PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Job
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 615,689 words · 663 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 541
an answer to. the friends, tbat was perfecUy legitimate, it was possible to eo exhibit that perplexing circumstance as to make it carry the conclusion that the supreme Governor of the universe was indifferent to the characters of his subject intelligences, and that a good man derived no advantage from his piety, while …
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authority, and entitled to be oared for by the same paternal governm1int. And llB it I■ bRsed on the fundamental equality of cien in the sight of Heaven, so is It pro'Ved by the pe.lp.'\ble fact t.h11t all alike are subjected to the s11me impartial doom (ver. 20); great and mightypotentetes dying in a moment, like B…
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(1 Kinge xvi. 26, 26), Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 31), Jehoahaz (2 Kings xiii. 2), and other monarohs both of Israel and of Judah, It is a special mercy to a people when God outs short the lives of wicked kings. V. THB OOUNBEL GIVEN, To adopt the model confession next recited (vers. 31, 32), in whioh 11re three things worthy …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUT;IIORS. Ven1. 1-37.-EUhu's second discourse: man has no right to doubt of God's jmtit:e. I. CENSURE OF Jo»'s DOUll'I'S. (Vers. 1-9.) In silence Job has listened to the reproof of his friend, and has apparently -taken "to he.art the lesso.n_ that in justifiable self- defence we may carry our p…
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hle creo.turM-the very opposite action to tho.t of selfishness, which draws as much a!I poseiqle into itRelf of good, and parts with llB little as possible. Only suppose for B moment thBt God were to become a self-absorbed Being, "directing' his heart only to himself, fokiilg in hie spirit and breath," instead of gi…
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Ver. 3.-The test of truth. I. IT rs LEFT FOB KAN TO TEST TBUTR. There is no unmistakable oracle. In the multitude of voices we have to discover which is the cry of truth, which that of error. We know the voice of God, not because we are assured beforehand that it is be and he only who will speak to us, but because w…
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Our only el\fety is in keeping close to Obrist, who is the Truth, and to Ohrut's Church which he bade us" hear" (Matt. xviii. 17).-W. F. A. ' Ver, 10.-71111 certain justice of God. Job appeared to have arraigned the Divine justice. Elihu emphatically asserts its absolute perfection. Whatever else we may fe.11 to see,…
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Vers. 31, 82,-.Lessons of ajfl:icf:ion. Affliction is a school, and its echolars are put:to learn valuable lessons. Let us consider some of them. ' : •.• I. PRAYER. The whole passage is concerned with· prayer, with _what ·it is meet to say unto God. Affliction does not teach all men to pray; some only learn despair …
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• Ver. 33.-The limits of privak judgment. Elihu ha11 been appealing to private judgment, saying," The ear trieth words, as the mouth tastcth meat" (ver. 3). Now he seems to tum round on this principle and repudiate it. Yet he is not inconsistent, for there must be limits to private judgment. We cannot sit in judgment o…
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CHAPTER XXXV. Ver. 8.-l'or thou said.at, What aclva.n- tage will it be 11ILto thee 1 ,.e. What advan- VerB- 1-16.-In this short chapter, once tage will thy righteousness be unto thee? more Elihu addresses himself to Job, first Job had certainly argued that. his righteous- (vers. 1-8) answering his complaint that ness…
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feeble self-how incapable he ie of being the oppressed are numerous; everywhere touched by any of thy doings." there are complaints and outcries. They Ver. 6.-lf thllu sinneat, what doest thou ory out by reason of the arm of the mighty. qainst him 1 Man's sins 11gainet God can- The oppressors are, for the most pint, t…
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HOMILETICS. Vers.1-16.-Eli"hu to Jo'b: the trial of Job continued. L JoB'B OFFENCE RESTATED. Returning to the charge, Elihu accuses Job of having given utterance to two da.ngeroU:il assertions. 1. That his (Job's) righteousness was greater than God's. "Thinkest thou this t.o be right? "-dost thou hold this for a so…
