solution, before which he sooner or la.ter succumbs, like the trees and the rocks the mounte.ins e.ncl the stree.ms. To expect, therefore, that o. dee.d man shall return t~ bis place on ee.rth is ILi! unscienUfic o.s to anticipa.te that the alluvie.l deposits of the plain she.II replnce t.hemselves upon the mountain's sides from which they have been taken, or the.t the shattered rock shall resume its station in the crevice out of which it he.s fa.lien, or that the water of a Joke which has evaporated aha.II again cover its desiccated bed, or the fleecy cloud which he.s dissolved and been dispersed shall recombine itaelf upon the fa.ce of hea.ven. II. "IF A MAN DIE, BBALL HE LlVE AGAIN?" YES I 1. The phenomena of nature suggest it. "'l.'here is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again." Why, then, should there not be hope of a man reviving from the bed of death? Why shouli not man have his springtime as well as the plants and flowers and roots ? " Eve1vthing in nature is a sign of something higher and more Ii ving than itself, to follow in due course, and in turn announce a yet higher one; the mineral foretells the plant1 the plant the animal, all things in their degree foretell mankind" (Leo Grindon, •Life: its Nature,' etc., p. 301). Again, "The presignificance of animal forms and economy by plants extends to the whole of their organic functions, to many of their organs, even to their spontaneous movements, their habits and qualities" (ibid., p. 306). Many of the functions usually supposed to be characteristic of animals have a marvel- lous foreshadowing in vegetables, as e.g. the processes of eating and digesting food, the procreation and birth of offspring, the a.et of respiration and the repose of sleep. May it not, then, be maintained that the constantly recurring winter death, and spring revival of trees and plants a.nd flowers, are prefigurements, not only of the sleeping and waking of animals generally, but also of the death and resurrection of man? 2. The instincts of humanity desire it. "Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol ! " etc. (ver. 13). Job had not, indeed, perfect certainty on the subject of his ret1l.Tlling from He.des, but in the deepest yearnings of bis soul, which here flashed up into momentary brightness, he longed for such a revival as is implied in the resurrection. And the argument derived f,·om this is that the existence of such a hope in the human soul renders P-robable at least the doctrine of a resurrection. "Intuition is worth volumes of logic" (Grindon, p. 287). "Where in the plan of nature do we find instincts falsified? Where do we see an instance of a creature instinctively craving a certain kind of food in a place where, no such food can be found? Are the swallows deceived by their instinct when they fly away from clouds and storms to seek a warmer country? Du they not find a milder climate beyond the water? When the may-flies and other aquatic insecte'Ieave their shells, expand their wings, and soar from the water into the air, clo they not find an atmosphere fitted to sustain them in a new stage of life? Yes. The voice of nature does not utter false prophecies. It is the call, the invitation, of the Creator addressed to his creatures. And if this be true with regard to the impulses of the physical life, why should it not be true with regard to the superior instincts of the soul?" (Reimar, 'Truths of Natural Religion,' quoted by Grindon, p. 287). 3. The dignity of man demands it. " Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine bands" (ver. 15). It was utterly incon- ceivable that God could be happy so long as man, the noblest specimen of his handi- work, whom his own hands had fashioned with tender care and infinite skill (eh. x. 3, 9), upon whom, as it were, he had impressed the stamp of his own Divinity (Gen. i. 26), and whom he had set at the very apex of creation (Ps. viii. 6), was lying mouldering in the dust; nay, by the very necessities of the case, God would yearn (grow pale with anxiety and wan with longing) after his absent creature and child, and, eventually breaking in upon the silence of the grave, would summon the unconscious sleeper to arise. "Do you suppose," Job virtually asks, "that if I yearn after God as I do, God does not likewise yearn after me; that if it would add to my felicity to see God in the flesh, and to talk with him as a man talketh with hie friend, it would not likewise intensify his blessedness to have me in my complete manhood by bis side?" And in this idea of the es:iential dignity of man as God's handiwork and God's child, we are warranted to find, if not a certain demonstration, at least a strong presumption the.t man will yet attai.n to an embodied life beyond the grave. 4. The witness of revelat'ion proclaims it. Like other parte of the gospel acheme, the doctrine of a 1esurrection was only gradually unfolded. In antediluvian times it may have been suggested ii> 2ii0 THE BOOK OF JOB.
thoughtful minds by the tnnel&tion of Enoch. In the Abrah&tnlo period the, hope of R better oountry, even Rn he11venly, was strong in pious hearts; but it is not certain th&t this implied more th11n A belief in immortAlity, or in & continuous Hietence beyond the gTBve, though the c11ee of Job cleBrly shows that even then men bad begllll to speculate about the probability of a return to the embodied state after death, and the practice of embalming among the Egyptians has been held to prove that: such a doctrine had even then oocome a popular belief. In the age of David the hope of a resurrection burned brighter and clearer (Ps. xvi. 11; xvii. 16). Isaiah spoke of a rising of Jehovah's dead body, and of the earth casting forth her dead (Isa. xxvi. 19); Ezekiel, of an opening of the graves (Ezek. xxxviii. 9, 13) ; Daniel, of an awaking out of sleep (Dan. xii. 2). But not until the times of the gospel was the doctrine.fully declared. Christaffirmed it (John v. 28, 29); St. Peter proved it (Acts ii. 26-32; xii. 34); St. Paul preached it (Acts xvii. 31) and wrote concerning it (Rom. viii. 11, 12; 1 Oor. xv. 12-20). 6. The reswrrection of Olirist secures it. "But now is Christ risen from the delld, and become the firstfruits of them that sleep" (1 Cor. xv. 20). The resurrection of Christ being as certain a fa.et of history as his death, the resurrecUon of his people at least is conclusively established (John xiv. 19; Rom. viii. 11; 1 Thess. iv. 14), and the question of Job finally answered. LESSONS. 1. The importance of using life well, since no man returns to the present scene. 2. The strong consolation which the saint finds in the hope of a rei;urrection. •