Ver. 12.-In Satan's power. I. GoD PERMITS TEMPORAL ADVERSITY. I. It cannot come without his permission. Satan roams over the earth, longing for mischief; yet he cannot do any harm till he obtains leave from the court of heaven. It iH sorno consolation in adversity to know that this has not fallen without God's observing it, nor even in spite of hie will. That which he distinctly sanctions cannot be really bacl. Therefore adversity is not the evil it appears to be. 2. God does not always inflict evil immediately. It is not God, but Satan, who smites Job. It would seem that God would never have done it, and that if Satan bad not sought permission to hurt Job, Job's prosperity would have remained unshaken. This is not like the narrn.tivee of destroying angels sent forth by God to smite Jerusalem (2 Sam. xxiv. 16) and to destroy the Assyrian host (2 Kings xix. 35). In those cases the calamity was from God, Here it originates in Satan, though it is permitted by God. Possibly we may see a ray of light on the mystery of suffering in this fact, especially as a similar thing is seen in the New Testament, in the case of the woman "whom Satan bas bound" (Luke xiii. 16), and in the case of a person" delivered over to Satan" (1 Tim. i. 20). St. Paul's thorn in the flesh was not a messenger of God, but "a messenger of Satan" (2 Car. xii. 7). There are evils which God would not initiate, yet which it would not be weU for him at once to restrain by force. II. GoD LIMITS THE ADVERSITY HE PERMITS. Satan is permitted to lay hold on all that Job possesses, but not to touch the man himself. Thus the adversity is limited, and .on va.rious grounds. 1. According to necessity. It shall be no greater than is necoasary to accomplish its object. God is lavish of mercies ; he is parsimonious with afflictions-even in the case of the huge afflictions of a Job! But he is the Judge of how much trouble is.necessary, and we cannot estimate it. 2. Acc01'ding to powers of endurance. .God will not suffer us to be tempted beyond that we a.re able to endure (1 Cor. x .. 13). He knew Job when he permitted tremendous troubles to fall upon him. Those Titanic shoulders co~ld carry a giant's load of calamity. Weaker souls a.re more gently dealt with. Ill., THE ADVERSITY IS ONLY PERMITTED FOR THE BAKE OF A GREAT GOOD. To the casual observer it looks as though Job were merely delivered over for S,itan to make diabolical sport with him, as the Philistines made sport with blind Samson. But God would not thus cruelly de3:l with any man. The fact is, Job is to prove a great truth to devils and angels, and ultimately to men also. The testing of his fidelity is a. lesson for the universe. It shows that God inspires disinterested devotion. Now, Job was not a.ware of this purpose. Had he known it, the trial would have been frustrated. To him the series of calamities is an overwhelming mystery, an,1 he is tried the more by its inexplicable character. We cannot see the purpose of our troubles. But there is a purpose. Possibly one explanation is, not that we are merely to suffer for our own soul's discipline, but, like Job, for the sake of lessons which, without our knowing them, may be taught to others by means of our experience.- W. F. A. . Vers. 13-19.-Job's unparalleled calamities. Everything ie done to heighten and intensify the. impression of Job's calamities. Let us note their salient features. I. THEY OCCUR AT A SEASON OF FESTIVITY. It was a feast-day, and Job's whole family was gathered together in his eldest son's house. Then of all times the affec- tionate father would be least prepared for ominous rumours l•f calamity. The thunder- bolt fell from the cloudless blue sky. Without a note of warning, the fearful storm burst in an overwhelming deluge. This is a lesson against trusting to prosperity, as though it contained a promise of its own certain coutinuance. But it is no unmerciful arrangement of Providence that the dark future is hidden from us. We a.re made sad because "We look before and afier.• If we saw all the future, we could not. endure the present. · II. THEY ocouR IN BAPID SUCCESSION. So closely do these calamities follow one upon another that, before the first messeDger hl\S told his tale, a second herald arrives 32 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OH, I, 1-22.
with more cnl news, followrd 1\9 speedily by a third, and he after no more delay by the \a~t, with his most dreadful message. It hM often been noticed how troubles come in batches. In Job's case we can see the reason, One fearful power of malignity is behind the whole series. Ill. THEY COME FROM VARIOUS QUARTERS. Though Satan ia the ultimate cause of all the calamities, he does not inflict any of them with his own hand. He keeps t.hat hidden, and finds means to send emissaries from all quarters-Arabs from the south fall on the home farm; lightning from heaven smites the sheep on the downs; three robber-bands of roving Cha\dees from the north swoop down on the caravan of came1s that ca:-ries Job's wealth of merchandise; and, worse than all else, a hurricane from the desert smites and fells the house where Job's sons and daughters are feast- ing. \\'ho can dwell in security when trouble may come in so many directions? It is impossible for the strongest man to fortify himself against it.. None of us can do more than m3:ke reasona~le preparation~, which may all prove useless, But all may trust the prondcnce of him who rules wrnd and storm and heart of m11.n, and without whose permission not a hair of our head can be touched. IV. THEY ARE AGGRAVATED AS THEY PROCEED. The worst comes last. It is terrible for a rich man to see his wealth melting before his eyes in a. few moments. 'l'his was Antonio's trouble when his fleet of merchandise was destroyed(' Merchant of Venice'), but it was not so fearful as Malcolm's, when all his children were murdered at once ('Macbeth'), or the late .Archbishop Ta.it's, when one after another his children died of an epidemic of fever. Let the impoverished ma.n be thankful if his family is spared to him. Note: 1. Possibly tronble is softened by coming with suc- cessive shocks. Ea.eh may drown the effect of its predecessor. 2. Job's trouble was only once surpassed-in Gethsemane.-W. F. A. •