But nil these were comprehended by eternnl wisdom. How immeasurably foolish then must it be for:mnn to prestlme that he either can, or ought to be a.hie to, unde~stan,i the moral u.dministre.tion of o. world of whose original construction he ie entirely ignorant I Nothing Is better calculated to humble the pride of human wisdom than to reflect both how small is the circle of knowledge surveyed by the wisest in compnriaon with the vnst sphere of ignore.nee by which he is still encompassed, and in particular how infinitesimal is the largest quantity of science collected by man when weigheil against the immensure.ble omniscience of God. 3. The impotence of ma,r.'s arm a11 compared with the omnipotence of God. Vast in contrivance and execution as are many of the works of man, the building of the pyramids, the exploration of mines, the construction of locomotives, the tunnelling of mountains, and other mighty achieve- ments of human genius, it is certain that man himself must regard these as puny and insignificant beside, the gigantic works of nature, the piling up of Himalayas, the formation of oceans, the establishment of those mysterious influences which men in their ignorance denominate physical forces, the peopling of earth, air, and sea with their myriad forms of life. And yet these are all the handiwork of Go<l, effected by his power with infinite ease and with such consummate skill that man cannot hope to improve them, cannot even imitate them, yea, can hardly succeed in making a perfect copy of them. Nay, modem astronomy, by enlarging our conceptions of the stellar world, reminds us that stupendous a work as ie the formation of this material globe, it is in reality one of the smallest of the productions that have come from his creative hand, being in fact but as a drop in a bucket, or as the small dust of a balance, in comparison with the boundless universe to which it belongs. Learn: 1. '!'hat the first of all bein~s is God. 2. That the primal cause of all things ls the power of God. 3. That only the mind which planned the world can perfectly understand its government. 4. That all God's works, in the moral world no less than in the material, are characterized by wisdom. 5. '!'hat God's works should never fail to excite the admiration and rejoicing of God's children. 6. That, though man cannot be saved, he may yet be instructed, by the angels. 7. That if the old or material creation required the power of God, much more does the new or spiritual creation. Ver. 7.-The songs of the angels. I. AT THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, II, AT THE INCARNATION OF TOE SAVIOUR, Ill. AT THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS, IV. AT THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH,
Vers. 8-11.-Jeh9vah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 2. Concerning the sea. I. 'I'nE PRODUCTION OF THE SEA. 1. The place 1ohence it issued. The sea, by a bold metaphor, is represented as a child proceeding from its mother's womb. The allusion apparently is to the third day's creative work, when the terrestrial waters were collected into seas by" the upheaval of the land through the action of subterranean fires, or the subsidence of the earth's crust in consequence of the cooling and shrinking of the interior mass" (' Pulpit Commentary: Genesis,' i. 9). The hitherto quiet surface of the deep being thrown into violent commotion, on the one hand the upward rush of waters occasioned by the sinking of the solid particles would seem like an irruption from the interior of the earth, while on the other hand the backward sweep produced by the sudden upheaval of mountain-peaks would appear as if effected by the superior restraint of some mighty hand. Hence, the whole is depicted as the birth of a young giant, who is no 11ooner ushered into life than ho requires to be restrained and confined. 2. The violence of its irruption. The word employed by Jehovah to describe its evolution from the still chaotic mass of the globe is the fa.me which Scripture writers use to represent the bursting forth of a river from its source (eh. xl. 23), the emerging of a child from its mother's womb (Ps. xxii. 10), the rushing of a soldier into battle (Ezek. xxxii. 2), the springing of a warrior from ambush (Judg. xx. 33). The language conveys a vivid picture of the veh1,ment and sudden manner in which the land and water of our globe were soparated, which, according to both revelation (Ps. civ. 7) and science, was most probably effected by volcanic agijncy. 3. The appearance it presented. Still adhering to the metaphor of a new-born infant, which the nurse wrnps in swaddling-bands and baby-clothes, Jehovah tells the patriarch that he too had provided suitable apparel for 618 THE BOOK OF JOB. rem. xnvm.1--4:1. the new-born eea, giving it clouds for a g,mncnt and darkneee for & be.nd, meaning thal at its first separation from the solid earth it was overhung by heavy vapoura and thick mi~ts which served to enshroud it like a pllll, II. THE DIBPOSITroN oF TRE BEA. 1. The preparatwn, of its plar-e. The reoeived transle.tion, which is clearly inspired by Gen. i. 9 and Ps. civ. 8, :µnderstanda God to MY thllt the newly formed sea was not left to roll its waters at will across the surface of the globe, but was withdrawn into the ocean beds in which at the present time It reats, and that these beds, besides being constructed by Divine agency, acting, no :ioubt, through natural means, had also heen definitely prearranged by Divine wisdom, which had "broken up for it my decreed place," and were permanently fixed by Divine power which hsd "strictly measured its boundary" (Umbreit), or broken over it a Divin: decree (Delitzsch), i.e. imposing upon it a statute of limitation. 2. The restraining q/ its waters. This again is represented as the imprisoning within strongly built walls and firmly barred doors of the aforesaid young and vigorous giant, who cannot be per~ mitted unchecked liberty, but must be kept within bounds. being afforded Bo much freedom and no more-freedom, that is to say, within the precincts of his prison, but not beyond. In the case of the sea, the imprisoning walls and doors are the rocks and sands and beaches which line the coasts of the great ocean waters. And yet it is not these that repel the sea from overflowing its banks, but the voice of God who says, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed; " as it is not the prison walls that really confine the young giant, but the sovereign v,i!l of him, the P.1rent or Nurse, by whom they have been constructed and the infant monster has been immured. • Learn : 1. That God is the Maker of the sea as well as of the dry land. 2. That God can control the sea even in its fiercest moods. 3. That the sea, no lees than other creatures, cannot overstep the bounds assigned it by its Maker. 4. That God's hand upon the sea, and God's voice t.o the s~ are all that keep its waters from overflowing the earth.