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diff --git a/40470-0.txt b/40470-0.txt index 2f85e9f..7f0156c 100644 --- a/40470-0.txt +++ b/40470-0.txt @@ -1,37 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job, by Robert Watson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job - -Author: Robert Watson - -Release Date: August 10, 2012 [EBook #40470] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - - - - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. Alley, III, Colin -Bell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40470 *** THE BOOK OF JOB. @@ -11932,367 +11899,4 @@ Inconsistent hyphenation is as in the original text. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job, by Robert Watson -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - -***** This file should be named 40470-0.txt or 40470-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/7/40470/ - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. 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Watson, D.D.--A Project Gutenberg eBook. @@ -152,45 +152,7 @@ li.pad { padding-top: 2.0%; } </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job, by Robert Watson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job - -Author: Robert Watson - -Release Date: August 10, 2012 [EBook #40470] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - - - - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. Alley, III, Colin -Bell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40470 ***</div> <hr class="chap" /> <h1>THE BOOK OF JOB.<br /> @@ -15417,390 +15379,6 @@ God created the World," Section IV.</p> <li>Inconsistent hyphenation left as in the original text.</li> </ul></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job, by -Robert Watson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - -***** This file should be named 40470-h.htm or 40470-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/7/40470/ - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job - -Author: Robert Watson - -Release Date: August 10, 2012 [EBook #40470] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - - - - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. Alley, III, Colin -Bell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian -Libraries) - - - - - THE BOOK OF JOB. - - - BY - ROBERT A. WATSON, D.D., - - AUTHOR OF - "JUDGES AND RUTH," "GOSPELS OF YESTERDAY," ETC. - - - - NEW YORK - FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY - LAFAYETTE PLACE - 1900 - - - - CONTENTS. - - - - _PROLOGUE._ - - I. - PAGE - THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORK 3 - - II. - - THE OPENING SCENE ON EARTH 19 - - III. - - THE OPENING SCENE IN HEAVEN 33 - - IV. - - THE SHADOW OF GOD'S HAND 50 - - V. - - THE DILEMMA OF FAITH 67 - - - _THE FIRST COLLOQUY._ - - VI. - - THE CRY FROM THE DEPTH 85 - - VII. - - THE THINGS ELIPHAZ HAD SEEN 99 - - VIII. - - MEN FALSE: GOD OVERBEARING 116 - - IX. - - VENTURESOME THEOLOGY 135 - - X. - - THE THOUGHT OF A DAYSMAN 141 - - XI. - - A FRESH ATTEMPT TO CONVICT 154 - - XII. - - BEYOND FACT AND FEAR TO GOD 162 - - - _THE SECOND COLLOQUY._ - - XIII. - - THE TRADITION OF A PURE RACE 187 - - XIV. - - "MY WITNESS IN HEAVEN" 201 - - XV. - - A SCHEME OF WORLD-RULE 215 - - XVI. - - "MY REDEEMER LIVETH" 222 - - XVII. - - IGNORANT CRITICISM OF LIFE 243 - - XVIII. - - ARE THE WAYS OF THE LORD EQUAL? 253 - - - _THE THIRD COLLOQUY._ - - XIX. - - DOGMATIC AND MORAL ERROR 269 - - XX. - - WHERE IS ELOAH? 281 - - XXI. - - THE DOMINION AND THE BRIGHTNESS 298 - - XXII. - - THE OUTSKIRTS OF HIS WAYS 302 - - XXIII. - - CHORAL INTERLUDE 313 - - XXIV. - - AS A PRINCE BEFORE THE KING 320 - - - _ELIHU INTERVENES._ - - XXV. - - POST-EXILIC WISDOM 341 - - XXVI. - - THE DIVINE PREROGATIVE 361 - - - _THE VOICE FROM THE STORM._ - - XXVII. - - "MUSIC IN THE BOUNDS OF LAW" 381 - - XXVIII. - - THE RECONCILIATION 392 - - XXIX. - - EPILOGUE 409 - - - INDEX 413 - - - - -PROLOGUE. - - - - -I. - -_THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORK._ - - -The Book of Job is the first great poem of the soul in its mundane -conflict, facing the inexorable of sorrow, change, pain, and death, -and feeling within itself at one and the same time weakness and -energy, the hero and the serf, brilliant hopes, terrible fears. With -entire veracity and amazing force this book represents the -never-ending drama renewed in every generation and every genuine life. -It breaks upon us out of the old world and dim muffled centuries with -all the vigour of the modern soul and that religious impetuosity which -none but Hebrews seem fully to have known. Looking for precursors of -Job we find a seeming spiritual burden and intensity in the Accadian -psalms, their confessions and prayers; but if they prepared the way -for Hebrew psalmists and for the author of Job, it was not by awaking -the cardinal thoughts that make this book what it is, nor by supplying -an example of the dramatic order, the fine sincerity and abounding art -we find here welling up out of the desert. The Accadian psalms are -fragments of a polytheistic and ceremonial world; they spring from the -soil which Abraham abandoned that he might found a race of strong men -and strike out a new clear way of life. Exhibiting the fear, -superstition, and ignorance of our race, they fall away from -comparison with the marvellous later work and leave it unique among -the legacies of man's genius to man's need. Before it a few notes of -the awakening heart, athirst for God, were struck in those Chaldæan -entreaties, and more finely in Hebrew psalm and oracle: but after it -have come in rich multiplying succession the Lamentations of Jeremiah, -Ecclesiastes, the Apocalypse, the Confessions of Augustine, the Divina -Commedia, Hamlet, Paradise Regained, the Grace Abounding of Bunyan, -the Faust of Goethe and its progeny, Shelley's poems of revolt and -freedom, Sartor Resartus, Browning's Easter Day and Rabbi Ben Ezra, -Amiel's Journal, with many other writings, down to "Mark Rutherford" -and the "Story of an African Farm." The old tree has sent forth a -hundred shoots, and is still full of sap to our most modern sense. It -is a chief source of the world's penetrating and poignant literature. - -But there is another view of the book. It may well be the despair of -those who desire above all things to separate letters from theology. -The surpassing genius of the writer is seen not in his fine calm of -assurance and self-possession, nor in the deft gathering and arranging -of beautiful images, but in his sense of elemental realities and the -daring with which he launches on a painful conflict. He is convinced -of Divine sovereignty, and yet has to seek room for faith in a world -shadowed and confused. He is a prophet in quest of an oracle, a poet, -a maker, striving to find where and how the man for whom he is -concerned shall sustain himself. And yet, with this paradox wrought -into its very substance, his work is richly fashioned, a type of the -highest literature, drawing upon every region natural and -supernatural, descending into the depths of human woe, rising to the -heights of the glory of God, never for one moment insensible to the -beauty and sublimity of the universe. It is literature with which -theology is so blended that none can say, Here is one, there the -other. The passion of that race which gave the world the idea of the -soul, which clung with growing zeal to the faith of the One Eternal -God as the fountain of life and equally of justice, this passion in -one of its rarest modes pours through the Book of Job like a torrent, -forcing its way towards the freedom of faith, the harmony of intuition -with the truth of things. The book is all theology, one may say, and -all humanity no less. Singularly liberal in spirit and awake to the -various elements of our life, it is moulded, notwithstanding its -passion, by the artist's pleasure in perfecting form, adding wealth of -allusion and ornament to strength of thought. The mind of the writer -has not hastened. He has taken long time to brood over his torment and -seek deliverance. The fire burns through the sculpture and carved -framework and painted windows of his art with no loss of heat. Yet, as -becomes a sacred book, all is sobered and restrained to the rhythmic -flow of dramatic evolution, and it is as if the eager soul had been -chastened, even in its fieriest endeavour, by the regular procession -of nature, sunrise and sunset, spring and harvest, and by the sense of -the Eternal One, Lord of light and darkness, life and death. Built -where, before it, building had never been reared in such firmness of -structure and glow of orderly art, with such design to shelter the -soul, the work is a fresh beginning in theology as well as literature, -and those who would separate the two must show us how to separate them -here, must explain why their union in this poem is to the present -moment so richly fruitful. An origin it stands by reason of its -subject no less than its power, sincerity, and freedom. - -A phenomenon in Hebrew thought and faith--to what age does it belong? -No record or reminiscence of the author is left from which the least -hint of time may be gathered. He, who by his marvellous poem struck a -chord of thought deep and powerful enough to vibrate still and stir -the modern heart, is uncelebrated, nameless. A traveller, a master of -his country's language, and versed no less in foreign learning, -foremost of the men of his day whensoever it was, he passed away as a -shadow, though he left an imperishable monument. "Like a star of the -first magnitude," says Dr. Samuel Davidson, "the brilliant genius of -the writer of Job attracts the admiration of men as it points to the -Almighty Ruler chastening yet loving His people. Of one whose sublime -conceptions, (mounting the height where Jehovah is enthroned in light, -inaccessible to mortal eye), lift him far above his time and -people--who climbs the ladder of the Eternal, as if to open heaven--of -this giant philosopher and poet we long to know something, his -habitation, name, appearance. The very spot where his ashes rest we -desire to gaze upon. But in vain." Strange, do we say? And yet how -much of her great poet, Shakespeare, does England know? It is not -seldom the fate of those whose genius lifts them highest to be -unrecognised by their own time. As English history tells us more of -Leicester than of Shakespeare, so Hebrew history records by preference -the deeds of its great King Solomon. A greater than Solomon was in -Israel, and history knows him not. No prophet who followed him and -wrought sentences of his poem into lamentation or oracle, no -chronicler of the exile or the return, preserving the names and -lineage of the nobles of Israel, has mentioned him. Literary -distinction, the praise of service to his country's faith could not -have been in his mind. They did not exist. He was content to do his -work, and leave it to the world and to God. - -And yet the man lives in his poem. We begin to hope that some -indication of the period and circumstances in which he wrote may be -found when we realise that here and there beneath the heat and -eloquence of his words may be heard those undertones of personal -desire and trust which once were the solemn music of a life. His own, -not his hero's, are the philosophy of the book, the earnest search for -God, the sublime despondency, the bitter anguish, and the prophetic -cry that breaks through the darkness. We can see that it is vain to go -back to Mosaic or pre-Mosaic times for life and thought and words like -his; at whatever time Job lived, the poet-biographer deals with the -perplexities of a more anxious world. In the imaginative light with -which he invests the past no distinct landmarks of time are to be -seen. The treatment is large, general, as if the burden of his subject -carried the writer not only into the great spaces of humanity, but -into a region where the temporal faded into insignificance as compared -with the spiritual. And yet, as through openings in a forest, we have -glimpses here and there, vaguely and momentarily showing what age it -was the author knew. The picture is mainly of timeless patriarchal -life; but, in the foreground or the background, objects and events are -sketched that help our inquiry. "His troops come together and cast up -their way against me." "From out of the populous city men groan, and -the soul of the wounded crieth out." "He looseth the bond of kings, -and bindeth their loins with a girdle; He leadeth priests away -spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.... He increaseth the nations and -destroyeth them; He spreadeth the nations abroad and bringeth them -in." No quiet patriarchal life in a region sparsely peopled, where the -years went slow and placid, could have supplied these elements of the -picture. The writer has seen the woes of the great city in which the -tide of prosperity flows over the crushed and dying. He has seen, and, -indeed, we are almost sure has suffered in, some national disaster -like those to which he refers. A Hebrew, not of the age after the -return from exile,--for the style of his writing, partly through the -use of Arabic and Aramaic forms, has more of rude vigour and -spontaneity on the whole than fits so late a date,--he appears to have -felt all the sorrows of his people when the conquering armies of -Assyria or of Babylon overran their land. - -The scheme of the book helps to fix the time of the composition. A -drama so elaborate could not have been produced until literature had -become an art. Such complexity of structure as we find in Psalm cxix. -shows that by the time of its composition much attention was paid to -form. It is no longer the pure lyric cry of the unlearned singer, but -the ode, extremely artificial notwithstanding its sincerity. The -comparatively late date of the Book of Job appears in the orderly -balanced plan, not indeed so laboured as the psalm referred to, but -certainly belonging to a literary age. - -Again, a note of time has been found by comparing the contents of Job -with Proverbs, Isaiah, Ecclesiastes, and other books. Proverbs, chaps. -iii. and viii., for example, may be contrasted with chap. xxviii. of -the Book of Job. Placing them together we can hardly escape the -conclusion that the one writer had been acquainted with the work of -the other. Now, in Proverbs it is taken for granted that wisdom may -easily be found: "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man -that getteth understanding.... Keep sound wisdom and discretion; so -shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck." The author of -the panegyric has no difficulty about the Divine rules of life. Again, -Proverbs viii. 15, 16: "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. -By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." In -Job xxviii., however, we find a different strain. There it is: "Where -shall wisdom be found?... It is hid from the eyes of all living, and -kept close from the fowls of the air;" and the conclusion is that -wisdom is with God, not with man. Of the two it seems clear that the -Book of Job is later. It is occupied with questions which make wisdom, -the interpretation of providence and the ordering of life, exceedingly -hard. The writer of Job, with the passages in Proverbs before him, -appears to have said to himself: Ah! it is easy to praise wisdom and -advise men to choose wisdom and walk in her ways. But to me the -secrets of existence are deep, the purposes of God unfathomable. He is -fain, therefore, to put into the mouth of Job the sorrowful cry, -"Where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? -Man knoweth not the price thereof.... It cannot be gotten for gold." -Both in Proverbs and Job, indeed, the source of Hokhma or wisdom is -ascribed to the fear of Jehovah; but the whole contention in Job is -that man fails in the intellectual apprehension of the ways of God. -Referring the earlier portions of Proverbs to the post-Solomonic age -we should place the Book of Job at a later date. - -It is not within our scope to consider here all the questions raised by -parallel passages and discuss the priority and originality in each case. -Some resemblances in Isaiah may, however, be briefly noticed, because we -seem on the whole to be led to the conclusion that the Book of Job was -written between the periods of the first and second series of Isaian -oracles. They are such as these. In Isaiah xix. 5, "The waters shall -fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become -dry,"--referring to the Nile: parallel in Job xiv. 11, "As the waters -fail from the sea, and the river decayeth and drieth up,"--referring to -the passing of human life. In Isaiah xix. 13, "The princes of Zoan are -become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have caused Egypt -to go astray,"--an oracle of specific application: parallel in Job xii. -24, "He taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth, -and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way,"--a -description at large. In Isaiah xxviii. 29, "This also cometh forth from -Jehovah of Hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in -wisdom": parallel in Job xi. 5, 6, "Oh that God would speak, and open -His lips against thee; and that He would show thee the secrets of -wisdom, that it is manifold in effectual working!" The resemblance -between various parts of Job and "the writing of Hezekiah when he had -been sick and was recovered of his sickness," are sufficiently obvious, -but cannot be used in any argument of time. And on the whole, so far, -the generality and, in the last case, somewhat stiff elaboration of the -ideas in Job as compared with Isaiah are almost positive proof that -Isaiah went first. Passing now to the fortieth and subsequent chapters -of Isaiah we find many parallels and much general similarity to the -contents of our poem. In Job xxvi. 12, "He stirreth up the sea with His -power, and by His understanding He smiteth through Rahab": parallel in -Isaiah li. 9, 10, "Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, that -pierced the dragon? Art thou not it which dried up the sea, the waters -of the great deep?" In Job ix. 8, "Which alone stretcheth out the -heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea": parallel in Isaiah xl. -22, "That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them -out as a tent to dwell in." In these and other cases the resemblance is -clear, and on the whole the simplicity and apparent originality lie with -the Book of Job. Professor Davidson claims that Job, called by God "My -servant," resembles in many points the servant of Jehovah in Isaiah -liii., and the claim must be admitted. But on what ground Kuenen can -affirm that the writer of Job had the second portion of Isaiah before -him and painted his hero from it one fails to see. There are many -obvious differences. - -It has now become almost clear that the book belongs either to the -period (favoured by Ewald, Renan, and others) immediately following -the captivity of the northern tribes, or to the time of the captivity -of Judah (fixed upon by Dr. A. B. Davidson, Professor Cheyne, and -others). We must still, however, seek further light by glancing at the -main problem of the book, which is to reconcile the justice of Divine -providence with the sufferings of the good, so that man may believe in -God even in sorest affliction. We must also consider the hint of time -to be found in the importance attached to personality, the feelings -and destiny of the individual and his claim on God. - -Taking first the problem,--while it is stated in some of the psalms -and, indeed, is sure to have occurred to many a sufferer, for most -think themselves undeserving of great pain and affliction,--the -attempt to grapple with it is first made in Job. The Proverbs, -Deuteronomy, and the historical books take for granted that prosperity -follows religion and obedience to God, and that suffering is the -punishment of disobedience. The prophets also, though they have their -own view of national success, do not dispense with it as an evidence -of Divine favour. Cases no doubt were before the mind of inspired -writers which made any form of the theory difficult to hold. But these -were regarded as temporary and exceptional, if indeed they could not -be explained by the rule that God sends earthly prosperity to the -good, and suffering to the bad in the long run. To deny this and to -seek another rule was the distinction of the author of Job, his bold -and original adventure in theology. And the attempt was natural, one -may say necessary, at a time when the Hebrew states were suffering -from those shocks of foreign invasion which threw their society, -commerce, and politics into the direst confusion. The old ideas of -religion no longer sufficed. Overcome in war, driven out of their own -land, they needed a faith which could sustain and cheer them in -poverty and dispersion. A generation having no outlook beyond -captivity was under a curse from which penitence and renewed fidelity -could not secure deliverance. The assurance of God's friendship in -affliction had to be sought. - -The importance attached to personality and the destiny of the -individual is on two sides a guide to the date of the book. In some of -the psalms, undoubtedly belonging to an earlier period, the personal -cry is heard. No longer content to be part and parcel of the class or -nation, the soul in these psalms asserts its direct claim on God for -light and comfort and help. And some of them, the thirteenth for -example, insist passionately on the right of a believing man to a -portion in Jehovah. Now in the dispersion of the northern tribes or -the capture of Jerusalem this personal question would be keenly -accentuated. Amidst the disasters of such a time those who are -faithful and pious suffer along with the rebellious and idolatrous. -Because they are faithful to God, virtuous and patriotic beyond the -rest, they may indeed have more affliction and loss to endure. The -psalmist among his own people, oppressed and cruelly wronged, has the -need of a personal hope forced upon him, and feels that he must be -able to say, "The Lord is _my_ shepherd." Yet he cannot entirely -separate himself from his people. When those of his own house and -kindred rise against him, still they too may claim Jehovah as their -God. But the homeless exile, deprived of all, a solitary wanderer on -the face of the earth, has need to seek more earnestly for the reason -of his state. The nation is broken up; and if he is to find refuge in -God, he must look for other hopes than hinge on national recovery. It -is the God of the whole earth he must now seek as his portion. A unit -not of Israel but of humanity, he must find a bridge over the deep -chasm that seems to separate his feeble life from the Almighty, a -chasm all the deeper that he has been plunged into sore trouble. He -must find assurance that the unit is not lost to God among the -multitudes, that the life broken and prostrate is neither forgotten -nor rejected by the Eternal King. And this precisely corresponds with -the temper of our book and the conception of God we find in it. A man -who has known Jehovah as the God of Israel seeks his justification, -cries for his individual right to Eloah, the Most High, the God of -universal nature and humanity and providence. - -Now, it has been alleged that through the Book of Job there runs a -constant but covert reference to the troubles of the Jewish Church in -the Captivity, and especially that Job himself represents the -suffering flock of God. It is not proposed to give up entirely the -individual problem, but along with that, superseding that, the main -question of the poem is held to be why Judah should suffer so keenly -and lie on the _mezbele_ or ash-heap of exile. With all respect to -those who hold this theory one must say that it has no substantial -support; and, on the other hand, it seems incredible that a member of -the Southern Kingdom (if the writer belonged to it), expending so much -care and genius on the problem of his people's defeat and misery, -should have passed beyond his own kin for a hero, should have set -aside almost entirely the distinctive name Jehovah, should have -forgotten the ruined temple and the desolate city to which every Jew -looked back across the desert with brimming eyes, should have let -himself appear, even while he sought to reassure his compatriots in -their faith, as one who set no store by their cherished traditions, -their great names, their religious institutions, but as one whose -faith was purely natural like that of Edom. Among the good and true -men who, at the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, were left in -penury, childless and desolate, a poet of Judah would have found a -Jewish hero. To his drama what embellishment and pathos could have -been added by genius like our author's, if he had gone back on the -terrible siege and painted the Babylonian victors in their cruelty and -pride, the misery of the exiles in the land of idolatry. One cannot -help believing that to this writer Jerusalem was nothing, that he had -no interest in its temple, no love for its ornate religious services -and growing exclusiveness. The suggestion of Ewald may be accepted, -that he was a member of the Northern Kingdom driven from his home by -the overthrow of Samaria. Undeniable is the fact that his religion has -more sympathy with Teman than with Jerusalem as it was. If he belonged -to the north this seems to be explained. To seek help from the -priesthood and worship of the temple did not occur to him. Israel -broken up, he has to begin afresh. For it is with his own religious -trouble he is occupied; and the problem is universal. - -Against the identification of Job with the servant of Jehovah in -Isaiah liii. there is one objection, and it is fatal. The author of -Job has no thought of the central idea in that passage--vicarious -suffering. New light would have been thrown on the whole subject if -one of the friends had been made to suggest the possibility that Job -was suffering for others, that the "chastisement of their peace" was -laid on him. Had the author lived after the return from captivity and -heard of this oracle, he would surely have wrought into his poem the -latest revelation of the Divine method in helping and redeeming men. - -The distinction of the Book of Job we have seen to be that it offers a -new beginning in theology. And it does so not only because it shifts -faith in the Divine justice to a fresh basis, but also because it -ventures on a universalism for which indeed the Proverbs had made way, -which however stood in sharp contrast to the narrowness of the old state -religion. Already it was admitted that others than Hebrews might love -the truth, follow righteousness, and share the blessings of the -heavenly King. To that broader faith, enjoyed by the thinkers and -prophets of Israel, if not by the priests and people, the author of the -Book of Job added the boldness of a more liberal inspiration. He went -beyond the Hebrew family for his hero to make it clear that man, as man, -is in direct relation to God. The Psalms and the Book of Proverbs might -be read by Israelites and the belief still retained that God would -prosper Israel alone, at any rate in the end. Now, the man of Uz, the -Arabian sheikh, outside the sacred fraternity of the tribes, is -presented as a fearer of the true God--His trusted witness and servant. -With the freedom of a prophet bringing a new message of the brotherhood -of men our author points us beyond Israel to the desert oasis. - -Yes: the creed of Hebraism had ceased to guide thought and lead the -soul to strength. The Hokhma literature of Proverbs, which had become -fashionable in Solomon's time, possessed no dogmatic vigour, fell -often to the level of moral platitude, as the same kind of literature -does with us, and had little help for the soul. The state religion, on -the other hand, both in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, was -ritualistic, again like ours, clung to the old tribal notion, and -busied itself about the outward more than the inward, the sacrifices -rather than the heart, as Amos and Isaiah clearly indicate. Hokhma of -various kinds, plus energetic ritualism, was falling into practical -uselessness. Those who held the religion as a venerable inheritance -and national talisman did not base their action and hope on it out in -the world. They were beginning to say, "Who knoweth what is good for -man in this life--all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a -shadow? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the -sun?" A new theology was certainly needed for the crisis of the time. - -The author of the Book of Job found no school possessed of the secret -of strength. But he sought to God, and inspiration came to him. He -found himself in the desert like Elijah, like others long afterwards, -John the Baptist, and especially Saul of Tarsus, whose words we -remember, "Neither went I up to Jerusalem, ... but I went into -Arabia." There he met with a religion not confined by rigid ceremony -as that of the southern tribes, not idolatrous like that of the north, -a religion elementary indeed, but capable of development. And he -became its prophet. He would take the wide world into council. He -would hear Teman and Shuach and Naamah; he would also hear the voice -from the whirlwind, and the swelling sea, and the troubled nations, -and the eager soul. It was a daring dash beyond the ramparts. -Orthodoxy might stand aghast within its fortress. He might appear a -renegade in seeking tidings of God from the heathen, as one might now -who went from a Christian land to learn from the Brahman and the -Buddhist. But he would go nevertheless; and it was his wisdom. He -opened his mind to the sight of fact, and reported what he found, so -that theology might be corrected and made again a handmaid of faith. -He is one of those Scripture writers who vindicate the universality of -the Bible, who show it to be a unique foundation, and forbid the -theory of a closed record or dried-up spring, which is the error of -Bibliolatry. He is a man of his age and of the world, yet in -fellowship with the Eternal Mind. - -An exile, let us suppose, of the Northern Kingdom, escaping with his -life from the sword of the Assyrian, the author of our book has taken -his way into the Arabian wilderness and there found the friendship of -some chief and a safe retreat among his people. The desert has become -familiar to him, the sandy wastes and vivid oases, the fierce storms -and affluent sunshine, the animal and vegetable life, the patriarchal -customs and legends of old times. He has travelled through Idumæa, and -seen the desert tombs, on to Midian and its lonely peaks. He has heard -the roll of the Great Sea on the sands of the Shefelah, and seen the -vast tide of the Nile flowing through the verdure of the Delta and -past the pyramids of Memphis. He has wandered through the cities of -Egypt and viewed their teeming life, turning to the use of imagination -and religion all he beheld. With a relish for his own language, yet -enriching it by the words and ideas of other lands, he has practised -himself in the writer's art, and at length, in some hour of burning -memory and revived experience, he has caught at the history of one -who, yonder in a valley of the eastern wilderness, knew the shocks of -time and pain though his heart was right with God; and in the heat of -his spirit the poet-exile makes the story of that life into a drama of -the trial of human faith,--his own endurance and vindication, his own -sorrow and hope. - - - - - -II. - -_THE OPENING SCENE ON EARTH._ - -CHAP. i. 1-5. - - -The land of Uz appears to have been a general name for the great -Syro-Arabian desert. It is described vaguely as lying "east of -Palestine and north of Edom," or as "corresponding to the _Arabia -Deserta_ of classical geography, at all events so much of it as lies -north of the 30th parallel of latitude." In Jer. xxv. 20, among those -to whom the wine-cup of fury is sent, are mentioned "all the mingled -people and all the kings of the land of Uz." But within this wide -region, extending from Damascus to Arabia, from Palestine to Chaldæa, -it seems possible to find a more definite locality for the -dwelling-place of Job. Eliphaz, one of his friends, belonged to Teman, -a district or city of Idumæa. In Lam. iv. 21, the writer, who may have -had the Book of Job before him, says, "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter -of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz"; a passage that seems to -indicate a habitable region, not remote from the gorges of Idumæa. It -is necessary also to fix on a district which lay in the way of the -caravans of Sheba and Tema, and was exposed to the attacks of lawless -bands of Chaldæans and Sabeans. At the same time there must have been -a considerable population, abundant pasturage for large flocks of -camels and sheep, and extensive tracts of arable land. Then, the -dwelling of Job lay near a city at the gate of which he sat with -other elders to administer justice. The attention paid to details by -the author of the book warrants us in expecting that all these -conditions may be satisfied. - -A tradition which places the home of Job in the Hauran, the land of -Bashan of Scripture, some score of miles from the Sea of Galilee, has -been accepted by Delitzsch. A monastery, there, appears to have been -regarded from early Christian times as authentically connected with -the name of Job. But the tradition has little value in itself, and the -locality scarcely agrees in a single particular with the various -indications found in the course of the book. The Hauran does not -belong to the land of Uz. It was included in the territory of Israel. -Nor can it by any stretch of imagination be supposed to lie in the way -of wandering bands of Sabeans, whose home was in the centre of Arabia. - -But the conditions are met--one has no hesitation in saying, fully -met--in a region hitherto unidentified with the dwelling-place of Job, -the valley or oasis of Jauf (Palgrave, _Djowf_), lying in the North -Arabian desert about two hundred miles almost due east from the modern -Maan and the ruins of Petra. Various interesting particulars regarding -this valley and its inhabitants are given by Mr. C. M. Doughty in his -"Travels in Arabia Deserta." But the best description is that by Mr. -Palgrave, who, under the guidance of Bedawin, visited the district in -1862. Travelling from Maan by way of the Wadi Sirhan, after a difficult -and dangerous journey of thirteen days, their track in the last stage -following "endless windings among low hills and stony ledges," brought -them to greener slopes and traces of tillage, and at length "entered a -long and narrow pass, whose precipitous banks shut in the view on -either side." After an hour of tedious marching in terrible heat, -turning a huge pile of crags, they looked down into the Jauf. - -"A broad, deep valley, descending ledge after ledge till its innermost -depths are hidden from sight amid far-reaching shelves of reddish -rock, below everywhere studded with tufts of palm groves and -clustering fruit trees in dark green patches, down to the farthest end -of its windings; a large brown mass of irregular masonry crowning a -central hill; beyond, a tall and solitary tower overlooking the -opposite bank of the hollow, and farther down, small round turrets and -flat house-roofs, half buried amid the garden foliage, the whole -plunged in a perpendicular flood of light and heat; such was the first -aspect of the Djowf as we now approached it from the west." The -principal town bears the name of the district, and is composed of -eight villages, once distinct, which have in process of time coalesced -into one. The principal quarter includes the castle, and numbers about -four hundred houses. "The province is a large oval depression, of -sixty or seventy miles long by ten or twelve broad, lying between the -northern desert that separates it from Syria and Euphrates, and the -southern Nefood, or sandy waste." Its fertility is great and is aided -by irrigation, so that the dates and other fruits produced in the Jauf -are famed throughout Arabia. The people "occupy a half-way position -between Bedouins and the inhabitants of the cultivated districts." -Their number is reckoned at about forty thousand, and there can be no -question that the valley has been a seat of population from remote -antiquity. To the other points of identification may be added this, -that in the Wadi Sirhan, not far from the entrance to the Jauf, Mr. -Palgrave passed a poor settlement with the name Oweysit, or Owsit, -which at least suggests the [Greek: en chhôra tê Aushitidi] of the -Septuagint, and the Outz, or Uz, of our text. With population, an -ancient city, fertile fields and ample pasturage in the middle of the -desert, the nearest habitable region to Edom, in the way of caravans, -generally safe from predatory tribes, yet exposed to those from the -east and south that might make long expeditions under pressure of -great need, the valley of the Jauf appears to correspond in every -important particular with the dwelling-place of the man of Uz. - -The question whether such a man as Job ever lived has been variously -answered, one Hebrew rabbi, for example, affirming that he was a mere -parable. But Ezekiel names him along with Noah and Daniel, James in -his epistle says, "Ye have heard of the patience of Job"; and the -opening words of this book, "There was a man in the land of Uz," are -distinctly historical. To know, therefore, that a region in the -Arabian desert corresponds so closely with the scene of Job's life is -to be reassured that a true history forms the basis of the poem. The -tradition with which the author began his work probably supplied the -name and dwelling-place of Job, his wealth, piety, and afflictions, -including the visit of his friends, and his restoration after sore -trial from the very gate of despair to faith and prosperity. The rest -comes from the genius of the author of the drama. This is a work of -imagination based on fact. And we do not proceed far till we find, -first ideal touches, then bold flights into a region never opened to -the gaze of mortal eye. - -Job is described in the third verse as one of the Children of the East -or Bene-Kedem, a vague expression denoting the settled inhabitants of -the North Arabian desert, in contrast to the wandering Bedawin and the -Sabeans of the South. In Genesis and Judges they are mentioned along -with the Amalekites, to whom they were akin. But the name as used by the -Hebrews probably covered the inhabitants of a large district very little -known. Of the Bene-Kedem Job is described as the greatest. His riches -meant power, and in the course of the frequent alternations of life in -those regions one who had enjoyed unbroken prosperity for many years -would be regarded with veneration not only for his wealth, but for what -it signified--the constant favour of Heaven. He had his settlement near -the city, and was the acknowledged emeer of the valley, taking his place -at the gate as chief judge. How great a chief one might become who added -to his flocks and herds year by year and managed his affairs with -prudence we learn from the history of Abraham; and to the present day, -where the patriarchal mode of living and customs continue, as among the -Kurds of the Persian highland, examples of wealth in sheep and oxen, -camels and asses almost approaching that of Job are sometimes to be met -with. The numbers--seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five -hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses--are probably intended -simply to represent his greatness. Yet they are not beyond the range of -possibility. - -The family of Job--his wife, seven sons, and three daughters--are -about him when the story begins, sharing his prosperity. In perfect -friendliness and idyllic joy the brothers and sisters spend their -lives, the shield of their father's care and religion defending them. -Each of the sons has a day on which he entertains the others, and at -the close of the circle of festivities, whether weekly or once a -year, there is a family sacrifice. The father is solicitous lest his -children, speaking or even thinking irreverently, may have dishonoured -God. For this reason he makes the periodic offering, from time to time -keeping on behalf of his household a day of atonement. The number of -the children is not necessarily ideal, nor is the round of festivals -and sacred observances. Yet the whole picture of happy family life and -unbroken joy begins to lift the narrative into an imaginative light. -So fine a union of youthful enjoyment and fatherly sympathy and -puritanism is seldom approached in this world. The poet has kept out -of his picture the shadows which must have lurked beneath the sunny -surface of life. It is not even suggested that the recurring -sacrifices were required. Job's thoughtfulness is precautionary: "It -may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts." -The children are dear to him, so dear that he would have nothing come -between them and the light of heaven. - -For the religion of Job, sincere and deep, disclosing itself in these -offerings to the Most High, is, above his fatherly affection and -sympathy, the distinction with which the poet shows him invested. He -is a fearer of the One Living and True God, the Supremely Holy. In the -course of the drama the speeches of Job often go back on his -faithfulness to the Most High; and we can see that he served his -fellow-men justly and generously because he believed in a Just and -Generous God. Around him were worshippers of the sun and moon, whose -adoration he had been invited to share. But he never joined in it, -even by kissing his hand when the splendid lights of heaven moved with -seeming Divine majesty across the sky. For him there was but One God, -unseen yet ever present, to whom, as the Giver of all, he did not fail -to offer thanksgiving and prayer with deepening faith. In his worship -of this God the old order of sacrifice had its place, simple, -unceremonious. Head of the clan, he was the priest by natural right, -and offered sheep or bullock that there might be atonement, or -maintenance of fellowship with the Friendly Power who ruled the world. -His religion may be called a nature religion of the finest -type--reverence, faith, love, freedom. There is no formal doctrine -beyond what is implied in the names Eloah, the Lofty One, Shaddai, -Almighty, and in those simple customs of prayer, confession, and -sacrifice in which all believers agreed. Of the law of Moses, the -promises to Abraham, and those prophetical revelations by which the -covenant of God was assured to the Hebrew people Job knows nothing. -His is a real religion, capable of sustaining the soul of man in -righteousness, a religion that can save; but it is a religion learned -from the voices of earth and sky and sea, and from human experience -through the inspiration of the devout obedient heart. The author makes -no attempt to reproduce the beliefs of patriarchal times as described -in Genesis, but with a sincere and sympathetic touch he shows what a -fearer of God in the Arabian desert might be. Job is such a man as he -may have personally known. - -In the region of Idumæa the faith of the Most High was held in -remarkable purity by learned men, who formed a religious caste or -school of wide reputation; and Teman, the home of Eliphaz, appears to -have been the centre of the cultus. "Is wisdom no more in Teman?" -cries Jeremiah. "Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom -(hokhma) vanished?" And Obadiah makes a similar reference: "Shall I -not in that day, saith the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and -understanding out of the mount of Esau?" In Isaiah the darkened wisdom -of some time of trouble and perplexity is reflected in the "burden of -Dumah," that is, Idumæa: "One calleth unto me out of Seir," as if with -the hope of clearer light on Divine providence, "Watchman, what of the -night? Watchman, what of the night?" And the answer is an oracle in -irony, almost enigma: "The morning cometh, and also the night. If ye -will inquire, inquire; turn, come." Not for those who dwelt in -shadowed Dumah was the clear light of Hebrew prophecy. But the wisdom -or hokhma of Edom and its understanding were nevertheless of the kind -in Proverbs and elsewhere constantly associated with true religion and -represented as almost identical with it. And we may feel assured that -when the Book of Job was written there was good ground for ascribing -to sages of Teman and Uz an elevated faith. - -For a Hebrew like the author of Job to lay aside for a time the thought -of his country's traditions, the law and the prophets, the covenant of -Sinai, the sanctuary, and the altar of witness, and return in writing -his poem to the primitive faith which his forefathers grasped when they -renounced the idolatry of Chaldæa was after all no grave abandonment of -privilege. The beliefs of Teman, sincerely held, were better than the -degenerate religion of Israel against which Amos testified. Had not that -prophet even pointed the way when he cried in Jehovah's name--"Seek not -Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba.... Seek Him -that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into -the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the -waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; -Jehovah is His name"? Israel after apostasy may have needed to begin -afresh, and to seek on the basis of the primal faith a new atonement -with the Almighty. At all events there were many around, not less the -subjects of God and beloved by Him, who stood in doubt amidst the -troubles of life and the ruin of earthly hopes. Teman and Uz were in the -dominion of the heavenly King. To correct and confirm their faith would -be to help the faith of Israel also and give the true religion of God -fresh power against idolatry and superstition. - -The book which returned thus to the religion of Teman found an -honourable place in the roll of sacred Scriptures. Although the canon -was fixed by Hebrews at a time when the narrowness of the post-exilic -age drew toward Pharisaism, and the law and the temple were regarded -with veneration far greater than in the time of Solomon, room was made -for this book of broad human sympathy and free faith. It is a mark at -once of the wisdom of the earlier rabbis and their judgment regarding -the essentials of religion. To Israel, as St. Paul afterwards said, -belonged "the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving -of the law, and the service of God, and the promises." But he too shows -the same disposition as the author of our poem to return on the -primitive and fundamental--the justification of Abraham by his faith, -the promise made to him, and the covenant that extended to his family: -"They which be of faith, the same are sons of Abraham"; "They which be -of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham"; "Not through the law -was the promise to Abraham or to his seed"; "That the blessing of -Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ." A greater -than St. Paul has shown us how to use the Old Testament, and we have -perhaps misunderstood the intent with which our Lord carried the minds -of men back to Abraham and Moses and the prophets. He gave a religion to -the whole world. Was it not then the spiritual dignity, the religious -breadth of the Israelite fathers, their sublime certainty of God, their -glow and largeness of faith for which Christ went back to them? Did He -not for these find them preparers of His own way? - -From the religion of Job we pass to consider his character described -in the words, "That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared -God, and eschewed evil." The use of four strong expressions, -cumulatively forming a picture of the highest possible worth and -piety, must be held to point to an ideal life. The epithet _perfect_ -is applied to Noah, and once and again in the Psalms to the -disposition of the good. Generally, however, it refers rather to the -scheme or plan by which conduct is ordered than to the fulfilment in -actual life; and a suggestive parallel may be found in the -"perfection" or "entire sanctification" of modern dogma. The word -means _complete_, built up all round so that no gaps are to be seen in -the character. We are asked to think of Job as a man whose -uprightness, goodness, and fidelity towards man were unimpeachable, -who was also towards God reverent, obedient, grateful, wearing his -religion as a white garment of unsullied virtue. Then is it meant that -he had no infirmity of will or soul, that in him for once humanity -stood absolutely free from defect? Scarcely. The perfect man in this -sense, with all moral excellences and without weakness, would as -little have served the purpose of the writer as one marred by any -gross or deforming fault. The course of the poem shows that Job was -not free from errors of temper and infirmities of will. He who is -proverbially known as the most patient failed in patience when the -bitter cup of reproach had to be drained. But undoubtedly the writer -exalts the virtue of his hero to the highest range, a plane above the -actual. In order to set the problem of the book in a clear light such -purity of soul and earnest dutifulness had to be assumed as would by -every reckoning deserve the rewards of God, the "Well done, good and -faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." - -The years of Job have passed hitherto in unbroken prosperity. He has -long enjoyed the bounty of providence, his children about him, his -increasing flocks of sheep and camels, oxen and asses feeding in -abundant pastures. The stroke of bereavement has not fallen since his -father and mother died in ripe old age. The dreadful simoom has spared -his flocks, the wandering Bedawin have passed them by. An honoured -chief, he rules in wisdom and righteousness, ever mindful of the -Divine hand by which he is blessed, earning for himself the trust of -the poor and the gratitude of the afflicted. Enjoying unbounded -respect in his own country, he is known beyond the desert to a circle -of friends who admire him as a man and honour him as a servant of God. -His steps are washed with butter, and the rock pours him out rivers of -oil. The lamp of God shines upon his head, and by His light he walks -through darkness. His root is spread out to the waters, and the dew -lies all night upon his branch. - -Now let us judge this life from a point of view which the writer may -have taken, which at any rate it becomes us to take, with our -knowledge of what gives manhood its true dignity and perfectness. -Obedience to God, self-control and self-culture, the observance of -religious forms, brotherliness and compassion, uprightness and purity -of life, these are Job's excellences. But all circumstances are -favourable, his wealth makes beneficence easy and moves him to -gratitude. His natural disposition is towards piety and generosity; it -is pure joy to him to honour God and help his fellow-men. The life is -beautiful. But imagine it as the unclouded experience of years in a -world where so many are tried with suffering and bereavement, foiled -in their strenuous toil and disappointed in their dearest hopes, and -is it not evident that Job's would tend to become a kind of -dream-life, not deep and strong, but on the surface, a broad stream, -clear, glittering with the reflection of moon and stars or of the blue -heaven, but shallow, gathering no force, scarcely moving towards the -ocean? When a Psalmist says, "Thou hast set our iniquities before -Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. For all our -days are passed away in Thy wrath: we bring our years to an end as a -tale that is told," he depicts the common experience of men, a sad -experience, yet needful to the highest wisdom and the noblest faith. -No dreaming is there when the soul is met with sore rebuffs and made -aware of the profound abyss that lies beneath, when the limbs fail on -the steep hills of difficult duty. But a long succession of prosperous -years, immunity from disappointment, loss, and sorrow, lulls the -spirit to repose. Earnestness of heart is not called for, and the -will, however good, is never braced to endurance. Whether by subtle -intention or by an instinctive sense of fitness, the writer has -painted Job as one who with all his virtue and perfectness spent his -life as in a dream and needed to be awakened. He is a Pygmalion's -statue of flawless marble, the face divinely calm and not without a -trace of self-conscious remoteness from the suffering multitudes, -needing the hot blast of misfortune to bring it to life. Or, let us -say, he is a new type of humanity in paradise, an Adam enjoying a -Garden of Eden fenced in from every storm, as yet undiscovered by the -enemy. We are to see the problem of the primitive story of Genesis -revived and wrought out afresh, not on the old lines, but in a way -that makes it real to the race of suffering men. The dream-life of Job -in his time of prosperity corresponds closely with that ignorance of -good and evil which the first pair had in the garden eastward in Eden -while as yet the forbidden tree bore its fruit untouched, undesired, -in the midst of the greenery and flowers. - -When did the man Job live? Far back in the patriarchal age, or but a -short time before the author of the book came upon his story and made it -immortal? We may incline to the later date, but it is of no importance. -For us the interest of the book is not antiquarian but humane, the -relation of pain and affliction to the character of man, the righteous -government of God. The life and experiences of Job are idealised so that -the question may be clearly understood; and the writer makes not the -slightest attempt to give his book the colour of remote antiquity. - -But we cannot fail to be struck from the outset with the genius shown -in the choice of a life set in the Arabian desert. For breadth of -treatment, for picturesque and poetic effect, for the development of a -drama that was to exhibit the individual soul in its need of God, in -the shadow of deep trouble as well as the sunshine of success, the -scenery is strikingly adapted, far better than if it had been laid in -some village of Israel. Inspiration guided the writer's choice. The -desert alone gave scope for those splendid pictures of nature, those -noble visions of Divine Almightiness, and those sudden and tremendous -changes which make the movement impressive and sublime. - -The modern analogue in literature is the philosophic novel. But Job is -far more intense, more operatic, as Ewald says, and the elements are -even simpler. Isolation is secured. Life is bared to its elements. The -personality is entangled in disaster with the least possible machinery -or incident. The dramatising altogether is singularly abstract. And -thus we are enabled to see, as it were, the very thought of the -author, lonely, resolute, appealing, under the widespread Arabian sky -and the Divine infinitude. - - - - - -III. - -_THE OPENING SCENE IN HEAVEN._ - -CHAP. i. 6-12. - - -With the presentation of the scene in heaven, the genius, the pious -daring, and fine moral insight of the writer at once appear--in one -word, his inspiration. From the first we feel a sure yet deeply -reverent touch, a spirit composed in its high resolve. The thinking is -keen, but entirely without strain. In no mere flash did the over-world -disclose itself and those decrees that shape man's destiny. There is -constructive imagination. Wherever the idea of the heavenly council -was found, whether in the vision Micaiah narrated to Jehoshaphat and -Ahab, or in the great vision of Isaiah, it certainly was not unsought. -Through the author's own study and art the inspiration came that made -the picture what it is. The calm sovereignty of God, not tyrannical -but most sympathetic, is presented with simple felicity. It was the -distinction of Hebrew prophets to speak of the Almighty with a -confidence which bordered on familiarity yet never lost the grace of -profound reverence; and here we find that trait of serious naïveté. -The writer ventures on the scene he paints with no consciousness of -daring nor the least air of difficult endeavour, but quietly, as one -who has the thought of the Divine government of human affairs -constantly before his mind and glories in the majestic wisdom of God -and His friendliness to men. In a single touch the King is shown, and -before Him the hierarchies and powers of the invisible world in their -responsibility to His rule. Centuries of religious culture are behind -the words, and also many years of private meditation and philosophic -thought. To this man, because he gave himself to the highest -discipline, revelations came, uplifting, broad, and deep. - -In contrast to the Almighty we have the figure of the Adversary, or -Satan, depicted with sufficient clearness, notably coherent, -representing a phase of being not imaginary but actual. He is not, as -the Satan of later times came to be, the head of a kingdom peopled with -evil spirits, a nether world separated from the abode of the heavenly -angels by a broad, impassable gulf. He has no distinctive hideousness, -nor is he painted as in any sense independent, although the evil bent of -his nature is made plain, and he ventures to dispute the judgment of the -Most High. This conception of the Adversary need not be set in -opposition to those which afterwards appear in Scripture as if truth -must lie entirely there or here. But we cannot help contrasting the -Satan of the Book of Job with the grotesque, gigantic, awful, or -despicable fallen angels of the world's poetry. Not that the mark of -genius is wanting in these; but they reflect the powers of this world -and the accompaniments of malignant human despotism. The author of Job, -on the contrary, moved little by earthly state and grandeur, whether -good or evil, solely occupied with the Divine sovereignty, never dreams -of one who could maintain the slightest shadow of authority in -opposition to God. He cannot trifle with his idea of the Almighty in the -way of representing a rival to Him; nor can he degrade a subject so -serious as that of human faith and well-being by painting with any -touch of levity a superhuman adversary of men. - -Dante in his _Inferno_ attempts the portraiture of the monarch of -hell:-- - - "That emperor who sways - The realm of sorrow, at mid-breast from the ice - Stood forth; and I in stature, am more like - A giant than the giants are to his arms.... - ... If he were beautiful - As he is hideous now, and yet did dare - To scowl upon his Maker, well from him - May all our misery flow." - -The enormous size of this figure is matched by its hideousness; the -misery of the arch-fiend, for all its horror, is grotesque: - - "At six eyes he wept; the tears - Adown three faces rolled in bloody foam." - -Passing to Milton, we find sublimity in his pictures of the fallen -legions, and it culminates in the vision of their king:-- - - "Above them all the archangel; but his face - Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care - Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows - Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride - Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast - Signs of remorse and passion, to behold - The fellows of his crime, ... - Millions of spirits for his fault amerced - Of heaven, and from eternal splendours flung - For his revolt." - -The picture is magnificent. It has, however, little justification from -Scripture. Even in the Book of Revelation we see a kind of contempt of -the Adversary where an angel from heaven with a great chain in his -hand lays hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and -Satan, and binds him a thousand years. Milton has painted his Satan -largely, as not altogether unfit to take arms against the Omnipotent, -grown gigantic, even sublime, in the course of much theological -speculation that had its source far back in Chaldæan and Iranian -myths. Perhaps, too, the sympathies of the poet, playing about the -fortunes of fallen royalty, may have unconsciously coloured the vision -which he saw and drew with such marvellous power, dipping his pencil -"in the hues of earthquake and eclipse." - -This splendid regal arch-fiend has no kinship with the Satan of the Book -of Job; and, on the other hand, the Mephistopheles of the "Faust," -although bearing an outward resemblance to him, is, for a quite -different reason, essentially unlike. Obviously Goethe's picture of a -cynical devil gaily perverting and damning a human mind is based on the -Book of Job. The "Prologue in Heaven," in which he first appears, is an -imitation of the passage before us. But while the vulgarity and -insolence of Mephistopheles are in contrast to the demeanour of the -Adversary in presence of Jehovah, the real distinction lies in the kind -of power ascribed to the one and the other. Mephistopheles is a cunning -tempter. He receives permission to mislead if he can, and not only -places his victim in circumstances fitted to ruin his virtue, but plies -him with arguments intended to prove that evil is good, that to be pure -is to be a fool. No such power of evil suggestion is given to the -Adversary of Job. His action extends only to the outward events by which -the trial of faith is brought about. Cynical he is and bent on working -evil, but not by low cunning and sophistry. He has no access to the -mind. While it cannot be said that Goethe has descended beneath the -level of possibility, since a contemporary and friend of his own, -Schopenhauer, might almost have sat for the portrait of Mephistopheles, -the realism in Job befits the age of the writer and the serious purpose -he had in view. Faust is a work of genius and art, and succeeds in its -degree. The author of Job succeeds in a far higher sense, by the charm -of simple sincerity and the strength of Divine inspiration, keeping the -play of supernatural agency beyond human vision, making the Satan a mere -instrument of the Divine purpose, in no sense free or intellectually -powerful. - -The scene opens with a gathering of the "sons of the Elohim" in -presence of their King. Professor Cheyne thinks that these are -"supernatural Titanic beings who had once been at strife with Jehovah, -but who now at stated times paid him their enforced homage"; and this -he illustrates by reference to Chap. xxi. 22 and Chap. xxv. 2. But the -question in the one passage, "Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing He -judgeth those that are high" [[Hebrew: rmiym], the heights of heaven, -highnesses], and the affirmation in the other, "He maketh peace in His -high places," can scarcely be held to prove the supposition. The -ordinary view that they are heavenly powers or angels, willing -servants not unwilling vassals of Jehovah, is probably correct. They -have come together at an appointed time to give account of their -doings and to receive commands, and among them the Satan or Adversary -presents himself, one distinguished from all the rest by the name he -bears and the character and function it implies. There is no hint that -he is out of place, that he has impudently forced his way into the -audience chamber. Rather does it appear that he, like the rest, has to -give his account. The question "Whence comest thou?" expresses no -rebuke. It is addressed to the Satan as to the others. We see, -therefore, that this "Adversary," to whomsoever he is opposed, is not -a being excluded from communication with God, engaged in a princely -revolt. When the reply is put into his mouth that he has been "going -to and fro in the earth, and pacing up and down in it," the impression -conveyed is that a certain task of observing men, perhaps watching for -their misdeeds, has been assumed by him. He appears a spirit of -restless and acute inquiry into men's lives and motives, with a keen -eye for the weaknesses of humanity and a fancy quick to imagine evil. - -Evidently we have here a personification of the doubting, -misbelieving, misreading spirit which, in our day, we limit to men and -call pessimism. Now Koheleth gives so finished an expression to this -temper that we can hardly be wrong in going back some distance of time -for its growth; and the state of Israel before the northern captivity -was a soil in which every kind of bitter seed might spring up. The -author of Job may well have drawn from more than one cynic of his day -when he set his mocking figure in the blaze of the celestial court. -Satan is the pessimist. He exists, so far as his intent goes, to find -cause against man, and therefore, in effect, against God, as man's -Creator. A shrewd thinker is this Adversary, but narrowed to one line -and that singularly like some modern criticism of religion, the -resemblance holding in this that neither shows any feeling of -responsibility. The Satan sneers away faith and virtue; the modern -countenances both, and so has an excellent reason for pronouncing them -hollow; or he avoids both, and is sure there is nothing but emptiness -where he has not sought. Either way, all is _habel habalim_--vanity of -vanities. And yet Satan is so held and governed by the Almighty that -he can only strike where permission is given. Evil, as represented by -him, is under the control of Divine wisdom and goodness. He appears as -one to whom the words of Christ "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, -and Him only shalt thou serve," would bring home a sense neither of -duty nor privilege, but of a sheer necessity, to be contested to the -last. Nevertheless he is a vassal of the Almighty. Here the touch of -the author is firm and true. - -So of pessimistic research and philosophy now. We have writers who -follow humanity in all its base movements and know nothing of its -highest. The research of Schopenhauer and even the psychology of -certain modern novelists are mischievous, depraving, for this reason, -if no other, that they evaporate the ideal. They promote generally -that diseased egotism to which judgment and aspiration are alike -unknown. Yet this spirit too serves where it has no dream of serving. -It provokes a healthy opposition, shows a hell from which men recoil, -and creates so deadly ennui that the least gleam of faith becomes -acceptable, and even Theosophy, because it speaks of life, secures the -craving mind. Moreover, the pessimist keeps the church a little -humble, somewhat awake to the error that may underlie its own glory -and the meanness that mingles too often with its piety. A result of -the freedom of the human mind to question and deny, pessimism has its -place in the scheme of things. Hostile and often railing, it is -detestable enough, but needs not alarm those who know that God takes -care of His world. - -The challenge which begins the action of the drama--by whom is it -thrown out? By the Almighty. God sets before the Satan a good life: -"Hast thou considered My servant Job? that there is none like him in the -earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth -evil." The source of the whole movement, then, is a defiance of unbelief -by the Divine Friend of men and Lord of all. There is such a thing as -human virtue, and it is the glory of God to be served by it, to have His -power and divinity reflected in man's spiritual vigour and holiness. - -Why does the Almighty throw out the challenge and not wait for Satan's -charge? Simply because the trial of virtue must begin with God. This is -the first step in a series of providential dealings fraught with the -most important results, and there is singular wisdom in attributing it -to God. Divine grace is to be seen thrusting back the chaotic falsehoods -that darken the world of thought. They exist; they are known to Him who -rules; and He does not leave humanity to contend with them unaided. In -their keenest trials the faithful are supported by His hand, assured of -victory while they fight His battles. Ignorant pride, like that of the -Adversary, is not slow to enter into debate even with the All-wise. -Satan has the question ready which implies a lie, for his is the voice -of that scepticism which knows no reverence. But the entire action of -the book is in the line of establishing faith and hope. The Adversary is -challenged to do his worst; and man, as God's champion, will have to do -his best,--the world and angels looking on. - -And this thought of a Divine purpose to confound the falsehoods of -scepticism answers another inquiry which may readily occur. From the -first the Almighty knows and asserts the virtue of His servant,--that -he is one who fears God and eschews evil. But why, then, does He -condescend to ask of Satan, "Hast thou considered My servant Job?" -Since He has already searched the heart of Job and found it faithful, -He does not need for His own satisfaction to hear Satan's opinion. Nor -are we to suppose that the expression of this Adversary's doubt can -have any real importance. But if we take the Satan as representing all -those who depreciate faith and undermine virtue, the challenge is -explained. Satan is of no account in himself. He will go on cavilling -and suspecting. But for the sake of the race of men, its emancipation -from the miserable suspicions that prey on the heart, the question is -proposed. The drama has its prophetical design; it embodies a -revelation; and in this lies the value of all that is represented. -Satan, we shall find, disappears, and thereafter the human reason is -alone addressed, solely considered. We pass from scene to scene, from -controversy to controversy, and the great problem of man's virtue, -which also involves the honour of God Himself, is wrought out that our -despondency and fear may be cured; that we may never say with -Koheleth, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." - -To the question of the Almighty, Satan replies by another: "Doth Job -fear God for nought?" With a certain air of fairness he points to the -extraordinary felicity enjoyed by the man. "Hast Thou not made an -hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on -every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance -is increased in the land." It is a thought naturally arising in the -mind that very prosperous people have all on the side of their virtue, -and may be less pure and faithful than they seem. Satan adopts this -thought, which is not only blameless, but suggested by what we see of -God's government. He is base and captious in using it, and turns it -with a sneer. Yet on the surface he only hints that God should employ -His own test, and so vindicate His action in making this man so -prosperous. For why should Job show anything but gratitude towards God -when all is done for him that heart can desire? The favourites of -kings, indeed, who are loaded with titles and wealth, sometimes -despise their benefactors, and, being raised to high places, grow -ambitious of one still higher, that of royalty itself. The pampered -servant becomes an arrogant rival, a leader of revolt. Thus too great -bounty is often met with ingratitude. It does not, however, suit the -Adversary to suggest that pride and rebellion of this kind have begun -to show themselves in Job, or will show themselves. He has no ground -for such an accusation, no hope of proving it true. He confines -himself, therefore, to a simpler charge, and in making it implies that -he is only judging this man on general principles and pointing to what -is sure to happen in the case. Yes; he knows men. They are selfish at -bottom. Their religion is selfishness. The blameless human fear is -that much may be due to favourable position. The Satan is sure that -all is due to it. - -Now, the singular thing here is the fact that the Adversary's -accusation turns on Job's enjoyment of that outward felicity which the -Hebrews were constantly desiring and hoping for as a reward of -obedience to God. The writer comes thus at once to show the peril of -the belief which had corrupted the popular religion of his time, which -may even have been his own error once, that abundant harvests, safety -from enemies, freedom from pestilence, such material prosperity as -many in Israel had before the great disasters, were to be regarded as -the evidence of accepted piety. Now that the crash has fallen and the -tribes are scattered, those left in Palestine and those carried into -exile alike sunk in poverty and trouble, the author is pointing out -what he himself has come to see, that Israel's conception of religion -had hitherto admitted and may even have gendered a terrible mistake. -Piety might be largely selfishness--was often mingled with it. The -message of the author to his countrymen and to the world is that a -nobler mind must replace the old desire for happiness and plenty, a -better faith the old trust that God would fill the hands that served -Him well. He teaches that, whatever may come, though trouble after -trouble may fall, the great true Friend is to be adored for what He -is, obeyed and loved though the way lies through storm and gloom. - -Striking is the thought that, while the prophets Amos and Hosea were -fiercely or plaintively assailing the luxury of Israel and the lives -of the nobles, among those very men who excited their holy wrath may -have been the author of the Book of Job. Dr. Robertson Smith has shown -that from the "gala days" of Jeroboam II. to the fall of Samaria there -were only some thirty years. One who wrote after the Captivity as an -old man may therefore have been in the flush of youth when Amos -prophesied, may have been one of the rich Israelites who lay upon beds -of ivory and stretched themselves upon their couches, and ate lambs -out of the flock and calves out of the midst of the stall, for whose -gain the peasant and the slave were oppressed by stewards and -officers. He may have been one of those on whom the blindness of -prosperity had fallen so that the storm-cloud from the east with its -vivid lightning was not seen, who held it their safety to bring -sacrifices every morning and tithes every three days, to offer a -sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which was leavened, and proclaim -freewill offerings and publish them (Amos iv. 4, 5). The mere -possibility that the author of Job may have had this very time of -prosperity and religious security in his own past and heard Hosea's -trumpet blast of doom is very suggestive, for if so he has learned how -grandly right the prophets were as messengers of God. By the way of -personal sorrow and disaster he has passed to the better faith he -urges on the world. He sees what even the prophets did not fully -comprehend, that desolation might be gain, that in the most sterile -wilderness of life the purest light of religion might shine on the -soul, while the tongue was parched with fatal thirst and the eye -glazed with the film of death. The prophets looked always beyond the -shadows of disaster to a new and better day when the return of a -penitent people to Jehovah should be followed by a restoration of the -blessings they had forfeited--fruitful fields and vineyards, busy and -populous cities, a general distribution of comfort if not of wealth. -Even Amos and Hosea had no clear vision of the prophetic hope the -first exile was to yield out of its darkness to Israel and the world. - -The question, then, "Doth Job fear God for nought?" sending a flash of -penetrating light back on Israel's history, and especially on the -glowing pictures of prosperity in Solomon's time, compelling all to look -to the foundation and motives of their faith, marks a most important era -in Hebrew thought. It is, we may say, the first note of a piercing -strain which thrills on to the present time. Taking rise here, the -spirit of inquiry and self-examination has already sifted religious -belief and separated much of the chaff from the wheat. Yet not all. The -comfort and hope of believers are not yet lifted above the reach of -Satan's javelin. While salvation is thought of mainly as self-enjoyment, -can we say that the purity of religion is assured? When happiness is -promised as the result of faith, whether happiness now, or hereafter in -heavenly glory, the whole fabric of religion is built on a foundation -insecure, because it may be apart from truth, holiness, and virtue. It -does not avail to say that holiness is happiness, and so introduce -personal craving under cover of the finest spiritual idea. To grant that -happiness is in any sense the distinctive issue of faith and -faithfulness, to keep happiness in view in submitting to the restraints -and bearing the burdens of religion, is to build the highest and best on -the shifting sand of personal taste and craving. Make happiness that for -which the believer is to endure and strive, allow the sense of personal -comfort and immunity from change to enter into his picture of the reward -he may expect, and the question returns, Doth this man serve God for -nought? Life is not happiness, and the gift of God is everlasting life. -Only when we keep to this supreme word in the teaching of Christ, and -seek the fulness and liberty and purity of life, apart from that -happiness which is at bottom the satisfaction of predominant desires, -shall we escape from the constantly recurring doubt that threatens to -undermine and destroy our faith. - -If we look further, we find that the very error which has so long -impoverished religion prevails in philanthropy and politics, prevails -there at the present time to an alarming extent. The favourite aim of -social meliorists is to secure happiness for all. While life is the -main thing, everywhere and always, strength and breadth and nobleness -of life, their dream is to make the warfare and service of man upon -the earth so easy that he shall have no need for earnest personal -endeavour. He is to serve for happiness, and have no service to do -that may even in the time of his probation interfere with happiness. -The pity bestowed on those who toil and endure in great cities and on -bleak hillsides is that they fail of happiness. Persons who have no -conception that vigour and endurance are spiritually profitable, and -others who once knew but have forgotten the benefits of vigour and the -gains of endurance, would undo the very order and discipline of God. -Are human beings to be encouraged to seek happiness, taught to doubt -God because they have little pleasure, given to understand that those -who enjoy have the best of the universe, and that they must be lifted -up to this level or lose all? Then the sweeping condemnation will hang -over the world that it is following a new god and has said farewell to -the stern Lord of Providence. - -Much may be justly said in condemnation of the jealous, critical -spirit of the Adversary. Yet it remains true that his criticism -expresses what would be a fair charge against men who passed this -stage of existence without full trial. And the Almighty is represented -as confirming this when He puts Job into the hands of Satan. He has -challenged the Adversary, opening the question of man's fidelity and -sincerity. He knows what will result. It is not the will of some -eternal Satan that is the motive, but the will of God. The Adversary's -scornful question is woven into God's wise ordinance, and made to -subserve a purpose which completely transcends the base hope involved -in it. The life of Job has not yet had the difficult and strenuous -probation necessary to assured faith, or rather to the consciousness -of a faith immovably rooted in God. It would be utterly inconsistent -with the Divine wisdom to suppose God led on and beguiled by the sneer -of His own creature to do what was needless or unfair, or indeed in -any sense opposed to His own plan for His creation. And we shall find -that throughout the book it is assumed by Job, implied by the author, -that what is done is really the doing of God Himself. The Satan of -this Divine poem remains altogether subsidiary as an agent. He may -propose, but God disposes. He may pride himself on the keenness of his -intellect; but wisdom, compared to which his subtlety is mere -blundering, orders the movement of events for good and holy ends. - -The Adversary makes his proposal: "Put forth now Thine hand, and touch -all that he hath, and he will bid Thee farewell." He does not propose to -make use of sensual temptation. The only method of trial he ventures to -suggest is deprivation of the prosperity for which he believes Job has -served God. He takes on him to indicate what the Almighty may do, -acknowledging that the Divine power, and not his, must bring into Job's -life those losses and troubles that are to test his faith. - -After all some may ask, Is not Satan endeavouring to tempt the Almighty? -And if it were true that the prosperous condition of Job, or any man, -implies God's entire satisfaction with his faith and dutifulness and -with his character as a man, if, further, it must be taken as true that -sorrow and loss are evil, then this proposal of the Satan is a -temptation. It is not so in reality, for "God cannot be tempted to -evil." No creature could approach His holiness with a temptation. But -Satan's intention is to move God. He considers success and happiness to -be intrinsically good, and poverty and bereavement to be intrinsically -evil. That is to say, we have here the spirit of unfaith endeavouring to -destroy God as well as man. For the sake of truth professedly, for his -own pride of will really, he would arrest the righteousness and grace of -the Divine. He would unmake God and orphan man. The scheme is futile of -course. God can allow his proposal, and be no less the Infinitely -generous, wise, and true. The Satan shall have his desire; but not a -shadow shall fall on the ineffable glory. - -At this point, however, we must pause. The question that has just -arisen can only be answered after a survey of human life in its -relation to God, and especially after an examination of the meaning of -the term _evil_ as applied to our experiences. We have certain clear -principles to begin with: that "God cannot be tempted with evil, and -He Himself tempteth no man"; that all God does must show not less -beneficence, not less love, but more as the days go by. These -principles will have to be vindicated when we proceed to consider the -losses, what may be called the disasters that follow each other in -quick succession and threaten to crush the life they try. - -Meanwhile, casting a glance at those happy dwellings in the land of Uz, -we see all going on as before, no mind darkened by the shadow that is -gathering, or in the least aware of the controversy in heaven so full of -moment to the family circle. The pathetic ignorance, the blessed -ignorance in which a man may live hangs upon the picture. The cheerful -bustle of the homestead goes on, the feasts and sacrifices, diligent -labour rewarded with the produce of fields, the wine and oil of -vineyards and olive gardens, fleeces of the flock and milk of the kine. - - - - -IV. - -_THE SHADOW OF GOD'S HAND._ - -CHAP. i. 13-22. - - -Coming now to the sudden and terrible changes which are to prove the -faithfulness of the servant of God, we must not fail to observe that -in the development of the drama the trial of Job personally is the -sole consideration. No account is taken of the character of those who, -being connected with his fortunes and happiness, are now to be swept -away that he may suffer. To trace their history and vindicate Divine -righteousness in reference to each of them is not within the scope of -the poem. A typical man is taken as hero, and we may say the -discussion covers the fate of all who suffer, although attention is -fixed on him alone. - -The writer is dealing with a story of patriarchal life, and himself is -touched with the Semitic way of thinking. A certain disregard of the -subordinate human characters must not be reckoned strange. His -thoughts, far-reaching as they are, run in a channel very different -from ours. The world of his book is that of family and clan ideas. The -author saw more than any man of his time; but he could not see all -that engages modern speculation. Besides, the glory of God is the -dominant idea of the poem; not men's right to joy, or peace, or even -life; but God's right to be wholly Himself and greatly true. In the -light of this high thought we must be content to have the story of one -soul traced with such fulness as might be compassed, the others left -practically untouched. If the sufferings of the man whom God approves -can be explained in harmony with the glory of Divine justice, then -the sudden calamities that fall upon his servants and children will -also be explained. For, although death is in a sense an ultimate -thing, and loss and affliction, however great, do not mean so much as -death; yet, on the other hand, to die is the common lot, and the quick -stroke appears merciful in comparison with Job's dreadful experiences. -Those who are killed by lightning or by the sword do but swiftly and -without protracted pain fall into the hands of God. We need not -conclude that the writer means us to regard the sons and daughters of -Job and his servants as mere chattels, like the camels and sheep, -although the people of the desert would have so regarded them. But the -main question presses; the range of the discussion must be limited; -and the tradition which forms the basis of the poem is followed by the -author whenever it supplies the elements of his inquiry. - -We have entirely refused the supposition that the Almighty forgot His -righteousness and grace in putting the wealth and happiness of Job -into the hands of Satan. The trials we now see falling one after the -other are not sent because the Adversary has suggested them, but -because it is right and wise, for the glory of God and for the -perfecting of faith, that Job should suffer them. What is God's doing -is not in this case nor in any case evil. He cannot wrong His servant -that glory may come to Himself. - -And just here arises a problem which enters into all religious -thought, the wrong solution of which depraves many a philosophy, while -the right understanding of it sheds a flood of light on our life in -this world. A thousand tongues, Christian, non-Christian, and -neo-Christian, affirm that life is for enjoyment. What gives enjoyment -is declared to be good, what gives most enjoyment is reckoned best, -and all that makes for pain and suffering is held to be evil. It is -allowed that pain endured now may bring pleasure hereafter, and that -for the sake of future gain a little discomfort may be chosen. But it -is evil nevertheless. One doing his best for men would be expected to -give them happiness at once and, throughout life, as much of it as -possible. If he inflicted pain in order to enhance pleasure by and by, -he would have to do so within the strictest limits. Whatever reduces -the strength of the body, the capacity of the body for enjoyment and -the delight of the mind accompanying the body's vigour, is declared -bad, and to do anything which has this effect is to do evil or wrong. -Such is the ethic of the philosophy finally and powerfully stated by -Mr. Spencer. It has penetrated as widely as he could wish; it -underlies volumes of Christian sermons and semi-Christian schemes. If -it be true, then the Almighty of the Book of Job, bringing affliction, -sorrow, and pain upon His servant, is a cruel enemy of man, to be -hated, not revered. This matter needs to be considered at some length. - -The notion that pain is evil, that he who suffers is placed at moral -disadvantage, appears very plainly in the old belief that those -conditions and surroundings of our life which minister to enjoyment -are the proofs of the goodness of God on which reliance must be placed -so far as nature and providence testify of Him. Pain and sorrow, it -was held, need to be accounted for by human sin or otherwise; but we -know that God is good because there is enjoyment in the life He gives. -Paley, for example, says that the proof of the Divine _goodness_ rests -upon contrivances everywhere to be seen for the purpose of giving us -pleasure. He tells us that, when God created the human species, -"either He wished them happiness, or He wished them misery, or He was -indifferent and unconcerned about either"; and he goes on to prove -that it must be our happiness He desired, for, otherwise, wishing our -misery, "He might have made everything we tasted, bitter; everything -we saw, loathsome; everything we touched, a sting; every smell, a -stench; and every sound, a discord:" while, if He had been indifferent -about our happiness we must impute all enjoyment we have "to our good -fortune," that is, to bare chance, an impossible supposition. Paley's -further survey of life leads to the conclusion that God has it as His -chief aim to make His creatures happy and, in the circumstances, does -the best He can for them, better far than they are commonly disposed -to think. The agreement of this position with that of Spencer lies in -the presupposition that goodness can be proved only by arrangements -for giving pleasure. If God is good for this reason, what follows when -He appoints pain, especially pain that brings no enjoyment in the long -run? Either He is not altogether "good" or He is not all-powerful. - -The author of the Book of Job does not enter into the problem of pain -and affliction with the same deliberate attempt to exhaust the subject -as Paley has made; but he has the problem before him. And in -considering the trial of Job as an example of the suffering and sorrow -of man in this world of change, we find a strong ray of light thrown -upon the darkness. The picture is a Rembrandt; and where the radiance -falls all is sharp and bright. But the shadows are deep; and we must -seek, if possible, to make out what lies in those shadows. We shall -not understand the Book of Job, nor form a just opinion of the -author's inspiration, nor shall we understand the Bible as a whole, -unless we reach a point of view clear of the mistakes that stultify -the reasoning of Paley and plunge the mind of Spencer, who refuses to -be called a materialist, into the utter darkness of materialism. - - * * * * * - -Now, as to enjoyment, we have the capacity for it, and it flows to us -from many external objects as well as from the operation of our own -minds and the putting forth of energy. It is in the scheme of things -ordained by God that His creatures shall enjoy. On the other hand, -trouble, sorrow, loss, bodily and mental pain, are also in the scheme -of things. They are provided for in numberless ways--in the play of -natural forces causing injuries, dangers from which we cannot escape; -in the limitations of our power; in the antagonisms and -disappointments of existence; in disease and death. They are provided -for by the very laws that bring pleasure, made inevitable under the -same Divine ordinance. Some say it detracts from the goodness of God -to admit that as He appoints means of enjoyment so He also provides -for pain and sorrow and makes these inseparable from life. And this -opinion runs into the extreme dogmatic assertion that "good," by which -we are to understand _happiness_, - - "Shall fall - At last far off, at last to all." - -Many hold this to be necessary to the vindication of God's goodness. -But the source of the whole confusion lies here, that we prejudge the -question by calling pain evil. The light-giving truth for modern -perplexity is that pain and loss are not _evil_, are in no sense -_evil_. - -Because we desire happiness and dislike pain, we must not conclude that -pain is bad and that, when any one suffers, it is because he or another -has done wrong. There is the mistake that vitiates theological thought, -making men run to the extreme either of denying God altogether because -there is suffering in the world, or of framing a rose-water eschatology. -Pain is one thing, moral evil is quite another thing. He who suffers is -not necessarily a wrong-doer; and when, through the laws of nature, God -inflicts pain, there is no evil nor anything approaching wrong. In -Scripture, indeed, pain and evil are apparently identified. "Shall we -receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil?" "Is -there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" "Thus saith the -Lord, Behold I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of -Jerusalem, all the evil that I have pronounced against them." In these -and many other passages the very thing seems to be meant which has just -been denied, for evil and suffering appear to be made identical. But -human language is not a perfect instrument of thought, any more than -thought is a perfect channel of truth. One word has to do duty in -different senses. Moral evil, wrongness, on the one hand; bodily pain, -the misery of loss and defeat, on the other hand--both are represented -by one Hebrew word [[Hebrew: ra?]