The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 70

world, and already of hoary antiquity when the nook of Job waa written. It le now cc,rtainly the mogt stupendous structnre that hae ever been built. 1. A sign qf patient toil. Thousands of poor slBves must have been sa.clificed to the construction of such 11 ~u)lding. There is sce.rccly any limit to_ the resulte that may be produced by unre- m1t ting labour. 2. A proof of concentra,twn Qf ~ffort. Only a Pharaoh oould build a pyramid in those old days. It needed the master of a nation to gather together the materials and the workmen. The greatest works come from combination of efforts, The highest spiritual efforts must not be in isolation. We must learn to unite and concentrate our spiritual service. III. 'l'rrEIR DESOLA'l'ION. These pyramids were "desolate places" from the first. 'l'hey were never beautiful. 'l'he dismal use to which they were put must always have given to them an atmosphere of gloom. 'l'hey were and are the most enduring structures 'in the world ; yet their polish<'d surface bas been stripped off, and on near approach they appear like massive ruins. They were designed to preserve the mummied remains of their masters in safety; but their secret chambers are emptied, robbed by unknown hands of their carefully concealed contents. We cannot disguise the fact that death is desolation. We may build a splendid tomb, but it will only cover loathsome corruption. 'We cannot cheat dr!ith and decay by any earthly device. True immortality cannot be found on earth. But the Christian looks forward to a more solid and enduring home than any pyramid-to" a house not ma.qe with hands, eternal in the heavens."-W,' F. A~ Ver. 17.-71ie peace of the grave. I. TROU13LE ANTICIPATES THE PEACE OF THE 'GllAVE. There is a famous picture of Orcagna's in the Campo Santa at Florence, representing Death suddenly appearing in a motley crowd of men and women, and i,roducing the mOBt opposite effects. The rich, the young, and the gay flee in terror; but the poor, the miserable, and the sick stretch forth arms of longing welcome to their deliverer. When life is despaired of, death is sweet. Seeing that all must die, this is some compensation for the inequalities of life. The sleep of the tired toiler is deep and calm; and the footsore pilgrim on life's highway looks forward at times to his final rest with unspeakable eagerness. He can endure ,in view of the delicious repose which be sees beyond all his sufferings-a repose, however, which has no attrac- tion for the healthy and happy. It is only a false sentimentalism that leads vigorous young people to apply the well-known words of the text to themselves. II. WICKEDNESS IS AT THE ROOT OF THE TROUllLE THAT lllAKEB THE PEACE OF TBE GRAVE DESIRABLE. Job's first thought is that the wicked cease from troubling in the land of the dead. There the captive no longer hears the odious voice of his oppresso,r. Injustice and heartless selfishness make a hell of this earth, which would be a very paradise if all men lived in the atmosphere of 1 Cor. xiii. It is horrible to think how often man's cruelty to man bas turned the natural love of life into a yearning for the release of death. Certainly this wrong cannot continue beyond the grave. And yet t.bere is a deeper and more personal truth. Our own sin is our greatest trouble. Too often we are ourselves the wicked who trouble our own hearts. ill. CHRISTIANITY OFFERS SOMETHING BETTER THAN THE PEACE OF THE GBA VE, We must remember that we have not here a complete Divine oracle concerning the future. Job is merely giving utterance to bis despair. There is a certain truth in what he says, but it is not the whole truth. It is true that "there remaineth a rest to the people of God" (Heh. iv. 9). But Christ offers more than negative relief from the troubles of this life. He brings to us eternal life. To the Christian death is not sink- ing into silence for ever, but sleeping in Christ to awake in a new resurrection-life, Joh looked forward to the still grave. We can anticipate the blessed heaven. IV. THE CHRISTIAN HOPE RESTS ON MORE TRAN THE EXPERIENCE OF DEATH. 'l'o :lie was nll that Job hoped for; to die as an embryo dies who bas never known life seems to him far better than to drag out such a weary existence as he now sees before him. 'l'hw, the mere dying and ceasing to be are enough. But for the larger Christian hope more is needed. Death is not the door to heaven ; Christ is that Door. There is no· certain road to peace through death; for death may lead to darker distress in a future of banishment from God. There is no peace in the "outer darkness," but "weeping and gnashing of teeth." For future rest even, and for the life eternal which is better than rest, we have to be born from above, and t.o be walking on ep.rth mthe footste1111 DII, III. 1-26,) THE BOOK OF JOB. 66