Ver. 11.-The BWperimity ef mm to animal.s. Man is naturally superior•~ a~i.tnals-,, I. IN INTELLIGENOE. We cannot but admire the intelligence of· the horse, the dog the elephant, the ant. There seems to be more than instinct •in.,these· creatures• w; notice in them the germs of a reasoning power, because they can adapt menn11 to .;nds, accommodate themselves to fresh circums~ances, and overcome unexpected. difficulties. Yet man's intelligence far exceeds that -0f the animal world. Two stri.kina character- istics which are peculiar to it may be noted. 1. The sup1·emacy of man. "'Man·is,one of the weakest and most defenceless creatures. He has not the hide,of. tte.rlµaoceroa,. nor the horns of the bull, nor the fangs of the lioo,.nor,the1.strength,o&:an!r-of:thesa cre&tures. Yet be· mllstere ,them 1IIOd rules the. world,• simply. by• ·means·r of ~s.tiperior, intelligence. 2. The progress of maA Only man among, the animals OO.va.1ilces ia•i:iv.is· lization. Ants bllild now ·as their ancestors built ages ago. J Man only mov,e,s mrward. The savage may seem to be as low as the baboon;- but he is susceptible,of111D:)eaucation that his humble cctusin can never enjoy. ,, .i.- • ,,; c.,:;;icL·•,,;,:. c'u._,C:, ,; U. IN ooNsOIENOE. T !i ere seems to be a ~race of conscience in ,the shame o.Ji :the :dog, when be has done what he knows has •been forbidden him.; But though•1t)le ammal, may know· shame, he does not know sin. Purity is an idea quite foreign.to.his.nature." He may be generous, and he may sacrifice his life in devotion to his master. Yet he cannot feel the hunger and thirst after righteousness. The deep sense of si.n..i:t.nd the great desire for holiness are peculiar to man. • /. . ·.. : III. IN nELIGJON. A dim religious foeling may ,be dawning ~· the dog when. he raises adoring look11 to his master, often t.o a very unworthy master~like poor.Caliba.n- worehipping drunken Stephano. Bat the a.nima.l ~nnot know God. , -Man alon~ of .-all God's creatures knows his Maker. All nature praises God unconsciously, ohly i:pan blesses him consciously.· To man it is given to feel the love of God,.aod to Jove Gcid in return. Man is permitted. to hold communion with Go<i.; he is God's child. ' Nature is the work of God ; man his son. Nature is dependent on her Creator; man ,is .sus- tained by his Father. ._ IV. IN D!VTh"E FAV0UB. This is implied by alHbat precedes. All the superiority, of man is from -God. Intelligence, oonscience, and religion :ai;:e Divine endowment.ii; We could not raise ourselves above the ani.tna] world, foi: :po. creature could transcend its own natnre. If our nature is superior to that of animals, this fact is wholly owing to the grace of God. But we may go further, an~ eee t~at grace not_ only ~n. our ori.,,inal creation and natural endowments, but also m onr history. . By his providence God has been adding to his fav-0ur. Not for the animals, but for man, &lid man alone, Christ came. The Incarnstion was a fact of the human world, •and :ln it man ia supremely honoured by being united t.o God. Man is redeemed by the death of:the Son of God. • • • V. IN onLIGATIOJJ. Much is expected from him to whom mueh has been:giv.en. What is innocent in the animal may be sinful in man. It is a degradation for man tG Bink down to 1lnimalism. lk-utal vio\ence and bestial vice are utterl.f unworthy of .a being enlted far aboft the animals by nature and the grace o( -God. • When man 1lnka down ta the level of the •animal11 he really falls much lower, : It ls an insult to innocent bru.tee to usociate them with the habits of corrupt men.-W. F. A. cl&. XXXVI. l-'-3&.] THE BOOX OF JOB. 675
•Var. 14,-.From despair to tf'WJt. Job had often expressed a deep desire to meet with God. He ·liad longed for an opportunity of making his case clenr and having it tried by his great Judge. He had felt like a prisoner lancruishin~ in' "aol -.yitho)lt A trial, grontly wi~hing for an habeas corpus; and he had despaired of ;ver being brobght face to face wilh his Accuser, who~ as he thought, was also his ,Ju<l"e. Now Elihu ~ells him that God is already attending to his case, and therefore that he should have faith. • I. THE BUFFEKEK'l;l DESPAIR, Job despairs of seeing God. He has indeed expressed a confident assurance that he wi11 behold his Redeemer with his own eyes; be himself, and not another (eh. xix. 25-27). We need not be startled at the contradiction. In such darkness as that of Job's, faith ebbs and flows. For a moment the clouds break and a gleam of sun.shine falls on the sufferer's path, and at the sight of it he leaps up triumphant; but soon the blackness closes in again, and then the despair is as deep as ever. 1. God ia not seen by the bodily eye. We may sweep the heavens with the most powerful telescope, but we shall never discover their King seated on his throne amonn- the stars. 2. ·aod does not give an immediate solution of our difficulties. We a.sk 1:tin!. to decide our case, to justify the right, and to ·destroy the false. Yet he does not seem to be interfering; for the confusion and the injustice remain. 'fhen the weary waiting leads us to think that he will never appear. "Ilope deferred ma.keth the heart sick," and in its sickness it loses its hope. , II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO FAITH. 1. God is not neglecting us. Elihu assures Jc;ib that his case is already before his Judge. It is neither forgotten nor postponed. It is now being tried. Elihu was quite justified in making this statement, as we know from the prologue (eh. i. 8-12). Job was being tried before God throughout; and so also were his friends, as the.conclusion of the book shows (eh. xiii. 7-9). Per- haps one lesso.n· to be taught by this great poem is that God is watching man, and dealing justly with him, even when no indication of Divine interest or activity is vouchsafed to hilll, The verdict is not yet given nor the judgment pronounced; but the case is proceeding, and the Judge is carefully attending to it. Tliat is what this book teaches concerning the great, problem of life. 2. We should learn to trust God. We cannot see our Judge as yet. We must :wait for the verdict. AU i:! dark to the eye of een~e. · But if we know that God is watching over us and considering our con- dition, we ought to be assured that we- cannot suffer from neglect. The special region for faith is'this present scene of darkness, and we are to expect the darkness to continue , a~ long as the faith is to. be·exerclsed. But this will not be for ever. Job was right wlte11, in a moI11ent of strange elation, he leaped to the assurance that his Redeemer lived, and t~at he wou).d see him at t)le latter day,-:-W, F. A.