--root meaning, _displeased_]. In the -following passages, where moral evil is clearly meant, it occurs just as -in those previously quoted: "Wash you, make you clean, cease to do evil, -learn to do well"; "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." -The different meanings which one Hebrew word may bear are not generally -confused in translation. In this case, however, the confusion has -entered into the most modern language. From a highly esteemed thinker -the following sentence may be quoted by way of example: "The other -religions did not feel evil like Israel; it did not stand in such -complete antagonism to their idea of the Supreme, the Creator and -Sovereign of man, nor in such absolute contradiction to their notion of -what ought to be; and so they either reconciled themselves as best they -could to the evil that was necessary, or invented means by which men -could escape from it by escaping from existence." The singular -misapprehension of Divine providence which underlies a statement like -this can only be got rid of by recognising that enjoyment and suffering -are not the good and evil of life, that both of them stand quite apart -from what is intrinsically good and bad in a moral sense, and that they -are simply means to an end in the providence of God. - -It is not difficult, of course, to see how the idea of pain and the idea -of moral evil have been linked together. It is by the thought that -suffering is punishment for evil done; and that the suffering is -therefore itself evil. Pain was simply penalty inflicted by an offended -heavenly power. The evil of a man's doings came back to him, made itself -felt in his suffering. This was the explanation of all that was -unpleasant, disastrous and vexing in the lot of man. He would enjoy -always, it was conceived, if wrong-doing or failure in duty to the -higher powers did not kindle divine anger against him. True, the -wrong-doing might not be his own. The son might suffer for the parent's -fault. Iniquity might be remembered to children's children and fall -terribly on those who had not themselves transgressed. The fates pursued -the descendants of an impious man. But wrong done somewhere, rebellion -of some one against a divinity, was always the antecedent of pain and -sorrow and disaster. And as the other religions thought, so, in this -matter, did that of Israel. To the Hebrew the deep conviction of this, -as Dr. Fairbairn has said, made poverty and disease peculiarly -abhorrent. In Psalm lxxxix. the prosperity of David is depicted, and -Jehovah speaks of the covenant that must be kept: "If his children -forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; ... then will I visit -their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." The -trouble has fallen, and out of the depth of it, attributing to past sin -all defeat and disaster from which the people suffer--the breaking down -of the hedges, curtailment of the vigour of youth, overthrow in war--the -psalmist cries, "How long, O Lord, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever? How -long shall Thy wrath burn like fire? O remember how short my time is: -for what vanity hast Thou created all the children of men?" There is -here no thought that anything painful or afflictive could manifest the -fatherhood of God; it must proceed from His anger, and force the mind -back upon the memory of sin, some transgression that has caused the -Almighty to suspend His kindness for a time. - -Here it was the author of Job found the thought of his people. With -this he had to harmonise the other beliefs--peculiarly theirs--that -the lovingkindness of the Lord is over all His works, that God who is -supremely good cannot inflict moral injury on any of His covenanted -servants. And the difficulty he felt survives. The questions are still -urged: Is not pain bound up with wrong-doing? Is not suffering the -mark of God's displeasure? Are they not evil, therefore? And, on the -other hand, Is not enjoyment appointed to him who does right? Does not -the whole scheme of Divine providence, as the Bible sets it forth, -including the prospect it opens into the eternal future, associate -happiness with well-doing and pain with evil-doing? We desire -enjoyment, and cannot help desiring it. We dislike pain, disease, and -all that limits our capacity for pleasure. Is it not in accordance -with this that Christ appears as the Giver of light and peace and joy -to the race of men? - -These questions look difficult enough. Let us attempt to answer them. - -Pleasure and pain, happiness and suffering, are elements of creaturely -experience appointed by God. The right use of them makes life, the wrong -use of them mars it. They are ordained, all of them in equal degree, to -a good end; for all that God does is done in perfect love as well as in -perfect justice. It is no more wonderful that a good man should suffer -than that a bad man should suffer; for the good man, the man who -believes in God and therefore in goodness, making a right use of -suffering, will gain by it in the true sense; he will reach a deeper and -nobler life. It is no more wonderful that a bad man, one who disbelieves -in God and therefore in goodness, should be happy than that a good man -should be happy, the happiness being God's appointed means for both to -reach a higher life. The main element of this higher life is vigour, but -not of the body. The Divine purpose is _spiritual_ evolution. That -gratification of the sensuous side of our nature for which physical -health and a well-knit organism are indispensable--paramount in the -pleasure-philosophy--is not neglected, but is made subordinate in the -Divine culture of life. The grace of God aims at the life of the -spirit--power to love, to follow righteousness, to dare for justice' -sake, to seek and grasp the true, to sympathise with men and bear with -them, to bless them that curse, to suffer and be strong. To promote this -vitality all God appoints is fitted--pain as well as pleasure, adversity -as well as prosperity, sorrow as well as joy, defeat as well as success. -We wonder that suffering is so often the result of imprudence. On the -ordinary theory the fact is inexplicable, for imprudence has no dark -colour of ethical faultiness. He who by an error of judgment plunges -himself and his family into what appears irretrievable disaster, may, by -all reckoning, be almost blameless in character. If suffering is held to -be penal, no reference to the general sin of humanity will account for -the result. But the reason is plain. The suffering is disciplinary. The -nobler life at which Divine providence aims must be sagacious no less -than pure, guided by sound reason no less than right feeling. - -And if it is asked how from this point of view we are to find the -punishment of sin, the answer is that happiness as well as suffering is -punishment to him whose sin and the unbelief that accompanies it pervert -his view of truth, and blind him to the spiritual life and the will of -God. The pleasures of a wrong-doer who persistently denies obligation to -Divine authority and refuses obedience to the Divine law are no gain, -but loss. They dissipate and attenuate his life. His sensuous or sensual -enjoyment, his delight in selfish triumph and gratified ambition are -real, give at the time quite as much happiness as the good man has in -his obedience and virtue, perhaps a great deal more. But they are penal -and retributive nevertheless; and the conviction that they are so -becomes clear to the man whenever the light of truth is flashed upon his -spiritual state. We read Dante's pictures of the Inferno, and shudder -at the dreadful scenes with which he has filled the descending circles -of woe. He has omitted one that would have been the most striking of -all,--unless indeed an approach to it is to be found in the episode of -Paolo and Francesca,--the picture of souls self-doomed to seek happiness -and to enjoy, on whose life the keen light of eternity shines, revealing -the gradual wasting away of existence, the certain degeneration to which -they are condemned. - -On the other hand, the pains and disasters which fall to the lot of -evil men, intended for their correction, if in perversity or in -blindness they are misunderstood, again become punishment; for they, -too, dissipate and attenuate life. The real good of existence slips -away while the mind is intent on the mere pain or vexation and how it -is to be got rid of. In Job we find a purpose to reconcile affliction -with the just government of God. The troubles into which the believing -man is brought urge him to think more deeply than he has ever thought, -become the means of that intellectual and moral education which lies -in discovery of the will and character of God. They also bring him by -this way into deeper humility, a fine tenderness of spiritual nature, -a most needful kinship with his fellows. See then the use of -suffering. The impenitent, unbelieving man has no such gains. He is -absorbed in the distressing experience, and that absorption narrows -and debases the activity of the soul. The treatment of this matter -here is necessarily brief. It is hoped, however, that the principle -has been made clear. - -Does it require any adaptation or under-reading of the language of -Scripture to prove the harmony of its teaching with the view just -given of happiness and suffering as related to punishment? Throughout -the greater part of the Old Testament the doctrine of suffering is -that old doctrine which the author of Job found perplexing. Not -infrequently in the New Testament there is a certain formal return to -it; for even under the light of revelation the meaning of Divine -providence is learnt slowly. But the emphasis rests on _life_ rather -than happiness, and on _death_ rather than suffering in the gospels; -and the whole teaching of Christ, pointed to the truth. This world and -our discipline here, the trials of men, the doctrine of the cross, the -fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, are not fitted to introduce us -into a state of existence in which mere enjoyment, the gratification -of personal tastes and desires, shall be the main experience. They are -fitted to educate the spiritual nature for life, fulness of life. -Immortality becomes credible when it is seen as progress in vigour, -progress towards that profound compassion, that fidelity, that -unquenchable devotion to the glory of God the Father which marked the -life of the Divine Son in this world. - -Observe, it is not denied that joy is and will be desired, that -suffering and pain are and will remain experiences from which human -nature must recoil. The desire and the aversion are wrought into our -constitution; and just because we feel them our whole mortal -discipline has its value. In the experience of them lies the condition -of progress. On the one hand pain urges, on the other joy attracts. It -is in the line of desire for joy of a finer and higher kind that -civilisation realises itself, and even religion lays hold of us and -lures us on. But the conditions of progress are not to be mistaken for -the end of it. Joy assumes sorrow as a possibility. Pleasure can only -exist as alternative to the experience of pain. And the life that -expands and reaches finer power and exaltation in the course of this -struggle is the main thing. The struggle ceases to be acute in the -higher ranges of life; it becomes massive, sustained, and is carried -on in the perfect peace of the soul. Therefore the future state of the -redeemed is a state of blessedness. But the blessedness accompanying -the life is not the glory. The glory of the perfected is life itself. -The heaven of the redeemed appears a region of existence in which the -exaltation, enlargement, and deepening of life shall constantly and -consciously go on. Conversely the hell of evil-doers will not be -simply the pain, the suffering, the defeat to which they have doomed -themselves, but the constant attenuation of their life, the miserable -wasting of which they shall be aware, though they find some pitiful -pleasure, as Milton imagined his evil angels finding theirs, in futile -schemes of revenge against the Highest. - -Pain is not in itself an evil. But our nature recoils from suffering -and seeks life in brightness and power, beyond the keen pangs of -mortal existence. The creation hopes that itself "shall be delivered -from the bondage of corruption." The finer life is, the more sensible -it must be of association with a body doomed to decay, the more -sensible also of that gross human injustice and wrong which dare to -pervert God's ordinance of pain and His sacrament of death, usurping -His holy prerogative for the most unholy ends. And so we are brought -to the Cross of Christ. When He "bore our sins in His own body to the -tree," when He "suffered for sins once, the Righteous for the -unrighteous," the sacrifice was real, awful, immeasurably profound. -Yet, could death be in any sense degrading or debasing to Him? Could -evil touch His soul? Over its most insolent assumption of the right -to injure and destroy He stood, spiritually victorious in the presence -of His enemies, and rose, untouched in soul, when His body was broken -on the cross. His sacrifice was great because He bore the sins of men -and died as God's atonement. His sublime devotion to the Father whose -holy law was trampled under foot, His horror and endurance of human -iniquity which culminated in His death, made the experience profoundly -terrible. Thus the spiritual dignity and power He gained provided new -life for the world. - - * * * * * - -It is now possible to understand the trials of Job. So far as the -sufferer is concerned, they are no less beneficent than His joys; for -they provide that necessary element of probation by which life of a -deeper and stronger kind is to be reached, the opportunity of -becoming, as a man and a servant of the Almighty, what he had never -been, what otherwise he could not become. The purpose of God is -entirely good; but it will remain with the sufferer himself to enter -by the fiery way into full spiritual vigour. He will have the -protection and grace of the Divine Spirit in his time of sore -bewilderment and anguish. Yet his own faith must be vindicated while -the shadow of God's hand rests upon his life. - -And now the forces of nature and the wild tribes of the desert gather -about the happy settlement of the man of Uz. With dramatic suddenness -and cumulative terror stroke after stroke descends. Job is seen before -the door of his dwelling. The morning broke calm and cloudless, the -bright sunshine of Arabia filling with brilliant colour the far -horizon. The day has been peaceful, gracious, another of God's gifts. -Perhaps, in the early hours, the father, as priest of his family, -offered the burnt-offerings of atonement lest his sons should have -renounced God in their hearts; and now, in the evening, he is sitting -calm and glad, hearing the appeals of those who need his help and -dispensing alms with a generous hand. But one comes in haste, -breathless with running, scarcely able to tell his tale. Out in the -fields the oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding. Suddenly a great -band of Sabeans fell upon them, swept them away, slew the servants -with the edge of the sword: this man alone has escaped with his life. -Rapidly has he spoken; and before he has done another appears, a -shepherd from the more distant pastures, to announce a second -calamity. "The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up -the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped -to tell thee." They scarcely dare to look on the face of Job, and he -has no time to speak, for here is a third messenger, a camel-driver, -swarthy and naked to the loins, crying wildly as he runs, The -Chaldæans made three bands--fell upon the camels--swept them away--the -servants are slain--I only am left. Nor is this the last. A fourth, -with every mark of horror in his face, comes slowly and brings the -most terrible message of all. The sons and daughters of Job were -feasting in their eldest brother's house; there came a great wind from -the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell. -The young men and women are all dead. One only has escaped, he who -tells the dreadful tale. - -A certain idealism appears in the causes of the different calamities -and their simultaneous, or almost simultaneous, occurrence. Nothing, -indeed, is assumed which is not possible in the north of Arabia. A -raid from the south, of Sabeans, the lawless part of a nation -otherwise engaged in traffic; an organised attack by Chaldæans from -the east, again the lawless fringe of the population of the Euphrates -valley, those who, inhabiting the margin of the desert, had taken to -desert ways; then, of natural causes, the lightning or the fearful hot -wind which coming suddenly stifles and kills, and the whirlwind, -possible enough after a thunderstorm or simoom,--all of these belong -to the region in which Job lived. But the grouping of the disasters -and the invariable escape of one only from each belong to the dramatic -setting, and are intended to have a cumulative effect. A sense of the -mysterious is produced, of supernatural power, discharging bolt after -bolt in some inscrutable mood of antagonism. Job is a mark for the -arrows of the Unseen. And when the last messenger has spoken, we turn -in dismay and pity to look on the rich man made poor, the proud and -happy father made childless, the fearer of God on whom the enemy seems -to have wrought his will. - -In the stately Oriental way, as a man who bows to fate or the -irresistible will of the Most High, Job seeks to realise his sudden -and awful deprivations. We watch him with silent awe as first he rends -his mantle, the acknowledged sign of mourning and of the -disorganisation of life, then shaves his head, renouncing in his grief -even the natural ornament of the hair, that the sense of loss and -resignation may be indicated. This done, in deep humiliation he bows -and falls prone on the earth and worships, the fit words falling in a -kind of solemn chant from his lips: "Naked came I forth from my -mother's womb, and naked I return thereto. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah -hath taken away. Let Jehovah's name be blessed." The silence of grief -and of death has fallen about him. No more shall be heard the bustle -of the homestead to which, when the evening shadows were about to -fall, a constant stream of servants and laden oxen used to come, where -the noise of cattle and asses and the shouts of camel-drivers made the -music of prosperity. His wife and the few who remain, with bowed -heads, dumb and aimless, stand around. Swiftly the sun goes down, and -darkness falls upon the desolate dwelling. - -Losses like these are apt to leave men distracted. When everything is -swept away, with the riches those who were to inherit them, when a man -is left, as Job says, naked, bereft of all that labour had won and the -bounty of God had given, expressions of despair do not surprise us, -nor even wild accusations of the Most High. But the faith of this -sufferer does not yield. He is resigned, submissive. The strong trust -that has grown in the course of a religious life withstands the shock, -and carries the soul through the crisis. Neither did Job accuse God -nor did he sin, though his grief was great. So far he is master of his -soul, unbroken though desolated. The first great round of trial has -left the man a believer still. - - - - -V. - -_THE DILEMMA OF FAITH._ - -CHAP. ii. - - -As the drama proceeds to unfold the conflict between Divine grace in the -human soul and those chaotic influences which hold the mind in doubt or -drag it back into denial, Job becomes a type of the righteous sufferer, -the servant of God in the hot furnace of affliction. All true poetry -runs thus into the typical. The interest of the movement depends on the -representative character of the life, passionate in jealousy, -indignation, grief, or ambition, pressing on exultantly to unheard-of -success, borne down into the deepest circles of woe. Here it is not -simply a man's constancy that has to be established, but God's truth -against the Adversary's lie, the "everlasting yea" against the negations -that make all life and virtue seem the mere blossoming of dust. Job has -to pass through profoundest trouble, that the drama may exhaust the -possibilities of doubt, and lead the faith of man towards liberty. - -Yet the typical is based on the real; and the conflict here described -has gone on first in the experience of the author. Not from the -outside, but from his own life has he painted the sorrows and -struggles of a soul urged to the brink of that precipice beyond which -lies the blank darkness of the abyss. There are men in whom the -sorrows of a whole people and of a whole age seem to concentrate. They -suffer with their fellow-men that all may find a way of hope. Not -unconsciously, but with the most vivid sense of duty, a Divine -necessity brought to their door, they must undergo all the anguish and -hew a track through the dense forest to the light beyond. Such a man -in his age was the writer of this book. And when he now proceeds to -the second stage of Job's affliction every touch appears to show -that, not merely in imagination, but substantially he endured the -trials which he paints. It is his passion that strives and cries, his -sorrowful soul that longs for death. Imaginary, is this work of his? -Nothing so true, vehement, earnest, can be imaginary. "Sublime -sorrow," says Carlyle, "sublime reconciliation; oldest choral melody -as of the heart of mankind." But it shows more than "the seeing eye -and the mildly understanding heart." It reveals the spirit battling -with terrible enemies, doubts that spring out of the darkness of -error, brood of the primæval chaos. The man was one who "in this wild -element of a life had to struggle onwards; now fallen, deep abased; -and ever with tears, repentance, with bleeding heart, rise again, -struggle again, still onwards." Not to this writer, any more than to -the author of "Sartor Resartus," did anything come in his dreams. - -A second scene in heaven is presented to our view. The Satan appears -as before with the "sons of the Elohim," is asked by the Most High -whence he has come, and replies in the language previously used. Again -he has been abroad amongst men in his restless search for evil. The -challenge of God to the Adversary regarding Job is also repeated; but -now it has an addition: "Still he holdeth fast his integrity, although -thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." The -expression "although thou movedst me against him" is startling. Is it -an admission after all that the Almighty can be moved by any -consideration less than pure right, or to act in any way to the -disadvantage or hurt of His servant? Such an interpretation would -exclude the idea of supreme power, wisdom, and righteousness which -unquestionably governs the book from first to last. The words really -imply a charge against the Adversary of malicious untruth. The saying -of the Almighty is ironical, as Schultens points out: "Although thou, -forsooth, didst incite Me against him." He who flings sharp javelins -of detraction is pierced with a sharper javelin of judgment. Yet he -goes on with his attempt to ruin Job, and prove his own penetration -the keenest in the universe. - -And now he pleads that it is the way of men to care more for -themselves, their own health and comfort, than for anything else. -Bereavement and poverty may be like arrows that glance off from -polished armour. Let disease and bodily pain attack himself, and a man -will show what is really in his heart. "Skin for skin, yea, all that a -man hath will he give for himself. But put forth Thine hand now, and -touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce Thee openly." - -The proverb put into Satan's mouth carries a plain enough meaning, and -yet is not literally easy to interpret. The sense will be clear if we -translate it "Hide for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for -himself." The hide of an animal, lion or sheep, which a man wears for -clothing will be given up to save his own body. A valued article of -property often, it will be promptly renounced when life is in danger -the man will flee away naked. In like manner all possessions will be -abandoned to keep one's self unharmed. True enough in a sense, true -enough to be used as a proverb, for proverbs often express a -generalisation of the earthly prudence not of the higher ideal, the -saying, nevertheless, is in Satan's use of it a lie--that is, if he -includes the children when he says, "all that a man hath will he give -for himself." Job would have died for his children. Many a father and -mother, with far less pride in their children than Job had in his, -would die for them. Possessions indeed, mere worldly gear, find their -real value or worthlessness when weighed against life, and human love -has Divine depths which a sneering devil cannot see. The portraiture -of soulless human beings is one of the recent experiments in -fictitious literature, and it may have some justification. When the -design is to show the dreadful issue of unmitigated selfishness, a -distinctly moral purpose. If, on the other hand, "art for art's sake" -is the plea, and the writer's skill in painting the vacant ribs of -death is used with a sinister reflection on human nature as a whole, -the approach to Satan's temper marks the degradation of literature. -Christian faith clings to the hope that Divine grace may create a soul -in the ghastly skeleton. The Adversary gloats over the lifeless -picture of his own imagining and affirms that man can never be -animated by the love of God. The problem which the Satan of Job long -ago presented haunts the mind of our age. It is one of those ominous -symptoms that point to times of trial in which the experience of -humanity may resemble the typical affliction and desperate struggle of -the man of Uz. - -A grim possibility of truth lies in the taunt of Satan that, if Job's -flesh and bone are touched, he will renounce God openly. The test of -sore disease is more trying than loss of wealth at least. And, -besides, bodily affliction, added to the rest, will carry Job into yet -another region of vital experience. Therefore it is the will of God to -send it. Again Satan is the instrument, and the permission is given, -"Behold, he is in thine hand: only save his life--imperil not his -life." Here, as before, when causes are to be brought into operation -that are obscure and may appear to involve harshness, the Adversary is -the intermediary agent. On the face of the drama a certain formal -deference is paid to the opinion that God cannot inflict pain on those -whom He loves. But for a short time only is the responsibility, so to -speak, of afflicting Job partly removed from the Almighty to Satan. At -this point the Adversary disappears; and henceforth God is -acknowledged to have sent the disease as well as all the other -afflictions to His servant. It is only in a poetic sense that Satan is -represented as wielding natural forces and sowing the seeds of -disease; the writer has no theory and needs no theory of malignant -activity. He knows that "all is of God." - -Time has passed sufficient for the realisation by Job of his poverty -and bereavement. The sense of desolation has settled on his soul as -morning after morning dawned, week after week went by, emptied of the -loving voices he used to hear, and the delightful and honourable tasks -that used to engage him. In sympathy with the exhausted mind, the body -has become languid, and the change from sufficiency of the best food -to something like starvation gives the germs of disease an easy hold. -He is stricken with elephantiasis, one of the most terrible forms of -leprosy, a tedious malady attended with intolerable irritation and -loathsome ulcers. The disfigured face, the blackened body, soon reveal -the nature of the infection; and he is forthwith carried out according -to the invariable custom and laid on the heap of refuse, chiefly burnt -litter, which has accumulated near his dwelling. In Arab villages this -_mezbele_ is often a mound of considerable size, where, if any breath -of wind is blowing, the full benefit of its coolness can be enjoyed. -It is the common playground of the children, "and there the outcast, -who has been stricken with some loathsome malady, and is not allowed -to enter the dwellings of men, lays himself down, begging an alms of -the passers-by, by day, and by night sheltering himself among the -ashes which the heat of the sun has warmed." At the beginning Job was -seen in the full stateliness of Oriental life; now the contrasting -misery of it appears, the abjectness into which it may rapidly fall. -Without proper medical skill or appliances, the houses no way adapted -for a case of disease like Job's, the wealthiest pass like the poorest -into what appears the nadir of existence. Now at length the trial of -faithfulness is in the way of being perfected. If the helplessness, -the torment of disease, the misery of this abject state do not move -his mind from its trust in God, he will indeed be a bulwark of -religion against the atheism of the world. - -But in what form does the question of Job's continued fidelity present -itself now to the mind of the writer? Singularly, as a question -regarding his integrity. From the general wreck one life has been -spared, that of Job's wife. To her it appears that the wrath of the -Almighty has been launched against her husband, and all that prevents -him from finding refuge in death from the horrors of lingering disease -is his integrity. If he maintains the pious resignation he showed -under the first afflictions and during the early stages of his malady, -he will have to suffer on. But it will be better to die at once. -"Why," she asks, "dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? Renounce -God, and die." It is a different note from that which runs through the -controversy between Job and his friends. Always on his integrity he -takes his stand; against his right to affirm it they direct their -arguments. They do not insist on the duty of a man under all -circumstances to believe in God and submit to His will. Their sole -concern is to prove that Job has not been sincere and faithful and -deserving of acceptance before God. But his wife knows him to have -been righteous and pious; and that, she thinks, will serve him no -longer. Let him abandon his integrity; renounce God. On two sides the -sufferer is plied. But he does not waver. Between the two he stands, a -man who has integrity and will keep it till he die. - -The accusations of Satan, turning on the question whether Job was -sincere in religion or one who served God for what he got, prepare us -to understand why his integrity is made the hinge of the debate. To -Job his upright obedience was the heart of his life, and it alone made -his indefeasible claim on God. But faith, not obedience, is the only -real claim a man can advance. And the connection is to be found in -this way. As a man perfect and upright, who feared God and eschewed -evil, Job enjoyed the approval of his conscience and the sense of -Divine favour. His life had been rooted in the steady assurance that -the Almighty was his friend. He had walked in freedom and joy cared -for by the providence of the Eternal, guarded by His love, his soul at -peace with that Divine Lawgiver whose will he did. His faith rested -like an arch on two piers--one, his own righteousness which God had -inspired; the other, the righteousness of God which his own reflected. -If it were proved that he had not been righteous, his belief that God -had been guarding him, teaching him, filling his soul with light, -would break under him like a withered branch. If he had not been -righteous indeed, he could not know what righteousness is, he could -not know whether God is righteous or not, he could not know God nor -trust in Him. The experience of the past was, in this case, a -delusion. He had nothing to rest upon, no faith. On the other hand, if -those afflictions, coming why he could not tell, proved God to be -capricious, unjust, all would equally be lost. The dilemma was that, -holding to the belief in his own integrity, he seemed to be driven to -doubt God; but if he believed God to be righteous he seemed to be -driven to doubt his own integrity. Either was fatal. He was in a -narrow strait between two rocks, on one or other of which faith was -like to be shattered. - -But his integrity was clear to him. That stood within the region of -his own consciousness. He knew that God had made him of dutiful heart -and given him a constant will to be obedient. Only while he believed -this could he keep hold of his life. As the one treasure saved out of -the wreck, when possessions, children, health were gone, to cherish -his integrity was the last duty. Renounce his conscience of goodwill -and faithfulness? It was the one fact bridging the gulf of disaster, -the safeguard against despair. And is this not a true presentation of -the ultimate inquiry regarding faith? If the justice we know is not an -adumbration of Divine justice, if the righteousness we do is not -taught us by God, of the same kind as His, if loving justice and doing -righteousness we are not showing faith in God, if renouncing all for -the right, clinging to it though the heavens should fall, we are not -in touch with the Highest, then there is no basis for faith, no link -between our human life and the Eternal. All must go if these deep -principles of morality and religion are not to be trusted. What a man -knows of the just and good by clinging to it, suffering for it, -rejoicing in it, is indeed the anchor that keeps him from being swept -into the waste of waters. - -The woman's part in the controversy is still to be considered; and it is -but faintly indicated. Upon the Arab soul there lay no sense of woman's -life. Her view of providence or of religion was never asked. The writer -probably means here that Job's wife would naturally, as a woman, -complicate the sum of his troubles. She expresses ill-considered -resentment against his piety. To her he is "righteous over much," and -her counsel is that of despair. Was this all that the Great God whom he -trusted could do for him? Better bid farewell to such a God. She can do -nothing to relieve the dreadful torment and can see but the one possible -end. But it is God who is keeping her husband alive, and one word would -be enough to set him free. Her language is strangely illogical, meant -indeed to be so,--a woman's desperate talk. She does not see that, -though Job renounced God, he might yet live on, in greater misery than -ever, just because he would then have no spiritual stay. - -Well, some have spoken very strongly about Job's wife. She has been -called a helper of the Devil, an organ of Satan, an infernal fury. -Chrysostom thinks that the Enemy left her alive because he deemed her a -fit scourge to Job by which to plague him more acutely than by any -other. Ewald, with more point, says: "Nothing can be more scornful than -her words which mean, 'Thou, who under all the undeserved sufferings -which have been inflicted on thee by thy God, hast been faithful to Him -even in fatal sickness, as if He would help or desired to help thee who -art beyond help,--to thee, fool, I say, Bid God farewell, and die!'" -There can be no doubt that she appears as the temptress of her husband, -putting into speech the atheistic doubt which the Adversary could not -directly suggest. And the case is all the worse for Job that affection -and sympathy are beneath her words. Brave and true life appears to her -to profit nothing if it has to be spent in pain and desolation. She does -not seem to speak so much in scorn as in the bitterness of her soul. She -is no infernal fury, but one whose love, genuine enough, does not enter -into the fellowship of his sufferings. It was necessary to Job's trial -that the temptation should be presented, and the ignorant affection of -the woman serves the needful purpose. She speaks not knowing what she -says, not knowing that her words pierce like sharp arrows into his very -soul. As a figure in the drama she has her place, helping to complete -the round of trial. - -The answer of Job is one of the fine touches of the book. He does not -denounce her as an instrument of Satan nor dismiss her from his -presence. In the midst of his pain he is the great chief of Uz and the -generous husband. "Thou speakest," he mildly says, "as one of the -foolish, that is, godless, women speaketh." It is not like thee to say -such things as these. And then he adds the question born of sublime -faith, "Shall we receive gladness at the hand of God, and shall we not -receive affliction?" - -One might declare this affirmation of faith so clear and decisive that -the trial of Job as a servant of God might well close with it. Earthly -good, temporal joy, abundance of possessions, children, health,--these -he had received. Now in poverty and desolation, his body wrecked by -disease, he lies tormented and helpless. Suffering of mind and -physical affliction are his in almost unexampled keenness, acute in -themselves and by contrast with previous felicity. His wife, too, -instead of helping him to endure, urges him to dishonour and death. -Still he does not doubt that all is wisely ordered by God. He puts -aside, if indeed with a strenuous effort of the soul, that cruel -suggestion of despair, and affirms anew the faith which is supposed to -bind him to a life of torment. Should not this repel the accusations -brought against the religion of Job and of humanity? The author does -not think so. He has only prepared the way for his great discussion. -But the stages of trial already passed show how deep and vital is the -problem that lies beyond. The faith which has emerged so triumphantly -is to be shaken as by the ruin of the world. - -Strangely and erroneously has a distinction been drawn between the -previous afflictions and the disease which, it is said, "opens or -reveals greater depths in Job's reverent piety." One says: "In his -former trial he blessed God who took away the good He had added to naked -man; this was strictly no evil: now Job bows beneath God's hand when He -inflicts positive evil." Such literalism in reading the words "shall we -not receive evil?" implies a gross slander on Job. If he had meant that -the loss of health was "evil" as contrasted with the loss of children, -that from his point of view bereavement was no "evil," then indeed he -would have sinned against love, and therefore against God. It is the -whole course of his trial he is reviewing. Shall we receive "good"--joy, -prosperity, the love of children, years of physical vigour, and shall we -not receive pain--this burden of loss, desolation, bodily torment? -Herein Job sinned not with his lips. Again, had he meant moral evil, -something involving cruelty and unrighteousness, he would have sinned -indeed, his faith would have been destroyed by his own false judgment of -God. The words here must be interpreted in harmony with the distinction -already drawn between physical and mental suffering, which, as God -appoints them, have a good design, and moral evil, which can in no way -have its source in Him. - -And now the narrative passes into a new phase. As a chief of Uz, the -greatest of the Bene-Kedem, Job was known beyond the desert. As a man -of wisdom and generosity he had many friends. The tidings of his -disasters and finally of his sore malady are carried abroad; and after -months, perhaps (for a journey across the sandy waste needs -preparation and time), three of those who know him best and admire him -most, "Job's three friends," appear upon the scene. To sympathise with -him, to cheer and comfort him, they come with one accord, each on his -camel, not unattended, for the way is beset with dangers. - -They are men of mark all of them. The emeer of Uz has chiefs, no -doubt, as his peculiar friends, although the Septuagint colours too -much in calling them kings. It is, however, their piety, their -likeness to himself, as men who fear and serve the True God, that -binds them to Job's heart. They will contribute what they can of -counsel and wise suggestion to throw light on his trials and lift him -into hope. No arguments of unbelief or cowardice will be used by them, -nor will they propose that a stricken man should renounce God and die. -Eliphaz is from Teman, that centre of thought and culture where men -worshipped the Most High and meditated upon His providence. Shuach, -the city of Bildad, can scarcely be identified with the modern -Shuwak, about two hundred and fifty miles south-west from the Jauf -near the Red Sea, nor with the land of the Tsukhi of the Assyrian -inscriptions, lying on the Chaldæan frontier. It was probably a city, -now forgotten, in the Idumæan region. Maan, also near Petra, may be -the Naamah of Zophar. It is at least tempting to regard all the three -as neighbours who might without great difficulty communicate with each -other and arrange a visit to their common friend. From their -meeting-place at Teman or at Maan they would, in that case, have to -make a journey of some two hundred miles across one of the most barren -and dangerous deserts of Arabia,--clear enough proof of their esteem -for Job and their deep sympathy. - -The fine idealism of the poem is maintained in this new act. Men of -knowledge and standing are these. They may fail; they may take a false -view of their friend and his state; but their sincerity must not be -doubted nor their rank as thinkers. Whether the three represent -ancient culture, or rather the conceptions of the writer's own time, -is a question that may be variously answered. The book, however, is so -full of life, the life of earnest thought and keen thirst for truth, -that the type of religious belief found in all the three must have -been familiar to the author. These men are not, any more than Job -himself, contemporaries of Ephron the Hittite or the Balaam of -Numbers. They stand out as religious thinkers of a far later age, and -represent the current Rabbinism of the post-Solomonic era. The -characters are filled in from a profound knowledge of man and man's -life. Yet each of them, Temanite, Shuchite, Naamathite, is at bottom a -Hebrew believer striving to make his creed apply to a case not yet -brought into his system, and finally, when every suggestion is -repelled, taking refuge in that hardness of temper which is peculiarly -Jewish. They are not men of straw, as some imagine, but types of the -culture and thought which led to Pharisaism. The writer argues not so -much with Edom as with his own people. - -Approaching Job's dwelling the three friends look eagerly from their -camels, and at length perceive one prostrate, disfigured, lying on the -_mezbele_, a miserable wreck of manhood. "That is not our friend," -they say to each other. Again and yet again, "This is not he; this -surely cannot be he." Yet nowhere else than in the place of the -forsaken do they find their noble friend. The brave, bright chief they -knew, so stately in his bearing, so abundant and honourable, how has -he fallen! They lift up their voices and weep; then, struck into -amazed silence, each with torn mantle and dust-sprinkled head, for -seven days and nights they sit beside him in grief unspeakable. - -Real is their sympathy; deep too, as deep as their character and -sentiments admit. As comforters they are proverbial in a bad sense. Yet -one says truly, perhaps out of bitter experience, "Who that knows what -most modern consolation is can prevent a prayer that Job's comforters -may be his? They do not call upon him for an hour and invent excuses for -the departure which they so anxiously await; they do not write notes to -him, and go about their business as if nothing had happened; they do not -inflict upon him meaningless commonplaces."[1] It was their misfortune, -not altogether their fault, that they had mistaken notions which they -deemed it their duty to urge upon him. Job, disappointed by-and-by, did -not spare them, and we feel so much for him that we are apt to deny -them their due. Yet are we not bound to ask, What friend has had equal -proof of our sympathy? Depth of nature; sincerity of friendship; the -will to console: let those mock at Job's comforters as wanting here who -have travelled two hundred miles over the burning sand to visit a man -sunk in disaster, brought to poverty and the gate of death, and sat with -him seven days and nights in generous silence. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] "Mark Rutherford." - - - - -THE FIRST COLLOQUY. - - - - -VI. - -_THE CRY FROM THE DEPTH._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAP. iii. - - -While the friends of Job sat beside him that dreary week of silence, -each of them was meditating in his own way the sudden calamities which -had brought the prosperous emeer to poverty, the strong man to this -extremity of miserable disease. Many thoughts came and were dismissed; -but always the question returned, Why these disasters, this shadow of -dreadful death? And for very compassion and sorrow each kept secret -the answer that came and came again and would not be rejected. -Meanwhile the silence has weighed upon the sufferer, and the burden of -it becomes at length insupportable. He has tried to read their -thoughts, to assure himself that grief alone kept them dumb, that when -they spoke it would be to cheer him with kindly words, to praise and -reinvigorate his faith, to tell him of Divine help that would not fail -him in life or death. But as he sees their faces darken into inquiry -first and then into suspicion, and reads at length in averted looks -the thought they cannot conceal, when he comprehends that the men he -loved and trusted hold him to be a transgressor and under the ban of -God, this final disaster of false judgment is overwhelming. The man -whom all circumstances appear to condemn, who is bankrupt, solitary, -outworn with anxiety and futile efforts to prove his honour, if he -have but one to believe in him, is helped to endure and hope. But Job -finds human friendship yield like a reed. All the past is swallowed up -in one tragical thought that, be a man what he may, there is no refuge -for him in the justice of man. Everything is gone that made human -society and existence in the world worth caring for. His wife, indeed, -believes in his integrity, but values it so little that she would have -him cast it away with a taunt against God. His friends, it is plain -to see, deny it. He is suffering at God's hand, and they are hardened -against him. The iron enters into his soul. - -True, it is the shame and torment of his disease that move him to utter -his bitter lamentation. Yet the underlying cause of his loss of -self-command and of patient confidence in God must not be missed. The -disease has made life a physical agony; but he could bear that if still -no cloud came between him and the face of God. Now these dark, -suspicious looks which meet him every time he lifts his eyes, which he -feels resting upon him even when he bows his head in the attempt to -pray, make religion seem a mockery. And in pitiful anticipation of the -doom to which they are silently driving him, he cries aloud against the -life that remains. He has lived in vain. Would he had never been born! - -In this first lyrical speech put into the mouth of Job there is an -Oriental, hyperbolical strain, suited to the speaker and his -circumstances. But we are also made to feel that calamity and -dejection have gone near to unhinging his mind. He is not mad, but his -language is vehement, almost that of insanity. It would be wrong, -therefore, to criticise the words in a matter-of-fact way, and against -the spirit of the book to try by the rules of Christian resignation -one so tossed and racked, in the very throat of the furnace. This is a -pious man, a patient man, who lately said, "Shall we receive joy at -the hand of God, and shall we not receive affliction?" He seems to -have lost all control of himself and plunges into wild untamed speech -filled with anathemas, as one who had never feared God. But he is -driven from self-possession. Phantasmal now is all that brave life of -his as prince and as father, as a man in honour beloved of the -Highest. Did he ever enjoy it? If he did, was it not as in a dream? -Was he not rather a deceiver, a vile transgressor? His state befits -that. Light and love and life are turned into bitter gall. "I lived," -says one distressed like Job, "in a continual, indefinite, pining -fear; tremulous, pusillanimous, apprehensive of I knew not what; it -seemed as if the heavens and the earth were but boundless jaws of a -devouring monster wherein I, palpitating, waited to be devoured.... -'Man is, properly speaking, based upon hope, he has no other -possession but hope; this world of his is emphatically the Place of -Hope.'" We see Job, "for the present, quite shut out from hope; -looking not into the golden orient, but vaguely all round into a dim -firmament pregnant with earthquake and tornado." - -The poem may be read calmly. Let us remember that it came not calmly -from the pen of the writer, but as the outburst of volcanic feeling -from the deep centres of life. It is Job we hear; the language befits -his despondency, his position in the drama. But surely it presents to -us a real experience of one who, in the hour of Israel's defeat and -captivity, had seen his home swept bare, wife and children seized and -tortured or borne down in the rush of savage soldiery, while he -himself lived on, reduced in one day to awful memories and doubts as -the sole consciousness of life. Is not some crisis like this with its -irretrievable woes translated for us here into the language of Job's -bitter cry? Are we not made witnesses of a tragedy greater even than -his? - -"What is to become of us," asks Amiel, "when everything leaves us, -health, joy, affections, when the sun seems to have lost its warmth, -and life is stripped of all charm? Must we either harden or forget? -There is but one answer, Keep close to duty, do what you ought, come -what may." The mood of these words is not so devout as other passages -of the same writer. The advice, however, is often tendered in the name -of religion to the life-weary and desolate; and there are -circumstances to which it well applies. But a distracting sense of -impotence weighed down the life of Job. Duty? He could do nothing. It -was impossible to find relief in work; hence the fierceness of his -words. Nor can we fail to hear in them a strain of impatience almost -of anger: "To the unregenerate Prometheus Vinctus of a man, it is ever -the bitterest aggravation of his wretchedness that he is conscious of -virtue, that he feels himself the victim not of suffering only, but of -injustice. What then? Is the heroic inspiration we name Virtue but -some passion, some bubble of the blood?... Thus has the bewildered -wanderer to stand, as so many have done, shouting question after -question into the sibyl cave of Destiny, and receive no answer but an -echo. It is all a grim desert, this once fair world of his." - -Job is already asserting to himself the reality of his own virtue, for -he resents the suspicion of it. Indeed, with all the mystery of his -affliction yet to solve, he can but think that Providence is also -casting doubt on him. A keen sense of the favour of God had been his. -Now he becomes aware that while he is still the same man who moved -about in gladness and power, his life has a different look to others; -men and nature conspire against him. His once brave faith--the Lord -gave, the Lord hath taken away--is almost overborne. He does not -renounce, but he has a struggle to save it. The subtle Divine grace -at his heart alone keeps him from bidding farewell to God. - - * * * * * - -The outburst of Job's speech falls into three lyrical strophes, the -first ending at the tenth verse, the second at the nineteenth, the -third closing with the chapter. - -I. "Job opened his mouth and cursed his day." In a kind of wild -impossible revision of providence and reopening of questions long -settled, he assumes the right of heaping denunciations on the day of his -birth. He is so fallen, so distraught, and the end of his existence -appears to have come in such profound disaster, the face of God as well -as of man frowning on him, that he turns savagely on the only fact left -to strike at,--his birth into the world. But the whole strain is -imaginative. His revolt is unreason, not impiety either against God or -his parents. He does not lose the instinct of a good man, one who keeps -in mind the love of father and mother and the intention of the Almighty -whom he still reveres. Life is an act of God: he would not have it -marred again by infelicity like his own. So the day as an ideal factor -in history or cause of existence is given up to chaos. - - "_That day, there! Darkness be it. - Seek it not the High God from above; - And no light stream on it. - Darkness and the nether gloom reclaim it. - Encamp over it the clouds; - Scare it blacknesses of the day._" - -The idea is, Let the day of my birth be got rid of, so that no other -come into being on such a day; let God pass from it--then He will not -give life on that day. Mingled in this is the old world notion of days -having meanings and powers of their own. This day had proved malign, -terribly bad. It was already a chaotic day, not fit for a man's birth. -Let every natural power of storm and eclipse draw it back to the void. -The night too, as part of the day, comes under imprecation. - - "_That night, there! Darkness seize it, - Joy have it none among the days of the year, - Nor come into the numbering of months. - See! That night, be it barren; - No song-voice come to it: - Ban it, the cursers of day - Skilful to stir up leviathan. - Dark be the stars of its twilight, - May it long for the light--find none, - Nor see the eyelids of dawn._" - -The vividness here is from superstition, fancies of past generations, -old dreams of a child race. Foreign they would be to the mind of Job in -his strength; but in great disaster the thoughts are apt to fall back on -these levels of ignorance and dim efforts to explain, omens and powers -intangible. It is quite easy to follow Job in this relapse, half wilful, -half for easing of his bosom. Throughout Arabia, Chaldæa, and India went -a belief in evil powers that might be invoked to make a particular day -one of misfortune. The leviathan is the dragon which was thought to -cause eclipses by twining its black coils about the sun and moon. These -vague undertones of belief ran back probably to myths of the sky and the -storm, and Job ordinarily must have scorned them. Now, for the time, he -chooses to make them serve his need of stormy utterance. If any who hear -him really believe in magicians and their spells, they are welcome to -gather through that belief a sense of his condition; or if they choose -to feel pious horror, they may be shocked. He flings out maledictions, -knowing in his heart that they are vain words. - -Is it not something strange that the happy past is here entirely -forgotten? Why has Job nothing to say of the days that shone brightly -upon him? Have they no weight in the balance against pain and grief? - - "The tempest in my mind - Doth from my senses take all feeling else - Save what beats there." - -His mind is certainly clouded; for it is not vain to say that piety -preserves the thought of what God once gave, and Job had himself -spoken of it when his disease was young. At this point he is an -example of what man is when he allows the water-floods to overflow him -and the sad present to extinguish a brighter past. The sense of a -wasted life is upon him, because he does not yet understand what the -saving of life is. To be kind to others and to be happy in one's own -kindness is not for man so great a benefit, so high a use of life, as -to suffer with others and for them. What were the life of our Lord on -earth and His death but a revelation to man of the secret he had never -grasped and still but half approves? The Book of Job, a long, yearning -cry out of the night, shows how the world needed Christ to shed His -Divine light upon all our experiences and unite them in a religion of -sacrifice and triumph. The book moves toward that reconciliation which -only the Christ can achieve. As yet, looking at the sufferer here, we -see that the light of the future has not dawned upon him. Only when he -is brought to bay by the falsehoods of man, in the absolute need of -his soul, will he boldly anticipate the redemption and fling himself -for refuge on a justifying God. - -II. In the second strophe cursing is exchanged for wailing, fruitless -reproach of a long past day for a touching chant in praise of the -grave. If his birth had to be, why could he not have passed at once -into the shades? The lament, though not so passionate, is full of -tragic emotion. The phrases of it have been woven into a modern hymn -and used to express what Christians may feel; but they are pagan in -tone, and meant by the writer to embody the unhopeful thought of the -race. Here is no outlook beyond the inanition of death, the oblivion -and silence of the tomb. It is not the extreme of unfaith, but rather -of weakness and misery. - - "_Wherefore hastened the knees to meet me, - And why the breasts that I should suck? - For then, having sunk down, would I repose, - Fallen asleep there would be rest for me. - With kings and councillors of the earth - Who built them solitary piles; - Or with princes who had gold, - Who filled their houses with silver; - Or as a hidden abortion I had not been, - As infants who never saw light. - There the wicked cease from raging, - And there the outworn rest. - Together the prisoners are at ease, - Not hearing the call of the task-master. - Small and great are there the same, - The slave set free from his lord._" - -It is beautiful poetry, and the images have a singular charm for the -dejected mind. The chief point, however, for us to notice is the absence -of any thought of judgment. In the dim under-world, hid as beneath heavy -clouds, power and energy are not. Existence has fallen to so low an ebb -that it scarcely matters whether men were good or bad in this life, nor -is it needful to separate them. For the tyrant can do no more harm to -the captive, nor the robber to his victim. The astute councillor is no -better than the slave. It is a kind of existence below the level of -moral judgment, below the level either of fear or joy. From the -peacefulness of this region none are excluded; as there will be no -strength to do good there will be none to do evil. "The small and great -are there the same." The stillness and calm of the dead body deceive the -mind, willing in its wretchedness to be deceived. - -When the writer put this chant into the mouth of Job, he had in memory -the pyramids of Egypt and tombs, like those of Petra, carved in the -lonely hills. The contrast is thus made picturesque between the state -of Job lying in loathsome disease and the lot of those who are -gathered to the mighty dead. For whether the rich are buried in their -stately sepulchres, or the body of a slave is hastily covered with -desert sand, all enter into one painless repose. The whole purpose of -the passage is to mark the extremity of hopelessness, the mind -revelling in images of its own decay. We are not meant to rest in that -love of death from which Job vainly seeks comfort. On the contrary, we -are to see him by-and-by roused to interest in life and its issues. -This is no halting-place in the poem, as it often is in human thought. -A great problem of Divine righteousness hangs unsolved. With the death -of the prisoner and the down-trodden slave whose worn-out body is left -a prey to the vulture--with the death of the tyrant whose evil pride -has built a stately tomb for his remains--all is not ended. Peace has -not come. Rather has the unravelling of the tangle to begin. The -All-righteous has to make His inquisition and deal out the justice of -eternity. Modern poetry, however, often repeats in its own way the -old-world dream, mistaking the silence and composure of the dead face -for a spiritual deliverance:-- - - "The aching craze to live ends, and life glides - Lifeless--to nameless quiet, nameless joy. - Blessed Nirvana, sinless, stirless rest, - That change which never changes." - -To Christianity this idea is utterly foreign, yet it mingles with some -religious teaching, and is often to be found in the weaker sorts of -religious fiction and verse. - -III. The last portion of Job's address begins with a note of inquiry. -He strikes into eager questioning of heaven and earth regarding his -state. What is he kept alive for? He pursues death with his longing as -one goes into the mountains to seek treasure. And again, his way is -hid; he has no future. God hath hedged him in on this side by losses, -on that by grief; behind a past mocks him, before is a shape which he -follows and yet dreads. - - "_Wherefore gives He light to wretched men - Life to the bitter in soul? - Who long for death but no! - Search for it more than for treasures._" - -It is indeed a horrible condition, this of the baffled mind to which -nothing remains but its own gnawing thought that finds neither reason -of being nor end of turmoil, that can neither cease to question nor -find answer to inquiries that rack the spirit. There is energy enough, -life enough to feel life a terror, and no more; not enough for any -mastery even of stoical resolve. The power of self-consciousness seems -to be the last injury, a Nessus-shirt, the gift of a strange hate. -"The real agony is the silence, the ignorance of the why and the -wherefore, the Sphinx-like imperturbability which meets his prayers." -This struggle for a light that will not come has been expressed by -Matthew Arnold in his "Empedocles on Etna," a poem which may in some -respects be named a modern version of Job:-- - - "This heart will glow no more; thou art - A living man no more, Empedocles! - Nothing but a devouring flame of thought-- - But a naked eternally restless mind.... - To the elements it came from - Everything will return-- - Our bodies to earth, - Our blood to water, - Heat to fire, - Breath to air. - They were well born, - They will be well entombed-- - But mind, but thought-- - Where will they find their parent element? - What will receive them, who will call them home? - But we shall still be in them and they in us.... - And we shall be unsatisfied as now; - And we shall feel the agony of thirst, - The ineffable longing for the life of life, - Baffled for ever." - -Thought yields no result; the outer universe is dumb and impenetrable. -Still Job would revive if a battle for righteousness offered itself to -him. He has never had to fight for God or for his own faith. When the -trumpet call is heard he will respond; but he is not yet aware of -hearing it. - -The closing verses have presented considerable difficulty to -interpreters, who on the one hand shrink from the supposition that Job -is going back on his past life of prosperity and finding there the -origin of his fear, and on the other hand see the danger of leaving so -significant a passage without definite meaning. The Revised Version -puts all the verbs of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses into -the present tense, and Dr. A. B. Davidson thinks translation into the -past tense would give a meaning "contrary to the idea of the poem." -Now, a considerable interval had already elapsed from the time of -Job's calamities, even from the beginning of his illness, quite long -enough to allow the growth of anxiety and fear as to the judgment of -the world. Job was not ignorant of the caprice and hardness of men. He -knew how calamity was interpreted; he knew that many who once bowed to -his greatness already heaped scorn upon his fall. May not his fear -have been that his friends from beyond the desert would furnish the -last and in some respects most cutting of his sorrows? - - "_I have feared a fear; it has come upon me, - And that which I dread has come to me. - I have not been at ease, nor quiet, nor have I had rest; - Yet trouble has come._" - -In his brooding soul, those seven days and nights, fear has deepened -into certainty. He is a man despised. Even for those three his -circumstances have proved too much. Did he imagine for a moment that -their coming might relieve the pressure of his lot and open a way to -the recovery of his place among men? The trouble is deeper than ever; -they have stirred a tempest in his breast. - -Note that in his whole agony Job makes no motion towards suicide. -Arnold's Empedocles cries against life, flings out his questions to a -dumb universe, and then plunges into the crater of Etna. Here, as at -other points, the inspiration of the author of our book strikes clear -between stoicism and pessimism, defiance of the world to do its worst -and confession that the struggle is too terrible. The deep sense of -all that is tragic in life, and, with this, the firm persuasion that -nothing is appointed to man but what he is able to bear, together make -the clear Bible note. It may seem that Job's ejaculations differ -little from the cry out of the "City of Dreadful Night," - - "Weary of erring in this desert, Life, - Weary of hoping hopes for ever vain, - Weary of struggling in all sterile strife, - Weary of thought which maketh nothing plain, - I close my eyes and calm my panting breath - And pray to thee, O ever quiet Death, - To come and soothe away my bitter pain." - -But the writer of the book knows what is in hand. He has to show how -far faith may be pressed down and bent by the sore burdens of life -without breaking. He has to give us the sense of a soul in the -uttermost depth, that we may understand the sublime argument which -follows, know its importance, and find our own tragedy exhibited, our -own need met, the personal and the universal marching together to an -issue. Suicide is no issue for a life, any more than universal -cataclysm for the evolution of a world. Despair is no refuge. The -inspired writer here sees so far, so clearly, that to mention suicide -would be absurd. The struggle of life cannot be renounced. So much he -knows by a spiritual instinct which anticipates the wisdom of later -times. Were this book a simple record of fact, we have Job in a -position far more trying than that of Saul after his defeat on Gilboa; -but it is an ideal prophetic writing, a Divine poem, and the faith it -is designed to commend saves the man from interfering by any deed of -his with the will of God. - -We are prepared for the vehement controversy that follows and the -sustained appeal of the sufferer to that Power which has laid upon him -such a weight of agony. When he breaks into passionate cries and seems -to be falling away from all trust, we do not despair of him nor of the -cause he represents. The intensity with which he longs for death is -actually a sign and measure of the strong life that throbs within him, -which yet will be led out into light and freedom and come to peace as -it were in the very clash of revolt. - - - - -VII. - -_THE THINGS ELIPHAZ HAD SEEN._ - -ELIPHAZ SPEAKS. CHAPS. iv., v. - - -The ideas of sin and suffering against which the poem of Job was -written come now dramatically into view. The belief of the three -friends had always been that God, as righteous Governor of human life, -gives felicity in proportion to obedience and appoints trouble in -exact measure of disobedience. Job himself, indeed, must have held the -same creed. We may imagine that while he was prosperous his friends -had often spoken with him on this very point. They had congratulated -him often on the wealth and happiness he enjoyed as an evidence of the -great favour of the Almighty. In conversation they had remarked on -case after case which seemed to prove, beyond the shadow of doubt, -that if men reject God affliction and disaster invariably follow. -Their idea of the scheme of things was very simple, and, on the whole, -it had never come into serious questioning. Of course human justice, -even when rudely administered, and the practice of private revenge -helped to fulfil their theory of Divine government. If any serious -crime was committed, those friendly to the injured person took up his -cause and pursued the wrong-doer to inflict retribution upon him. His -dwelling was perhaps burned and his flocks dispersed, he himself -driven into a kind of exile. The administration of law was rude, yet -the unwritten code of the desert made the evil-doer suffer and allowed -the man of good character to enjoy life if he could. These facts went -to sustain the belief that God was always regulating a man's happiness -by his deserts. And beyond this, apart altogether from what was done -by men, not a few accidents and calamities appeared to show Divine -judgment against wrong. Then, as now, it might be said that avenging -forces lurk in the lightning, the storm, the pestilence, forces which -are directed against transgressors and cannot be evaded. Men would -say, Yes, though one hide his crimes, though he escape for long the -condemnation and punishment of his fellows, yet the hand of God will -find him: and the prediction seemed always to be verified. Perhaps the -stroke did not fall at once. Months might pass; years might pass; but -the time came when they could affirm, Now righteousness has overtaken -the offender; his crime is rewarded; his pride is brought low. And if, -as happened occasionally, the flocks of a man who was in good -reputation died of murrain, and his crops were blighted by the -terrible hot wind of the desert, they could always say, Ah! we did not -know all about him. No doubt if we could look into his private life we -should see why this has befallen. So the barbarians of the island of -Melita, when Paul had been shipwrecked there, seeing a viper fasten on -his hand, said, "No doubt this is a murderer whom, though he hath -escaped from the sea, yet justice suffereth not to live." - -Thoughts like these were in the minds of the three friends of Job, very -confounding indeed, for they had never expected to shake their heads -over him. They accordingly deserve credit for true sympathy, inasmuch as -they refrained from saying anything that might hurt him. His grief was -great, and it might be due to remorse. His unparalleled afflictions put -him, as it were, in sanctuary from taunts or even questionings. He has -done wrong, he has not been what we thought him, they said to -themselves, but he is drinking to the bitter dregs a cup of retribution. - -But when Job opened his mouth and spoke, their sympathy was dashed with -pious horror. They had never in all their lives heard such words. He -seemed to prove himself far worse than they could have imagined. He -ought to have been meek and submissive. Some flaw there must have been: -what was it? He should have confessed his sin instead of cursing life -and reflecting on God. Their own silent suspicion, indeed, is the chief -cause of his despair; but this they do not understand. Amazed they hear -him; outraged, they take up the challenge he offers. One after another -the three men reason with Job, from almost the same point of view, -suggesting first and then insisting that he should acknowledge fault and -humble himself under the hand of a just and holy God. - -Now, here is the motive of the long controversy which is the main -subject of the poem. And, in tracing it, we are to see Job, although -racked by pain and distraught by grief--sadly at disadvantage because he -seems to be a living example of the truth of their ideas--rousing -himself to the defence of his integrity and contending for that as the -only grip he has of God. Advance after advance is made by the three, who -gradually become more dogmatic as the controversy proceeds. Defence -after defence is made by Job, who is driven to think himself challenged -not only by his friends, but sometimes also by God Himself through them. - -Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar agree in the opinion that Job has done -evil and is suffering for it. The language they use and the arguments -they bring forward are much alike. Yet a difference will be found in -their way of speaking, and a vaguely suggested difference of -character. Eliphaz gives us an impression of age and authority. When -Job has ended his complaint, Eliphaz regards him with a disturbed and -offended look. "How pitiful!" he seems to say; but also, "How -dreadful, how unaccountable!" He desires to win Job to a right view of -things by kindly counsel; but he talks pompously, and preaches too -much from the high moral bench. Bildad, again, is a dry and composed -person. He is less the man of experience than of tradition. He does -not speak of discoveries made in the course of his own observation; -but he has stored the sayings of the wise and reflected upon them. -When a thing is cleverly said he is satisfied, and he cannot -understand why his impressive statements should fail to convince and -convert. He is a gentleman, like Eliphaz, and uses courtesy. At first -he refrains from wounding Job's feelings. Yet behind his politeness is -the sense of superior wisdom--the wisdom of ages, and his own. He is -certainly a harder man than Eliphaz. Lastly, Zophar is a blunt man -with a decidedly rough, dictatorial style. He is impatient of the -waste of words on a matter so plain, and prides himself on coming to -the point. It is he who ventures to say definitely: "Know therefore -that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth,"--a -cruel speech from any point of view. He is not so eloquent as Eliphaz, -he has no air of a prophet. Compared with Bildad he is less -argumentative. With all his sympathy--and he, too, is a friend--he -shows an exasperation which he justifies by his zeal for the honour of -God. The differences are delicate, but real, and evident even to our -late criticism. In the author's day the characters would probably seem -more distinctly contrasted than they appear to us. Still, it must be -owned, each holds virtually the same position. One prevailing school -of thought is represented and in each figure attacked. - -It is not difficult to imagine three speakers differing far more from -each other. For example, instead of Bildad we might have had a Persian -full of the Zoroastrian ideas of two great powers, the Good Spirit, -Ahuramazda, and the Evil Spirit, Ahriman. Such a one might have -maintained that Job had given himself to the Evil Spirit, or that his -revolt against providence would bring him under that destructive power -and work his ruin. And then, instead of Zophar, one might have been -set forward who maintained that good and evil make no difference, that -all things come alike to all, that there is no God who cares for -righteousness among men; assailing Job's faith in a more dangerous -way. But the writer has no such view of making a striking drama. His -circle of vision is deliberately chosen. It is only what might appear -to be true he allows his characters to advance. One hears the -breathings of the same dogmatism in the three voices. All is said for -the ordinary belief that can be said. And three different men reason -with Job that it may be understood how popular, how deeply rooted is -the notion which the whole book is meant to criticise and disprove. -The dramatising is vague, not at all of our sharp, modern kind like -that of Ibsen, throwing each figure into vivid contrast with every -other. All the author's concern is to give full play to the theory -which holds the ground and to show its incompatibility with the facts -of human life, so that it may perish of its own hollowness. - -Nevertheless the first address to Job is eloquent and poetically -beautiful. No rude arguer is Eliphaz but one of the golden-mouthed, -mistaken in creed but not in heart, a man whom Job might well cherish -as a friend. - -I. The first part of his speech extends to the eleventh verse. With -the respect due to sorrow, putting aside the dismay caused by Job's -wild language, he asks, "If one essay to commune with thee, wilt thou -be grieved?" It seems unpardonable to add to the sufferer's misery by -saying what he has in his mind; and yet--he cannot refrain. "Who can -withhold himself from speaking?" The state of Job is such that there -must be thorough and very serious communication. Eliphaz reminds him -of what he had been--an instructor of the ignorant, one who -strengthened the weak, upheld the falling, confirmed the feeble. Was -he not once so confident of himself, so resolute and helpful that -fainting men found him a bulwark against despair? Should he have -changed so completely? Should one like him take to fruitless wailings -and complaints? "Now it cometh upon thee, and thou faintest; it -toucheth thee, and thou art confounded." Eliphaz does not mean to -taunt. It is in sorrow that he speaks, pointing out the contrast -between what was and is. Where is the strong faith of former days? -There is need for it, and Job ought to have it as his stay. "Is not -thy piety thy confidence? Thy hope, is it not the integrity of thy -ways?" Why does he not look back and take courage? Pious fear of God, -if he allows himself to be guided by it, will not fail to lead him -again into the light. - -It is a friendly and sincere effort to make the champion of God serve -himself of his own faith. The undercurrent of doubt is not allowed to -appear. Eliphaz makes it a wonder that Job had dropped his claim on -the Most High; and he proceeds in a tone of expostulation, amazed that -a man who knew the way of the Almighty should fall into the miserable -weakness of the worst evil-doer. Poetically, yet firmly, the idea is -introduced:-- - - "_Bethink thee now, who ever, being innocent, perished, - And where have the upright been destroyed? - As I have seen, they who plough iniquity - And sow disaster reap the same. - By the wrath of God they perish, - By the storm of His wrath they are undone. - Roaring of the lion, voice of the growling lion, - Teeth of the young lions are broken; - The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, - The whelps of the lioness are scattered._" - -First among the things Eliphaz has seen is the fate of those violent -evil-doers who plough iniquity and sow disaster. But Job has not been -like them and therefore has no need to fear the harvest of perdition. -He is among those who are not finally cut off. In the tenth and -eleventh verses the dispersion of a den of lions is the symbol of the -fate of those who are hot in wickedness. As in some cave of the -mountains an old lion and lioness with their whelps dwell securely, -issuing forth at their will to seize the prey and make night dreadful -with their growling, so those evil-doers flourish for a time in -hateful and malignant strength. But as on a sudden the hunters, -finding the lions' retreat, kill and scatter them, young and old, so -the coalition of wicked men is broken up. The rapacity of wild desert -tribes appears to be reflected in the figure here used. Eliphaz may be -referring to some incident which had actually occurred. - -II. In the second division of his address he endeavours to bring home to -Job a needed moral lesson by detailing a vision he once had and the -oracle which came with it. The account of the apparition is couched in -stately and impressive language. That chilling sense of fear which -sometimes mingles with our dreams in the dead of night, the sensation of -a presence that cannot be realised, something awful breathing over the -face and making the flesh creep, an imagined voice falling solemnly on -the ear,--all are vividly described. In the recollection of Eliphaz the -circumstances of the vision are very clear, and the finest poetic skill -is used in giving the whole solemn dream full justice and effect. - - "_Now a word was secretly brought me, - Mine ear caught the whisper thereof; - In thoughts from visions of the night, - When deep sleep falls upon men, - A terror came on me, and trembling - Which thrilled my bones to the marrow. - Then a breath passed before my face, - The hairs of my body rose erect. - It stood still--its appearance I trace not. - An image is before mine eyes. - There was silence, and I heard a voice-- - Shall man beside Eloah be righteous? - Or beside his Maker shall man be clean?