kindred The kindred of Christ are called his brethren Mark 3.31 Then came his brethren and his mother standing without that is his kindred for whether Christ had any brother in a strict sence as born of the same Mother we have nothing from Scripture to affirm it is generally agreed that he had not his brethren were his kindred at large Abraham spake truly though not the whole truth Gen. 20.12 when he called Sarah his sister that is his kinswoman Moses called Israel brother to the Edomites who were distant from that people many degrees they descending from Esau these from Jacob Numb 20.14 Thus saith thy brother Israel that is Israel that is of thy blood though a great way off Isaac being their common Father Thus here all Jobs brethren and sisters are all his kindred and not only these but All that were of his acquaintance before The Hebrew is All that knew him before that is had familiarity and converse with him before Christ Mat. 7.22 said of those that did so hotly press acquaintance upon him I know you not ye are not of those that I know or have had fellowship with you are none of my acquaintance So that there was a collection of all Jobs relations and friends at that time they all flockt to him and thronged about him as to and about some strange sight the fame of his restoration was soon blown all the Country over Hence the Septuagint render the words paraphrastically Audierunt omnes fratres quae cunque acciderant ei venerunt Sept. All his brethren heard all that had befallen him and so they came But where was his wife There is no mention here of her return she had spoken as a foolish woman Chap. 2.10 and did not answer the duty of her relation after that as he complained Chap. 19.17 My breath is strange to my wife though I intreated for the childrens sake of mine own body yet doubtless she returned to her duty and honoured him as her head and husband now at last else the mercy had not been compleat but defective in a very considerable part of it Now in that Jobs restoring or the repair of his losses began with the return of his friends Observe The loss of friends is a great and grievous loss He that loseth the affection of friends loseth a great possession a great interest Friends indeed are great helps great helpers to be in a friendless condition is to be in a helpless condition to have friends is a very valuable mercy Let us bless God that we have men to friend us above all that God is our friend Secondly These words Then came all his brethren imply that when he was in an afflicted condition none of his friends came at him neither those that are here called his brethren and sisters nor those that are called his acquaintance Hence observe In times of affliction worldly friends will leave us and godly friends may prove strange to us Doubtless among those brethren sisters and acquaintance of Job some that I say not many were godly yet even they left him in the day of his distress Men are but men and they oftentimes shew themselves unconstant to man As Christ had those that followed him for the loaves Amicitia mundi sequitur marsupium so have we too Friendship followeth the purse the bag and when all is gone such friends are gone When Christ himself was in affliction those that were in neer relation to him his very Disciples left him they all left him and Peter denied him When the Apostle Paul was in a great affliction and stood as a prisoner to answer for his life before Nero his friends durst not appear At my first answer saith he 2 Tim. 4.16 no man stood with me all men forsook me He had not a friend that would own him nor appear for him in the time of his affliction and persecution and he prayed that God would not lay it to their charge that they had been thus unfriendly to him Then First Let us not trust in friends no not in a brother and not only not in a brother at large but not in a brother in the strictest sence not in a brother of the same blood and bowels with us no not in a brother of the same faith with us Mich. 7.5 Trust ye not in a friend put ye not confidence in a guide keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosom Trust not in neerest friends no not in godly friends they may fail Though we are to trust them so as not to suspect them yet we are not to trust them so as to rely upon them or to make them our strength for then they prove Egyptian reeds which will not only not support but wound us That 's good counsel Isa 2.21 Cease ye from man let him be who he will though a brother though of most intrinsick and neerest acquaintance though never so great and potent yet cease from him the reason there given is his breath is in his nostrils the man is frail his life is short and uncertain he may not last long And we may take another reason from the Point in hand his love is uncertain as well as his life and his affections seldom last long let us therefore have weaned affections from those that affect us and are friendly to us Then Secondly 'T is our wisdom to get Christ for a friend he is a friend for ever He that would have a friend to stick to him in adversity as well as prosperity let him get Christ to be his friend who is unchangeable whose love fails not that 's our greatest and surest interest Christ having loved his own which were in the world he loved them unto the end John 13.1 That 's the spirit of unfeigned friendship Prov. 17.17 A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity That 's true of a real friend who lives up to the rule of friendship He loveth at all times and therefore to the end When the Prophet Malachi saith Chap. 1.6 A son honoureth his father his meaning is a son should or ought to honour his father or a son who knoweth his duty will honour his father so a friend ought to love at all times and a true friend will yet that Scripture in the Proverbs is chiefly true of Christ and absolutely true of him only he alone is such a friend as loves at all times Hence that divine challenge Rom. 8.35 Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ And then the Apostle proceeds from who to what As no person so no thing can separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or anguish or peril or sword shall these separate us from the love of God no these shall not these cannot these cannot make Christ strange to us nor love us the less he loves in tribulation as well as out of tribulation in streights as well as in our greatest inlargements
Job having with steddy yet trembling attention heard all these words spoken to him with irrefragable authority by the Lord himself out of the whirlwind sate down convinced that surely the great God the Creator of the ends of the earth who had so exact an eye upon all those creatures both for the continuance of their species or kinds and the preservation of their individuals or particulars could not possibly cast off the care of man-kind nor of him in particular no nor put any man to any hardship or suffering but for some great end or ends glorious always to himself and in the issue good for the wise and patient sufferer He was also convinced that himself not well understanding the mysteries of providence nor indeed could any more fully understand them than he did the mysteries of creation or the manner how God laid the foundations of the earth and shut up the sea with doors he I say not well understanding the mysteries of providence was convinced that he had done very ill to make such long and loud complaints about it that is about the severity of Gods dealings with him as if like an enemy he intended him nothing but pain and sorrow by the pains and sorrows which he endured Thus at last Job began to see that as being himself Gods creature God might do with him what he pleased and that God being his absolute Soveraign could not wrong him whatever he was pleased to do with him so that forasmuch as God was so careful of and kind to those inferior reasonless creatures there was no shadow of a reason why he should have the least jealousie of Gods kindness to him and regard of him much less make such an out-cry that God was unkind to and regardless of Him whom he had not only ennobled as the rest of mankind with reason but renewed by grace and filled with the holy fear of his great and glorious name These impressions being made upon Job by the mighty power of God speaking to him out of the whirlwind he presently cryed out as fast against himself and against his own ignorance and rashness as he had done before concerning the harshness of his sufferings under the hand of God confessing chap. 40.4 Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee And chap. 42.3 6. I have uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Job being thus humbled and melted down Job who was lately in the dust of dishonour and almost in the dust of death being thus brought to the dust of repentance the Lord suffered him not to lye long there but quickly raised him up out of all his sufferings and passing by all his mispeakings while sufferings lay heavy upon him he The Lord passed sentence upon or gave judgment against Eliphaz and his two friends as not having spoken of him the thing that was right as his servant Job and not only so but commanded them to do him right by acknowledging that they had wronged him why else were they ordered by the Lord to go unto him as a mediator for their peace why else were they ordered by the Lord to bring their sacrifice unto him that he offering it up and praying for them the wrath of God which was kindled against them might be quenched and they received into favour All these offices of love Job freely did for them and no sooner had he done them but God heaped favours upon him doubling his former substance and causing all his former friends who had carried it unfriendly unhandsomely towards him and would not own him in the day of his distress to hasten their addresses to bring him honourable presents and redintegrate their broken friendship with him In all these things God blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning and he found by comfortable experience which was mentioned at the beginning of this prefatory Epistle out of Solomon's Ecclesiastes that the end of a thing is better than the beginning of it the latter end of his life being fuller of peace riches and honour than the former and he not ending his life in this world till he was full of days fuller of grace and fully fitted for an endless life in glory Thus as in the foregoing parts of this book we have heard of the patience of Job so in this we may see as the Apostle James saith chap. 5.11 the end of the Lord. But what was that end of the Lord Any man of ordinary capacity reading the holy story may resolve it in the common way that The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before that being restored his seven thousand sheep were multiplyed to fourteen thousand his three thousand camels to six thousand his five hundred yoke of oxen to a thousand and his five hundred she-asses to as many This end of the Lord with Job is obvious and runs in sight to every Reader nor can it be denied but that this was a very good and an honourable end yet behold the Lord made a much better and more honourable end for Job than this This was the end of Jobs cross that was not only so but also of his controversie Satan charged Job as an Hypocrite his friends joyned with Satan in that yet stayed not there they charged him likewise as Hetorodox as a man not only unsincere in his profession of religion but unsound in the principles of it The Lord made an end for Job in this matter also abetting his opinion in that great and difficult probleme of providence rather than theirs giving him the day and putting the crown of victory upon his head in that dispute while he said to Eliphaz and his two friends Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job This this was The end of the Lord. To hear this gracious determination from the mouth of the supream and infallible moderator of all controversies was without controversie a thousand times more pleasing and satisfactory to Jobs spirit not only than the double cattle which the Lord gave him but than if the Lord had given him all the cattle upon a thousand hills or than if all the fowls of the air and fishes of the sea had been given to him In this end of the Lord for Job we may see not only that the Lord is infinitely wise and just but as it followeth in that place of the Apostle James very pitiful and of tender mercy The Lord shews himself very pitiful and of tender mercy when he puts an end to the crosses of his servants by doubling their outward comforts he doth so too when he puts an end to the controversies of his servants by vindicating their credit and making it appear that they have spoken of him and of his ways the thing that is right or more rightly than their opposers and reproachers This example of the Lords pity and tender mercy in doing both