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dwells, the society in which he moves, the individuals with whom he comes in contact. The ungodly mnn mny be compared to a walking pestilence. On the other hand," the fruit of the rigMeous is a tree of life" (Prov. xi. 30). However humble the positi,,n he ocoupies or the talents he possesses, the good man, whose bre…
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Still nothing is more frequent th11.n for e11.int.~ to forget God, 11.n.d turn to 11.lmost every other qu11.rter before they seek unto him (Isa. Ii. 13), though one princip11.l end or affliction is to impel men to seek unto him who alone can put a new song into their mouths. 8. Forgetting IM st1,perior dignity q/ hi…
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enrich God with nothing, Ood both can and does enrich man with all things. 8. That "man's inhumnnity to mau makes countless thousands mourn." 9. That God is per• potually cognizant of all the wickedness and misery, crime and wretchedness, that exists on earth. 10. 'l'hat the only power competent to banish sin and sorro…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vel'8. 1-16.-Elihu's third spe1Xh: tM profit of godl~s. I. FoLLY OP TJIB Ol'I'.KJOJ,; THAT THERE IS NO PROFIT IN GODLINE~S •. (Vers, 1--8..) (!. good man, saye Elihu, would not speak as Job ha.s dtme, questioning whether godliness is more pro- :fimblc than ein. But what is the refutatio…
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Vere, 9-11.-~ ory that is not unto God,. Elihu continues to press Job severely. His teachings run in the lines of. truth, ao.d they approach more nearly to the design of Job's-suffering than those of Job's friends, but they fail actually to reach it. He makes many sagacious reflections on human conduct. This is one. Th…
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Vere. 3, 4.-I, gooaness profitabu 1 I. A NATURAL QUESTION. Job is driven to put this question; or, rather, Elihu ooncludes that Job's langua~e shows that the patriarch is debe.ting it within himself. Satan ha.d sneered at the notion of disinterested good- ness, and had asked," Doth Job fear God for naught?" (eh. i. …
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II. GOD OANN0T DE DRIBED BY MAN'S GIFTS, The huge mistuke of heathen worship la that it consists for the most pnrt in attempts to buy off the anger a.nd secure the favour of the gods by means of gifts o.nd sacrifices. We meet with the same heathenish idea in nil religious exercises that nim at being really profitable t…
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Ver. 11.-The BWperimity ef mm to animal.s. Man is naturally superior•~ a~i.tnals-,, I. IN INTELLIGENOE. We cannot but admire the intelligence of· the horse, the dog the elephant, the ant. There seems to be more than instinct •in.,these· creatures• w; notice in them the germs of a reasoning power, because they can ad…
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EXPOSITION. •OHAPTER. XXXVI. strnction• (vers. 17-25). Finally, in illus- tration of God's might a.nd nnsea.rohable- Vers.1-33.-The two chapters, oh. xxxvi. nese, the desCI"iption of a thundel'Storm is and xxxvii., form a single disconrse, and commenced (vel'S. 26-33), which is carried ought not to have been sepa…
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most part, trite 1md oommonplaoe. And and be holden in oord1 of aflliotion, On the will uoribe righteon1111.e11 to my Xaker. I other hand, there are doubtl898 oe.see where will show, i.e., that God is righteoua e.ud the ril(hteoue suffer adveniity-are even just (comp. oh. iaxiv. 10, 12). "bound in fetters," e.nd "ho…
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perieh by the sword. Not, necessarily, by 11 Roaonmiiller, is stil~ upheld by many scholrtr5, m11terial sworrl, but hT the sword of God's o.nd has been retame<l by our Revisers. If vengeanoo, whiohslo.ysmo thousand different we ndopt it, we must nnderstand Elihu as mo.nnere, piercing through o.11 obstacles, and assurin…
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but it ie uxcl'BBive; it fe.ile to m11,ke 11,llow- m~tural world. It ill suggested that the e.n~e for the extremity of J oh'e sufferings, storm, which ultimately broke at the thoo• e.n,l the disturbing infl.uenoe of extreme phanin. (eh. x:txviii. 1), we.a already begin• sulforing on the mind and judgment. It ie, nin…