_" - -We are made to feel here how extraordinary the vision appeared to -Eliphaz, and, at the same time, how far short he comes of the seer's -gift. For what is this apparition? Nothing but a vague creation of the -dreaming mind. And what is the message? No new revelation, no -discovery of an inspired soul. After all, only a fact quite familiar -to pious thought. The dream oracle has been generally supposed to -continue to the end of the chapter. But the question as to the -righteousness of man and his cleanness beside God seems to be the -whole of it, and the rest is Eliphaz's comment or meditation upon it, -his "thoughts from visions of the night." - -As to the oracle itself: while the words may certainly bear -translating so as to imply a direct comparison between the -righteousness of man and the righteousness of God, this is not -required by the purpose of the writer, as Dr. A. B. Davidson has -shown. In the form of a question it is impressively announced that -with or beside the High God no weak man is righteous, no strong man -pure; and this is sufficient, for the aim of Eliphaz is to show that -troubles may justly come on Job, as on others, because all are by -nature imperfect. No doubt the oracle might transcend the scope of the -argument. Still the question has not been raised by Job's criticism of -providence, whether he reckons himself more just than God; and apart -from that any comparison seems unnecessary, meeting no mood of human -revolt of which Eliphaz has ever heard. The oracle, then, is -practically of the nature of a truism, and, as such, agrees with the -dream vision and the impalpable ghost, a dim presentation by the mind -to itself of what a visitor from the higher world might be. - -Shall any created being, inheritor of human defects, stand beside -Eloah, clean in His sight? Impossible. For, however sincere and -earnest any one may be toward God and in the service of men, he cannot -pass the fallibility and imperfection of the creature. The thought -thus solemnly announced, Eliphaz proceeds to amplify in a prophetic -strain, which, however, does not rise above the level of good poetry. - -"Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants." Nothing that the best -of them have to do is committed entirely to them; the supervision of -Eloah is always maintained that their defects may not mar His purpose. -"His angels He chargeth with error." Even the heavenly spirits, if we -are to trust Eliphaz, go astray; they are under a law of discipline -and holy correction. In the Supreme Light they are judged and often -found wanting. To credit this to a Divine oracle would be somewhat -disconcerting to ordinary theological ideas. But the argument is clear -enough,--If even the angelic servants of God require the constant -supervision of His wisdom and their faults need His correction, much -more do men whose bodies are "houses of clay, whose foundation is in -the dust, who are crushed before the moth"--that is, the moth which -breeds corrupting worms. "From morning to evening they are -destroyed"--in a single day their vigour and beauty pass into decay. - -"Without observance they perish for ever," says Eliphaz. Clearly this -is not a word of Divine prophecy. It would place man beneath the level -of moral judgment, as a mere earth-creature whose life and death are -of no account even to God. Men go their way when a comrade falls, and -soon forget. True enough. But "One higher than the highest regardeth." -The stupidity or insensibility of most men to spiritual things is in -contrast to the attention and judgment of God. - -The description of man's life on earth, its brevity and dissolution, -on account of which he can never exalt himself as just and clean -beside God, ends with words that may be translated thus:-- - - "_Is not their cord torn asunder in them? - They shall die, and not in wisdom._" - -Here the tearing up of the tent cord or the breaking of the bow-string -is an image of the snapping of that chain of vital functions, the -"silver cord," on which the bodily life depends. - -The argument of Eliphaz, so far, has been, first, that Job, as a -pious man, should have kept his confidence in God, because he was not -like those who plough iniquity and sow disaster and have no hope in -Divine mercy; next, that before the Most High all are more or less -unrighteous and impure, so that if Job suffers for defect, he is no -exception, his afflictions are not to be wondered at. And this carries -the further thought that he ought to be conscious of fault and humble -himself under the Divine hand. Just at this point Eliphaz comes at -last within sight of the right way to find Job's heart and conscience. -The corrective discipline which all need was safe ground to take with -one who could not have denied in the last resort that he, too, had - - "Sins of will, - Defects of doubt and taints of blood." - -This strain of argument, however, closes, Eliphaz having much in his -mind which has not found expression and is of serious import. - -III. The speaker sees that Job is impatient of the sufferings which -make life appear useless to him. But suppose he appealed to the -saints--holy ones, or angels--to take his part, would that be of any -use? In his cry from the depth he had shown resentment and hasty -passion. These do not insure, they do not deserve help. The "holy -ones" would not respond to a man so unreasonable and indignant. On the -contrary, "resentment slayeth the foolish man, passion killeth the -silly." What Job had said in his outcry only tended to bring on him -the fatal stroke of God. Having caught at this idea, Eliphaz proceeds -in a manner rather surprising. He has been shocked by Job's bitter -words. The horror he felt returns upon him, and he falls into a very -singular and inconsiderate strain of remark. He does not, indeed, -identify his old friend with the foolish man whose destruction he -proceeds to paint. But an instance has occurred to him--a bit of his -large experience--of one who behaved in a godless, irrational way and -suffered for it; and for Job's warning, because he needs to take home -the lesson of the catastrophe, Eliphaz details the story. Forgetting -the circumstances of his friend, utterly forgetting that the man lying -before him has lost all his children and that robbers have swallowed -his substance, absorbed in his own reminiscence to the exclusion of -every other thought, Eliphaz goes deliberately through a whole roll of -disasters so like Job's that every word is a poisoned arrow:-- - - "_Plead then: will any one answer thee; - And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn? - Nay, resentment killeth the fool, - And hasty indignation slayeth the silly. - I myself have seen a godless fool take root; - Yet straightway I cursed his habitation:-- - His children are far from succour, - They are crushed in the gate without deliverer: - While the hungry eats up his harvest - And snatches it even out of the thorns, - And the snare gapes for their substance._" - -The desolation he saw come suddenly, even when the impious man had -just taken root as founder of a family, Eliphaz declares to be a curse -from the Most High; and he describes it with much force. Upon the -children of the household disaster falls at the gate or place of -judgment; there is no one to plead for them, because the father is -marked for the vengeance of God. Predatory tribes from the desert -devour first the crops in the remoter fields, and then those protected -by the thorn hedge near the homestead. The man had been an oppressor; -now those he had oppressed are under no restraint, and all he has is -swallowed up without redress. - -So much for the third attempt to convict Job and bring him to -confession. It is a bolt shot apparently at a venture, yet it strikes -where it must wound to the quick. Here, however, made aware, perhaps by -a look of anguish or a sudden gesture, that he has gone too far, Eliphaz -draws back. To the general dogma that affliction is the lot of every -human being he returns, that the sting may be taken out of his words:-- - - "_For disaster cometh not forth from the dust, - And out of the ground trouble springeth not; - But man is born unto trouble - As the sparks fly upward._" - -By this vague piece of moralising, which sheds no light on anything, -Eliphaz betrays himself. He shows that he is not anxious to get at the -root of the matter. The whole subject of pain and calamity is external -to him, not a part of his own experience. He would speak very -differently if he were himself deprived of all his possessions and -laid low in trouble. As it is he can turn glibly from one thought to -another, as if it mattered not which fits the case. In fact, as he -advances and retreats we discover that he is feeling his way, aiming -first at one thing, then at another, in the hope that this or that -random arrow may hit the mark. No man is just beside God. Job is like -the rest, crushed before the moth. Job has spoken passionately, in -wild resentment. Is he then among the foolish whose habitation is -cursed? But again, lest that should not be true, the speaker falls -back on the common lot of men, born to trouble--why, God alone can -tell. Afterwards he makes another suggestion. Is not God He who -frustrates the devices of the crafty and confounds the cunning, so -that they grope in the blaze of noon as if it were night? If the other -explanations did not apply to Job's condition, perhaps this would. At -all events something might be said by way of answer that would give an -inkling of the truth. At last the comparatively kind and vague -explanation is offered, that Job suffers from the chastening of the -Lord, who, though He afflicts, is also ready to heal. Glancing at all -possibilities which occur to him, Eliphaz leaves the afflicted man to -accept that which happens to come home. - -IV. Eloquence, literary skill, sincerity, mark the close of this -address. It is the argument of a man who is anxious to bring his -friend to a right frame of mind so that his latter days may be peace. -"As for me," he says, hinting what Job should do, "I would turn to -God, and set my expectation upon the Highest." Then he proceeds to -give his thoughts on Divine providence. Unsearchable, wonderful are -the doings of God. He is the Rain-giver for the thirsty fields and -desert pastures. Among men, too, He makes manifest His power, exalting -those who are lowly, and restoring the joy of the mourners. Crafty -men, who plot to make their own way, oppose His sovereign power in -vain. They are stricken as if with blindness. Out of their hand the -helpless are delivered, and hope is restored to the feeble. Has Job -been crafty? Has he been in secret a plotter against the peace of men? -Is it for this reason God has cast him down? Let him repent, and he -shall yet be saved. For - - "_Happy is the man whom Eloah correcteth, - Therefore spurn not thou the chastening of Shaddai. - For He maketh sore and bindeth up; - He smiteth, but His hands make whole. - In six straits He will deliver thee; - In seven also shall not evil touch thee. - In famine He will rescue thee from death, - And in war from the power of the sword. - When the tongue smiteth thou shalt be hid; - Nor shalt thou fear when desolation cometh. - At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; - And of the beasts of the earth shalt not be afraid. - For with the stones of the field shall be thy covenant; - With thee shall the beasts of the field be at peace. - So shalt thou find that thy tent is secure, - And surveying thy homestead thou shalt miss nothing. - Thou shalt find that thy seed are many, - And thy offspring like the grass of the earth; - Thou shalt come to thy grave with white hair, - As a ripe shock of corn is carried home in its season. - Behold! This we have searched out: thus it is. - Hear it, and, thou, consider it for thyself!_" - -Fine, indeed, as dramatic poetry; but is it not, as reasoning, -incoherent? The author does not mean it to be convincing. He who is -chastened and receives the chastening may not be saved in those six -troubles, yea seven. There is more of dream than fact. Eliphaz is -apparently right in everything, as Dillmann says; but right only on -the surface. _He has seen_--that they who plough iniquity and sow -disaster reap the same. _He has seen_--a vision of the night, and -received a message; a sign of God's favour that almost made him a -prophet. _He has seen_--a fool or impious man taking root, but was not -deceived; he knew what would be the end, and took upon him to curse -judicially the doomed homestead. _He has seen_--the crafty confounded. -_He has seen_--the man whom God corrected, who received his -chastisement with submission, rescued and restored to honour. "Lo, -this we have searched out," he says; "it is even thus." But the piety -and orthodoxy of the good Eliphaz do not save him from blunders at -every turn. And to the clearing of Job's position he offers no -suggestion of value. What does he say to throw light on the condition -of a believing, earnest servant of the Almighty who is _always_ poor, -_always_ afflicted, who meets disappointment after disappointment, and -is pursued by sorrow and disaster even to the grave? The religion of -Eliphaz is made for well-to-do people like himself, and such only. If -it were true that, because all are sinful before God, affliction and -pain are punishments of sin, and a man is happy in receiving this -Divine correction, why is Eliphaz himself not lying like Job upon a -heap of ashes, racked with the torment of disease? Good orthodox -prosperous man, he thinks himself a prophet, but he is none. Were he -tried like Job he would be as unreasonable and passionate, as wild in -his declamation against life, as eager for death. - -Useless in religion is all mere talk that only skims the surface, -however often the terms of it may be repeated, however widely they -find acceptance. The creed that breaks down at any point is no creed -for a rational being. Infidelity in our day is very much the -consequence of crude notions about God that contradict each other, -notions of the atonement, of the meaning of suffering, of the future -life, that are incoherent, childish, of no practical weight. People -think they have a firm grasp of the truth; but when circumstances -occur which are at variance with their preconceived ideas, they turn -away from religion, or their religion makes the facts of life appear -worse for them. It is the result of insufficient thought. Research -must go deeper, must return with new zeal to the study of Scripture -and the life of Christ. God's revelation in providence and -Christianity is one. It has a profound coherency, the stamp and -evidence of its truth. The rigidity of natural law has its meaning for -us in our study of the spiritual life. - - - - -VIII. - -_MEN FALSE: GOD OVERBEARING._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. vi., vii. - - -Worst to endure of all things is the grief that preys on a man's own -heart because no channel outside self is provided for the hot stream -of thought. Now that Eliphaz has spoken, Job has something to arouse -him, at least to resentment. The strength of his mind revives as he -finds himself called to a battle of words. And how energetic he is! -The long address of Eliphaz we saw to be incoherent, without the -backbone of any clear conviction, turning hither and thither in the -hope of making some way or other a happy hit. But as soon as Job -begins to speak there is coherency, strong thought running through the -variety of expression, the anxiety for instruction, the sense of -bewilderment and trouble. We feel at once that we are in contact with -a mind no half-truths can satisfy, that will go with whatever -difficulty to the very bottom of the matter. - -Supreme mark of a healthy nature, this. People are apt to praise a mind -at peace, moving composedly from thought to thought, content "to enjoy -the things which others understand," not distressed by moral questions. -But minds enjoying such peace are only to be praised if the philosophy -of life has been searched out and tried, and the great trust in God -which resolves all doubt has been found. While life and providence, -one's own history and the history of the world present what appear to be -contradictions, problems that baffle and disturb the soul, how can a -healthy mind be at rest? Our intellectual powers are not given simply -that we may enjoy; they are given that we may understand. A mind hungers -for knowledge, as a body for food, and cannot be satisfied unless the -reason and the truth of things are seen. You may object that some are -not capable of understanding, that indeed Divine providence, the great -purposes of God, lie so far and so high beyond the ordinary human range -as to be incomprehensible to most of us. Of what use, then, is -revelation? Is it given merely to bewilder us, to lead us on in a quest -which at the last must leave many of the searchers unsatisfied, without -light or hope? If so, the Bible mocks us, the prophets were deceivers, -even Christ Himself is found no Light of the world, but a dreamer who -spoke of that which can never be realised. Not thus do I begin in doubt, -and end in doubt. There are things beyond me; but exact or final -knowledge of these is not necessary. Within my range and reach through -nature and religion, through the Bible and the Son of God, are the -principles I need to satisfy my soul's hunger. And in every healthy mind -there will be desire for truth which, often baffled, will continue till -understanding comes. - -And here we join issue with the agnostic, who denies this vital demand -of the soul. Our thought dwelling on life and all its varied -experience--sorrow and fear, misery and hope, love threatened by death -yet unquenchable, the exultation of duty, the baffling of ambition, -unforeseen peril and unexpected deliverance--our thought, I say, -dealing with these elements of life, will not rest in the notion that -all is due to chance or to blind forces, that evolution can never be -intelligently followed. The modern atheist or agnostic falls into the -very error for which he used to reprove faith when he contemptuously -bids us get rid of the hope of understanding the world and the Power -directing it, when he invites us to remember our limitations and -occupy ourselves with things within our range. Religion used to be -taunted with crippling man's faculties and denying full play to his -mental activity. Scientific unbelief does so now. It restricts us to -the seen and temporal, and, if consistent, ought to refuse all ideals -and all desires for a "perfect" state. The modern sage, intent on the -study of material things and their changes, confining himself to what -can be seen, heard, touched, or by instruments analysed, may have -nothing but scorn or, say, pity for one who cries out of trouble-- - - "Have I sinned? Yet, what have I done unto Thee, - O Thou Watcher of men? - Why hast Thou set me as Thy stumbling-block, - So that I am a burden to myself? - And why wilt Thou not pardon my transgression, - And cause my sin to pass away?" - -But the man whose soul is eager in the search for reality must -endeavour to wrest from Heaven itself the secret of his -dissatisfaction with the real, his conflict with the real, and why he -must so often suffer from the very forces that sustain his life. Yes, -the passion of the soul continues. It protests against darkness, and -therefore against materialism. Conscious mind presses toward an origin -of thought. Soul must find a Divine Eternal Soul. Where nature opens -ascending ways to the reason in its quest; where prophets and sages -have cut paths here and there through the forest of mystery; where the -brave and true testify of a light they have seen and invite us to -follow; where One stands high and radiant above the cross on which He -suffered and declares Himself the Resurrection and the Life,--there -men will advance, feeling themselves inspired to maintain the search -for that Eternal Truth without the hope of which all our life here is -a wearisome pageant, a troubled dream, a bitter slavery. - -In his reply to Eliphaz, Job first takes hold of the charge of -impatience and hasty indignation made in the opening of the fifth -chapter. He is quite aware that his words were rash when he cursed his -day and cried impatiently for death. In accusing him of rebellious -passion, Eliphaz had shot the only arrow that went home; and now Job, -conscientious here, pulls out the arrow to show it and the wound. -"Oh," he cries, "that my hasty passion were duly weighed, and my -misery were laid in the balance against it! For then would it, my -misery, be found heavier than the sand of the seas: therefore have my -words been rash." He is almost deprecatory. Yes: he will admit the -impatience and vehemence with which he spoke. But then, had Eliphaz -duly considered his state, the weight of his trouble causing a -physical sense of indescribable oppression? Let his friends look at -him again, a man prostrated with sore disease and grief, dying slowly -in the leper's exile. - - "_The arrows of the Almighty are within me, - The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up. - The terrors of God beleaguer me._" - -We need not fall into the mistake of supposing that it is only the -pain of his disease which makes Job's misery so heavy. Rather is it -that his troubles have come from God; they are "the arrows of the -Almighty." Mere suffering and loss, even to the extremity of death, he -could have borne without a murmur. But he had thought God to be his -friend. Why on a sudden have those darts been launched against him by -the hand he trusted? What does the Almighty mean? The evil-doer who -suffers knows why he is afflicted. The martyr enduring for conscience' -sake has his support in the truth to which he bears witness, the holy -cause for which he dies. Job has no explanation, no support. He cannot -understand providence. The God with whom he supposed himself to be at -peace suddenly becomes an angry incomprehensible Power, blighting and -destroying His servant's life. Existence poisoned, the couch of ashes -encompassed with terrors, is it any wonder that passionate words break -from his lips? A cry is the last power left to him. - -So it is with many. The seeming needlessness of their sufferings, the -impossibility of tracing these to any cause in their past history, in a -word, the mystery of the pain confounds the mind, and adds to anguish -and desolation an unspeakable horror of darkness. Sometimes the very -thing guarded against is that which happens; a man's best intelligence -appears confuted by destiny or chance. Why has he amongst the many been -chosen for this? Do all things come alike to all, righteous and wicked? -The problem becomes terribly acute in the case of earnest God-fearing -men and women who have not yet found the real theory of suffering. -Endurance for others does not always explain. All cannot be rested on -that. Nor unless we speak falsely for God will it avail to say, These -afflictions have fallen on us for our sins. For even if the conscience -does not give the lie to that assertion, as Job's conscience did, the -question demands a clear answer why the penitent should suffer, those -who believe, to whom God imputes no iniquity. If it is for our -transgressions we suffer, either our own faith and religion are vain, or -God does not forgive excepting in form, and the law of punishment -retains its force. We have here the serious difficulty that legal -fictions seem to hold their ground even in the dealings of the Most High -with those who trust Him. Many are in the direst trouble still for the -same reason as Job, and might use his very words. Taught to believe -that suffering is invariably connected with wrong-doing and is always in -proportion to it, they cannot find in their past life any great -transgressions for which they should be racked with constant pain or -kept in grinding penury and disappointment. Moreover, they had imagined -that through the mediation of Christ their sins were expiated and their -guilt blotted out. What strange error is there in the creed or in the -world? Have they never believed? Has God turned against them? So they -inquire in the darkness. - -The truth, however, as shown in a previous chapter, is that suffering -has no proportion to the guilt of sin, but is related in the scheme of -Divine providence to life in this world, its movement, discipline, and -perfecting in the individual and the race. Afflictions, pains, and -griefs are appointed to the best as well as the worst, because all -need to be tried and urged on from imperfect faith and spirituality to -vigour, constancy, and courage of soul. The principle is not clearly -stated in the Book of Job, but underlies it, as truth must underlie -all genuine criticism and every faithful picture of human life. The -inspiration of the poem is so to present the facts of human experience -that the real answer alone can satisfy. And in the speech we are now -considering some imperfect and mistaken views are swept so completely -aside that their survival is almost unaccountable. - -Beginning with the fifth verse we have a series of questions somewhat -difficult to interpret:-- - - "_Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? - Or loweth the ox over his fodder? - Can that be eaten which is unsavoury, without salt? - Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? - My soul refuseth to touch them; - They are to me as mouldy bread._" - -By some these questions are supposed to describe sarcastically the -savourless words of Eliphaz, his "solemn and impertinent prosing." -This, however, would break the continuity of the thought. Another view -makes the reference to be to Job's afflictions, which he is supposed -to compare to insipid and loathsome food. But it seems quite unnatural -to take this as the meaning. Such pain and grief and loss as he had -undergone were certainly not like the white of an egg. But he has -already spoken wildly, unreasonably, and he now feels himself to be on -the point of breaking out afresh in similar impatient language. Now, -the wild ass does not complain when it has grass, nor the ox when it -has fodder; so, if his mind were supplied with necessary explanations -of the sore troubles he is enduring, he would not be impatient, he -would not complain. His soul hungers to know the reasons of the -calamities that darken his life. Nothing that has been said helps him. -Every suggestion presented to his mind is either trifling and vain, -without the salt of wisdom, like the white of an egg, or offensive, -disagreeable. Ruthlessly sincere, he will not pretend to be satisfied -when he is not. His soul refuses to touch the offered explanations and -reasons. Verily, they are like mouldy bread to him. It is his own -impatience, his loud cries and inquiries, he desires to account for; -he does not attack Eliphaz with sarcasm, but defends himself. - -At this point there is a brief halt in the speech. As if after a -pause, due to a sharp sting of pain, Job exclaims: "Oh that God would -please to destroy me!" He had felt the paroxysm approaching; he had -endeavoured to restrain himself, but the torture drives him, as -before, to cry for death. Again and again in the course of his -speeches sudden turns of this kind occur, points at which the dramatic -feeling of the writer comes out. He will have us remember the terrible -disease and keep continually in mind the setting of the thoughts. Job -had roused himself in beginning his reply, and, for a little, -eagerness had overcome pain. But now he falls back, mastered by cruel -sickness which appears to be unto death. Then he speaks:-- - - "_Oh that I might have my request, - That God would give me the thing I long for, - Even that God would be pleased to crush me, - That He would loose His hand and tear me off; - And I should yet have comfort, - I should even exult amidst unsparing pain, - For I have not denied the words of the Holy One._" - -The longing for death which now returns on Job is not so passionate as -before; but his cry is quite as urgent and unqualified. As we have -already seen, no motion towards suicide is at any point of the drama -attributed to him. He does not, like Shakespeare's Hamlet, whose -position is in some respects very similar, question with himself, - - "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer - The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, - Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, - And by opposing end them?" - -Nor may we say that Job is deterred from the act of self-destruction -by Hamlet's thought, "The dread of something after death" that - - "makes us rather bear those ills we have - Than fly to others that we know not of." - -Job has the fear and faith of God still, and not even the pressure of -"unsparing pain" can move him to take into his own hands the ending of -that torment God bids him bear. He is too pious even to dream of it. A -true Oriental, with strong belief that the will of God must be done, he -could die without a murmur, in more than stoical courage; but a suicide -he cannot be. And indeed the Bible, telling us for the most part of men -of healthy mind, has few suicides to record. Saul, Zimri, Ahithophel, -Judas, break away thus from dishonour and doom; but these are all who, -in impatience and cowardice, turn against God's decree of life. - -Here, then, the strong religious feeling of the writer obliges him to -reject that which the poets of the world have used to give the strongest -effect to their work. From the Greek dramatists, through Shakespeare to -Browning, the drama is full of that quarrel with life which flies to -suicide. In this great play, as we may well call it, of Semitic faith -and genius, the ideas are masterly, the hold of universal truth is -sublime. Perhaps the author was not fully aware of all he suggests, but -he feels that suicide serves no end: it settles nothing; and his problem -must be settled. Suicide is an attempt at evasion in a sphere where -evasion is impossible. God and the soul have a controversy together, and -the controversy must be worked out to an issue. - -Job has not cursed God nor denied his words. With this clear -conscience he is not afraid to die; yet, to keep it, he must wait on -the decision of the Almighty--that it would please God to crush him, -or tear him off like a branch from the tree of life. The prospect of -death, if it were granted by God, would revive him for the last moment -of endurance. He would leap up to meet the stroke, God's stroke, the -pledge that God was kind to him after all. - - "Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form, - Yet the strong man must go: - For the journey is done and the summit attained, - And the barriers fall, - Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained, - The reward of it all.... - I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, - And bade me creep past." - -According to Eliphaz there was but one way for a sufferer. If Job -would bow humbly in acknowledgment of guilt, and seek God in -penitence, then recovery would come; the hand that smote would heal -and set him on high; all the joy and vigour of life would be renewed, -and after another long course of prosperity, he should come to his -grave at last as a shock of corn is carried home in its season. -Recalling this glib promise, Job puts it from him as altogether -incongruous with his state. He is a leper; he is _dying_. - - "_What is my strength that I should wait, - And what my term that I should be patient? - Is my strength the strength of stones? - Is my flesh brass? - Is not my help within me gone, - And energy quite driven from me?_" - -Why, his condition is hopeless. What can he look for but death? Speak -to him of a new term; it was adding mockery to despair. But he would -die still true to God, and therefore he seeks the end of conflict. If -he were to live on he could not be sure of himself, especially when, -with failing strength, he had to endure the nausea and stings of -disease. As yet he can face death as a chief should. - - * * * * * - -The second part of the address begins at the fourteenth verse of chap. -vi. Here Job rouses himself anew, and this time to assail his friends. -The language of their spokesman had been addressed to him from a -height of assumed moral superiority, and this had stirred in Job a -resentment quite natural. No doubt the three friends showed -friendliness. He could not forget the long journey they had made to -bring him comfort. But when he bethought him how in his prosperity he -had often entertained these men, held high discourse with them on the -ways of God, opened his heart and showed them all his life, he -marvelled that now they could fail of the thing he most -wanted--understanding. The knowledge they had of him should have made -suspicion impossible, for they had the testimony of his whole life. -The author is not unfair to his champions of orthodoxy. They fail -where all such have a way of failing. If their victim in the poem -presses on to stinging sarcasm and at last oversteps the bounds of -fair criticism, one need not wonder. He is not intended as a type of -the meek, self-depreciating person who lets slander pass without a -protest. If they have treated him badly, he will tell them to their -faces what he thinks. Their want of justice might cause a weak man to -slip and lose himself. - - "_Pity from his friend is due to the despairing, - Lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty: - But my brethren have deceived as a torrent, - Like the streams of the ravine, that pass away, - That become blackish with ice, - In which the snow is dissolved. - What time they wax warm they vanish, - When it is hot they are dried up out of their place. - The caravans turn aside, - They go up into the desert and are perishing. - The caravans of Tema look out, - The merchants of Sheba hope for them. - They were ashamed because they had trusted, - They came up to them and blushed. - Even so, now are ye nought._" - -The poetical genius of the writer overflows here. The allegory is -beautiful, the wit keen, the knowledge abundant; yet, in a sense, we -have to pardon the interposition. Job is not quite in the mood to -represent his disappointment by such an elaborate picture. He would -naturally seek a sharper mode of expression. Still, the passage must -not be judged by our modern dramatic rules. This is the earliest -example of the philosophic story, and elaborate word-pictures are part -of the literature of the piece. We accept the pleasure of following a -description which Job must be supposed to have painted in melancholy -humour. - -The scene is in the desert, several days' journey from the Jauf, that -valley already identified as the region in which Job lived. Beyond the -Nefood to the west towers the Jebel Tobeyk, a high ridge covered in -winter with deep snow, the melting of which fills the ravines with -roaring streams. Caravans are coming across the desert from Tema, -which lies seven days' journey to the south of the Jauf, and from -Sheba still farther in the same direction. They are on the march in -early summer and, falling short of water, turn aside westward to one -of the ravines where a stream is expected to be still flowing. But, -alas for the vain hope! In the wadi is nothing but stones and dry -sand, mocking the thirst of man and beast. Even so, says Job to his -friends, ye are treacherous; ye are nothing. I looked for the -refreshing water of sympathy, but ye are empty ravines, dry sand. In -my days of prosperity you gushed with friendliness. Now, when I -thirst, ye have not even pity. "Ye see a terror, and are afraid." I am -terribly stricken. You fear that if you sympathised with me, you might -provoke the anger of God. - -From this point he turns upon them with reproach. Had he asked them -for anything, gifts out of their herds or treasure, aid in recovering -his property? They knew he had requested no such service. But again -and again Eliphaz had made the suggestion that he was suffering as a -wrong-doer. Would they tell him then, straightforwardly, how and when -he had transgressed? "How forcible are words of uprightness," words -that go right to a point; but as for their reproving, what did it come -to? They had caught at his complaint. Men of experience should know -that the talk of a desperate man is for the wind, to be blown away and -forgotten, not to be laid hold of captiously. And here from sarcasm he -passes to invective. Their temper, he tells them, is so hard and -unfeeling that they are fit to cast lots over the orphan and bargain -over a friend. They would be guilty even of selling for a slave a poor -fatherless child cast on their charity. "Be pleased to look on me," he -cries; "I surely will not lie to your face. Return, let not wrong be -done. Go back over my life. Let there be no unfairness. Still is my -cause just." They were bound to admit that he was as able to -distinguish right from wrong as they were. If that were not granted, -then his whole life went for nothing, and their friendship also. - -In this vivid eager expostulation there is at least much of human -nature. It abounds in natural touches common to all time and in shrewd -ironic perception. The sarcasms of Job bear not only upon his -friends, but also upon our lives. The words of men who are sorely -tossed with trouble, aye even their deeds, are to be judged with full -allowance for circumstances. A man driven back inch by inch in a fight -with the world, irritated by defeat, thwarted in his plans, missing -his calculations, how easy is it to criticise him from the standpoint -of a successful career, high repute, a good balance at the banker's! -The hasty words of one who is in sore distress, due possibly to his -own ignorance and carelessness, how easy to reckon them against him, -find in them abundant proof that he is an unbeliever and a knave, and -so pass on to offer in the temple the Pharisee's prayer! But, easy and -natural, it is base. The author of our poem does well to lay the lash -of his inspired scorn upon such a temper. He who stores in memory the -quick words of a sufferer and brings them up by and by to prove him -deserving of all his troubles, such a man would cast lots over the -orphan. It is no unfair charge. Oh for humane feeling, gentle truth, -self-searching fear of falsehood! It is so easy to be hard and pious. - - * * * * * - -Beginning another strophe Job turns from his friends, from would-be -wise assertions and innuendoes, to find, if he can, a philosophy of -human life, then to reflect once more in sorrow on his state, and -finally to wrestle in urgent entreaty with the Most High. The seventh -chapter, in which we trace this line of thought, increases in pathos -as it proceeds and rises to the climax of a most daring demand which -is not blasphemous because it is entirely frank, profoundly earnest. - -The friends of Job have wondered at his sufferings. He himself has -tried to find the reason of them. Now he seeks it again in a survey of -man's life:-- - - "_Hath not man war service on earth? - And as the days of an hireling are not his?_" - -The thought of necessity is coming over Job, that man is not his own -master; that a Power he cannot resist appoints his task, whether of -action or endurance, to fight in the hot battle or to suffer wearily. -And there is truth in the conception; only it is a truth which is -inspiring or depressing as the ultimate Power is found in noble -character or mindless force. In the time of prosperity this thought of -an inexorable decree would have caused no perplexity to Job, and his -judgment would have been that the Irresistible is wise and kind. But -now, because the shadow has fallen, all appears in gloomy colour, and -man's life a bitter servitude. As a slave, panting for the shade, -longing to have his work over, Job considers man. During months of -vanity and nights of weariness he waits, long nights made dreary with -pain, through the slow hours of which he tosses to and fro in misery. -His flesh is clothed with worms and an earthy crust, his skin hardens -and breaks out. His days are flimsier than a web (ver. 6), and draw to a -close without hope. The wretchedness masters him, and he cries to God. - - "_O remember, a breath is my life; - Never again will mine eye see good._" - -Does the Almighty consider how little time is left to him? Surely a -gleam might break before all grows dark! Out of sight he will be soon, -yea, out of the sight of God Himself, like a cloud that melts away. -His place will be down in Sheol, the region of mere existence, not of -life, where a man's being dissolves in shadows and dreams. God must -know this is coming to Job. Yet in anguish, ere he die, he will -remonstrate with his Maker: "I will not curb my mouth, I will make my -complaint in the bitterness of my soul." - -Striking indeed is the remonstrance that follows. A struggle against -that belief in grim fate which has so injured Oriental character gives -vehemence to his appeal; for God must not be lost. His mind is -represented as going abroad to find in nature what is most -ungovernable and may be supposed to require most surveillance and -restraint. By change after change, stroke after stroke, his power has -been curbed; till at last, in abject impotence, he lies, a wreck upon -the wayside. Nor is he allowed the last solace of nature _in -extremis_; he is not unconscious; he cannot sleep away his misery. By -night tormenting dreams haunt him, and visions make as it were a -terrible wall against him. He exists on sufferance, perpetually -chafed. With all this in his consciousness, he asks,-- - - "_Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, - That thou keepest watch over me?_" - -In a daring figure he imagines the Most High who sets a bound to the sea -exercising the same restraint over him, or barring his way as if he were -some huge monster of the deep. A certain grim humour characterises the -picture. His friends have denounced his impetuosity. Is it as fierce in -God's sight? Can his rage be so wild? Strange indeed is the restraint -put on one conscious of having sought to serve God and his age. In -self-pity, with an inward sense of the absurdity of the notion, he -fancies the Almighty fencing his squalid couch with the horrible dreams -and spectres of delirium, barring his way as if he were a raging flood. -"I loathe life," he cries; "I would not live always. Let me alone, for -my days are a vapour." Do not pain me and hem me in with Thy terrors -that allow no freedom, no hope, nothing but a weary sense of impotence. -And then his expostulation becomes even bolder. - -"What is man," asks a psalmist, "that Thou art mindful of him, and the -son of man, that Thou visitest him?" With amazement God's thought of so -puny and insignificant a being is observed. But Job, marking in like -manner the littleness of man, turns the question in another way:-- - - "_What is man that Thou magnifiest him, - And settest Thine heart upon him? - That Thou visitest him every morning, - And triest him every moment?_" - -Has the Almighty no greater thing to engage Him that He presses hard on -the slight personality of man? Might he not be let alone for a little? -Might the watchful eye not be turned away from him even for a moment? - -And finally, coming to the supposition that he may have transgressed -and brought himself under the judgment of the Most High, he even dares -to ask why that should be:-- - - "_Have I sinned? Yet what have I done unto Thee, - O Thou Watcher of men? - Why hast Thou set me as Thy butt, - So that I am a burden to myself? - And why wilt Thou not pardon my transgression, - And cause my sin to pass away?_" - -How can his sin have injured God? Far above man the Almighty dwells -and reigns. No shock of human revolt can affect His throne. Strange is -it that a man, even if he has committed some fault or neglected some -duty, should be like a block of wood or stone before the feet of the -Most High, till bruised and broken he cares no more for existence. If -iniquity has been done, cannot the Great God forgive it, pass it by? -That would be more like the Great God. Yes; soon Job would be down in -the dust of death. The Almighty would find then that he had gone too -far. "Thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be." - -More daring words were never put by a pious man into the mouth of one -represented as pious; and the whole passage shows how daring piety may -be. The inspired writer of this book knows God too well, honours Him -too profoundly to be afraid. The Eternal Father does not watch keenly -for the offences of the creatures He has made. May a man not be frank -with God and say out what is in his heart? Surely he may. But he must -be entirely earnest. No one playing with life, with duty, with truth, -or with doubt may expostulate thus with his Maker. - -There is indeed an aspect of our little life in which sin may appear too -pitiful, too impotent for God to search out. "As for man, his days are -as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth." Only when we see -that infinite Justice is involved in the minute infractions of justice, -that it must redress the iniquity done by feeble hands and vindicate the -ideal we crave for yet so often infringe; only when we see this and -realise therewith the greatness of our being, made for justice and the -ideal, for moral conflict and victory; only, in short, when we know -responsibility, do we stand aghast at sin and comprehend the meaning of -judgment. Job is learning here the wisdom and holiness of God which -stand correlative to His grace and our responsibility. By way of trial -and pain and these sore battles with doubt he is entering into the -fulness of the heritage of spiritual knowledge and power. - - - - -IX. - -_VENTURESOME THEOLOGY._ - -BILDAD SPEAKS. CHAP. viii. - - -The first attempt to meet Job has been made by one who relies on his -own experience and takes pleasure in recounting the things which he -has seen. Bildad of Shuach, on the other hand, is a man who holds to -the wisdom of the fathers and supports himself at all times with their -answers to the questions of life. Vain to him is the reasoning of one -who sees all as through coloured glass, everything of this tint or -that, according to his state or notions for the time being. The -personal impression counts for nothing with Bildad. He finds no -authority there. In him we have the catholic theologian opposing -individualism. Unfortunately he fails in the power most needed, of -distinguishing chaff from grain. Back to antiquity, back to the -fathers, say some; but, although they profess the excellent temper of -reverence, there is no guarantee that they will not select the follies -of the past instead of its wisdom to admire. Everything depends upon -the man, the individual, after all, whether he has an open mind, a -preference if not a passion for great ideas. There are those who go -back to the apostles and find only dogmatism, instead of the glorious -breadth of Divine poetry and hope. Yea, some go to the Light of the -World, and report as their discovery some pragmatical scheme, some -weak arrangement of details, a bondage or a futility. Bildad is not -one of these. He is intelligent and well-informed, an able man, as we -say; but he has no sympathy with new ideas that burst the old -wine-skins of tradition, no sympathy with daring words that throw -doubt on old orthodoxies. You can fancy his pious horror when the rude -hand of Job seemed to rend the sacred garments of established truth. -It would have been like him to turn away and leave to fate and -judgment a man so venturesome. - -With the instinct of the highest and noblest thought, utterly removed -from all impiety, the writer has shown his inspiration in leading Job -to a climax of impassioned inquiry as one who wrestles in the -swellings of Jordan with the angel of Jehovah. Now he brings forward -Bildad speaking cold words from a mind quite unable to understand the -crisis. This is a man who firmly believed himself possessed of -authority and insight. When Job added entreaty to entreaty, demand to -demand, Bildad would feel as if his ears were deceiving him, for what -he heard seemed to be an impious assault on the justice of the Most -High, an attempt to convict the Infinitely Righteous of -unrighteousness. He burns to speak; and Job has no sooner sunk down -exhausted than he begins:-- - - "_How long wilt thou speak these things? - A mighty wind, forsooth, are the words of thy mouth. - God:--will He pervert judgment? - Almighty God:--will He pervert righteousness? - If thy children sinned against Him, - And He cast them away into the hand of their rebellion; - If thou wilt seek unto God, - And unto the Almighty wilt make entreaty; - If spotless and upright thou art, - Surely now He would awake for thee - And make prosperous thy righteous habitation. - So that thy beginning shall prove small - And thy latter end exceedingly great._" - -How far wrong Bildad is may be seen in this, that he dangles before -Job the hope of greater worldly prosperity. The children must have -sinned, for they have perished. Yet Job himself may possibly be -innocent. If he is, then a simple entreaty to God will insure His -renewed favour and help. Job is required to seek wealth and greatness -again as a pledge of his own uprightness. But the whole difficulty -lies in the fact that, being upright, he has been plunged into -poverty, desolation, and a living death. He desires to know the -reason of what has occurred. Apart altogether from the restoration of -his prosperity and health, he would know what God means. Bildad does -not see this in the least. Himself a prosperous man, devoted to the -doctrine that opulence is the proof of religious acceptance and -security, he has nothing for Job but the advice to get God to prove -him righteous by giving him back his goods. There is a taunt in -Bildad's speech. He privately believes that there has been sin, and -that only by way of repentance good can come again. Since his friend -is so obstinate let him try to regain his prosperity and fail. Bildad -is lavish in promises, extravagant indeed. He can only be acquitted of -a sinister meaning in his large prediction if we judge that he reckons -God to be under a debt to a faithful servant whom He had unwittingly, -while He was not observing, allowed to be overtaken by disaster. - -Next the speaker parades his learning, the wisdom he had gathered from -the past:-- - - "_Inquire, I pray thee, of the bygone age, - And attend to the research of their fathers. - (For we are but of yesterday and know nothing; - A shadow, indeed, are our days upon the earth)-- - Shall not they teach thee and tell thee, - Bring forth words from their heart?_" - -The man of to-day is nothing, a poor creature. Only by the proved -wisdom of the long ages can end come to controversy. Let Job listen, -then, and be convinced. - -Now it must be owned there is not simply an air of truth but truth -itself in what Bildad proceeds to say in the very picturesque passage -that follows. Truths, however, may be taken hold of in a wrong way to -establish false conclusions; and in this way Job's interlocutor errs -with not a few of his painstaking successors. The rush or papyrus of -the river-side cannot grow without mire; the reed-grass needs -moisture. If the water fails they wither. So are the paths of all that -forget God. Yes: if you take it aright, what can be more impressively -certain? The hope of a godless man perishes. His confidence is cut -off; it is as if he trusted in a spider's web. Even his house, however -strongly built, shall not support him. The man who has abandoned God -must come to this--that every earthly stay shall snap asunder, every -expectation fade. There shall be nothing between him and despair. His -strength, his wisdom, his inheritance, his possessions piled together -in abundance, how can they avail when the demand is urged by Divine -justice--What hast thou done with thy life? This, however, is not at -all in Bildad's mind. He is not thinking of the prosperity of the soul -and exultation in God, but of outward success, that a man should -spread his visible existence like a green bay tree. Beyond that -visible existence he cannot stretch thought or reasoning. His school, -generally, believed in God much after the manner of English -eighteenth-century deists, standing on the earth, looking over the -life of man here, and demanding in the present world the vindication -of providence. The position is realistic, the good of life solely -mundane. If one is brought low who flourished in luxuriance and sent -forth his shoots over the garden and was rooted near the spring, his -poverty is his destruction; he is destroyed because somehow the law of -life, that is of prosperity, has been transgressed, and the God of -success punishes the fault. We are made to feel that beneath the -promise of returning honour and joy with which Bildad closes there is -an _if_. "God will not cast away a perfect man." Is Job perfect? Then -his mouth will be filled with laughter, and his haters shall be -clothed with shame. That issue is problematical. And yet, on the -whole, doubt is kept well in the background, and the final word of -cheer is made as generous and hopeful as circumstances will allow. -Bildad means to leave the impression on Job's mind that the wisdom of -the ancients as applied to his case is reassuring. - -But one sentence of his speech, that in which (ver. 4) he implies the -belief that Job's children had sinned and been "cast away into the -hand of their rebellion," shows the cold, relentless side of his -orthodoxy, the logic, not unknown still, which presses to its point -over the whole human race. Bildad meant, it appears, to shift from Job -the burden of his children's fate. The catastrophe which overtook them -might have seemed to be one of the arrows of judgment aimed at the -father. Job himself may have had great perplexity as well as keen -distress whenever he thought of his sons and daughters. Now Bildad is -throwing on them the guilt which he believes to have been so terribly -punished, even to the extremity of irremediable death. But there is no -enlightenment in the suggestion. Rather does it add to the -difficulties of the case. The sons and daughters whom Job loved, over -whom he watched with such religious care lest they should renounce God -in their hearts--were they condemned by the Most High? A man of the -old world, accustomed to think of himself as standing in God's stead -to his household, Job cannot receive this. Thought having been once -stirred to its depths, he is resentful now against a doctrine that may -never before have been questioned. Is there, then, no fatherhood in -the Almighty, no magnanimity such as Job himself would have shown? If -so, then the spirit would fail before Him, and the souls which He has -made (Isaiah lvii. 16). The dogmatist with his wisdom of the ages -drops in the by-going one of his commonplaces of theological thought. -It is a coal of fire in the heart of the sufferer. - -Those who attempt to explain God's ways for edification and comfort need -to be very simple and genuine in their feeling with men, their effort on -behalf of God. Every one who believes and thinks has something in his -spiritual experience worth recounting, and may help an afflicted brother -by retracing his own history. But to make a creed learned by rote the -basis of consolation is perilous. The aspect it takes to those under -trial will often surprise the best-meaning consoler. A point is -emphasised by the keen mind of sorrow, and, like Elijah's cloud, it soon -sweeps over the whole sky, a storm of doubt and dismay. - - - - -X. - -_THE THOUGHT OF A DAYSMAN._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. ix., x. - - -It is with an infinitely sad restatement of what God has been made to -appear to him by Bildad's speech that Job begins his reply. Yes, yes; it -is so. How can man be just before such a God? You tell me my children -are overwhelmed with destruction for their sins. You tell me that I, who -am not quite dead as yet, may have new prosperity if I put myself into -right relations with God. But how can that be? There is no uprightness, -no dutifulness, no pious obedience, no sacrifice that will satisfy Him. -I did my utmost; yet God has condemned me. And if He is what you say, -His condemnation is unanswerable. He has such wisdom in devising -accusations and in maintaining them against feeble man, that hope there -can be none for any human being. To answer one of the thousand charges -God can bring, if He will contend with man, is impossible. The -earthquakes are signs of His indignation, removing mountains, shaking -the earth out of her place. He is able to quench the light of the sun -and moon, and to seal up the stars. What is man beside the omnipotence -of Him who alone stretched out the heavens, whose march is on the huge -waves of the ocean, who is the Creator of the constellations' the Bear, -the Giant, the Pleiades, and the chambers or spaces of the southern sky? -It is the play of irresistible power Job traces around him, and the -Divine mind or will is inscrutable. - - "_Lo, He goeth by me and I see Him not: - He passeth on, and I perceive Him not. - Behold, He seizeth. Who will stay Him? - Who will say to Him, What doest Thou?_" - -Step by step the thought here advances into that dreadful imagination -of God's unrighteousness which must issue in revolt or in despair. -Job, turning against the bitter logic of tradition, appears for the -time to plunge into impiety. Sincere earnest thinker as he is, he -falls into a strain we are almost compelled to call false and -blasphemous. Bildad and Eliphaz seem to be saints, Job a rebel -against God. The Almighty, he says, is like a lion that seizes the -prey and cannot be hindered from devouring. He is a wrathful tyrant -under whom the helpers of Rahab, those powers that according to some -nature myth sustain the dragon of the sea in its conflict with heaven, -stoop and give way. Shall Job essay to answer Him? It is vain. He -cannot. To choose words in such a controversy would be of no avail. -Even one right in his cause would be overborne by tyrannical -omnipotence. He would have no resource but to supplicate for mercy -like a detected malefactor. Once Job may have thought that an appeal -to justice would be heard, that his trust in righteousness was well -founded. He is falling away from that belief now. This being whose -despotic power has been set in his view has no sense of man's right. -He cares nothing for man. - -What is God? How does He appear in the light of the sufferings of Job? - - "_He breaketh me with a tempest, - Increaseth my wounds without cause. - If you speak of the strength of the mighty, - 'Behold Me,' saith He; - If of judgment--'Who will appoint Me a time?'_" - -No one, that is, can call God to account. The temper of the Almighty -appears to Job to be such that man must needs give up all controversy. -In his heart Job is convinced still that he has wrought no evil. But -he will not say so. He will anticipate the wilful condemnation of the -Almighty. God would assail his life. Job replies in fierce revolt, -"Assail it, take it away, I care not, for I despise it. Whether one -is righteous or evil, it is all the same. God destroys the perfect and -the wicked" (ver. 22). - -Now, are we to explain away this language? If not, how shall we defend -the writer who has put it into the mouth of one still the hero of the -book, still appearing as a friend of God? To many in our day, as of old, -religion is so dull and lifeless, their desire for the friendship of God -so lukewarm, that the passion of the words of Job is incomprehensible to -them. His courage of despair belongs to a range of feeling they never -entered, never dreamt of entering. The calculating world is their home, -and in its frigid atmosphere there is no possibility of that keen -striving for spiritual life which fills the soul as with fire. To those -who deny sin and pooh-pooh anxiety about the soul, the book may well -appear an old-world dream, a Hebrew allegory rather than the history of -a man. But the language of Job is no outburst of lawlessness; it springs -out of deep and serious thought. - -It is difficult to find an exact modern parallel here; but we have not -to go far back for one who was driven like Job by false theology into -bewilderment, something like unreason. In his "Grace Abounding," John -Bunyan reveals the depths of fear into which hard arguments and -misinterpretations of Scripture often plunged him, when he should have -been rejoicing in the liberty of a child of God. The case of Bunyan -is, in a sense, very different from that of Job. Yet both are urged -almost to despair of God; and Bunyan, realising this point of -likeness, again and again uses words put into Job's mouth. Doubts and -suspicions are suggested by his reading, or by sermons which he hears, -and he regards their occurrence to his mind as a proof of his -wickedness. In one place he says: "Now I thought surely I am possessed -of the devil: at other times again I thought I should be bereft of my -wits; for, instead of lauding and magnifying God with others, if I -have but heard Him spoken of, presently some most horrible -blasphemous thought or other would bolt out of my heart against Him, -so that whether I did think that God was, or again did think there was -no such thing, no love, nor peace, nor gracious disposition could I -feel within me." Bunyan had a vivid imagination. He was haunted by -strange cravings for the spiritually adventurous. What would it be to -sin the sin that is unto death? "In so strong a measure," he says, -"was this temptation upon me, that often I have been ready to clap my -hands under my chin to keep my mouth from opening." The idea that he -should "sell and part with Christ" was one that terribly afflicted -him; and, "at last," he says, "after much striving, I felt this -thought pass through my heart, Let Him go if He will.... After this, -nothing for two years together would abide with me but damnation and -the expectation of damnation. This thought had passed my heart--God -hath let me go, and I am fallen. Oh, thought I, that it was with me as -in months past, as in the days when God preserved me." - -The Book of Job helps us to understand Bunyan and those terrors of his -that amaze our composed generation. Given a man like Job or like -Bunyan, to whom religion is everything, who must feel sure of Divine -justice, truth, and mercy, he will pass far beyond the measured -emotions and phrases of those who are more than half content with the -world and themselves. The writer here, whose own stages of thought are -recorded, and Bunyan, who with rare force and sincerity retraces the -way of his life, are men of splendid character and virtue. Titans of -the religious life, they are stricken with anguish and bound with iron -fetters to the rock of pain for the sake of universal humanity. They -are a wonder to the worldling, they speak in terms the smooth -professor of religion shudders at. But their endurance, their vehement -resolution, break the falsehoods of the time and enter into the -redemption of the race. - -The strain of Job's complaint increases in bitterness. He seems to see -omnipotent injustice everywhere. If a scourge (ver. 23), such as -lightning, accident or disease, slayeth suddenly, there seems to be -nothing but mockery of the innocent. God looks down on the wreck of -human hope from the calm sky after the thunderstorm, in the evening -sunlight that gilds the desert grave. And in the world of men the -wicked have their way. God veils the face of the judge so that he is -blinded to the equity of the cause. Thus, after the arguments of his -friends, Job is compelled to see wrong everywhere, and to say that it -is the doing of God. The strophe ends with the abrupt fierce -demand,--If not, who then is it? - -The short passage from the twenty-fifth verse to the end of chap. ix. -returns sadly to the strain of personal weakness and entreaty. Swiftly -Job's days go by, more swiftly than a runner, in so far as he sees no -good. Or they are like the reed-skiffs on the river, or the darting -eagle. To forget his pain is impossible. He cannot put on an appearance -of serenity or hope. God is keeping him bound as a transgressor. "I -shall be condemned whatever I do. Why then do I weary myself in vain?" -Looking at his discoloured body, covered with the grime of disease, he -finds it a sign of God's detestation. But if he could wash it with snow, -that is, to snowy whiteness, if he could purify those blackened limbs -with lye, the renewal would go no further. God would plunge him again -into the mire; his own clothes would abhor him. - -And now there is a change of tone. His mind, revolting from its own -conclusion, turns toward the thought of reconciliation. While as yet -he speaks of it as an impossibility there comes to him a sorrowful -regret, a vague dream or reflection in place of that fierce rebellion -which discoloured the whole world and made it appear an arena of -injustice. With that he cannot pretend to satisfy himself. Again his -humanity stirs in him:-- - - "_For He is not a man, as I, that I should answer Him, - That we should come together in judgment. - There is no daysman between us - That might lay his hand upon us both. - Let Him take away His rod from me, - And let not His terror overawe me; - Then would I speak and not fear Him: - For I am not in such case in myself._" - -If he could only speak with God as a man speaks with his friend the -shadows might be cleared away. The real God, not unreasonable, not -unrighteous nor despotic, here begins to appear; and in default of -personal converse, and of a daysman, or arbiter, who might lay -reconciling hands upon both and bring them together, Job cries for an -interval of strength and freedom, that without fear and anguish he may -himself express the matter at stake. The idea of a daysman, although -the possibility of such a friendly helper is denied, is a new mark of -boldness in the thought of the drama. In that one word the inspired -writer strikes the note of a Divine purpose which he does not yet -foresee. We must not say that here we have the prediction of a -Redeemer at once God and man. The author has no such affirmation to -make. But very remarkably the desires of Job are led forth in that -direction in which the advent and work of Christ have fulfilled the -decree of grace. There can be no doubt of the inspiration of a writer -who thus strikes into the current of the Divine will and revelation. -Not obscurely is it implied in this Book of Job that, however earnest -man may be in religion, however upright and faithful (for all this Job -was), there are mysteries of fear and sorrow connected with his life -in this world which can be solved only by One who brings the light of -eternity into the range of time, who is at once "very God and very -man," whose overcoming demands and encourages our faith. - -Now, the wistful cry of Job--"There is no daysman between -us"--breaking from the depths of an experience to which the best as -well as the worst are exposed in this life, an experience which cannot -in either case be justified or accounted for unless by the fact of -immortality, is, let us say, as presented here, a purely human cry. -Man who "cannot be God's exile," bound always to seek understanding of -the will and character of God, finds himself in the midst of sudden -calamity and extreme pain, face to face with death. The darkness that -shrouds his whole existence he longs to see dispelled or shot through -with beams of clear revealing light. What shall we say of it? If such -a desire, arising in the inmost mind, had no correspondence whatever -to fact, there would be falsehood at the heart of things. The very -shape the desire takes--for a Mediator who should be acquainted -equally with God and man, sympathetic toward the creature, knowing the -mind of the Creator--cannot be a chance thing. It is the fruit of a -Divine necessity inwrought with the constitution and life of the human -soul. We are pointed to an irrefragable argument; but the thought -meanwhile does not follow it. Immortality waits for a revelation. - - * * * * * - -Job has prayed for rest. It does not come. Another attack of pain makes -a pause in his speech, and with the tenth chapter begins a long address -to the Most High, not fierce as before, but sorrowful, subdued. - - "_My soul is weary of my life. - I will give free course to my complaint; - I will speak in bitterness of my soul._" - -It is scarcely possible to touch the threnody that follows without -marring its pathetic and profound beauty. There is an exquisite -dignity of restraint and frankness in this appeal to the Creator. He -is an Artist whose fine work is in peril, and that from His own -seeming carelessness of it, or more dreadful to conceive, His -resolution to destroy it. - -First the cry is, "Do not condemn me. Is it good unto Thee that Thou -shouldest despise the work of Thine hands?" It is marvellous to Job -that he should be scorned as worthless, while at the same time God -seems to shine on the counsel of the wicked. How can that, O Thou Most -High, be in harmony with Thy nature? He puts a supposition, which even -in stating it he must refuse, "Hast Thou eyes of flesh? or seest Thou -as man seeth?" A jealous man, clothed with a little brief authority, -might probe into the misdeeds of a fellow-creature. But God cannot do -so. His majesty forbids; and especially since He knows, for one thing, -that Job is not guilty, and, for another thing, that no one can escape -His hands. Men often lay hold of the innocent, and torture them to -discover imputed crimes. The supposition that God acts like a despot -or the servant of a despot is made only to be cast aside. But he goes -back on his appeal to God as Creator, and bethinks him of that tender -fashioning of the body which seems an argument for as tender a care -of the soul and the spirit-life. Much of power and lovingkindness goes -to the perfecting of the body and the development of the physical life -out of weakness and embryonic form. Can He who has so wrought, who has -added favour and apparent love, have been concealing all the time a -design of mockery? Even in creating, had God the purpose of making His -creature a mere plaything for the self-will of Omnipotence? - - "_Yet these things Thou didst hide in Thine heart._" - -These things--the desolate home, the outcast life, the leprosy. Job -uses a strange word: "I _know_ that this was with Thee." His -conclusion is stated roughly, that nothing can matter in dealing with -such a Creator. The insistence of the friends on the hope of -forgiveness, Job's own consciousness of integrity go for nothing. - - "_Were I to sin Thou wouldst mark me, - And Thou wouldst not acquit me of iniquity. - Were I wicked, woe unto me; - Were I righteous, yet should I not lift up my head._" - -The supreme Power of the world has taken an aspect not of unreasoning -force, but of determined ill-will to man. The only safety seems to be in -lying quiet so as not to excite against him the activity of this awful -God who hunts like a lion and delights in marvels of wasteful strength. -It appears that, having been once roused, the Divine Enemy will not -cease to persecute. New witnesses, new causes of indignation would be -found; a changing host of troubles would follow up the attack. - -I have ventured to interpret the whole address in terms of -supposition, as a theory Job flings out in the utter darkness that -surrounds him. He does not adopt it. To imagine that he really -believes this, or that the writer of the book intended to put forward -such a theory as even approximately true, is quite impossible. And -yet, when one thinks of it, perhaps impossible is too strong a word. -The doctrine of the sovereignty of God is a fundamental truth; but it -has been so conceived and wrought with as to lead many reasoners into -a dream of cruelty and irresponsible force not unlike that which -haunts the mind of Job. Something of the kind has been argued for with -no little earnestness by men who were religiously endeavouring to -explain the Bible and professed to believe in the love of God to the -world. For example: the annihilation of the wicked is denied by one -for the good reason that God has a profound reverence for being or -existence, so that he who is once possessed of will must exist for -ever; but from this the writer goes on to maintain that the wicked are -useful to God as the material on which His justice operates, that -indeed they have been created solely for everlasting punishment in -order that through them the justice of the Almighty may be clearly -seen. Against this very kind of theology Job is in revolt. In the -light even of his world it was a creed of darkness. That God hates -wrong-doing, that everything selfish, vindictive, cruel, unclean, -false, shall be driven before Him--who can doubt? That according to -His decree sin brings its punishment yielding the wages of death--who -can doubt? But to represent Him who has made us all, and must have -foreseen our sin, as without any kind of responsibility for us, -dashing in pieces the machines He has made because they do not serve -His purpose, though He knew even in making them that they would -not--what a hideous falsehood is this; it can justify God only at the -expense of undeifying Him. - -One thing this Book of Job teaches, that we are not to go against our -own sincere reason nor our sense of justice and truth in order to -square facts with any scheme or any theory. Religious teaching and -thought must affirm nothing that is not entirely frank, purely just, -and such as we could, in the last resort, apply out and out to -ourselves. Shall man be more just than God, more generous than God, -more faithful than God? Perish the thought, and every system that -maintains so false a theory and tries to force it on the human mind! -Nevertheless, let there be no falling into the opposite error; from -that, too, frankness will preserve us. No sincere man, attentive to -the realities of the world and the awful ordinances of nature, can -suspect the Universal Power of indifference to evil, of any design to -leave law without sanction. We do not escape at one point; God is our -Father; righteousness is vindicated, and so is faith. - -As the colloquies proceed, the impression is gradually made that the -writer of this book is wrestling with that study which more and more -engages the intellect of man--What is the real? How does it stand -related to the ideal, thought of as righteousness, as beauty, as -truth? How does it stand related to God, sovereign and holy? The -opening of the book might have led straight to the theory that the -real, the present world charged with sin, disaster, and death, is not -of the Divine order, therefore is of a Devil. But the disappearance of -Satan throws aside any such idea of dualism, and pledges the writer to -find solution, if he find it at all, in one will, one purpose, one -Divine event. On Job himself the burden and the effort descend in his -conflict with the real as disaster, enigma, impending death, false -judgment, established theology and schemes of explanation. The ideal -evades him, is lost between the rising wave and the lowering sky. In -the whole horizon he sees no clear open space where it can unfold the -day. But it remains in his heart; and in the night-sky it waits where -the great constellations shine in their dazzling purity and eternal -calm, brooding silent over the world as from immeasurable distance far -withdrawn. Even from that distance God sends forth and will accomplish -a design. Meanwhile the man stretches his hands in vain from the -shadowed earth to those keen lights, ever so remote and cold. - - "_Show me wherefore Thou strivest with me. - Is it pleasant to Thee that Thou should'st oppress, - That Thou should'st despise the work of Thy hands - And shine upon the counsel of the wicked? - Hast Thou eyes of flesh? - Or seest Thou as man seeth? - Thy days--are they as the days of man? - Thy years--are they as man's days, - That Thou inquirest after fault of mine, - And searchest after my sin, - Though Thou knowest that I am not wicked, - And none can deliver from Thy hand? - Thine hands have made and fashioned me - Together round about; and Thou dost destroy me._" - (_Chap. x._ 2-8.) - - - - -XI. - -_A FRESH ATTEMPT TO CONVICT._ - -ZOPHAR SPEAKS. CHAP. xi. - - -The third and presumably youngest of the three friends of Job now -takes up the argument somewhat in the same strain as the others. With -no wish to be unfair to Zophar we are somewhat prepossessed against -him from the outset; and the writer must mean us to be so, since he -makes him attack Job as an empty babbler:-- - - "_Shall not the multitude of words be answered? - And shall a man of lips be justified? - Shall thy boastings make people silent, - So that thou mayest mock on, none putting thee to shame?