for Job may strengthen our faith in believing that he will and lengthen out our patience in waiting till he doth make both these desirable ends for all those who like Job have lay'n long under the pressing burdens of hard afflictions and harsh constructions Now that the Lord would finish this work of mercy and cut it short in righteousness wiping tears from off all faces and taking away the rebuke of his people from off the earth by a timely restitution of them to their lost enjoyments and blasted credits which yet will not be fully done until the times of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began that the Lord I say would finish this work should be our uncessant cry to God in prayer for all his sorrowing Jobs even for all those who are any where companions in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ To his blessing and the effectual working of his holy Spirit I commend you in the perusal of this ensuing commentary that reading ye may understand believe and profit to sanctification consolation and salvation according to the will of God and the hearts desire of May 10th 1666. Your affectionate friend and servant JOSEPH CARYL Reader BY reason of the Authors absence while the greatest Part of the Book was doing the following faults have past which thou art desired to correct Errata Page Line Error Correction 3 23 each to to each 259 22 those these 267 22 Lightning Hightning 289 13 he blot it out 350 3 Indea Judea 351 35 Bengata Bengala 352 12 2d 22d 354 10 have hath 354 13 not so so not 369 14 15 As was shewed before blot it out 394 26 448 38 she he 455 9 our their 468 1 forbids forbad 477 12 not blot it out 615 14 probably probable 620 14 his horns blot out his 620 15 his claws blot out his 645 2 they blot it out 650 20 understand understood 659 26 and to be blot it out 696 7 a no 714 32 have hath 728 20 with blot it out 746 12 them him 746 17 with any ay with 750 4 refuge refuse 770 34 Observation Information 797 13 will willed 806 36 fervency blot it out 822 27 taken taking 831 36 followeth followed 842 37 this the 843 23 means meant 846 4 extraordinary extraordinarily 846 33 repenteth repented 876 13 sheweth shewed 876 13 directeth directed 880 16 his blot it out 881 1 as was 932 24 and so 942 10 take one instance for all blot it out 944 13 are is 944 25 he hath they have 969 19 or and 980 4 do doth 1009 26 first blot it out Omissions Page Line  202 28 after water adde First of the waters in the clouds from those upon the earth Secondly of those upon the earth into the several parts of it 455 24 after come adde she had not been reproved 714 7 after to adde do 769 16 after exercise adde us 777 13 after fear adde not 786 6 after omnipotency adde I know 809 19 after hence adde some 817 8 after ear adde hath often 372 9 after him adde when he asked him whether he would do it 876 1 after it adde even Heathenish 885 6 after and adde as 923 20 after accepted adde them 939 20 after and adde that I. 964 9 after ye adde then 972 14 after is adde said 997 10 after sex adde yet AN EXPOSITION WITH Practical Observations UPON The Thirty-eighth Thirty-ninth Fortyeth Forty-first and Forty-second being the Last Chapters of the Book of JOB JOB Chap. 38. Vers 1 2 3. 1. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge 3. Gird up now thy loines like a man for I will demand of thee and answer thou me THis Chapter begins the last Act or Conclusion of that great Disputation between Job and his three Friends held forth in this Book We have heard Jobs three Friends strongly charging him We have heard Job stiffely defending himself We have heard Elihu though moderating the matter between them yet sharply reproving him Elihu was indeed a quick but a necessary reprover provided and sent by God First To calm and coole Jobs spirit diâ—quieted by enduring sharp afflictions from the hand of God and heated by heaâ—ing those sharper accusations from the tongues of men Secondly To reclaim him from those over-eager defences of his own integrity and likewise from those over-passionate complaints abâ—ut the dealings of God to a better and more submissive temper of spirit towards him as also to lower thoughts of himself Elihu fell upon the usefull point and hit as I may say the Nail on the head he struck the right Vein and met with the peccant Humour yet being young and wanting gravity to set all home and make it work or to make the impression deep enough upon Job it was but need that God himself should second him and he did it to purpose or with full effect pressing the same Arguments for the main which Elihu had begun yet so that we may manifestly discern a wide difference whether we respect words or things matter or manner between men how much soever assisted by the spirit of God and God himself in speaking Here the Eternal God Jehovah having seen his faithful servant and stout Champion Job contending and wrastling long with Satan his professed enemy and with his harsh and censorious though both professed and real Friends foreseeing also that if Job and his Friends who had also been provoked by Elihu should have proceeded to answer him a new broil must needs begin God I say who never fails nor forsakes his in their extreamity or in time of their greatest need seeing and fore-seeing all this stept in most seasonably and most graciously to undertake the decision of this great Controversie between Job and his Friends in person raising a stormy Wind as a witness of his mighty presence or to testifie who was there as also though with a Fatherly love and affection yet impartially and plainly to convince Job of his errour shewing him wherein he had offended and bringing him at last upon his knees in a self-abhorrence and repentance in dust and ashes Thus God the chief Judge the great Arbitrator and Determiner of all doubts and questions and of all matters and things the great God I say declared himself to whom Job had made so many appeals whom he so earnestly desired to take further and fuller cognisance of his Cause He even He comes forth as a just and righteous Judge and lets him and his Friends know his mind and judgement in the case So then The Question ventilated in this Book is not stated according to the judgement of a man who is subject to errour but according to the infinite wisdom and understanding of the great God who searcheth the heart and knoweth all secrets who is light and in whom
ears of others hard words of threatning and hard words of reviling for these the Lord will judge the ungodly as well as for their ungodly deeds Now as there are hard words so soft words What are they Soft words are words of intreaty words of meekness words of love words of submission these are soft words Will Leviathan make supplications or Will he speak soft words Again soft words are often flattering words which are therefore compared by the Prophet Ezek. 13.18 To pillows sowed under the arm-holes Will Leviathan flatter himself into thy favour will he lie down like a Spaniel and fawn upon thee no he is too high-spirited to bow too stiff to stoop he will speak no soft words A soft answer saith Solomon Prov. 15.1 turneth away strife 'T is good when a question is put to us to give a soft answeâ— And if when we have hard words spoken to us we return hard answers they will quickly stir up strife Solomon hath a strange expression Prov. 15.15 A soft tongue breaketh the bones The tongue naturally is a soft fleshy spungy member of the body yet there is nothing hath more hardness I may say more bones in it than the tongue but 't is the soft tongue which breaketh the bones not the bones of the body but of the mind and the meaning is this If the spirit of a man be as stiff as the bones of his body against you yet if you speak soft words you may break him and bring him to your desire whereas if you be high and stiff if you give hard for hard it turns to an exasperation It were no great loss if they could speak no more than Leviathan who like Leviathan know not how to speak soft words And usually they who are freest to speak soft words of flattery are furthest from speaking soft words of love or charity of gentleness and true ingenuity 'T is good and our wisdom in two cases to speak soft words in truth even to those who are none of the best First To avoid hard dealing from those who have us in their power and they who are afraid of hard dealing will sure enough speak soft words whereas a man that cares not how hardly others deal with him cares not to speak soft words Secondly 'T is wisdom to speak soft words when we are in expectation or under hope of receiving benefit or good from any Loqui mollia inferioris est in the power of whose hand it is to do us good They have reason to give good words who would receive any good Thus some speak soft words to divert evil others speak soft words that they may obtain good As for Leviathan he is here represented in the pride of his heart as neither fearing any hurt you can do him nor desiring you should do him any good and therefore Will he speak soft words to thee no not he Hence observe The strong and mighty will not make supplications nor use entreaties They who think they have enough in themselves will not make supplication to God himself they will not entreat his favour nor speak soft words to him There are many such proud stout-hearted Leviathans in the likeness of men Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy wrath upon the families that call not upon thy name There are whole families that will not make supplications to God What are these a company of Leviathans that think they have enough of their own and live in a self-strength or in a self-sufficiency as if they were not beholding to God for any thing they have nor desired to have any thing of him The Lord speaks of a generation of men who shame the counsel of the poor because the Lord is his refuge Psal 14.6 that is because they in all their wants dangers and distresses had recourse to God by prayer as their only refuge Of what spirit those men were who shamed or were ashamed of this counsel and course of the poor he tells us at the 4th verse of that Psalm They eat up my people as they eat bread and call not upon God We thought they have enough of our own strength enough of our own we are Leviathans we need not be beholding to God It is an argument of a wicked stout high mind not to make supplications Prov. 18.23 The poor useth entreaties or the poor speaketh supplications They that are poor in outward things will speak very humbly to those above them and if we know our own spiritual poverty that we are weak empty creatures even nothing-creatures if we are poor in spirit we will be using many entreaties to get in with God and to move him to have mercy upon us None but humble ones and such as see their wants and dangers that they are hardly bestead in this world or are convinced that all the good and great things they have yea that the greatest things they can have in this world can stand them in no stead without God will speak soft words of supplication unto God Leviathan never thinks himself in danger or in want and therefore he scorns all the world and in this he is an emblem of all carnal worldly men And as Leviathan will make no supplications nor speak soft words so Vers 4. Will he make a Covenant with thee Some who think themselves too high to make supplications to others may yet possibly make a covenant with them But Will Leviathan make a covenant with thee he will not The word which we translate a Covenant signifies two things First to chuse because a Covenant is to be made by choice persons and upon choice tearms An scindet vel secabit Heb. foedus factum erat adhibita sectione vituli Secondly it signifies to eat because they were wont to feast when covenants were made The Hebrew is Will he strike or cut a covenant with thee The reason of that was because they were wont to divide a beast and pass between the parts of it at the making of a Covenant Jer. 34.18 They did cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof Will Leviathan cut a Covenant with thee As he will not speak thee fair nor endeavour to soften thy heart towards him by speaking soft words to thee were he in thy power so he will never enter covenant with thee to become thy sure friend much less thy faithful servant as it followeth in the Text. Wilt thou take him for thy servant for ever Many are Covenant-servants for a time some for ever These four things follow in order First Some for fear make supplications Secondly They speak soft words Thirdly They makes covenant or promise Fourthly They offer their service to those in whose hand they are But Leviathan will do none of these from first to last Wilt thou take him for thy servant for ever If thou wilt he will not Suppose thou hadst taken Leviathan with a hook and hadst him fast in thy power with a cord will he be thy servant as long