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HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-21.-Elihu to Job: 3 . .A sermon on the Divine administration. I. To PREACHER INTRODUCES HIMSELF. 1. As having S<YTTUJthing further to say. A man who has nothing to communicate should not emerge from the safe regions of obscurity which Providence designs he should adorn. But alas I of preachers, ora…
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or from o,erweening eelf~onoeit which eupposes nothinn can be accurate which sel£ does not eee. Job and the three friends are good illustrations of men who look at the same object ( e.g. t.he Divine administration) from different standpoints, and pronounce each other wrong. Elihu undertook to present Yiews derived from…
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ls just, what is in moral and spiritual harmony with their condition, viz. deliveranc8 and sal~ation-e.lso e. tenet of the friends (eh. v.17-27; viii. 5-7; xi. 13-19), though here ngnin set forth with more precision and moderation than by them. III. 'l'HE PREAOHEB DEVELOPS HIS ARGUMENT. 1. The Divine treritment of t…
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yielded pmitantial eubmiesion, God would ere now have interposed for his deliveranctl, and reacued him from the mouth of distress, inciting him forwa.rd till he had rea.ohed a broad ple.oe where, literally, whose" beneath" (ground) would ha'Ve been no straitness, nn<l where the letting down of his table, i.e. the fo…
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Vere. 22-33.-Elihu to Job: 4. A sermon on the greatness of God. I. AasoLUTE IN ms SOVEREIGNTY. 1. Ruling by his own power. "Behold, God exalteth" (sc. himself), i.e. showeth himself to be exalted, "acteth loftily" (Delitzsch) "in his strength" (ver. 22). The universal empire of God is based on bis omnipotence. With him…
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12; Mark x. 28). The Holy Spirit also proceeds in the same gradual fashion ln th11 work of illuminating darkened minds. 5. Simplicity. Aiming at the good of those "·ho hee.r, God e.lways teaches in the plainest and directest manner possible, speaking so cle11.rly, distinctly, and intelligibly, that he requires, as w…
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Bnd seen. 2, Clouds. "Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly" ( ver. 28). Not the least interesting among those objects which attract the student of nature o.re the clouds of heaven, which receive the evaporated moisture of earth, and retain it floating in tho atmosphere until it is again required by t…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver.1-<:h. n:xvii. 24.-Elihu's fourth speech: God the Loving, the Just, and the Holy, In the preceding discourse11 of Elihu, he has dwelt chiefly upon the moral relations of man to God, and the view presented of God has been chiefly that obtained through the medium of human feelings and an…
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warn, to hint of danger, to •• open the ear " to instructions that were thought unneces- sary in the days of perfect peace and self-complacency. And if the mind yields to this gracious leading, and bends itself to docility to this ne,w revelation of the holy will, all slmll yet be well. The sea•on of depression and dis…
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to the regularity of caull88; e.nd the whole eeries of effects and oaueea resolves itself into the conoeption of law, high, unerring, unbroken. Even with a very imperfect knowledge of the structure of the cosmos, there is some dim perception of these truths: how much more should consummate science impress them upon …
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III. IN HIB REGARD FOR THE OBEDIENT AND PtrRE, "He withdr&weth not his eyee from the righteous." This is especially seen- IV. IN me DIBOIPLINE AND OORREOTION OF THE RIGHTEOl/8. This topic Elihu expands. While the Almighty suffers the wicked to perish, he maintains the lot of the oppressed and righteous poor, keeping t…
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Spirit. It ill not 11nough to study our Bibles. We must be muoh in prayer, we muat li,·e near to God, Bo that we may speak in the strength and spirit of God.-W. F. A. Ver. a.-Knowledge fetched from aj<III'. I. KNOWLEDGE HUBT BE FETCHED FROM AFAR. True to his character, the brilliant but pretentious young Elihu makes …