_" - -True it was, Job had used vehement speech. Yet it is a most insulting -suggestion that he meant little but irreligious bluster. The special -note of Zophar comes out in his rebuke of Job for the mockery, that is, -sceptical talk, in which he had indulged. Persons who merely rehearse -opinions are usually the most dogmatic and take most upon them. Nobody -reckons himself more able to detect error in doctrine, nobody denounces -rationalism and infidelity with greater confidence, than the man whose -creed is formal, who never applied his mind directly to the problems of -faith, and has but a moderate amount of mind to apply. Zophar, indeed, -is a man of considerable intelligence; but he betrays himself. To him -Job's words have been wearisome. He may have tried to understand the -matter, but he has caught only a general impression that, in the face of -what appears to him clearest evidence, Job denies being any way amenable -to justice. He had dared to say to God, "Thou knowest that I am not -wicked." What? God can afflict a man whom He knows to be righteous! It -is a doctrine as profane as it is novel. Eliphaz and Bildad supposed -that they had to deal with a man unwilling to humble himself in the way -of acknowledging sins hitherto concealed. By pressure of one kind or -another they hoped to get Job to realise his secret transgression. But -Zophar has noted the whole tendency of his argument to be heretical. -"Thou sayest, My doctrine is pure." And what is that doctrine? Why, that -thou wast clean in the eyes of God, that God has smitten thee without -cause. Dost thou mean, O Job! to accuse the Most High of acting in that -manner? Oh that God would speak and open His lips against thee! Thou -hast expressed a desire to state thy case to Him. The result would be -very different from thy expectation. - -Now, beneath any mistaken view held by sincere persons there is almost -always a sort of foundation of truth; and they have at least as much -logic as satisfies themselves. Job's friends are religious men; they do -not consciously build on lies. One and all they are convinced that God -is invariable in His treatment of men, never afflicting the innocent, -always dealing out judgment in the precise measure of a man's sin. That -belief is the basis of their creed. They could not worship a God less -than absolutely just. Beginning the religious life with this faith they -have clung to it all along. After thirty or forty years' experience they -are still confident that their principle explains the prosperity and -affliction, the circumstances of all human beings. But have they never -seen anything that did not harmonise with this view of providence? Have -they not seen the good die in youth, and those whose hearts are dry as -summer dust burn to their sockets? Have they not seen vile schemes -prosper, and the schemers enjoy their ill-gotten power for years? It is -strange the old faith has not been shaken at least. But no! They come to -the case of Job as firmly convinced as ever that the Ruler of the world -shows His justice by dispensing joy and suffering in proportion to men's -good and evil deeds, that whenever trouble falls on any one some sin -must have been committed which deserved precisely this kind and quantity -of suffering. - -Trying to get at the source of the belief we must confess ourselves -partly at a loss. One writer suggests that there may have been in the -earlier and simpler conditions of society a closer correspondence -between wrong-doing and suffering than is to be seen nowadays. There -may be something in this. But life is not governed differently at -different epochs, and the theory is hardly proved by what we know of -the ancient world. No doubt in the history of the Hebrews, which lies -behind the faith attributed to the friends of Job, a connection may be -traced between their wrong-doing _as a nation_ and their suffering _as -a nation_. When they fell away from faith in God their obedience -languished, their vigour failed, the end of their existence being lost -sight of, and so they became the prey of enemies. But this did not -apply to individuals. The good suffered along with the careless and -wicked in seasons of national calamity. And the history of the people -of Israel would support such a view of the Divine government so long -only as national transgression and its punishment were alone taken -into account. Now, however, the distinction between the nation and the -individual has clearly emerged. The sin of a community can no longer -explain satisfactorily the sufferings of a member of the community, -faithful among the unbelieving. - -But the theory seems to have been made out rather by the following -course of argument. Always in the administration of law and the -exercise of paternal authority, transgression has been visited with -pain and deprivation of privilege. The father whose son has disobeyed -him inflicts pain, and, if he is a judicious father, makes the pain -proportionate to the offence. The ruler, through his judges and -officers, punishes transgression according to some orderly code. -Malefactors are deprived of liberty; they are fined or scourged, or, -in the last resort, executed. Now, having in this way built up a -system of law which inflicts punishment with more or less justice in -proportion to the offence imputed, men take for granted that what they -do imperfectly is done perfectly by God. They take for granted that -the calamities and troubles He appoints are ordained according to the -same principle, with precisely the same design, as penalty is -inflicted by a father, a chief, or a king. The reasoning is -contradicted in many ways, but they disregard the difficulties. If -this is not the truth, what other explanation is to be found? The -desire for happiness is keen; pain seems the worst of evils: and they -fail to see that endurance can be the means of good. Feeling -themselves bound to maintain the perfect righteousness of God they -affirm the only theory of suffering that seems to agree with it. - -Now, Zophar, like the others full of this theory, admits that Job may -have failed to see his transgression. But in that case the sufferer is -unable to distinguish right from wrong. Indeed, his whole contention -seems to Zophar to show ignorance. If God were to speak and reveal the -secrets of His holy wisdom, twice as deep, twice as penetrating as Job -supposes, the sins he has denied would be brought home to him. He -would know that God requires less of him than his iniquity deserves. -Zophar hints, what is very true, that our judgment of our own conduct -is imperfect. How can we trace the real nature of our actions, or know -how they look to the sublime wisdom of the Most High? Job appears to -have forgotten all this. He refuses to allow fault in himself. But God -knows better. - -Here is a cunning argument to fortify the general position. It could -always be said of a case which presented difficulties that, while the -sufferer seemed innocent, yet the wisdom of God, "twofold in -understanding" (ver. 6) as compared with that of man, perceived guilt -and ordained the punishment. But the argument proved too much, for -Zophar's own health and comfort contradicted his dogma. He took for -granted that the twofold wisdom of the Almighty found nothing wrong in -him. It was a naïve piece of forgetfulness. Could he assert that his -life had no flaw? Hardly. But then, why is he in honour? How had he -been able to come riding on his camel, attended by his servants, to -sit in judgment on Job? Plainly, on an argument like his, no man could -ever be in comfort or pleasure, for human nature is always defective, -always in more or less of sin. Repentance never overtakes the future. -Therefore God who deals with man on a broad basis could never treat -him save as a sinner, to be kept in pain and deprivation. If suffering -is the penalty of sin we ought all, notwithstanding the atonement of -Christ, to be suffering the pain of the hour for the defect of the -hour, since "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." At -this rate man's life--again despite the atonement--would be continued -trial and sentence. From all which it is evident that the world is -governed on another plan than that which satisfied Job's friends. - -Zophar rises to eloquence in declaring the unsearchableness of Divine -wisdom. - - "_Canst thou find the depths of Eloah? - Canst thou reach to the end of Shaddai? - Heights of heaven! What canst thou do? - Deeper than Sheol! What canst thou know? - The measure thereof is longer than the earth, - Broader is it than the sea._" - -Here is fine poetry; but with an attempt at theology the speaker goes -astray, for he conceives God as doing what he himself wishes to do, -namely, prove Job a sinner. The Divine greatness is invoked that a -narrow scheme of thought may be justified. If God pass by, if He -arrest, if He hold assize, who can hinder Him? Supreme wisdom and -infinite power admit no questioning, no resistance. God knoweth vain -or wicked men at a glance. One look and all is plain to Him. Empty man -will be wise in these matters "when a wild ass's colt is born a man." - -Turning from this, as if in recollection that he has to treat Job with -friendliness, Zophar closes like the other two with a promise. If Job -will put away sin, his life shall be established again, his misery -forgotten or remembered as a torrent of spring when the heat of summer -comes. - - "_Thou shalt forget thy misery; - Remember it as waters that have passed by; - And thy life shall rise brighter than noonday; - And if darkness fall, it shall be as the morning. - Thou shalt then have confidence because there is hope; - Yea, look around and take rest in safety, - Also lie down and none shall affray thee, - And many shall make suit unto thee. - But the eyes of the wicked fail; - For them no way of escape. - And their hope is to breathe out the spirit._" - -Rhetoric and logic are used in promises given freely by all the -speakers. But not one of them has any comfort for his friend while the -affliction lasts. The author does not allow one of them to say, God is -thy friend, God is thy portion--now; He still cares for thee. In some -of the psalms a higher note is heard: "There be many that say, Who will -shew us any good? LORD, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon -us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their -corn and their wine increased." The friends of Job are full of pious -intentions, yet they state a most unspiritual creed, the foundation of -it laid in corn and wine. Peace of conscience and quiet confidence in -God are not what they go by. Hence the sufferer finds no support in them -or their promises. They will not help him to live one day, nor sustain -him in dying. For it is the light of God's countenance he desires to -see. He is only mocked and exasperated by their arguments; and in the -course of his own eager thought the revelation comes like a star of hope -rising on the midnight of his soul. - -Though Zophar fails like the other two, he is not to be called a mere -echo. It is incorrect to say that, while Eliphaz is a kind of prophet -and Bildad a sage, Zophar is a commonplace man without ideas. On the -contrary, he is a thinker, something of a philosopher, although, of -course, greatly restricted by his narrow creed. He is stringent, -bitter indeed. But he has the merit of seeing a certain force in Job's -contention which he does not fairly meet. It is a fresh suggestion -that the answer must lie in the depth of that penetrating wisdom of -the Most High, compared to which man's wisdom is vain. Then, his -description of the return of blessedness and prosperity, when one -examines it, is found distinctly in advance of Eliphaz's picture in -moral colouring and gravity of treatment. We must not fail to notice, -moreover, that Zophar speaks of the omniscience of God more than of -His omnipotence; and the closing verse describes the end of the wicked -not as the result of a supernatural stroke or a sudden calamity, but -as a process of natural and spiritual decay. - -The closing words of Zophar's speech point to the finality of death, and -bear the meaning that if Job were to die now of his disease the whole -question of his character would be closed. It is important to note this, -because it enters into Job's mind and affects his expressions of desire. -Never again does he cry for release as before. If he names death it is -as a sorrowful fate he must meet or a power he will defy. He advances to -one point after another of reasserted energy, to the resolution that, -whatever death may do, either in the underworld or beyond it he will -wait for vindication or assert his right. - - - - -XII. - -_BEYOND FACT AND FEAR TO GOD._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xii.-xiv. - - -Zophar excites in Job's mind great irritation, which must not be set -down altogether to the fact that he is the third to speak. In some -respects he has made the best attack from the old position, pressing -most upon the conscience of Job. He has also used a curt positive tone -in setting out the method and principle of Divine government and the -judgment he has formed of his friend's state. Job is accordingly the -more impatient, if not disconcerted. Zophar had spoken of the want of -understanding Job had shown, and the penetrating wisdom of God which -at a glance convicts men of iniquity. His tone provoked resentment. -Who is this that claims to have solved the enigmas of providence, to -have gone into the depths of wisdom? Does he know any more, he -himself, than the wild ass's colt? - -And Job begins with stringent irony-- - - "_No doubt but ye are the people, - And wisdom shall die with you._" - -The secrets of thought, of revelation itself are yours. No doubt the -world waited to be taught till you were born. Do you not think so? -But, after all, I also have a share of understanding, I am not quite -so void of intellect as you seem to fancy. Besides, who knoweth not -such things as ye speak? Are they new? I had supposed them to be -commonplaces. Yea, if you recall what I said, you will find that with -a little more vigour than yours I made the same declarations. - - "_A laughing-stock to his neighbours am I, - I who called upon Eloah and He answered me,-- - A laughing-stock, the righteous and perfect man._" - -Job sees or thinks he sees that his misery makes him an object of -contempt to men who once gave him the credit of far greater wisdom and -goodness than their own. They are bringing out old notions, which are -utterly useless, to explain the ways of God; they assume the place of -teachers; they are far better, far wiser now than he. It is more than -flesh can bear. - -As he looks at his own diseased body and feels again his weakness, the -cruelty of the conventional judgment stings him. "In the thought of -him that is at ease there is for misfortune scorn; it awaiteth them -that slip with the foot." Perhaps Job was mistaken, but it is too -often true that the man who fails in a social sense is the man -suspected. Evil things are found in him when he is covered with the -dust of misfortune, things which no one dreamed of before. Flatterers -become critics and judges. They find that he has a bad heart or that -he is a fool. - -But if those very good and wise friends of Job are astonished at -anything previously said, they shall be more astonished. The facts -which their account of Divine providence very carefully avoided as -inconvenient Job will blurt out. They have stated and restated, with -utmost complacency, their threadbare theory of the government of God. -Let them look now abroad on the world and see what actually goes on, -blinking no facts. - -The tents of robbers prosper. Out in the desert there are troops of -bandits who are never overtaken by justice; and they that provoke God -are secure, who carry a god in their hand, whose sword and the -reckless daring with which they use it make them to all appearance -safe in villainy. These are the things to be accounted for; and, -accounting for them, Job launches into a most emphatic argument to -prove all that is done in the world strangely and inexplicably to be -the doing of God. As to that he will allow no question. His friends -shall know that he is sound on this head. And let them provide the -defence of Divine righteousness after he has spoken. - -Here, however, it is necessary to consider in what way the limitations -of Hebrew thought must have been felt by one who, turning from the -popular creed, sought a view more in harmony with fact. Now-a-days the -word _nature_ is often made to stand for a force or combination of -forces conceived of as either entirely or partially independent of -God. Tennyson makes the distinction when he speaks of man - - "Who trusted God was love indeed - And love creation's final law, - Though nature, red in tooth and claw - With ravin, shrieked against the creed" - -and again when he asks-- - - "Are God and nature then at strife - That nature lends such evil dreams, - So careful of the type she seems, - So careless of the single life?" - -Now to this question, perplexing enough on the face of it when we -consider what suffering there is in the creation, how the waves of -life seem to beat and break themselves age after age on the rocks of -death, the answer in its first stage is that God and nature cannot be -at strife. They are not apart; there is but one universe, therefore -one Cause. One Omnipotent there is whose will is done, whose character -is shown in all we see and all we cannot see, the issues of endless -strife, the long results of perennial evolution. But then comes the -question, What is His character, of what spirit is He who alone rules, -who sends after the calm the fierce storm, after the beauty of life -the corruption of death? And one may say the struggle between Bible -religion and modern science is on this very field. - -Cold heartless power, say some; no Father, but an impersonal Will to -which men are nothing, human joy and love nothing, to which the fair -blossom is no more than the clod, and the holy prayer no better than -the vile sneer. On this, faith arises to the struggle. Faith warm and -hopeful takes reason into counsel, searches the springs of existence, -goes forth into the future and forecasts the end, that it may affirm -and reaffirm against all denial that One Omnipotent reigns who is -all-loving, the Father of infinite mercy. Here is the arena; here the -conflict rages and will rage for many a day. And to him will belong -the laurels of the age who, with the Bible in one hand and the -instruments of science in the other, effects the reconciliation of -faith with fact. Tennyson came with the questions of our day. He -passes and has not given a satisfactory answer. Carlyle has gone with -the "Everlasting Yea and No" beating through his oracles. Even -Browning, a later athlete, did not find complete reason for faith. - - "From Thy will stream the worlds, life, and nature, Thy dread - sabaoth." - -Now return to Job. He considers nature; he believes in God; he stands -firmly on the conviction that all is of God. Hebrew faith held this, -and was not limited in holding it, for it is the fact. But we cannot -wonder that providence disconcerted him, since the reconciliation of -"merciless" nature and the merciful God is not even yet wrought out. -Notwithstanding the revelation of Christ, many still find themselves -in darkness just when light is most urgently craved. Willing to -believe, they yet lean to a dualism which makes God Himself appear in -conflict with the scheme of things, thwarted now and now repentant, -gracious in design but not always in effect. Now the limitation of the -Hebrew was this, that to his idea the infinite power of God was not -balanced by infinite mercy, that is, by regard to the whole work of -His hands. In one stormy dash after another Job is made to attempt -this barrier. At moments he is lifted beyond it, and sees the great -universe filled with Divine care that equals power; for the present, -however, he distinguishes between merciful intent and merciless, and -ascribes both to God. - -What does he say? God is in the deceived and in the deceiver; they are -both products of nature, that is, creatures of God. He increaseth the -nations and destroyeth them. Cities arise and become populous. The -great metropolis is filled with its myriads, "among whom are six-score -thousand that cannot discern between their right hand and their left." -The city shall fulfil its cycle and perish. It is God. Searching for -reconciliation Job looks the facts of human existence right in the -face, and he sees a confusion, the whole enigma which lies in the -constitution of the world and of the soul. Observe how his thought -moves. The beasts, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, all -living beings everywhere, not self-created, with no power to shape or -resist their destiny, bear witness to the almightiness of God. In His -hand is the lower creation; in His hand also, rising higher, is the -breath of all mankind. Absolute, universal is that power, dispensing -life and death as it broods over the ages. Men have sought to -understand the ways of the Great Being. The ear trieth words as the -mouth tasteth meat. Is there wisdom with the ancient, those who live -long, as Bildad says? Yes: but with God are wisdom _and strength_; not -penetration only, but power. He discerns and does. He demolishes, and -there is no rebuilding. Man is imprisoned, shut up by misfortune, by -disease. It is God's decree, and there is no opening till He allows. -At His will the waters are dried up; at His will they pour in torrents -over the earth. And so amongst men there are currents of evil and good -flowing through lives, here in the liar and cheat, there in the victim -of knavery; here in the counsellors whose plans come to nothing, there -in the judges whose sagacity is changed to folly; and all these -currents and cross-currents, making life a bewildering maze, have -their beginning in the will of God, who seems to take pleasure in -doing what is strange and baffling. Kings take men captive; the bonds -of the captives are loosed, and the kings themselves are bound. What -are princes and priests, what are the mighty to Him? What is the -speech of the eloquent? Where is the understanding of the aged when He -spreads confusion? Deep as in the very gloom of the grave the -ambitious may hide their schemes; the flux of events brings them out -to judgment, one cannot foresee how. Nations are raised up and -destroyed; the chiefs of the people are made to fear like children. -Trusted leaders wander in a wilderness; they grope in midnight gloom; -they stagger like the drunken. Behold, says Job, all this I have seen. -This is God's doing. And with this great God he would speak; he, a -man, would have things out with the Lord of all (chap. xiii. 3). - -This impetuous passage, full of revolution, disaster, vast mutations, -a phantasmagoria of human struggle and defeat, while it supplies a -note of time and gives a distinct clue to the writer's position as an -Israelite, is remarkable for the faith that survives its apparent -pessimism. Others have surveyed the world and the history of change, -and have protested with their last voice against the cruelty that -seemed to rule. As for any God, they could never trust one whose will -and power were to be found alike in the craft of the deceiver and the -misery of the victim, in the baffling of sincere thought and the -overthrow of the honest with the vile. But Job trusts on. Beneath -every enigma, he looks for reason; beyond every disaster, to a Divine -end. The voices of men have come between him and the voice of the -Supreme. Personal disaster has come between him and his sense of God. -His thought is not free. If it were, he would catch the reconciling -word, his soul would hear the music of eternity. "I would reason with -God." He clings to God-given reason as his instrument of discovery. - - * * * * * - -Very bold is this whole position, and very reverent also, if you will -think of it; far more honouring to God than any attempt of the friends -who, as Job says, appear to hold the Almighty no better than a petty -chief, so insecure in His position that He must be grateful to any one -who will justify His deeds. "Poor God, with nobody to help Him." Job -uses all his irony in exposing the folly of such a religion, the -impertinence of presenting it to him as a solution and a help. In -short, he tells them, they are pious quacks, and, as he will have none -of them for his part, he thinks God will not either. The author is at -the very heart of religion here. The word of reproof and correction, -the plea for providence must go straight to the reason of man, or it -is of no use. The word of the Lord must be a two-edged sword of truth, -piercing to the dividing asunder even of soul and spirit. That is to -say, into the centre of energy the truth must be driven which kills -the spirit of rebellion, so that the will of man, set free, may come -into conscious and passionate accord with the will of God. But -reconciliation is impossible unless each will deal in the utmost -sincerity with truth, realising the facts of existence, the nature of -the soul and the great necessities of its discipline. To be true in -theology we must not accept what seems to be true, nor speak -forensically, but affirm what we have proved in our own life and -gathered in utmost effort from Scripture and from nature. Men inherit -opinions as they used to inherit garments, or devise them, like -clothes of a new fashion, and from within the folds they speak, not as -men but as priests, what is the right thing according to a received -theory. It will not do. Even of old time a man like the author of Job -turned contemptuously from school-made explanations and sought a -living word. In our age the number of those whose fever can be lulled -with a working theory of religion and a judicious arrangement of the -universe is rapidly becoming small. Theology is being driven to look -the facts of life full in the face. If the world has learned anything -from modern science, it is the habit of rigorous research and the -justification of free inquiry, and the lesson will never be unlearned. - -To take one error of theology. All men are concluded equally under God's -wrath and curse; then the proofs of the malediction are found in -trouble, fear and pain. But what comes of this teaching? Out in the -world, with facts forcing themselves on consciousness, the scheme is -found hollow. All are not in trouble and pain. Those who are afflicted -and disappointed are often sincere Christians. A theory of deferred -judgment and happiness is made for escape; it does not, however, in the -least enable one to comprehend how, if pain and trouble be the -consequences of sin, they should not be distributed rightly from the -first. A universal moral order cannot begin in a manner so doubtful, so -very difficult for the wayfaring man to read as he goes. To hold that it -can is to turn religion into an occultism which at every point bewilders -the simple mind. The theory is one which tends to blunt the sense of sin -in those who are prosperous, and to beget that confident Pharisaism -which is the curse of church-life. On the other hand, the "sacrificed -classes," contrasting their own moral character with that of the -frivolous and fleshly rich, are forced to throw over a theology which -binds together sin and suffering, and to deny a God whose equity is so -far to seek. And yet, again, in the recoil from all this men invent -wersh schemes of bland good-will and comfort, which have simply nothing -to do with the facts of life, no basis in the world as we know it, no -sense of the rigour of Divine love. So Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar remain -with us and confuse theology until some think it lost in unreason. - - "_But ye are patchers of lies, - Physicians of nought are ye all. - Oh that ye would only keep silence, - And it should be your wisdom._" (_chap. xiii._ 4, 5). - -Job sets them down with a current proverb--"Even a fool, when he -holdeth his peace, is counted wise." He begs them to be silent. They -shall now hear his rebuke. - - "_On behalf of God will ye speak wrong? - And for Him will ye speak deceit? - Will ye be partisans for Him? - Or for God will ye contend?_" - -Job finds them guilty of speaking falsely as special pleaders for God in -two respects. They insist that he has offended God, but they cannot -point to one sin which he has committed. On the other hand, they affirm -positively that God will restore prosperity if confession is made. But -in this too they play the part of advocates without warrant. They show -great presumption in daring to pledge the Almighty to a course in -accordance with their idea of justice. The issue might be what they -predict; it might not. They are venturing on ground to which their -knowledge does not extend. They think their presumption justified -because it is for religion's sake. Job administers a sound rebuke, and -it extends to our own time. Special pleaders for God's sovereign and -unconditional right and for His illimitable good-nature, alike have -warning here. What justification have men in affirming that God will -work out His problems in detail according to their views? He has given -to us the power to apprehend the great principles of His working. He has -revealed much in nature, providence, and Scripture, and in Christ; but -there is the "hiding of His power," "His path is in the mighty waters, -and His judgments are not known." Christ has said, "It is not for you to -know times and seasons which the Father hath set within His own -authority." There are certainties of our consciousness, facts of the -world and of revelation from which we can argue. Where these confirm, we -may dogmatise, and the dogma will strike home. But no piety, no desire -to vindicate the Almighty or to convict and convert the sinner, can -justify any man in passing beyond the certainty which God has given him -to that unknown which lies far above human ken. - - "_He will surely correct you - If in secret ye are partial. - Shall not His majesty terrify you, - And His dread fall upon you?_" (_chap. xiii._ 10, 11). - -The Book of Job, while it brands insincerity and loose reasoning, -justifies all honest and reverent research. Here, as in the teaching of -our Lord, the real heretic is he who is false to his own reason and -conscience, to the truth of things as God gives him to apprehend it, -who, in short, makes believe to any extent in the sphere of religion. -And it is upon this man the terror of the Divine majesty is to fall. - -We saw how Bildad established himself on the wisdom of the ancients. -Recalling this, Job flings contempt on his traditional sayings. - - "_Your remembrances are proverbs of ashes, - Your defences, defences of dust._" - -Did they mean to smite him with those proverbs as with stones? They -were ashes. Did they intrench themselves from the assaults of reason -behind old suppositions? Their ramparts were mere dust. Once more he -bids them hold their peace, and let him alone that he may speak out -all that is in his mind. It is, he knows, at the hazard of his life he -goes forward; but he will. The case in which he is can have no remedy -excepting by an appeal to God, and that final appeal he will make. - -Now the proper beginning of this appeal is in the twenty-third verse, -with the words: "How many are mine iniquities and my sins?" But before -Job reaches it he expresses his sense of the danger and difficulty -under which he lies, interweaving with the statement of these a -marvellous confidence in the result of what he is about to do. -Referring to the declarations of his friends as to the danger that yet -threatens if he will not confess sin, he uses a proverbial expression -for hazard of life. - - "_Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, - And put my life in my hand?_" - -Why do I incur this danger, do you say? Never mind. It is not your -affair. For bare existence I care nothing. To escape with mere -consciousness for a while is no object to me, as I now am. With my -life in my hand I hasten to God. - - "_Lo! He will slay me: I will not delay-- - Yet my ways will I maintain before Him_" (_chap. xiii._ 15). - -The old Version here, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," is -inaccurate. Still it is not far from expressing the brave purpose of -the man--prostrate before God, yet resolved to cling to the justice of -the case as he apprehends it, assured that this will not only be -excused by God, but will bring about his acquittal or salvation. To -grovel in the dust, confessing himself a miserable sinner more than -worthy of all the sufferings he has undergone, while in his heart he -has the consciousness of being upright and faithful--this would not -commend him to the Judge of all the earth. It would be a mockery of -truth and righteousness, therefore of God Himself. On the other hand, -to maintain his integrity which God gave him, to go on maintaining it -at the hazard of all, is his only course, his only safety. - - "_This also shall be my salvation, - For a godless man shall not live before Him._" - -The fine moral instinct of Job, giving courage to his theology, -declares that God demands "truth in the inward parts" and truth in -speech--that man "consists in truth"--that "if he betrays truth he -betrays himself," which is a crime against his Maker. No man is so -much in danger of separating himself from God and losing everything as -he who acts or speaks against conviction. - -Job has declared his hazard, that he is lying helpless before Almighty -Power which may in a moment crush him. He has also expressed his faith, -that approaching God in the courage of truth he will not be rejected, -that absolute sincerity will alone give him a claim on the Infinitely -True. Now turning to his friends as if in new defiance, he says:-- - - "_Hear diligently my speech, - And my explanation with your ears. - Behold now, I have ordered my cause; - I know that I shall be justified. - Who is he that will contend with me? - For then would I hold my peace and expire._" - -That is to say, he has reviewed his life once more, he has considered -all possibilities of transgression, and yet his contention remains. So -much does he build upon his claim on God that, if any one could now -convict him, his heart would fail, life would no more be worth living; -the foundation of hope destroyed, conflict would be at an end. - -But with his plea to God still in view he expresses once more his -sense of the disadvantage under which he lies. The pressure of the -Divine hand is upon him still, a sore enervating terror which bears -upon his soul. Would God but give him respite for a little from the -pain and the fear, then he would be ready either to answer the summons -of the Judge or make his own demand for vindication. - - * * * * * - -We may suppose an interval of release from pain or at least a pause of -expectancy, and then, in verse twenty-third, Job begins his cry. The -language is less vehement than we have heard. It has more of the -pathos of weak human life. He is one with that race of thinking, -feeling, suffering creatures who are tossed about on the waves of -existence, driven before the winds of change like autumn leaves. It is -the plea of human feebleness and mortality we hear, and then, as the -"still sad music" touches the lowest note of wailing, there mingles -with it the strain of hope. - - "_How many are mine iniquities and sins? - Make me to know my transgression and my sin._" - -We are not to understand here that Job confesses great transgressions, -nor, contrariwise, that he denies infirmity and error in himself. -There are no doubt failures of his youth which remain in memory, sins -of desire, errors of ignorance, mistakes in conduct such as the best -men fall into. These he does not deny. But righteousness and happiness -have been represented as a profit and loss account, and therefore Job -wishes to hear from God a statement in exact form of all he has done -amiss or failed to do, so that he may be able to see the relation -between fault and suffering, his faults and his sufferings, if such -relation there be. It appears that God is counting him an enemy (ver. -24). He would like to have the reason for that. So far as he knows -himself he has sought to obey and honour the Almighty. Certainly there -has never been in his heart any conscious desire to resist the will of -Eloah. Is it then for transgressions unwittingly committed that he now -suffers--for sins he did not intend or know of? God is just. It is -surely a part of His justice to make a sufferer aware why such -terrible afflictions befal him. - -And then--is it worth while for the Almighty to be so hard on a poor -weak mortal? - - "_Wilt thou scare a driven leaf-- - Wilt thou pursue the dry stubble-- - That thou writest bitter judgments against me, - And makest me to possess the faults of my youth, - And puttest my feet in the stocks, - And watchest all my paths, - And drawest a line about the soles of my feet-- - One who as a rotten thing is consuming, - As a garment that is moth-eaten?_" - -The sense of rigid restraint and pitiable decay was perhaps never -expressed with so fit and vivid imagery. So far it is personal. Then -begins a general lamentation regarding the sad fleeting life of man. -His own prosperity, which passed as a dream, has become to Job a type -of the brief vain existence of the race tried at every moment by -inexorable Divine judgment; and the low mournful words of the Arabian -chief have echoed ever since in the language of sorrow and loss. - - "_Man that is born of woman, - Of few days is he and full of trouble. - Like the flower he springs up and withers; - Like a shadow he flees and stays not. - Is it on such a one Thou hast fixed Thine eye? - Bringest Thou me into Thy judgment? - Oh that the clean might come out of the unclean! - But there is not one._" - -Human frailty is both of the body and of the soul; and it is -universal. The nativity of men forbids their purity. Well does God -know the weakness of His creatures; and why then does He expect of -them, if indeed He expects, a pureness that can stand the test of His -searching? Job cannot be free from the common infirmity of mortals. He -is born of woman. But why then is he chased with inquiry, haunted and -scared by a righteousness he cannot satisfy? Should not the Great God -be forbearing with a man? - - "_Since his days are determined, - The number of his moons with Thee, - And Thou hast set him bounds not to be passed; - Look Thou away from him, that he may rest, - At least fulfil as a hireling his day._" - -Man's life being so short, his death so sure and soon, seeing he is -like a hireling in the world, might he not be allowed a little rest? -might he not, as one who has fulfilled his day's work, be let go for a -little repose ere he die? That certain death, it weighs upon him now, -pressing down his thought. - - "_For even a tree hath hope; - If it be hewn down it will sprout anew, - The young shoot thereof will not fail. - If in the earth its root wax old, - Or in the ground its stock should die, - Yet at the scent of water it will spring, - And shoot forth boughs like a new plant. - But a man: he dies and is cut off; - Yea, when men die, they are gone. - Ebbs away the water from the sea, - And the stream decays and dries: - So when men have lain down they rise not; - Till the heavens vanish they never awake, - Nor are they roused from their sleep._" - -No arguments, no promises can break this deep gloom and silence into -which the life of man passes. Once Job had sought death; now a desire -has grown within him, and with it recoil from Sheol. To meet God, to -obtain his own justification and the clearing of Divine righteousness, -to have the problem of life explained--the hope of this makes life -precious. Is he to lie down and rise no more while the skies endure? Is -no voice to reach him from the heavenly justice he has always confided -in? The very thought is confounding. If he were now to desire death it -would mean that he had given up all faith, that justice, truth, and even -the Divine name of Eloah had ceased to have any value for him. - - * * * * * - -We are to behold the rise of a new hope, like a star in the firmament -of his thought. Whence does it spring? - -The religion of the Book of Job, as already shown, is, in respect of -form, a natural religion; that is to say, the ideas are not derived -from the Hebrew Scriptures. The writer does not refer to the -legislation of Moses and the great words of prophets. The expression -"As the Lord said unto Moses" does not occur in this book, nor any -equivalent. It is through nature and the human consciousness that the -religious beliefs of the poem appear to have come into shape. Yet two -facts are to be kept fully in view. - -The first is that even a natural religion must not be supposed to be a -thing of man's invention, with no origin further than his dreams. We -must not declare all religious ideas outside those of Israel to be -mere fictions of the human fancy or happy guesses at truth. The -religion of Teman may have owed some of its great thoughts to Israel. -But, apart from that, a basis of Divine revelation is always laid -wherever men think and live. In every land the heart of man has borne -witness to God. Reverent thought, dwelling on justice, truth, mercy, -and all virtues found in the range of experience and consciousness, -came through them to the idea of God. Every one who made an induction -as to the Great Unseen Being, his mind open to the facts of nature and -his own moral constitution, was in a sense a prophet. As far as they -went, the reality and value of religious ideas, so reached, are -acknowledged by Bible writers themselves. "The invisible things of God -from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived -through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and -divinity." God has always been revealing Himself to men. - -"Natural religion" we say: and yet, since God is always revealing -Himself and has made all men more or less capable of apprehending the -revelation, even the natural is supernatural. Take the religion of -Egypt, or of Chaldæa, or of Persia. You may contrast any one of these -with the religion of Israel; you may call the one natural, the other -revealed. But the Persian speaking of the Great Good Spirit or the -Chaldæan worshipping a supreme Lord must have had some kind of -revelation; and his sense of it, not clear indeed, far enough below -that of Moses or Isaiah, was yet a forth-reaching towards the same -light as now shines for us. - -Next we must keep it in view that Job does not appear as a thinker -building on himself alone, depending on his own religious experience. -Centuries and ages of thought are behind these beliefs which are -ascribed to him, even the ideas which seem to start up freshly as the -result of original discovery. Imagine a man thinking for himself about -Divine things in that far-away Arabian past. His mind, to begin with, is -not a blank. His father has instructed him. There is a faith that has -come down from many generations. He has found words in use which hold in -them religious ideas, discoveries, perceptions of Divine reality, caught -and fixed ages before. When he learned language the products of -evolution, not only psychical, but intellectual and spiritual, became -his. Eloah, the lofty one, the righteousness of Eloah, the word of -Eloah, Eloah as Creator, as Watcher of men, Eloah as wise, unsearchable -in wisdom, as strong, infinitely mighty,--these are ideas he has not -struck out for himself, but inherited. Clearly then a new thought, -springing from these, comes as a supernatural communication and has -behind it ages of spiritual evolution. It is new, but has its root in -the old; it is natural, but originates in the over-nature. - -Now the primitive religion of the Semites, the race to which Job -belonged, to which also the Hebrews belonged, has been of late carefully -studied; and with regard to it certain things have been established that -bear on the new hope we are to find struck out by the Man of Uz. - -In the early morning of religious thought among those Semites it was -universally believed that the members of a family or tribe, united by -blood-relationship to each other, were also related in the same way to -their God. He was their father, the invisible head and source of their -community, on whom they had a claim so long as they pleased him. His -interest in them was secured by the sacrificial meal which he was -invited and believed to share with them. If he had been offended, the -sacrificial offering was the means of recovering his favour; and -communion with him in those meals and sacrifices was the inheritance -of all who claimed the kinship of that clan or tribe. With the -clearing of spiritual vision this belief took a new form in the minds -of the more thoughtful. The idea of communion remained and the -necessity of it to the life of the worshipper was felt even more -strongly when the kinship of the God with his subject family was, for -the few at least, no longer an affair of physical descent and -blood-relationship, but of spiritual origin and attachment. And when -faith rose from the tribal god to the idea of the Heaven-Father, the -one Creator and King, communion with Him was felt to be in the highest -sense a vital necessity. Here is found the religion of Job. A main -element of it was communion with Eloah, an ethical kinship with Him, -no arbitrary or merely physical relation, but of the spirit. That is -to say, Job has at the heart of his creed the truth as to man's -origin and nature. The author of the book is a Hebrew; his own faith -is that of the people from whom we have the Book of Genesis; but he -treats here of man's relation to God from the ethnic side, such as may -be taken now by a reasoner treating of spiritual evolution. - -Communion with Eloah had been Job's life, and with it had been -associated his many years of wealth, dignity, and influence. Lest his -children should fall from it and lose their most precious inheritance, -he used to bring the periodical offerings. But at length his own -communion was interrupted. The sense of being at one with Eloah, if -not lost, became dull and faint. It is for the restoration of his very -life--not as we might think of religious feeling, but of actual spirit -energy--he is now concerned. It is this that underlies his desire for -God to speak with him, his demand for an opportunity of pleading his -cause. Some might expect that he would ask his friends to offer -sacrifice on his behalf. But he makes no such request. The crisis has -come in a region higher than sacrifice, where observances are of no -use. Thought only can reach it; the discovery of reconciling truth -alone can satisfy. Sacrifices which for the old world sustained the -relation with God could no more for Job restore the intimacy of the -spiritual Lord. With a passion for this fellowship keener than ever, -since he now more distinctly realises what it is, a fear blends in the -heart of the man. Death will be upon him soon. Severed from God he -will fall away into the privation of that world where is neither -praise nor service, knowledge nor device. Yet the truth which lies at -the heart of his religion does not yield. Leaning all upon it, he -finds it strong, elastic. He sees at least a possibility of -reconciliation; for how can the way back to God ever be quite closed? - -What difficulty there was in his effort we know. To the common thought -of the time when this book was written, say that of Hezekiah, the -state of the dead was not extinction indeed, but an existence of -extreme tenuity and feebleness. In Sheol there was nothing active. The -hollow ghost of the man was conceived of as neither hoping nor -fearing, neither originating nor receiving impressions. Yet Job dares -to anticipate that even in Sheol a set time of remembrance will be -ordained for him and he shall hear the thrilling call of God. As it -approaches this climax the poem flashes and glows with prophetic fire. - - "_Oh that Thou would'st hide me in Sheol, - That Thou would'st keep me secret until Thy wrath be past, - That Thou would'st appoint a set time, and remember me! - If a (strong) man die, shall he live? - All the days of my appointed time would I wait - Till my release came. - Thou would'st call, I would answer Thee; - Thou would'st have a desire to the work of Thy hands._" - -Not easily can we now realise the extraordinary step forward made in -thought when the anticipation was thrown out of spiritual life going -on beyond death ("would I wait"), retaining intellectual potency in -that region otherwise dark and void to the human imagination ("I would -answer Thee"). From both the human side and the Divine the poet has -advanced a magnificent intuition, a springing arch into which he is -unable to fit the keystone--the spiritual body; for He only could do -this who long afterwards came to be Himself the Resurrection and the -Life. But when this poem of Job had been given to the world a new -thought was implanted in the soul of the race, a new hope that should -fight against the darkness of Sheol till that morning when the sunrise -fell upon an empty sepulchre, and one standing in the light asked of -sorrowful men, Why seek ye the living among the dead? - -"Thou would'st have a desire to the work of Thy hands." What a -philosophy of Divine care underlies the words! They come with a force -Job seems hardly to realise. Is there a High One who makes men in His -own image, capable of fine achievement, and then casts them away in -discontent or loathing? The voice of the poet rings in a passionate -key because he rises to a thought practically new to the human mind. -He has broken through barriers both of faith and doubt into the light -of his hope and stands trembling on the verge of another world. "One -must have had a keen perception of the profound relation between the -creature and his Maker in the past to be able to give utterance to -such an imaginative expectation respecting the future." - -But the wrath of God still appears to rest upon Job's life; still He -seems to keep in reserve, sealed up, unrevealed, some record of -transgressions for which He has condemned His servant. From the height -of hope Job falls away into an abject sense of the decay and misery to -which man is brought by the continued rigour of Eloah's examination. -As with shocks of earthquake mountains are broken, and waters by -constant flowing wash down the soil and the plants rooted in it, so -human life is wasted by the Divine severity. In the world the children -whom a man loved are exalted or brought low, but he knows nothing of -it. His flesh corrupts in the grave and his soul in Sheol languishes. - - "_Thou destroyest the hope of man. - Thou ever prevailest against him, and he passeth; - Thou changest his countenance and sendest him away._" - -The real is at this point so grim and insistent as to shut off the -ideal and confine thought again to its own range. The energy of the -prophetic mind is overborne, and unintelligible fact surrounds and -presses hard the struggling personality. - - - - -THE SECOND COLLOQUY. - - - - -XIII. - -_THE TRADITION OF A PURE RACE._ - -ELIPHAZ SPEAKS. CHAP. xv. - - -The first colloquy has made clear severance between the old Theology -and the facts of human life. No positive reconciliation is effected as -yet between reality and faith, no new reading of Divine providence has -been offered. The author allows the friends on the one hand, Job on -the other, to seek the end of controversy just as men in their -circumstances would in real life have sought it. Unable to penetrate -behind the veil the one side clings obstinately to the ancestral -faith, on the other side the persecuted sufferer strains after a hope -of vindication apart from any return of health and prosperity, which -he dares not expect. One of the conditions of the problem is the -certainty of death. Before death, repentance and restoration,--say the -friends. Death immediate, therefore should God hear me, vindicate -me,--says Job. In desperation he breaks through to the hope that -God's wrath will pass even though his scared and harrowed life be -driven into Sheol. For a moment he sees the light; then it seems to -expire. To the orthodox friends any such thought is a kind of -blasphemy. They believe in the nullity of the state beyond death. -There is no wisdom nor hope in the grave. "The dead know not anything, -neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is -forgotten"--even by God. "As well their love, as their hatred and -their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for -ever in anything that is done under the sun" (Eccles. ix. 5, 6). On -the mind of Job this dark shadow falls and hides the star of his hope. -To pass away under the reprobation of men and of God, to suffer the -final stroke and be lost for ever in the deep darkness;--anticipating -this, how can he do otherwise than make a desperate fight for his own -consciousness of right and for God's intervention while yet any breath -is left in him? He persists in this. The friends do not approach him -one step in thought; instead of being moved by his pathetic entreaties -they draw back into more bigoted judgment. - -In opening the new circle of debate Eliphaz might be expected to yield -a little, to admit something in the claim of the sufferer, granting at -least for the sake of argument that his case is hard. But the writer -wishes to show the rigour and determination of the old creed, or -rather of the men who preach it. He will not allow them one sign of -_rapprochement_. In the same order as before the three advance their -theory, making no attempt to explain the facts of human existence to -which their attention has been called. Between the first and the -second round there is, indeed, a change of position, but in the line -of greater hardness. The change is thus marked. Each of the three, -differing _toto coelo_ from Job's view of his case, had introduced an -encouraging promise. Eliphaz had spoken of six troubles, yea seven, -from which one should be delivered if he accepted the chastening of -the Lord. Bildad affirmed - - "_Behold, God will not cast away the perfect: - He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter - And thy lips with shouting._" - -Zophar had said that if Job would put away iniquity he should be led -into fearless calm. - - "_Thou shall be steadfast and not fear, - For thou shalt forget thy misery; - Remember it as waters that are passed by._" - -That is a note of the first series of arguments; we hear nothing of it -in the second. One after another drives home a stern, uncompromising -judgment. - - * * * * * - -The dramatic art of the author has introduced several touches into the -second speech of Eliphaz which maintain the personality. For example, -the formula "I have seen" is carried on from the former address where -it repeatedly occurs, and is now used quite incidentally, therefore -with all the more effect. Again the "crafty" are spoken of in both -addresses with contempt and aversion, neither of the other -interlocutors of Job nor Job himself using the word. The thought of -chap. xv. 15 is also the same as that ventured upon in chap. iv. 18, a -return to the oracle which gave Eliphaz his claim to be a prophet. -Meanwhile he adopts from Bildad the appeal to ancient belief in -support of his position; but he has an original way of enforcing this -appeal. As a pure Temanite he is animated by the pride of race and -claims more for his progenitors than could be allowed to a Shuchite or -Naamathite, more, certainly, than could be allowed to one who dwelt -among worshippers of the sun and moon. As a whole the thought of -Eliphaz remains what it was, but more closely brought to a point. He -does not wander now in search of possible explanations. He fancies -that Job has convicted himself and that little remains but to show -most definitely the fate he seems bent on provoking. It will be a -kindness to impress this on his mind. - -The first part of the address, extending to verse 13, is an -expostulation with Job, whom in irony he calls "wise." Should a wise -man use empty unprofitable talk, filling his bosom, as it were, with -the east wind, peculiarly blustering and arid? Yet what Job says is -not only unprofitable, it is profane. - - "_Thou doest away with piety - And hinderest devotion before God. - For thine iniquity instructs thy mouth, - And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. - Thine own mouth condemneth thee; not I; - Thine own lips testify against thee._" - -Eliphaz is thoroughly sincere. Some of the expressions used by his -friend must have seemed to him to strike at the root of reverence. -Which were they? One was the affirmation that tents of robbers prosper -and they that provoke God are secure; another the daring statement -that the deceived and the deceiver are both God's; again the confident -defence of his own life: "Behold now I have ordered my cause, I know -that I am righteous; who is he that will contend with me?" and once -more his demand why God harassed him, a driven leaf, treating him with -oppressive cruelty. Things like these were very offensive to a mind -surcharged with veneration and occupied with a single idea of Divine -government. From the first convinced that gross fault or arrogant -self-will had brought down the malediction of God, Eliphaz could not -but think that Job's iniquity was "teaching his mouth" (coming out in -his speech, forcing him to profane expressions), and that he was -choosing the tongue of the crafty. It seemed that he was trying to -throw dust in their eyes. With the cunning and shiftiness of a man who -hoped to carry off his evil-doing, he had talked of maintaining his -ways before God and being vindicated in that region where, as every -one knew, recovery was impossible. The ground of all certainty and -belief was shaken by those vehement words. Eliphaz felt that piety was -done away and devotion hindered, he could scarcely breathe a prayer in -this atmosphere foul with scepticism and blasphemy. - -The writer means us to enter into the feelings of this man, to think -with him, for the time, sympathetically. It is no moral fault to be -over-jealous for the Almighty, although it is a misconception of man's -place and duty, as Elijah learned in the wilderness, when, having -claimed to be the only believer left, he was told there were seven -thousand that never bowed the knee to Baal. The speaker has this -justification, that he does not assume office as advocate for God. His -religion is part of him, his feeling of shock and disturbance quite -natural. Blind to the unfairness of the situation he does not consider -the incivility of joining with two others to break down one sick -bereaved man, to scare a driven leaf. This is accidental. Controversy -begun, a pious man is bound to carry on, as long as may be necessary, -the argument which is to save a soul. - -Nevertheless, being human, he mingles a tone of sarcasm as he proceeds. - - "_The first man wast thou born? - Or wast thou made before the hills? - Did'st thou hearken in the conclave of God? - And dost thou keep the wisdom to thyself?_" - -Job had accused his friends of speaking unrighteously for God and -respecting His person. This pricked. Instead of replying in soft words -as he claims to have been doing hitherto ("Are the consolations of God -too small for thee and a word that dealt tenderly with thee?"), -Eliphaz takes to the sarcastic proverb. The author reserves dramatic -gravity and passion for Job, as a rule, and marks the others by -varying tones of intellectual hardness, of current raillery. Eliphaz -now is permitted to show more of the self-defender than the defender -of faith. The result is a loss of dignity. - - "_What knowest thou that we know not? - What understandest thou that is not in us?_" - -After all it is man's reason against man's reason. The answer will -only come in the judgment of the Highest. - - "_With us is he who is both grey-haired and very old, - Older in days than thy father._" - - -Not Eliphaz himself surely. That would be to claim too great -antiquity. Besides, it seems a little wanting in sense. More probably -there is reference to some aged rabbi, such as every community loved -to boast of, the Nestor of the clan, full of ancient wisdom. Eliphaz -really believes that to be old is to be near the fountain of truth. -There was an origin of faith and pure life. The fathers were nearer -that holy source; and wisdom meant going back as far as possible up -the stream. To insist on this was to place a real barrier in the way -of Job's self-defence. He would scarcely deny it as the theory of -religion. What then of his individual protest, his philosophy of the -hour and of his own wishes? The conflict is presented here with much -subtlety, a standing controversy in human thought. Fixed principles -there must be; personal research, experience and passion there are, -new with every new age. How settle the antithesis? The Catholic -doctrine has not yet been struck out that will fuse in one commanding -law the immemorial convictions of the race and the widening visions of -the living soul. The agitation of the church to-day is caused by the -presence within her of Eliphaz and Job--Eliphaz standing for the -fathers and their faith, Job passing through a fever-crisis of -experience and finding no remedy in the old interpretations. The -church is apt to say, Here is moral disease, sin; we have nothing for -that but rebuke and aversion. Is it wonderful that the tried life, -conscious of integrity, rises in indignant revolt? The taunt of sin, -scepticism, rationalism or self-will is too ready a weapon, a sword -worn always by the side or carried in the hand. Within the House of -God men should not go armed, as if brethren in Christ might be -expected to prove traitors. - -The question of the eleventh verse--"Are the consolations of God too -small for thee?"--is intended to cover the whole of the arguments -already used by the friends and is arrogant enough as implying a -Divine commission exercised by them. "The word that dealt tenderly -with thee," says Eliphaz; but Job has his own idea of the tenderness -and seems to convey it by an expressive gesture or glance which -provokes a retort almost angry from the speaker,-- - - "_Why doth thine heart carry thee away, - And why do thine eyes wink, - That thou turnest thy breathing against God, - And sendest words out of thy mouth?_" - -We may understand a brief emphatic word of repudiation not unmixed with -contempt and, at the same time, not easy to lay hold of. Eliphaz now -feels that he may properly insist on the wickedness of man--painfully -illustrated in Job himself--and depict the certain fate of him who -defies the Almighty and trusts in his own "vanity." The passage is from -first to last repetition, but has new colour of the quasi-prophetic kind -and a certain force and eloquence that give it fresh interest. - -Formerly Eliphaz had said, "Shall man be just beside God? Behold He -putteth no trust in His servants, and His angels He chargeth with -folly." Now, with a keener emphasis, and adopting Job's own confession -that man born of woman is impure, he asserts the doctrine of -creaturely imperfection and human corruption. - - "_Eloah trusteth not in His holy ones, - And the heavens are not pure in His sight; - How much less the abominable and corrupt, - Man, who drinketh iniquity as water!_" - -First is set forth the refusal of God to put confidence in the holiest -creature,--a touch, as it were, of suspicion in the Divine rule. A -statement of the holiness of God otherwise very impressive is marred by -this too anthropomorphic suggestion. Why, is not the opposite true, that -the Creator puts wonderful trust not only in saints but in sinners? He -trusts men with life, with the care of the little children whom He -loves, with the use in no small degree of His creation, the powers and -resources of a world. True, there is a reservation. At no point is the -creature allowed to rule. Saint and sinner, man and angel are alike -under law and observation. None of them can be other than servants, none -of them can ever speak the final word or do the last thing in any cause. -Eliphaz therefore is dealing with a large truth, one never to be -forgotten or disallowed. Yet he fails to make right use of it, for his -second point, that of the total corruption of human nature, ought to -imply that God does not trust man at all. The logic is bad and the -doctrine will hardly square with the reference to human wisdom and to -wise persons holding the secret of God of whom Eliphaz goes on to speak. -Against him two lines of reasoning are evident. Abominable, gone sour or -putrid, to whom evil is a necessary of existence like water--if man be -that, his Creator ought surely to sweep him away and be done with him. -But since, on the other hand, God maintains the life of human beings and -honours them with no small confidence, it would seem that man, sinful as -he is, bad as he often is, does not lie under the contempt of his Maker, -is not set beyond a service of hope. In short, Eliphaz sees only what he -chooses to see. His statements are devout and striking, but too rigid -for the manifoldness of life. He makes it felt, even while he speaks, -that he himself in some way stands apart from the race he judges so -hardly. So far as the inspiration of this book goes, it is against the -doctrine of total corruption as put into the mouth of Eliphaz. He -intends a final and crushing assault on the position taken up by Job; -but his mind is prejudiced, and the man he condemns is God's approved -servant, who, in the end, will have to pray for Eliphaz that he may not -be dealt with after his folly. Quotation of the words of Eliphaz in -proof of total depravity is a grave error. The race is sinful; all men -sin, inherit sinful tendencies and yield to them: who does not confess -it? But,--all men abominable and corrupt, drinking iniquity as -water,--that is untrue at any rate of the very person Eliphaz engages to -convict. - -It is remarkable that there is not a single word of personal -confession in any speech made by the friends. They are concerned -merely to state a creed supposed to be honouring to God, a full -justification from their point of view of His dealings with men. The -sovereignty of God must be vindicated by attributing this entire -vileness to man, stripping the creature of every claim on the -consideration of his Maker. The great evangelical teachers have not so -driven home their reasoning. Augustine began with the evil in his own -heart and reasoned to the world, and Jonathan Edwards in the same way -began with himself. "My wickedness," he says, "has long appeared to me -perfectly ineffable and, swallowing up all thought and imagination, -like an infinite deluge or mountains over my head. I know not how to -express better what my sins appear to me to be than by heaping -infinite on infinite and multiplying infinite by infinite." Here is no -Eliphaz arguing from misfortune to sinfulness; and indeed by that line -it is impossible ever to arrive at evangelical poverty of spirit. - -Passing to his final contention here the speaker introduces it with a -special claim to attention. Again it is what "he has seen" he will -declare, what indeed all wise men have seen from time immemorial. - - "_I will inform thee: hear me; - And what I have seen I will declare: - Things which wise men have told, - From their fathers, and have not hid, - To whom alone the land was given, - And no stranger passed in their midst._" - -There is the pride. He has a peculiar inheritance of unsophisticated -wisdom. The pure Temanite race has dwelt always in the same land, and -foreigners have not mixed with it. With it, therefore, is a religion -not perverted by alien elements or the adoption of sceptical ideas -from passing strangers. The plea is distinctively Arabic and may be -illustrated by the self-complacent dogmatism of the Wahhabees of -Ri'ad, whom Mr. Palgrave found enjoying their own uncorrupted -orthodoxy. "In central Nejed society presents an element pervading it -from its highest to its lowest grades. Not only as a Wahhabee but -equally as a Nejdean the native of 'Aared and Yemamah differs, and -that widely, from his fellow-Arab of Shomer and Kaseem, nay, of Woshem -and Sedeyr. The cause of this difference is much more ancient than the -epoch of the great Wahhabee, and must be sought first and foremost in -the pedigree itself. The descent claimed by the indigenous Arabs of -this region is from the family of Tameen, a name peculiar to these -lands.... Now Benoo-Tameem have been in all ages distinguished from -other Arabs by strongly drawn lines of character, the object of the -exaggerated praise and of the biting satire of native poets. Good or -bad, these characteristics, described some thousand years ago, are -identical with the portrait of their real or pretended descendants.... -Simplicity is natural to the men of 'Aared and Yemamah, independent of -Wahhabee puritanism and the vigour of its code." ("Central Arabia," -pp. 272, 273.) To this people Nejed is holy, Damascus through which -Christians and other infidels go is a lax disreputable place. They -maintain a strict Mohammedanism from age to age. In their view, as in -that of Eliphaz, the land belongs to the wise people who have the -heavenly treasure and do not entertain strangers as guides of thought. -Infallibility is a very old and very abiding cult. - -Eliphaz drags back his hearers to the penal visitation of the wicked, -his favourite dogma. Once more it is affirmed that for one who -transgresses the law of God there is nothing but misery, fear and -pain. Though he has a great following he lives in terror of the -destroyer; he knows that calamity will one day overtake him, and from -it there will be no deliverance. Then he will have to wander in search -of bread, his eyes perhaps put out by his enemy. So trouble and -anguish make him afraid even in his great day. There is here not a -suggestion that conscience troubles him. His whole agitation is from -fear of pain and loss. No single touch in the picture gives the idea -that this man has any sense of sin. - -How does Eliphaz distinguish or imagine the Almighty distinguishing -between men in general, who are all bad and offensive in their -badness, and this particular "wicked man"? Distinction there must be. -What is it? One must assume, for the reasoner is no fool, that the -settled temper and habit of a life are meant. Revolt against God, -proud opposition to His will and law, these are the wickedness. It is -no mere stagnant pool of corruption, but a force running against the -Almighty. Very well: Eliphaz has not only made a true distinction, but -apparently stated for once a true conclusion. Such a man will indeed -be likely to suffer for his arrogance in this life, although it does -not hold that he will be haunted by fears of coming doom. But -analysing the details of the wicked life in vers. 25-28, we find -incoherency. The question is why he suffers and is afraid. - - "_Because he stretched out his hand against God, - And bade defiance to the Almighty; - He ran upon Him with a neck - Upon the thick bosses of His bucklers; - Because he covered his face with his fatness - And made collops of fat on his flanks; - And he dwelt in tabooed cities, - In houses which no man ought to inhabit, - Destined to become heaps._" - -Eliphaz has narrowed down the whole contention, so that he may carry it -triumphantly and bring Job to admit, at least in this case, the law of -sin and retribution. It is fair to suppose that he is not presenting -Job's case, but an argument, rather, in abstract theology, designed to -strengthen his own general position. The author, however, by side lights -on the reasoning shows where it fails. The account of calamity and -judgment, true as it might be in the main of God-defiant lives running -headlong against the laws of heaven and earth, is confused by the other -element of wickedness--"Because he hath covered his face with his -fatness," etc. The recoil of a refined man of pure race from one of -gross sensual appetite is scarcely a fit parallel to the aversion of God -from man stubbornly and insolently rebellious. Further, the -superstitious belief that one was unpardonable who made his dwelling in -cities under the curse of God (literally, cities _cut off_ or -_tabooed_), while it might be sincerely put forward by Eliphaz, made -another flaw in his reasoning. Any one in constant terror of judgment -would have been the last to take up his abode in such accursed -habitations. The argument is strong only in picturesque assertion. - -The latter end of the wicked man and his futile attempts to found a -family or clan are presented at the close of the address. He shall not -become rich; that felicity is reserved for the servants of God. No -plentiful produce shall weigh down the branches of his olives and -vines, nor shall he ever rid himself of misfortune. As by a flame or -hot breath from the mouth of God his harvest and himself shall be -carried away. The vanity or mischief he sows shall return to him in -vanity or trouble; and before his time, while life should be still -fresh, the full measure of his reward shall be paid to him. The branch -withered and dry, unripe grapes and the infertile flowers of the olive -falling to the ground point to the want of children or their early -death; for "the company of the godless shall be barren." The tents of -injustice or bribery, left desolate, shall be burned. The only fruit -of the doomed life shall be iniquity. - -One hesitates to accuse Eliphaz of inaccuracy. Yet the shedding of the -petals of the olive is not in itself a sign of infertility; and -although this tree, like others, often blossoms without producing -fruit, yet it is the constant emblem of productiveness. The vine, -again, may have shed its unripe grapes in Teman; but usually they -wither. It may be feared that Eliphaz has fallen into the popular -speaker's trick of snatching at illustrations from "something supposed -to be science." His contention is partly sound in its foundation, but -fails like his analogies; and the controversy, when he leaves off, is -advanced not a single step. - - - - - -XIV. - -'_MY WITNESS IN HEAVEN._' - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xvi., xvii. - - -If it were comforting to be told of misery and misfortune, to hear the -doom of insolent evil-doers described again and again in varying -terms, then Job should have been comforted. But his friends had lost -sight of their errand, and he had to recall them to it. - - "_I have heard many such things: - Afflictive comforters are ye all. - Shall vain words have an end?