off from the heat of that long disputation as gold well refined So much of this verse which concludes the first part of the chapter Jobs humiliation the second followeth his friends reconciliation both to God and himself The Reader may here please to take notice that from the beginning of the third chapter to this place the writing is in verse the latter part of the chapter and book is prose JOB Chap. 42. Vers 7 8 9. 7. And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath 8. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering and my servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept lest I deal with you after your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right like my servant Job 9. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Lord commanded them the Lord also accepted Job THese three verses contain the second part of the chapter in which the Lord First Reproves Jobs three friends ver 7. Secondly Directs them what to do for the making up of the breach or for their reconciliation ver 8. Thirdly Accepts them that is Job praying for them the breach was healed and they reconciled ver 9. So then here God appeareth as a Judge of the cause and as a moderator of the controversie between Job and his friends and he appeared as a gracious judge ready to be reconciled to those whom he had blamed and reproved for their folly and misapprehensions of him in his afflicting providences towards Job Vers 7. And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath In this verse we have the divine Judgement given in Jobs case and in it there are four things considerable First The time or season of it thus exprest And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job Secondly The manner of it The Lord said he declared his mind Thirdly The special person with whom the Lord dealt and whom he chose out to declare his mind respectively to the other two Eliphaz the Temanite Fourthly The decree or judgement it self in which we may consider two things First The matter of it My wrath saith the Lord is kindled against thee and thy two friends I am not pleased with any of you yea I am highly displeased My wrath is kindled Secondly The ground of it plainly exprest in these words For ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath As if the Lord had said if you would know the reason why I am so angry 't is this Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath Thus we have the state of these three verses and the parts of this seventh wherein God appeareth as a determiner of this long disputed controversie between Job and his three friends And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job Here is the time when the Lord gave this judgement that 's the first thing to be considered in this verse and it may be questioned whether the Lord gave this Judgement immediately after he had concluded his speech with Job and Job had made his confession to the Lord or whether there were some space of time between The word after may be either presently after or a good while after here is no express limitation of the time it being only said After the Lord had spoken these words unto Job Some conceive it was a good while after God had done with Job that he took his friends to task and they ground it upon those words in the 8th verse Take unto you seven Bullocks and seven Rams and go to my servant Job And it is said at the 9th verse That they went and did according to what the Lord had commanded Hence they collect that Jobs friends were either returned quite home or far upon their way when the Lord spake this But this reason hath no force in it to prove that Jobs friends were absent and therefore I rather conclude that God spake to and gave this judgement of Jobs friends as it were upon the place as soon as he had done with Job for 't is more than probable that Jobs friends stayed to hear both Elihu's speech and the discourse which the Lord made to Job out of the whirlwind and that as soon as he had done and Job submitted he presently passed this sentence for the comfort of Job and for the conviction of his friends So then as soon as the Lord had spoken these words and finished his business with Job when he had humbled Job when Job had repented and confessed his fault in uttering things that he understood not God proceeded presently to deal with Jobs three friends There are three things which give evidence to this First The Lord would not let them continue long in their hard opinion of Job Secondly If they had continued any long time unreproved they might possibly have gloried as if they had got the victory and had the better of Job Thirdly They might have raised some undue report of Job and have blamed him among others where they came as they had done to his face therefore the Lord to prevent their continuing in any hard opinion of Job or that they had got the better of Job or to stop their mouths from giving forth any hard words of Job presently called them to an account gave them to understand that they had spoken amiss and he as it were with the same breath comforted Job and convicted his three friends Hence note First God doth every thing in its proper season That which is seasonably done is doubly done Words in season are like apples of gold in pictures of silver and therefore the Lord who knows all seasons will do and speak in season and take the fittest season for every work and word for every thing he either doth or saith This should teach us to mind the due timing both of our actions and speeches especially of our reproofs we should not let those who have committed a fault go too long unreproved lest they think themselves faultless and that we approve them or at least that their fault is small and almost faultless We must not suffer sin upon our brother Lev. 19.17 But it may be said how shall we hinder it That Text tells us how Thou shalt in any wise rebuke him Though a man that is rebuked may
neglects of good to his people to himself so the Lord taketh all that evil which any speak of his people to himself He saith God that speaketh amiss of mine speaketh amiss of me The Lord accounteth himself interested in all that good or evil which is done and spoken to his people and he is very angry when any thing is mis-spoken of or misapplied to them though with respect to himself or as a service unto himself Fifthly Consider Jobs friends spake many excellent truths yet saith the Lord ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath Hence note The Lord is greatly displeased when truth or that which is right in it self is wrong applied Jobs friends were mostly right in their Doctrine but often out in their Uses all their open assertions had some truth in them but so had not all their secret Inferences God will not bear it to have truths put to any ill use especially this to grieve and discourage any of his suffering servants To speak of the holiness justice and righteousness of God so as to terrifie an afflicted soul is to make a bad improvement of the best things 'T is a fly in the box of ointment Dead flies saith Solomon Eccles 10.1 cause the ointment of the Apothecary to send forth a stinking savour so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour Jobs friends were in reputation for wisdom and honour yet this little folly sent forth an ill savour in the Lords nostrils and caused him to say Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Sixthly Jobs friends certainly meant well and had a zeal for God yet God was angry and said they had not spoken right Hence note Our good intentions yea zeal for God will not bear us out when we do or speak amiss These men had a zeal for God else Job had not said as once he did Will ye lye for God Though they did not knowingly speak a lye yet a lye was in what they spake and therefore their speaking for God would not bear them out Seventhly The Lord said to Jobs friends Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job hath Though Job spake some things amiss yet the Lord did not charge him with them as he did his friends Hence note The Lord over-looketh many failings and will not upbraid his servants with them Job had his failings but the Lord took no notice of them but made a determination in his case as if he had spoken right in all things The Lord will not flatter his servants when they fail yet he is very favourable to them even when they fail he told Job plainly enough that he had darkned counsel by words without knowledge while he asked him who did it Chap. 38.2 He intimated also that Job had contended with him and reproved him that he had consequentially attempted to disannul his Judgement and condemn him Chap. 40.2 8. yet here when the Lord came to make up the matter between Job and his friends he spake as if he had forgot both his own censures of him and the occasion of them Holy David acknowledged Psal 130.3 If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand The Lord doth not mark iniquity where he seeth much integrity the Lord doth not mark every arrow that flies beside the mark when he seeth the mark was honestly aimed at We say he may be a good Archer that doth not hit the white if he come but somewhat near it he indeed is a bungler that misseth the Butt Job aimed at and came neer the mark though he did not alwayes hit it The Lord will give a good testimony of us if we aim right at though we sometimes miss the mark It is said of Zachariah and Elizabeth Luke 1.6 They were both righteous There 's not a word spoken of their failings though doubtless they had their failings both as to the Ordinances and Commandements of God Eighthly The Lords wrath being kindled against Jobs friends we might expect he would thunder upon them yet he only saith Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Hence observe The Lord dealeth mildly with sinners He did not give wrathful words though his wrath was kindled he did not call Eliphaz and his friends Hereticks nor tell them they had belyed him and slandered his proceedings he did not aggravate their fault by grievous words he did not upbraid them particularly but without bitterness or hard reflections comprehended their all faults in one general soft word Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right This should be our pattern in dealing with an offending brother whereas many if a brother do but differ from them a little if he do not say as they say and concur with them fully in opinion are ready to censure him hardly and give him reproachful language The Apostles rule is Gal. 6.1 Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye that are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering thy self lest thou also be tempted God who is above all temptation meekly restored these faulty men yea though his wrath was kindled against them yet his speech was mild and cool only saying and what less could he say if he said any thing Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right As my servant Job Why doth the Lord call Job his servant Surely at once to put an honour upon him and to comfort him Eliphaz and his two friends were Gods servants yet because of their miscarriage in that service God did not own them at that time as such God was wont to call David his servant at every turn yet when he had numbred the people Nathan was sent to him with a hard message and is bid Go and say unto David not my servant David 2 Sam. 24.12 Hence note Ninthly God honours man much by owning him as his servant To serve the Lord is as much our priviledge as our duty and when the Lord calleth us to his service he rather puts a favour up-us than a burden The Lord is the highest master and they are highly honoured who are his servants It is an honour to serve Kings and Princes what is it then to serve the King of Kings the Prince of the Kings of the earth as Jesus Christ is called Rev. 1.5 'T is also profitable as well as honourable to serve the Lord for he is the best master his work is the best woâ—k and his wages is the best wages And not only so but 't is easie to be the Lords servant for as he expects we should do his work so we may expect help and strength hearts and hands from him to do it If the Lord doth but own us for his servants we shall not faint at his work whether it be doing or suffering work God upheld his servant Job in and carryed him through all those
