Ver. 28.-" The root qf the matter." ,Tob's friends think that the explanation of tbe patriarch's singular experience lies in himself. It is not to be explained by the laws of the universe, by the opposition of a foe, etc. j it is to be explained by Job's own character and conduct. The root of this matter, bis affliction, is in Job himself. That, says Job, is their idea, and that Job of course repudiates. • The prologue shows that Job was right. The root of the matter was not in him; it was in S~tan.' The great accuser bad originated the whole trnuble. _.. • I. WE CA.KNOT UNDERSTA:!,"D A MA.TTEB lTh'TIL WE DISCOVER TB ROOT :oF"IT,: Job's friends were quite wrong; all their conclusions were invalid, all their a<;cusations w:ere ,mjust, all fneir admanhions were irrelevant, because.-they tnistook 0 the ·root and cause of Job's afflictions. Their conduct is a warning against-judging with euperficia.). know~ ledge. In their assurance .of infallibility they inferred the existence of the •root wbetl they had not been able to see it. In all branches of knowledge we'need to bore down to the ront or our subject. The greatest task of science is the s~arch for causes. Tba mere collection and classification of facts is but the first step. Rl!al science aims at accounting for its facts. So in religion we are not content to receive certain impres- sions; we want to get behind and bene!lth them and find their roots. We must find the root of poverty and social trouble before we can understand these evils. n. IT IS DIFFIUULT TO DlBOOVEB THE BOOT OF A. 'IUTTEB. The root is underground. lt hides itself in darkness. Possibly' it runs far for its nourishment, like that of' the fllmous Hampton Court vine, which is said to reach to the river Thames. • In human :1fiilirs it is very hard to find 1,he roots, beca.uae men do not generally expose their inmost thoughts. History seATches for causes, but it is a very tentative and precarioua science. Qn., historian wiU s~e, or thinks he sees, the cause of an event in something of which another denie• the existence. We cannot even see the roots of the conduct of our daily acy11aiutances. In particular thi~ difficulty is iucreased ,vhen there ·is ·lack of 5ymi,atby. A mean aud selfish man can never discover the roots of generous action, and a nobl~•mincied me.a is slow to suspect the roots of the condu~t of a person· of iowcr character. We mnst beware of the 1Lttempts of hot-headed phi'lantbropy to cure evils the roots of which have not yet been discovered. Else we may do more harm than good. • Ill. THEBE ABB EVILS 'WRIC!I ABE NOT BOOTED nt· 'rHE JUN WHO' SUFFERS FROM TBE111. This was the truth which Job's friends, blinded 1:>y prejudice, could not see. They assumed thnt the root was in Job,but their assumption was an ertor," Now,·tha admU1Sion of this idea should not only check ;hasty judgni.ent; it should encourage faith '-tld ta.eh patience. The roots are much deeper than we suspect.· We·cannot: under- staud providence; for we cannot see its roota.:· '· • . • •• • IV. THE WOBST EVIL IS THA.T 'WBJCH Hil 1TB BOOT IN THE JUN WHO' SUJ'J'EBB FROM ott: xt. 1.-29, J THE BOOK OF Jon. 339
IT. If Job'e friends had been right, hie position would have been far more dreadful than it W"8, Often we must confes~ to ourselves that we have brought trouble up0n our owli bends. Our folly or our sin is its primary canse. Then it is wholly our own. It is well to eearch ourselves and see if the root of the matter be in us. 1f it ie, there is no hope of salvation while It remains there. To cut down the superficial growth wil.l do no good, The deep-oeated root will sprout again. Evil must be eradicate~ from the heart. We want a cure that goes to the root of the matter . .v. THE ROOT OF DIVINE GR.I.OE IB A BURE SOURCE OF DIVINE LIFE. There a.re good things as well as evil things that have their roots in a man. The root of the better life may be in a man when we do not see it. L It is within the individual man. Otherwise the external grace is not his. 2. It may be hidden. 3. The growth above may be checked. 4. Still, if the root of the matter is in the soul, there must be some growth visible in the outer llfe.-W. F, A.
EXPOSITION.