_" - -He would have them consider that perpetual harping on one string is -but a sober accomplishment! Returning one after another to the wicked -man, the godless sinner, crafty, froward, sensual, overbearing, and -his certain fate of disaster and extinction, they are at once -obstinately ungracious and to Job's mind pitifully inept. He is -indisposed to argue afresh with them, but he cannot refrain from -expressing his sorrow and indeed his indignation that they have -offered him a stone for bread. Excusing themselves they had blamed him -for his indifference to the "consolations of God." All he had been -aware of was their "joining words together" against him with much -shaking of the head. Was that Divine consolation? Anything, it seemed, -was good enough for him, a man under the stroke of God. Perhaps he is -a little unfair to his comforters. They cannot drop their creed in -order to assuage his grief. In a sense it would have been easy to -murmur soothing inanities. - - "One writes that 'Other friends remain,' - That 'Loss is common to the race'-- - And common is the commonplace, - And vacant chaff well meant for grain. - - "That loss is common would not make - My own less bitter, rather more: - Too common! Never morning wore - To evening, but some heart did break." - -Even so: the courteous superficial talk of men who said, Friend, you are -only accidentally afflicted; there is no stroke of God in this: wait a -little till the shadows pass, and meanwhile let us cheer you by stories -of old times:--such talk would have served Job even less than the -serious attempt of the friends to settle the problem. It is therefore -with somewhat inconsiderate irony he blames them for not giving what, if -they had offered it, he would have rejected with scorn. - - "_I also could speak like you; - If your soul were in my soul's stead, - I could join words together against you, - And shake my head at you; - I could strengthen you with my mouth, - And the solace of my lips should assuage your grief._" - -The passage is throughout ironical. No change of tone occurs in verse 5, -as the opening word _But_ in the English version is intended to imply. -Job means, of course, that such consolation as they were offering he -never would have offered them. It would be easy, but abhorrent. - -So far in sad sarcasm; and then, the sense of desolation falling too -heavily on his mind for banter or remonstrance, he returns to his -complaint. What is he among men? What is he in himself? What is he -before God? Alone, stricken, the object of fierce assault and galling -reproach. After a pause of sorrowful thought he resumes the attempt to -express his woes, a final protest before his lips are silent in death. -He cannot hope that speaking will relieve his sorrow or mitigate his -pain. He would prefer to bear on - - "In all the silent manliness of grief." - -But as yet the appeal he has made to God remains unanswered, for aught -he knows unheard. It appears therefore his duty to his own reputation -and his faith that he endeavour yet again to break the obstinate -doubts of his integrity which still estrange from him those who were -his friends. He uses indeed language that will not commend his case -but tend to confirm every suspicion. Were he wise in the world's way -he would refrain from repeating his complaint against God. Rather -would he speak of his misery as a simple fact of experience and strive -to argue himself into submission. This line he has not taken and never -takes. It is present to his own mind that the hand of God is against -him. Whether men will join him by-and-by in an appeal from God to God -he cannot tell. But once more all that he sees or seems to see he -will declare. Every step may bring him into more painful isolation, -yet he will proclaim his wrong. - - "_Certainly, now, He hath wearied me out. - Thou hast made desolate my company; - Thou hast taken hold of me, - And it is a witness against me; - And my leanness riseth up against me - Bearing witness to my face._" - -He is exhausted; he has come to the last stage. The circle of his -family and friends in which he once stood enjoying the love and esteem -of all--where is it now? That hold of life is gone. Then, as if in -sheer malice, God has plucked health from him, and doing so, left a -charge of unworthiness. By the sore disease the Divine hand grasps -him, keeps him down. The emaciation of his body bears witness against -him as an object of wrath. Yes; God is his enemy, and how terrible an -enemy! He is like a savage lion that tears with his teeth and glares -as if in act to devour. With God, men also, in their degree, persecute -and assail him. People from the city have come out to gaze upon him. -Word has gone round that he is being crushed by the Almighty for proud -defiance and blasphemy. Men who once trembled before him have smitten -him upon the cheek reproachfully. They gather in groups to jeer at -him. He is delivered into their hands. - -But it is God, not men, of whose strange work he has most bitterly to -speak. Words almost fail him to express what his Almighty Foe has done. - - "_I was at ease, and He brake me asunder; - Yea he hath taken me by the neck - And dashed me to pieces: - He hath also set me as His butt, - His arrows compass me round about, - He cleaveth my reins asunder and spareth not, - He poureth my gall on the ground; - He breaketh me with breach upon breach, - He runneth upon me like a giant._" - -Figure after figure expresses the sense of persecution by one full of -resource who cannot be resisted. Job declares himself to be physically -bruised and broken. The stings and sores of his disease are like arrows -shot from every side that rankle in his flesh. He is like a fortress -beleaguered and stormed by some irresistible enemy. His strength humbled -to the dust, his eyes foul with weeping, the eyelids swollen so that he -cannot see, he lies abased and helpless, stricken to the very heart. But -not in the chastened mood of one who has done evil and is now brought to -contrite submission. That is as far from him as ever. The whole account -is of persecution, undeserved. He suffers, but protests still that there -is no violence in his hands, also his prayer is pure. Let neither God -nor man think he is concealing sin and making appeal craftily. Sincere -he is in every word. - - * * * * * - -At this point, where Job's impassioned language might be expected to -lead to a fresh outburst against heaven and earth, one of the most -dramatic turns in the thought of the sufferer brings it suddenly to a -minor harmony with the creation and the Creator. His excitement is -intense. Spiritual eagerness approaches the highest point. He invokes -the earth to help him and the mountain echoes. He protests that his -claim of integrity has its witness and must be acknowledged. - -For this new and most pathetic effort to reach a benignant fidelity in -God which all his cries have not yet stirred, the former speeches have -made preparation. Rising from the thought that it was all one to God -whether he lived or died since the perfect and the wicked are alike -destroyed, bewailing the want of a daysman between him and the Most -High, Job in the tenth chapter touched the thought that his Maker -could not despise the work of His own hands. Again, in chapter xiv., -the possibility of redemption from Sheol gladdened him for a little. -Now, under the shadow of imminent death, he abandons the hope of -deliverance from the under-world. Immediately, if at all, his -vindication must come. And it exists, written on the breast of earth, -open to the heavens, somewhere in clear words before the Highest. Not -vainly did the speaker in his days of past felicity serve God with all -his heart. The God he then worshipped heard his prayers, accepted his -offerings, made him glad with a friendship that was no empty dream. -Somewhere his Divine Friend lives still, observes still his tears and -agonies and cries. Those enemies about him taunting him with sins he -never committed, this horrible malady bearing him down into -death;--God knows of these, knows them to be cruel and undeserved. He -cries to that God, Eloah of the Elohim, Higher than the highest. - - "_O Earth, cover not my blood, - And let my cry have no resting-place! - Even now, lo! my witness is in heaven, - And He that voucheth for me is on high. - My friends scorn me: - Mine eye sheds tears unto God-- - That he would right a man against God, - And a son of man against his friend._" - -Now--in the present stage of being, before those years expire that -lead him to the grave--Job entreats the vindication which exists in -the records of heaven. As a son of man he pleads, not as one who has -any peculiar claim, but simply as a creature of the Almighty; and he -pleads for the first time with tears. The fact that earth, too, is -besought to help him must not be overlooked. There is a touch of wide -and wistful emotion, a sense that Eloah must regard the witness of His -world. The thought has its colour from a very old feeling; it takes us -back to primæval faith, and the dumb longing before faith. - -Is there in any sense a deeper depth in the faithfulness of God, a -higher heaven, more difficult to penetrate, of Divine benignity? Job -is making a bold effort to break that barrier we have already found to -exist in Hebrew thought between God as revealed by nature and -providence and God as vindicator of the individual life. The man has -that in his own heart which vouches for his life, though calamity and -disease impeach him. And in the heart of God also there must be a -witness to His faithful servant, although, meanwhile, something -interferes with the testimony God could bear. Job's appeal is to the -sun beyond the rolling clouds to shine. It is there; God is faithful -and true. It will shine. But let it shine _now_! Human life is brief -and delay will be disastrous. Pathetic cry--a struggle against what in -ordinary life is the inexorable. How many have gone the way whence -they shall not return, unheard apparently, unvindicated, hidden in -calumny and shame! And yet Job was right. The Maker has regard to the -work of His hands. - -The philosophy of Job's appeal is this, that beneath all seeming discord -there is one clear note. The universe is one and belongs to One, from -the highest heaven to the deepest pit. Nature, providence,--what are -they but the veil behind which the One Supreme is hidden, the veil -God's own hands have wrought? We see the Divine in the folds of the -veil, the marvellous pictures of the arras. Yet behind is He who weaves -the changing forms, iridescent with colours of heaven, dark with -unutterable mystery. Man is now in the shadow of the veil, now in the -light of it, self-pitying, exultant, in despair, in ecstasy. He would -pass the barrier. It will not yield at his will. It is no veil now, but -a wall of adamant. Yet faith on this side answers to truth beyond; of -this the soul is assured. The cry is for God to unravel the enigmas of -His own providence, to unfold the principle of His discipline, to make -clear what is perplexing to the mind and conscience of His thinking, -suffering creature. None but He who weaves the web can withdraw it, and -let the light of eternity shine on the tangles of time. From God the -Concealer to God the Revealer, from God who hides Himself to God who is -Light, in whom is no darkness at all, we appeal. To pray on--that is -man's high privilege, man's spiritual life. - -So the passage we have read is a splendid utterance of the wayworn -travelling soul conscious of sublime possibilities,--shall we not say, -certainties? Job is God-inspired in his cry, not profane, not mad, but -prophetic. For God is a bold dealer with men, and He likes bold sons. -The impeachment we almost shuddered to hear is not abominable to Him -because it is the truth of a soul. The claim that God is man's witness -is the true courage of faith: it is sincere, and it is justified. - -The demand for immediate vindication still urged is inseparable from -the circumstances. - - "_For when a few years are come - I shall go the way whence I shall not return. - My spirit is consumed, my days extinct; - The grave is ready for me. - Surely there are mockeries with me - And mine eyes lodgeth in their provocation. - Provide a pledge now; be surely for me with Thyself. - Who is there that will strike hands with me?_" - -Moving towards the under-world, the fire of his spirit burning low -because of his disease, his body preparing its own grave, the bystanders -flouting him with mockeries under a sense of which his eyes remain -closed in weary endurance, he has need for one to undertake for him, to -give him a pledge of redemption. But who is there excepting God to whom -he can appeal? What other friend is left? Who else would be surety for -one so forlorn? Against disease and fate, against the seeming wreck of -hope and life, will not God Himself stand up for His servant? As for the -men his friends, his enemies, the Divine suretyship for Job will recoil -upon them and their cruel taunts. Their hearts are "hid from -understanding," unable to grasp the truth of the case; "Therefore Thou -shalt not exalt them"--that is, Thou shalt bring them low. Yes, when God -redeems His pledge, declares openly that He has undertaken for His -servant, the proverb shall be fulfilled--"He that giveth his fellows for -a prey, even the eyes of his children shall fail." It is a proverb of -the old way of thinking and carries a kind of imprecation. Job forgets -himself in using it. Yet how, otherwise, is the justice of God to be -invoked against those who pervert judgment and will not receive the -sincere defence of a dying man? - - "_I am even made a byeword of the populace; - I am become one in whose face they spit: - Mine eye also fails by reason of sorrow._" - -This is apparently parenthetical--and then Job returns to the result of -the intervention of his Divine Friend. One reason why God should become -his surety is the pitiable state he is in. But another reason is the new -impetus that will be given to religion, the awakening of good men out of -their despondency, the reassurance of those who are pure in heart, the -growth of spiritual strength in the faithful and true. A fresh light -thrown on providence shall indeed startle and revive the world. - - "_Upright men shall be amazed at this, - And the innocent shall rouse himself against the godless. - And the righteous shall keep his way, - And he that hath clean hands wax stronger and stronger._" - -With this hope, that his life is to be rescued from darkness and the -faith of the good re-established by the fulfilment of God's suretyship, -Job comforts himself for a little--but only for a little, a moment of -strength, during which he has courage to dismiss his friends:-- - - "_But as for you all, turn ye, and go; - For I shall not find a wise man among you._" - -They have forfeited all claim to his attention. Their continued -discussion of the ways of God will only aggravate his pain. Let them -take their departure then and leave him in peace. - -The final passage of the speech referring to a hope present to Job's -mind has been variously interpreted. It is generally supposed that the -reference is to the promise held out by the friends that repentance -will bring him relief from trouble and new prosperity. But this is -long ago dismissed. It seems clear that _my hope_, an expression twice -used, cannot refer to one pressed upon Job but never accepted. It must -denote either the hope that God would after Job's death lay aside His -anger and forgive, or the hope that God would strike hands with him -and undertake his case against all adverse forces and circumstances. -If this be the meaning, the course of thought in the last strophe, -from verse 11 onward, is the following,--Life is running to a low ebb -with me, all I had once in my heart to do is arrested, brought to an -end; so gloomy are my thoughts that they set night for day, the light -is near unto darkness. If I wait till death come and Sheol be my -habitation and my body is given to corruption, where then shall my -hope of vindication be? As for the fulfilment of my trust in God, who -shall see it? The effort once made to maintain hope even in the face -of death is not forgotten. But he questions now whether it has the -least ground in fact. The sense of bodily decay masters his brave -prevision of a deliverance from Sheol. His mind needs yet another -strain put upon it before it shall rise to the magnificent -assertion--Without my flesh I shall see God. The tides of trust ebb -and flow. There is here a low ebb. The next advance will mark the -springtide of resolute belief. - - "_If I wait till Sheol is my house; - Till I have spread my couch in darkness: - If I shall have said to corruption, My father art thou, - To the worm, My mother and my sister-- - Where then were my hope? - As for my hope, who shall see it? - It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, - When once there is rest in the dust._" - -How strenuous is the thought that has to fight with the grave and -corruption! The body in its emaciation and decay, doomed to be the -prey of worms, appears to drag with it into the nether darkness the -eager life of the spirit. Those who have the Christian outlook to -another life may measure by the oppression Job has to endure the value -of that revelation of immortality which is the gift of Christ. - -Not in error, not in unbelief, did a man like Job fight with grim -death, strive to keep it at bay till his character was cleared. There -was no acknowledged doctrine of the future to found upon. Of sheer -necessity each burdened soul had to seek its own Apocalypse. He who -had suffered with bleeding heart a lifelong sacrifice, he who had -striven to free his fellow-slaves and sank at last overborne by -tyrannous power, the brave defeated, the good betrayed, those who -sought through heathen beliefs and those who found in revealed -religion the promises of God--all alike stood in sorrowful ignorance -before inexorable death, beheld the shadows of the under-world and -singly battled for hope amidst the deepening gloom. The sense of the -overwhelming disaster of death to one whose life and religion are -scornfully condemned is not ascribed to Job as a peculiar trial, -rarely mingling with human experience. The writer of the book has -himself felt it and has seen the shadow of it on many a face. "Where," -as one asks, "were the tears of God as He thrust back into eternal -stillness the hands stretched out to Him in dying faith?" - -There was a religion which gave large and elaborate answer to the -questions of mortality. The wide intelligence of the author of Job can -hardly have missed the creed and ceremonial of Egypt; he cannot have -failed to remember its "Book of the Dead." His own work, throughout, -is at once a parallel and a contrast to that old vision of future life -and Divine judgment. It has been affirmed that some of the forms of -expression, especially in the nineteenth chapter, have their source in -the Egyptian scripture, and that the "Book of the Dead" is full of -spiritual aspirations which give it a striking resemblance to the -Book of Job. Now, undoubtedly, the correspondence is remarkable and -will bear examination. The soul comes before Osiris, who holds the -shepherd's crook and the penal scourge. Thoth (or Logos) breathes new -spirit into the embalmed body, and the dead pleads for himself before -the assessors--"Hail to thee, great Lord of Justice. I arrive near -thee. I am one of those consecrated to thee on the earth. I reach the -land of eternity. I rejoin the eternal country. Living is he who -dwelleth in darkness; all his grandeurs live." The dead is in fact not -dead, he is recreated; _the mouth of no worm shall devour him_. At the -close of the "Book of the Dead" it is written, the departed "shall be -among the gods; his flesh and bones shall be healthy as one who is not -dead. He shall shine as a star for ever and ever. He seeth God with -his flesh." The defence of the soul in claiming beatitude is this: "I -have committed no revenge in act or in heart, no excesses in love. I -have injured no one with lies. I have driven away no beggars, -committed no treacheries, caused no tears. I have not taken another's -property, nor ruined another, nor destroyed the laws of righteousness. -I have not aroused contests, nor neglected the Creator of my soul. I -have not disturbed the joy of others. I have not passed by the -oppressed, sinning against my Creator, or the Lord, or the heavenly -powers.... I am pure, pure."[2] - -There are many evident resemblances which have been already studied -and would repay further attention; but the questions occur, how far -the author of the Book of Job refused Egyptian influences, and why, -in the face of a solution of his problem apparently thrust upon him -with the authority of ages, he yet exerted himself to find a solution -of his own, meanwhile throwing his hero into the hopelessness of one -to whom death as a physical fact is final, compelled to forego the -expectation of a daysman who should affirm his righteousness before -the Lord of all. The "Book of the Dead" was, for one thing, identified -with polytheism, with idolatry and a priestly system; and a thinker -whose belief was entirely monotheistic, whose mind turned decisively -from ritual, whose interests were widely humane, was not likely to -accept as a revelation the promises of Egyptian priests to their -aristocratic patrons, or to seek light from the mysteries of Isis and -Osiris. Throughout his book our author is advancing to a conclusion -altogether apart from the ideas of Egyptian faith regarding the trust -of the soul. But chiefly his mind seems to have been repelled by the -excessive care given to the dead body, with the consequent -materialising of religion. Life to him meant so much that he needed a -far more spiritual basis for its continuance than could be found in -the preservation of the worn-out frame. With rare and unsurpassed -endeavour he was straining beyond time and sense after a vision of -life in the union of man's spirit with its Maker, and that Divine -constancy in which alone faith could have acceptance and repose. No -thought of maintaining himself in existence by having his body -embalmed is ever expressed by Job. The author seems to scorn that -childish dream of continuance. Death means decay, corruption. This -doom passed on the body the stricken life must endure, and the soul -must stay itself upon the righteousness and grace of God. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] See Renouf's Hibbert Lecture, also "The Unknown God," by C. -Loring Brace. - - - - -XV. - -_A SCHEME OF WORLD-RULE._ - -BILDAD SPEAKS. CHAP. xviii. - - -Composed in the orderly parallelism of the finished _mashal_, this -speech of Bildad stands out in its strength and subtlety and, no less, -in its cruel rigour quite distinct among those addressed to Job. It is -the most trenchant attack the sufferer has to bear. The law of -retribution is stated in a hard collected tone which seems to leave no -room for doubt. The force that overbears and kills is presented rather -as fate or destiny than as moral government. No attempt is made to -describe the character of the man on whom punishment falls. We hear -nothing of proud defiance or the crime of settling in habitations -under the Divine curse. Bildad ventures no definitions that may not -fit Job's case. He labels a man godless, and then, with a dogged -relish, follows his entanglement in the net of disaster. All he says -is general, abstract; nevertheless, the whole of it is calculated to -pierce the armour of Job's supposed presumption. It is not to be borne -longer that against all wisdom and certainty this man, plainly set -among the objects of wrath, should go on defending himself as if the -judgment of men and God went for nothing. - -With singular inconsistency the wicked man is spoken of as one who for -some time prospers in the world. He has a settlement from which he is -ejected, a family that perishes, a name of some repute which he loses. -Bildad begins by admitting what he afterwards denies, that a man of evil -life may have success. It is indeed only for a time, and perhaps the -idea is that he becomes wicked as he becomes rich and strong. Yet if the -effect of prosperity is to make a man proud and cruel and so bring him -at once into snares and pitfalls according to a rigorous natural -law--how then can worldly success be the reward of virtue? Bildad is -nearer the mark with description than with reasoning. It is as though he -said to Job, Doubtless you were a good man once; you were my friend and -a servant of God; but I very much fear that prosperity has done you -harm. It is clear that, as a godless man, you are now driven from light -into darkness, that fear and death wait for you. The speaker does not -see that he is overturning his own scheme of world-rule. - -There is bitterness here, the personal feeling of one who has a view -to enforce. Does the man before him think he is of such account that -the Almighty will intervene to become surety for him and justify his -self-righteousness? It is necessary that Job shall not even seem to -get the best of the argument. No bystander shall say his novel -heresies appear to have a colour of truth. The speaker is accordingly -very unlike what he was in his first address. The show of politeness -and friendship is laid aside. We see the temper of a mind fed on -traditional views of truth, bound in the fetters of self-satisfied -incompetence. In his admirable exposition of this part of the book -Dr. Cox cites various Arabic proverbs of long standing which are -embodied, one way or other, in Bildad's speech. It is a cold creed -which builds on this wisdom of the world. He who can use grim sayings -against others is apt to think himself superior to their frailties, in -no danger of the penalties he threatens. And the speech of Bildad is -irritating just because everything is omitted which might give a hinge -or loop to Job's criticism. - -Nowhere is the skill of the author better shown than in making these -protagonists of Job say false things plausibly and effectively. His -resources are marvellous. After the first circle of speeches the lines -of opposition to Job marked out by the tenor of the controversy might -seem to admit no more or very little fresh argument. Yet this address -is as graphic and picturesque as those before it. The full strength of -the opposition is thrown into those sentences piling threat on threat -with such apparent truth. The reason is that the crisis approaches. By -Bildad's attack the sufferer is to be roused to his loftiest -effort,--that prophetic word which is in one sense the _raison d'être_ -of the book. One may say the work done here is for all time. The -manifesto of humanity against rabbinism, of the plain man's faith -against hard theology, is set beside the most specious arguments for a -rule dividing men into good and bad, simply as they appear to be happy -or unfortunate. - -Bildad opens the attack by charging Job with hunting for words--an -accusation of a general kind apparently referring to the strong -expressions he had used in describing his sufferings at the hand of -God and from the criticism of men. He then calls Job to understand -his own errors, that he may be in a position to receive the truth. -Perverting and exaggerating the language of Job, he demands why the -friends should be counted as beasts and unclean, and why they should -be so branded by a man who was in revolt against providence. - - "_Why are we counted as beasts, - As unclean even in your sight? - Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger-- - For thy sake shall the earth be forsaken, - And the rock be moved from its place?_" - -Ewald's interpretation here brings out the force of the questions. -"Does this madman who complained that God's wrath tore him, but who, -on the contrary, sufficiently betrays his own bad conscience by -tearing himself in his anger, really demand that on his account, that -he may be justified, the earth shall be made desolate (since really, -if God Himself should pervert justice, order, and peace, the blessings -of the happy occupation of the earth could not subsist)? Does he also -hope that what is firmest, the Divine order of the world, should be -removed from its place? Oh, the fool, who in his own perversity and -confusion rebels against the everlasting order of the universe!" All -is settled from time immemorial by the laws of providence. Without -more discussion Bildad reaffirms what the unchangeable decree, as he -knows it, certainly is. - - "_Nevertheless the light of the wicked shall be put out, - And the gleam of his fire shall not shine. - The light shall fade in his tent, - And his lamp over him shall be put out, - The steps of his strength shall be straitened, - And his own counsel shall cast him down. - For into a net his own feet urge him, - And he walketh over the toils. - A snare seizeth him by the heel, - And a noose holdeth him fast: - In the ground its loop is hidden, - And its mesh in the path._" - -By reiteration, by a play on words the fact as it appears to Bildad is -made very clear--that for the wicked man the world is full of perils, -deliberately prepared as snares for wild animals are set by the -hunter. The general proposition is that the light of his prosperity is -an accident. It shall soon be put out and his home be given to -desolation. This comes to pass first by a restraint put on his -movements. The sense of some inimical power observing him, pursuing -him, compels him to move carefully and no longer with the free stride -of security. Then in the narrow range to which he is confined he is -caught again and again by the snares and meshes set for him by -invisible hands. His best devices for his own safety bring him into -peril. In the open country and in the narrow path alike he is seized -and held fast. More and more closely the adverse power confines him, -bearing upon his freedom and his life till his superstitious fears are -kindled. Terrors confound him now on every side and suddenly presented -startle him to his feet. This once strong man becomes weak; he who had -abundance knows what it is to hunger. And death is now plainly in his -cup. Destruction, a hateful figure, is constantly at his side, -appearing as disease which attacks the body. It is leprosy, the very -disease Job is suffering. - - "_It devoureth the members of his skin, - Devoureth his members, even the firstborn of death. - He is plucked from the tent of his confidence, - And he is brought to the king of terrors._" - - -The personification of death here is natural, and many parallels to -the figure are easily found. Horror of death is a mark of strong -healthy life, especially among those who see beyond only some dark -Sheol of dreary hopeless existence. The "firstborn of death" is the -frightful black leprosy, and it has that figurative name as possessing -more than other diseases that power to corrupt the body which death -itself fully exercises. - -This cold prediction of the death of the godless from the very malady -that has attacked Job is cruel indeed, especially from the lips of one -who formerly promised health and felicity in this world as the result -of penitence. We may say that Bildad has found it his duty to preach -the terrors of God, and the duty appears congenial to him, for he -describes with insistence and ornament the end of the godless. But he -should have deferred this terrible homily till he had clear proof of -Job's wickedness. Bildad says things in the zeal of his spirit against -the godless which he will afterwards bitterly regret. - -Having brought the victim of destiny to the grave, the speaker has yet -more to say. There were consequences that extended beyond a man's own -suffering and extinction. His family, his name, all that was desired -of remembrance in this world would be denied to the evil-doer. In the -universe, as Bildad sees it, there is no room for repentance or hope -even to the children of the man against whom the decree of fate has -gone forth. - - "_They shall dwell in his tent that are none of his: - Brimstone shall be showered on his habitation; - His roots shall be dried up beneath, - And above his branches shall wither; - His memory shall perish from the land, - And he shall have no name in the earth-- - It shall be driven from light into darkness, - And chased out of the world._" - -The habitation of the sinner shall either pass into the hand of utter -strangers or be covered with brimstone and made accursed. The roots of -his family or clan, those who still survive of an older generation, -and the branches above--children or grandchildren, as in verse -19--shall wither away. So his memory shall perish, alike in the land -where he dwelt and abroad in other regions. His name shall go into -oblivion, chased with aversion and disgust out of the world. Such, -says Bildad, is the fate of the wicked. Job saw fit to speak of men -being astonished at the vindication he was to enjoy when God appeared -for him. But the surprise would be of a different kind. At the utter -destruction of the wicked man and his seed, his homestead and memory, -they of the west would be astonished and they of the east affrighted. - -As logical as many another scheme since offered to the world, a moral -scheme also, this of Bildad is at once determined and incoherent. He -has no doubt, no hesitation in presenting it. Were he the moral -governor, there would be no mercy for sinners who refused to be -convicted of sin in his way and according to his law of judgment. He -would lay snares for them, hunt them down, snatch at every argument -against them. In his view that is the only way to overcome -unregenerate hearts and convince them of guilt. In order to save a man -he would destroy him. To make him penitent and holy he would attack -his whole right to live. Of the humane temper Bildad has almost none. - - - - -XVI. - -"_MY REDEEMER LIVETH._" - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAP. xix. - - -With simple strong art sustained by exuberant eloquence the author has -now thrown his hero upon our sympathies, blending a strain of -expectancy with tender emotion. In shame and pain, sick almost to -death, baffled in his attempts to overcome the seeming indifference of -Heaven, the sufferer lies broken and dejected. Bildad's last address -describing the fate of the godless man has been deliberately planned -to strike at Job under cover of a general statement of the method of -retribution. The pictures of one seized by the "firstborn of death," -of the lightless and desolate habitation, the withered branches and -decaying remembrance of the wicked, are plainly designed to reflect -Job's present state and forecast his coming doom. At first the effect -is almost overwhelming. The judgment of men is turned backward and -like the forces of nature and providence has become relentless. The -united pressure on a mind weakened by the body's malady goes far to -induce despair. Meanwhile the sufferer must endure the burden not only -of his personal calamities and the alienation of all human -friendships, but also of a false opinion with which he has to grapple -as much for the sake of mankind as for his own. He represents the -seekers after the true God and true religion in an age of darkness, -aware of doubts other men do not admit, labouring after a hope of -which the world feels no need. The immeasurable weight this lays on -the soul is to many unknown. Some few there are, as Carlyle says, and -Job appears one of them, who "have to realise a worship for -themselves, or live unworshipping. In dim forecastings, wrestles -within them the 'Divine Idea of the World,' yet will nowhere visibly -reveal itself. The Godlike has vanished from the world; and they, by -the strong cry of their soul's agony, like true wonder-workers, must -again evoke its presence.... The doom of the Old has long been -pronounced, and irrevocable; the Old has passed away; but, alas, the -New appears not in its stead, the Time is still in pangs of travail -with the New. Man has walked by the light of conflagrations and amid -the sound of falling cities; and now there is darkness, and long -watching till it be morning. The voice of the faithful can but -exclaim: 'As yet struggles the twelfth hour of the night: birds of -darkness are on the wing, spectres uproar, the dead walk, the living -dream. Thou, Eternal Providence, wilt cause the day to dawn.'" - -As in the twelfth hour of the night, the voices of men sounding hollow -and strange to him, the author of the Book of Job found himself. -Current ideas about God would have stifled his thought if he had not -realised his danger and the world's danger and thrown himself forward, -breaking through, even with defiance and passion, to make a way for -reason to the daylight of God. Limiting and darkening statements he -took up as they were presented to him over and over again; he tracked -them to their sources in ignorance, pedantry, hardness of temper. He -insisted that the one thing for a man is resolute clearness of mind, -openness to the teaching of God, to the correction of the Almighty, to -that truth of the whole world which alone corresponds to faith. -Believing that the ultimate satisfying object of faith will disclose -itself at last to every pure seeker, each in his degree, he began his -quest and courageously pursued it, never allowing hope to wander where -reason dared not follow, checking himself on the very brink of -alluring speculation by a deliberate _reconnaissance_ of the facts of -life and the limitations of knowledge. Nowhere more clearly than in -this speech of Job does the courageous truthfulness of the author show -itself. He seems to find his oracle, and then with a sigh return to -the path of sober reality because as yet verification of the sublime -idea is beyond his power. The vision appears and is fixed in a vivid -picture--marking the highest flight of his inspiration--that those who -follow may have it before them, to be examined, tried, perhaps -approved in the long run. But for himself, or at any rate for his -hero, one who has to find his faith through the natural world and its -revelations of Divine faithfulness, the bounds within which absolute -certainty existed for the human mind at that time are accepted -unflinchingly. The hope remains; but assurance is sought on a lower -level, where the Divine order visible in the universe sheds light on -the moral life of man. - -That inspiration should thus work within bounds, conscious of itself, -yet restrained by human ignorance, may be questioned. The apprehension -of transcendent truth not yet proved by argument, the authoritative -statement of such truth for the guidance and confirmation of faith, -lastly, complete independence of ordinary criticism--are not these the -functions and qualities of inspiration? And yet, here, the inspired -man, with insight fresh and marvellous, declines to allow his hero or -any thinker repose in the very hope which is the chief fruit of his -inspiration, leaving it as something thrown out, requiring to be -tested and verified; and meanwhile he takes his stand as a prophet on -those nearer, in a sense more common, yet withal sustaining principles -that are within the range of the ordinary mind. Such we shall find to -be the explanation of the speeches of the Almighty and their absolute -silence regarding the future redemption. Such also may be said to be -the reason of the epilogue, apparently so inconsistent with the scope -of the poem. On firm ground the writer takes his stand--ground which -no thinker of his time could declare to be hollow. The thorough -saneness of his mind, shown in this final decision, gives all the more -life to the flashes of prediction and the Divine intuitions which leap -out of the dark sky hanging low over the suffering man. - - * * * * * - -The speech of Bildad in chap. xviii., under cover of an account of -invariable law was really a dream of special providence. He believed -that the Divine King, who, as Christ teaches, "maketh His sun to rise on -the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust," -really singles out the wicked for peculiar treatment corresponding to -their iniquity. It is in one sense the sign of vigorous faith to -attribute action of this kind to God, and Job himself in his repeated -appeals to the unseen Vindicator shows the same conception of -providence. Should not One intent on righteousness break through the -barriers of ordinary law when doubt is cast on His equity and care? -Pardonable to Job, whose case is altogether exceptional, the notion is -one the author sees it necessary to hold in check. There is no Theophany -of the kind Job desires. On the contrary his very craving for special -intervention adds to his anxiety. Because it is not granted he affirms -that God has perverted his right; and when at last the voice of the -Almighty is heard, it is to recall the doubter from his personal desires -to the contemplation of the vast universe as revealing a wide and wise -fidelity. This undernote of the author's purpose, while it serves to -guide us in the interpretation of Job's complaints, is not allowed to -rise into the dominant. Yet it rebukes those who think the great Divine -laws have not been framed to meet their case, who rest their faith not -on what God does always and is in Himself, but on what they believe He -does sometimes and especially for them. The thoughts of the Lord are -very deep. Our lives float upon them like skiffs upon an unfathomable -ocean of power and fatherly care. - -Of the treatment he receives from men Job complains, yet not because -they are the means of his overthrow. - - "_How long will ye vex my soul - And crush me utterly with sayings? - These ten times have ye reproached me; - Ye are not ashamed that ye condemn me. - And be it verily that I have erred, - Mine error remaineth to myself. - Will ye, indeed, exult against me - And reproach me with my disgrace? - Know now that God hath wronged me - And compassed me about with His net._" - -Why should his friends be so persistent in charging him with offence? He -has not wronged them. If he has erred, he himself is the sufferer. It is -not for them to take part against him. Their exultation is of a kind -they have no right to indulge, for they have not brought him to the -misery in which he lies. Bildad spoke of the snare in which the wicked -is caught. His tone in that passage could not have been more complacent -if he himself claimed the honour of bringing retribution on the godless. -But it is God, says Job, who hath compassed me with His net. - - "_Behold, of wrong I cry, but I am not heard; - I cry for help, but there is no judgment._" - -Day after day, night after night, pains and fears increase: death -draws nearer. He cannot move out of the net of misery. As one -neglected, outlawed, he has to bear his inexplicable doom, his way -fenced in so that he cannot pass, darkness thrown over his world by -the hand of God. - -Plunging thus anew into a statement of his hopeless condition as one -discrowned, dishonoured, a broken man, the speaker has in view all -along the hard human judgment which numbers him with the godless. He -would melt the hearts of his relentless critics by pleading that their -enmity is out of place. If the Almighty is his enemy and has brought -him near to the dust of death, why should men persecute him as God? -Might they not have pity? There is indeed resentment against -providence in his mind; but the anxious craving for human sympathy -reacts on his language and makes it far less fierce and bitter than -in previous speeches. Grief rather than revolt is now his mood. - - "_He hath stripped me of my glory - And taken my crown from my head. - He hath broken me down on every side, - Uprooted my hope like a tree. - He hath also kindled his wrath against me - And counted me among His adversaries. - His troops come on together - And cast up their way against me - And encamp around my tent._" - -So far the Divine indignation has gone. Will his friends not think of -it? Will they not look upon him with less of hardness and contempt -though he may have sinned? A man in a hostile universe, a feeble man, -stricken with disease, unable to help himself, the heavens frowning -upon him--why should they harden their hearts? - -And yet, see how his brethren have dealt with him! Mark how those who -were his friends stand apart, Eliphaz and the rest, behind them others -who once claimed kinship with him. How do they look? Their faces are -clouded. They must be on God's side against Job. Yea, God Himself has -moved them to this. - - "_He hath put my brethren far from me, - And my confidants are wholly estranged from me. - My kinsfolk have failed - And my familiar friends have forgotten me. - They that dwell in my house and my maids count me for a stranger; - I am an alien in their sight. - I call my servant and he gives me no answer, - I must entreat him with my mouth. - My breath is offensive to my wife, - And my ill savour to the sons of my body. - Even young children despise me; - If I would arise they speak against me. - My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, - And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth._" - -The picture is one of abject humiliation. He is rejected by all who -once loved him, forced to entreat his servants, become offensive to -his wife and grandsons; jeered at even by children of the place. The -case appears to us unnatural and shows the almost fiendish hardness of -the Oriental world; that is to say, if the account is not coloured for -dramatic purposes. The intention is to represent the extremity of -Job's wretchedness, the lowest depth to which he is reduced. The fire -of his spirit is almost quenched by shame and desolation. He shows the -days of his misery in the strongest shadow in order to compel, if -possible, the sympathy so persistently withheld. - - "_Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, - For the hand of God hath touched me. - Why do ye persecute me as God, - And are not satisfied with my flesh?_" - - -Now we understand the purpose of the long description of his pain, -both that which God has inflicted and that caused by the alienation -and contempt of men. Into his soul the prediction of Bildad has -entered, that he will share the fate of the wicked whose memory -perishes from the earth, whose name is driven from light into darkness -and chased out of the world. Is it to be so with him? That were indeed -a final disaster. To bring his friends to some sense of what all this -means to him--this is what he struggles after. It is not even the pity -of it that is the chief point, although through that he seeks to gain -his end. But if God is not to interpose, if his last hour is coming -without a sign of heaven's relenting, he would at least have men stand -beside him, take his words to heart, believe them possibly true, hand -down for his memorial the claim he has made of integrity. Surely, -surely he shall not be thought of by the next generation as Job the -proud defiant evil-doer laid low by the judgments of an offended -God--brought to shame as one who deserved to be counted amongst the -offscourings of the earth. It is enough that God has persecuted him, -that God is slaying him--let not men take it upon them to do so to the -last. Before he dies let one at least say, Job, my friend, perhaps you -are sincere, perhaps you are misjudged. - -Urgent is the appeal. It is in vain. Not a hand is stretched out, not -one grim face relaxes. The man has made his last attempt. He is now -like a pressed animal between the hunter and the chasm. And why is the -author so rigorous in his picture of the friends? It is made to all -appearance quite inhuman, and cannot be so without design. By means of -this inhumanity Job is flung once for all upon his need of God from -whom he had almost turned away to man. The poet knows that not in man -is the help of the soul, that not in the sympathy of man, not in the -remembrance of man, not in the care or even love of man as a passing -tenant of earth can the labouring heart put its confidence. From the -human judgment Job turned to God at first. From the Divine silence he -had well-nigh turned back to human pity. He finds what other sufferers -have found, that the silence is allowed to extend beneath him, between -him and his fellows, in order that he may finally and effectually -direct his hope and faith above himself, above the creaturely race, to -Him from whom all came, in whose will and love alone the spirit of man -has its life, its hope. Yes, God is bringing home to Himself the man -whom He has approved for approval. The way is strange to the feet of -Job, as it often is to the weary half-blinded pilgrim. But it is the -one way to fulfil and transcend our longings. Neither corporate -sympathy nor posthumous immortality can ever stand to a thinking soul -instead of the true firm judgment of its life that waits within the -knowledge of God. If He is not for us, the epitaphs and memoirs of -time avail nothing. Man's place is in the eternal order or he does -indeed cry out of wrong and is not heard. - -From men to the written book, from men to the graven rock, more -enduring, more public than the book--will this provide what is still -unfound? - - "_Oh that now my words were written, - That they were inscribed in a book; - That with an iron stylus and with lead - They were graven in the rock for ever._" - -As one accustomed to the uses of wealth Job speaks. He thinks first of a -parchment in which his story and his claim may be carefully written and -preserved. But he sees at once how perishable that would be and passes -to a form of memorial such as great men employed. He imagines a cliff in -the desert with a monumental inscription bearing that once he, the Emeer -of Uz, lived and suffered, was thrown from prosperity, was accused by -men, was worn by disease, but died maintaining that all this befel him -unjustly, that he had done no wrong to God or man. It would stand there -in the way of the caravans of Tema for succeeding generations to read. -It would stand there till the ages had run their course. Kings represent -on rocks their wars and triumphs. As one of royal dignity Job would use -the same means of continuing his protest and his name. - -Yet, so far as his life is concerned, what good,--the story spread -northward to Damascus, but he, Job, lost in Sheol? His protest is -against forms of death; his claim is for life. There is no life in the -sculptured stone. Baffled again he halts midway. His foot on a -crumbling point, there must be yet one spring for safety and refuge. - -Who has not felt, looking at the records of the past, inscriptions on -tablets, rocks and temples, the wistful throb of antiquity in those -anxious legacies of a world of men too well aware of man's -forgetfulness? "Whoever alters the work of my hand," says the -conqueror called Sargon, "destroys my constructions, pulls down the -walls which I have raised--may Asshur, Ninêb, Ramân and the great gods -who dwell there pluck his name and seed from the land and let him sit -bound at the feet of his foe." Invocation of the gods in this manner -was the only resource of him who in that far past feared oblivion and -knew that there was need to fear. But to a higher God, in words of -broken eloquence, Job is made to commit his cause, seeing beyond the -perishable world the imperishable remembrance of the Almighty. So a -Hebrew poet breathed into the wandering air of the desert that brave -hope which afterwards, far beyond his thought, was in Israel to be -fulfilled. Had he been exiled from Galilee? In Galilee was to be heard -the voice that told of immortality and redemption. - - * * * * * - -We must go back in the book to find the beginning of the hope now -seized. Already Job has been looking forth beyond the region of this -little life. What has he seen? - -First and always, Eloah. That name and what it represents do not fail -him. He has had terrible experiences, and all of them must have been -appointed by Eloah. But the name is venerable still, and despite all -difficulties he clings to the idea that righteousness goes with power -and wisdom. The power bewilders--the wisdom plans inconceivable -things--but beyond there is righteousness. - -Next. He has seen a gleam of light across the darkness of the grave, -through the gloom of the under-world. A man going down thither,--his -body to moulder into dust, his spirit to wander a shadow in a prison -of shadows,--may not remain there. God is almighty--He has the key of -Sheol--a star has shown for a little, giving hope that out of the -under-world life may be recovered. It is seen that Eloah, the Maker, -must have a desire to the work of His hands. What does that not mean? - -Again. It has been borne upon his mind that the record of a good life -abides and is with the All-seeing. What is done cannot be undone. The -wasting of the flesh cannot waste that Divine knowledge. The eternal -history cannot be effaced. Spiritual life is lived before Eloah who -guards the right of a man. Men scorn Job; but with tears he has prayed -to Eloah to right his cause, and that prayer cannot be in vain. - -A just prayer cannot be in vain because God is ever just. From this -point thought mounts upward. Eloah for ever faithful--Eloah able to -open the gate of Sheol--not angry for ever--Eloah keeping the tablet -of every life, indifferent to no point of right,--these are the steps -of progress in Job's thought and hope. And these are the gain of his -trial. In his prosperous time none of these things had been before -him. He had known the joy of God but not the secret, the peace not the -righteousness. Yet he is not aware how much he has gained. He is -coming half unconsciously to an inheritance prepared for him in -wisdom and in love by Eloah in whom he trusts. A man needs for life -more than he himself can either sow or ripen. - -And now, hear Job. Whether the rock shall be graven or not he cannot -tell. Does it matter? He sees far beyond that inscribed cliff in the -desert. He sees what alone can satisfy the spirit that has learned to -live. - - "'Tis life whereof our nerves are scant, - Oh life not death, for which we pant; - More life, and fuller, that I want." - -Not dimly this great truth flashes through the web of broken -ejaculation, panting thought. - - "_But I know it: my Redeemer liveth; - And afterward on the dust He will stand up; - And after my skin they destroy, even this, - And without my flesh shall I see Eloah, - Whom I shall see_ FOR ME, - _And mine eyes shall behold and not the stranger-- - My reins are consumed in my bosom_." - -The Goël or Redeemer pledged to him by eternal justice is yet to -arise, a living Remembrancer and Vindicator from all wrong and -dishonour. On the dust that covers death He will arise when the day -comes. The diseases that prey on the perishing body shall have done -their work. In the grave the flesh shall have passed into decay; but -the spirit that has borne shall behold Him. Not for the passing -stranger shall be the vindication, but for Job himself. All that has -been so confounding shall be explained, for the Most High is the Goël; -He has the care of His suffering servant in His own hand and will not -fail to issue it in clear satisfying judgment. - -For the inspired writer of these words, declaring the faith which had -sprung up within him; for us also who desire to share his faith and to -be assured of the future vindication, three barriers stand in the way, -and these have successively to be passed. - -First is the difficulty of believing that the Most High need trouble -Himself to disentangle all the rights from the wrongs in human life. Is -humanity of such importance in the universe? God is very high; human -affairs may be of little consequence to His eternal majesty. Is not this -earth on which we dwell one of the smaller of the planets that revolve -about the sun? Is not our sun one amongst a myriad, many of them far -transcending it in size and splendour? Can we demand or even feel -hopeful that the Eternal Lord shall adjust the disordered equities of -our little state and appear for the right which has been obscured in the -small affairs of time? A century is long to us; but our ages are -"moments in the being of the eternal silence." Can it matter to the -universe moving through perpetual cycles of evolution, new races and -phases of creaturely life arising and running their course--can it -matter that one race should pass away having simply contributed its -struggle and desire to the far-off result? Conceivably, in the design of -a wise and good Creator, this might be a destiny for a race of beings to -subserve. How do we know it is not ours? - -This difficulty has grown. It stands now in the way of all religion, -even of the Christian faith. God is among the immensities and -eternities; evolution breaks in wave after wave; we are but one. How -can we assure our hearts that the inexterminable longing for equity -shall have fulfilment? - -Next there is the difficulty which belongs to the individual life. To -enjoy the hope, feel the certainty to which Job reached forth, you or -I must make the bold assumption that our personal controversies are -of eternal importance. One is obscure; his life has moved in a very -narrow circle. He has done little, he knows little. His sorrows have -been keen, but they are brief and limited. He has been held down, -scorned, afflicted. But after all why should God care? To adjust the -affairs of nations, to bring out the world's history in righteousness -may be God's concern. But suppose a man lives bravely, bears -patiently, preserves his life from evil, though he have to suffer and -even go down in darkness, may not the end of the righteous King be -gained by the weight his life casts into the scale of faith and -virtue? Should not the man be satisfied with this result of his energy -and look for nothing more? Does eternal righteousness demand anything -more on behalf of a man? Included in this is the question whether the -disputes between men, the small ignorances, egotisms, clashing of -wills, need a final assize. Are they not trifling and transient? Can -we affirm that in these is involved an element of justice which it -concerns our Maker to establish before the worlds? - -The third barrier is not less than the others to modern thought. How -is our life to be preserved or revived, so that personally and -consciously we shall have our share in the clearing up of the human -story and be gladdened by the "Well done, good and faithful servant" -of the Judge? That verdict is entirely personal; but how may the -faithful servant live to hear it? Death appears inexorable. Despite -the resurrection of Christ, despite the words He has spoken, "I am the -resurrection and the life," even to Christians the vision is often -clouded, the survival of consciousness hard to believe in. How did the -author of Job pass this barrier--in thought, or in hope? Are we -content to pass it only in hope? - -I answer all these questions together. And the answer lies in the very -existence of the idea of justice, our knowledge of justice, our desire -for it, the fragmentariness of our history till right has been done to -us by others, by us to others, by man to God, and God to man--the full -right, whatever that may involve. - -Whence came our sense of justice? We can only say, From Him who made -us. He gave us such a nature as cannot be satisfied nor find rest till -an ideal of justice, that is of acted truth, is framed in our human -life and everything possible done to realise it. Upon this acted truth -all depends, and till it is reached we are in suspense. Deep in the -mind of man lies that need. Yet it is always a hunger. More and more -it unsettles him, keeps him in unrest, turning from scheme to scheme -of ethic and society. He is ever making compromises, waiting for -evolutions; but nature knows no compromises and gives him no clue save -in present fact. Is it possible that He who made us will not overpass -our poor best, will not sweep aside the shifts and evasions current in -our imperfect economy? The passion for righteousness comes from him; -it is a ray of Himself. The soul of the good man craving perfect -holiness and toiling for it in himself, in others, can it be greater -than God, more strenuous, more subtle than the Divine evolution that -gave him birth, the Divine Father of his spirit? Impossible in -thought, impossible in fact. - -No. Justice there is in every matter. Surely science has taught us -very little if it has not banished the notion that the _small_ means -the _unimportant_, that minute things are of no moment in evolution. -For many years past science has been constructing for us the great -argument of universal physical fidelity, universal weaving of the -small details into the vast evolutionary design. The microscopist, the -biologist, the chemist, the astronomer, each and all are engaged in -building up this argument, forcing the confession that the universe is -one of inconceivably small things ordered throughout by law. Finish -and care would seem to be given everywhere to minutiæ as though, that -being done, the great would certainly evolve. Further, science even -when dealing with material things emphasises the importance of mind. -The truthfulness of nature at any point in the physical range is a -truthfulness of the Overnature to the mind of man, a correlation -established between physical and spiritual existence. Wherever order -and care are brought into view there is an exaltation of the human -reason which perceives and relates. All would be thrown into confusion -if the fidelity recognised by the mind did not extend to the mind -itself, if the sanity and development of the mind were not included in -the order of the universe. For the psychological student this is -established, and the working of evolutionary law is being traced in -the obscure phenomena of consciousness, sub-consciousness and habit. - -Is it of importance that each of the gases shall have laws of -diffusion and combination, shall act according to those laws, -unvaryingly affecting vegetable and animal life? Unless those laws -wrought in constancy or equity at every moment all would be confusion. -Is it of importance that the bird, using its wings, shall be able to -soar into the atmosphere; that the wings adapted for flight shall find -an atmosphere in which their exercise produces movement? Here again is -an equity which enters into the very constitution of the cosmos, which -must be a form of the one supreme law of the cosmos. Once more, is it -of importance that the thinker shall find sequences and relations, -when once established, a sound basis for prediction and discovery, -that he shall be able to trust himself on lines of research and feel -certain that, at every point, for the instrument of inquiry there is -answering verity? Without this correspondence man would have no real -place in evolution, he would flutter an aimless unrelated -sensitiveness through a storm of physical incidents. - -Advance to the most important facts of mind, the moral ideas which -enter into every department of thought, the inductions through which -we find our place in another range than the physical. Does the -fidelity already traced now cease? Is man at this point beyond the law -of faithfulness, beyond the invariable correlation of environment with -faculty? Does he now come to a region which he cannot choose but -enter, where, however, the cosmos fails him, the beating wing cannot -rise, the inquiring mind reaches no verity, and the consciousness does -flutter an inexplicable thing through dreams and illusions? A man has -it in his nature to seek justice. Peace for him there is none unless -he does what is right and can believe that right will be done. With -this high conviction in his mind he is opposed, as in this Book of -Job, by false men, overthrown by calamity, covered with harsh -judgment. Death approaches and he has to pass away from a world that -seems to have failed him. Shall he never see his right nor God's -righteousness? Shall he never come to his own as a man of good will -and high resolve? Has he been true to a cosmos which after all is -treacherous, to a rule of virtue which has no authority and no issue? -He believes in a Lord of infinite justice and truth; that his life, -small as it is, cannot be apart from the pervading law of equity. Is -that his dream? Then any moment the whole system of the universe may -collapse like a bubble blown upon a marsh. - - * * * * * - -Now let us clearly understand the point and value of the argument. It is -not that a man who has served God here and suffered here must have a -joyful immortality. What man is faithful enough to make such a claim? -But the principle is that God must vindicate His righteousness in -dealing with the man He has made, the man He has called to trust Him. It -matters not who the man is, how obscure his life has been, he has this -claim on God, that to him the eternal righteousness ought to be made -clear. Job cries for his own justification; but the doubt about God -involved in the slur cast upon his own integrity is what rankles in his -heart; from that he rises in triumphant protest and daring hope. He must -live till God clears up the matter. If he dies he must revive to have it -all made clear. And observe, if it were only that ignorant men cast -doubt on providence, the resurrection and personal redemption of the -believer would not be necessary. God is not responsible for the foolish -things men say, and we could not look for resurrection because our -fellow-creatures misrepresent God. But Job feels that God Himself has -caused the perplexity. God sent the flash of lightning, the storm, the -dreadful disease; it is God who by many strange things in human -experience seems to give cause for doubt. From God in nature, God in -disease, God in the earthquake and the thunderstorm, God whose way is in -the sea and His path in the mighty waters--from this God, Job cries in -hope, in moral conviction, to God the Vindicator, the eternally -righteous One, Author of nature and Friend of man. - -This life may terminate before the full revelation of right is made; it -may leave the good in darkness and the evil flaunting in pride; the -believer may go down in shame and the atheist have the last word. -Therefore a future life with judgment in full must vindicate our -Creator; and every personality involved in the problems of time must go -forward to the opening of the seals and the fulfilment of the things -that are written in the volumes of God. This evolution being for the -earlier stage and discipline of life, it works out nothing, completes -nothing. What it does is to furnish the awaking spirit with material of -thought, opportunity for endeavour, the elements of life; with trial, -temptation, stimulus, and restraint. No one who lives to any purpose or -thinks with any sincerity can miss in the course of his life one hour at -least in which he shares the tragical contest and adds the cry of his -own soul to that of Job, his own hope to that of ages that are gone, -straining to see the Goël who undertakes for every servant of God. - - "_I know it: my Redeemer liveth, - And afterward on the dust He will stand up; - And without my flesh I shall see Eloah._" - -By slow cycles of change the vast scheme of Divine providence draws -toward a glorious consummation. The believer waits for it, seeing One -who has gone before him and will come after him, the Alpha and Omega of -all life. The fulness of time will at length arrive, the time -foreordained by God, foretold by Christ, when the throne shall be set, -the judgment shall be given, and the æons of manifestation shall begin. - -And who in that day shall be the sons of God? Which of us can say that -he knows himself worthy of immortality? How imperfect is the noblest -human life, how often it falls away into the folly and evil of the -world! We need one to deliver us from the imperfection that gives to -all we are and do the character of evanescence, to set us free from -our entanglements and bring us into liberty. We are poor erring -creatures. Only if there is a Divine purpose of grace that extends to -the unworthy and the frail, only if there is redemption for the -earthly, only if a Divine Saviour has undertaken to justify our -existence as moral beings, can we look hopefully into the future. Job -looked for a Redeemer who would bring to light a righteousness he -claimed to possess. But our Redeemer must be able to awaken in us the -love of a righteousness we alone could never see and to clothe us in a -holiness we could never of ourselves attain. The problem of justice in -human life will be solved because our race has a Redeemer whose -judgment when it falls will fall in tenderest mercy, who bore our -injustice for our sakes and will vindicate for us that transcendent -righteousness which is for ever one with love. - - - - -XVII. - -_IGNORANT CRITICISM OF LIFE._ - -ZOPHAR SPEAKS. CHAP. xx. - - -The great saying that quickens our faith and carries thought into a -higher world conveyed no Divine meaning to the man from Naamah. The -author must have intended to pour scorn on the hide-bound intelligence -and rude bigotry of Zophar, to show him dwarfed by self-content and -zeal not according to knowledge. When Job affirmed his sublime -confidence in a Divine Vindicator, Zophar caught only at the idea of -an avenger. What is this notion of a Goël on whose support a condemned -man dares to count, who shall do judgment for him? And his resentment -was increased by the closing words of Job:-- - - "_If ye say, How may we pursue him? - And that the cause of the matter is in me-- - Then beware of the sword! - For hot are the punishments of the sword, - That ye may know there is judgment._" - -If they went on declaring that the root of the matter, that is, the -real cause of his affliction, was to be found in his own bad life, let -them beware the avenging sword of Divine justice. He certainly -implies that his Goël may become their enemy if they continue to -persecute him with false charges. To Zophar the suggestion is -intolerable. With no little irritation and anger he begins:-- - - "_For this do my thoughts answer me, - And by reason of this there is haste in me-- - I hear the reproof which puts me to shame, - And the spirit of my understanding gives me answer._" - -He speaks more hotly than in his first address, because his pride is -touched, and that prevents him from distinguishing between a warning -and a personal threat. To a Zophar every man is blind who does not see -as he sees, and every word offensive that bids him take pause. -Believers of his kind have always liked to appropriate the defence of -truth, and they have seldom done anything but harm. Conceive the -dulness and obstinacy of one who heard an inspired utterance -altogether new to human thought, and straightway turned in resentment -on the man from whom it came. He is an example of the bigot in the -presence of genius, a little uncomfortable, a good deal affronted, -very sure that he knows the mind of God, and very determined to have -the last word. Such were the Scribes and Pharisees of our Lord's time, -most religious persons and zealous for what they considered sound -doctrine. His light shone in darkness, and their darkness comprehended -it not; they did Him to death with an accusation of impiety and -blasphemy--"He made Himself the Son of God," they said. - -Zophar's whole speech is a fresh example of the dogmatic hardness the -writer was assailing, the closure of the mind and the stiffening of -thought. One might not unjustly accuse this speaker of neglecting the -moral difference between the profane whose triumph and joy he declares -to be short, and the good man whose career is full of years and -honour. We may almost say that to him outward success is the only mark -of inward grace, and that prosperous hypocrisy would be mistaken by -him for the most beautiful piety. His whole creed about providence and -retribution is such that he is on the way to utter confusion of mind. -Why, he has said to himself that Job is a wicked and false man--Job -whose striking characteristic is outspoken truthfulness, whose -integrity is the pride of his Divine Master. And if Zophar once -accepts it as indisputable that Job is neither good nor sincere, what -will the end be for himself? With more and more assurance he will -judge from a man's prosperity that he is righteous, and from his -afflictions that he is a reprobate. He will twist and torture facts of -life and modes of thought, till the worship of property will become -his real cult, and to him the poor will of necessity seem worthless. -This is just what happened in Israel. It is just what slovenly -interpretation of the Bible and providence has brought many to in our -own time. Side by side with a doctrine of self-sacrifice incredible -and mischievous, there is a doctrine of the earthly reward of -godliness--religion profitable for the life that now is, in the way of -filling the pockets and conducting to eminent seats--an absurd and -hurtful doctrine, for ever being taught in one form if not another, -and applied all along the line of human life. An honest, virtuous man, -is he sure to find a good place in our society? The rich broker or -manufacturer, because he washes, dresses, and has twenty servants to -wait upon him, is he therefore a fine soul? Nobody will say so. Yet -Christianity is so little understood in some quarters, is so much -associated with the error of Zophar, that within the church a score -are of his opinion for one who is in Job's perplexity. Outside, the -proportion is much the same. The moral ideas and philanthropies of our -generation are perverted by the notion that no one is succeeding as a -man unless he is making money and rising in the social scale. So, -independence of mind, freedom, integrity, and the courage by which -they are secured, are made of comparatively little account. - -It will be said that if things were rightly ordered, Christian ideas -prevailing in business, in legislation and social intercourse, the best -people would certainly be in the highest places and have the best of -life, and that, meanwhile, the improvement of the world depends on some -approximation to this state of affairs. That is to say, spiritual power -and character must come into visible union with the resources of the -earth and possession of its good things, otherwise there will be no -moral progress. Divine providence, we are told, works after that manner; -and the reasoning is plausible enough to require close attention. There -has always been peril for religion in association with external power -and prestige--and the peril of religion is the peril of progress. Will -spiritual ideas ever urge those whose lives they rule to seek with any -solicitude the gifts of time? Will they not, on the other hand, -increasingly, as they ought, draw the desires of the best away from what -is immediate, earthly, and in all the lower senses personal? To put it -in a word, must not the man of spiritual mind always be a prophet, that -is, a critic of human life in its relations to the present world? Will -there come a time in the history of the race when the criticism of the -prophet shall no longer be needed and his mantle will fall from him? -That can only be when all the Lord's people are prophets, when -everywhere the earthly is counted as nothing in view of the heavenly, -when men will seek continually a new revelation of good, and the -criticism of Christ shall be so acknowledged that no one shall need to -repeat after Him, "How can ye believe which receive honour one of -another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" By heavenly -means alone shall heavenly ends be secured, and the keen pursuit of -earthly good will never bring the race of men into the paradise where -Christ reigns. Outward magnificence is neither a symbol nor an ally of -spiritual power. It hinders instead of aiding the soul in the quest of -what is eternally excellent, touching the sensuous, not the divine, in -man. Christ is still, as in the days of His flesh, utterly indifferent -to the means by which power and distinction are gained in the world. The -spread of His ideas, the manifestation of His Godhead, the coming of His -Kingdom, depend not the least on the countenance of the great and the -impression produced on rude minds by the shows of wealth. The first task -of His gospel everywhere is to correct the barbaric tastes of men; and -the highest and best in a spiritual age will be, as He was, thinkers, -seers of truth, lovers of God and man, lowly in heart and life. These -will express the penetrating criticism that shall move the world. - - * * * * * - -Zophar discourses of one who is openly unjust and rapacious. He is -candid enough to admit that, for a time, the schemes and daring of the -wicked may succeed, but affirms that, though his head may "reach to -the clouds," it is only that he may be cast down. - - "_Knowest thou not this from of old, - Since man was placed upon earth, - That the triumphing of the wicked is short, - And the joy of the godless but for a moment? - Though his excellency ascend to heaven, - And his head reach to the clouds, - Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: - They who saw him shall say, Where is he? - Like a dream he shall flee, no more to be found, - Yea, he shall be chased away like a night-vision._" - -As a certainty, based on facts quite evident since the beginning of -human history, Zophar presents anew the overthrow of the evil-doer. He -is sure that the wicked does not keep his prosperity through a long -life. Such a thing has never occurred in the range of human -experience. The godless man is allowed, no doubt, to lift himself up -for a time; but his day is short. Indeed he is great for a moment -only, and that in appearance. He never actually possesses the good -things of earth, but only seems to possess them. Then in the hour of -judgment he passes like a dream and perishes for ever. The affirmation -is precisely that which has been made again and again; and with some -curiosity we scan the words of Zophar to learn what addition he makes -to the scheme so often pressed. - -Sooth to say, there is no reasoning, nothing but affirmation. He -discusses no doubtful case, enters into no careful discrimination of the -virtuous who enjoy from the godless who perish, makes no attempt to -explain the temporary success granted to the wicked. The man he -describes is one who has acquired wealth by unlawful means, who conceals -his wickedness, rolling it like a sweet morsel under his tongue. We are -told further that he has oppressed and neglected the poor and violently -taken away a house, and he has so behaved himself that all the miserable -watch for his downfall with hungry eyes. But these charges, virtually -of avarice, rapacity, and inhumanity, are far from definite, far from -categorical. Not without reason would any man have so bad a reputation, -and if deserved it would ensure the combination against him of all -right-minded people. But men may be evil-hearted and inhuman who are not -rapacious; they may be vile and yet not given to avarice. And Zophar's -account of the ruin of the profane, though he makes it a Divine act, -pictures the rising of society against one whose conduct is no longer -endurable--a robber chief, the tyrant of a valley. His argument fails in -this, that though the history of the proud evil-doer's destruction were -perfectly true to fact, it would apply to a very few only amongst the -population,--one in ten thousand,--leaving the justice of Divine -providence in greater doubt than ever, because the avarice and -selfishness of smaller men are not shown to have corresponding -punishment, are not indeed so much as considered. Zophar describes one -whose bold and flagrant iniquity rouses the resentment of those not -particularly honest themselves, not religious, nor even humane, but -merely aware of their own danger from his violent rapacity. A man, -however, may be avaricious who is not strong, may have the will to prey -on others but not the power. The real distinction, therefore, of -Zophar's criminal is his success in doing what many of those he -oppresses and despoils would do if they were able, and the picturesque -passage leaves no deep moral impression. We read it and seem to feel -that the overthrow of this evil-doer is one of the rare and happy -instances of poetical justice which sometimes occur in real life, but -not so frequently as to make a man draw back in the act of oppressing a -poor dependant or robbing a helpless widow. - -In an sincerity Zophar speaks, with righteous indignation against the -man whose ruin he paints, persuaded that he is following, step for -step, the march of Divine judgment. His eye kindles, his voice rings -with poetic exultation. - - "_He hath swallowed down riches; he shall vomit them again: - God shall cast them out of his belly. - He shall suck the poison of asps; - The viper's tongue shall slay him. - He shall not look upon the rivers, - The flowing streams of honey and butter. - That which he toiled for shall he restore, - And shall not swallow it down; - Not according to the wealth he has gotten - Shall he have enjoyment.... - There was nothing left that he devoured not; - Therefore his prosperity shall not abide. - In his richest abundance he shall be in straits; - The hand of every miserable one shall come upon him. - When he is about to fill his belly - God shall cast the fury of His wrath upon him - And rain upon him his food._" - -He has succeeded for a time, concealing or fortifying himself among -the mountains. He has store of silver and gold and garments taken by -violence, of cattle and sheep captured in the plain. But the district -is roused. Little by little he is driven back into the uninhabited -desert. His supplies are cut off and he is brought to extremity. His -food becomes to him as the gall of asps. With all his ill-gotten -wealth he is in straits, for he is hunted from place to place. Not for -him now the luxury of the green oasis and the coolness of flowing -streams. He is an outlaw, in constant danger of discovery. His -children wander to places where they are not known and beg for bread. -Reduced to abject fear, he restores the goods he had taken by -violence, trying to buy off the enmity of his pursuers. Then come the -last skirmish, the clash of weapons, ignominious death. - - "_He shall flee from the iron weapon, - And the bow of brass shall pierce him through. - He draweth it forth; it cometh out of his body: - Yea, the glittering shaft cometh out of his gall. - Terrors are upon him, - All darkness is laid up for his treasures; - A fire not blown shall consume him, - It shall devour him that is left in his tent. - The heaven shall reveal his iniquity, - And the earth shall rise against him. - The increase of his house shall depart, - Be washed away in the day of His wrath. - This is the lot of a wicked man from God, - And the heritage appointed to him by God._" - -Vain is resistance when he is brought to bay by his enemies. A moment -of overwhelming terror, and he is gone. His tent blazes up and is -consumed, as if the breath of God made hot the avenging flame. Within -it his wife and children perish. Heaven seems to have called for his -destruction and earth to have obeyed the summons. So the craft and -strength of the free-booter, living on the flocks and harvests of -industrious people, are measured vainly against the indignation of -God, who has ordained the doom of wickedness. - -A powerful word-picture. Yet if Zophar and the rest taught such a -doctrine of retribution, and, put to it, could find no other; if they -were in the way of saying, "This is the lot of a wicked man from God," -how far away must Divine judgment have seemed from ordinary life, -from the falsehoods daily spoken, the hard words and blows dealt to -the slave, the jealousies and selfishnesses of the harem. Under the -pretext of showing the righteous Judge, Zophar makes it impossible, or -next to impossible, to realise His presence and authority. Men must be -stirred up on God's behalf or His judicial anger will not be felt. - -It is however when we apply the picture to the case of Job that we see -its falsehood. Against the facts of his career Zophar's account of -Divine judgment stands out as flat heresy, a foul slander charged on -the providence of God. For he means that Job wore in his own -settlement the hypocritical dress of piety and benevolence and must -have elsewhere made brigandage his trade, that his servants who died -by the sword of Chaldæans and Sabeans and the fire of heaven had been -his army of rievers, that the cause of his ruin was heaven's -intolerance and earth's detestation of so vile a life. Zophar -describes poetic justice, and reasons back from it to Job. Now it -becomes flagrant injustice against God and man. We cannot argue from -what sometimes is to what must be. Although Zophar had taken in hand -to convict one really and unmistakably a miscreant, truth alone would -have served the cause of righteousness. But he assumes, conjectures, -and is immeasurably unjust and cruel to his friend. - - - - -XVIII. - -_ARE THE WAYS OF THE LORD EQUAL?_ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAP. xxi. - - -With less of personal distress and a more collected mind than before -Job begins a reply to Zophar. His brave hope of vindication has -fortified his soul and is not without effect upon his bodily state. -The quietness of tone in this final address of the second colloquy -contrasts with his former agitation and the growing eagerness of the -friends to convict him of wrong. True, he has still to speak of facts -of human life troublous and inscrutable. Where they lie he must look, -and terror seizes him, as if he moved on the edge of chaos. It is, -however, no longer his own controversy with God that disquiets him. -For the time he is able to leave that to the day of revelation. But -seeing a vaster field in which righteousness must be revealed, he -compels himself, as it were, to face the difficulties which are -encountered in that survey. The friends have throughout the colloquy -presented in varying pictures the offensiveness of the wicked man and -his sure destruction. Job, extending his view over the field they have -professed to search, sees the facts in another light. While his -statement is in the way of a direct negative to Zophar's theory, he -has to point out what seems dreadful injustice in the providence of -God. He is not however, drawn anew into the tone of revolt. - -The opening words are as usual expostulatory, but with a ring of -vigour. Job sets the arguments of his friends aside and the only -demand he makes now is for their attention. - - "_Hear diligently my speech, - And let that be your consolations. - Suffer me that I may speak; - And after I have spoken, mock on. - As for me, is my complaint of man? - And why should I not be impatient?