spheni wit.h which the ch&mber W&S filled, moving steadily up till it came in full view ot the dreamer's open eye, it stood I The eleeper ~aw and WM perfectly conscious of its presence, could discern there was an image, I\ dim shadowy nebulous appearance, but felt altogether incompetent to anRlyze its features. Yet there is no reason to suppose that, like Macbeth's ~word, this formless spectre was "a false creation, proceed- ing from the heat-oppl'ellsed bra.in" (' Macbeth,' act ii. sc. 1). The Sadducees denied the existence of spirits (Acts xxiii. 8); but the language of Christ (Luke uiv. 39) implies that they were wrong, though, of course, it does not sanction either the ancient supel"l!titious belief in ghost-stories or the modern delusion or spirit-rapping. 3. The effect of its coming. The terror of anticipation felt by EliphR.Z deepened rnto a nameless horror, in which "the hair of his flesh stood up" (ver, 15), " like quills upon the frettul porcupine" (' Hamlet,' act i. sc. 6), or rather like nails or spikes upon a wnll, each individual bristle stiffening itself into a cold and chilling isolation. 4. TM accompaniment of its coming. A still, small voice fell upon his ear, like a dead and 1tealthy whisper (cf. 1 Kin~s x.ix. 12). HI. 1'HE SHADOWY VOICE. 1. A clear demonstration of the sin.fuln6$S of man. (1) A question proposed : "Shall mortal man be more just than God'/ ~ball s. man be more pure t.han his Maker?" (ver. 17). A great question, which, read as it stands (Calvin, Da,idson, Cox, etc.), may be described as {a) searching, going down into the founda- tions of man's being, inquiring into the ideas he possesses of moral excellence and spiritual integrity, as well as the measures and degrees in which those ideas- have been realized in his own personal wstenoe; (b) elevating, lifting man up into the serene altitudes of absolute purity in which God dwells, nnd setting him down with the dimmed lustre of his imperfect goodness beside the clear white light of God's ineffable rectitude; (c) discriminating, neither confounding the two things, mlLll's righteousness and God's, as if they were one and the sa10e, nor mistaking- the one for the other, as if they almost rivalled one another in their splendour, but distinguishing each from the other as essentially diverse and apart, God's righteousness and holiness being inherent, perfect, eterual, while that of man is derived, immature, capable of increase and diminution, mutable, and subject to decay; and (d) challenging, demanding of sinful man whether he would dare to exalt himself, in respect of justice and purity, above the supreme God, bis Maker? Formally, perha.ps, no one would be guilty of the immeasurable presumption implied in a.sserting that he was equal to this; yet practically every sinner makes the claim of having stricter ideas of moral and spiritual integiity thau God, when be impeaches either tbe equity of the Divine dealings with, or the just- ness of the Divine sentence of conciemnati.on against, himself. (2) A premiss stated·: '' Behold, be puts no trust in his servants, aud his angels he charges with folly [or, • imputeth to them wrong']" (ver.18). The impious assumption that the creature might 1urpass the Creator in moral purity, the gh0st quickly disposes of by showing that the former cannot possibly equal the latter, and this be does by establishing the moral inferiority to God of even the highest intelligences, the unfallen angels who serve hitn day and night in his celestial temple. Even they, beings of exalted dignity and radiant goodness, when brought up alongside of the light inaccessible and full of glory of the Divine cliaracter, appear to have their lustre tarnished. Whence the next step is inevitable. (3) A deduction made: "How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay I" (ver. 19). If man is inferior to the angels, then much more is be inferior to God ; and man's inferiority to angels the spirit next proves. 2. An affecting repre- aentation q/ human frailty. Contrasted witb the angelic race, ma.n is depicted as a creature (1) whose origin is mean, being characterized as a dweller in a clay house, whose fou1.o<lation is in the dust (ver. 19), the allusion being to bis corporeal frame, wbicb, being composed of material elements, incontestably proclaims his inferiority; (2) whose duration is short, he being a.n ephemerid who is" crushed before the moth n (ver. 19) and "de!ltroyed from morning to evening" (ver. 20), i.e. in the course of a single day ; (3) wh088 importance is small, he beiug regarded witb such contempt, not only by higher orders of intelligence, but by the members of bis own race, that he is allowed t.ci <lie unheeded, "to perish for ever without any rega.rding it" (ver. 20); ( 4) whose glory is evanescent, whatever grandeur or excellency man may attain on ea.rth passin\i away with him when he dies: "Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? (',er 21); and (6) whose failure is conspicuous, man commonly dying as he was born, Ott, l\r, 1-21.] TBE BOOli· 01!' JOB. 75
"without wisdom," i,e, without he.vin~ attained to more than the alphabet of know• ledge. Yet, affecting ae this picture of man is, it is only half true. It exhibits only one aepect of man'e nBture and condition. If a dweller in a house of clay, man is yet of Divine origin, being the breath of God's Spirit, and an immortal whose existence shall not be counted by years, and of such importance in the universe thl\t God parted witr. his Son in order to effect hie redemption, and whose true glory (Isa. Ix. 19) shall never fade, and whose ultimate attainment to wisdom ehall be made good in a brighter and better world. Leam: 1. That heaven ie never far removed from the pious. 2. That those who think most about God obtain most communications from God. 3. That even good men may long remain, through fear of death and the unseen world, subject to bondage 4. That Divine voices seldom speak in tempests and hurricanes, but mostly in still, small voices. 5. That God, being higher than the highest, should be regarded by all his creatures with reverence and fear. 6. That man, even at bis best state, is al together vanity. 7. That, in the judgment of Heaven, no life is successful that terminate11 without having attained to wisdom.