on earth praying for those that live on earth Job was alive in the body and so were those three men to whom the Lord said My servant Job shall pray for you The Lord having assured Eliphaz and his two friends that Job would pray for them giveth them encouâ—agement to go and desiâ—e his prayers by a gracious promise For saith he him will I accept and threatneth them in case they should forbear in the next words Lest I deal with you according to your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job First Of the gracious promise him will I accept The Hebrew saith his face will I lift up Acceptation with God is the lifting up of the face of man then man lifteth up his face with boldness when he is accepted with God When God refused to accept Cain and his offering his countenaâ—ce fell or was cast down Gen. 4.5 Unless the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us as David prayed Psal 4.6 we cannot with any comfort much less with true confidence lift up our face or countenance unto God That 's the significancy of the word Him will I accept God is no accepter of persons as the word is often used in Scripture Deut. 10.17 The Lord is a great God mighty and terrible which regardeth not persons It is the same phrase in the Hebrew with this in the Text he lifteth not up faces that is the Lord doth not accept persons upon any outward respect First The Lord doth not accept persons for their personableness as I may say the Lord doth not delight in any mans legs his delight is in them that fear him Psal 147.10 11. he doth not accept men for their goodly stature as he told Samuel when he would needs have poured the oile upon the first-born of the Sons of Jesse 1 Sam. 16.7 Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth for man looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart 'T is the beauty of holiness and integrity in the heart not the beauty of fairness upon the face with which God is taken 't is a lowly mind not a high stature which God accepts Secondly The Lord is no accepter of persons as to the nation or country where they were born or live Thus the Apostle Peter spake Acts 10.35 I perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every Nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him God doth not prefer Jews before Gentiles Barbarians or Scythians that a man had his birth in this or that Nation neither helps nor hinders acceptation with God Thirdly The Lord accepteth no mans person for his riches Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath No mans person is acceptable to God for his purse or his penny no not at all Fouâ—thly The Lord â—ccepteth no mans person for his worldly greatness honour and dignity He poureth contempt upon Princes Psal 107.40 The day of the Lord is against the hills and mountains Isa 2.14 The great God regardeth not any man meerly for greatness the Lord accepts no mans person upon these or any such like accounts He only accepts the persons of those that fear him and do his will Suscipit faciem Deus quando precantem câ—audit The Lords acceptance of any person in the sense of this promise concerning Job is First To shew favour and manifest affection to him Secondly To honour aâ—d highly esteem him Thirdly Which is here specially intended to answer his prayers and grant his requests not only for himself but for others When a person is once accepted his prayers shall not be denied nor suffer a repulse The Lord accepteth persons as a King the persons of those loyal Subjects who come to intreat his favour and pardon for those that have offended him and rebelled against him he grants their suit and treats them fairly In this sense the Lord maketh promise to Eliphaz and his two friends that he will accept Job Hence Observe First It is a very high favour and priviledge to be accepted of God Him will I accept saith the Lord of Job This was a favour beyond all the favours that follow after in the close of the book about the doubling of his estate If Jacob Gen 32.20 was so taken with a hope of acceptance by his brother Esau Peradventure he will accept me If when he was accepted by Esau he said chap. 33.10 I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God and thou wast pleased with me Then how much more should we rejoyce in this assurance that God hath accepted of us and that he is pleased with us If the Apostle Rom. 15.3 prayed so earnestly and desired others to strive with him in prayer to God that his service which he had for Jerusalem might be accepted of the Saints then how much more should we pray that our services may be accepted of God and rejoyce when they are accepted The Apostle made it his chief work to get acceptation with God 2 Cor. 5.9 Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent that is whether living or dying we may be accepted with him we are ambitious of divine acceptation The word which we translate labour noteth a labouring after honour which ambitious men labour much after implying that to be accepted with the Lord is a very high honour indeed the highest honour There is a two-fold acceptation First Of our persons Secondly Of our services The former is the ground of the latter and Jesus Christ is the foundation of both Ephes 1.6 He through glorious grace hath made us accepted in the beloved Jesus Christ is so dearly beloved of the father that he is called The Beloved as if only beloved The acceptation of our services is often promised in Scripture as a high favouâ— Exod. 28.38 Ezek. 20.40 41. Isa 56.7 This Moses prayed for in the behalf of the Tribe of Levy which Tribe was appointed to offer sacrifice and to pray for the people Deut. 33.11 Bless Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands What was the work of Levies hands it was to offer sacrifice to which prayer and intercession was joyned That Levi who had the priest-hoâ—d fixed in the family of Aaron should be accepted in the work of his hands was a blessing not only to himself but to many more This David prayed earnestly for Psal 19.14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer He put up a like prayer Psal 119.108 Accept I beseech thee the free-will-offerings of my mouth O Lord. This was the prayer of Araunah for David 2 Sam. 24.23 The Lord thy God accept thee So great a priviledge it is for our persons and services to be accepted with the Lord
