The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 611

Ver. 1.-..11 tMophany. At length Job has bia wish. He has been longing t.o meet with God 1md praying for God to reveal himself. 'l'he time bas now come for God t.o hear bis prayer and make hie will known, This ie far more important than man's IIJl8CUIRtions. I. THE OOMING OF Gon. 1. The time Qf Ais coming. God comes last. . 'l'he three friends have had their say, reiterating till they weary us. Job has been free to. vent his grief and his despair. Elihu, more t1n1ightened, yet not quite attaining to the full light, has uttered his long harangue. All have said all they had to say, and throughout God hM been silent. Now it is his time t.o appear. God will h11.ve the last word in every controversy, in every life's story, in the great world's history. "In the begin. ning God--" In the end, too, there is God. Christie the Alpha and also the Omega, We have but t.o wait in patience. 'l'he end is not yet; when it oomes God. revea!J,, himself. 2. The mannsr of his coming. "Out of the whirlwind." When Elijah .met God the Lord was not in the whirlwind. God uses various vehicles of revelation-the "still small voice" for Elijah, the whirlwind for Job. He is not tied down to any routine. He has no rigid ceremonies. He adapts his methods to circumstances and requirements. Anything God has made may be a chariot in which he will come to visit his people. Sometimes it ia best for him to come in storm and tempest, t.o hush our vain babble and subdue onr wayward spirit. 'l'he noisy debate of men is drowned in the whirlwind of God. IL THE ACTION OF GoD. When be comes it is to answer Job. 1. For .Job's sake, Then the first thonght is of the patriarch. He is the central figure in the whole drama; But we might have thought that the three friends would have been rebuked first. Yet their conde1DJ1&tion is postponed. It is more necessary for Job to be ,relieved of his perplexity and led into a right state of mind. 2. .An answer. Then God had hfard wl,at preceded. He may not make his presence manifest, but yet he is a silent Auditor at all onr conferences, debates, quarrels. He hears .our hasty words., He, per- ceives our foolish doubts. God's treatment of us is not irrespective of -0ur action., ,He takes account of all we do and say, and his action is adjusted accordingly. Thus God answers man. He meet.s the doubt, takes up the difficulty; handles tpe complaint, deals with the prayer, replies to the question. We may have to wait .long for. the answer. It may not come in this life. But as it came to Job, so at last, in God'.s time, it will assuredly come to us, and when it has come no more need be said. It will certainly be fnll, sufficient, satisfying. 3. In words. The Lord spoke out of .th11 whirlwind. God usually answers us on earth by deeds of providence, or by the v.oice,; less pleading of his Spirit in our hearts. But he has given ue words in the messages that prophets have brongbt to us and that are recorded in the Bible. For ue, however, God's great answer to every question and every prayer is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. The gospel shows that God has not left us to work out our problems in the dark. It reveals God speaking to us, and his message in Christ is one to give light and peace.-W. F. A.. Ven. 2, 3.-GofEs - · This is perplexing. When after long delays God has at length appeared, we expect him to clear up all doubts and to fully vindicate his providence to Job, while he a.lso vindicates Job in the presence of the three friends: But God acts in a very different wa.y, and rather seems to defend darkneBB and mystery than to shed light. Yet if we look into the matter carefully we shall see t.ha.t all Jh11 light that could be given with profit comes through the new impression of awe and mystery that the language of God's reply produces. , I. l&NORANCE llUBT BE AOlUlOWLEDGED .A.ND KUIDILED. If anything had been most painfully apparent to Job throughoot the whole debate, rousing hie scorn as w_ell. a3 hiE anger, it was the fact that his three fiiende had "darkene<l counsel by ~orde withpub knowledge." Now God will ha.ve Job see that even he has .been making the samo mistake. The perplexed patriarch has been throwing out a cloud of indiguant words, OB, XIXVIU, 1-41.] THE BOOK OF JOB. G27