commanded to offer Secondly The Lord directs Eliphaz and his two friends to apply themselves unto Job and desire his intercession for them Go to my servant Job and my servant Job shall pray for you To this direction the Lord subjoyns two things First An incouragement by a gracious promise in these words For him will I accept Secondly A threat in case they should neglect or refuse to go and perform this duty laid down in the close of the verse Lest I deal with you according to your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right like my servant Job These are the particulars considerable in this 8th verse Therefore take unto you seven Bullocks and seven Rams The Lord spake this to Eliphaz and his two friends The word of illation Therefore at the beginning of the verse refers to the word For at the latter end of the former verse As if the Lord had said unto them Because ye have sinned against me and provoked me to anger so that my wrath is kindled by your not speaking of me the thing that is right therefore I advise you and be ye sure at your peril to follow my advice I advise you for the making up of this breach and the recovery of my favour to take unto you seven Bullocks and seven Rams Take unto you Some conceive that these words Vnto you are redundant yet doubtless they carry a clear sense as they stand in the Text Take unto you that is for your use and behoof in this great service Take unto you Seven Bullocks and seven Rams This was a great sacrifice and it was so under a twofold consideration First As to the matter of the sacrifice bullocks and rams were great cattle there were sacrifices of lesser matters We read in the law of Moses of a pair of turtle doves and two young pigeons for a sacrifice these the poorer sort under the law did offer with acceptation whereas rich and great men and such were these Eliphaz and his two friends in their time were commanded to bring great and richer sacrifices The rich as Solomon exhorts Prov. 3.9 were to honour the Lord with their substance and with the first fruits of their increase These rich men were to bring bullocks and rams a great sacrifice in the matter of it Jubentur septem tauros c. immolare quis perfectissimum est sacrificium Christ una expiotione omnia peccata delens Perfectus cuim uumerius septe narius est Brent Septem est numerus plentitu dinis persectionis id quod obsolutam expiationem s remissionam clpae eorum designabat Etsi interim in omnibus sacrificiis veteribus ad emicum Christi sacrificium cujus illa erant imago umbra respiciebatur Nerc Secondly It was a great sacrifice if we consider the number seven bullocks and seven rams One bullock was a sacrifice and one ram was a sacrifice but here God commanded seven of each Seven is a number of perfection and of plenitude seven is a great number and seven is a perfect number it is often used mystically or enigmatically to note perfection The Lord made all things in six days and rested the seventh seven days made up a compleat week and seven years are a week of years We read of A candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which were on the top thereof Zech. 4.2 We read also of the seven spirits Revel 1.4 and of seven golden candlesticks Rev. 1.12 These were mysterious sevens and there are many more mentioned in Scripture which to insist upon would make too great a digression from the purpose of the text under hand where we have seven bullocks and seven rams which make up and imply a great and perfect sacrifice as the law of Moses also directed in some cases Levit 23.18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish So 1 Chron. 15.26 When the Lord helped the Levites that bare the Arke of the Covenant of the Lord they offered seven bullocks and seven rams Again 2 Chron. 29.21 They brought seven bullocks and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he-goats for a sin-offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah Balaam incited and hired to curse Israel said unto Balak Num. 21.1 Build me here seven altars s prepare me here seven seven oxen and rams He would needs imitate them whom he desired to ruin and offer a full sacrifice that he might curse them fully The greatest sacrifice for number that we read of was at the dedication of the Temple where the offering of the King was two and twenty thousand oxen and an hundred and twenty thousand htep l Kings 8.63 We read also of great sacrifices 1 Chron. 29.21 2 Chron. 17.11 and Chap. 30.24 There were greater sacrifices than seven yet seven was a great sacrifice Some Interpreters conceive that every one of the three was to offr seven bullocks and seven rams that had been a very great sacrifice but in that the Text is silent The law of Moses appointed Levit. 4.3 that if a Priest committed a sin of ignorance he should bring a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin-offering Thelaw required no more for a sin of ignorance in a Priest and if the whole congregation were guilty of a sin of ignorance their ossering was no more ver 13 14. and if a Ruler had committed a sin of ignorance the law required only a kid of the goats a male without blemish ver 23. and if any one of the common people committed a sin of ignorance they were to bring a kid of the goat a female ver 28. So that whereas the law required but one bullock for the sin of ignorance in a Priest and but one bullock for the whole congregation and for a Ruler but a kid of the goats a male and for any common person but a kid of the goats a female Here Jobs friends were commanded by the Lord to offer up seven bullocks and seven rams for the expiation of their sin which doubtless was only a sin of ignorance This plainly signified that the Lord was highly displeased with them for their harsh judgment and uncharitable censures of his servant Job and to let them know that their doing so could not be excused by their good intentions and zeal for God Thus we see what the sacrifice was both for kind and number The next words tell us what they must do with their sacrifice Go to my servant Job faith God Why to Job several reasons may be given why they should go to Job I shall name five or six First Because they had wronged Job and therefore they must be reconciled to him Secondly Because God would have them understand that himself notwithstanding their ill opinion of Job approved him as a good man yea as a man far exceeding them in godliness
though they had judged him an hypocrite or an ungodly man Thus the Lord sent them to Job that they might eat their words and receive a full conviction of their error Thirdly God would have them go to his servant Job to make them sensible that the favour he intended them was very much for Jobs sake and that they must in part be beholding to Job for it Fourthly The Lord sent them to Job that he might give a high evidence of his grace especially of his charity in forgetting injuries and requiting good for evil His friends had reproached him ten times and grieved his spirit very much yet he must shew how ready he was to forgive them and pray that they might be forgiven Fifthly God would have them to go to Job that they might know that Job was reconciled to them as well as himself Sixthly God would have them go to Job that this might humble them or that they might shew their humility and submission It was a great piece of self-denial for them to go to Job after such a contest and entreat him to speak for them of whom they had spoken so hardly and with whom they had long contended so bitterly Thus the Lord tried both Job and them the Lord tried Jobs charity and their humility We are hardly brought to confess that we have wronged others or have been out and mistaken our selves 'T is no easie matter for a man to acknowledge himself overcome 't is extream hard to become a suppliant to one whom we lately despised and trampled upon All this is his hard meat and not easily digested yet Eliphaz and his two friends must digest all this before they could acceptably obey the Lords command in going to his servant Job Nor was it an easie matter for Job to forget so many affronts and unkindnesses as he had received from his friends ' T is hard for a man that hath been wronged and reproached yea condemned to pass air by and not only embrace his opposers and reproachers but pray and solicite for them Thus the Lord in sending them to Job took tryal both of Job and them The Lord commanding them to supplicate him whom they had offended and expecting that he should make suit and supplication for them who had offended him put both their graces to it and in a most sweet and gracious way at once healed the breach which had been between Job and them as also that between them and himself Who ever took up a difference more sweetly or reunited dissenting brethren thus wisely Go to my servant Job And offer up for your selves a burnt-offering That is those seven bullocks and seven rams Here as was said before was the facrifice but who was the Priest The text saith Offer up for your selves which may intimate that that as they were to offer a sacrifice for themselves so that they themselves offered it But as Interpreters generally so I conceive Job was the Priest who offered it in their behalf We read chap. 1.5 that Job offered sacrifices for his children and there it was shewed that he was the Priest Every sacrifice must be offered by a Priest the people brought the sacrifice unto him to offer for them No sacrifice is acceptable without a Priest Therefore Jesus Christ who was our sacrifice was a Priest also none could offer him but himself he was both sacrifice and Priest and Altar So then whereas the Text saith they were to offer a burnt-offering for themselves the meaning is they were to bring it unto Job and he to offer it for them The Priest offered and Israel offered that is Israel offered by the Priest they brought the matter of the sacrifice to the Priest and the Priest slew and presented the sacrifice to the Lord. It is one thing to offer another thing to slay the sacrifice They offered a sacrifice who brought it or at their cost caused it to be brought to the holy place and this any of the people might do They offer it upon the Altar to the Lord who were especially appointed thereunto These were the Priests only Before the Ceremonial law as given by God to Moses the Priest-hood lay in the eldest or father of the family upon which account Job was a Priest whereas afterwards the Priest-hood was settled in the family of Aaron and it was forbidden to any but one of hs line to offer sacrifice So that when the Lord said to Eliphaz and his two friends Go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering he directed them to Job Non est hic curiousè captendo distinctio holocausti aboliis victimis cim haec ante legem contigovint Quasi latinè diceres-holocaustabitis holo caustum i.e. in solidum offeratis ut in auras totum abort officietis Merc. as having the honour of Priest-hood in him and so the power of doing it for them or in their behalf Offer up for your selves A burnt-offering That is a sacrifice wholly consumed by fire The Hebrew is very elegant make an ascentton to ascend The whole burnt-offering was the most perfect offering and therefore the Hebrews express it by a word that signifieth the perfect consumption of it in the fire and so the ascention of it to heaven in smoke and vapour as a sweet odour in the nostrils of the Lord as the Apostle speaks Ephes 5.1 and as David Psal 141.2 A part of many sacrifices was saved to feast upon afterwards as the harlot spake Prov. 7.14 I have peace-offerings with me this day have I payed my vows but the burnt-offering was wholly consumed and sent up unto the Lord. Go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering Hence note First The Lord is very ready to forgive and to be at peace with those that have offended him Though the fire of his wrath be kindled as it is said in the former verse yet he is willing to have it quenched The Prophet Micah chap. 7.18 makes this report of God He retaineth not his anger for ever that is he retaineth it but a little while he is speedily pacified and forgives and sometimes as here he forgives without any higher signification of his anger than a bare rebuke The Lord did not lay the least mulâ—t the least chastning or affliction upon Eliphaz and his two friends though his wrath was kindled against them I grant it is not so always some smart sorely and pay dearly for their errors When the anger of the Lord was kindled against Aaron and Miriam Num. 12.9 for speaking against Moses as those three had against Job he was not then so easily pacified for first it is said in the close of the 9th verse he departed and ver 10. the cloud departed from off the tabernacle here was much displeasure yet not all for it followeth and behold Miriam became leprous white as snow In this case God was angry with two that had spoken against a servant of his and they felt