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If God is mighty, and if also he does not despise any, we may be irure tb11t he will uso hie great power for tho benefit of helpless creatures who ar,: not beneat'n his notice. Bympnthy is not enough for salvation, without strength. God bas both. IV. THE MIGHT AND MEROY OF Goo SHOULD LEAD us TO TRUST IN HIM. We have n…
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but it eeem11 to be.ve been a new idea in the days of Job, and a fresh revelation for him and hie friends. It is not the less important to us because we are well acquainted with it: Still, we h11._ve to enter into_ the mea1;1in_g ~f i~ and employ it ae the key for unlockmg the myst,er1es of our expenence. D1sc1phne …
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mny be our anlvntion. 2. By inducing thought. We let the happy hour~ glide hy in ce,relese ensc, drenming life awo.y. Trouble arouses us with e. trumpet-blMt. It ciiee "Awnke I Think I" 3, By revealing sin. In onr humility e.nd our reflectiveness w; nre led too. consciousness of sin. 4. By drivin,q us to God. We nee…
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Yer. 18.-The ttselessness of a great rwnsom. Job b&.d sinned, s&.ya Elihu, though not in the black and hypooritical way that hie three friends attributed to him. Hie sin had been in judging God, and charging the Holy One with injustice; and thie sin brought its own punishment; indeed, it wae ite own punishment, becau…
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(1) By experience. He pute ua to a school of life; he makes us feel the reality of hfs lessons. The eorrowe and joys, the humiliations and the exaltations are all parts of the Divine instruction. (2) In revelation. '£hie Divine lni;truction carries UB out of oursolvos and OJ?ene to us visions of heavenly truth. God tea…
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forget her Author. 8. In aspiration. The wingij of praise oai-ry the aolll 11.loft. Wheh we sing of the great and ma.rvelloil.s works of God with the heart and the underste.nding, we shall enter into the thoughts of God lovingly and with sympathy, We grow like whnt we adore. Following the angels in songs of praise, we …
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mo.kee o. fl11al o.ppenl to Job to o.cknowleclgo speed : " others, " He will not co.me them to hie own wenknose o.nd God's perfecUon and oeaee." uneoo.rcbo.bleneee, and to bow clown in won- _Yer.. 5.-:--God thn~de~eth mu.;"Vello111Iy der o.nd odoro.tion before him (Tere. 14-24). with h11 voice. In 8n1shmg off hie descr…
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tempests. NotbinJ?: ie Mid of "the eouth" sonal a.ppe&l to Job, b11.11ed on the atat.8me111.i here. though elsewhere, no doubt, whirl- whioh he has made. Can Job fmaa-ine that winds are 1!111,id to come especially from that quarter (eoo Is ... xxi. I anrl Z:Pch. ix. he understands the workings or° God In H). And o…
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solid m1Lss, reeombling a. oonc1we mirror of 18-22; xxii. 3-7, eto.). But the wind met1Ll. The tmnsl1Ltion, "looking-glosR," is paueth, and oleanseth them; rathPr when wrong, both here 1Lnd in Exod. xxxviii. 8, the winrl pas Reth and cleareth the,,;.; i. e. eiuee glllSs WILS not usecl for mirrors until when, the wiud h…
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proouctfon of 1m all-wise Artificl'r, since the 8uggestion is little short of inconceivable that a world so wondrously fair, ~o exquisitely diversified, so harmoniously adjusted in all its parts, c0uld h,wc been the w0rk of blind, unintelligent force, direoted in its operations by pnrposeless chance, or could h&ve e…
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and cdn tell tho.t their cryetals assume five leading forms; but with all his le1m•jng and a.mid a.II his reseo.rches he ho.s never laid his finger on the a.rt of ma.king snow or or se.ying to a single flake," Be thou on the earth." ' IV. WONDERFUL IN RESPECT OF THEIR CO:STROL. If nature is not a. vast ma.chine fro…
