The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 653

(comp. Ps. xl~iii, 9). We hear aboue God from the sources of _early instruction, parentR, teachers, pulpits, and books, and,yet may thus not be brought mto pereonAI communica- tion with God, In contrast to this is the personal vision of God. Not with the eyes of the body, but with the deeper view of the mind-the intellectual intuition, the cnn- templntion of the Invisible through his oreative manifestations (Rom. i. 19, 20). This immediate view of God pro<luces at once a r.ew view of self. 'l'o see that God is infinite is to see that we are finite; to behold his perfection is to be sensible of our own imperfection; to ncknowledge him to be in the right is to confess that onr thoughts are wron"'; to bo amazed and enraptured with his glory ie to loathe our own meanness. Yet these thoughts m11y exist in the mind, and yet be without result except that of conscious misory. But their tendency and their purpose a.re to produce repentance, as we see in the exnmple of Job. And here we mark the traits of a true repentance. It is to" recall" the idle word, the impious thought; and it is to reverse the attitude of the mind from that of presumption and pride to that of submission and humility. So in dust and ashes, with pride a.based, overcome by the Divine majesty, would Job offer thos'-' sacrifices which God does not despise (Ps. Ii.). In returning to God he returns to his true spirit and attitude of patience. Out of this, by the provocation of his friend.•, he had allowed himself to be roused. But now bee.ring the rod, and who bath appointed it, kissing the hand that bath smitten, he we.its in silence until the blessing of the Most High a.new exalts the sincere penitent.-J. • Vere. 7-17.-0onclusion of the story. I. THE DIVINE JUSTIFICATION OJ' JoB. (Vers. 7-10.) The cure of the inward sickness of the sufferer's spirit is followed here, as we often see in the course of life, by outward health and har,piness. 1. The reproof of the friends. (Ver. 7.) Addressing Eliphaz, as their chief spokesman, Jehovah declares his displeasure that they have not spoken the truth ccncerning him. Not that they have spoken with wilful dishonesty, but that they have been in error. There has been a want of heart, and therefore a want of right thought. They have refused to receive the testimony of e. brother's substantial innocence; have persistently tried to fix on him a guilt which did not exist. The habit of censoriousoess, the habitual exclusion of charity from our feelings, vitiates and falsifies the whole course of our thought. The grave question arises, whether any intellectual error can in the end escape condemna- tion; whether the very definition of such error is not the thought arising from an evil state of heart. But Job, on the other hand, has spoken the substantial truth, and for tho opposite reason. Again and again we have seen bow his contention is for truth ; and how, beneath all the irritation of his hasty words, there has beeo throbbing a heart true to God. And now comes the hour of recognition, as it ever will come for every faithful soul. What a blissful sound is there in those words of recognition and ot pardon and of justification," My servant Job"! What grace in the long-delayed, but now fully granted answer to the prayer(cb. xvi. 21) that right may be done before Go.J and his friends I But let us clearly grasp and retain the principle and the contents of this Divine judgment. The friends spoke ill, and Job spoke well. 'fhis is the Divine ju<lg- ment. On what ground is it based? Their one point was this: affliction is the evidence of God's wrath, and of the afflicted one's guilt. And they were wrong. Job's insistence is that afflictions are not always the sign of the sufferer's guilt nor of the 1.nger of God. And Job is right. And there remains the grand principle illustrated by the discourses of Jehovah, and on which this judgment rests, that affliction comes from the will of supreme power and justice. And this is so, although the reasons of affliction cannot by our imperfect intelligence be fully known. At the same time, the judgment on this great point at issue does not exclude the elements of truth and beauty to be richly found in the discourses of the friends; nor does it excuse the passion and the he.sty speeches of Job. 2. Sacrifice for sin and intercessory prayer. (Vere. 8, 9.) The friends are directed to perform an act of worship, the character of which appears to point back to early times (comp. Numb. xxiii. 1; Gen. vii. 2, 3; viii. 20, et seq.). All outward sacrifices were the visible expression of inward feelings, of thankfulness nnd joy, of reverence, and especially, as here, of the desire of the penitent to renounce his sin and be e.t one with his God. Blood was the most sacred symbol, beca.nse it was the expression of life. The life of the animal offered in sacrifice repre- eent11 the life of the worshipper sunendered to God. Hence for us the deep significe.uce 670 THE BOOK OF JOB. [on. nn. 1-17.