_" - -What he has said hitherto has had little effect upon them; what he is to -say may have none. But he will speak; and afterwards, if Zophar finds -that he can maintain his theory, why, he must keep to it and mock on. At -present the speaker is in the mood of disdaining false judgment. He -quite understands the conclusion come to by the friends. They have -succeeded in wounding him time after time. But what presses upon his -mind is the state of the world as it really is. Another impatience than -of human falsehood urges him to speak. He has returned upon the riddle -of life he gave Zophar to read--why the tents of robbers prosper and -they that provoke God are secure (chap. xii. 6). Suppose the three let -him alone for a while and consider the question largely, in its whole -scope. They shall consider it, for, certainly, the robber chief may be -seen here and there in full swing of success, with his children about -him, gaily enjoying the fruit of sin, and as fearless as if the Almighty -were his special protector. Here is something that needs clearing up. Is -it not enough to make a strong man shake? - - "_Mark me, and be astonished, - And lay the hand upon the mouth. - Even while I remember I am troubled, - And trembling taketh hold of my flesh-- - Wherefore do the wicked live, - Become old, yea, wax mighty in power? - Their seed is settled with them in their sight, - And their offspring before their eyes; - Their houses are in peace, without fear, - And the rod of God is not upon them.... - They send forth their little ones like a flock, - And their children dance; - They sing to the timbrel and lute, - And rejoice at the sound of the pipe. - They spend their days in ease, - And in a moment go down to Sheol. - Yet they said to God, Depart from us, - For we desire not to know Thy ways. - What is Shaddai that we should serve Him? - And what profit should we have if we pray unto Him?_" - -Contrast the picture here with those which Bildad and Zophar -painted--and where lies the truth? Sufficiently on Job's side to make -one who is profoundly interested in the question of Divine -righteousness stand appalled. There was an error of judgment -inseparable from that early stage of human education in which vigour -and the gains of vigour counted for more than goodness and the gains -of goodness, and this error clouding the thought of Job made him -tremble for his faith. Is nature God's? Does God arrange the affairs -of this world? Why then, under His rule, can the godless have -enjoyment, and those who deride the Almighty feast on the fat things -of His earth? Job has sent into the future a single penetrating look. -He has seen the possibility of vindication, but not the certainty of -retribution. The underworld into which the evil-doer descends in a -moment, without protracted misery, appears to Job no hell of torment. -It is a region of reduced, incomplete existence, not of penalty. The -very clearness with which he saw vindication for himself, that is, -for the good man, makes it needful to see the wrong-doer judged and -openly condemned. Where then shall this be done? The writer, with all -his genius, could only throw one vivid gleam beyond the present. He -could not frame a new idea of Sheol, nor, passing its cloud confines, -reach the thought of personality continuing in acute sensations either -of joy or pain. The ungodly ought to feel the heavy hand of Divine -justice in the present state of being. But he does not. Nature makes -room for him and his children, for their gay dances and life-long -hilarity. Heaven does not frown. "The wicked live, become old, yea, -wax mighty in power; their houses are in peace, without fear." - -From the climax of chap. xix. the speeches of Job seem to fall away -instead of advancing. The author had one brilliant journey into the -unseen, but the peak he reached could not be made a new point of -departure. Knowledge he did not possess was now required. He saw -before him a pathless ocean where no man had shown the way, and -inspiration seems to have failed him. His power lay in remarkably keen -analysis and criticism of known theological positions and in glowing -poetic sense. His inspiration working through these persuaded him that -everywhere God is the Holy and True. It is scarcely to be supposed -that condemnation of the evil could have seemed to him of less -importance than vindication of the good. Our conclusion therefore must -be that a firm advance into the other life was not for genius like -his, nor for human genius at its highest. One more than man must speak -of the great judgment and what lies beyond. - -Clearly Job sees the unsolved enigma of the godless man's prosperous -life, states it, and stands trembling. Regarding it what have other -thinkers said? "If the law of all creation were justice," says John -Stuart Mill, "and the Creator omnipotent, then in whatever amount -suffering and happiness might be dispensed to the world, each person's -share of them would be exactly proportioned to that person's good or -evil deeds; no human being would have a worse lot than another without -worse deserts; accident or favouritism would have no part in such a -world, but every human life would be the playing out of a drama -constructed like a perfect moral tale. No one is able to blind himself -to the fact that the world we live in is totally different from this." -Emerson, again, facing this problem, repudiates the doctrine that -judgment is not executed in this world. He affirms that there is a -fallacy in the concession that the bad are successful, that justice is -not done now. "Every ingenuous and aspiring soul," he says, "leaves the -doctrine behind him in his own experience; and all men feel sometimes -the falsehood which they cannot demonstrate." His theory is that there -is balance or compensation everywhere. "Life invests itself with -inevitable conditions, which the unwise seek to dodge, which one and -another brags that he does not know, that they do not touch him;--but -the brag is on his lips, the conditions are in his soul. If he escapes -them in one part, they attack him in another more vital part.... The -ingenuity of man has always been dedicated to the solution of one -problem,--how to detach the sensual sweet, the sensual strong, the -sensual bright, from the moral sweet, the moral deep, the moral fair; -that is, again, to contrive to cut clean off this upper surface so thin -as to leave it bottomless; to get a _one end_, without an _other -end_.... This dividing and detaching is steadily counteracted. Pleasure -is taken out of pleasant things, profit out of profitable things, power -out of strong things, so soon as we seek to separate them from the -whole. We can no more halve things and get the sensual good, by itself, -than we can get an inside that shall have no outside, or a light without -a shadow.... For everything you have missed, you have gained something -else, and for everything you gain you lose something. If the gatherer -gathers too much, nature takes out of the man what she puts into his -chest; swells the estate but kills the owner.... We feel defrauded of -the retribution due to evil acts, because the criminal adheres to his -vice and contumacy, and does not come to a crisis or judgment anywhere -in visible nature. There is no stunning confutation of his nonsense -before men and angels. Has he therefore outwitted the law? Inasmuch as -he carries the malignity and the lie with him, he so far deceases from -nature. In some manner there will be a demonstration of the wrong to the -understanding also; but, should we not see it, this deadly deduction -makes square the account."[3] The argument reaches far beneath that -superficial condemnation of the order of providence which disfigures Mr. -Mill's essay on Nature. So far as it goes, it illuminates the present -stage of human existence. The light, however, is not sufficient, for we -cannot consent to the theory that in an ideal scheme, a perfect or -eternal state, he who would have holiness must sacrifice power, and he -who would be true must be content to be despised. There is, we cannot -doubt, a higher law; for this does not in any sense apply to the life of -God Himself. In the discipline which prepares for liberty, there must be -restraints and limitations, gain--that is, development--by renunciation; -earthly ends must be subordinated to spiritual; sacrifices must be made. -But the present state does not exhaust the possibilities of development -nor close the history of man. There is a kingdom out of which shall be -taken all things that offend. To Emerson's compensations must be added -the compensation of Heaven. Still he lifts the problem out of the deep -darkness which troubled Job. - -And with respect to the high position and success bad men are allowed to -enjoy, another writer, Bushnell, well points out that permission of -their opulence and power by God aids the development of moral ideas. "It -is simply letting society and man be what they are, to show what they -are." The retributive stroke, swift and visible, is not needed to -declare this. "If one is hard upon the poor, harsh to children, he -makes, or may, a very great discovery of himself. What is in him is -mirrored forth by his acts, and distinctly mirrored in them.... If he is -unjust, passionate, severe, revengeful, jealous, dishonest, and -supremely selfish, he is in just that scale of society or social -relationship that brings him out to himself.... Evil is scarcely to be -known as evil till it takes the condition of authority. We do not -understand it till we see what kind of god it will make, and by what -sort of rule it will manage its empire.... Just here all the merit of -God's plan, as regards the permission of power in the hands of wicked -men, will be found to hinge; namely, on the fact that evil is not only -revealed in its baleful presence and agency, but the peoples and ages -are put heaving against it and struggling after deliverance from it."[4] -It was, we say, Job's difficulty that against the new conception of -Divine righteousness which he sought the early idea stood opposed that -life meant vigour mainly in the earthly range. During a long period of -the world's history this belief was dominant, and virtue signified the -strength of man's arm, his courage in conflict, rather than his truth in -judgment and his purity of heart. The outward gains corresponding to -that early virtue were the proof of the worth of life. And even when the -moral qualities began to be esteemed, and a man was partly measured by -the quality of his soul, still the tests of outward success and the -gains of the inferior virtue continued to be applied to his life. Hence -the perturbation of Job and, to some extent, the false judgment of -providence quoted from a modern writer. - -But the chapter we are considering shows, if we rightly interpret the -obscure 16th verse, that the author tried to get beyond the merely -sensuous and earthly reckoning. Those prospered who denied the authority -of God and put aside religion with the rudest scepticism. There was no -good in prayer, they said; it brought no gain. The Almighty was nothing -to them. Without thought of His commands they sought their profit and -their pleasure, and found all they desired. Looking steadfastly at their -life, Job sees its hollowness, and abruptly exclaims:-- - - "_Ha! their good is not in their hand: - The counsel of the wicked be far from me!_" - -Good! was that good which they grasped--their abundance, their -treasure? Were they to be called blessed because their children danced -to the lute and the pipe and they enjoyed the best earth could -provide? The real good of life was not theirs. They had not God; they -had not the exultation of trusting and serving Him; they had not the -good conscience towards God and man which is the crown of life. The -man lying in disease and shame would not exchange his lot for theirs. - -But Job must argue still against his friends' belief that the wicked -are visited with the judgment of the Most High in the loss of their -earthly possessions. "The triumphing of the wicked is short," said -Zophar, "and the joy of the godless but for a moment." Is it so? - - "_How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? - That their calamity cometh upon them? - That God distributeth sorrows in His anger? - That they are as stubble before the wind, - And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?_" - -One in a thousand, Job may admit, has the light extinguished in his -tent and is swept out of the world. But is it the rule or the -exception that such visible judgment falls even on the robber chief? -The first psalm has it that the wicked are "like the chaff which the -wind driveth away." The words of that chant may have been in the mind -of the author. If so, he disputes the doctrine. And further he rejects -with contempt the idea that though a transgressor himself lives long -and enjoys to the end, his children after him may bear his punishment. - - "_Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his children. - Let Him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it. - Let his own eyes see his destruction, - And let him drink of the wrath of Shaddai. - For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, - When the number of his moons is cut off in the midst?_" - -The righteousness Job is in quest of will not be satisfied with -visitation of the iniquities of the fathers upon the children. He will -not accept the proverb which Ezekiel afterwards repudiated, "The fathers -have eaten sour grapes, the children's teeth are set on edge." He -demands that the ways of God shall be equal, that the soul that sinneth -shall bear its punishment. Is it anything to a wicked man that his -children are scattered and have to beg their bread when he has passed -away? A man grossly selfish would not be vexed by the affliction of his -family even if, down in Sheol, he could know of it. What Zophar has to -prove is that every man who has lived a godless life is made to drink -the cup of Shaddai's indignation. Though he trembles in sight of the -truth, Job will press it on those who argue falsely for God. - -And with the sense of the inscrutable purposes of the Most High -burdening his soul he proceeds-- - - "_Shall any teach God knowledge? - Seeing He judgeth those that are high?_" - -Easy was it to insist that thus or thus Divine providence ordained. But -the order of things established by God is not to be forced into harmony -with a human scheme of judgment. He who rules in the heights of heaven -knows how to deal with men on earth; and for them to teach Him knowledge -is at once arrogant and absurd. The facts are evident, must be accepted -and reckoned with in all submission; especially must his friends -consider the fact of death, how death comes, and they will then find -themselves unable to declare the law of the Divine government. - -As yet, even to Job, though he has gazed beyond death, its mystery is -oppressive; and he is right in urging that mystery upon his friends to -convict them of ignorance and presumption. Distinctions they affirm -to lie between the good and the wicked are not made by God in -appointing the hour of death. One is called away in his strong and -lusty manhood; another lingers till his becomes bitter and all the -bodily functions are impaired. "Alike they lie down in the dust and -the worms cover them." The thought is full of suggestion; but Job -presses on, returning for a moment to the false charges against -himself that he may bring a final argument to bear on his accusers. - - "_Behold, I know your thoughts, - And the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me. - For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? - And, Where the tents in which the wicked dwelt? - Have ye not asked them that go by the way? - And do ye not regard their tokens-- - That the wicked is spared in the day of destruction, - That they are led forth in the day of wrath?_" - -So far from being overwhelmed in calamity the evil doer is considered, -saved as by an unseen hand. Whose hand? My house is wasted, my -habitations are desolate, I am in extremity, ready to die. True: but -those who go up and down the land would teach you to look for a -different end to my career if I had been the proud transgressor you -wrongly assume me to have been. I would have found a way of safety -when the storm-clouds gathered and the fire of heaven burned. My -prosperity would scarcely have been interrupted. If I had been what -you say, not one of you would have dared to charge me with crimes -against men or impiety towards God. You would have been trembling now -before me. The power of an unscrupulous man is not easily broken. He -faces fate, braves and overcomes the judgment of society. - -And society accepts his estimate of himself, counts him happy,--pays -him honour at his death. The scene at his funeral confutes the -specious interpretation of providence that has been so often used as a -weapon against Job. Perhaps Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar know something -of obsequies paid to a prosperous tyrant, so powerful that they dared -not deny him homage even when he lay on his bier. Who shall repay the -evil-doer what he hath done? - - "_Yea, he is borne to the grave, - And they keep watch over his tomb; - The clods of the valley are sweet to him, - And all men draw after him, - As without number they go before him._" - -It is the gathering of a country-side, the tumultuous procession, a -vast disorderly crowd before the bier, a multitude after it surging -along to the place of tombs. And there, in nature's greenest heart, -where the clods of the valley are sweet, they make his grave--and -there as over the dust of one of the honourable of the earth they keep -watch. Too true is the picture. Power begets fear and fear enforces -respect. With tears and lamentations the Arabs went, with all the -trappings of formal grief moderns may be seen in crowds following the -corpse of one who had neither a fine soul nor a good heart, nothing -but money and success to commend him to his fellow-men. - - * * * * * - -So the writer ends the second act of the drama, and the controversy -remains much where it was. The meaning of calamity, the nature of the -Divine government of the world are not extracted. This only is made -clear, that the opinion maintained by the three friends cannot stand. It -is not true that joy and wealth are the rewards of virtuous life. It is -not always the case that the evil-doer is overcome by temporal disaster. -It is true that to good and bad alike death is appointed, and together -they lie down in the dust. It is true that even then the good man's -grave may be forsaken in the desert, while the impious may have a -stately sepulchre. A new way is made for human thought in the exposure -of the old illusions and the opening up of the facts of existence. -Hebrew religion has a fresh point of departure, a clearer view of the -nature and end of all things. The thought of the world receives a -spiritual germ; there is a making ready for Him who said, "A man's life -consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth," and -"What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his -life?" When we know what the earthly cannot do for us we are prepared -for the gospel of the spiritual and for the living word. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[3] Emerson, Essay III. "Compensation." - -[4] Bushnell, "Moral Uses of Dark Things." - - - - -THE THIRD COLLOQUY. - - - - -XIX. - -_DOGMATIC AND MORAL ERROR._ - -ELIPHAZ SPEAKS. CHAP. xxii. - - -The second colloquy has practically exhausted the subject of debate -between Job and his friends. The three have really nothing more to say -in the way of argument or awful example. It is only Eliphaz who tries -to clinch the matter by directly accusing Job of base and cowardly -offences. Bildad recites what may be called a short ode, and Zophar, -if he speaks at all, simply repeats himself as one determined if -possible to have the last word. - -And why this third round? While it has definite marks of its own and -the closing speeches of Job are important as exhibiting his state of -mind, another motive seems to be required. And the following may be -suggested. A last indignity offered, last words of hard judgment -spoken, Job enters upon a long review of his life, with the sense of -being victorious in argument, yet with sorrow rather than exultation -because his prayers are still unanswered; and during all this time the -appearance of the Almighty is deferred. The impression of protracted -delay deepens through the two hundred and twenty sentences of the -third colloquy in which, one may say, all the resources of poetry are -exhausted. A tragic sense of the silence God keeps is felt to hang -over the drama, as it hangs over human life. A man vainly strives to -repel the calumnies that almost break his heart. His accusers advance -from innuendo to insolence. He seeks in the way of earnest thought -escape from their false reasoning; he appeals from men to God, from -God in nature and providence to God in supreme and glorious -righteousness behind the veil of sense and time. Unheard apparently by -the Almighty, he goes back upon his life and rehearses the proofs of -his purity, generosity, and faith; but the shadow remains. It is the -trial of human patience and the evidence that neither a man's judgment -of his own life nor the judgment expressed by other men can be final. -God must decide, and for His decision men must wait. The author has -felt in his own history this delay of heavenly judgment, and he brings -it out in his drama. He has also seen that on this side death there -can be no final reading of the judgment of God on a human life. We -wait for God; He comes in a prophetic utterance which all must -reverently accept; yet the declaration is in general terms. When at -last the Almighty speaks from the storm the righteous man and his -accusers alike have to acknowledge ignorance and error; there is an -end of self-defence and of condemnation by men, but no absolute -determination of the controversy. "The vision is for the appointed -time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it -tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. -Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him: but the just -shall live by his faith" (Hab. ii. 3, 4). - - * * * * * - -Eliphaz begins with a singular question, which he is moved to state by -the whole tenor of Job's reasoning and particularly by his hope that God -would become his Redeemer. "_Can a man be profitable unto God?_" Not -quite knowing what he asks, meaning simply to check the boldness of -Job's hope, he advances to the brink of an abyss of doubt. You Job, he -seems to say, a mere mortal creature, afflicted enough surely to know -your own insignificance, how can you build yourself up in the notion -that God is interested in your righteousness? You think God believes in -you and will justify you. How ignorant you must be if you really suppose -your goodness of any consequence to the Almighty, if you imagine that by -making your ways perfect, that is, claiming an integrity which man -cannot possess, you will render any service to the Most High. Man is too -small a creature to be of any advantage to God. Man's respect, -faithfulness, and devotion are essentially of no profit to Him. - -One must say that Eliphaz opens a question of the greatest interest -both in theology or the knowledge of God, and in religion or the right -feelings of man toward God. If man as the highest energy, the finest -blossoming and most articulate voice of the creation, is of no -consequence to his Creator, if it makes no difference to the -perfection or complacency of God in Himself whether man serves the end -of his being or not, whether man does or fails to do the right he was -made to love; if it is for man's sake only that the way of life is -provided for him and the privilege of prayer given him,--then our -glorifying of God is not a reality but a mere form of speech. The only -conclusion possible would be that even when we serve God earnestly in -love and sacrifice we are in point of fact serving ourselves. If one -wrestles with evil, clings to the truth, renounces all for -righteousness' sake, it is well for him. If he is hard-hearted and -base, his life will decay and perish. But, in either case, the eternal -calm, the ineffable completeness of the Divine nature are unaffected. -Yea, though all men and all intelligent beings were overwhelmed in -eternal ruin the Creator's glory would remain the same, like a -full-orbed sun shining over a desolate universe. - - ..."We are such stuff - As dreams are made of, and our little life - Is rounded by a sleep." - -Eliphaz thinks it is for man's sake alone God has created him, -surrounded him with means of enjoyment and progress, given him truth -and religion, and laid on him the responsibilities that dignify his -existence. But what comes then of the contention that, because Job has -sinned, desolation and disease have come to him from the Almighty? If -man's righteousness is of no account to God, why should his -transgressions be punished? Creating men for their own sake, a -beneficent Maker would not lay upon them duties the neglect of which -through ignorance must needs work their ruin. We know from the opening -scenes of the book that the Almighty took pleasure in His servant. We -see Him trying Job's fidelity for the vindication of His own creative -power and heavenly grace against the scepticism of such as the -Adversary. Is a faithful servant not profitable to one whom he -earnestly serves? Is it all the same to God whether we receive His -truth or reject His covenant? Then the urgency of Christ's redemptive -work is a fiction. Satan is not only correct in regard to Job but has -stated the sole philosophy of human life. We are to fear and serve God -for what we get; and our notions of doing bravely in the great warfare -on behalf of God's kingdom are the fancies of men who dream. - - "_Can a man be profitable unto God? - Surely he that is wise is profitable to himself. - Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous? - Or is it gain to Him that thou makest thy ways perfect? - Is it for thy fear of Him that He reproveth thee, - That He entereth with thee into judgment?_" - -Regarding this what are we to say? That it is false, an ignorant attempt -to exalt God at the expense of man, to depreciate righteousness in the -human range for the sake of maintaining the perfection and -self-sufficiency of God. But the virtues of man, love, fidelity, truth, -purity, justice, are not his own. The power of them in human life is a -portion of the Divine energy, for they are communicated and sustained by -the Divine Spirit. Were the righteousness, love, and faith instilled -into the human mind to fail of their result, were they, instead of -growing and yielding fruit, to decay and die, it would be waste of -Divine power; the moral cosmos would be relapsing into a chaotic state. -If we affirm that the obedience and redemption of man do not profit the -Most High, then this world and the inhabitants of it have been called -into existence by the Creator in grim jest, and He is simply amusing -Himself with our hazardous game. - -With the same view of the absolute sovereignty of God in creation and -providence on which Eliphaz founds in this passage, Jonathan Edwards -sees the necessity of escaping the conclusion to which these verses -point. He argues that God's delight in the emanations of His fulness -in the work of creation shows "His delight in the infinite fulness of -good there is in Himself and the supreme respect and regard He has for -Himself." An objector may say, he proceeds, "If it could be supposed -that God needed anything; or that the goodness of His creatures could -extend to Him; or that they could be profitable to Him, it might be -fit that God should make Himself and His own interest His highest and -last end in creating the world. But seeing that God is above all need -and all capacity of being added to and advanced, made better and -happier in any respect; to what purpose should God make Himself His -end, or seek to advance Himself in any respect by any of His works?" -The answer is--"God may delight with true and great pleasure in -beholding that beauty which is an image and communication of His own -beauty, an expression and manifestation of His own loveliness. And -this is so far from being an instance of His happiness not being in -and from Himself, that it is an evidence that He is happy in Himself, -or delights and has pleasure in His own beauty." Nor does this argue -any dependence of God on the creature for happiness. "Though He has -real pleasure in the creature's holiness and happiness; yet this is -not properly any pleasure which He receives from the creature. For -these things are what He gives the creature."[5] Here to a certain -extent the reasoning is cogent and meets the difficulty of Eliphaz; -and at present it is not necessary to enter into the other difficulty -which has to be faced when the Divine reprobation of sinful life needs -explanation. It is sufficient to say that this is a question even more -perplexing to those who hold with Eliphaz than to those who take the -other view. If man for God's glory has been allowed a real part in the -service of eternal righteousness, his failure to do the part of which -he is capable, to which he is called, must involve his condemnation. -So far as his will enters into the matter he is rightly held -accountable, and must suffer for neglect. - -Passing to the next part of Eliphaz's address we find it equally -astray for another reason. He asks "_Is not thy wickedness great?_" -and proceeds to recount a list of crimes which appear to have been -charged against Job in the base gossip of ill-doing people. - - "_Is not thy wickedness great, - And no limit to thy iniquities? - For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought, - And stripped the naked of their clothing. - Thou hast not given water to the weary, - And thou hast withholden bread from the famished. - The man of might--his is the earth; - And he that is in honour dwelt therein. - Thou hast sent widows away empty, - And the arms of the orphans have been broken._" - -The worst here affirmed against Job is that he has overborne the -righteous claims of widows and orphans. Bildad and Zophar made a -mistake in alleging that he had been a robber and a freebooter. Yet is -it less unfriendly to give ear to the cruel slanders of those who in -Job's day of prosperity had not obtained from him all they desired and -are now ready with their complaints? No doubt the offences specified -are such as might have been committed by a man in Job's position and -excused as within his right. To take a pledge for debt was no uncommon -thing. When water was scarce, to withhold it even from the weary was -no extraordinary baseness. Vambéry tells us that on the steppes he has -seen father and son fighting almost to the death for the dregs of a -skin of water. Eliphaz, however, a good man, counts it no more than -duty to share this necessary of life with any fainting traveller, even -if the wells are dry and the skins are nearly empty. He also makes it -a crime to keep back corn in the year of famine. He says truly that -the man of might, doing such things, acts disgracefully. But there was -no proof that Job had been guilty of this kind of inhumanity, and the -gross perversion of justice to which Eliphaz condescends recoils on -himself. It does not always happen so within our knowledge. Pious -slander gathered up and retailed frequently succeeds. An Eliphaz -endeavours to make good his opinion by showing providence to be for -it; he keeps the ear open to any report that will confirm what is -already believed; and the circulating of such a report may destroy the -usefulness of a life, the usefulness which is denied. - -Take a broader view of the same controversy. Is there no exaggeration -in the charges thundered sometimes against poor human nature? Is it -not often thought a pious duty to extort confession of sins men never -dreamed of committing, so that they may be driven to a repentance that -shakes life to its centre and almost unhinges the reason? With -conviction of error, unbelief, and disobedience the new life must -begin. Yet religion is made unreal by the attempt to force on the -conscience and to extort from the lips an acknowledgment of crimes -which were never intended and are perhaps far apart from the whole -drift of the character. The truthfulness of John the Baptist's -preaching was very marked. He did not deal with imaginary sins. And -when our Lord spoke of the duties and errors of men either in -discourse or parable, He never exaggerated. The sins He condemned were -all intelligible to the reason of those addressed, such as the -conscience was bound to own, must recognise as evil things, -dishonouring to the Almighty. - -Having declared Job's imaginary crimes, Eliphaz exclaims, "_Therefore -snares are round about thee and sudden fear troubleth thee_." With the -whole weight of assumed moral superiority he bears down upon the -sufferer. He takes upon him to interpret providence, and every word is -false. Job has clung to God as his Friend. Eliphaz denies him the -right, cuts him off as a rebel from the grace of the King. Truly, it -may be said, religion is never in greater danger than when it is -upheld by hard and ignorant zeal like this. - -Then, in the passage beginning at the twelfth verse, the attempt is -made to show Job how he had fallen into the sins he is alleged to have -committed. - - "_Is not God in the height of heaven? - And behold the cope of the stars how high they are! - And thou saidst--What doth God know? - Can He judge through thick darkness? - Thick clouds are a covering to Him that He seeth not; - And He walketh on the round of heaven._" - -Job imagined that God whose dwelling-place is beyond the clouds and the -stars could not see what he did. To accuse him thus is to pile offence -upon injustice, for the knowledge of God has been his continual desire. - -Finally, before Eliphaz ends the accusation, he identifies Job's frame -of mind with the proud indifference of those whom the deluge swept away. -Job had talked of the prosperity and happiness of men who had not God in -all their thoughts. Was he forgetting that dreadful calamity? - - "_Wilt thou keep the old way - Which wicked men have trodden? - Who were snatched away before their time, - Whose foundation was poured out as a stream: - Who said to God, Depart from us; - And what can the Almighty do unto us? - Yet He filled their houses with good things: - But the counsel of the wicked is far from me!_" - -One who chose to go on in the way of transgressors would share their -fate; and in the day of his disaster as of theirs the righteous should -be glad and the innocent break into scornful laughter. - -So Eliphaz closes, finding it difficult to make out his case, yet -bound as he supposes to do his utmost for religion by showing the law -of the vengeance of God. And, this done, he pleads and promises once -more in the finest passage that falls from his lips:-- - - "_Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace: - Thereby good shall come unto thee. - Receive, I pray thee, instruction from His mouth, - And lay up His words in thy heart. - If thou return to Shaddai, thou shalt be built up; - If thou put iniquity far from thy tents: - And lay thy treasure in the dust, - And among the stones of the streams the gold of Ophir; - Then shall Shaddai be thy treasure - And silver in plenty unto thee._" - -At last there seems to be a strain of spirituality. "Acquaint now -thyself with God and be at peace." Reconciliation by faith and -obedience is the theme. Eliphaz is ignorant of much; yet the greatness -and majesty of God, the supreme power which must be propitiated occupy -his thoughts, and he does what he can to lead his friend out of the -storm into a harbour of safety. Though even in this strophe there -mingles a taint of sinister reflection, it is yet far in advance of -anything Job has received in the way of consolation. Admirable in -itself is the picture of the restoration of a reconciled life from -which unrighteousness is put far away. He seems indeed to have learned -something at last from Job. Now he speaks of one who in his desire for -the favour and friendship of the Most High sacrifices earthly -treasure, flings away silver and gold as worthless. No doubt it is -ill-gotten wealth to which he refers, treasure that has a curse upon -it. Nevertheless one is happy to find him separating so clearly -between earthly riches and heavenly treasure, advising the sacrifice -of the lower for what is infinitely higher. There is even yet hope of -Eliphaz, that he may come to have a spiritual vision of the favour and -friendship of the Almighty. In all he says here by way of promise -there is not a word of renewed temporal prosperity. Returning to -Shaddai in obedience Job will pray and have his prayer answered. Vows -he has made in the time of trouble shall be redeemed, for the desired -aid shall come. Beyond this there shall be, in the daily life, a -strength, decision, and freedom previously unknown. "_Thou shalt -decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee._" The man who -is at length in the right way of life, with God for his ally, shall -form his plans and be able to carry them out. - - "_When they cast down, thou shalt say, Uplifting! - And the humble person He shall save. - He will deliver the man not innocent; - Yea he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thine hands._" - -True, in the future experience of Job there may be disappointment and -trouble. Eliphaz cannot but see that the ill-will of the rabble may -continue long, and perhaps he is doubtful of the temper of his own -friends. But God will help His servant who returns to humble -obedience. And having been himself tried Job will intercede for those -in distress, perhaps on account of their sin, and his intercession -will prevail with God. - -Put aside the thought that all this is said to Job, and it is surely a -counsel of wisdom. To the proud and self-righteous it shows the way -of renewal. Away with the treasures, the lust of the eyes, the pride -of life, that keep the soul from its salvation. Let the Divine love be -precious to thee and the Divine statutes thy joy. Power to deal with -life, to overcome difficulties, to serve thy generation shall then be -thine. Standing securely in God's grace thou shalt help the weary and -heavy laden. Yet Eliphaz cannot give the secret of spiritual peace. He -does not really know the trouble at the heart of human life. We need -for our Guide One who has borne the burden of a sorrow which had -nothing to do with the loss of worldly treasure but with the unrest -perpetually gnawing at the heart of humanity, who "bore our sin in His -own body unto the tree" and led captivity captive. What the old world -could not know is made clear to eyes that have seen the cross against -the falling night and a risen Christ in the fresh Easter morning. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[5] Jonathan Edwards, "Dissertation concerning the End for which God -created the World," Section IV. - - - - -XX. - -_WHERE IS ELOAH?_ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xxiii., xxiv. - - -The obscure couplet with which Job begins appears to involve some -reference to his whole condition alike of body and mind. - - "_Again, to-day, my plaint, my rebellion! - The hand upon me is heavier than my groanings._" - -I must speak of my trouble and you will count it rebellion. Yet, if I -moan and sigh, my pain and weariness are more than excuse. The crisis -of faith is with him, a protracted misery, and hope hangs trembling in -the balance. The false accusations of Eliphaz are in his mind; but -they provoke only a feeling of weary discontent. What men say does not -trouble him much. He is troubled because of that which God refuses to -do or say. Many indeed are the afflictions of the righteous. But every -case like his own obscures the providence of God. Job does not -entirely deny the contention of his friends that unless suffering -comes as a punishment of sin there is no reason for it. Hence, even -though he maintains with strong conviction that the good are often -poor and afflicted while the wicked prosper, yet he does not thereby -clear up the matter. He must admit to himself that he is condemned by -the events of life. And against the testimony of outward circumstance -he makes appeal in the audience chamber of the King. - -Has the Most High forgotten to be righteous for a time? When the -generous and true are brought into sore straits, is the great Friend -of truth neglecting His task as Governor of the world? That would -indeed plunge life into profound darkness. And it seems to be even so. -Job seeks deliverance from this mystery which has emerged in his own -experience. He would lay his cause before Him who alone can explain. - - "_Oh 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. - I would know the words which He would answer me, - And understand what He would say unto me._" - -Present to Job's mind here is the thought that he is under -condemnation, and along with this the conviction that his trial is not -over. It is natural that his mind should hover between these ideas, -holding strongly to the hope that judgment, if already passed, will be -revised when the facts are fully known. - -Now this course of thought is altogether in the darkness. But what are -the principles unknown to Job, through ignorance of which he has to -languish in doubt? Partly, as we long ago saw, the explanation lies in -the use of trial and affliction as the means of deepening spiritual -life. They give gravity and therewith the possibility of power to our -existence. Even yet Job has not realised that one always kept in the -primrose path, untouched by the keen air of "misfortune," although he -had, to begin, a pious disposition and a blameless record, would be -worth little in the end to God or to mankind. And the necessity for -the discipline of affliction and disappointment, even as it explains -the smaller troubles, explains also the greatest. Let ill be heaped on -ill, disaster on disaster, disease on bereavement, misery on sorrow, -while stage by stage the life goes down into deeper circles of gloom -and pain, it may acquire, it will acquire, if faith and faithfulness -towards God remain, massiveness, strength and dignity for the highest -spiritual service. - -But there is another principle, not yet considered, which enters into -the problem and still more lightens up the valley of experience which to -Job appeared so dark. The poem touches the fringe of this principle -again and again, but never states it. The author saw that men were born -to trouble. He made Job suffer more because he had his integrity to -maintain than if he had been guilty of transgressions by acknowledging -which he might have pacified his friends. The burden lay heavily upon -Job because he was a conscientious man, a true man, and could not accept -any make-believe in religion. But just where another step would have -carried him into the light of blessed acquiescence in the will of God, -the power failed, he could not advance. Perhaps the genuineness and -simplicity of his character would have been impaired if he had thought -of it, and we like him better because he did not. The truth, however, is -that Job was suffering for others, that he was, by the grace of God, a -martyr, and so far forth in the spirit and position of that suffering -Servant of Jehovah of whom we read in the prophecies of Isaiah. - -The righteous sufferers, the martyrs, what are they? Always the -vanguard of humanity. Where they go and the prints of their bleeding -feet are left, there is the way of improvement, of civilisation, of -religion. The most successful man, preacher or journalist or -statesman, is popularly supposed to be leading the world in the right -path. Where the crowd goes shouting after him, is that not the way of -advance? Do not believe it. Look for a teacher, a journalist, a -statesman who is not so successful as he might be, because he will, at -all hazards, be true. The Christian world does not yet know the best -in life, thought and morality for the best. He who sacrifices -position and esteem to righteousness, he who will not bow down to the -great idol at the sound of sackbut and psaltery, observe where that -man is going, try to understand what he has in his mind. Those who -under defeat or neglect remain steadfast in faith have the secrets we -need to know. To the ranks even of the afflicted and broken the author -of Job turned for an example of witness-bearing to high ideas and the -faith in God which brings salvation. But he wrought in the shadow, and -his hero is unconscious of his high calling. Had Job seen the -principles of Divine providence which made him a helper of human -faith, we should not now hear him cry for an opportunity of pleading -his cause before God. - - "_Would He contend with me in His mighty power? - Nay, but He would give heed to me. - Then an upright man would reason with Him; - So should I get free for ever from my Judge._" - -It is in a sense startling to hear this confident expectation of -acquittal at the bar of God. The common notion is that the only part -possible to man in his natural state is to fear the judgment to come -and dread the hour that shall bring him to the Divine tribunal. From -the ordinary point of view the language of Job here is dangerous, if -not profane. He longs to meet the Judge; he believes that he could so -state his case that the Judge would listen and be convinced. The -Almighty would not contend with him any longer as his powerful -antagonist, but would pronounce him innocent and set him at liberty -for ever. Can mortal man vindicate himself before the bar of the Most -High? Is not every one condemned by the law of nature and of -conscience, much more by Him who knoweth all things? And yet this man -who believes he would be acquitted by the great King has already been -declared "perfect and upright, one that feareth God and escheweth -evil." Take the declaration of the Almighty Himself in the opening -scenes of the book, and Job is found what he claims to be. Under the -influence of that Divine grace which the sincere and upright may enjoy -he has been a faithful servant and has earned the approbation of his -Judge. It is by faith he is made righteous. Religion and love of the -Divine law have been his guides; he has followed them; and what one -has done may not others do? Our book is concerned not so much with the -corruption of human nature, as with the vindication of the grace of -God given to human nature. Corrupt and vile as humanity often is, -imperfect and spiritually ignorant as it always is, the writer of this -book is not engaged with that view. He directs attention to the -virtuous and honourable elements and shows God's new creation in which -He may take delight. - -We shall indeed find that after the Almighty has spoken out of the -storm, Job says, "I repudiate my words and repent in dust and ashes." -So he appears to come at last to the confession which, from one point -of view, he ought to have made at the first. But those words of -penitence imply no acknowledgment of iniquity after all. They are -confession of ignorant judgment. Job admits with sorrow that he has -ventured too far in his attempt to understand the ways of the -Almighty, that he has spoken without knowledge of the universal -providence he had vainly sought to fathom. - -The author's intention plainly is to justify Job in his desire for the -opportunity of pleading his cause, that is, to justify the claim of -the human reason to comprehend. It is not an offence to him that much -of the Divine working is profoundly difficult to interpret. He -acknowledges in humility that God is greater than man, that there are -secrets with the Almighty which the human mind cannot penetrate. But -so far as suffering and sorrow are appointed to a man and enter into -his life, he is considered to have the right of inquiry regarding -them, an inherent claim on God to explain them. This may be held the -error of the author which he himself has to confess when he comes to -the Divine interlocution. There he seems to allow the majesty of the -Omnipotent to silence the questions of human reason. But this is -really a confession that his own knowledge does not suffice, that he -shares the ignorance of Job as well as his cry for light. The universe -is vaster than he or any of the Old Testament age could even imagine. -The destinies of man form part of a Divine order extending through the -immeasurable spaces and the developments of eternal ages. - - * * * * * - -Once more Job perceives or seems to perceive that access to the -presence of the Judge is denied. The sense of condemnation shuts him -in like prison walls and he finds no way to the audience chamber. The -bright sun moves calmly from east to west; the gleaming stars, the -cold moon in their turn glide silently over the vault of heaven. Is -not God on high? Yet man sees no form, hears no sound. - - "Speak to Him thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet; - Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." - -But Job is not able to conceive a spiritual presence without shape or -voice. - - "_Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; - And backward, but I cannot perceive Him: - On the left hand where He doth work, but I behold Him not: - He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him._" - -Nature, thou hast taught this man by thy light and thy darkness, thy -glorious sun and thy storms, the clear-shining after rain, the sprouting -corn and the clusters of the vine, by the power of man's will and the -daring love and justice of man's heart. In all thou hast been a -revealer. But thou hidest whom thou dost reveal. To cover in thought the -multiplicity of thy energies in earth and sky and sea, in fowl and brute -and man, in storm and sunshine, in reason, in imagination, in will and -love and hope;--to attach these one by one to the idea of a Being -almighty, infinite, eternal, and so to _conceive_ this God of the -universe--it is, we may say, a superhuman task. Job breaks down in the -effort to realise the great God. I look behind me, into the past. There -are the footprints of Eloah when He passed by. In the silence an echo of -His step may be heard; but God is not there. On the right hand, away -beyond the hills that shut in the horizon, on the left hand where the -way leads to Damascus and the distant north--not there can I see His -form; nor out yonder where day breaks in the east. And when I travel -forward in imagination, I who said that my Redeemer shall stand upon the -earth, when I strive to conceive His form, still, in utter human -incapacity, I fail. "Verily, Thou art a God that hidest Thyself." - -And yet, Job's conviction of his own uprightness, is it not God's -witness to his spirit? Can he not be content with that? To have such a -testimony is to have the very verdict he desires. Well does Boethius, -a writer of the old world though he belonged to the Christian age, -press beyond Job where he writes: "He is always Almighty, because He -always wills good and never any evil. He is always equally gracious. -By His Divine power He is everywhere present. The Eternal and Almighty -always sits on the throne of His power. Thence He is able to see all, -and renders to every one with justice, according to his works. -Therefore it is not in vain that we have hope in God; for He changes -not as we do. But pray ye to Him humbly, for He is very bountiful and -very merciful. Hate and fly from evil as ye best may. Love virtues and -follow them. Ye have great need that ye always do well, for ye always -in the presence of the Eternal and Almighty God do all that ye do. He -beholds it all, and He will recompense it all."[6] - -Amiel, on the other hand, would fain apply to Job a reflection which -has occurred to himself in one of the moods that come to a man -disappointed, impatient of his own limitations. In his journal, under -date January 29th, 1866, he writes: "It is but our secret self-love -which is set upon this favour from on high; such may be our desire, -but such is not the will of God. We are to be exercised, humbled, -tried and tormented to the end. It is our patience which is the -touchstone of our virtue. To bear with life even when illusion and -hope are gone; to accept this position of perpetual war, while at the -same time loving only peace; to stay patiently in the world, even when -it repels us as a place of low company and seems to us a mere arena of -bad passions; to remain faithful to one's own faith without breaking -with the followers of false gods; to make no attempt to escape from -the human hospital, long-suffering and patient as Job upon his -dunghill;--this is duty."[7] An evil mood prompts Amiel to write thus. -A thousand times rather would one hear him crying like Job on the -great Judge and Redeemer and complaining that the Goël hides Himself. -It is not in bare self-love or self-pity Job seeks acquittal at the -bar of God; but in the defence of conscience, the spiritual treasure -of mankind and our very life. No doubt his own personal justification -bulks largely with Job, for he has strong individuality. He will not -be overborne. He stands at bay against his three friends and the -unseen adversary. But he loves integrity, the virtue, first; and for -himself he cares as the representative of that which the Spirit of God -gives to faithful men. He may cry, therefore, he may defend himself, -he may complain; and God will not cast him off. - - "_For He knoweth the way that I take; - If He tried me, I should come forth as gold. - My foot hath held fast to His steps, - His way have I kept, and not turned aside. - I have not gone back from the commandments of His lips; - I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my needful - food._" - -Bravely, not in mere vaunt he speaks, and it is good to hear him still -able to make such a claim. Why do we not also hold fast to the garment -of our Divine Friend? Why do we not realise and exhibit the resolute -godliness that anticipates judgment: "If He tried me, I should come -forth as gold"? The psalmists of Israel stood thus on their faith; and -not in vain, surely, has Christ called us to be like our Father who is -in heaven. - - * * * * * - -But again from brave affirmation Job falls back exhausted. - - "Oh thou Hereafter! on whose shore I stand-- - Waiting each toppling moment to engulf me, - What am I? Say thou Present! say thou Past - Ye three wise children of Eternity!-- - A life?--A death?--and an immortal?--All? - Is this the threefold mystery of man? - The lower, darker Trinity of earth? - It is vain to ask. Nought answers me--not God. - The air grows thick and dark. The sky comes down. - The sun draws round him streaky clouds--like God - Gleaning up wrath. Hope hath leapt off my heart, - Like a false sibyl, fear-smote, from her seat, - And overturned it."[8] - -So, as Bailey makes his Festus speak, might Job have spoken here. For -now it seems to him that to call on God is fruitless. Eloah is of one -mind. His will is steadfast, immovable. Death is in the cup and death -will come. On this God has determined. Nor is it in Job's case alone so -sore a doom is performed by the Almighty. Many such things are with Him. -The waves of trouble roll up from the deep dark sea and go over the head -of the sufferer. He lies faint and desolate once more. The light fades, -and with a deep sigh because he ever came to life he shuts his lips. - -Natural religion ends always with a sigh. The sense of God found in -the order of the universe, the dim vision of God which comes in -conscience, moral life and duty, in fear and hope and love, in the -longing for justice and truth--these avail much; but they leave us at -the end desiring something they cannot give. The Unknown God whom men -ignorantly worshipped had to be revealed by the life and truth and -power of the Man Christ Jesus. Not without this revelation, which is -above and beyond nature, can our eager quest end in satisfying -knowledge. In Christ alone the righteousness that justifies, the love -that compassionates, the wisdom that enlightens are brought into the -range of our experience and communicated through reason to faith. - - * * * * * - -In chap. xxiv. there is a development of the reasoning contained in -Job's reply to Zophar in the second colloquy, and there is also a -closer examination of the nature and results of evil-doing than has -yet been attempted. In the course of his acute and careful -discrimination Job allows something to his friends' side of the -argument, but all the more emphasises the series of vivid touches by -which the prosperous tyrant is represented. He modifies to some extent -his opinion previously expressed that all goes well with the wicked. -He finds that certain classes of miscreants do come to confusion, and -he separates these from the others, at the same time separating -himself beyond question from the oppressor on this side and the -murderer and adulterer on that. Accepting the limits of discussion -chosen by the friends he exhausts the matter between himself and them. -By the distinctions now made and the choice offered, Job arrests -personal accusation, and of that we hear no more. - -Continuing the idea of a Divine assize which has governed his thought -throughout this reply, Job asks why it should not be held openly from -time to time in the world's history. - - "_Why are times not set by the Almighty? - And why do not they who know Him see His days?_" - -Emerson says the world is full of judgment-days; Job thinks it is not, -but ought to be. Passing from his own desire to have access to the bar -of God and plead there, he now thinks of an open court, a public -vindication of God's rule. The Great Assize is never proclaimed. Ages go -by; the Righteous One never appears. All things continue as they were -from the beginning of the creation. Men struggling, sinning, suffering, -doubt or deny the existence of a moral Ruler. They ask, Who ever saw -this God? If He exists, He is so separate from the world by His own -choice that there is no need to consider Him. In pride or in sorrow men -raise the question. But _no God_ means no justice, no truth, no -penetration of the real by the ideal; and thought cannot rest there. - -With great vigour and large knowledge of the world the writer makes -Job point out the facts of human violence and crime, of human -condonation and punishment. Look at the oppressors and those who -cringe under them, the despots never brought to justice, but on the -contrary growing in power through the fear and misery of their serfs. -Already we have seen how perilous it is to speak falsely for God. Now -we see, on the other hand, that whoever speaks truly of the facts of -human experience prepares the way for a true knowledge of God. Those -who have been looking in vain for indications of Divine justice and -grace are to learn that not in deliverance from the poverty and -trouble of this world but in some other way they must realise God's -redemption. The writer of the book is seeking after that kingdom which -is not meat and drink nor long life and happiness, but righteousness -and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. - -Observe first, says Job, the base and cruel men who remove landmarks -and claim as their own a neighbour's heritage, who drive into their -pastures flocks that are not theirs, who even take away the one ass of -the fatherless and the one ox the widow has for ploughing her scanty -fields, who thus with a high hand overbear all the defenceless people -within their reach. Zophar had charged Job with similar crimes, and no -direct reply was given to the accusation. Now, speaking strongly of -the iniquity of such deeds, Job makes his accusers feel their -injustice towards him. There are men who do such things. I have seen -them, wondered at them, been amazed that they were not struck down by -the hand of God. My distress is that I cannot understand how to -reconcile their immunity from punishment with my faith in Him whom I -have served and trusted as my Friend. - -The next picture, from the fifth to the eighth verse, shows in -contrast to the tyrant's pride and cruelty the lot of those who suffer -at his hands. Deprived of their land and their flocks, herding -together in common danger and misery like wild asses, they have to -seek for their food such roots and wild fruits as can be found here -and there in the wilderness. Half enslaved now by the man who took -away their land they are driven to the task of harvesting his fodder -and gathering the gleanings of his grapes. Naked they lie in the -field, huddling together for warmth, and out among the hills they are -wet with the impetuous rains, crouching in vain under the ledges of -the rock for shelter. - -Worse things too are done, greater sufferings than these have to be -endured. Men there are who pluck the fatherless child from the -mother's breast, claiming the poor little life as a pledge. Miserable -debtors, faint with hunger, have to carry the oppressor's sheaves of -corn. They have to grind at the oil-presses, and with never a cluster -to slake their thirst tread the grapes in the hot sun. Nor is it only -in the country cruelties are practised. Perhaps in Egypt the writer -has seen what he makes Job describe, the misery of city life. In the -city the dying groan uncared for, and the soul of the wounded crieth -out. Universal are the scenes of social iniquity. The world is full of -injustice. And to Job the sting of it all is that "_God regardeth not -the wrong._" - -Men talk nowadays as if the penury and distress prevalent in our large -towns proved the churches to be unworthy of their name and place. It may -be so. If this can be proved, let it be proved; and if the institution -called The Church cannot justify its existence and its Christianity -where it should do so by freeing the poor from oppression and securing -their rights to the weak, then let it go to the wall. But here is Job -carrying the accusation a stage farther, carrying it, with what may -appear blasphemous audacity, to the throne of God. He has no church to -blame, for there is no church. Or, he himself represents what church -there is. And as a witness for God, what does he find to be his portion? -Behold him, where many a servant of Divine righteousness has been in -past times and is now, down in the depths, poorest of the poor, -bereaved, diseased, scorned, misunderstood, hopeless. Why is there -suffering? Why are there many in our cities outcasts of society, such as -society is? Job's case is a partial explanation; and here the church is -not to blame. Pariahs of society, we say. If society consists to any -great extent of oppressors who are enjoying wealth unjustly gained, one -is not so sure that there is any need to pity those who are excluded -from society. Am I trying to make out that it may be well there are -oppressors, because oppression is not the worst thing for a brave soul? -No: I am only using the logic of the Book of Job in justifying Divine -providence. The church is criticised and by many in these days -condemned as worthless because it is not banishing poverty. Perhaps it -might be more in the way of duty and more likely to succeed if it sought -to banish excessive wealth. Are we of the twentieth Christian century to -hold still by the error of Eliphaz and the rest of Job's friends? Are we -to imagine that those whom the gospel blesses it must of necessity -enrich, so that in their turn they may be tempted to act the Pharisee? -Let us be sure God knows how to govern His world. Let us not doubt His -justice because many are very poor who have been guilty of no crimes and -many very rich who have been distinguished by no virtues. It is our -mistake to think that all would be well if no bitter cries were heard in -the midnight streets and every one were secured against penury. While -the church is partly to blame for the state of things, the salvation of -society will not be found in any earthly socialism. On that side lies a -slough as deep as the other from which it professes to save. The large -Divine justice and humanity which the world needs are those which Christ -alone has taught, Christ to whom property was only something to deal -with on the way to spiritual good,--humility, holiness, love and faith. - -The emphatic "_These_" with which verse 13 begins must be taken as -referring to the murderer and adulterer immediately to be described. -Quite distinct from the strong oppressors who maintain themselves in -high position are these cowardly miscreants who "rebel against the -light" (ver. 13), who "in the dark dig through houses" and "know not the -light" (ver. 16), to whom "the morning is as the shadow of death," whose -"portion is cursed in the earth." The passage contains Job's admission -that there are vile transgressors of human and Divine law whose -unrighteousness is broken as a tree (ver. 20). Without giving up his -main contention as to high-handed wickedness prospering in the world he -can admit this; nay, asserting it he strengthens his position against -the arguments of his friends. The murderer who rising towards daybreak -waylays and kills the poor and needy for the sake of their scanty -belongings, the adulterer who waits for the twilight, disguising his -face, and the thief who in the dark digs through the clay wall of a -house--these do find the punishment of their treacherous and disgusting -crimes in this life. The coward who is guilty of such sin is loathed -even by the mother who bore him and has to skulk in by-ways, familiar -with the terrors of the shadow of death, daring not to turn in the way -of the vineyards to enjoy their fruit. The description of these -reprobates ends with the twenty-first verse, and then there is a return -to the "mighty" and the Divine support they appear to enjoy. - -The interpretation of verses 18-21 which makes them "either actually -in part the work of a popular hand, or a parody after the popular -manner by Job himself," has no sufficient ground. To affirm that the -passage is introduced ironically and that verse 22 resumes the real -history of the murderer, the adulterer, and the thief is to neglect -the distinction between those "who rebel against the light" and the -mighty who live in the eye of God. The natural interpretation is that -which makes the whole a serious argument against the creed of the -friends. In their eagerness to convict Job they have failed to -distinguish between men whose base crimes bring them under social -reprobation and the proud oppressors who prosper through very -arrogance. Regarding these the fact still holds that apparently they -are under the protection of Heaven. - - "_Yet He sustaineth the mighty by His power, - They rise up though they despaired of life. - He giveth them to be safe, and they are upheld, - And His eyes are upon their ways. - They rise high: in a moment they are not; - They are brought low, like all others gathered in, - And cut off as the tops of corn. - If not--who then will make me a liar, - And to nothing bring my speech?_" - -Is the daring right-defying evil-doer wasted by disease, preyed upon -by terror? Not so. When he appears to have been crushed, suddenly he -starts up again in new vigour, and when he dies, it is not prematurely -but in the ripeness of full age. With this reaffirmation of the -mystery of God's dealings Job challenges his friends. They have his -final judgment. The victory he gains is that of one who will be true -at all hazards. Perhaps in the background of his thought is the vision -of a redemption not only of his own life but of all those broken by -the injustice and cruelty of this earth. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[6] "Consolation of Philosophy," chap. xlii. - -[7] Mrs. Ward's translation, p. 116. - -[8] "Festus," edition 1864, p. 503. - - - - -XXI. - -_THE DOMINION AND THE BRIGHTNESS._ - -BILDAD SPEAKS. CHAP. XXV. - - -The argument of the last chapter proceeded entirely on the general -aspect of the question whether the evil are punished in proportion to -their crimes. Job has met his friends so far as to place them in a great -difficulty. They cannot assail him now as a sort of infidel. And yet -what he has granted does not yield the main ground. They cannot deny his -contrast between the two classes of evil-doers nor refuse to admit that -the strong oppressor has a different fate from the mean adulterer or -thief. Bildad therefore confines himself to two general principles, that -God is the supreme administrator of justice and that no man is clean. He -will not now affirm that Job has been a tyrant to the poor. He dares not -call him a murderer or a housebreaker. A snare has been laid for him who -spoke much of snares, and seeing it he is on his guard. - - "_Dominion and fear are with Him; - He maketh peace in His high places - Is there any number of His armies? - And on whom doth not His light shine? - How then can man be just with God? - Or how can he of woman born be clean? - Behold, even the moon hath no brightness, - And the stars are not pure in His sight. - How much less man that is a worm, - And the son of man, the worm!_" - -The brief ode has a certain dignity raising it above the level of -Bildad's previous utterances. He desires to show that Job has been too -bold in his criticism of providence. God has sole dominion and claims -universal adoration. Where He dwells in the lofty place of -unapproachable glory His presence and rule create peace. He is the -Lord of innumerable armies (the stars and their inhabitants perhaps), -and His light fills the breadth of interminable space, revealing and -illuminating every life. Upon this assertion of the majesty of God is -based the idea of His holiness. Before so great and glorious a Being -how can man be righteous? The universality of His power and the -brightness of his presence stand in contrast to the narrow range of -human energy and the darkness of the human mind. Behold, says Bildad, -the moon is eclipsed by a glance of the great Creator and the stars -are cast into shadow by His effulgence; and how shall man whose body -is of the earth earthy claim any cleanness of soul? He is like the -worm; his kinship is with corruption; his place is in the dust like -the creeping things of which he becomes the prey. - -The representation of God in His exaltation and gory has a tone of -impressive piety which redeems Bildad from any suspicion of insolence -at this point. He is including himself and his friends among those -whose lives appear impure in the sight of Heaven. He is showing that -successfully as Job may repel the charges brought against him, there -is at all events one general condemnation in which with all men he -must allow himself to be involved. Is he not a feeble ignorant man -whose will being finite must be imperfect? On the one hand is the -pious exaltation of God, on the other the pious abasement of man. - -It is, however, easy to see that Bildad is still bound to a creed of -the superficial kind without moral depth or spiritual force. The ideas -are those of a nature religion in which the one God is a supreme Baal -or Master, monopolising all splendour, His purity that of the fire or -the light. We are shown the Lord of the visible universe whose -dwelling is in the high heavens, whose representative is the bright -sun from the light of which nothing is hidden. It is easy to point to -this splendid apparition and, contrasting man with the great -fire-force, the perennial fountain of light, to say--How dark, how -puny, how imperfect is man. The brilliance of an Arabian sky through -which the sun marches in unobstructed glory seems in complete contrast -to the darkness of human life. Yet, is it fair, is it competent to -argue thus? Is anything established as to the moral quality of man -because he cannot shine like the sun or even with the lesser light of -moon or stars? One may allow a hint of strong thought in the -suggestion that boundless majesty and power are necessary to perfect -virtue, that the Almighty alone can be entirely pure. But Bildad -cannot be said to grasp this idea. If it gleams before his mind, the -faint flash passes unrecognised. He has not wisdom enough to work out -such a thought. And it is nature that according to his argument really -condemns man. Job is bidden look up to the sun and moon and stars and -know himself immeasurably less pure than they. - -But the truth stands untouched that man whose body is doomed to -corruption, man who labours after the right, with the heat of moral -energy in his heart, moves on a far higher plane as a servant of God -than any fiery orb which pours its light through boundless space. We -find ignorance of man and therefore of his Maker in Bildad's speech. He -does not understand the dignity of the human mind in its straining after -righteousness. "With limitless duration, with boundless space and number -without end, Nature does at least what she can to translate into visible -form the wealth of the creative formula. By the vastness of the abysses -into which she penetrates in the effort, the unsuccessful effort, to -house and contain the eternal thought we may measure the greatness of -the Divine mind. For as soon as this mind goes out of itself and seeks -to explain itself, the effort at utterance heaps universe upon universe -during myriads of centuries, and still it is not expressed and the great -oration must go on for ever and ever." The inanimate universe majestic, -ruled by eternal law, cannot represent the moral qualities of the Divine -mind, and the attempt to convict a thinking man, whose soul is bent on -truth and purity, by the splendour of that light which dazzles his eye, -comes to nothing. - -The commonplaces of pious thought fall stale and flat in a controversy -like the present. Bildad does not realise wherein the right of man in -the universe consists. He is trying in vain to instruct one who sees -that moral desire and struggle are the conditions of human greatness, -who will not be overborne by material splendours nor convicted by the -accident of death. - - - - -XXII. - -_THE OUTSKIRTS OF HIS WAYS._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xxvi., xxvii. - - -Beginning his reply Job is full of scorn and sarcasm. - - "_How hast thou helped one without power! - How hast thou saved the strengthless arm! - How hast thou counselled one void of knowledge, - And plentifully declared the thing that is known!_" - -Well indeed hast thou spoken, O man of singular intelligence. I am -very weak, my arm is powerless. What reassurance, what generous help -thou hast provided! I, doubtless, know nothing, and thou hast showered -illumination on my darkness.--His irony is bitter. Bildad appears -almost contemptible. "_To whom hast thou uttered words?_" Is it thy -mission to instruct me? "_And whose spirit came forth from thee?_" -Dost thou claim Divine inspiration? Job is rancorous; and we are -scarcely intended by the writer to justify him. Yet it is galling -indeed to hear that calm repetition of the most ordinary ideas when -the controversy has been carried into the deep waters of thought. Job -desired bread and is offered a stone. - -But since Bildad has chosen to descant upon the greatness and imperial -power of God, the subject shall be continued. He shall be taken into -the abyss beneath, where faith recognises the Divine presence, and to -the heights above that he may learn how little of the dominion of God -lies within the range of a mind like his, or indeed of mortal sense. - -First there is a vivid glance at that mysterious under-world where the -shades or spirits of the departed survive in a dim vague existence. - - "_The shades are shaken - Beneath the waters and their inhabitants. - Sheol is naked before Him, - And Abaddon hath no covering._" - -Bildad has spoken of the lofty place where God makes peace. But that -same God has the sovereignty also of the nether world. Under the bed -of the ocean and those subterranean waters that flow beneath the solid -ground where, in the impenetrable darkness, poor shadows of their -former selves, those who lived once on earth congregate age after -age--there the power of the Almighty is revealed. He does not always -exert His will in order to create tranquility. Down in Sheol the -_refaim_ are agitated. And nothing is hid from His eye. Abaddon, the -devouring abyss, is naked before Him. - -Let us distinguish here between the imagery and the underlying -thought, the inspired vision of the writer and the form in which Job -is made to present it. These notions about Sheol as a dark cavern -below earth and ocean to which the spirits of the dead are supposed to -descend are the common beliefs of the age. They represent opinion, not -reality. But there is a new flash of inspiration in the thought that -God reigns over the abode of the dead, that even if men escape -punishment here, the judgments of the Almighty may reach them there. -This is the writer's prophetic insight into fact; and he properly -assigns the thought to his hero who, already almost at the point of -death, has been straining as it were to see what lies beyond the -gloomy gate. The poetry is infused with the spirit of inquiry into -God's government of the present and the future. Set beside other -passages both in the Old and New Testaments this is found continuous -with higher revelations, even with the testimony of Christ when He -says that God is Lord not of the dead but of the living. - -From Sheol, the under-world, Job points to the northern heavens ablaze -with stars. God, he says, stretches that wonderful dome over empty -space--the immovable polar star probably appearing to mark the point of -suspension. The earth, again, hangs in space on nothing, even this solid -earth on which men live and build their cities. The writer is of course -ignorant of what modern science teaches, but he has caught the fact -which no modern knowledge can deprive of its marvellous character. Then -the gathering in immense volumes of watery vapour, how strange is that, -the filmy clouds holding rains that deluge a continent, yet not rent -asunder. One who is wonderful in counsel must indeed have ordered this -universe; but His throne, the radiant seat of His everlasting dominion, -He shutteth in with clouds; it is never seen. - - "_A bound He hath set on the face of the waters, - On the confines of light and darkness. - The pillars of heaven tremble - And are astonished at His rebuke. - He stilleth the sea with His power; - And by His understanding He smites through Rahab: - By His breath the heavens are made bright; - His hand pierceth the fleeing serpent. - Lo, these are the outskirts of His ways, - And what a whisper is that which we hear of Him! - But the thunder of His powers who can apprehend?