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together. But, if fulth ctm, it is enough. It is not unscientific, to affinn that God !'end~ the tbu.ndel"l!tol'1n l\nd the whirlwind, the earthq 111\ke and the pestilence, eitioe the hand of God confessedly is outside the cognizance of science; it is not required by religion to deny that "11 these phenomene. are du…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1_4.-On considering the works of God. Elihu in his continued address would teach.Job to _hearken to the Lord rather than reply to him, to learn rather than teach, l!,nd more especially to consider his wonderful works. The greatness of the Divine works causeth Job's teacher's heart to …
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III. A POWERLEBB vo10B, The silent lightning is deadly. On the .other ha.nd, there are no thunderbolts; it w&S ignorance that attributed the effects of the eleotrio flash to the thunder that followed it. But this was in accordance with a common way of thinking. We pa.y most attention to that which makes most noise, Yet…
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Ver. 14.-" The wondrous worlcs of God." I. THE NATURE OJ' THESE wonKs. 1 Material things, We cannot live for ever in a realm of ideas. It is well to come dow~ to the solid oarth nnd loolt at physical facts. There are lessons to be learnt from the stones ond trees and Ii ving creatures of r.ature. Mountain anrl strea…
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Ver. 21.-Unbearable light. When clouds are cleared from the face. of the sun we cannot bear to look up at the splendour of unveiled light. This is the case even in our thick and humid atmosphere ; but it is much more so in the East, where the sun shines in its terrible strength. The unbearable light is a type· of th…
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SECTION VI. •Ca. xx.xvm.-XLI. CLOSE OF THE CoNTBOVEBSY BY THE INTERFEBENCB OF THE .ALMIGHTY. EXPOSITION. -a sort of at"gumentwm ad w,-eoundia-to OHA.PTER XXXVIII. Job's profound ignorance of God's natural The discourse, by whioh the Almighty government, which incapacitates him from answers Job and rebukes· bis "fr…
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Cf\nst thou tell? IC not, why enter into vieed V ?rsion, tmd_ P"'eB~_ed. /<Yr it mu controversy with the Oree.tor? d«tree. The deoree 1tselr IB given in ver. u. Ver. 7.-When the morning 1tar1 Hng And set bars a.nd doors (see a.bove, var. s, togethe,r.. The etnrs generolly, or the ontue.l where the imagery of "doors"…
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llhakeu 011.t of 111 The idea -m• to be Ver.18.--llut thou c,eroei1'ed the breadth thRI the dawn, BUddenly npp~Rring, seizes of the earth 1 literally, tlae breadths; i.e. the ht•ltl or all the ende of the Ml'th "at one dimen8ions generally.. The eaiaot dimen- ru•h " (Canon Cook), and lights up the sions areprob11bly…
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of the Divine venge11noe (see Exod. ix. 18- wasted, even on the bare sands of the 29; ll, 5-15; Josh. x. 11; Ps. xviii. 12, Sah11ra, or the rngged rocks of Tierra dcl 13; In viii. 17, 1!1; cv, 82; lea. xxx. 30; Fnego. It mBy have uees which are beyond xuil, 19; Ezek. xiii. 11, 13; xxxvi. 22; our cognize.nce. And to …
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gctber, and bind the ewe closer to one are? If Job oa.nnot oommand the olo11d11 11.notber. Or loo■e the ba.nd1 of Orion I The ~uch ~css can he send (or rather,send/orlh) identit)· of Klsil with Orion ie generally hghtmngs-those marvellous and terrible ellowE'd. Job is aekcd if he oan loosen the ev:idences of almight…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-3.-Jehovah to Job: the first answer-the ·theophany. I. THE Lonn's APPEARANCE TO JoB. 1. The time of this appearance. .At the close of Elihu's address. Not too soon, when neither had Elihu finished his expositions nor had Job's heart been suitably prepared for such an interview as he was on the eve …
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demand, Jehovah, "wbo gi'\"cth not an Recount of hie matters" (eh. xxxiii. 13), Mmell down from the toerene altitudes of hie eternlll palace, riding on a whirlwind, thundering with his voice, sending forth hie lightnin(?S, causing the solid globe to tremble beneath 1hc tread of hie glowing feet (Pe. xviii. 9-14). (2…
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intelleotual and morn! do.rkneee of those by whom it is beheld. 2. Ign<Yrana affirmed. ExeoUy this wns the case with Joh, for the challenge is not addreRBed to the friends nnd still less to Elihu. Job had asserted more than once that the Divine governm,mi of tho world wns not in accordance (at any rate, not in visible …
857 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.