as a prayer for their return out of proper captivity and largely for their deliverance out of any adversity So Psal 126.1 When the Lord turned the captivity of Sion we were like them that dream Read also Zeph. 2.7 Secondly From the author of this turn The Lord turned the captivity c. Observe Deliverance out of an afflicted state is of the Lord. He is the authour of these comfortable turns and he is to be acknowledged as the authour of them The Psalmist prayed thrice Turn us again Psal 80.3 7 19. The waters of affliction would continually rise and swell higher and higher did not the Lord stop and turn them did not he command them back and cause an ebb Satan would never have done bringing the floods of affliction upon Job if the Lord had not forbidden him and turned them It was the Lord who took all from Job as he acknowledged chap. 1.21 and it was the Lord who restored all to him again as we see here the same hand did both in his case and doth both in all such cases Hos 6.1 Let us return to the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up David ascribed both to God Psal 66.11 12. Thou broughtest us into the net thou layedst affliction upon our loins thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and through water The hand of God led them in that fire and water of affliction through which they went but who led them out The Psalmist tells us in the next words Thou broughtest us into a wealthy place the Margin saith into a moist place They were in fire and water before Fire is the extremity of heat and driness water is the extremity of moistneâ—s and coldness A moist place notes a due temperament of â—eat and cold of driness and moistness and therefore elâ—gantly shadows that comfortable and contentful condition into which the good hand of God had brought them which is significantly expressed in our translation by a wealthy place those places flourishing most in fruitfulness and so in wealth which are neither over-hot nor over-cold neither oveâ—-dry nor over-moist And as in that Psalm David acknowledged the hand of God in this so in another he celebrated the Lords power and goodness for this Psal 68.20 He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death that is the out-lets or out-gates from death are from the Lord he delivereth from the grave and from every grief The Lord turned the captivity of Job not only p eserving him from death but filling him with the good things and comforts of this life Thirdly Note The Lord can suddenly make a change or turn As he can quickly make a great change from prosperity to adversity and in a moment bâ—ing darkness upon those who injoy the sweetest light so he can quickly make a change from adversity to prosperity from captivity to liberty and turn the darkest night into a morning light For such a turn the Church prayed Psal 126.4 Turn again our captivity O Lord as the streams in the south that is do it speedily The south is a dry place thither streams come not by a slow constant currant but as mighty streams or land-floods by a sudden unexpected rain like that 1 Kings 18.41 45. Get thee up said Eliah to Ahab for there is a sound of aboundance of rain and presently the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain When great rains come after long drought they make sudden floods and streams Such a sudden income of mercy or deliverance from captivity the Church then prayed for and was in the faith and hope of nor was that hope in vain nor shall any who in that condition wait patiently upon God be ashamed of their hope The holy Evangelist makes report Luke 13.16 that Satan had bound a poor woman eighteen years all that time he had her his prisoner but Jesus Christ in a moment made her free Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day The devil who had her in his power eighteen years could not hold her a moment when Jesus Christ would turn her captivity and loose her from that bond If the Son undertake to make any free whether from corporal or spiritual bondage they shall not only be free indeed as he spake John 8.36 at the time when he is pleased to do it but he can do it at any time in the shortest time when he pleaseth We find a like turn of captivity is described Psal 107.10 11 12 13 14. such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death being bound in affliction and iron because they rebelled against the word of the Lord c. These vers 13. cryed unto the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder Thus far of the first particular considerable in Jobs restitution the Author of it The Lord turned the captivity of Job The second thing to be considered is the season which the Lord took for the turning of Jobs captivity the Lord did it saith the text When he prayed for his friends Some conceive the turn of his captivity was just in his prayer time and that even then his body was healed I shall have occasion to speak further to that afterwards upon another verse Thus much is clear that When he prayed That is either in the very praying time or presently upon it the Lord â—urned his captivity Possibly the Lord did not stay till he had done accorâ—ing to that Isa 65.24 It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are yet speaking I will hear Or according to that Dan. 9.20 While I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplications before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God Yea while I was speaking in prayer even the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to flie swiftly touched me about the time of the evening oblation and he informed me and talked with me and said O Daniel I am come forth to give thee skill and understanding at the beginning of thy supplications the commandement came forth and I am come to shew thee c. What commandement came forth even a command for the turning of their captivity Thus here I say possibly the Lord gave out that word of command for the turning of Jobs captivity at that very time when he was praying for his friends But without question these words when he prayed for his friends note a very speedy return of his prayers that is soon after he had done that gracious office for them he
found matters mending with himself and the answers of prayer in the mercies of God coming tumbling in thick and three-fold His captivity fled far away when he had thus drawn near to God he had as a very full and satisfactory so a very speedy answer When he prayed Prayer is the making known our wants and desires to God It is a spiritual work not a meer bodily exercise it is the labour of the heart not lip-labour Jobs prayer was a fervent working or effectual prayer as the Apostle James speaks chap. 5.16 not a cold slothful sleepy prayer when he prayed he made work of prayer Many speak words of prayer that make no work of prayer nor are they at work in prayer Job prayed in the same sense that Saul afterwards Paul did Acts. 9.11 when the Lord Jesus bid Ananias go to him for Behold he prayeth implying that he was at it indeed He had been brought up after the strictest rule of the Pharisees who prayed much or made many prayers but he prayed to so little purpose before that we may well call that his first prayer and say he had never prayed before Job prayed for his friends as Paul for himself he was very earnest with God for them and prevailed Extraordinary cases call for extraordinary layings out in duty It was an extraordinary case When he prayed For his friends The Hebrew is When he prayed for his friend Singulare partitivum pro plurali Merc. It is usual in the Grammar of the holy Text to put the singular for the plural 'T is so here either First because he prayed for every one of them distinctly and by name or Secondly because he looked upon them all as one and bound them up in the same requests When he prayed For his friends They are called his friends to shew the esteem that he had of them notwithstanding all their unkindness and unfriendliness towards him He prayed for them in much love O raram singularem virtutem quae in paucissimis vel Christianis reperiatur Merc. though they had shewed little love to him and his heart was so much towards them that the Text speaks as if he had forgot himself or left himself at that time quite out of his prayers Doubtless Job prayed for himself but his great business at that time with God was for his friends Now in that Jobs prayer is said expresly to be for his friends not for himself though we cannot doubt but that he prayed and prayed much for himself Observe A godly man is free to pray for others as well as for himself and in some cases or at some times more for others than for himself He seldom drives this blessed trade with heaven for self only and he sometimes doth it upon the alone account of others 'T is a great piece of spiritualness to walk exactly and keep in with God to the utmost that so our own personal soul concerns may not take up our whole time in prayer but that we may have a freedom of spirit to inlarge for the benefit of others Many by their uneven walkings exceedingly hinder themselves in this duty of praying for friends and of praying for the whole Church Uneven walkings hinder that duty in a twofold respect First Because they indispose the heart to prayer in general which is one special reason why the Apostle Peter gives that counsel to Husband and Wife 1 Pet. 3.7 to walk according to knowledge and as being heirs together of the same grace of life that saith he your prayers be not hindred that is lest your hearts be indisposed to prayer Secondly Because uneven walkings will find us so much work for our selves in prayer that we shall scarce have time or leisure to intend or sue out the benefit of others in prayer He that watcheth over his own heart and wayes will be and do most in prayer for others And that First For the removing or preventing of the sorrows and sufferings of others Secondly For the removing of the sins of others yea though their sins have been against himself which was Jobs case He prayed for those who had dealt very hardly with him and sinned against God in doing so he prayed for the pardon of their sin God being very angry with them and having told them he would deal with them according to their folly unless they made Job their friend to him This was the occasion of Jobs travelling in prayer for his friends and in this he shewed a spirit becoming the Gospel though he lived not in the clear light of it And how uncomely is it that any should live less in the power of the Gospel while they live more in the light of it To pray much for others especially for those who have wronged and grieved us hath much of the power of the Gospel and of the Spirit of Christ in it For thus Jesus Christ while he was nailed to the Cross prayed for the pardon of their sins and out-rages who had crucified him Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luke 23.34 Even while his crucifiers were reviling him he was begging for them and beseeching his Father that he would shew them mercy who had shewed him no mercy no nor done him common justice And thus in his measure Jobs heart was carryed out in his prayer for his friends that those sins of theirs might be forgiven them by which they had much wronged him yea and derided him in a sort upon his Cross as the Jews did Christ upon his This also was the frame of Davids heart towards those that had injured him Psal 109.4 For my love they are my adversaries that 's an ill requital but how did he requite them we may take his own word for it he tells us how but I give my self unto prayer yea he seemed a man wholly given unto prayer The elegant conciseness of the Hebrew is But I prayer we supply it thus But I give my self unto prayer They are sinning against me requiting my love with hatred But I give my self unto prayer But for whom did he pray doubtless he prayed and prayed much for himself he prayed also for them We may understand those words I give my self unto prayer two wayes First I pray against their plots and evil dealings with me prayer was Davids best strength alwayes against his enemies yet that was not all But Secondly I give my self to prayer that the Lord would pardon their sin and turn their hearts when they are doing me mischief or though they have done me mischief I am wishing them the best good David in another place shewed what a spirit of charity he was cloathed with when no reproof could hinder him from praying for others in some good men reproofs stir up passion not prayer Psal 141.5 Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindness smite me how with reproof so it followeth Let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oyl which shall not break my
