The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 346

do not eee or do not e,teadily look a;t the difficulties by which' earneet eeekere after truth are perplexed, nnd accordingly withhold from these All expression of sympathy for thair doubt, nnd ,tnfeeTingly condemn them for their: unbPlief; whereas could good people only eoe tho difficulties which stand in the way of tho8'e whom they ea.II sceptics, infidels, heretics, thay would at le~t commiserate, if they dirl not participate in, the hesitation and nncertainty they condemn. 4. Prof=d revtrence. Job could not con- t'emplate the e.wflll problem to which he alladed without trembling and bewilderment. The prosperity of the. wicked was a theme that filled hiar with silent astonishment, that dazed his int!;lllect the more he reflected on it, that seized bis spirit with a sort of etupefnction.....Jseeming as it clid on the one hand (i.e. on the theory of the friends) to etiggest blasphemous thoughts of God, a.nd on the other h:md (i.e. on the hypothesis a(jvanced by him) to foreshadow appalling woes for the wicked. Job, who wa.s not terrified by Eliphaz's spectre, who was not moved by the prospect of Ha.des, was over- powered with consternation at what appeared, to tarnish the. Divine glory or to impair the happiriess'of man. So Abraham was jealous of the Divine honour (Gen. xviii. 25), and David was afraid of the Divine judgments upon the wicked (Ps. cxix. 20). So by nil me.rt, and in particular by all saints, should God's Person be held in reverence (Ps. lid.xix. 7), and·God's Word be listened to with awe (Isa. lxvi. 2), and God's works and ways in both the Church and the world be studied with silent wonder (Pa. :dvi. 10·; Hab. ii. 110;, Zepb. i. 7; Zeeb. ii. 13). •· II.' TuE'A/iOUMENT OF JoB's REPLY. The dogma of Zophar and his companions was contrndicte1l ),y: L .The facts o/eiperience. (Vers; 7-21.) In enlarging upon these, Job draws attention to three poil).ts. (1) The prosperity of the wicked (vers. 7-13). This be represents as.: (a) Long-continued, "the wicked" being permitted "to live and become old" (ver. 7). Eliphaz ·had affirmed that the ungodly transgressor should ilie before his"time (eh. xv. 20, 32), and Zophar had declared that the joy of the hypo- crite was b.tit for a moment (eh. xx. 5), • These statements, Job asserts, were notoriously iiicorrect; "(b) Greatly augmented," the wicked" not simply living long and happily, but, as if once more to: confute Eliphaz ( eh. xv. 29) and Zophar ( eh. xx. 15), becoming (' inigh_ty in power,'' attaining to vast wealth, and therefore to what wealth represents- influence;honour, pleasure-a:-the three principal ingredients in the world's cup of felicity. (c) Firinly'established, the good fortunes of the wic1':ed descending to their families, who; ~n express contraffiction to the teaching of Elipbaz (eh. xv. 34), BiJdad (eh. xviii. 19), and Zophar (eh. xx. 10), grow i,ip to ·manhood and womanhood, and permanently settle beside the patriar'chal tents-one of the best and most highly valued blessings a parent can enjoy, as Job formerly knew from personal experience (eh. i. 4, 5). (d) Perfectly secured, their houses ··being safe from fear, or '' in peace, without alarm," and having no rod of God'upon thein (ver. 9), as his had when attacked by Chaldean r0bbers, a.nd desolated by Divine judgments-a.gain in flagrant antithesis to Eliphaz (eh. xv. 34); Bildad (ch.xviii, 15), and Zophar.(ch. xx. 26). (e) Richly varied, consisting of material increase (ver. 10), in opposition to Eliphaz (eh. xv. 29) and Zopbar (eh. xx. 28); family enl.arg~ment '(v-er. 11), against Bildad (eh. xviii. 19); and social felicity (ver. 1,2), insteatl of the lifelong misery awarded to them by Eliphaz (eh. xv. 20), Bildad (eh:· xviii. 11..:...14), and Zophar (eh. xx. 18). (f) Absolutely uninterrupted, their ~fflu~nce: a.nd ease never ceasing throi.1ghout life, but attending them to the grave's mouth, into' wMch they quietly and quickly drop without experiencing either physical disease or mental misery(ver. 13)~·thns attaining to the very culmination of mundane f~licity..:...a picture widely different from that sketched by 'Eliphaz (eh. xv. 24), Bi!dad (qh; xviii; 18),· 'and Zophar (cb. xx:. 11). · (g) Divinely bestowed, Job adding (ver. i6) that the. true source of all the. felicity and prosperity enjoyed by the wicked, though not recogi;iized as· .such by ti:iern, was .the hand of God, who is the primal Fountain of every benefit .conferred on man, whether temporal or eternal, material or spiritual (Jas. i. 17), who makes his sun to shine upon the evil and the good (Matt. v. 45), and who .so d"erLls with the ungodly to lead them to repentance (Rom. ii. 4). (2) The impiety of, the prosperous (vers, 14-16). This Job depicts in four particulars: (a) Thfstra,ngeness of it. On the theory f)f the friends, these favourites of fortune ought to have_been good; "and yet" (ver. 14) they were the opposite. Though designed to eqgender piety in the heart, material prosperity, in point of fact, seldom does. ' Yet God's goodness to the sinner is an aggravation of the sinner's criminality  880 THE BOOK OF JQB. [on, XXI, 1-84,,