The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 651

former prosperity, virtually pronounce& judg:ment against the devil. Job baa not been 11 foir-wenther professor of religion, but nn earnest and sincere follower of lieaven, clin!;- ing fo hie piety amidst the severest reverses, anrl not only serving God for nought, but adhering to him even when it seemed that God had cast him off. It was, therefore, use- less 4> continue the experiment a moment longer. Accotdingly it is stated," The Lord also ncceptad Job." Four things are mentioned as giving unmistakable evidence of Jehovah's acceptance of his servant. 1. The cessation of his trial. "Ancl the Lord" -that marks the Author of Job's deliverance-" turnecl the captivity of Job;" that describes its joy, it was like the coming home from exile; "when he prayed for his friencls;" that specifics its time, when Job was interceding with Heaven in behalf of others. 2. The return of his prosperity. "Also the Lord gave .Job twice as much as he had before;" "fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses;" but only the same number of children as before-" seven sons and three daughters," perhaps because the former seven and three were not lost, but only gone before. They who lose all for God on earth will not be losers in the end. Job received twice as much as be had before. Christ'~ followers are promised "an hundredfold more in this world, and in the world to come life ever- lasting." 3. The sympathy of his friends. "Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that ha<l been of his acquaintance before." During the time of his desolation they bad deserted him, as he pathetically complained (eh. xix. 13-19), thinking him an ol1ect of Divine clispleasure. Now they return with the first symptoms of returning prosperity. "And they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him." A little of this would have cheered him ,vben in the depths; but, alas! then it was a.wanting. Let it not, however, be asserted that their display of sympathy was purely super6cial, that in fact they were a company of hypocrites, since they at least offered a small token of their honesty in every one presenting him with gifts. "Every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an ear-ring of gold." 4. The happiness of his old age. Sur- rounded by a family of fair daughters and noble sons, as in the beginning of his days, and possessed of a constantly augmenting estate, the devout patriarch glided peacefully along the stream of life, till at length he reached the grave an old man and full of days, having lived after the_ cessation of his afflictions a hundred and forty years, and seen his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. Learn: 1. That only that piety is sincere which exalts God and abases self. 2. That no man can truly know himself until be has first known God. 3. That true repentance ever springs from a believing apprehension of God. 4. That God is deeply displeased with those who misrepresent either himself or his ways. 5. That a good man may commit many faults without forfeiting the Divine favour. 6. That the Law of Moses was not the first or the only shadow of the good things to come. 7. That from the first the sinful world possessed a way of salvation. 8. That the essential element in justifying faith is for a.II men the same, viz. obedience to the revealed will of God. 9. That God's people are commonly most blessed themselves when trying to promote the good of others. 10. That God will yet turn the captivity of all his suffering })eople, causing their night of sorrow to be followed by a morning of joy. 11. That God will not forsake his people who adhere to him. 12. That a peacefnl old age in the bosom of a pious family is one of the choicest blessings a saint can enjoy on this sicle of heaven. 13. That notwithstanding God can give a saint on earth unspeakable felicity, it is better that the saint should ultimately die and go to heaven. Vers. 6, 6.-Hearsay and vision. I. HEARSAY 1s NOT VISION. Hearsay may be distinguished from vision two ways. 1. In respect of its nature. Hearsay, as the term signifies in common speech, is information received at second hand, by report, in con- trast to that derived from personal observation and experience, which it is usual to describe ns seeing. When applied to our knowledge of Divine things, the former may be understood as signifying all that instruction which comes to us from without, all that we receive from tradition, whatever is imparted to us by parents, teachers, minis- ters, that which we extract from catechisms, religious books, and even from our Bibles by our ordinary faculties of perception and reason-in short, everything commonly included in the phrase, "the letter of the truth;" the latter 11oints to such a direct,  668 THE BOOK OF JOB, [oR. nu. 1-11.