The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 335

JlOOUl d88Cribe the golden ago these figures occur : "streallls of milk, etrelln1il of nectar flowed" (Ovid, 'Mct11m.,' i. 111, sqq.; Theocr., 'Id.,' v.124, sqq.; Virg., • Eel.,' iv. 30; Hor., • Epod.,' rn. 47). "He gh,es back what he hR.S gained, and enjoys it not; aooord- ing to the property of his barter he is not merry;" that is, in proportion 11e he em'ployed unjust means of exchange, to obtain temporal goods and enjoyment, he does not rejoice In them, he must go without the mirth that he promised himseJf from them (ver, 18). '' For be crushed, and caused the lowly to lie down." With wltat tender regard does biblical morality and law treat the poor and defenceless I what indignation does it testify against the oppressor! "He snatched houses for himself, and built them not." 'I'he meaning perhaps is, he built them not anew, did not succeed in rebuilding them according to his taste, bec.·msc he could not possess them for a pcrmancnco (ver. 19). " For he knew no rest in his belly." "The way of peace" (Isa.. lix. 8) is not for restless greed and selfish he.rdness to othen;' sufferings to tread. ''Therefore he will not e6C11.pe with that which is dearest to him" (ver. 20). "Nothing escaped his greed,, therefore his po888SSions she.11 not continue" (ver. 21), "In the fulness of his super- fluity he comes into straits; every hand of the wretched comes upon him" (ver. 22). The clamours of those whom he hR.S wronged, the cries of the widows, the orphans, the poor, make a din in the ears of the bad man; their hands stretch forth to seize the goods of which he has defrauded them. It is a striking picture of retribution. Perhaps the most salient point in this description is that of the inse.tiableness of greed .. "The dire dropsy increases by self-indulgence, nor expels the thirst, unless the cause of disease flees from the veins, and the watery languor from the pale body," se.ys:Horace; in a noble ode on the use and abuse of riches. "You shall more widely rule," he says, "by taming the greedy spirit, than could you join Libya t.o far-off Gades"(' Od.,' ii. 2). Riches cannot satisfy the soul, nor any earthly good, but only God (Eccles. i. 8). The covetous temper finds as much want in what it has as in what it has not. No posses- llions, however great, can satisfy us, until we have found the treasury of all good things in God. We are still little Alexanders, not content to rule over one world-grieved.to hear there are no more (Brenz ). 4. ,E,nd of the wicked man in accordance with the Divine judgment. (Vers. 23-28.) "'!'hat it may serve for the filling of his belly, he causes his fiery wrath to fa.11 upon him" (comp. eh. :xvilL 15). (On the figure of filling, the belly, cf. ver. 20; Luke :xv. 16.) "And causes to rain upon him with his food;" that is, his food, the wages of his sin, is the just punishment from God (ver. 23). The description goei; on to point out the means by which the wrathful judgment of Heaven is executed (ver. 24, sqq.). (1) Warlike examples: pursuit and wounds. "He fiees from the iron harness, the brazen bow pierces him" (Judg. v. 26). He draws the arrow from his bodv (Judg. iii. 22), and the shining steel comes out of his gall; the tel'l"ors of death come upon him (ver. 25). Then (2) some further -0.escriptions of the •Divine judgment, especio.lly with reference to the property of the wicked. "All de.rkness is reserved for his treasures." His hoards are exposed to every casue.lty. He finds that he has been "treasuring up for himself-wrath!" (Rom. ii. 5). .A. fire that no human hands he.ve kindled devours him, destroying the relics of former judgments (ver-. 26). "'rhe heavens disclose his guilt, and earth rises against him" (ver. 27). A. striking coutre.st to eh. xvi. 18, 19, where Job had appealed to heaven and earth as witnesses of his innocence. 'l'hus denied and cast from both, the only place for the wicked is in Sheol, or Hades. The produce of his house must pass away, like wrecks floating down a flood, in the day of God's wrath (ver. 28). CoNcLUSION. "Sueh is the lot of the wicked man from God, and the heritage allotted to him by God " (ver. 29). The witness of nature against the sinner-this is the most powerful concluding thought in this awe-striking address. Nature seema t.o he uncon- 41Cious of men's guilt, as of their virtues. The leaves of the forest do not shudder, the bright blue sky is not overcast, the earth does not quake when deeds of crime are done. Yet that majestic order represented by heaven and earth-the order which finds its reflection in tbe conscience of man-cannot be "Violated with impunity. It will· avenge itllelf in the end. And we see from time to time striking types and prophecies of this in the way by which crime is detected from the traces left on the face of nature, or by the clues afforded by natural Jaw. The light of day reveals the deed of the night-time, and the earth gives up her dead. If all sins thus leave some record, what rest or pe~e «Nld there be for the guilty conBCience except iD the gospel, which assw-e11 u11 that w OH, ;n:, 1-29,] THE BOOK OF JOB. 349