_" - -At the confines of light and darkness God sets a boundary, the visible -horizon, the ocean being supposed to girdle the earth on every side. -The pillars of heaven are the mountains, which might be seen in -various directions apparently supporting the sky. With awe men looked -upon them, with greater awe felt them sometimes shaken by mysterious -throbs as if at God's rebuke. From these the poet passes to the sea, -the great storm waves that roll upon the shore. God smites through -Rahab, subdues the fierce sea--represented as a raging monster. Here, -as in the succeeding verse where the fleeing serpent is spoken of, -reference is made to nature-myths current in the East. The old ideas -of heathen imagination are used simply in a poetical way. Job does not -believe in a dragon of the sea, but it suits him to speak of the -stormy ocean-current under this figure so as to give vividness to his -picture of Divine power. God quells the wild waves; His breath as a -soft wind clears away the storm clouds and the blue sky is seen again. -The hand of God pierces the fleeing serpent, the long track of angry -clouds borne swiftly across the face of the heavens. - -The closing words of the chapter are a testimony to the Divine -greatness, negative in form yet in effect more eloquent than all the -rest. It is but the outskirts of the ways of God we see, a whisper of -Him we hear. The full thunder falls not on our ears. He who sits on -the throne which is for ever shrouded in clouds and darkness is the -Creator of the visible universe but always separate from it. He -reveals Himself in what we see and hear, yet the glory, the majesty -remain concealed. The sun is not God, nor the storm, nor the clear -shining after rain. The writer is still true to the principle of never -making nature equal to God. Even where the religion is in form a -nature religion, separateness is fully maintained. The phenomena of -the universe are but faint adumbrations of the Divine life. Bildad may -come short of the full clearness of belief, but Job has it. The great -circle of existence the eye is able to include is but the skirt of -that garment by which the Almighty is seen. - -The question may be asked, What place has this poetical tribute to the -majesty of God in the argument of the book? Viewed simply as an effort -to outdo and correct the utterance of Bildad the speech is not fully -explained. We ask further what is meant to be in Job's mind at this -particular point in the discussion; whether he is secretly complaining -that power and dominion so wide are not manifested in executing justice -on earth, or, on the other hand, comforting himself with the thought -that judgment will yet return to righteousness and the Most High be -proved the All-just? The inquiry has special importance because, looking -forward in the book, we find that when the voice of God is heard from -the storm it proclaims His matchless power and incomparable wisdom. - -At present it must suffice to say that Job is now made to come very -near his final discovery that complete reliance upon Eloah is not -simply the fate but the privilege of man. Fully to understand Divine -providence is impossible, but it can be seen that One who is supreme -in power and infinite in wisdom, responsible always to Himself for the -exercise of His power, should have the complete confidence of His -creatures. Of this truth Job lays hold; by strenuous thought he has -forced his way almost through the tangled forest, and he is a type of -man at his best on the natural plane. The world waited for the clear -light which solves the difficulties of faith. While once and again a -flash came before Christ, He brought the abiding revelation, the -dayspring from on high which giveth light to them that sit in darkness -and the shadow of death. - - * * * * * - -According to his manner Job turns now from a subject which may be -described as speculative to his own position and experience. The -earlier part of chap. xxvii. is an earnest declaration in the strain -he has always maintained. As vehemently as ever he renews his claim to -integrity, emphasizing it with a solemn adjuration. - - "_As God liveth who hath taken away my right, - And the Almighty who hath embittered my soul; - (For still my life is whole in me, - And the breath of the High God in my nostrils), - My lips do not speak iniquity, - Nor does my tongue utter deceit. - Far be it from me to justify you; - Till I die I will not remove my integrity from me. - My righteousness I hold fast, and let it not go; - My heart reproacheth not any of my days._" - -This is in the old tone of confident self-defence. God has taken away -his right, denied him the outward signs of innocence, the opportunity -of pleading his cause. Yet, as a believer, he swears by the life of -God that he is a true man, a righteous man. Whatever betides he will -not fall from that conviction and claim. And let no one say that pain -has impaired his reason, that now if never before he is speaking -deliriously. No: his life is whole in him; God-given life is his, and -with the consciousness of it he speaks, not ignorant of what is a -man's duty, not with a lie in his right hand, but with absolute -sincerity. He will not justify his accusers, for that would be to deny -righteousness, the very rock which alone is firm beneath his feet. -Knowing what is a man's obligation to his fellow-men and to God he -will repeat his self-defence. He goes back upon his past, he reviews -his days. Upon none of them can his conscience fix the accusation of -deliberate baseness or rebellion against God. - -Having affirmed his sincerity Job proceeds to show what would be the -result of deceit and hypocrisy at so solemn a crisis of his life. The -underlying idea seems to be that of communion with the Most High, the -spiritual fellowship necessary to man's inner life. He could not speak -falsely without separating himself from God and therefore from hope. -As yet he is not rejected; the consciousness of truth remains with -him, and through that he is in touch at least with Eloah. No voice -from on high answers him; yet this Divine principle of life remains in -his soul. Shall he renounce it? - - "_Let mine enemy be as the wicked, - And he that riseth against me as the unrighteous._" - -If I have aught to do with a wicked man such as I am now to describe, -one who would pretend to pure and godly life while he had behaved in -impious defiance of righteousness, if I have to do with such a man, -let it be as an enemy. - - "_For what is the hope of the godless whom He cutteth off, - When God taketh his soul? - Will God hear his cry - When trouble cometh upon him? - Will he delight himself in the Almighty - And call upon Eloah at all times?_" - -The topic is access to God by prayer, that sense of security which -depends on the Divine friendship. There comes one moment at least, -there may be many, in which earthly possessions are seen to be -worthless and the help to the Almighty is alone to any avail. In -order to enjoy hope at such a time a man must habitually live with God -in sincere obedience. The godless man previously described, the thief, -the adulterer whose whole life is a cowardly lie, is cut off from the -Almighty. He finds no resource in the Divine friendship. To call upon -God always is no privilege of his; he has lost it by neglect and -revolt. Job speaks of the case of such a man as in contrast to his -own. Although his own prayers remain apparently unanswered he has a -reserve of faith and hope. Before God he can still assure himself as -the servant of His righteousness, in fellowship with Him who is -eternally true. The address closes with these words of retrospection -(vv. 11, 12):-- - - "_I would teach you concerning the hand of God, - That which is with Shaddai would I not conceal. - Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; - Why then are ye become altogether vain?_" - -At this point begins a passage which creates great difficulty. It is -ascribed to Job, but is entirely out of harmony with all he has said. -May we accept the conjecture that it is the missing third speech of -Zophar, erroneously incorporated with the "parable" of Job? Do the -contents warrant this departure from the received text? - -All along Job's contention has been that though an evil-doer could -have no fellowship with God, no joy in God, yet such a man might -succeed in his schemes, amass wealth, live in glory, go down to his -grave in peace. Yea, he might be laid in a stately tomb and the very -clods of the valley might be sweet to him. Job has not affirmed this -to be always the history of one who defies the Divine law. But he has -said that often it is; and the deep darkness in which he himself lies -is not caused so much by his calamity and disease as by the doubt -forced upon him whether the Most High does rule in steadfast justice -on this earth. How comes it, he has cried again and again, that the -wicked prosper and the good are often reduced to poverty and sorrow? - -Now does the passage from the twelfth verse onwards correspond with -this strain of thought? It describes the fate of the wicked oppressor -in strong language--defeat, desolation, terror, rejection by God, -rejection by men. His children are multiplied only for the sword. Sons -die and widows are left disconsolate. His treasures, his garments -shall not be for his delight; the innocent shall enjoy his substance. -His sudden death shall be in shame and agony, and men shall clap their -hands at him and hiss him out of his place. Clearly, if Job is the -speaker, he must be giving up all he has hitherto contended for, -admitting that his friends have argued truly, that after all judgment -does fall in this world upon arrogant men. The motive of the whole -controversy would be lost if Job yielded this point. It is not as if -the passage ran, This or that may take place, this or that may befall -the evil-doer. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar never present more strongly -their own view than that view is presented here. Nor can it be said -that the writer may be preparing for the confession Job makes after -the Almighty has spoken from the storm. When he gives way then, it is -only to the extent of withdrawing his doubts of the wisdom and justice -of the Divine rule. - -The suggestion that Job is here reciting the statements of his friends -cannot be entertained. To read "Why are ye altogether vain, _saying_, -This is the portion of the wicked man from God," is incompatible with -the long and detailed account of the oppressor's overthrow and -punishment. There would be no point or force in mere recapitulation -without the slightest irony or caricature. The passage is in grim -earnest. On the other hand, to imagine that Job is modifying his -former language is, as Dr. A. B. Davidson shows, equally out of the -question. With his own sons and daughters lying in their graves, his -own riches dispersed, would he be likely to say--"_If his children be -multiplied it is for the sword_"? and - - "_Though he heap up silver as the dust, - And prepare raiment as the clay; - He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on - And the innocent shall divide the silver_"? - -Against supposing this to be Zophar's third speech the arguments drawn -from the brevity of Bildad's last utterance and the exhaustion of the -subjects of debate have little weight, and there are distinct points -of resemblance between the passage under consideration and Zophar's -former addresses. Assuming it to be his, it is seen to begin precisely -where he left off;--only he adopts the distinction Job has pointed out -and confines himself now to "oppressors." His last speech closed with -the sentence: "This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the -heritage appointed unto him by God." He begins here (ver. 13): "This -is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of -oppressors which they receive from the Almighty." Again, without -verbal identity, the expressions "God shall cast the fierceness of His -wrath upon him" (chap. xx. 23), and "God shall hurl upon him and not -spare" (chap. xxvii. 21), show the same style of representation, as -also do the following: "Terrors are upon him.... His goods shall flow -away in the day of his wrath" (chap. xx. 25, 28), and "Terrors -overtake him like waters" (chap. xxvii. 20). Other similarities may be -easily traced; and on the whole it seems by far the best explanation -of an otherwise incomprehensible passage to suppose that here Zophar -is holding doggedly to opinions which the other two friends have -renounced. Job could not have spoken the passage, and there is no -reason for considering it to be an interpolation by a later hand. - - - - -XXIII. - -_CHORAL INTERLUDE._ - -CHAP. xxviii. - - -The controversy at length closed, the poet breaks into a chant of the -quest of Wisdom. It can hardly be supposed to have been uttered or -sung by Job. But if we may go so far as to imagine a chorus after the -manner of the Greek dramas, this ode would fitly come as a choral -descant reflecting on the vain attempts made alike by Job and by his -friends to penetrate the secrets of Divine providence. How poor and -unsatisfying is all that has been said. To fathom the purposes of the -Most High, to trace through the dark shadows and entanglements of -human life that unerring righteousness with which all events are -ordered and overruled--how far was this above the sagacity of the -speakers. Now and again true things have been said, now and again -glimpses of that vindication of the good which should compensate for -all their sufferings have brightened the controversy. But the -reconciliation has not been found. The purposes of the Most High -remain untraced. The poet is fully aware of this, aware even that on -the ground of argument he is unable to work out the problem which he -has opened. With an undertone of wistful sadness, remembering passages -of his country's poetry that ran in too joyous a strain, as if wisdom -lay within the range of human ken, he suspends the action of the drama -for a little to interpose this cry of limitation and unrest. There is -no complaint that God keeps in his own hand sublime secrets of Design. -What is man that he should be discontented with his place and power? -It is enough for him that the Great God rules in righteous -sovereignty, gives him laws of conduct to be obeyed in reverence, -shows him the evil he is to avoid, the good he is to follow. "The -things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." Those who have a -world to explore and use, the Almighty to adore and trust, if they -must seek after the secret of existence and ever feel themselves -baffled in the endeavour, may still live nobly, bear patiently, find -blessed life within the limit God has set. - -First the industry of man is depicted, that search for the hidden -things of the earth which is significant alike of the craving and -ingenuity of the human mind. - - "_Surely there is a mine for silver - And a place for gold which they refine. - Iron is taken out of the earth, - And copper is molten out of the stone. - Man setteth an end to darkness, - And searcheth, to the furthest bound, - The stones of darkness and deathful gloom. - He breaks a shaft away from where men dwell; - They are forgotten of the foot; - Afar from men they hang and swing to and fro._" - -The poet has seen, perhaps in Idumæa or in Midian where mines of -copper and gold were wrought by the Egyptians, the various operations -here described. Digging or quarrying, driving tunnels horizontally -into the hills or sinking shafts in the valleys, letting themselves -down by ropes from the edge of a cliff to reach the vein, then, -suspended in mid air, hewing at the ore, the miners variously ply -their craft. Away in remote gorges of the hills the pits they have dug -remain abandoned, forgotten. The long winding passages they make seem -to track to the utmost limit the stones of darkness, stones that are -black with the richness of the ore. - -On the earth's surface men till their fields, but the hidden treasures -that lie below are more valuable than the harvest of maize or wheat. - - "_As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; - And from beneath it is turned up as by fire. - The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, - And it hath dust of gold._" - -The reference to fire as an agent in turning up the earth appears to -mark a volcanic district, but sapphires and gold are found either in -alluvial soil or associated with gneiss and quartz. Perhaps the fire -was that used by the miners to split refractory rock. And the cunning -of man is seen in this, that he carries into the very heart of the -mountains a path which no vulture or falcon ever saw, which the proud -beasts and fierce lions have not trodden. - - "_He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock, - He overturneth mountains by the roots._" - -Slowly indeed as compared with modern work of the kind, yet surely, -where those earnest toilers desired a way, excavations went on and -tunnels were formed with wedge and hammer and pickaxe. The skill of -man in providing tools and devising methods, and his patience and -assiduity made him master of the very mountains. And when he had found -the ore he could extract its precious metal and gems. - - "_He cutteth out channels among the rocks; - And his eye seeth every precious thing. - He bindeth the streams that they trickle not; - And the hidden thing brings he forth to light._" - - -For washing his ore when it has been crushed he needs supplies of water, -and to this end makes long aqueducts. In Idumæa a whole range of -reservoirs may still be seen, by means of which even in the dry season -the work of gold-washing might be carried on without interruption. No -particle of the precious metal escaped the quick eye of the practised -miner. And again, if water began to percolate into his shaft or tunnel, -he had skill to bind the streams that his search might not be hindered. - -Such then is man's skill, such are his perseverance and success in the -quest of things he counts valuable--iron for his tools, copper to -fashion into vessels, gold and silver to adorn the crowns of kings, -sapphires to gleam upon their raiment. And if in the depths of earth -or anywhere the secrets of life could be reached, men of eager -adventurous spirit would sooner or later find them out. - -It is to be noticed that, in the account given here of the search -after hidden things, attention is confined to mining operations. And -this may appear strange, the general subject being the quest of -wisdom, that is understanding of the principles and methods by which -the Divine government of the world is carried on. There was in those -days a method of research, widely practised, to which some allusion -might have been expected--the so-called art of astrology. The -Chaldæans had for centuries observed the stars, chronicled their -apparent movements, measured the distances of the planets from each -other in their unexplained progress through the constellations. On -this survey of the heavens was built up a whole code of rules for -predicting events. The stars which culminated at the time of any one's -birth, the planets visible when an undertaking was begun, were -supposed to indicate prosperity or disaster. The author of the Book of -Job could not be ignorant of this art. Why does he not mention it? Why -does he not point out that by watching the stars man seeks in vain to -penetrate Divine secrets? And the reply would seem to be that keeping -absolute silence in regard to astrology he meant to refuse it as a -method of inquiry. Patient, eager labour among the rocks and stones is -the type of fruitful endeavour. Astrology is not in any way useful; -nothing is reached by that method of questioning nature. - -The poet proceeds:-- - - "_Where shall wisdom be found, - And where is the place of understanding? - Man knoweth not the way thereof, - Neither is it to be found in the land of the living. - The deep saith, It is not in me; - And the sea saith, It is not with me._" - -The whole range of the physical cosmos, whether open to the -examination of man or beyond his reach, is here declared incapable of -supplying the clue to that underlying idea by which the course of -things is ordered. The land of the living is the surface of the earth -which men inhabit. The deep is the under-world. Neither there nor in -the sea is the great secret to be found. As for its price, however -earnestly men may desire to possess themselves of it, no treasures are -of any use it is not to be bought in any market. - - "_Never is wisdom got for gold, - Nor for its price can silver be told. - For the gold of Ophir it may not be won, - The onyx rare or the sapphire stone. - Gold is no measure and glass no hire, - Jewels of gold twice fined by fire. - Coral and crystal tell in vain, - Pearls of the deep for wisdom's gain. - Topaz of Cush avails thee nought, - Nor with gold of glory is it bought._" - -While wisdom is thus of value incommensurate with all else men count -precious and rare, it is equally beyond the reach of all other forms -of mundane life. The birds that soar high into the atmosphere see -nothing of it, nor does any creature that wanders far into -uninhabitable wilds. Abaddon and Death indeed, the devouring abyss and -that silent world which seems to gather and keep all secrets, have -heard a rumour of it. Beyond the range of mortal sense some hint there -may be of a Divine plan governing the mutations of existence, the -fulfilment of which will throw light on the underworld where the -spirits of the departed wait in age-long night. But death has no -knowledge any more than life. Wisdom is God's prerogative, His -activities are His own to order and fulfil. - - "_God understandeth the way thereof, - And He knoweth the place thereof. - For He looketh to the ends of the earth, - And seeth under the whole heaven, - Making weight for the winds; - And He meteth out the waters by measure. - When He made a decree for the rain, - And a way for the lightning of thunder, - Then did He see it and number it, - He established it, yea, and searched it out._" - -The evolution, as we should say, of the order of nature gives fixed -and visible embodiment to the wisdom of God. We must conclude, -therefore, that the poet indicates the complete idea of the world as a -cosmos governed by subtle all-pervading law for moral ends. The -creation of the visible universe is assumed to begin, and with the -created before Him God sees its capacities, determines the use to -which its forces are to be put, the relation all things are to have to -each other, to the life of man and to His own glory. But the hokhma or -understanding of this remains for ever beyond the discovery of the -human intellect. Man knoweth not the way thereof. The forces of earth -and air and sea and the deep that lieth under do not reveal the secret -of their working; they are but instruments. And the end of all is not -to be found in Sheol, in the silent world of the dead. God Himself is -the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. - -Yet man has his life and his law. Though intellectual understanding of -his world and destiny may fail however earnestly he pursues the quest, -he should obtain the knowledge that comes by reverence and obedience. -He can adore God, he can distinguish good from evil and seek what is -right and true. There lies his hokhma, there, says the poet, it must -continue to lie. - - "_And unto man He said, - Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, - And to depart from evil is understanding._" - -The conclusion lays a hush upon man's thought--but leaves it with a -doctrine of God and faith reaching above the limitations of time and -sense. Reverence for the Divine will not fully known, the pursuit of -holiness, fear of the Unseen God are no agnosticism, they are the true -springs of religious life. - - - - -XXIV. - -_AS A PRINCE BEFORE THE KING._ - -JOB SPEAKS. CHAPS. xxix.-xxxi. - - -From the pain and desolation to which he has become inured as a -pitiable second state of existence, Job looks back to the years of -prosperity and health which in long succession he once enjoyed. This -parable or review of the past ends his contention. Honour and -blessedness are apparently denied him for ever. With what has been he -compares his present misery and proceeds to a bold and noble -vindication of his character alike from secret and from flagrant sins. - -In the whole circle of Job's lamentations this chant is perhaps the most -affecting. The language is very beautiful, in the finest style of the -poet, and the minor cadences of the music are such as many of us can -sympathise with. When the years of youth go by and strength wanes, the -Eden we once dwelt in seems passing fair. Of those beyond middle life -there are few who do not set their early memories in sharp contrast to -the ways they now travel, looking back to a happy valley and long bright -summers that are left behind. And even in opening manhood and womanhood -the troubles of life often fall, as we may think, prematurely, coming -between the mind and the remembered joy of burdenless existence. - - "How changed are they!--how changed am I! - The early spring of life is gone, - Gone is each youthful vanity,-- - But what with years, oh what is won? - - "I know not--but while standing now - Where opened first the heart of youth, - I recollect how high would glow - Its thoughts of Glory, Faith, and Truth-- - - "How full it was of good and great, - How true to heaven, how warm to men. - Alas! I scarce forbear to hate - The colder breast I bring again." - -First in the years past Job sees by the light of memory the -blessedness he had when the Almighty was felt to be his preserver and -his strength. Though now God appears to have become an enemy he will -not deny that once he had a very different experience. Then nature was -friendly, no harm came to him; he was not afraid of the pestilence -that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at noon-day, -for the Almighty was his refuge and fortress. To refuse this tribute -of gratitude is far from the mind of Job, and the expression of it is -a sign that now at length he is come to a better mind. He seems on the -way fully to recover his trust. - -The elements of his former happiness are recounted in detail. God -watched over him with constant care, the lamp of Divine love shone on -high and lighted up the darkness, so that even in the night he could -travel by a way he knew not and feel secure. Days of strength and -pleasure were those when the secret of God, the sense of intimate -fellowship with God, was on his tent, when his children were about -him, that beautiful band of sons and daughters who were his pride. -Then his steps were bathed in abundance, butter provided by -innumerable kine, rivers of oil which seemed to flow from the rock, -where terrace above terrace the olives grew luxuriantly and yielded -their fruit without fail. - -Chiefly Job remembers with gratitude to God the esteem in which he was -held by all about him. Nature was friendly and not less friendly were -men. When he went into the city and took his seat in the "broad place" -within the gate, he was acknowledged chief of the council and court of -judgment. The young men withdrew and stood aside, yea the elders, -already seated in the place of assembly, stood up to receive him as -their superior in position and wisdom. Discussion was suspended that -he might hear and decide. And the reasons for this respect are given. -In the society thus with idyllic touches represented, two qualities -were highly esteemed--regard for the poor and wisdom in counsel. Then, -as now, the problem of poverty caused great concern to the elders of -cities. Though the population of an Arabian town could not be great, -there were many widows and fatherless children, families reduced to -beggary by disease or the failure of their poor means of livelihood, -blind and lame persons utterly dependent on charity, besides wandering -strangers and the vagrants of the desert. By his princely munificence -to these Job had earned the gratitude of the whole region. Need was -met, poverty relieved, justice done in every case. He recounts what he -did, not in boastfulness, but as one who rejoiced in the ability God -had given him to aid suffering fellow-creatures. Those were indeed -royal times for the generous-hearted man. Full of public spirit, his -ear and hand always open, giving freely out of his abundance, he -commended himself to the affectionate regard of the whole valley. The -ready way of almsgiving was that alone by which relief was provided -for the destitute, and Job was never appealed to in vain. - - "_The ear that heard me blessed me, - The eye that saw bare witness to me, - Because I delivered the poor that cried, - And the fatherless who had no helper. - The blessing of him that was ready to die came upon me, - And I caused the widow's heart to sing with joy._" - -So far Job rejoices in the recollection of what he had been able to do -for the distressed and needy in those days when the lamp of God shone -over him. He proceeds to speak of his service as magistrate or judge. - - "_I put on righteousness and it indued itself with me, - My justice was as a robe and a diadem; - I was eyes to the blind, - And feet was I to the lame._" - -With righteousness in his heart so that all he said and did revealed -it and wearing judgment as a turban, he sat and administered justice -among the people. Those who had lost their sight and were unable to -find the men that had wronged them came to him and he was as eyes to -them, following up every clue to the crime that had been committed. -The lame who could not pursue their enemies appealed to him and he -took up their cause. The poor, suffering under oppression, found him a -protector, a father. Yea, "_the cause of him that I knew not I -searched out_." On behalf of total strangers as well as of neighbours -he set in motion the machinery of justice. - - "_And I brake the jaws of the wicked - And plucked the spoil from his teeth._" - -None were so formidable, so daring and lion-like, but he faced them, -brought them to judgment and compelled them to give up what they had -taken by fraud and violence. - -In those days, Job confesses, he had the dream that as he was -prosperous, powerful, helpful to others by the grace of God, so he -would continue. Why should any trouble fall on one who used power -conscientiously for his neighbours? Would not Eloah sustain the man -who was as a god to others? - - "_Then I said, I shall die in my nest, - And I shall multiply my days as the Phoenix; - My root shall spread out by the waters, - And the dew shall be all night on my branch; - My glory shall be fresh in me, - And my bow shall be renewed in my hand._" - -A fine touch of the dream-life which ran on from year to year, bright -and blessed as if it would flow for ever. Death and disaster were far -away. He would renew his life like the Phoenix, attain to the age of -the antediluvian fathers, and have his glory or life strong in him for -uncounted years. So illusion flattered him, the very image he uses -pointing to the futility of the hope. - -The closing strophe of the chapter proceeds with even stronger touch -and more abundant colour to represent his dignity. Men listened to him -and waited. Like a refreshing rain upon thirsty ground--and how -thirsty the desert could be!--his counsel fell on their ears. He -smiled upon them when they had no confidence, laughed away their -trouble, the light of his countenance never dimmed by their -apprehensions. Even when all about him were in dismay his hearty -hopeful outlook was unclouded. Trusting God, he knew his own strength -and gave freely of it. - - "_I chose out their way, and sat as a chief, - And dwelt as a king in the crowd, - As one that comforteth the mourners._" - -Looked up to with this great esteem, acknowledged leader in virtue of -his overflowing goodness and cheerfulness, he seemed to make sunshine -for the whole community. Such was the past. All that had been, is gone -apparently for ever. - - * * * * * - -How inexpressibly strange that power so splendid, mental, physical and -moral strength used in the service of less favoured men should be -destroyed by Eloah! It is like blotting out the sun from heaven and -leaving a world in darkness. And most strange of all is the way in -which low men assist the ruin that has been wrought. - -The thirtieth chapter begins with this. Job is derided by the miserable -and base whose fathers he would have disdained to set with the dogs of -his flock. He paints these people, gaunt with hunger and vice, herding -in the wilderness where alone they are suffered to exist, plucking -mallows or salt-wort among the bushes and digging up the roots of broom -for food. Men hunted them into the desert, crying after them as thieves, -and they dwelt in the clefts of the wadies, in caves and amongst rocks. -Like wild asses they brayed in the scrub and flung themselves down among -the nettles. Children they were of fools, base-born, men who had -dishonoured their humanity and been whipped out of the land. Such are -they whose song and by-word Job is now become. These, even these abhor -him and spit in his face. He makes the contrast deep and dreadful as to -his own experience and the moral confusion that has followed Eloah's -strange work. For good there is evil, for light and order there is -darkness. Does God desire this, ordain it? - -One is inclined to ask whether the abounding compassion and humaneness -of the Book of Job fails at this point. These wretched creatures who -make their lair like wild beasts among the nettles, outcasts, branded as -thieves, a wandering base-born race, are still men. Their fathers may -have fallen into the vices of abject poverty. But why should Job say -that he would have disdained to set them with the dogs of his flock? In -a previous speech (chap. xxiv.) he described victims of oppression who -had no covering in the cold and were drenched with the rain of the -mountains, clinging to the rock for shelter; and of them he spoke -gently, sympathetically. But here he seems to go beyond compassion. - -Perhaps one might say the tone he takes now is pardonable, or almost -pardonable, because these wretched beings, whom he may have treated -kindly once, have seized the occasion of his misery and disease to -insult him to his face. While the words appear hard, the uselessness of -the pariah may be the main point. Yet a little of the pride of birth -clings to Job. In this respect he is not perfect; here his prosperous -life needs a check. The Almighty must speak to him out of the tempest -that he may feel himself and find "the blessedness of being little." - -These outcasts throw off all restraint and behave with disgraceful -rudeness in his presence. - - "_Upon my right hand rise the low brood, - They push away my feet, - And cast up against me their ways of destruction; - They mar my path, - And force on my calamity-- - They who have no helper. - They come in as through a wide breach, - In the desolation they roll themselves upon me._" - -The various images, of a besieging army, of those who wantonly break -up paths made with difficulty, of a breach in the embankment of a -river, are to show that Job is now accounted one of the meanest, whom -any man may treat with indignity. He was once the idol of the -populace; "now none so poor to do him reverence." And this persecution -by base men is only a sign of deeper abasement. As a horde of terrors -sent by God he feels the reproaches and sorrows of his state. - - "_Terrors are turned upon me; - They chase away mine honour as the wind, - And my welfare passeth as a cloud. - And now my soul is poured out in me - The days of affliction have taken hold upon me._" - -Thought shifts naturally to the awful disease which has caused his -body to swell and to become black as with dust and ashes. And this -leads him to his final vehement complaint against Eloah. How can He so -abase and destroy His servant? - - "_I cry unto Thee and Thou dost not hear me; - I stand up, and Thou lookest at me. - Thou art turned to be cruel unto me: - With the might of Thine hand Thou persecutest me. - Thou liftest me up to the wind, Thou causest me to ride on it; - And Thou dissolvest me in the storm. - For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, - And to the house appointed for all living. - Yet in overthrow doth not one stretch out his hand? - In destruction, doth he not because of this utter a cry?_" - -Standing up in his wretchedness he is fully visible to the Divine eye, -still no prayer moves Eloah the terrible from His purpose. It seems to -be finally appointed that in dishonour Job shall die. Yet, destined to -this fate, his hope a mockery, shall he not stretch out his hand, cry -aloud as life falls to the grave in ruin? How differently is God -treating him from the way in which he treated those who were in trouble! -He is asking in vain that pity which he himself had often shown. Why -should this be? How can it be, and Eloah remain the Just and Living One? -Pained without and within, unable to refrain from crying out when people -gather about him, a brother to jackals whose howlings are heard all -night, a companion to the grieving ostrich, his bones burned by raging -fever, his harp turned to wailing and his lute into the voice of them -that weep, he can scarce believe himself the same man that once walked -in honour and gladness in the sight of earth and heaven. - -Thus the full measure of complaint is again poured out, unchecked by -thought that dignity of life comes more with suffering patiently -endured than with pleasure. Job does not know that out of trouble like -his a man may rise more human, more noble, his harp furnished with new -strings of deeper feeling, a finer light of sympathy shining in his -soul. Consistently, throughout, the author keeps this thought in the -background, showing hopeless sorrow, affliction, unrelieved by any -sense of spiritual gain, pressing with heaviest and most weary weight -upon a good man's life. The only help Job has is the consciousness of -virtue, and that does not check his complaint. The antinomies of life, -the past as compared with the present, Divine favour exchanged for -cruel persecution, well-doing followed by most grievous pain and -dishonour, are to stand at the last full in view. Then He who has -justice in His keeping shall appear. God Himself shall declare and -claim His supremacy and His design. - - * * * * * - -This purpose of the author achieved, the last passage of Job's -address--chap. xxxi.--rings bold and clear like the chant of a victor, -not serene indeed in the presence of death, for this is not the Hebrew -temper and cannot be ascribed by the writer to his hero, yet with firm -ground beneath his feet, a clear conscience of truth lighting up his -soul. The language is that of an innocent man before his accusers and -his judge, yea of a prince in presence of the King. Out of the -darkness into which he has been cast by false arguments and -accusations, out of the trouble into which his own doubt has brought -him, Job seems to rise with a new sense of moral strength and even of -restored physical power. No more in reckless challenge of heaven and -earth to do their worst, but with a fine strain of earnest desire to -be clear with men and God, he takes up and denies one by one every -possible charge of secret and open sin. Is the language he uses more -emphatic than any man has a right to employ? If he speaks the truth, -why should his words be thought too bold? The Almighty Judge desires -no man falsely to accuse himself, will have no man leave an unfounded -suspicion resting upon his character. It is not evangelical meekness -to plead guilty to sins never committed. Job feels it part of his -integrity to maintain his integrity; and here he vindicates himself -not in general terms but in detail, with a decision which cannot be -mistaken. Afterwards, when the Almighty has spoken, he acknowledges -the ignorance and error which have entered into his judgment, making -the confession we must all make even after years of faith. - -I. From the taint of lustful and base desire he first clears himself. -He has been pure in life, innocent even of wandering looks which might -have drawn him into uncleanness. He has made a covenant with his eyes -and kept it. Sin of this kind, he knew, always brings retribution, and -no indulgence of his ever caused sorrow and dishonour. Regarding the -particular form of evil in question he asks:-- - - "_For what is the portion from God above, - And the heritage of the Almighty from on high? - Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, - And disaster to them that work iniquity?_" - -Grouped along with this "lust of the flesh" is the "lust of the eyes," -covetous desire. The itching palm to which money clings, false dealing -for the sake of gain, crafty intrigues for the acquisition of a plot -of ground or some animal--such things were far from him. He claims to -be weighed in a strict balance, and pledges himself that as to this -he will not be found wanting. So thoroughly is he occupied with this -defence that he speaks as if still able to sow a crop and look for the -harvest. He would expect to have the produce snatched from his hand if -the vanity of greed and getting had led him astray. Returning then to -the more offensive suspicion that he had laid wait treacherously at -his neighbour's door, he uses the most vigorous words to show at once -his detestation of such offence and the result he believes it always -to have. It is an enormity, a nefarious thing to be punished by the -judges. More than that, it is a fire that consumes to Abaddon, wasting -a man's strength and substance so that they are swallowed as by the -devouring abyss. As to this, Job's reading of life is perfectly sound. -Wherever society exists at all, custom and justice are made to bear as -heavily as possible on those who invade the foundation of society and -the rights of other men. Yet the keenness with which immorality of the -particular kind is watched fans the flame of lust. Nature appears to -be engaged against itself; it may be charged with the offence, it -certainly joins in bringing the punishment. - -II. Another possible imputation was that as a master or employer he -had been harsh to his underlings. Common enough it was for those in -power to treat their dependants with cruelty. Servants were often -slaves; their rights as men and women were denied. Regarding this, the -words put into the mouth of Job are finely humane, even prophetic:-- - - "_If I despised the cause of my man-servant or maid - When they contended with me ... - What then shall I do when God riseth up? - And when He visiteth what shall I answer Him? - Did not He that made me in the womb make him? - And did not One fashion us in the womb?_" - -The rights of those who toiled for him were sacred, not as created by -any human law which for so many hours' service might compel so much -stipulated hire, but as conferred by God. Job's servants were men and -women with an indefeasible claim to just and considerate treatment. It -was accidental, so to speak, that Job was rich and they poor, that he -was master and they under him. Their bodies were fashioned like his, -their minds had the same capacity of thought, of emotion, of pleasure -and pain. At this point there is no hardness of tone or pride of birth -and place. These are well-doing people to whom as head of the clan Job -stands in place of a father. - -And his principle, to treat them as their inheritance of the same life -from the same Creator gave them a right to be dealt with, is prophetic, -setting forth the duties of all who have power to those who toil for -them. Men are often used like beasts of burden. No tyranny on earth is -so hateful as many employers, driving on their huge concerns at the -utmost speed, dare to exercise through representatives or underlings. -The simple patriarchal life which brought employer and employed into -direct personal relations knew little of the antagonism of class -interests and the bitterness of feeling which often menaces revolution. -None of this will cease till simplicity be resumed and the customs which -keep men in touch with each other, even though they fail to acknowledge -themselves members of the one family of God. When the servant who has -done his best is, after years of exhausting labour, dismissed without a -hearing by some subordinate set there to consider what are called the -"interests" of the employer--is the latter free from blame? The question -of Job, "What then shall _I_ do when God riseth up, and when He visiteth -what shall I answer Him?" strikes a note of equity and brotherliness -many so-called Christians seem never to have heard. - -III. To the poor, the widow, the fatherless, the perishing, Job next -refers. Beyond the circle of his own servants there were needy persons -whom he had been charged with neglecting and even oppressing. He has -already made ample defence under this head. If he has lifted his hand -against the fatherless, having good reason to presume that the judges -would be on his side--then may his shoulder fall from the -shoulder-blade and his arm from the collar-bone. Calamity from God was -a terror to Job, and recognising the glorious authority which enforces -the law of brotherly help he could not have lived in proud enjoyment -and selfish contempt. - -IV. Next he repudiates the idolatry of wealth and the sin of adoring -the creature instead of the Creator. Rich as he was, he can affirm -that he never thought too much of his wealth, nor secretly vaunted -himself in what he had gathered. His fields brought forth plentifully, -but he never said to his soul, Thou hast much goods laid up for many -years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. He was but a -steward, holding all at the will of God. Not as if abundance of -possessions could give him any real worth, but with constant gratitude -to his Divine Friend, he used the world as not abusing it. - -And for his religion: true to those spiritual ideas which raised him -far above superstition and idolatry, even when the rising sun seemed -to claim homage as a fit emblem of the unseen Creator, or when the -full moon shining in a clear sky seemed a very goddess of purity and -peace, he had never, as others were wont to do, carried his hand to -his lips. He had seen the worship of Baal and Ishtar, and there might -have come to him, as to whole nations, the impulses of wonder, of -delight, of religious reverence. But he can fearlessly say that he -never yielded to the temptation to adore anything in heaven or earth. -It would have been to deny Eloah the Supreme. Dr. Davidson reminds us -here of a legend embodied in the Koran for the purpose of impressing -the lesson that worship should be paid to the Lord of all creatures, -"whose shall be the kingdom on the day whereon the trumpet shall be -sounded." The Almighty says: "Thus did We show unto Abraham the -kingdom of heaven and earth, that he might become of those who firmly -believe. And when the night overshadowed him he saw a star, and he -said, This is my Lord; but when it set he said, I like not those that -set. And when he saw the moon rising he said, This is my Lord; but -when he saw it set he said, Verily, if my Lord direct me not, I shall -become one of the people who go astray. And when he saw the rising sun -he said, This is my Lord; this is the greatest; but when it set he -said, O my people, verily I am clear of that which ye associate with -God; I direct my face unto Him who hath created the heavens and the -earth." Thus from very early times to that of Mohammed monotheism was -in conflict with the form of idolatry that naturally allured the -inhabitants of Arabia. Job confesses the attraction, denies the sin. -He speaks as if the laws of his people were strongly against -sun-worship, whatever might be done elsewhere. - -V. He proceeds to declare that he has never rejoiced over a fallen -enemy nor sought the life of any one with a curse. He distinguishes -himself very sharply from those who in the common Oriental way dealt -curses without great provocation, and those even who kept them for -deadly enemies. So far was this rancorous spirit from him that friends -and enemies alike were welcome to his hospitality and help. Verse 31 -means that his servants could boast of being unable to find a single -stranger who had not sat at his table. Their business was to furnish -it every day with guests. Nor will Job allow that after the manner of -men he skilfully covered transgressions. "If, guilty of some base -thing, I concealed it, as men often do, because I was afraid of losing -caste, afraid lest the great families would despise me...." Such a -thought or fear never presented itself to him. He could not thus have -lived a double life. All had been above-board, in the clear light of -day, ruled by one law. - -In connection with this it is that he comes with princely appeal to -the King. - - "_Oh that I had one to hear me!-- - Behold my signature--let the Almighty answer me. - And oh that I had my Opponents charge! - Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, - I would bind it unto me as a crown. - I would declare unto Him the number of my steps, - As a prince would I go near unto Him._" - -The words are to be defended only on the ground that the Eloah to whom a -challenge is here addressed is God misunderstood, God charged falsely -with making unfounded accusations against His servant and punishing him -as a criminal. The Almighty has not been doing so. The vicious reasoning -of the friends, the mistaken creed of the age make it appear as if He -had. Men say to Job, You suffer because God has found evil in you. He -is requiting you according to your iniquity. They maintain that for no -other reason could calamities have come upon him. So God is made to -appear as the man's adversary; and Job is forced to the demonstration -that he has been unjustly condemned. "Behold my signature," he says: I -state my innocence; I set to my mark; I stand by my claim: I can do -nothing else. Let the Almighty prove me at fault. God, you say, has a -book in which His charges against me are written out. I wish I had that -book! I would fasten it upon my shoulder as a badge of honour; yea, I -would wear it as a crown. I would show Eloah all I have done, every step -I have taken through life by day and night. I would evade nothing. In -the assurance of integrity I would go to the King; as a prince I would -stand in His presence. There face to face with Him whom I know to be -just and righteous I would justify myself as His servant, faithful in -His house. - -Is it audacity, impiety? The writer of the book does not mean it to be -so understood. There is not the slightest hint that he gives up his -hero. Every claim made is true. Yet there is ignorance of God, and -that ignorance puts Job in fault so far. He does not know God's action -though he knows his own. He ought to reason from the misunderstanding -of himself and see that he may fail to understand Eloah. When he -begins to see this he will believe that his sufferings have complete -justification in the purpose of the Most High. - -The ignorance of Job represents the ignorance of the old world. -Notwithstanding the tenor of his prologue the writer is without a -theory of human affliction applicable to every case, or even to the -experience of Job. He can only say and repeat, God is supremely wise -and righteous, and for the glory of His wisdom and righteousness He -ordains all that befalls men. The problem is not solved till we see -Christ, the Captain of our salvation, made perfect by suffering, and -know that our earthly affliction "which is for the moment worketh for -us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." - -The last verses of the chapter may seem out of place. Job speaks as a -landowner who has not encroached on the fields of others but honestly -acquired his estate, and as a farmer who has tilled it well. This -seems a trifling matter compared with others that have been -considered. Yet, as a kind of afterthought, completing the review of -his life, the detail is natural. - - "_If my land cry out against me, - And the furrows thereof weep together, - If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, - Or have caused the owners to lose their life: - Let thistles grow instead of wheat - And cockle instead of barley. - The words of Job are ended._" - -A farmer of the right kind would have great shame if poor crops or wet -furrows cried against him, or if he could otherwise be accused of -treating the land ill. The touch is realistic and forcible. - -Still it is plain at the close that the character of Job is idealised. -Much may be received as matter of veritable history; but on the whole -the life is too fine, pure, saintly for even an extraordinary man. The -picture is clearly typical. And it is so for the best reason. An -actual life would not have set the problem fully in view. The -writer's aim is to rouse thought by throwing the contradictions of -human experience so vividly upon a prepared canvas that all may see. -Why do the righteous suffer? What does the Almighty mean? The urgent -questions of the race are made as insistent as art and passion, ideal -truth and sincerity, can make them. Job lying in the grime of misery -yet claiming his innocence as a prince before the Eternal King, -demands on behalf of humanity the vindication of providence, the -meaning of the world scheme. - - - - -ELIHU INTERVENES. - - - - -XXV. - -_POST-EXILIC WISDOM._ - -CHAPS. xxxii.-xxxiv. - - -A personage hitherto unnamed in the course of the drama now assumes -the place of critic and judge between Job and his friends. Elihu, son -of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, appears suddenly and as -suddenly disappears. The implication is that he has been present -during the whole of the colloquies, and that, having patiently waited -his time, he expresses the judgment he has slowly formed on arguments -to which he has given close attention. - -It is significant that both Elihu and his representations are ignored in -the winding up of the action. The address of the Almighty from the storm -does not take him into account and seems to follow directly on the -close of Job's defence. It is a very obvious criticism, therefore, that -the long discourse of Elihu may be an interpolation or an -afterthought--a fresh attempt by the author or by some later writer to -correct errors into which Job and his friends are supposed to have -fallen and to throw new light on the matter of discussion. The textual -indications are all in favour of this view. The style of the language -appears to belong to a later time than the other parts of the book. But -to reject the address as unworthy of a place in the poem would be too -summary. Elihu indeed assumes the air of the superior person from the -first, so that one is not engaged in his favour. Yet there is an honest, -reverent and thoughtful contribution to the subject. In some points this -speaker comes nearer the truth than Job or any of his friends, although -the address as a whole is beneath the rest of the book in respect of -matter and argument, and still more in poetical feeling and expression. - -It is suggested by M. Renan that the original author, taking up his -work again after a long interval, at a period in his life when he had -lost his verve and his style, may have added this fragment with the -idea of completing the poem. There are strong reasons against such an -explanation. For one thing there seems to be a misconception where, at -the outset, Elihu is made to assume that Job and his friends are very -old. The earlier part of the poem by no means affirms this. Job, -though we call him a patriarch, was not necessarily far advanced in -life, and Zophar appears considerably younger. Again the contention in -the eighth verse--"There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the -Almighty giveth them understanding"--seems to be the justification a -later writer would think it needful to introduce. He acknowledges the -Divine gift of the original poet and adding his criticism claims for -Elihu, that is, for himself, the lucidity God bestows on every calm -and reverent student of His ways. This is considerably different from -anything we find in the addresses of the other speakers. It seems to -show that the question of inspiration had arisen and passed through -some discussion. But the rest of the book is written without any -consciousness, or at all events any admission of such a question. - -Elihu appears to represent the new "wisdom" which came to Hebrew -thinkers in the period of the exile; and there are certain opinions -embodied in his address which must have been formed during an exile -that brought many Jews to honour. The reading of affliction given is -one following the discovery that the general sinfulness of a nation -may entail chastisement on men who have not personally been guilty of -great sin, yet are sharers in the common neglect of religion and pride -of heart, and further that this chastisement may be the means of great -profit to those who suffer. It would be harsh to say the tone is that -of a mind which has caught the trick of "voluntary humility," of -pietistic self-abasement. Yet there are traces of such a tendency, the -beginning of a religious strain opposed to legal self-righteousness, -running, however, very readily to excess and formalism. Elihu, -accordingly, appears to stand on the verge of a descent from the -robust moral vigour of the original author towards that low ground in -which false views of man's nature hinder the free activity of faith. - -The note struck by the Book of Job had stirred eager thought in the -time of the exile. Just as in the Middle Ages of European history the -Divine Comedy of Dante was made a special study, and chairs were -founded in universities for its exposition, so less formally the drama -of Job was made the subject of inquiry and speculation. We suppose -then that among the many who wrote on the poem, one acting for a -circle of thinkers incorporated their views in the text. He could not -do so otherwise than by bringing a new speaker on the stage. To add -anything to what Eliphaz or Bildad or Job had said would have -prevented the free expression of new opinion. Nor could he without -disrespect have inserted the criticism after the words of Jehovah. -Selecting as the only proper point of interpolation the close of the -debate between Job and the friends, the scribe introduced the Elihu -portion as a review of the whole scope of the book, and may indeed -have subtly intended to assail as entirely heterodox the -presupposition of Job's integrity and the Almighty's approval of his -servant. That being his purpose, he had to veil it in order to keep -the discourse of Elihu in line with the place assigned to him in the -dramatic movement. The contents of the prologue and epilogue and the -utterance of the Almighty from the storm affect, throughout, the added -discourse. But to secure the unity of the poem the writer makes Elihu -speak like one occupying the same ground as Eliphaz and the others, -that of a thinker ignorant of the original motive of the drama; and -this is accomplished with no small skill. The assumption is that -reverent thought may throw new light, far more light than the -original author possessed, on the case as it stood during the -colloquies. Elihu avoids assailing the conception of the prologue that -Job is a perfect and upright man approved by God. He takes the state -of the sufferer as he finds it, and inquires how and why it is, what -is the remedy. There are pedantries and obscurities in the discourse, -yet the author must not be denied the merit of a careful and -successful attempt to adapt his character to the place he occupies in -the drama. Beyond this, and the admission that something additional is -said on the subject of Divine discipline, it is needless to go in -justifying Elihu's appearance. One can only remark with wonder in -passing that Elihu should ever have been declared the Angel Jehovah, -or a personification of the Son of God. - -The narrative verses which introduce the new speaker state that his -wrath was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than -God, and against the three friends because they had condemned Job and -yet found no answer to his arguments. The mood is that of a critic -rather hot, somewhat too confident that he knows, beginning a task -that requires much penetration and wisdom. But the opening sentences -of the speech of Elihu betray the need the writer felt to justify -himself in making his bold venture. - - "_I am young and ye are very old; - Wherefore I held back and durst not show my knowledge. - I thought, Days should speak, - And the multitude of years teach wisdom. - Still, there is a spirit in man, - And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. - Not the great in years are wise, - Nor do the aged understand what is right. - Therefore I say: Hearken to me; - I also will show my opinion._" - -These verses are a defence of the new writer's boldness in adding to a -poem that has come down from a previous age. He is confident in his -judgment, yet realises the necessity of commending it to the hearers. -He claims that inspiration which belongs to every reverent -conscientious inquirer. On this footing he affirms a right to express -his opinion, and the right cannot be denied. - -Elihu has been disappointed with the speeches of Job's friends. He has -listened for their reasons, observed how they cast about for arguments -and theories; but no one said anything convincing. It is an offence to -this speaker that men who had so good a case against their friend made -so little of it. The intelligence of Elihu is therefore from the first -committed to the hypothesis that Job is in the wrong. Obviously the -writer places his spokesman in a position which the epilogue condemns; -and if we assume this to have been deliberately done a subtle verdict -against the scope of the poem must have been intended. May it not be -surmised that this implied comment or criticism gave the interpolated -discourse value in the eyes of many? Originally the poem appeared -somewhat dangerous, out of the line of orthodoxy. It may have become -more acceptable to Hebrew thought when this caveat against bold -assumptions of human perfectibility and the right of man in presence -of his Maker had been incorporated with the text. - -Elihu tells the friends that they are not to say, We have found wisdom -in Job, unexpected wisdom which the Almighty alone is able to vanquish. -They are not to excuse themselves nor exaggerate the difficulties of the -situation by entertaining such an opinion. Elihu is confident that he -can overcome Job in reasoning. As if speaking to himself he describes -the perplexity of the friends and states his intention. - - "_They were amazed, they answered no more; - They had not a word to say. - And shall I wait because they speak not, - Because they stand still and answer no more? - I also will answer my part, - I also will show my opinion._" - -His convictions become stronger and more urgent. He must open his lips -and answer. And he will use no flattery. Neither the age nor the -greatness of the men he is addressing shall keep him from speaking his -mind. If he were insincere he would bring on himself the judgment of -God. "My Maker would soon take me away." Here again the second -writer's self-defence colours the words put into Elihu's mouth. -Reverence for the genius of the poet whose work he is supplementing -does not prevent a greater reverence for his own views. - - * * * * * - -The general exordium closes with the thirty-second chapter, and in the -thirty-third Elihu, addressing Job by name, enters on a new -vindication of his right to intervene. His claim is still that of -straightforwardness, sincerity. He is to express what he knows without -any other motive than to throw light on the matter in hand. He feels -himself, moreover, to be guided by the Divine Spirit. The breath of -the Almighty has given him life; and on this ground he considers -himself entitled to enter the discussion and ask of Job what answer -he can give. This is done with dramatic feeling. The life he enjoys is -not only physical vigour as contrasted with Job's diseased and infirm -state, but also intellectual strength, the power of God-given reason. -Yet, as if he might seem to claim too much, he hastens to explain that -he is quite on Job's level nevertheless. - - "_Behold, I am before God even as thou art; - I also am formed out of the clay. - Lo, my terror shall not make thee afraid, - Neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee_. - -Elihu is no great personage, no heaven-sent prophet whose oracles must -be received without question. He is not terrible like God, but a man -formed out of the clay. The dramatising appears overdone at this -point, and can only be explained by the desire of the writer to keep -on good terms with those who already reverenced the original poet and -regarded his work as sacred. What is now to be said to Job is spoken -with knowledge and conviction, yet without pretension to more than the -wisdom of the holy. There is, however, a covert attack on the original -author as having made too much of the terror of the Almighty, the -constant pain and anxiety that bore down Job's spirit. No excuse of -the kind is to be allowed for the failure of Job to justify himself. -He did not _because he could not_. The fact was, according to this -critic, that Job had no right of self-defence as perfect and upright, -without fault before the Most High. No man possessed or could acquire -such integrity. And all the attempts of the earlier dramatist to put -arguments and defences into his hero's mouth had of necessity failed. -The new writer comprehends very well the purpose of his predecessor -and intends to subvert it. - -The formal indictment opens thus:-- - - "_Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing - And I have heard thy words:-- - I am clean without transgression; - I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me. - Behold, He findeth occasions against me, - He counteth me for His enemy; - He putteth me in the stocks, - He marketh all my paths._" - -The claim of righteousness, the explanation of his troubles given by -Job that God made occasions against him and without cause treated him -as an enemy, are the errors on which Elihu fastens. They are the -errors of the original writer. No one endeavouring to represent the -feelings and language of a servant of God should have placed him in -the position of making so false a claim, so base a charge against -Eloah. Such criticism is not to be set aside as either incompetent or -over bold. But the critic has to justify his opinion, and, like many -others, when he comes to give reasons his weakness discloses itself. -He is certainly hampered by the necessity of keeping within dramatic -lines. Elihu must appear and speak as one who stood beside Job with -the same veil between him and the Divine throne. And perhaps for this -reason the effort of the dramatist comes short of the occasion. - -It is to be noted that attention is fixed on isolated expressions -which fell from Job's lips, that there is no endeavour to set forth -fully the attitude of the sufferer towards the Almighty. Eliphaz, -Bildad, and Zophar had made Job an offender for a word and Elihu -follows them. We anticipate that his criticism, however telling it may -be, will miss the true point, the heart of the question. He will -possibly establish some things against Job, but they will not prove -him to have failed as a brave seeker after truth and God. - -Opposing the claim and complaint he has quoted, Elihu advances in the -first instance a proposition which has the air of a truism--"_God is -greater than man._" He does not try to prove that even though a man -has appeared to himself righteous he may really be sinful in the sight -of the Almighty, or that God has the right to afflict an innocent -person in order to bring about some great and holy design. The -contention is that a man should suffer and be silent. God is not to be -questioned; His providence is not to be challenged. A man, however he -may have lived, is not to doubt that there is good reason for his -misery if he is miserable. He is to let stroke after stroke fall and -utter no complaint. And yet Job had erred in saying, "_God giveth not -account of any of His matters._" It is not true, says Elihu, that the -Divine King holds Himself entirely aloof from the inquiries and -prayers of His subjects. He discloses in more than one way both His -purposes and His grace. - - "_Why dost thou contend against God - That He giveth not account of any of His matters? - For God speaketh once, yea twice, - Yet man perceiveth it not._" - -The first way in which, according to Elihu, God speaks to men is by a -dream, a vision of the night; and the second way is by the -chastisement of pain. - -Now as to the first of these, the dream or vision, Elihu had, of -course, the testimony of almost universal belief, and also of some -cases that passed ordinary experience. Scriptural examples, such as -the dreams of Jacob, of Joseph, of Pharaoh, and the prophetic visions -already recognised by all pious Hebrews, were no doubt in the -writer's mind. Yet if it is implied that Job might have learned the -will of God from dreams, or that this was a method of Divine -communication for which any man might look, the rule laid down was at -least perilous. Visions are not always from God. A dream may come "by -the multitude of business." It is true, as Elihu says, that one who is -bent on some proud and dangerous course may be more himself in a dream -than in his waking hours. He may see a picture of the future which -scares him, and so he may be deterred from his purpose. Yet the waking -thoughts of a man, if he is sincere and conscientious, are far more -fitted to guide him, as a rule, than his dreams. - -Passing to the second method of Divine communication, Elihu appears to -be on safer ground. He describes the case of an afflicted man brought to -extremity by disease, whose soul draweth near to the grave and his life -to the destroyers or death-angels. Such suffering and weakness do not of -themselves insure knowledge of God's will, but they prepare the sufferer -to be instructed. And for his deliverance an interpreter is required. - - "_If there be with him an angel, - An interpreter, one among a thousand, - To show unto man what is his duty; - Then He is gracious unto him and saith, - Deliver him from going down to the pit, - I have found a ransom._" - -Elihu cannot say that such an angel or interpreter will certainly -appear. He may: and if he does and points the way of uprightness, and -that way is followed, then the result is redemption, deliverance, -renewed prosperity. But who is this angel? "One of the ministering -spirits sent forth to do service on behalf of the heirs of salvation?" -The explanation is somewhat far-fetched. The ministering angels were -not restricted in number. Each Hebrew was supposed to have two such -guardians. Then Malachi says, "The priest's lips should keep -knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the -angel (messenger) of Jehovah Sebaoth." Here the priest appears as an -angel-interpreter, and the passage seems to throw light on Elihu's -meaning. As no explicit mention is made of a priest or any priestly -function in our text, it may at least be hinted that interpreters of -the law, scribes or incipient rabbis are intended, of whom Elihu -claims to be one. In this case the ransom would remain without -explanation. But if we take that as a sacrificial offering, the name -"angel-interpreter" covers a reference to the properly accredited -priest. The passage is so obscure that little can be based upon it; -yet assuming the Elihu discourses to be of late origin and intended to -bring the poem into line with orthodox Hebrew thought the introduction -of either priest or scribe would be in harmony with such a purpose. -Mediation at all events is declared to be necessary as between the -sufferer and God; and it would be strange indeed if Elihu, professing -to explain matters, really made Divine grace to be consequent on the -intervention of an angel whose presence and instruction could in no -way be verified. Elihu is realistic and would not rest his case at any -point on what might be declared purely imaginary. - -The promise he virtually makes to Job is like those of Eliphaz and the -others,--renewed health, restored youth, the sense of Divine favour. -Enjoying these, the forgiven penitent sings before men, acknowledging -his fault and praising God for his redemption. The assurance of -deliverance was probably made in view of the epilogue, with Job's -confession and the prosperity restored to him. But the writer -misunderstands the confession, and promises too glibly. It is good to -receive after great affliction the guidance of a wise interpreter; and -to seek God again in humility is certainly a man's duty. But would -submission and the forgiveness of God bring results in the physical -sphere, health, renewed youth and felicity? No invariable nexus of -cause and effect can be established here from experience of the -dealings of God with men. Elihu's account of the way in which the -Almighty communicates with His creatures must be declared a failure. -It is in some respects careful and ingenious, yet it has no sufficient -ground of evidence. When he says-- - - "_Lo, all these things worketh God - Oftentimes with man, - To bring back his soul from the pit_"-- - -the design is pious, but the great question of the book is not -touched. The righteous suffer like the wicked from disease, -bereavement, disappointment, anxiety. Even when their integrity is -vindicated the lost years and early vigour are not restored. It is -useless to deal in the way of pure fancy with the troubles of -existence. We say to Elihu and all his school, Let us be at the truth, -let us know the absolute reality. There are valleys of human sorrow, -suffering, and trial in which the shadows grow deeper as the traveller -presses on, where the best are often most afflicted. We need another -interpreter than Elihu, one who suffers like us and is made perfect by -suffering, through it entering into His glory. - - * * * * * - -An invocation addressed by Elihu to the bystanders begins chap. xxxiv. -Again he emphatically asserts his right to speak, his claim to be a -guide of those who think on the ways of God. He appeals to sound -reason and he takes his auditors into counsel--"_Let us choose to -ourselves judgment; let us know among ourselves what is good._" The -proposal is that there shall be conference on the subject of Job's -claim. But Elihu alone speaks. It is he who selects "what is good." - -Certain words that fell from the lips of Job are again his text. Job -hath said, I am righteous, I am in the right; and, God hath taken away -my judgment or vindication. When those words were used the meaning of -Job was that the circumstances in which he had been placed, the -troubles appointed by God seemed to prove him a transgressor. But was -he to rest under a charge he knew to be untrue? Stricken with an -incurable wound though he had not transgressed, was he to be against -his right by remaining silent? This, says Elihu, is Job's unfounded -impious indictment of the Almighty; and he asks:-- - - "_What man is like Job, - Who drinketh up impiety like water, - Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, - And walketh with wicked men?_" - -Job had spoken of his right which God had taken away. What was his -right? Was he, as he affirmed, without transgression? On the contrary, -his principles were irreligious. There was infidelity beneath his -apparent piety. Elihu will prove that so far from being clear of blame -he has been imbibing wrong opinions and joining the company of the -wicked. This attack shows the temper of the writer. No doubt certain -expressions put into the mouth of Job by the original dramatist might be -taken as impeaching the goodness or the justice of God. But to assert -that even the most unguarded passages of the book made for impiety was a -great mistake. Faith in God is to be traced not obscurely but as a shaft -of light through all the speeches put into the mouth of his hero by the -poet. One whose mind is bound by certain pious forms of thought may fail -to see the light, but it shines nevertheless. - -The attempt made by Elihu to establish his charge has an appearance of -success. Job, he says, is one who drinks up impiety like water and -walks with wicked men,-- - - "_For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing - That he should delight himself with God._" - -If this were true, Job would indeed be proved irreligious. Such a -statement strikes at the root of faith and obedience. But is Elihu -representing the text with anything like precision? In chap. ix. 22 -these words are put into Job's mouth:-- - - "_It is all one, therefore I say, - He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked._" - -God is strong and is breaking him with a tempest. Job finds it useless -to defend himself and maintain that he is perfect. In the midst of the -storm he is so tossed that he despises his life; and in perplexity he -cries,--It is all one whether I am righteous or not, God destroys the -good and the vile alike. Again we find him saying, "Wherefore do the -wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?" And in another -passage he inquires why the Almighty does not appoint days of judgment. -These are the expressions on which Elihu founds his charge, but the -precise words attributed to Job were never used by him, and in many -places he both said and implied that the favour of God was his greatest -joy. The second author is either misapprehending or perverting the -language of his predecessor. His argument accordingly does not succeed. - -Passing at present from the charge of impiety, Elihu takes up the -suggestion that Divine providence is unjust and sets himself to show -that, whether men delight themselves in the Almighty or not, He is -certainly All-righteous. And in this contention, so long as he keeps to -generalities and does not take special account of the case which has -roused the whole controversy, he speaks with some power. His argument -comes properly to this, If you ascribe injustice or partiality to Him -whom you call God, you cannot be thinking of the Divine King. From His -very nature and from His position as Lord of all, God cannot be unjust. -As Maker and Preserver of life He must be faithful. - - "_Far be from God a wickedness, - From the Almighty an injustice! - For every one's work He requiteth him, - And causeth each to find according to his ways. - Surely, too, God doeth not wickedness, - The Almighty perverteth not justice._" - -Has God any motive for being unjust? Can any one urge Him to what is -against His nature? The thing is impossible. So far Elihu has all with -him, for all alike believe in the sovereignty of God. The Most High, -responsible to Himself, must be conceived of as perfectly just. But -would He be so if He were to destroy the whole of His creatures? Elihu -says, God's sovereignty over all gives Him the right to act according -to His will; and His will determines not only what is, but what is -right in every case. - - "_Who hath given Him a charge over the earth? - Or who hath disposed the whole world? - Were He to set His mind upon Himself, - To gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, - Then all flesh would die together, - Man would return to his dust._" - -The life of all creatures implies that the mind of the Creator goes -forth to His universe, to rule it, to supply the needs of all living -beings. He is not wrapped up in Himself, but having given life He -provides for its maintenance. - -Another personal appeal in verse 16 is meant to secure attention to -what follows, in which the idea is carried out that the Creator must -rule His creatures by a law of justice. - - "_Shall one that hateth right be able to control? - Or wilt thou condemn the Just, the Mighty One? - Is it fit to say to a king, Thou wicked? - Or to princes, Ye ungodly? - How much less to Him who accepts not the persons of princes, - Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor?_" - -Here the principle is good, the argument or illustration inconclusive. -There is a strong foundation in the thought that God, who could if He -desired withdraw all life, but on the other hand sustains it, must rule -according to a law of perfect righteousness. If this principle were kept -in the front and followed up we should have a fruitful argument. But the -philosophy of it is beyond this thinker, and he weakens his case by -pointing to human rulers and arguing from the duty of subjects to abide -by their decision and at least attribute to them the virtue of justice. -No doubt society must be held together by a head either hereditary or -chosen by the people, and, so long as his rule is necessary to the -well-being of the realm, what he commands must be obeyed and what he -does must be approved as if it were right. But the writer either had an -exceptionally favourable experience of kings, as one, let us suppose, -honoured like Daniel in the Babylonian exile, or his faith in the Divine -right of princes blinded him to much injustice. It is a mark of his -defective logic that he rests his case for the perfect righteousness of -called an accident. - -And when Elihu proceeds, it is with some rambling sentences in which -the suddenness of death, the insecurity of human things, and the -trouble and distress coming now on whole nations now on workers of -iniquity are all thrown together for the demonstration of Divine -justice. We hear in these verses (20 to 28) the echoes of disaster and -exile, of the fall of thrones and empires. Because the afflicted -tribes of Judah were preserved in captivity and restored to their own -land, the history of the period which is before the writer's mind -appears to him to supply a conclusive proof of the righteousness of -the Almighty. But we fail to see it. Eliphaz and Bildad might have -spoken in the same terms as Elihu uses here. Everything is assumed -that Job by force of circumstance has been compelled to doubt. The -whole is a homily on God's irresponsible power and penetrating wisdom -which, it is taken for granted, must be exercised in righteousness. -Where proof is needed nothing but assertion is offered. It is easy to -say that when a man is struck down in the open sight of others it is -because he has been cruel to the poor and the Almighty has been moved -by the cry of the afflicted. But here is Job struck down in the open -sight of others; and is it for harshness to the poor? If Elihu does -not mean that, what does he mean? The conclusion is the same as that -reached by the three friends; and this speaker poses, like the rest, -as a generous man declaring that the iniquity God is always sure to -punish is tyrannical treatment of the orphan and the widow. - -Leaving this unfortunate attempt at reasoning we enter at verse 31 on -a passage in which the circumstances of Job are directly dealt with. - - "_For hath any one spoken thus unto God, - 'I have suffered though I offend not: - That which I see not teach Thou; - If I have done iniquity I will do it no more'? - Shall God's recompense be according to thy mind - That thou dost reject it? - For thou must choose, and not I: - Therefore speak what thou knowest._" - -Here the argument seems to be that a man like Job, assuming himself to -be innocent, if he bows down before the sovereign Judge, confesses -ignorance, and even goes so far as to acknowledge that he may have -sinned unwittingly and promises amendment, such a one has no right to -dictate to God or to complain if suffering and trouble continue. God -may afflict as long as He pleases without showing why He afflicts. And -if the sufferer dares to complain he does so at his own peril. Elihu -would not be the man to complain in such a case. He would suffer on -silently. But the choice is for Job to make; and he has need to -consider well before he comes to a decision. Elihu implies that as yet -Job is in the wrong mind, and he closes this part of his address in a -sort of brutal triumph over the sufferer because he had complained of -his sufferings. He puts the condemnation into the mouth of "men of -understanding"; but it is his own. - - "_Men of understanding will say to me, - And the wise who hears me will say:-- - Job speaks without intelligence, - And his words are without wisdom: - Would that Job were tried unto the end - For his answers after the manner of wicked men. - For he addeth rebellion to his sin; - He clappeth his hands amongst us - And multiplieth his words against God._" - -The ideas of Elihu are few and fixed. When his attempts to convince -betray his weakness in argument, he falls back on the vulgar expedient -of brow-beating the defendant. He is a type of many would-be -interpreters of Divine providence, forcing a theory of religion which -admirably fits those who reckon themselves favourites of heaven, but -does nothing for the many lives that are all along under a cloud of -trouble and grief. The religious creed which alone can satisfy is one -throwing light adown the darkest ravines human beings have to thread, -in ignorance of God which they cannot help, in pain of body and -feebleness of mind not caused by their own sin but by the sins of -others, in slavery or something worse than slavery. - - - - -XXVI. - -_THE DIVINE PREROGATIVE._ - -CHAPS. xxxv.