time of Behemoths making I made him the same day with thee for all the beasts of the earth were made upon the sixth day the same day in which man was made Fourthly Which I made with thee that is I made him to be with thee I did not make Behemoth as I made Leviathan to play in the Sea but I made him to be with thee on the Land that thou shouldst behold him and take notice of him or that he should be under thy hand yea not only so but contrary to the nature of wilde beasts to love thy company and to desire converse with thee to be guided by thee and in many things to act with a kind of reason and understanding like thee or as thy self and other men do Fifthly Which I made with thee that is for thee I made him for thy use I made him to serve thee Though he be thus great and vast yet he will be thy humble servant There will be occasion afterwards to shew further how serviceable and useful Elephants are to man Sixthly I made him with thee that is I made him as nigh to thee as any of the unreasonable creatures yea nigher to thee than any of the unreasonable creatures for I have made him excel them all as thou excellest him he is above other irrational creatures as thou art above all irrationals He next to Angels and men is the chief of my wayes The word made may import this also and so it is used 1 Sam. 12.6 The Lord advanced the Hebâ—ew is Made Moses and Aaron The Lord hath so made the Elephant that he hath also advanced him above all the beasts of the field I have set him as near the seat of reason as might be and not be rational In all these respects we may understand the Lord saying to Job concerning Behemoth I made him with thee He is thy fellow-creature and how great soever he is he is my creature I made him the same day that I made thee and I made him to abide in the same place with thee or where thy abode is I made him also for thy service and that he might be a meet servant for thee I have made him almost a partaker of reason with thee so far at least a partaker of reason that he will very obsequiously submit to and follow the conduct of thine and though he be the strongest beast on earth yet thou mayest find him acting more according to thy reason than his own force or strength There is yet another interpretation of these words given by Bochartus which favours his opinion that Behemoth is the Hippopotame or River Horse Whom I have made with thee Tecum vel potius juxta te or rather near thee or hard by thee that is in thy neighbour-hood in a Countrey which borders upon thine As if saith he God had said to Job I need not fetch arguments from far to prove how powerful I am seeing I have them at hand For among the beasts which I made in Nilus which is near thy Countrey Arabia how admirable is the Hippopotame And that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies by or near as well as with he gives many examples Josh 7.2 Judg. 9.6 Judg. 18.3 Judg. 19.11 2 Sam. 6.7 2 Sam. 20.8 which the Reader may peruse and consider Thus the Elephant was made with man But how lives he how feeds he Not like man He eateth grasse as an Oxe From these words also the Authour last mentioned collects an argument for the strengthening of his interpretation The Oxe and Elephant saith he are alike labouring beasts and therefore no wonder if they feed alike or live upon the same kind of food but that the Hippopotame which is an aquatical Animal and abides for the most part in the bottom of Nilus should eat grasse like an Oxe this is strange and matter of wonderment Nor is it for nothing that he is compared to the Oxe whom he resembles not onely in his food but in the bignesse of his body and in the shape of his head and feet whence the Italians call him Bomarin that is the Sea-Oxe Yet these words may very well be applied to the Elephant It being not onely true that his food is grasse but a merciful wonder that it is so For â—â—d this vast creature live upon prey or the spoil of other beasts what havock yea devastation would he make to satisfie his hunger So that these words He eateth grasse as an Oxe may carry this sense As if the Lord had said Though I have made this beast so great and strong yet he is no dangerous no ravenous beast he doth not live by preying upon other beasts by tearing and worrying sheep and Lambs as Lions and Bears and Wolves do this great and mighty creature eats grasse lâ—ke an Oxe Thus God would have Job take notice what way he hath provided for the subsistence of the Elephant He eateth grasse as an Oxe yet not altogether as the Oxe His food is as the food of an Oxe for the matter both eat grasse but he doth not eat in the same manner as an Oxe Why how doth an Oxe eat by licking up the grasse with his tongue into his mouth as he is described Numb 22.4 but the Elephant gathers up the grasse with his trunk and then puts it into his mouth Naturalists give these two reasons why the Elephant cannot eat like the Oxe Ne ore pascatur adminuculo linguae ut boves impedit colli brevitas linguae quoque