tbe epvrow, and tbe robin? Onn greater plunderers be found than the vast aquatio monsters, the whale, the shark, and the crocodile, which roam through the deep, 11triking terror among the lesoor tiibes that haunt the seas? And yet "who k·noweth not in all these that the hand of Jehovah bath wrought this, in whOl!e hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" Well, if these things ocour under God's government among the lower creatures, why, asks Job, might similar occurrences not tran1:1pire 11n<ler t.he same government among men P III. BY THE SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS. 1. The groond of thei,r authority. The weight attached by Zophar, and indeed allowed by Job himself, to the maxims of 1rnt1quity, w&6 derived from the fact that they were the concentrated wisdom of ante- cedent a:;ces, which had been carefully elaborated by long-lived sages as the result of their individual and collective experience (vide homiletics on eh. viii, 8-22). 2. The limit of lheir authority. Granting tl1at these sa~acious apothegms and profound pambles were fairly entitled to be heard, Job contended that they were not possessed of absolute authority. They were not to be accepted with unquestioning submission, but with wise and intelligent discrimination, the ear, and of course, "the judgment which sits behind the ear," having been given to try words as the palate does food. And even at the best they were only human judgments, the thoughts of long-lived patriarchs, of much-observing as well as deep-reflecting sages, but not at all to be compared with the thoughts of him with whom is "wisdom and strength, counsel and understanding" (ver, 13), They were, therefore, not t.o be accepted as final interpreta- tions of the facts of providence, which were the concrete expressions of eternal Wisdom, as much as these traditional maxims were the abstract utterances of patriarchal wisdom. Man's thoughts never cau be more than a finite projection, or contracted imag~, of God's. Hence the danger of setting man's thoughts in place of God's, investing con- fessions, catechisms, and symbolical books generally with the authority which belongs only to the supreme revelation of God's mind. Hence also the folly of attempting to crush the boundless realm of God's truth into the narrow dimensions of any formula, however beautiful or well-arranged, however strictly scientific or profoundly philosophic. The fundamental principles of all intelligent Protestantism may be summed up in two thoughts: m:iu's formulas are not the exact measure of God's revelations; "prove all things, and bold fast that which is good." 3. The verdict of their authority. If rightly di:;cr,winatcd, the voice of patriarchal wisdom will be found to be on Job's side; in support of which assertion be proceed.", in the next section, to recite other sayings of antiquity, which certainly give countenance rather to his than to their view of God's providential government of the world and mankind. So perhaps it will be generally found that the best thoughts of men in all ages harmonize with the thoughts of God as expressed both in the Bible and in providence. Learn : l, " He that is first in his own ea.use seemeth right; but bis neighbour cometh and searcbeth him." 2. "A half-truth is sometimes as dangerous as a whole lie," 3. " In contemplation of created things, by steps we may ascend to God." 4. It is not true that "man is the measure of the universe." 5. "'!'here are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in man's philosophy." 6. "That alone is true antiquity which embraces the antiquity of the world, and not that which would refer us back to a period when the world was young."
Vers. 13-25.-Job to Zophar: 3. Tlie providence of God descri'bed. I. As INFINITELY WISE AND POWERFUL. "With God is wisdom and strength, he hatb counsel and under- standing " (ver. 13)-a sentiment repeated in ver. 16. Of the two attributes here men- tioned, the fint is involved in his 8Upreme Divinity; though in the connection Job l!eems to base it on his eternal existence, as if he meant t.o say, "You affirm that in length of days is understanding, and I grant it; but what then must be the wisdom of him who is eternal in his years?" 'fbe second, which is equally involved in the con• ception of Godhend, may here be said to rest upon the already stated fact that "in bis Land is the soul of every living thing, aud the breath of all mankind" (ver. 10). 'l'he Creator of the uu.iverse must be strong, and the Eternal Intelligence mu,t be wise. Being, then, infinitely wise and powerful, the lik~ualities must appear in his handi- work, .AJJ tl,e artist puts his conceptions int.o the painting which be executes, and 1ht: artificer dirBCts atUlntion to the work he has f&Bhioned as • proof of his ability; •.,U, XII, 1-26,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 215