Jun. the Lord added all his cattle double in number Yet we need not tye up the word double or twice as much strictly to that sense Therefore Secondly Double may be taken largely and so double or twice as much is very much He added to him double that is he made a very great addition possibly in some things treble yea fourfold to what he had before And thus the Lord made good what Bildad had spoken to Job closely hinting that surely Job lay in some secret sin and was not right with God because God let him lye in that forlorn condition and did not so much as restore him to the same much less raise him to a better estate than he had before chap. 8.6 7. If thou wert pure and upright surely now he would awake for thee and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous Though thy beginning was small yet thy latter end should greatly increase It is usual in the Hebrew to say those things are double which excel and are great Thus spake Zophar chap. 11.6 O that God would speak and open his lips against thee and that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom that they are double to that which is Know therefore c. The secrets of Divine wisdom are double to what is namely to what they appear or are apprehended to be The wisdom of God is double yea an hundred fold more than what man is able to conceive it to be The secrets of Gods wisdom are unsearchable and past any creatures finding out Thus in other Scriptures double is put for very much Isa 40.2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received of the Lords hand double for all her sins We must not think that Jerusalem made satisfaction to the Lord for her sinâ— much less may we imagine that Jerusalems sufferings did exceed her sins or the desert of her sins For 't is said Ezra 9.13 Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve And Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed But the meaning of double thâ—re is plainly this she hath received a very great punishment the Loâ—d hath made her feel the sorrowful effects of her sin fully For said Daniel chap. 9.12 Vnder the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done unto Jerusalem This is called a double recompence by another Prophet Jerem. 16.18 I will recompence their iniquity and their sin double because they have defiled my land And thus Jeremy prayed against the opposers and despisers of his prophesie chap. 17.18 Destroy them with double destruction So then when it is said the Lord added double or twice as much to Job as he had before it noteth at least a very great addition to the prosperous estate which Job had before even in outward things Hence Observe First When we are about spirituals the Lord takes occasion to minister to us in temporals The Lord not only turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends but gave him twice as much Job did not pray for the doubling of his estate or for great things in the world we find him many times giving up his hopes as to temporals when he would not give up his hopes as to spirituals and eternals Though he kill me yet will I trust in him he also shall be my salvation He submitted his life to God in hope of a better life but he had little or no expectation about the things of this life yet the Lord gave him abundance with his life as also an aboundant or long life as we read at the end of this Book There are two special reasons why the Lord gave Job a great increase in temporals First Because in those Old Testament times the promises went much in temporals Secondly Because Job having lost his credit in the world when he lost his estate spiritual supplies would never have set him right in the eye of the world he had suffered as to his reputation in spirituals by his loss in temporals and therefore the Lord doubled his estate to vindicate his reputation in the eye of the world And the Lord did this unsought unthought of by Job therefore as the point saith it is a truth that while we are careful about spirituals the Lord takes care of our temporals Mat. 6.33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Secondly Note The Lord is a bountiful rewarder of his servants and a liberal repairer of their losses The Lord is a bountiful rewarder two ways First For what we do we shall not lose our labour in serving him God gives good and great wages 1 Cor. 15.58 Be ye stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as-much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord that is labour abundantly for your labour shall have an aboundant reward Not only shall it not be in vain but richly rewarded The Lord is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love Heb. 6.10 The Lord should be unrighteous to forget our labour of love not because any labour of ours can endebt him to reward us but because he hath freely promised to reward us Secondly The Lord is a bountiful rewarder of us for what we suffer And that First When we suffer under his own hand Secondly When for his sake we suffer peaceably and patiently under the hand of men Job was a great sufferer both ways he suffered greatly under the afflicting hand of God and he suffered greatly under the violent hands and reproachful tongues of men and the Lord was to him a bountiful rewarder with respect to both For he did not only heal his wounded state and make him up as well as he was before according to that in Jerem. 30.17 I will restore health unto thee and I will heal thy wounds but he did it double insomuch that he who in the days of his former prosperity was only the greatest of all the men of the East became in the days of his latter prosperity greater than he had been himself The Lord hath plentiful rewards for the godly and so he hath though of another kind for the wicked He saith David plentifully rewardeth the proud doer Psal 31.23 There is a reward of wrath as well as a reward of favour Wrath is the reward of proud men Thus the Lord will plentifully reward proud Babilon at one time or other by some hand or other Revel 18.6 Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works In the cup which she hath filled fill to her double Babilon shall at last lose double blood for the blood that she hath drawn yea as the Text saith double double that is four times as much and who knows how much that double unto her double means For 't
in sickness as well as in health in disgrace with men as well as when most honoured and cryed up by them when naked as well as when cloathed as well in rags as in the richest array Hence that confident conclusion vers 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And if so then we see where our true interest lyeth Let us make sure of Christ he will never leave us all earthly friends may Friends are a great mercy but they are not a sure mercy Again Consider Jobs friends who came not at him when in that afflicted condition yet as soon as ever God turned his captivity and made him prosper in the world then they would own him then they came Hence note Thirdly Such as are no friends in adversity will readily shew themselves friendly in prosperity That they came then is an intimation if not a proof that they came not before but then they came What Christ spake in another case I may apply by way of allusion to this Where the carcase is thither will the Eagles be gathered together When Job was up his friends appear'd All are ready to worship the rising Sun When the face of things and times change with us then the faces of friends change towards us then they have other respects and countenances for us this spirit of the world hath been anciently observed Si fueris foelix multos numerabis amicos Tempora si fuerintnubila solus eris even by Heathens If you be happy or restored to happiness you shall number many friends though you had none before Such friends are like those birds that visit our coasts in Summer when 't is warm weather when every thing flourisheth and is green then some birds visit us who all the Winter when 't is cold frost and snow leave us Faâ—ther it may be conceived that several of Jobs friends left him not only upon the occasion of his poverty and want but upon the supposition of his hypocrisie and wickedness many of them might have the same opinion of him which those three had who particularly dealt with him that surely he was a bad man because the Lord brought so much evil upon him Now when the Lord restored Job they had another a better opinion of him the Lord also giving a visible testimony of his accepting Job Hence note Fourthly God will one time or other vindicate the integrity of his faithful servants and set them right in the opinion of others God suffered Jobs integrity to lie under a cloud of supposed hypocrisie but at last the Lord restored him to his credit as well as to his estate and made his unkind and not only suspicious but censorious friends acknowledge that he was upright and faithful The Lord promiseth Psalm 37.6 to bring forth the righteousness of his servants as the light and their judgement as the noon-day that is a right judgement in others concerning them as well as the rightness of their judgement in what they have done and been or his own most righteous judgement in favour of them They who had a wrong judgement and took a false measure of Job measuring him by the outward dispensations of God and judging of his heart by his state and of his spirit by the face of his affairs these were at last otherwise perswaded of him 'T is as the way so the sin and folly of many to judge upon appearance upon the appearance of Gods outward dealings they conclude men good or bad as their outward condition is good or bad and therefore the Lord to redeem the credit of his faithful servants that lye under such misapprehensions sends prosperity and manifests his gracious acceptance of them that men of that perverse opinion may be convinced and delivered out of their error Note Fifthly The Lords favouring us or turning the light of his countenance towards us can soon cause men to favour us and shine upon us See what a change the Lord made at that time both in the state of things and in the hearts of men when the Lord outwardly forsook Job friends forsook him children mockt him acquaintance despised him his very servants slighted him yet no sooner did the Lord return in the manifestations of his favour but they all returne desiring to ingratiate themselves with him and strive who shall engage him most God can quickly give us new friends or restore the old Expleâ—â— contumelias honoribus detrimenta muneribus execrationes precibus The hearts of all men are in the hand of the Lord who turns them from us or to us as he pleaseth When God manifests his favour he can command our favour with men Though that which is a real motive of the Lords favour to his people their holiness and holy walkings gets them many enemies and they are hated for it by many yet the Lord discovering or owning the graces of his servants by signal favours often gets them credit and sets them right in the opinion of men Thus it was with Job all his friends returned to him upon the Lords high respect to him in turning his captivity Again in that Jobs friends came to him Cui dominus favet ei omnia favent Observe Sixthly It is the duty of friends to be friendly to come to and visit one another It is a duty to do so in both the seasons or in all the changes of our life It is a duty to do so in times of prosperity when God shines upon our Tabernacle When any receive extraordinary mercies it is the duty of friends to shew them extraordinary courtesies and to bless God for them and with them When Elizabeths neighbours and cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her they rejoyced with her Luke 1.58 It is a duty to rejoyce with those that rejoyce and to come to them that we may rejoyce with them It is a duty also to visit those that mourn and to mourn with them Friendly visits are a duty in all the seasons of our lives Once more Then came all his brethren c. It was late e're they came but they came Hence Note It is better to perform a duty late than not at all They had a long time even all the time of his long affliction neglected or at least slackned this duty of visiting Job yet they did not reason thus with themselves It is in vain to visit him now or our visiting him now may be thought but a flattering with him or a fawning upon him No though they had neglected him before they would not add new to their old incivilities We say of repentance which is a coming to God Late repentance is seldom true yet true repentance is never too late None should think it too late to come to God though they have long neglected him nor should sinners who have long neglected God be discouraged Though
