The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 405

Qf providence. But we have, what be had not, the fuller renla.tion of God in Christ What we now need is not a fresh revelation, but eyes to read and henrte to perceive the Christian revelation, External, visible manifestations of God are not to be looked for now. Miracles were useful in the childhood of the race and in the infancy of the Ohurob, but we he.ve no right to expect miracles to make God better known to us. With ue the µeed is of an interior illumination. So long e.e our spiritual sympathies are blind to God, no external manifestation will satisfy our needs. At the ea.me time, we may well pray for God's hand to be stretched forth in action. There are huge wrongs in the world and sorrowful miseries. The Church cries out for the fuller coming of Christ in his kiµgdom.-W. F. A. Ver. 2.-Removing the lan<!,marks. This was an old offence under the Jewish Law (Deut. xix. 14). .Here it appears first in a list of unjust actions. It introduces us to questions concerning the ethics of property. I. PRIVATE PROPERTY IB RECOGNIZED BY SCRIPTURE. We cannot say that this indubitable fact is a complete a.newer to the proposals of the socialist, because it is not the function of revelation to deterµ1ine social systems. It comes in to regulate our conduct under existing arrangements. Still, the recognition of private property shows that it is not in itself an evil thing, It may be urged that similar arguments would apply to polygamy and slavery, both of which are recognized and regulated in the Bible. '!'here is this difference, however, that an enlightened Christian conscience perceives that the last-named practices are evil, and could only have been tolerated for a. time t,o prevent greater evils; but the Christian conscience does not repudiate the idea of private property. Socialism may be fairly presented and argued a.bout on grounds of expediency; but:ft cannot claim Christian teaching as favouring it rather than a. wise and brotherly exercise of the rights of property. The short, temporary experiment at ,Jerusalem, when the disciples h.eld all things in common, whatever this was (and it wag far short of socialism), soon broke down. It was never urged on apostolic authority ; it cannot be quoted a,!I the model for all Church life. II. PRIVATE PBOPERTY NEEDS CLEAR DEFINITION. There mW!t be landmarks, or there will be trespassing, springing from misunderstanding, leading to quarrelling. W a.rs between na.tioJ:!S arise often out of disputes about boundaries, and private differences most frequently originate in.a want of common agreement in the definition of rights. This is true of abstract as well as concrete rights. Nothing is more necessary for·the maintenance of social order than that each individual in the state should know the limits th.at thej~t. claims of others put upon his liberty. Absolute freedom is only possible on the prairie, or for a Robinson Crusoe on his solitary island. Directly we come to live in society we have to study mutual harmony, a.nu to adjust the claims of neighbours. The perfect state becomes a sort of mosaic in which each individual bas his place without overlapping.that of his neighbour. Ill. ONLY CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE WILL PREVENT THE ABUSE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. Each man is tempted to enlarge upon his rights. Without considering himself a thief, he is urged to remove the landmarks to his own advantage. State justice and the strong arm of the law prevent this wrong as far as possible. But real justice between man a.!Jd man can never be perfectly established by government. There are innumer- able ways in which the strong can oppress the weak, and the cunning impose upon the unwary, without any interference by the law. We must have a spirit of justice in the people to prevent these evils. Now, it is the glory of the Old 'l'esta.ment that it con- stantly impresses on us tho duty of justice and the sin of injustice. This grand lesson is not the less imperative because we live in New Testament times. The grace of Obrist is the inspiration of all goodness. No one can be a. true Christian who is not upright in business, and straightforward in his dealings with his neighbours. Christian charity does not dispense with the primitive duty of justice.-W. F. A. Ver. 4.-0ppressing t!u, poor. I. A COMMON PRACTICE, The Old Testament rings with denunciations of this evil, showing that it was rife in the days of ancient Israel. The New Testament repeats the denunciations of the Old. John the Baptist and Christ himself had to speak against unjust exactions. St. James suggests that the practice was even found in Christian Churches (Ja.s. v. 4). It has not disappeared in our own  THE BOOK OF JOB. [OR. llIV, 1-211,