Vers. 12-21.-The condemnation of man in presence of the Divine holiness. With a figure of great boldness and grandeur Eliphe.z urges his words upon Job. He is trying to illustrate the great princiµle of the righteous retributions of the Divine government. In the visions of the night there appeared a spirit to pa.qs before his fe.ce, and in the dead silence he heard a voice saying," Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a mnn be more pure than his Maker?" It cannot be. And the vision of Eliphaz finds its fulfilment in Job himself, who in the end is bowed down to the earth in self-abasing shame and 'COndemnation. I, ALL MEN MUST OF NECESSITY BE SELF-CONDEMNED IN PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS. AIns l we are all sinful; our best deeds are faulty, and the element of sinful- ness mingles with nil our e.cts as truly as the element of imperfectness. We cannot stand in the presence of the absolutely Perfect On!l. Even the rudest vanity must be 1ppalled and humbled in his sight, 80 THE BOOK OF JOB. [OH, IV, 1--21,
Il. THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE DIVDTE HOLINESS A SALUTARY CBEOR: TO SELF• <IONFIDENT BOASTING. In the absence of a true and lofty stande.rd of right men boa.et themselves of their goodness. Measuring themselves by themselves, and' comparing themselves among themselves, they a.re led to the proud assumption of fancied righteous- ness. The standards are faulty; even the faulty ones, therefore, ree.ch them. He is wise who can say, "But now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." ' III. THE CON'l'EMPLATION OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS A STIMULUS TO LOWLY HUMBLE Ri.LIG101:rs FKAR. This fear is the beginning of wisdom ; and the highest attainment~ of wisdom do not depart from this fear. It is the beginning and the consummation of holv wisdom. iV. THE PUBEST AND MOST EXALTED BEINGS ARE ABASED IN THE DIVINE PRBSENOE, "His angels he charged with folly." How much more, therefore, the children of ·the dust-" them that dwell in houses of clay" !-R. G. • Ver. 1.-EUphaz the visionary. .After Job has broken the seven days' silence, each of his friends assays t.o comfort him, with that most irritating form of consolation-:-: unsolicit~d advice. .Although, perhap~, some of the critics have thought they detected greater differences between the three fnends thau are really apparent from the narrative we cannot but notice certain distincti.e features. What they have in common is mor~ pronounced than their points of difference. Thus they all three are friends of Job who really desire to show their sympathy and help the sufferer. ']'hey all tender un~sked counsel They all assume an irritating position of superiority. They all adhere to the prevalent dogma that great calamity is to be accounted for as the punishment of great sin. They all believe in the justice of God and his readiness to forgive and restore if Job will but confess his sins and humble himself. But they manifest certain int.eresting diiferences. The first friend to speak is Eliphaz, who appears as a seer of visions. l. THERE ARE llEN 'WHO SEElll TO BE NATUBALLY IN AFFINITY WITH THE SPIRITUAL woRLD. .All men are not able t.o see the sights with which these men are familiar. They are the seers of visions. Too often such men are visionaries and nothing else. They are so wrapt up in the excitement of their experiences of another world that they have no interest or capacity left for the discharge of present earthly duties. It would go ill with UB if there were many such unpre.ctical people among us. But even these men have their sphere, and there are higher visionaries to whom we should be pro- foundly grateful. It is a great descent from Paul the apostle in the third heavens.to ., Sludge the medium" at a ,;lance. The follies of spiritualism should not blind us t.o the revelations of true seers. Even the half-mad -visions of a Blake have given the world some wonderful fruits of imagination, that would never have grown on the stock of conventional worldly experience. II. TRUTH IS NOT ALWAYS FOUND WITH THE BEEB OF VISIONB. God's seer will Bee God's truth. If the veil is lifted from before the unseen world, some genuine revelations must appear. God has given us truths of the Bible in some cases through the visions of his prophets. But the mere affirmation of a vision is no voucher for the truth of what is said. The seer may be a deceiver, he may be a deluded fanatic, or he may see a vision of "lying spirits." Therefore what he says must be tested, and should not be accepted on the mere authority of his vision. Here was the mistake of Eliphaz, who thought to overawe and silence Job by the recital of his vision. It is safer to turn from all such pretensions to the clear "word of prophecy" and the historical ri,, el.1.tion of Christ. Our religion is based. not on visions, but on historical facts. liL IT IS ll08T lllPOBTANT TO CULTIVATE SYMPATHY WITH THE UNSEEN WOBLD. If we are not visionaries, we need not be materialists. Though we do not look for spiri- tualistic manifestations, we need not be Sadducees who believe in no spirits. There is a viBion of God for the pure in h'.l&rl, which can deceive none, and which is the inspira- tion of this world's highest aervice.-W. F. A.
Ver. 2.-I"eprt/Mible spu,r,h. Eliphaz says," Who can withhold himself from speak- ing 'i'" He utters his own aentiment, but it is a very common one--far more common than the honest admission of it with which Eliphaz juati.fies his address to Job. OH, IV, 1-21.] THE BOOK OF JOB. 81