we should do so and 't is a great part of our conformity unto God when we do so It was very well that Job gave fair respect to his friends and treated them lovingly when they came to him and it was well and but their duty that they came to him Yet this was not all they did Jobs friends did not only come and eat bread with him thar had been but according to the custom of common friends they went further They bemoaned him That 's the second friendly office which they did him The word signifies to shake the head so the Latine Translation renders it His friends came to him and moved their heads over him so expressing their compassion Moverunt super eum caput Vulg. Consolati sunt eum et mirati sunt super omnibus c. That gesture of moving the head was used somtimes in derision somtimes in admiration in which latter sense the Septuagint take it here They comforted him and wondered at all the evills that God had brought upon him It might well move wonder that so good a man should suffer so much evil yet this gesture of shaking the head is rarely if at all used in way of admiration whereas in way of compassion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est propriè migrare unde pro condolere sumitur quod qui aliquem solari volunt ejus vicem dolere è loco suo ut id faciant soleant migrare nothing is more usual and it complyeth fully with our translation they bemoaned him As they feasted with him so they bemoaned him and condoled his former sad stare and to do so is a proper act of sincere love and friendship Hence Note It is our duty to pity and bemoan the afflicted We read of Ephraim bemoaning himself Jer. 31.18 and there is a twofold bemoaning of our selves First With respect to the sins that we have committed Secondly There is a bemoaning of our selves as to our afflictions and possibly both are to be understood in that place concerning Ephraim 'T is a duty also with respect to others we ought to bemoan those that are in sufferings and those that have sinned as well as our own sins or sufferings And though that which gives us the greatest occasion of bemoaning others is their sin yet 't is a great duty also to bemoan those that are under sufferings and to have bowels of compassion or a fellow feeling of their afflictions But it may be objected what need had Jobs brethren to bemoan him now that he was delivered out of his afflictions and his captivity turned were not these bemoanings improper and unseasonable I answer First Though Job was come out of his afflictions yet he was but very lately come out of them he was yet as it were upon the borders of sorrow and was come only a step out of his troubles so that his tears were then scarce wiped away or dryed up and the sorrow of his late adversity was even forced to intermingle with the joy of his newly begun prosperity The remembrance of his affliction was doubtless yet very strong upon him and the pain of it scarce off him he had as yet a tast of the woâ—mwood and gall of that most bitter cup of which he had a little before drank so deeply his wound was but in healing not quite healed and therefore they might well bemoan him as to his former afflictions in that morning or day-break of his mercies Joy and sorrow use to conflict together and strive for masteries whether the one shall keep or the other get the ground at the beginning of all great changes Secondly This act of Jobs friends in bemoaning of him might respect not only the abiding sense of his former affliction but the sharpness and soreness of it while it was upon him so that as his own remembrance of his former sufferings might still hang upon him so while his brethren and other visitants remembred how grievous and tedious his sufferings had been it might well stir their compassions and cause them to bemoan him Thirdly Job had none to bemoan him while the affliction was actually upon him Have pity upon me have pity upon me said he in the 16th Chapter yet found little or no pity from any Now that being a great part of his suffering that he had none to pity him while he suffered the Lord sent his brethren to him when he was new come out of his sufferings to perform that duty to him which should have been done him while he suffered Further Because we ought not only to pity and bemoan our friends in adversity but to help them out and make a perfect cure therefore Jobs friends proceed to that duty also For having bemoaned him the text saith They comforted him That is they used all the means they could to comfort him they gave him comfortable words cordial consolations Job himself had been a great comforter of others as Eliphaz acknowledged in the 4th Chapter and now he hath his comforters even they comforted him concerning his former miseries who formerly had been miserable comforters From the method of their proceeding First They bemoaned him and Secondly They comforted him Note We can never truly comfort others till we have pitied others Comforting begins at pittying It is possible to pity one and not to comfort him Some will give bemoaning words yet are not able to minister real comforts so then there may be pittying without comforting but there cannot be comforting without pitying God himself is thus exprest 2 Cor. 1.3 4. First He is called The father of mercies that is he is full of pity full of compassionate bowels And then Secondly He is called The God of all consolation He is a comforting God because a pittying God If God were not pitiful and compassionate we should have to comfort from him so it is with men if we pity not others we cannot comfort them Job called his friends miserable comforters chap. 16.2 They came to mourn with him and to comfort him chap. 2.11 but had they more affectionately mourned with him they would have more effectually comforted him They did not pity him enough in his misery and so they proved but miserable comforters to him Secondly From the work it self Observe To comfort those that are in affliction is our duty and a work of charity To minister comfort to the sorrowful is a greater point of charity than to minister bread to the hungry or clothing to the naked As the soul is better than the body so those acts of charity which offer relief to the soul in any kind are better than those by which the body is relieved Though to give bread be more costly to us than good woâ—ds we use to say good words are cheap yet good and comfortable words are worth much more than bread they are better than gold yea than fine gold sweeter also than the honey and the honey-comb The Apostle gave this duty in charge to believers 1
equivalently or vertually for when it is said he offered sacrifice when it is said he did eat bread with his friends in his house these are proofs of his health and what was last spoken that he had so many children proves it much more So then though this fourth part of his mercy be not mentioned yet it is implied in all that went before But that being granted 't is further queried when his health was restored whether before he prayed for his friends or in the time of his prayer for his friends or whether after all was done Some make hot disputes about this matter which surely is not much material if we knew the certainty of it nor do I know how any should attain the certain kuowledg of it seing the Scripture is utterly silent as to any determination of it There is one question more The text saith God gave Job twice as much in cattle c. but here is nothing said of his twice as much in grace here is no mention of any amendment in his spiritual state his goods were doubled but was his goodness did Job recover only in temporals I answer First The graces of Job were never lost as his cattle and children were and therefore there needed no mention of the restoring of his graces Satan by the Lords permission put him to it and tried all his graces but could not rob him of one Secondly Jobs graces were not only not lost but doubled in that exercise or combate True grace encreaseth by the ordinary use of it much more by the extraordinary trials of it And doubtless Job who was so eminently gracious increased in every grace while he continued in this fiery trial He said of himself chap. 23.10 When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold I shall come out better than I came in He lost dross and corruption in the trial but no grace nor any degree of grace his graces were doubled or increased A believer thrives as to the inner man in affliction how much soever he loseth and goeth backward as a man As the time of affliction is a special time for the using of grace so for the increasing of it Grace never grows more in a gracious heart than in a day of trouble And though possibly a godly man doth not sensibly or to appearance grow in grace presently yet he truly doth so and in due time it will appear that he hath done so We may take this chapter for a proof of it God himself found Job much bettered in his graces else he had not used him as a mediator for his friends which was as high a spiritual honour as could be put upon him acceptance being promised and given him in that work Nor would the Lord have used that endearing word My servant my servant Job four times in one verse had not Job improved in his service which could not be but by the improvement of his graces God called Job servant once in the first chapter surely he was become a better servant now that the Lord seemed so much delighted to call him servant in this last chapter of the book when he had taken full trial of him by suffering as formerly by doing We may well conclude Job was become a more humble servant a more profitable servant a more holy servant a more spiritual servant than ever he had been when we find the Lord insisting so much upon and so often repeating that relation to him My servant Job His sufferings had mended his service and his passive obedience had fitted him more for active God was so much pleased with his service that he took pleasure to call him servant So then we may answer the querie proposed Jobs increase was not only in cattle that had been but a poor increase his increase was also in grace and goodness and he who was a servant of the Lord before was then a more approved servant The Lord having told us in the close of this verse how many sons and daughters Job had he is pleased to give us a character or description of his daughters in the two verses following JOB Chap. 42. Vers 14 15. 14. And he called the name of the first Jemima and the name of the second Kezia and the name of the third Keren-happuch 15. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren THe former verse gave us the account of Jobs children He had also seven sons and three daughters Nor is any thing more said of his sons but that they were seven but much more is said of his daughters in these two verses than that they were three and more is spoken of his daughters in three particulars First They are set forth by their names Secondly By the comliness of their persons Thirdly By the greatness of their dowry Their names are exprest in the 14th verse He called the name of the first Jemima and the name of the second Kezia and the name of the third Keren-happuch The comliness of their persons is shewed at the beginning of the 15th verse And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job The greatness of their dowry is set down at the close of the 15th verse And their father gave them inheritance among their brethren Some have queried why no more is said of the sons of Job than how many they were To such this answer may suffice it was the Lords pleasure to have no more spoken of them and where no more is said why should we expect more If any shall further enquire but were not his sons worthy persons that they are put off thus slightly and mention made only of their number not of their weight Were they not worthy to have so much as their names recorded which honour and much more is done their sisters the daughters of Job I answer We may upon good ground believe that Jobs seven sons were worthy persons because they were a great part yea the chief part of his restored happiness for as children are better than riches so among children sons are better than daughters as being the more worthy sex Sons if not well qualified are not only less worthy than daughters but a great cross to their father And therefore it would have been a diminishing of Jobs felicity to have had sons equal in number with the former yet inferior in vertue and man-like qualities we may for this reason safely conclude that though nothing be said of their worth that Jobs sons were worthy persons or persons of praise worthy qualities But seing we have nothing from divine authority but only from well-grounded reason to assert concerning Jobs sons I shall not stay the reader in any further discourse about them but proceed as the text doth with the daugtiters concerning whom we have many things to say from divine authority And First Their names must not be past with silence And
