devil who had her in his power eighteen years could not hold her a moment when Jesus Christ would turn her captivity and loose her from that bond If the Son undertake to make any free whether from corporal or spiritual bondage they shall not only be free indeed as he spake John 8.36 at the time when he is pleased to do it but he can do it at any time in the shortest time when he pleaseth We find a like turn of captivity is described Psal 107.10 11 12 13 14. such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death being bound in affliction and iron because they rebelled against the word of the Lord c. These vers 13. cryed unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder Thus far of the first particular considerable in Jobs restitution the Author of it The Lord turned the captivity of Job The second thing to be considered is the season which the Lord took for the turning of Jobs captivity the Lord did it saith the text When he prayed for his friends Some conceive the turn of his captivity was just in his prayer time and that even then his body was healed I shall have occasion to speak further to that afterwards upon another verse Thus much is clear that When he prayed That is either in the very praying time or presently upon it the Lord â—urned his captivity Possibly the Lord did not stay till he had done accorâ—ing to that Isa 65.24 It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear Or according to that Dan. 9.20 While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplications before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God Yea while I was speaking in prayer even the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to flie swiftly touched me about the time of the evening oblation and he informed me and talked with me and said O Daniel I am come forth to give thee skill and understanding at the beginning of thy supplications the commandement came forth and I am come to shew thee c. What commandement came forth even a command for the turning of their captivity Thus here I say possibly the Lord gave out that word of command for the turning of Jobs captivity at that very time when he was praying for his friends But without question these words when he prayed for his friends note a very speedy return of his prayers that is soon after he had done that gracious office for them he