-xxxvii. - - -After a long digression Elihu returns to consider the statement -ascribed to Job, "It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight -himself with God" (chap. xxxiv. 9). This he laid hold of as meaning -that the Almighty is unjust, and the accusation has been dealt with. -Now he resumes the question of the profitableness of religion. - - "_Thinkest thou this to be in thy right, - And callest thou it 'My just cause before God,' - That thou dost ask what advantage it is to thee, - And 'What profit have I more than if I had sinned'?_" - -In one of his replies Job, speaking of the wicked, represented them as -saying, "What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? and what -profit should we have if we pray unto Him?" (chap. xxi. 15). He added -then, "The counsel of the wicked be far from me." Job is now declared -to be of the same opinion as the wicked whom he condemned. The man who -again and again appealed to God from the judgment of his friends, who -found consolation in the thought that his witness was in heaven, who, -when he was scorned, sought God in tears and hoped against hope for -His redemption, is charged with holding faith and religion of no -advantage. Is it in misapprehension or with design the charge is made? -Job did indeed occasionally seem to deny the profit of religion, but -only when the false theology of his friends drove him to false -judgment. His real conviction was right. Once Eliphaz pressed the same -accusation and lost his way in trying to prove it. Elihu has no fresh -evidence, and he too falls into error. He confounds the original -charge against Job with another, and makes an offence of that which -the whole scope of the poem and our sense of right completely justify. - - "_Look unto the heavens and see, - And regard the clouds which are higher than thou. - If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him? - Or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him? - If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? - Or what receiveth He at thy hands?_" - -Elihu is actually proving, not that Job expects too little from religion -and finds no profit in it, but that he expects too much. Anxious to -convict, he will show that man has no right to make his faith depend on -God's care for his integrity. The prologue showed the Almighty pleased -with His servant's faithfulness. That, says Elihu, is a mistake. - -Consider the clouds and the heavens which are far above the world. -Thou canst not touch them, affect them. The sun and moon and stars -shine with undiminished brightness however vile men may be. The clouds -come and go quite independently of the crimes of men. God is above -those clouds, above that firmament. Neither can the evil hands of men -reach His throne, nor the righteousness of men enhance His glory. It -is precisely what we heard from the lips of Eliphaz (chap. xxii. 2-4), -an argument which abuses man for the sake of exalting God. Elihu has -no thought of the spiritual relationship between man and his Creator. -He advances with perfect composure as a hard dogma what Job said in -the bitterness of his soul. - -If, however, the question must still be answered, What good end is -served by human virtue? the reply is,-- - - "_Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; - And thy righteousness may profit a son of man._" - -God sustains the righteous and punishes the wicked, not for the sake -of righteousness itself but purely for the sake of men. The law is -that of expediency. Let not man dream of witnessing for God, or -upholding any eternal principle dear to God. Let him confine religious -fidelity and aspiration to their true sphere, the service of mankind. -Regarding which doctrine we may simply say that, if religion is -profitable in this way only, it may as well be frankly given up and -the cult of happiness adopted for it everywhere. But Elihu is not true -to his own dogma. - -The next passage, beginning with verse 9, seems to be an indictment of -those who in grievous trouble do not see and acknowledge the Divine -blessings which are the compensations of their lot. Many in the world -are sorely oppressed. Elihu has heard their piteous cries. But he has -this charge against them, that they do not realise what it is to be -subjects of the heavenly King. - - "_By reason of the multitude of oppressions men cry out, - They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty; - But none saith, Where is God my Maker, - Who giveth songs in the night, - Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, - And maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? - There they cry because of the pride of evil men; - But none giveth answer._" - -These cries of the oppressed are complaints against pain, natural -outbursts of feeling, like the moans of wounded animals. But those who -are cruelly wronged may turn to God and endeavour to realise their -position as intelligent creatures of His who should feel after Him and -find Him. If they do so, then hope will mingle with their sorrow and -light arise on their darkness. For in the deepest midnight God's -presence cheers the soul and tunes the voice to songs of praise. The -intention is to show that when prayer seems of no avail and religion -does not help, it is because there is no real faith, no right -apprehension by men of their relation to God. Elihu, however, fails to -see that if the righteousness of men is not important to God as -righteousness, much less will He be interested in their grievances. -The bond of union between the heavenly and the earthly is broken; and -it cannot be restored by showing that the grief of men touches God -more than their sin. Job's distinction is that he clings to the -ethical fellowship between a sincere man and his Maker and to the -claim and the hope involved in that relationship. There we have the -jewel in the lotus-flower of this book, as in all true and noble -literature. Elihu, like the rest, is far beneath Job. If he can be -said to have a glimmering of the idea it is only that he may oppose -it. This moral affinity with God as the principle of human life -remains the secret of the inspired author; it lifts him above the -finest minds of the Gentile world. The compiler of the Elihu portion, -although he has the admirable sentiment that God giveth songs in the -night, has missed the great and elevating truth which fills with -prophetic force the original poem. - -From verse 14 onward to the close of the chapter the argument is -turned directly against Job, but is so obscure that the meaning can -only be conjectured. - - "_Surely God will not hear vanity, - Neither will the Almighty regard it._" - -If any one cries out against suffering as an animal in pain might cry, -that is vanity, not merely emptiness but impiety, and God will not -hear nor regard such a cry. Elihu means that Job's complaints were -essentially of this nature. True, he had called on God; that cannot be -denied. He had laid his case before the Judge and professed to expect -vindication. But he was at fault in that very appeal, for it was still -of suffering he complained, and he was still impious. - - "_Even when thou sayest that thou seest Him not, - That thy cause is before Him and thou waitest for Him; - Even then because His anger visiteth not, - And He doth not strictly regard transgression, - Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vanity, - He multiplied words without knowledge._" - -The argument seems to be: God rules in absolute supremacy, and His will -is not to be questioned; it may not be demanded of Him that He do this -or that. What is a man that he should dare to state any "righteous -cause" of his before God and claim justification? Let Job understand -that the Almighty has been showing leniency, holding back His hand. He -might kill any man outright and there would be no appeal nor ground of -complaint. It is because He does not strictly regard iniquity that Job -is still alive. Therefore appeals and hopes are offensive to God. - -The insistence of this part of the book reaches a climax here and -becomes repulsive. Elihu's opinions oscillate we may say between Deism -and Positivism, and on either side he is a special pleader. It is by the -mercy of the Almighty all men live; yet the reasoning of Elihu makes -mercy so remote and arbitrary that prayer becomes an impertinence. No -doubt there are some cries out of trouble which cannot find response. -But he ought to maintain, on the other hand, that if sincere prayer is -addressed to God by one in sore affliction desiring to know wherein he -has sinned and imploring deliverance, that appeal shall be heard. This, -however, is denied. For the purpose of convicting Job Elihu takes the -singular position that though there is mercy with God man is neither to -expect nor ask it, that to make any claim upon Divine grace is impious. -And there is no promise that suffering will bring spiritual gain. God -has a right to afflict His creatures, and what He does is to be endured -without a murmur because it is less than He has the right to appoint. -The doctrine is adamantine and at the same time rent asunder by the -error which is common to all Job's opponents. The soul of a man -resolutely faithful like Job would turn away from it with righteous -contempt and indignation. The light which Elihu professes to enjoy is a -midnight of dogmatic darkness. - - * * * * * - -Passing to chap. xxxvi. we are still among vague surmisings which appear -the more inconsequent that the speaker makes a large claim of knowledge. - - "_Suffer me a little and I will show thee, - For I have somewhat yet to say on God's behalf. - I will fetch my knowledge from afar, - And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. - For truly my words are not false: - One that is perfect in knowledge is with thee._" - -Elihu is zealous for the honour of that great Being whom he adores -because from Him he has received life and light and power. He is sure -of what he says, and proceeds with a firm step. Preparation thus made, -the vindication of God follows--a series of sayings which draw to -something useful only when the doctrine becomes hopelessly -inconsistent with what has already been laid down. - - "_Behold God is mighty and despiseth not any; - He is mighty in strength of understanding. - He preserveth not the life of the wicked, - But giveth right to the poor. - He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous, - But, with kings on the throne, - He setteth them up for ever, and they are exalted. - And if they be bound in fetters, - If they be held in cords of affliction, - Then He showeth them their work - And their transgressions, that they have acted proudly, - He openeth their ear to discipline - And commandeth that they return from iniquity._" - -"God despiseth not any"--this appears to have something of the humane -breadth hitherto wanting in the discourses of Elihu. He does not mean, -however, that the Almighty estimates every life without contempt, -counting the feeblest and most sinful as His creatures; but that He -passes over none in the administration of His justice. Illustrations -of the doctrine as Elihu intends it to be received are supplied in the -couplet, "He preserveth not the life of the wicked, but giveth right -to the poor." The poor are helped, the wicked are given up to death. -As for the righteous, two very different methods of dealing with them -are described. For Elihu himself, and others favoured with prosperity, -the law of the Divine order has been, "With kings on the throne God -setteth them up for ever." A personal consciousness of merit leading -to honourable rank in the state seems at variance with the hard dogma -of the evil desert of all men. But the rabbi has his own position to -fortify. The alternative, however, could not be kept out of sight, -since the misery of exile was a vivid recollection, if not an actual -experience, with many reputable men who were bound in fetters and held -by cords of affliction. It is implied that, though of good character, -these are not equal in righteousness to the favourites of kings. Some -errors require correction; and these men are cast into trouble, that -they may learn to renounce pride and turn from iniquity. Elihu -preaches the benefits of chastening, and in touching on pride he comes -near the case of Job. But the argument is rude and indiscriminative. -To admit that a man is righteous and then speak of his transgressions -and iniquity, must mean that he is really far beneath his reputation -or the estimate he has formed of himself. - -It is difficult to see precisely what Elihu considers the proper frame -of mind which God will reward. There must be humility, obedience, -submission to discipline, renunciation of past errors. But we remember -the doctrine that a man's righteousness cannot profit God, can only -profit his fellow-men. Does Elihu, then, make submission to the powers -that be almost the same thing as religion? His reference to high -position beside the throne is to a certain extent suggestive of this. - - "_If they obey and serve God, - They shall spend their days in prosperity - And their years in pleasures. - But if they obey not - They shall perish by the sword, - And they shall die without knowledge._" - -Elihu thinks over much of kings and exaltation beside them and of -years of prosperity and pleasure, and his own view of human character -and merit follows the judgment of those who have honours to bestow and -love the servile pliant mind. - -In the dark hours of sorrow and pain, says Elihu, men have the choice to -begin life anew in lowly obedience or else to harden their hearts -against the providence of God. Instruction has been offered, and they -must either embrace it or trample it under foot. And passing to the case -of Job, who, it is plain, is afflicted because he needs chastisement, -not having attained to Elihu's perfectness in the art of life, the -speaker cautiously offers a promise and gives an emphatic warning. - - "_He delivereth the afflicted by his affliction - And openeth their ear in oppression. - Yea, He would allure thee out of the mouth of thy distress - Into a broad place where is no straitness; - And that which is set on thy table shall be full of fatness. - But if thou art full of the judgment of the wicked, - Judgment and justice shall keep hold on thee. - For beware lest wrath lead thee away to mockery, - And let not the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside. - Will thy riches suffice that are without stint? - Or all the forces of thy strength? - Choose not that night, - When the peoples are cut off in their place: - Take heed thou turn not to iniquity, - For this thou hast chosen rather than affliction._" - -A side reference here shows that the original writer dealing with his -hero has been replaced by another who does not realise the circumstances -of Job with the same dramatic skill. His appeal is forcible, however, in -its place. There was danger that one long and grievously afflicted might -be led away by wrath and turn to mockery or scornfulness, so forfeiting -the possibility of redemption. Job might also say in bitterness of soul -that he had paid a great price to God in losing all his riches. The -warning has point, although Job never betrayed the least disposition to -think the loss of property a ransom exacted of him by God. Elihu's -suggestion to this effect is by no means evangelical; it springs from a -worldly conception of what is valuable to man and of great account with -the Almighty. Observe, however, the reminiscences of national disaster. -The picture of the night of a people's calamity had force for Elihu's -generation, but here it is singularly inappropriate. Job's night had -come to himself alone. If his afflictions had been shared by others, a -different complexion would have been given to them. The final thrust, -that the sufferer had chosen iniquity rather than profitable -chastisement, has no point whatsoever. - -The section closes with a strophe (vv. 22-25) which, calling for -submission to the Divine ordinance and praise of the doings of the -Almighty, forms a transition to the main theme of the address. - - * * * * * - -Chap. xxxvi. 26--xxxvii. 24. There need be little hesitation in -regarding this passage as an ode supplied to the second writer or simply -quoted by him for the purpose of giving strength to his argument. -Scarcely a single note in the portion of Elihu's address already -considered approaches the poetical art of this. The glory of God in His -creation and His unsearchable wisdom are illustrated from the phenomena -of the heavens without reference to the previous sections of the -address. One who was more a poet than a reasoner might indeed halt and -stumble as the speaker has done up to this point and find liberty when -he reached a theme congenial to his mind. But there are points at which -we seem to hear the voice of Elihu interrupting the flow of the ode as -no poet would check his muse. At chap, xxxvii. 14 the sentence is -interjected, like an aside of the writer drawing attention to the words -he is quoting,--"_Hearken unto this, O Job; stand still and consider the -wondrous works of God._" Again (vv. 19, 20), between the description of -the burnished mirror of the sky and that of the clearness after the -sweeping wind, without any reference to the train of thought, the -ejaculation is introduced,--"_Teach us what we shall say unto Him, for -we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness. Shall it be told Him -that I speak? If a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up._" The -final verses also seem to be in the manner of Elihu. - -But the ode as a whole, though it has the fault of endeavouring to -forestall what is put into the mouth of the Almighty speaking from the -storm, is one of the fine passages of the book. We pass from "cold, -heavy and pretentious" dogmatic discussions to free and striking -pictures of nature, with the feeling that one is guiding us who can -present in eloquent language the fruits of his study of the works of -God. The descriptions have been noted for their felicity and power by -such observers as Baron Humboldt and Mr. Ruskin. While the point of view -is that invariably taken by Hebrew writers, the originality of the ode -lies in fresh observation and record of atmospheric phenomena, -especially of the rain and snow, rolling clouds, thunderstorms and -winds. The pictures do not seem to belong to the Arabian desert but to a -fertile peopled region like Aram or the Chaldæan plain. Upon the fields -and dwellings of men, not on wide expanses of barren sand, the rains and -snows fall, and they seal up the hand of man. The lightning clouds cover -the face of the "habitable world"; by them God judgeth the peoples. - -In the opening verses the theme of the ode is set forth--the greatness -of God, the vast duration of His being, transcending human knowledge. - - "_Behold God is great and we know Him not, - The number of His years is unsearchable._" - -To estimate His majesty or fathom the depths of His eternal will is far -beyond us who are creatures of a day. Yet we may have some vision of His -power. Look up when rain is falling, mark how the clouds that float -above distil the drops of water and pour down great floods upon the -earth. Mark also how the dark cloud spreading from the horizon obscures -the blue expanse of the sky. We cannot understand; but we can realise to -some extent the majesty of Him whose is the light and the darkness, who -is heard in the thunder-peal and seen in the forked lightning. - - "_Can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, - The crashings of His pavilion? - Behold He spreadeth His light about Him; - And covereth it with the depths of the sea. - For by these judgeth He the peoples; - He giveth meat in abundance._" - -Translating from the Vulgate the two following verses, Mr. Ruskin gives -the meaning, "He hath hidden the light in His hands and commanded it -that it should return. He speaks of it to His friend; that it is His -possession, and that he may ascend thereto." The rendering cannot be -received, yet the comment may be cited. "These rain-clouds are the robes -of love of the Angel of the Sea. To these that name is chiefly given, -the 'spreadings of the clouds,' from their extent, their gentleness, -their fulness of rain." And this is "the meaning of those strange golden -lights and purple flushes before the morning rain. The rain is sent to -judge and feed us; but the light is the possession of the friends of -God, that they may ascend thereto,--where the tabernacle veil will cross -and part its rays no more."[9] - -The real import does not reach this spiritual height. It is simply -that the tremendous thunder brings to transgressors the terror of -judgment, and the copious showers that follow water the parched earth -for the sake of man. Of the justice and grace of God we are made -aware when His angel spreads his wings over the world. In the darkened -sky there is a crash as if the vast canopy of the firmament were torn -asunder. And now a keen flash lights the gloom for a moment; anon it -is swallowed up as if the inverted sea, poured in cataracts upon the -flame, extinguished it. Men recognise the Divine indignation, and even -the lower animals seem to be aware. - - "_He covereth His hands with the lightning, - He giveth it a charge against the adversary. - Its thunder telleth concerning Him, - Even the cattle concerning that which cometh up._" - -Continued in the thirty-seventh chapter, the description appears to be -from what is actually going on, a tremendous thunderstorm that shakes -the earth. The sound comes, as it were, out of the mouth of God, -reverberating from sky to earth and from earth to sky, and rolling -away under the whole heaven. Again there are lightnings, and "_He -stayeth them not when His voice is heard._" Swift ministers of -judgment and death they are darted upon the world. - -We are asked to consider a fresh wonder, that of the snow which at -certain times replaces the gentle or copious rain. The cold fierce -showers of winter arrest the labour of man, and even the wild beasts -seek their dens and abide in their lurking-places. "The Angel of the -Sea," says Mr. Ruskin, "has also another message,--in the 'great rain of -His strength,' rain of trial, sweeping away ill-set foundations. Then -his robe is not spread softly over the whole heaven as a veil, but -sweeps back from his shoulders, ponderous, oblique, terrible--leaving -his sword-arm free." God is still directly at work. "_Out of His chamber -cometh the storm and cold out of the north._" His breath gives the frost -and straitens the breadth of waters. Towards Armenia, perhaps, the poet -has seen the rivers and lakes frozen from bank to bank. Our science -explains the result of diminished temperature; we know under what -conditions hoar-frost is deposited and how hail is formed. Yet all we -can say is that thus and thus the forces act. Beyond that we remain like -this writer, awed in presence of a heavenly Will which determines the -course and appoints the marvels of nature. - - "_By the breath of God ice is given, - And the breadth of the waters is straitened. - Also He ladeth the thick cloud with moisture, - He spreadeth His lightning cloud abroad; - And it is turned about by His guidance, - That it may do whatsoever He commandeth - Upon the face of the whole earth._" - -Here, again, moral purpose is found. The poet attributes to others his -own susceptibility. Men see and learn and tremble. It is for -correction, that the careless may be brought to think of God's -greatness, and the evil-doers of His power, that sinners being made -afraid may turn from their rebellion. Or, it is for His earth, that -rain may beautify it and fill the rivers and springs at which the -beasts of the valley drink. Or, yet again, the purpose is mercy. Even -the tremendous thunderstorm may be fraught with mercy to men. From the -burning heat, oppressive, intolerable, the rains that follow bring -deliverance. Men are fainting for thirst, the fields are languishing. -In compassion God sends His great cloud on its mission of life. - -More delicate, needing finer observation, are the next objects of study. - - "_Dost thou know how God layeth His charge on them, - And causeth the light of His cloud to shine? - Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, - The wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?_" - -It is not clear whether the light of the cloud means the lightning again -or the varied hues which make an Oriental sunset glorious in purple and -gold. But the balancings of the clouds must be that singular power which -the atmosphere has of sustaining vast quantities of watery -vapour--either miles above the earth's surface where the filmy cirrhus -floats, dazzling white against the blue sky, or lower down where the -rain-cloud trails along the hill-tops. Marvellous it is that, suspended -thus in the air, immense volumes of water should be carried from the -surface of the ocean to be discharged in fructifying rain. - -Then again:-- - - "_How are thy garments warm - When the earth is still because of the south wind?_" - -The sensation of dry hot clothing is said to be very notable in the -season of the siroccos or south winds, also the extraordinary -stillness of nature under the same oppressive influence. "There is no -living thing abroad to make a noise. The air is too weak and languid -to stir the pendant leaves even of the tall poplars." - -Finally the vast expanse of the sky, like a looking-glass of burnished -metal stretched far over sea and land, symbolises the immensity of -Divine power. - - "_Canst thou with Him spread out the sky - Which is strong as a molten mirror?... - And now men see not the light which is bright in the skies: - Yet the wind passeth and cleanseth them._" - -It is always bright beyond. Clouds only hide the splendid sunshine for -a time. A wind rises and sweeps away the vapours from the glorious -dome of heaven. "_Out of the north cometh golden splendour_"--for it -is the north wind that drives on the clouds which, as they fly -southward, are gilded by the rays of the sun. But with God is a -splendour greater far, that of terrible majesty. - -So the ode finishes abruptly, and Elihu states his own conclusion:-- - - "_The Almighty! we cannot find Him out; He is excellent in power, - And in judgment and plenteous justice; He will not afflict. - Men do therefore fear Him; - He regardeth not any that are wise of heart._" - -Is Job wise in his own conceit? Does he think he can challenge the -Divine government and show how the affairs of the world might have -been better ordered? Does he think that he is himself treated unjustly -because loss and disease have been appointed to him? Right thoughts of -God will check all such ignorant notions and bring him a penitent back -to the throne of the Eternal. It is a good and wise deduction; but -Elihu has not vindicated God by showing in harmony with the noblest -and finest ideas of righteousness men have, God supremely righteous, -and beyond the best and noblest mercy men love, God transcendently -merciful and gracious. In effect his argument has been--The Almighty -must be all-righteous, and any one is impious who criticises life. The -whole question between Job and the friends remains unsettled still. - -Elihu's failure is significant. It is the failure of an attempt made, -as we have seen, centuries after the Book of Job was written, to bring -it into the line of current religious opinion. Our examination of the -whole reveals the narrow foundation on which Hebrew orthodoxy was -reared and explains the developments of a later time. Job may be said -to have left no disciples in Israel. His brave personal hope and -passionate desire for union with God seem to have been lost in the -fervid national bigotry of post-exilic ages; and while they faded, the -Pharisee and Sadducee of after days began to exist. They are both here -in germ. Springing from one seed, they are alike in their ignorance of -Divine justice; and we do not wonder that Christ, coming to fulfil and -more than fulfil the hope of humanity, appeared to both the Pharisee -and Sadducee of His time as an enemy of religion, of the country, and -of God. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[9] "Modern Painters," vol. v., 141. - - - - -THE VOICE FROM THE STORM. - - - - -XXVII. - -"_MUSIC IN THE BOUNDS OF LAW._" - -CHAP. xxxviii. - - -Over the shadowed life of Job, and the world shadowed for him by his own -intellectual and moral gloom, a storm sweeps, and from the storm issues -a voice. With the symbol of vast Divine energy comes an answer to the -problem of tried and troubled human life. It has seemed, as time went -by, that the appeals of the sufferer were unheard, that the rigid -silence of heaven would never break. But had he not heard? "Their line -is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the -world." Job should have known. What is given will be a fresh -presentation of ideas now to be seen in their strength and bearing -because the mind is prepared and made eager. The man, brought to the -edge of pessimism, will at last look abroad and follow the doings of -the Almighty even through storm and darkness. Does the sublime voice -issue only to overbear and reduce him to silence? Not so. His reason is -addressed, his thought demanded, his power to recognise truth is called -for. A great demonstration is made, requiring at every step the response -of mind and heart. The Creator reveals His care for the creation, for -the race of men, for every kind of being and every need. He declares His -own glory, of transcendent power, of immeasurable wisdom, also of -righteous and holy will. He can afflict men, and yet do them no wrong -but good, for they are His men, for whom He provides as they cannot -provide for themselves. Trial, sorrow, change, death--is anything -"disastrous" that God ordains? Impossible. His care of His creation is -beyond our imagining. There are no disasters in His universe unless -where the will of man divorced from faith would tear a way for itself -through the fastnesses of His eternal law. - -Eloah is known through the tempest as well as in the dewdrop and the -tender blossom. What is capable of strength must be made strong. That -is the Divine law throughout all life, for the cedar on Lebanon, the -ox in the yoke, the lion of the Libyan desert. Chiefly the moral -nature of man must find its strength. The glory of God is to have sons -who can endure. The easy piety of a happy race, living among flowers -and offering incense for adoration, cannot satisfy Him of the -eternal will, the eternal power. Men must learn to trust, to endure, -to hold themselves undismayed when the fury of tempest scours their -world and heaps the driven snow above their dwellings and death comes -cold and stark. Struggle man shall, struggle on through strange and -dreadful trials till he learn to live in the thought of Divine Will -and Love, co-ordinate in one Lord true to Himself, worthy to be -trusted through all cloud and clash. Ever is He pursuing an end -conformable to the nature of the beings He has created, and, with man -an end conformable to his nature, the possibilities of endless moral -development, the widening movements of increasing life. Let man know -this and submit, know this and rejoice. A dream-life shall be -impossible to man, use his day as he will. - -Is this Divine utterance from the storm required by the progress of the -drama? Some have doubted whether its tenor is consistent with the -previous line of thought; yet the whole movement sets distinctly towards -it, could terminate in no other way. The prologue, affirming God's -satisfaction with His servant, left us assured that if Job remained pure -and kept his faith his name would not be blotted from the book of life. -He has kept his integrity; no falsehood or baseness can be charged -against him. But is he still with God in sincere and humble faith? We -have heard him accuse the Most High of cruel enmity. At the close he -lies under the suspicion of impious daring and revolt, and it appears -that he may have fallen from grace. The author has created this -uncertainty knowing well that the verdict of God Himself is needed to -make clear the spiritual position and fate of His servant. - -Besides this, Job's own suspense remains, of more importance from a -dramatic point of view. He is not yet reconciled to providence. Those -earnest cries for light, which have gone forth passionately, -pathetically to heaven, wait for an answer. They must have some reply, -if the poet can frame a fit deliverance for the Almighty. The task is -indeed severe. On one side there is restraint, for the original motive -of the whole action and especially the approval of Job by his Divine -Master are not to be divulged. The tried man must not enjoy -vindication at the risk of losing humility, his victory over his -friends must not be too decisive for his own spiritual good, nor out -of keeping with the ordinary current of experience. On the other side -lies the difficulty of representing Divine wisdom in contrast to that -of man, and of dealing with the hopes and claims of Job, for -vindication, for deliverance from Sheol, for the help of a Redeemer, -either in the way of approving them or setting them definitely aside. -Urged by a necessity of his own creating, the author has to seek a -solution, and he finds one equally convincing and modest, crowning his -poem with a passage of marvellous brilliance, aptness, and power. - -It has already been remarked that the limitations of genius and -inspiration are distinctly visible here. The bold prophetic hopes put -into Job's mouth were beyond the author's power to verify even to his -own satisfaction. He might himself believe in them, ardently, as -flashes of heavenly foresight, but he would not affirm them to be -Divine in their source because he could not give adequate proof. The -ideas were thrown out to live in human thought, to find verification -when God's time came. Hence, in the speeches of the Almighty, the -ground taken is that of natural religion, the testimony of the -wonderful system of things open to the observation of all. Is there a -Divine Redeemer for the faithful whose lives have been overshadowed? -Shall they be justified in some future state of being when their -bodies have mouldered into dust? The voice from on high does not -affirm that this shall be; the reverence of the poet does not allow so -daring an assumption of the right to speak for God. On the contrary, -the danger of meddling with things too high is emphasised in the very -utterance which a man of less wisdom and humility would have filled -with his own ideas. Nowhere is there a finer instance of self-denying -moderation for the sake of absolute truth. This writer stands among -men as a humble student of the ways of God--is content to stand there -at the last, making no claim beyond the knowledge of what may be -learned from the creation and providence of God. - -And Job is allowed no special providence. The voice from the storm is -that which all may hear; it is the universal revelation suited to -every man. At first sight we are disposed to agree with those who -think the appearance of the Almighty upon the scene to be in itself -strange. But there is no Theophany. There is no revelation or message -to suit a particular case, to gratify one who thinks himself more -important than his fellow-creatures, or imagines the problem of his -life abnormally difficult. Again the wisdom of the author goes hand in -hand with his modesty; what is within his compass he sees to be -sufficient for his end. - -To some the utterances put into the mouth of the Almighty may seem to -come far short of the occasion. Beginning to read the passage they may -say:--Now we are to have the fruit of the poet's most strenuous -thought, the highest inspiration. The Almighty when He speaks in -person will be made to reveal His gracious purposes with men and the -wisdom of His government in those cases that have baffled the -understanding of Job and of all previous thinkers. Now we shall see a -new light penetrating the thick darkness and confusion of human -affairs. Since this is not done there may be disappointment. But the -author is concerned with religion. His maxim is, "The fear of God -that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding." He has in -his drama done much for human thought and theology. The complications -which had kept faith from resting in true spirituality on God have -been removed. The sufferer is a just man, a good man whom God Himself -has pronounced to be perfect. Job is not afflicted because he has -sinned. The author has set in the clearest possible light all -arguments he could find for the old notion that transgression and -wickedness alone are followed by suffering in this world. He has shown -that this doctrine is not in accordance with fact, and has made the -proof so clear that a thoughtful person could never afterwards -remember the name of Job and hold that false view. But apart from the -prologue, no explanation is given of the sufferings of the righteous -in this life. The author never says in so many words that Job profited -by his afflictions. It might be that the righteous man, tried by loss -and pain, was established in his faith for ever, above all possibility -of doubt. But this is not affirmed. It might be that men were purified -by their sufferings, that they found through the hot furnace a way -into the noblest life. But this is not brought forward as the ultimate -explanation. Or it might be that the good man in affliction was the -burden-bearer of others, so that his travail and blood helped their -spiritual life. But there is no hint of this. Jehovah is to be -vindicated. He appears; He speaks out of the storm, and vindicates -Himself. Not, however, by showing the good His servant has gained in -the discipline of bereavement, loss, and pain. It is by claiming -implicit trust from men, by showing that their wisdom at its highest -is foolishness to His, and that His administration of the affairs of -His world is in glorious faithfulness as well as power. - -Is it disappointing? Does the writer neglect the great question his -drama has stirred? Or has he not, with art far more subtle than we may -at first suppose, introduced into the experience of Job a certain -spiritual gain--thoughts and hopes that widen and clear the horizon of -his life? In the depth of despondency, just because he has been driven -from every earthly comfort and stay, and can look only for miserable -death, Job sees in prophetic vision a higher hope. He asks, "If a man -die, shall he live again?" The question remains with him and seeks an -answer in the intervals of suffering. Then at length he ventures on -the presage of a future state of existence, "whether in the body or -out of the body he cannot tell, God knoweth,"--"My Redeemer liveth; I -shall see God for me." This prevision, this dawning of the light of -immortality upon his soul is the gain that has entered into Job's -experience. Without the despondency, the bitterness of bereavement, -the sense of decay, and the pressure of cruel charges made against -him, these illuminating thoughts would never have come to the -sufferer; and along this line the author may have intended to justify -the afflictions of the righteous man and quietly vindicate the -dealings of God with him. - -If further it be asked why this is not made prominent in the course of -the Almighty's address from the storm, an answer may be found. The hope -did not remain clear, inspiring, in the consciousness of Job. The waves -of sorrow and doubt rolled over his mind again. It was but a flash, and -like lightning at midnight it passed and left the gloom once more. Only -when by long reflection and patient thought Job found himself reassured -in the expectation of a future life, would he know what trouble had done -for him. And it was not in keeping with the gradual development of -religious faith that the Almighty should forestall discovery by reviving -the hope which for a time had faded. We may take it that with rare skill -the writer avoids insistence on the value of a vision which could appear -charged with sustaining hope only after it was again apprehended, first -as a possibility, then as a revelation, finally as a sublime truth -disentangled from doubt and error. - -Assuming this to have been in the author's mind, we understand why the -Almighty speaking from the storm makes no reference to the gain of -affliction. There is a return upon the original motive of the -drama,--the power of the Creator to inspire, the right of the Creator -to expect faith in Himself, whatever losses and trials men have to -endure. Neither the integrity of man nor the claim of man upon God is -first in the mind of the author, but the majestic Godhead that gathers -to itself the adoration of the universe. Man is of importance because -he glorifies his Creator. Human righteousness is of narrow range. It -is not by his righteousness man is saved, that is to say, finds his -true place, the development of his nature and the end of his -existence. He is redeemed from vanity and evanescence by his faith, -because in exercising it, clinging to it through profoundest darkness, -amidst thunder and storm, when deep calleth to deep, he enters into -that wise and holy order of the universe which God has appointed,--he -lives and finds more abundant life. - -It is not denied that on the way toward perfect trust in his Creator -man is free to seek explanation of all that befalls him. Our -philosophy is no impertinence. Thought must have liberty; religion -must be free. The light of justice has been kindled within us that we -may seek the answering light of the sublime justice of God in all His -dealings with ourselves and with mankind. This is clearly before the -mind of the author, and it is the underlying idea throughout the long -colloquies between Job and his friends. They are allowed a freedom of -thought and speech that sometimes astonishes, for they are engaged in -the great inquiry which is to bring clear and uplifting knowledge of -the Creator and His will. For us it is a varied inquiry, much of it to -be conducted in pain and sorrow, on the bare hillside or on the rough -sea, in the face of peril, change and disappointment. But if always -the _morale_ of life, the fulfilment of life bestowed by God as man's -trust and inestimable possession are kept in view, freedom is ample, -and man, doing his part, need have no fear of incurring the anger of -the Divine Judge: the terrors of low religions have no place here. - -But now Job is given to understand that liberty has its limitation; -and the lesson is for many. To one half of mankind, allowing the mind -to lie inert or expending it on vanities, the word has come--Inquire -what life is, what its trials mean, how the righteous government of -God is to be traced. Now, to the other half of mankind, too -adventurous in experiment and judgment, the address of the Almighty -says: Be not too bold; far beyond your range the activities of the -Creator pass: it is not for you to understand the whole, but always to -be reverent, always to trust. The limits of knowledge are shown, and, -beyond them, the Divine King stands in glory inaccessible, proved true -and wise and just, claiming for Himself the dutiful obedience and -adoration of His creatures. Throughout the passage we now consider -this is the strain of argument, and the effect on Job's mind is found -in his final confession. - -Let man remember that his main business here is not to question but to -glorify his Creator. For the time when this book was written the truth -lay here; and here it lies even for us, and will lie for those who -come after us. In these days it is often forgotten. Science questions, -philosophy probes into the reasons of what has been and is, men lose -themselves in labyrinths at the far extremities of which they hope to -find something which shall make life inexpressibly great or strong or -sweet. And even theology and criticism of the Bible occasionally fall -into the same error of fancying that to inquire and know are the main -things, that although inquiry and knowledge do not at every stage aid -the service of the Most High they may promote life. The colloquies and -controversies over, Job and his friends are recalled to their real -duty, which is to recognise the eternal majesty and grace of the -Unseen God, to trust Him and do His will. And our experiments and -questions over in every department of knowledge, to this we ought to -come. Nay, every step in our quest of knowledge should be taken with -the desire to find God more gloriously wise and faithful, that our -obedience may be more zealous, our worship more profound. There are -only two states of thought or dominant methods possible when we enter -on the study of the facts of nature and providence or any research -that allures our reason. We must go forward either in the faith of God -or with the desire to establish ourselves in knowledge, comfort and -life apart from God. If the second way is chosen, light is turned into -darkness, all discoveries prove mere apples of Sodom, and the end is -vanity. But on the other line, with life which is good to have, with -the consciousness of ability to think and will and act, faith should -begin, faith in life and the Maker of life; and if every study is -pursued in resolute faith, man refusing to give existence itself the -lie, the mind seeking and finding new and larger reasons for trust and -service of the Creator, the way will be that of salvation. The faults -and errors of one who follows this way will not enter into his soul to -abide there and darken it. They will be confessed and forgiven. Such -is the philosophy of the Book of Job, and the final vindication of His -servant by the Almighty. - - - - -XXVIII. - -_THE RECONCILIATION._ - -CHAPS. xxxviii. i-xlii. 6. - - -The main argument of the address ascribed to the Almighty is contained -in chaps. xxxviii. and xxxix., and in the opening verses of chap. -xlii. Job makes submission and owns his fault in doubting the -faithfulness of Divine providence. The intervening passage containing -descriptions of the great animals of the Nile is scarcely in the same -high strain of poetic art or on same high level of cogent reasoning. -It seems rather of a hyperbolical kind, suggesting failure from the -clear aim and inspiration of the previous portion. - -The voice proceeding from the storm-cloud, in which the Almighty veils -Himself and yet makes His presence and majesty felt, begins with a -question of reproach and a demand that the intellect of Job shall be -roused to its full vigour in order to apprehend the ensuing argument. -The closing words of Job had shown misconception of his position -before God. He spoke of presenting a claim to Eloah and setting forth -his integrity so that his plea would be unanswerable. Circumstances -had brought upon him a stain from which he had a right to be cleared, -and, implying this, he challenged the Divine government of the world -as wanting in due exhibition of righteousness. This being so, Job's -rescue from doubt must begin with a conviction of error. Therefore the -Almighty says:-- - - "_Who is this darkening counsel - By words without knowledge? - Gird up now thy loins like a man; - For I will demand of thee and answer thou Me._" - -The aim of the author throughout the speech from the storm is to -provide a way of reconciliation between man in affliction and -perplexity and the providence of God that bewilders and threatens to -crush him. To effect this something more than a demonstration of the -infinite power and wisdom of God is needed. Zophar affirming the glory -of the Almighty to be higher than heaven, deeper than Sheol, longer -than the earth, broader than the sea, basing on this a claim that God -is unchangeably just, supplies no principle of reconciliation. In like -manner Bildad, requiring the abasement of man as sinful and -despicable in presence of the Most High with whom are dominion and -fear, shows no way of hope and life. But the series of questions now -addressed to Job forms an argument in a higher strain, as cogent as -could be reared on the basis of that manifestation of God which the -natural world supplies. The man is called to recognise not illimitable -power only, the eternal supremacy of the Unseen King, but also other -qualities of the Divine rule. Doubt of providence is rebuked by a wide -induction from the phenomena of the heavens and of life upon the -earth, everywhere disclosing law and care co-operant to an end. - -First Job is asked to think of the creation of the world or visible -universe. It is a building firmly set on deep-laid foundations. As if by -line and measure it was brought into symmetrical form according to the -archetypal plan; and when the corner-stone was laid as of a new palace -in the great dominion of God there was joy in heaven. The angels of the -morning broke into song, the sons of the Elohim, high in the ethereal -dwellings among the fountains of light and life, shouted for joy. In -poetic vision the writer beholds that work of God and those rejoicing -companies; but to himself, as to Job, the question comes--What knows man -of the marvellous creative effort which he sees in imagination? It is -beyond human range. The plan and the method are equally -incomprehensible. Of this let Job be assured--that the work was not done -in vain. Not for the creation of a world the history of which was to -pass into confusion would the morning stars have sung together. He who -beheld all that He had made and declared it very good would not suffer -triumphant evil to confound the promise and purpose of His toil. - -Next there is the great ocean flood, once confined as in the womb of -primæval chaos, which came forth in living power, a giant from its -birth. What can Job tell, what can any man tell of that wonderful -evolution, when, swathed in rolling clouds and thick darkness, with -vast energy the flood of waters rushed tumultuously to its appointed -place? There is a law of use and power for the ocean, a limit also -beyond which it cannot pass. Does man know how that is?--must he not -acknowledge the wise will and benignant care of Him who holds in check -the stormy devastating sea? - -And who has control of the light? The morning dawns not by the will of -man. It takes hold of the margin of the earth over which the wicked -have been ranging, and as one shakes out the dust from a sheet, it -shakes them forth visible and ashamed. Under it the earth is changed, -every object made clear and sharp as figures on clay stamped with a -seal. The forests, fields, and rivers are seen like the embroidered or -woven designs of a garment. What is this light? Who sends it on the -mission of moral discipline? Is not the great God who commands the -dayspring to be trusted even in the darkness? Beneath the surface of -earth is the grave and the dwelling-place of the nether gloom. Does -Job know, does any man know, what lies beyond the gates of death? Can -any tell where the darkness has its central seat? One there is whose -is the night as well as the morning. The mysteries of futurity, the -arcana of nature lie open to the Eternal alone. - -Atmospheric phenomena, already often described, reveal variously the -unsearchable wisdom and thoughtful rule of the Most High. The force -that resides in the hail, the rains that fall on the wilderness where -no man is, satisfying the waste and desolate ground and causing the -tender grass to spring up, these imply a breadth of gracious purpose -that extends beyond the range of human life. Whose is the fatherhood -of the rain, the ice, the hoar-frost of heaven? Man is subject to the -changes these represent; he cannot control them. And far higher are -the gleaming constellations that are set in the forehead of night. -Have the hands of man gathered the Pleiades and strung them like -burning gems on a chain of fire? Can the power of man unloose Orion -and let the stars of that magnificent constellation wander through -the sky? The Mazzaroth or Zodiacal signs that mark the watches of the -advancing year, the Bear and the stars of her train--who leads them -forth? The laws of heaven, too, those ordinances regulating the -changes of temperature and the seasons, does man appoint them? Is it -he who brings the time when thunderstorms break up the drought and -open the bottles of heaven, or the time of heat "when the dust gathers -into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together"? Without this -alternation of drought and moisture recurring by law from year to year -the labour of man would be in vain. Is not He who governs the changing -seasons to be trusted by the race that profits most of His care? - -At verse 39 attention is turned from inanimate nature to the living -creatures for which God provides. With marvellous poetic skill they -are painted in their need and strength, in the urgency of their -instincts, timid or tameless or cruel. The Creator is seen rejoicing -in them as His handiwork, and man is held bound to exult in their life -and see in the provision made for its fulfilment a guarantee of all -that his own bodily nature and spiritual being may require. Notable -especially to us is the close relation between this portion and -certain sayings of our Lord in which the same argument brings the same -conclusion. "Two passages of God's speaking," says Mr. Ruskin, "one in -the Old and one in the New Testament, possess, it seems to me, a -different character from any of the rest, having been uttered, the one -to effect the last necessary change in the mind of a man whose piety -was in other respects perfect; and the other as the first statement to -all men of the principles of Christianity by Christ Himself--I mean -the 38th to 41st chapters of the Book of Job and the Sermon on the -Mount. Now the first of these passages is from beginning to end -nothing else than a direction of the mind which was to be perfected, -to humble observance of the works of God in nature. And the other -consists only in the inculcation of three things: 1st, right conduct; -2nd, looking for eternal life; 3rd, trusting God through watchfulness -of His dealings with His creation."[10] The last point is that which -brings into closest parallelism the doctrine of Christ and that of the -author of Job, and the resemblance is not accidental, but of such a -nature as to show that both saw the underlying truth in the same way -from the same point of spiritual and human interest. - - "_Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? - Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions. - When they couch in their dens - And abide in the covert to lie in wait? - Who provideth for the raven his food, - When his young ones cry unto God - And wander for lack of meat?_" - -Thus man is called to recognise the care of God for creatures strong -and weak, and to assure himself that his life will not be forgotten. -And in His Sermon on the Mount our Lord says, "Behold the birds of the -heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; -and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value -than they?" The parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke approaches -still more closely the language in Job--"Consider the ravens that they -sow not neither reap." - -The wild goats or goats of the rock and their young that soon become -independent of the mothers' care; the wild asses that make their -dwelling-place in the salt land and scorn the tumult of the city; the -wild ox that cannot be tamed to go in the furrow or bring home the -sheaves in harvest; the ostrich that "leaveth her eggs on the earth -and warmeth them in the dust"; the horse in his might, his neck -clothed with the quivering mane, mocking at fear, smelling the battle -afar off; the hawk, that soars into the blue sky; the eagle that makes -her nest on the rock,--all these, graphically described, speak to Job -of the innumerable forms of life, simple, daring, strong and savage, -that are sustained by the power of the Creator. To think of them is to -learn that, as one among the dependants of God, man has his part in -the system of things, his assurance that the needs God has ordained -will be met. The passage is poetically among the finest in Hebrew -literature, and it is more. In its place, with the limit the writer -has set for himself, it is most apt as a basis of reconciliation and a -new starting-point in thought for all like Job who doubt the Divine -faithfulness. Why should man, because he can think of the providence -of God, be alone suspicious of the justice and wisdom on which all -creatures rely? Is not his power of thought given to him that he may -pass beyond the animals and praise the Divine Provider on their behalf -and his own? Man needs more than the raven, the lion, the mountain -goat, and the eagle. He has higher instincts and cravings. Daily food -for the body will not suffice him, nor the liberty of the wilderness. -He would not be satisfied if, like the hawk and eagle, he could soar -above the hills. His desires for righteousness, for truth, for fulness -of that spiritual life by which he is allied to God Himself, are his -distinction. So, then, He who has created the soul will bring it to -perfectness. Where or how its longings shall be fulfilled may not be -for man to know. But he can trust God. That is his privilege when -knowledge fails. Let him lay aside all vain thoughts and ignorant -doubts. Let him say: God is inconceivably great, unsearchably wise, -infinitely just and true; I am in His hands, and all is well. - -The reasoning is from the less to the greater, and is therefore in -this case conclusive. The lower animals exercise their instincts and -find what is suited to their needs. And shall it not be so with man? -Shall he, able to discern the signs of an all-embracing plan, not -confess and trust the sublime justice it reveals? The slightness of -human power is certainly contrasted with the omnipotence of God, and -the ignorance of man with the omniscience of God; but always the -Divine faithfulness, glowing behind, shines through the veil of -nature, and it is this Job is called to recognise. Has he almost -doubted everything, because from his own life outward to the verge of -human existence wrong and falsehood seemed to reign? But how, then, -could the countless creatures depend upon God for the satisfaction of -their desires and the fulfilment of their varied life? Order in nature -means order in the scheme of the world as it affects humanity. And -order in the providence which controls human affairs must have for -principle fairness, justice, so that every deed shall have due reward. - -Such is the Divine law perceived by our inspired author "through the -things that are made." The view of nature is still different from the -scientific, but there is certainly an approach to that reading of the -universe praised by M. Renan as peculiarly Hellenic, which "saw the -Divine in what is harmonious and evident." Not here at least does the -taunt apply that, from the point of view of the Hebrew, "ignorance is -a cult and curiosity a wicked attempt to explain," that "even in the -presence of a mystery which assails and ruins him, man attributes in a -special manner the character of grandeur to that which is -inexplicable," that "all phenomena whose cause is hidden, all beings -whose end cannot be perceived, are to man a humiliation and a motive -for glorifying God." The philosophy of the final portion of Job is of -that kind which presses beyond secondary causes and finds the real -ground of creaturely existence. Intellectual apprehension of the -innumerable and far-reaching threads of Divine purpose and the secrets -of the Divine will is not attempted. But the moral nature of man is -brought into touch with the glorious righteousness of God. Thus the -reconciliation is revealed for which the whole poem has made -preparation. Job has passed through the furnace of trial and the deep -waters of doubt, and at last the way is opened for him into a wealthy -place. Till the Son of God Himself come to clear the mystery of -suffering no larger reconciliation is possible. Accepting the -inevitable boundaries of knowledge, the mind may at length have peace. - -And Job finds the way of reconciliation. - - "_I know that Thou canst do all things, - And that no purpose of Thine can be restrained. - 'Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge?' - Then have I uttered what I understood not, - Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. - 'Hear, now, and I will speak; - I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me.' - I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; - But now mine eye seeth Thee, - Wherefore I repudiate my words and repent in dust and ashes._" - -All things God can do, and where His purposes are declared there is the -pledge of their accomplishment. Does man exist?--it must be for some end -that will come about. Has God planted in the human mind spiritual -desires?--they shall be satisfied. Job returns on the question that -accused him--"Who is this darkening counsel?" It was he himself who -obscured counsel by ignorant words. He had only heard of God then, and -walked in the vain belief of a traditional religion. His efforts to do -duty and to avert the Divine anger by sacrifice had alike sprung from -the imperfect knowledge of a dream-life that never reached beyond words -to facts and things. God was greater far than he had ever thought, -nearer than he had ever conceived. His mind is filled with a sense of -the Eternal power, and overwhelmed by proofs of wisdom to which the -little problems of man's life can offer no difficulty. - -"Now mine eye seeth Thee." The vision of God is to his soul like the -dazzling light of day to one issuing from a cavern. He is in a new -world where every creature lives and moves in God. He is under a -government that appears new because now the grand comprehensiveness -and minute care of Divine providence are realised. Doubt of God and -difficulty in acknowledging the justice of God are swept away by the -magnificent demonstration of vigour, spirit and sympathy, which Job -had as yet failed to connect with the Divine Life. Faith therefore -finds freedom, and its liberty is reconciliation, redemption. He -cannot indeed behold God face to face and hear the judgment of -acquittal for which he had longed and cried. Of this, however, he does -not now feel the need. Rescued from the uncertainty in which he had -been involved--all that was beautiful and good appearing to quiver -like a mirage--he feels life again to have its place and use in the -Divine order. It is the fulfilment of Job's great hope, so far as it -can be fulfilled in this world. The question of his integrity is not -formally decided. But a larger question is answered, and the answer -satisfies meantime the personal desire. - -Job makes no confession of sin. His friends and Elihu, all of whom -endeavour to find evil in his life, are entirely at fault. The -repentance is not from moral guilt, but from the hasty and venturous -speech that escaped him in the time of trial. After all one's defence -of Job one must allow that he does not at every point avoid the -appearance of evil. There was need that he should repent and find new -life in new humility. The discovery he has made does not degrade a -man. Job sees God as great and true and faithful as he had believed -Him to be, yea, greater and more faithful by far. He sees himself a -creature of this great God and is exalted, an ignorant creature and is -reproved. The larger horizon which he demanded having opened to him, -he finds himself much less than he had seemed. In the microcosm of his -past dream-life and narrow religion he appeared great, perfect, worthy -of all he enjoyed at the hand of God; but now, in the macrocosm, he is -small, unwise, weak. God and the soul stand sure as before; but God's -justice to the soul He has made is viewed along a different line. Not -as a mighty sheik can Job now debate with the Almighty he has invoked. -The vast ranges of being are unfolded, and among the subjects of the -Creator he is one,--bound to praise the Almighty for existence and all -it means. His new birth is finding himself little, yet cared for in -God's great universe. - -The writer is no doubt struggling with an idea he cannot fully -express; and in fact he gives no more than the pictorial outline of -it. But without attributing sin to Job he points, in the confession of -ignorance, to the germ of a doctrine of sin. Man, even when upright, -must be stung to dissatisfaction, to a sense of imperfection--to -realise his fall as a new birth in spiritual evolution. The moral -ideal is indicated, the boundlessness of duty and the need for an -awakening of man to his place in the universe. The dream-life now -appears a clouded partial existence, a period of lost opportunities -and barren vain-glory. Now opens the greater life in the light of God. - -And at the last the challenge of the Almighty to Satan with which the -poem began stands justified. The Adversary cannot say,--The hedge set -around Thy servant broken down, his flesh afflicted, now he has cursed -Thee to Thy face. Out of the trial Job comes, still on God's side, -more on God's side than ever, with a nobler faith more strongly -founded on the rock of truth. It is, we may say, a prophetic parable -of the great test to which religion is exposed in the world, its -difficulties and dangers and final triumph. To confine the reference -to Israel is to miss the grand scope of the poem. At the last, as at -the first, we are beyond Israel, out in a universal problem of man's -nature and experience. By his wonderful gift of inspiration, painting -the sufferings and the victory of Job, the author is a herald of the -great advent. He is one of those who prepared the way not for a Jewish -Messiah, the redeemer of a small people, but for the Christ of God, -the Son of Man, the Saviour of the world. - -A universal problem, that is, a question of every human age, has been -presented and within limits brought to a solution. But it is not the -supreme question of man's life. Beneath the doubts and fears with which -this drama has dealt lie darker and more stormy elements. The vast -controversy in which every human soul has a share oversweeps the land of -Uz and the trial of Job. From his life the conscience of sin is -excluded. The author exhibits a soul tried by outward circumstances; he -does not make his hero share the thoughts or judgment of the evil-doer. -Job represents the believer in the furnace of providential pain and -loss. He is neither a sinner nor a sin-bearer. Yet the book leads on -with no faltering movement toward the great drama in which every problem -of religion centres. Christ's life, character, work cover the whole -region of spiritual faith and struggle, of conflict and reconciliation, -of temptation and victory, sin and salvation; and while the problem is -exhaustively wrought out the Reconciler stands divinely free of all -entanglement. He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Job's -honest life emerges at last, from a narrow range of trial into personal -reconciliation and redemption through the grace of God. Christ's pure -heavenly life goes forward in the Spirit through the full range of -spiritual trial, bearing every need of erring man, confirming every -wistful hope of the race, yet revealing with startling force man's -immemorial quarrel with the light, and convicting him in the hour that -it saves him. Thus for the ancient inspired drama there is set, in the -course of evolution, another, far surpassing it, the Divine tragedy of -the universe, involving the spiritual omnipotence of God. Christ has to -overcome not only doubt and fear, but the devastating godlessness of -man, the strange sad enmity of the carnal mind. His triumph in the -sacrifice of the cross leads religion forth beyond all difficulties and -dangers into eternal purity and calm. That is--through Him the soul of -believing man is reconciled by a transcendent spiritual law to nature -and providence, and his spirit consecrated for ever to the holiness of -the Eternal. - -The doctrine of the sovereignty of God, as set forth in the drama of -Job with freshness and power by one of the masters of theology, by no -means covers the whole ground of Divine action. The righteous man is -called and enabled to trust the righteousness of God; the good man is -brought to confide in that Divine goodness which is the source of his -own. But the evil-doer remains unconstrained by grace, unmoved by -sacrifice. We have learned a broader theology, a more strenuous yet a -more gracious doctrine of the Divine sovereignty. The induction by -which we arrive at the law is wider than nature, wider than the -providence that reveals infinite wisdom, universal equity and care. -Rightly did a great Puritan theologian take his stand on the -conviction of God as the one power in heaven and earth and hell; -rightly did he hold to the idea of Divine will as the one sustaining -energy of all energies. But he failed just where the author of Job -failed long before: he did not fully see the correlative principle of -sovereign grace. The revelation of God in Christ, our Sacrifice and -Redeemer, vindicates with respect to the sinful as well as the -obedient the Divine act of creation. It shows the Maker assuming -responsibility for the fallen, seeking and saving the lost; it shows -one magnificent sweep of evolution which starts from the manifestation -of God in creation and returns through Christ to the Father, laden -with the manifold immortal gains of creative and redeeming power. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[10] "Modern Painters," vol. iii., p. 307. - - - - - -EPILOGUE. - - - - -XXIX. - -_EPILOGUE._ - -CHAP. xlii. 7-17. - - -After the argument of the Divine voice from the storm the epilogue is -a surprise, and many have doubted whether it is in line with the rest -of the work. Did Job need these multitudes of camels and sheep to -supplement his new faith and his reconciliation to the Almighty will? -Is there not something incongruous in the large award of temporal -good, and even something unnecessary in the renewed honour among men? -To us it seems that a good man will be satisfied with the favour and -fellowship of a loving God. Yet, assuming that the conclusion is a -part of the history on which the poem was founded, we can justify the -blaze of splendour that bursts on Job after sorrow, instruction and -reconciliation. - -Life only can reward life. That great principle was rudely shadowed -forth in the old belief that God protects His servants even to a green -old age. The poet of our book clearly apprehended the principle; it -inspired his noblest flights. Up to the closing moment Job has lived -strongly, alike in the mundane and the moral region. How is he to find -continued life? The author's power could not pass the limits of the -natural in order to promise a reward. Not yet was it possible, even -for a great thinker, to affirm that continued fellowship with Eloah, -that continued intellectual and spiritual energy which we name eternal -life. A vision of it had come to him; he had seen the day of the Lord -afar off, but dimly, by moments. To carry a life into it was beyond -his power. Sheol made nothing perfect; and beyond Sheol no prophet eye -had ever travelled. - -There was nothing for it, then, but to use the history as it stood, -adding symbolic touches, and show the restored life in development on -earth, more powerful than ever, more esteemed, more richly endowed for -good action. In one point the symbolism is very significant. Priestly -office and power are given to Job; his sacrifice and intercession -mediate between the friends who traduced him and Eloah who hears His -faithful servant's prayer. The epilogue, as a parable of the reward of -faithfulness, has deep and abiding truth. Wider opportunity of -service, more cordial esteem and affection, the highest office that -man can bear, these are the reward of Job; and with the terms of the -symbolism we shall not quarrel who have heard the Lord say: "Well -done, thou good servant, because thou wast found faithful in a very -little, have thou authority over ten cities!" - -Another indication of purpose must not be overlooked. It may be said -that Job's renewal in soul should have been enough for him, that he -might have spent humbly what remained of life, at peace with men, in -submission to God. But our author was animated by the Hebrew -realism, that healthy belief in life as the gift of God, which kept -him always clear on the one hand of Greek fatalism, on the other of -Oriental asceticism. This strong faith in life might well lead him -into the details of sons and daughters, grandchildren and -great-grandchildren, flocks, tribute, and years of honour. Nor did he -care at the end though any one said that after all the Adversary was -right. He had to show expanding life as Gods recompense of -faithfulness. Satan has long ago disappeared from the drama; and in -any case the epilogue is chiefly a parable. It is, however, a parable -involving, as our Lord's parables always involve, the sound view of -man's existence, neither that of Prometheus on the rock nor of the -grim anchorite in the Egyptian cave. - -The writer's finest things came to him by flashes. When he reached the -close of his book he was not able to make a tragedy and leave his -readers rapt above the world. No pre-Christian thinker could have -bound together the gleams of truth in a vision of the spirit's undying -nature and immortal youth. But Job must find restored power and -energy; and the close had to come, as it does, in the time sphere. We -can bear to see a soul go forth naked, driven, tormented; we can bear -to see the great good life pass from the scaffold or the fire, because -we see God meeting it in the heaven. But we have seen Christ. - -A third point is that for dramatic completeness the action had to -bring Job to full acquittal in view of his friends. Nothing less will -satisfy the sense of poetic justice which rules the whole work. - -Finally, a biographical reminiscence may have given colour to the -epilogue. If, as we have supposed, the author was once a man of -substance and power in Israel, and, reduced to poverty in the time of -the Assyrian conquest, found himself an exile in Arabia--the wistful -sense of impotence in the world must have touched all his thinking. -Perhaps he could not expect for himself renewed power and place; perhaps -he had regretfully to confess a want of faithfulness in his own past. -All the more might he incline to bring his great work to a close with a -testimony to the worth and design of the earthly gifts of God, the -temporal life which He appoints to man, that present discipline most -graciously adapted to our present powers and yet full of preparation for -a higher evolution, the life not seen, eternal in the heavens. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abraham faith of, 27. - - Accadian psalms, 3. - - Acquittal, Job expects, 285. - - Agnostic, 117. - - Amiel quoted, 88, 288. - - Amos, chap. iv. 4, 44. - - Angel-interpreter, 351. - - Argument, the reconciling, 392. - - Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 95. - - Assize, the Great, 292. - - Astrology, neglected, 317. - - Author, his greatness, 6; - lives in the poem, 7; - member of Northern Kingdom, 15; - in the desert, 17; - inspiration of, 32; - paints his own trials, 68; - his brave truthfulness, 224; - his prophetic insight, 303. - - - Bene-Kedem, 23. - - Bible, universality of, 17. - - Bigot, the, 244. - - Bildad, character of, 102; - his first speech, 135; - his second speech, 215; - his bitterness, 216; - his third speech, 298. - - Boethius quoted, 288. - - Book of Job, a poem of the soul, 3; - precursors of, 3; - poetical art of, 5; - date of, 6; - autobiographical, 7, 411; - style of, 8; - problem of, 11; - personality in, 12; - place in canon, 27; - main controversy of, 101; - inspiration of, 122; - logic of, 295; - prepares for Christ, 265, 404. - - Bunyan quoted, 144. - - Bushnell, H., quoted, 259. - - - Carlyle, T., quoted, 68, 223. - - Catholic theologian, 135. - - Chaldæans, 65. - - Chaos, no moral, 273. - - Christ, sacrifice of, 62; - mediation of, 121; - his preaching, 276; - Redeemer, 242, 404; - preparation for, 265. - - Church, the Jewish, 14. - - Church, complaints against, 264; - its duty, 295. - - Cliff in the desert, 231. - - Consolation, 80. - - Corporate sympathy, 230. - - Creed of Job's friends, 155. - - Criticism of first author, 346. - - - Dante, 60. - - Davidson, Dr. A. B., 11, 96, 311, 333. - - Davidson, Dr. S., 6. - - Death, finality of, 187. - - Deism and positivism, 365. - - Delay of the Almighty, 269. - - Dogmatism, 136. - - Doughty, Mr. C. M., 20. - - Dualism, 166. - - Duty, keep close to, 88. - - - Edwards, Jonathan, quoted, 274. - - Egyptian "Book of the Dead," 212. - - Elihu, who was he? 343; - inspiration claimed by, 342. - - Eliphaz, character of, 102; - his first speech, 99; - vision of, 106; - apparently right, 113; - his religion, 114; - his second speech, 187; - a pure Temanite, 189; - jealous for God, 191; - his third speech, 269. - - Eloah, the righteous, 232; - and the work of His hands, 233; - opening Sheol, 233. - - Emerson, R. W., quoted, 257. - - Eschatology, rose-water, 55. - - "Everlasting Yea," 67. - - Evolution, spiritual, 58; - of religion, 180; - physical, completes nothing, 241; - reveals Divine wisdom, 318. - - Ewald, H., 11, 15. - - - Failure of old world, 280. - - Fairbairn, Dr. A. M., 57. - - Faith, and happiness, 45; - three barriers of, 235. - - False judgments, 86. - - Fate of the wicked, 219. - - Festus quoted, 290. - - Finality and progress, 193. - - Funeral in the desert, 264. - - - God, no despot, 149; - seems to persecute, 176, 204; - and nature, 301. - - Godliness, earthly reward of, 245. - - Goël, the, 234. - - - Happiness and faith, 45. - - Hauran, 20. - - Hebrew thought, limitations of, 164; - realism, 410. - - Hokhma, 9, 16. - - Human frailty, 177. - - - Idealism, 65, 79. - - Idolatry, 333. - - Idumæa, religion of, 25. - - Individualism of psalms, 13. - - Inherited opinions, 169. - - Inquiry and reverence, 389. - - Inspiration, of author, 32, 33; - within limits, 224, 384, 387; - claimed by Elihu, 342. - - Irresistible power, 141. - - Isaiah compared with Job, 10. - - - Jauf, 20. - - Jehovah, servant of, 15. - - Jewel in the lotus, 364. - - Jewish Church, 14. - - Job, a real man, 22; - religion of, 24; - character of, 28; - early prosperity of, 29; - dream-life of, 30; - when he lived, 31; - trials of, 63; - type of righteous sufferer, 67; - his integrity, 72; - his faith, 74; - his wife, 75; - his friends, 78; - curses his day, 89; - praises death, 92; - rebuked for scepticism, 154; - prophetic, 208; - idealised, 337; - made priest, 410. - - Justice, of man no refuge, 86; - in every matter, 237; - physical argument for, 238. - - - Kings, their favour, 357, 369. - - Kinship with Eloah, 181. - - Knowledge not the main thing, 390. - - Koheleth, 38. - - - Letters and theology, 4. - - Life, is it for enjoyment? 52; - meaning of, in the Gospels, 61; - as vigour, 260; - principle of man's, 382; - rewards life, 409. - - - Materialism, 54. - - Mediator, desire for a, 147. - - Mephistopheles, 36. - - _Mezbele_, 72. - - Microcosm and macrocosm, 402. - - Mill, J. S., quoted, 256. - - Mining, 314. - - Modern science, 165. - - - Natural religion, 25; - source of, 178; - ends with a sigh, 290. - - Nature and God, 166, 287, 301. - - Necessity, 130. - - - Obedience, reward of, 42. - - Ode cited by Elihu, 370. - - Oriental, society, ideas of, 50; - life, contrasts of, 72; - character, 131. - - Orthodoxy uncorrupted, 197. - - - Pain, not evil, 52-5; - and imprudence, 59; - mystery of, 120. - - Paley quoted, 53. - - Palgrave, W. G., quoted, 20. - - Personality, 12. - - Pessimism, 38. - - Pharisee and Sadducee, germs of, 377. - - Phoenix, 324. - - Piety, daring, 133. - - Pity of it, the, 229. - - "Positive evil," 77. - - Poverty of spirit, 196. - - Precursors of Job, 3. - - Primitive religion of Semites, 180. - - Probation, 47. - - Problem, of the book, 11; - universal, 403. - - Prophet, the, a critic, 246. - - Proverbs, chaps. iii., viii., 9. - - Providence, enigma of, 207; - special, 225. - - Psalms, individualism in, 12. - - Punishment of sin, 59. - - - Rabbi, the, 368. - - Real and ideal, 152. - - Religion, decay of, 16; - evolution of, 180. - - Renan quoted, 399. - - Revelation, 117. - - Righteousness, man not saved by, 388. - - Ruskin, J., quoted, 372, 374, 396. - - - Sabeans, 65. - - Sacrifice of Christ, 62. - - Sacrificed classes, 170. - - Satan, 34; - Dante's, 35; - Milton's, 35; - power of, 36; - challenged by the Almighty, 40; - his question, 42; - disappears, 71. - - Scepticism, 41, 140. - - Schopenhauer, 37, 39. - - Semites, primitive religion of, 180. - - Servant of Jehovah, 15. - - Sheol, life in, 183; - no hope in, 211; - no penalty in, 255. - - Sin, punishment of, 59; - does it bring suffering? 157. - - Sincerity of mind, 169. - - Skin for skin, 69. - - Smith, Dr. Robertson, 43. - - Social, meliorism, 46; - tyranny, 331. - - Sons of the Elohim, 37. - - Soulless human beings, 70. - - Special pleading for God, 171. - - Spencer, H., 52. - - Spiritual evolution, 58. - - Suicide, 97, 124. - - - Teman, 15. - - Theology and letters, 4; - new beginning in, 15. - - Theosophy, 39. - - Total depravity, 195. - - Trouble, wherefore? 282. - - - Universal problem, 403. - - Uz, 19. - - - Wisdom, of the past, 138, 192; - quest of, 313. - - Woman's life, 75. - - Worldly prosperity offered to Job, 137, 159. - - - Zophar, his character, 102; - his first speech, 154; - no mere echo, 161; - his second speech, 243; - his third speech, 309. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout. - -Non-Latin characters have been replaced with the nearest Latin -equivalent for example [oe] (the oe ligature), was replaced with oe. - -Inconsistent hyphenation is as in the original text. - -Greek and Hebrew text is transliterated and surrounded by [Greek: ] -and [Hebrew: ] respectively. - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Expositor's Bible: The Book of Job, by -Robert Watson - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOK OF JOB *** - -***** This file should be named 40470.txt or 40470.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/7/40470/ - -Produced by Marcia Brooks, Douglas L. 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