The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 447

.Man is absolutely y,omrless to spee.k 1L profit.able word upon •the subject, "seeing it le bid from the eye5 of l\ll living" (Yer. 21). So the Divine plan of redemption ie one wbloh it nenr would h11.ve entered into the mind of man to col'loelve (i Cor. Ii. 8 9), And hence bame.n schemes of ea;lvAtion have ever proved i.osuffioient and worthiess, (2) The creat-un>~ gen~rnlly ~re u?able ~ &ffor~ !nformetion on this lofty "uestian, Even the far-seeing birds, 'tO which ancient d1vmers were wont to turn In their perplexitieB, have no oracle t-0 11tter, seeing it is "kept close from the fowla of ihe air" (ver. 21). (3) The inhabitants of the underworld are equally at a Joas on this high matt.er. " Destrue\.ion and deRth say, We have heard the fame .thereof with our ears" (ver. 22). That is to say, the dwellers in the realms of the dead are aware of its existence, but ean oommunicate no knowledge of its nature and worth, And, having thus shut off a11 oteated bein~s from participation in this wisdom, the poet 1iods by solemu ly declaring: 2. That, true wi.sdom is the property of God alone,· " God ,ind,irstandoth the way thereof, and he knowetb. the place thereof" (ver. 23). -Besides st&ting th&t God knows whenoe trne wisdom is to be obtained, Job designs to oonvey the thought that God alone -is in possession of this wisdom. Looking to the ends of the l'arth and searching und81' the whole heaven, he "Uot only con:iprehends with his omniscient glance "where wiedon, dwelleth;" but, in virtue of that knowledao, he 111 himself the infinitely wi8e and understanding One (eh, xii.13) .. · 8. ,Tha,t,f:rue w~'sdom has been ez,emplijied by God alone. The creation of the world was a sublime -mani.{e&- ttltion of this wisdom .(Prov. viii. 27-31). In particular the -establishment of .filiose 1aws which regulate the force of the wind, the distribution of';Jand and w.:i.tel',:the collecting and emptying of the rain-clouds, and the origin and course of. the' lightning, was a ~ignal display of -celestial inteUigence (vers. 25, 26). Nay,, when the:-almighty Artificer fashioned the universe, then. did he search out this wisdom, assign •to :it a place and fonction in his -grand creative work, and commit ,to it the ,pt"oduction, ·preserv&tion, and providential government of all finite things (ver. 27).. With this unheginning Wisdom St. John (i 1--4) identifies the Word-of God, the Lord Jesne Christ. ·•1 ,.. ••. ," i, I\T. TRUE WISDOM DIVINELY REVEALED TO lliN. Though·undiscoverable 1b:t'human genius, and unpurchaseable by human gold, true wisdom has bot -been withheld froin mau. He hBS received it by _r-evelation. 1. The lxvifvity oj,thu revelation.. It1hae not been imparted b.v r:ature. 'l'be material fabric of creation is:a product and a display of celestial wisdom; but it is not sufficient for man as a la.w by conforming to,which· he too may attain unto wisdom. Nor has me.n himself disoovered it, either•h-Y'iphysical or scientific research, or by philosophical or religious speculation 1 or by -heathen: and superstitious divination. The Jaw which should constitute: man a participator in erernal wisdom was and ie something distinct.from' ·the ·Jaws which ·,regulate. matter. It was a something communiee.ted to man over and· above all. that:God' Mid: to him indirectly through the medium .of DB,ture. 2. The antiquity of thill revela,t_i<m. · At 'ftl'ioue subsequent periods, as e.g. at Sinai; and again at the Advent, repeated and enlarged, it was yet :first· delivered in tmi day of man's• creation, when.· God,· having made man e.n 1ntelligent e.nd responsible creature, placed him under the law· of right, <engraven on the fleshy tablets of his heart. 3. The import of this revelation. That heavenly wisdom has for man an inward essential principle, and an outward pjlrmanent expression. (1) The inward essential principle: "the fear ol the Lord (Adonai)." This feaf" u not a slavish dread, but a filial and reverential awe, based upon ajust con- ception of God's greatness (oh. xxv. 2), and of man's relation to him as moral-Governor (Ps. :uxili 8). Such fear is the root and mainspring of al! piety in souls (Deut. v. 29; x. 12; 2 Kings xvii. 36; Pd. z:evi. 4, 9·; cxlvii. 11; Eccles. xii. 13; ·Matt,, x. 28; 1 Pet. i 17). It is also the troe souroe e.nd commencement -of all-genuine wisrlom (Ps. c:ri. 6; Prov. i. 7; ix. 10). Henee "wisdom" and·" piety"" or religion"are synonymous terms. Nor can it be doubted that for a humau 58ul to fear God-, in the co:nprehensive and exalted sense -above referred to, is supremely rea:sonable in itself, and incon_testably wise as a principle for the regnlation of- life; '.l'be -term btiofly defines the :attitude intelligent beings should maintain towards God, the all-glorious -moral GovernoF·of the universe. Originally implanted in man at creation, and afterwards obliterated by the Fall, it is now being reim.planted or reawakened in man by the gospel.· ,(2) The outward -permanent es:presaion: "1lo depart from evil." To fear God and yel1-tontfnue on, xxvm, 1-28,] THE BOOK OF JO:S.