lepTOBy, which, when it apprehe11d11 a sinner, (1) devo11r11 the strength (or bal'I!) of his 11kin, (e. oonaumet1 either the members of the body (DelitzBOh), or" the muscles which &re to the akin what hara &re to a gate, or those pusages and orifices, those inlets and out.Jell! of the body, at whioh many forms of dise&.~e first display their presence and power" (Cox); (2) ejects him from hie house, causing him who formerly eat in con- fident 110Curity within ~is _tent to ~move, as under the ban of Divine displeasure, from the presence and h&b1tahons of his fellow-men; and (3) conducts him to the king of terror6, which death must ever be to the ungodly and impenitent, though to them who believe in Chri6t, who bath co_nquered death, its character and aspect are completely changed (l Cor. xy. ¥i; Heb. 11. ~4, 15). 4. Overwh&~ with destroction, {Vere. 15-1,.) And this m three particulars: (l) the desola.t1on of his homestead which being doomed, like Jericho, to rema.in uninhabited, is henceforth tenanted by "~renturc~ and things stra.nge to the deceased rich ma.n, such as ja.ckals and nettles" (Delitzscb), or ~aunted ever af~ards by ghostly terrors {Oox)-a thought which B1ldad again copies from the preceding speech of Eliphaz (eh. xv. 28, 34); (2) the extirpation of his family, even to its utter destruction, root and branch, so that neither he, the root, shall remain, nor any of the branches, bis offspring, shall survive (vers. 16, 19)-" the most terrible_ calamity tb~t can happen to a Semite" (~etstein, quoted by Delitzsch); (3) the extinction of his memory, the complete penshmg of all remembrance of him 1 so tha~ his name ~s. never mentioned in the land or on the street (Prov, ii. 22; x. 7 ; Ps. xxx.iv. !G)-a p1t1able doom for those to contemplate who have no hope of any immor- tality beyond the posthumous renown which their great power, extensive fame, or notorious wickedness may enable them to secure, though a comparatively sma.11 depri- vation for them whose names are regist.ercd in heaven, and will be held in everlastina remembrance by God even if they should be forgotten by man. 5. Thrust into dark~ f'UlSS. (Ver.18.) Chnsed from the world as unfit to live longer on the earth (Prov. xiv. 32), as afterwards, though falsely, Obrist (Luke xx.iii. 18) and St. Pilul (Acts xxii. 22); driven away from the light of day into the darkness of death, from the light of pros- perity into the darkness of misfortune, from the light of happiness into the darkness of misery-a. terribly true picture of the fate of the impenitent. 6. Loaded with infamy. (Ver. 20.) 'l'ransformed into an object of horror and amazement to (1) the people of all lands-"those who dwell in the East and those who dwell in the West" (Delitzsch); and (2) the people of all times-" them that come after," i.e. posterity, and " them tha.t went before," i.e. the wicked man's contemporaries. lo this sense "the evil that men do lives after them," and" some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment, and some men they follow after" (1 Tim. v. 24). The lan,,cruage of Bildad is true of the Sodomites (2 Pet. iL 6), Balaam (2 Pet, ii, 15, 16), Judas (A.cts i. 18), and transgressors of a like order. IV. THE llll!TAKEN AP.PLICATION. That Job was the subject of Bildad's sombre sketch is apparent from the portrait of Job's character prefixed by the speaker to hie dismal harangue, the resemblance in ma.ny points of Bildad's imaginary picture to the actual history of the patriarch, and the sharp incisive manner in which the moral of bis tale is pointed out (ver. 21). Yet the preacher completely misdirected bis discourse. For: 1. Tl.e character he portrayed did not belong to. Job. Job was not a. wicked man, and a man that knew not God, as Bildad was perfectly aware; but, as Job conten<led, and God himself allowed, "a perfect man and an upright, one that feared God aad eschewed eviL" 2. Tl,e sermon l.e preached did not apply to Job. Even of wicked men it was not always and universally true that retribution overtook them on account of their misdeeds. But of Job it was wholly incorrect that he was suffering for bis sins. 3. TI~ future he predict,ed, was not experienced by Job, lo pa.rt it seemed to be, but in its principal ingredients it was not. He was cast down from bis prosperity, but he was not chased out of the world. The light was for a sea.son extinguished in his dwellin" but it was afterward rekindled with greater brilliancy than before. His homestead ::as ruined but not cursed, being afterwards re-erected and blessed. Hie first family was taken 'erom him, but a second was bestowed. His name was not con- sigi,ed to infamy, but ha, been crowned with everlasting renown. Learn : 1. 'l'Lat no pr.,acher should carry personalities to the pulpit. 2. That a great text should, if possible, be followed by a great sermon. 3. That an orator should study io be true re.thee than brilliant in hia illUBtratiQDS, 4. That discourses otherwise good THE BOOK OF JOB. 318
aro eometimee delivered to the wrong hearers. 6. That the predictiona of angry prophets are seldom fulfilled,