in God full of assurance of the glory of God They whose days are filled with these divine enjoyments dye full of days how few days soever they have lived in this world They who live thus live many days in one day they who live thus have the tast and first fruits of eternity every day and therefore cannot but be satisfied with their days be they many or be they few He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high Psal 91.1 that is who trusteth fully in God for safety by Christ in this world and for salvation in the next stands under the shadow and sweet influences of many promises mentioned in that Psalm for the preservation and prolongation of his life in the midst of a thousand deaths and dangers all which are summed up in that promise given at the 16th or last verse of the Psalm With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation The Hebrew is with length of days will I satisfie him Which as it is true and firstly intended in that Psalm of a long life here and hath in that sense been often fulfilled â—o those who trust in God fully God gives to such not only a present escape from death in a time of Pestilence but gives them long life or their fill of living afterwards even in this world yet that which doth chiefly satisfie them is that long life of which the longest life in this world is but a shadow and to which it is a very nothing What is this long life Surely not a life of an hundred and forty years long as Job's was Job was so satisfied with the length of his life that he was willing to the as hath been shewed but Job was not so satisfied with it as to take that for his long life Every man would be satisfied but what doth satisfie a godly man what doth he hunger after for satisfaction Is it after honours No Is it after riches No Is it after pleasures No Is it after many dayes here No What is it then Nothing can satisfie the hunger of a gracious soul but life after this life the long and blesed life of eternity and that is chiefly intended him in that promise With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation No length of life can satisfie us but as in it we have the fore-sights and fore-tasts of everlasting life or of that long life which is eternal salvation With this Job was satisfied with this the old Patriarchs were satisfied It is said of Abraham Gen. 25.8 He died in a good old age an old man and full of years Oâ— Isaac also it is said Gen. 35.28 29. He died being old and full of dayes both had their fill of time but that which filled them both and that which only can fill any whose lives are yet measured by time is the hope of a blessed eternity I shall close the Point with an answer to this question why no more is said of Job but That he died being old and full of dayes whereas in both those places last named concerning Abraham and Isaac it is not only said that they died being old and full of days but this is added And were gathered to their people Abraham died and was gathered to his people Isaac dyed and was gathered to his people Why is it not also said of Job so good a man dying full of dayes and fuller of graces that he was gathered to his people I answer Abraham and Isaac lived and died among a people who were as themselves were in Covenant with God whereas Job lived among the Idumeans some affirming him to be of the posterity of Esau others of Abraham by his second wife Keturah Now all the sons which Abraham had by her he sent away from Isaac his son while he yet lived Eastward into the East Country Gen. 25.6 So that it being doubtful at least whether the people among whom Job lived were a godly people or no and that they were not being more probable as was shewed if not concluded in opening the first verse of the first Chapter for this reason I say we may suppose for the Scripture determines nothing in this matter that when the death of Job was spoken of nothing was spoken of his being gathered to his people So Job died being old and full of dayes This is that Job who was First A sorrowful man yea even a man of sorrows for a time among men as some expound his name Secondly A man hated by Satan at all times as others expound his name Thirdly A man highly approved and loved of God as appears by the testimony which he gave of him both first and last This is that Job who was First Famous for the afflictions with which God exercised and tryed him to the utmost Secondly More famous for his patience and constancy under those afflictions and tryals Thirdly Most famous for his wonderful deliverance out of those afflictions and tryals This is that Job who was First Famous for his riches and prosperity Secondly More famous for his vertues and integrity Thirdly Most famous for his victory over Satan in his deepest adversity This is that Job who was First Reviled by his Wife Secondly Reproached by his Friends Thirdly Deserted by his nearest Relations in the day of his greatest need This is that Job who was First Unjustly accused of charged with censured for the worst of iniquities Secondly Who stoutly maintained his own innocency against all those censures and charges Thirdly Who was clearly acquitted from them all by the testimony of his own conscience alwayes and by the testimony of God himself in the end This is that Job who was First Greatly distressed by the malice of the devil through the permission of God Secondly Mightily supported against the malice of the devil by the power of God in all his distresses Thirdly Fully resolved to trust in God with all his heart though he died under his hand in never so great distress This is that Job who First In the greatness of his pain expostulated sometimes with God over-boldly yet Secondly At the last submitted and humbled himself at the foot of God meekly Thirdly Was honoured as a Mediator for his mistaken friends and accepted in it by God graciously Once more This is that Job who First After his restoring was filled with the blessings of this life Secondly Lived long even to fulness of dayes in the full enjoyment of those blessings Thirdly Died peaceably and passed sweetly into the enjoyment of a better of a longer even an eternal life Thus I am come to the end of Job and to the end of the Book of Job yet before I end let me leave these five words as so many Uses of the whole Book of Job First While you live in this world live in the expectation of and preparation for changes Job met with them and who may not Secondly Be patient under all the troublesom changes which you meet
dew 223 224. A three-fold allusion of the dew 226 Disdain or despising who most apt to do it 780 Disposition two-fold 717 Divisions among good men very bad 736 Don the Spanish word for a Lord whence derived 68 Double what it signifies in Scripture 948 Drinking much in bruits is from their constitution not from their lusts 653 Duty God would have us do our best in every duty 38. Two things needful to it 38. Better do duty late than not at all 961 Dwellings appointed by God to every creature sutable to his nature 334 E Eagle what the Hebrew word imports 474. Exceeds any Hawk in three things 475. Two reasons why the Eagle mounts so high 476. Fâ—ur reasons why she makes her nest on high 480. What food she most delights in 484. The quickness of the Eagles eye-sight 485. How she tryeth her young ones 486. Eagles presage or smell a battel long before 488. The similitude between the Eagle and Christ in seven particulars 489 490. The similitude between an Eagle and a true Christian â—pened in seven things 491. Two wings of a greet Eagle are said to be given the Church 493 Earth how immoveable 51 52. The earths foundations 47 52 God the maker of the earth five inferences from it 53 54. Three things in the making of the earth should stir us up to praise God 56 57. The form and firmness of the earth set forth four ways 59 60. Measures of the earth different opinions about it 61 62. Five things admirable in the frame of the earth 65. Inferences from it to thankfulness and an exact frame of life on this earth so exactly framed for us 66 67. What are the garments or clothing of the earth 137. Breadth of the earth 157 158. Two inferences from the greatness of the earth 158 Eastwind much under the dominion of the Sun 199 200 Egypt why not looking to heaven for rain 207 Election of free grace not of fore-seen works 702 Elements their natural order 98 Elephant the manner of his eating grass described 618. Twelve things for which the Elephant is eminent above other beasts 627 628. Four inferences from it 630 Encrease in the field five things needful to produce it 378 Enemy no wisdom in provoking one too strong for us 691 Enemies to be prayed for and how 941 Entreaty the strong will not use entreaties 669 Equinox when 127 Error wise and good men may erre 869 Eternity three sorts of beings 49. God only absolutely eternal 49. Eternity what 50 Exacters of two sorts 339 340 Examples of two sorts recorded in Scripture 1036 Experience experimental knowledge best 793 Eye hath a great force upon the heart in three things 688 689. The Eye called the light of the body in two respects 740 F Face binding of it in secret what 590 Failings God overlooks them in his upright servants 178 Faith the only way of understanding the worlds creation 51. Faith is the eye of the soul 689. Only faith keeps down the prevailings of fear 756. All must be done in a two-fold faith 918. Faith and repentance must go together 943 Fault God will not charge any man beyond his fault 33 Favourites God shews favour to all good men yet some only are his favourites 891 Fear of two sorts 411. A due fear puts us upon the use of means for the â—reservation of our selves and others 412. Fear put for the thing feared 445. That which is not feared is usually derided 447. Fear what it is 733. Fear disturbs reason 755 756. The less natural fear the more perfection 777 Feasting moderate lawful 963. Seven cautions about it 663 Feathers goodly feathers the gift of God to birds 387. Three inferences from it 388. All birds are not of a feather 389 Folly sin is folly shewed four ways 906 907 Food God gives food to all creatures convenient to their nature 342 641 642. Forgetfulness we may be said to forget that which we never had as well as that which once we had 413 Forgiveness God is ready to forgive 882. We should be ready to forgive one another 887 888 Foundation of a building four Attributes of it 46. What the foundations of the earth are 47. Why the earth is said to have foundations 47. What the foundations of the earth are shewed further 52. A different word in the Hebrew signifying a foundation 68. Acclamations used at the laying of the foundation of great buildings 74 Freedom some creatures are free from others bound to service by Gods appointment 328. Inference from it 328. To be free from labour and service is but a low priviledge 329. To desire freedom from duty and service is very sinful 330. A mercy to be free from three yoakes or bonds 331. To be free to serve is better than to be free from service 332. To be forced is grievous 341 Friends their loss a great loss 957. In times of afflâ—ction worldly friends will leave us and godly friends may prove unkind to us 957. Two inferences from it 958. Friends should be friendly 961 Frost and Ice from God 228. Frost compared to ashes in three respects 228. The force of frost 229 230. A two-fold resemblance of frost and ice 231 232 Fruitfulness how the Wilderness will witness against unfruitful professors 215. What spiritual good fruits are 215 216 Fullness of two sorts 1028 G Garment natural what 725. Every creature hath some kind of garment or other 726. Christ and his graces the best garment 726 Gates of death what vid. death Gifts or endowments God gives not all to any one creature and why 421 Gifts or presents a duty to send them in some cases 973. Six sorts of gifts lawful a seventh utterly unlawful 973 Glory that which any creature eâ—cels in is his glory 440 567 569. Glory of God twofold 568 Goates the signification of the word both in the Hebrew and Latine 307. Seven things wherein wild goates resemble a godly man 308 309 God is present with his in troblous dispensations 20. The outward appearances of God very terrible when he intends nothing but mercy 20 21. God is the first being 49. God an eternal being 49. God is the fountain of all being 50. None like God 54. God the proprietor and possessor of all things Inferences from it 55. All creatures are at the command of God 262. Contendings with God See contending God hath terrible ways of revealing himself 530. God hath a mighty power 547. A three-fold gradation in expressing it 547 548. God is full of majesty beauty and glory 570. Inferences from it 571. 573. God terrible to sinners 690. No standing before God four ways 694 695. God is in no mans debt 698. God self-sufficient 700. All things are his by a four-fold title 705. The excellencies of God must not be concealed 722. God terrible 728 729 God is good at any work that is good 795. God is omnipotent 796. God hath right to do whatsoever he doth 799. Not a thought of