quae illi animali perexigua est interius posita ita ut eam vix videre possis Decerptam proboscideherbam dentibus quos utrinque quatuor habet commolit Arist l. 2. de Histâ—r Animal c. 5 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pasco First Because of the shortnesse of his Neck Secondly The littlenesse of his Tongue which lies so far within his Mouth that it cannot easily be seen and therefore he crops the grasse with his trunk and putting it into his mouth grindes it with his teeth He eateth grasse like an Oxe He is like the Oxe as to what he feeds upon not as to the way of his feeding So then though the Elephant be so bulky and big-bodied yet by the Lords Ordinaâ—ion he is as harmlesse as a labouring Oxe he will not hurt any beast of the field This phrase Eating like an Oxe is used to set forth the peaceablenesse of his Nature Thus those blessed times are described when the power of the Gospel shall overcome the wrath and enmity which is in the Serpents seed against the seed of the Woman Isa 11.7 The Cow and the Bear shall feed their young ones and the Lion shall eat straw like the Oxe Lions will be quiet that is the spirits of those men who have been like Lions and Bears even they shall eat straw like the Oxe they shall not hurt the Lambs and Sheep of Christs flock and fold
things their being in the beginning hath hitherto preserved their being and will to the end And not only so but Thirdly all things are his in possession the Lord hath all in his hand In whose hand soever the things of the world are they are all in the Lords hand As Abraham said in his Treaty with the King of Sodom Gen. 14.22 I have lift up my hands to the most high God the possessor of heaven and of earth Psal 24.1 The earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein that is they are all at his dispose And again The world is mine and the fulness thereof saith the Lord himself Psal 50.12 and therefore if I were hungry that is if I needed any thing I would not tell thee that is complain to thee or go a begging to thee who art but a beggar I can help my self and take what and where I will There is a fourth title by which all things under heaven are the Lords even by Redemption The Lord hath restored the whole world to a kind of new life by the death of his Son Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men especially of them which believe 1 Tim. 4.10 All have some benefit by redemption and so whatsoever is under the whole heaven the whole Systome of heaven and earth is the Lords by redemption though the specialty of redemption be theirs only and intended to them only who believe who as they have a peculiar portion a Benjamins Mess in the grace of redemption so the Lord calleth them his peculiars Exod. 19.5 Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people for all the earth is mine And they are called the Lords portion Deut. 32.9 The Lords portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance Thus as all under the whole heaven is the Lords so all is his by a fourfold title by the titles of creation and sustentation and possession and redemption All things visible and invisible have been created are sustained and possessed by him as their great Lord and all things visible have been redeemed by him from present perishing and a world of them in this world that they should never perish but have everlasting life John 3.16 From this general Assertion That whatsoever is under the whole heaven is the Lords take these following Inferences First Then the Devil is a lyar a great lyar for Mat. 4. in his last assault against Christ he boasted that he would give him all the Kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them whereas the truth is he hath not a shoe latchet at his dispose While the Devil saith all is mine the truth is nothing is his but a lye of that he is the father As he hath not given a being to the least worm so he cannot dispose of the least worm he is not worth a straw for all is the Lords Secondly Hence we learn That there is a lying spirit in most of the children of men even in all them who look upon any thing they have as their own There is a sense in which we have a right to and a propriety in what we have and may call it ours but that spirit which moves in most of the children of men is a lying spirit when they say this and that is their own David Psal 12.4 brings in the wicked saying With our tongue will we prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us What have not we who have so many Lordships the Lordship of our selves the Lordship of that little piece of our selves our lips But were not their lips their own not in the sense they spake it as if they were accountable to none for them for their next word was Who is Lord over us Thus most do they look upon their lips and all the members of their body as their own but what saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.20 Glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods And vers 19. Ye are not your own Your body is not your own but it is the Lords then much less are the things that you have your own your Land is not your own nor your cattel your own the beasts of the earth are not your own nor the fishes of the Sea your own nor is a hair of your head your own nor a pin upon your sleeve they are all the Lords Is it not then a lying spirit which possesseth very many among the children of men who look upon themselves and what they have as their own Their houses and lands are their own their gold and silver are their own who is Lord over them or theirs O let such remember that themselves their houses and lands their gold and silver are the Lords and that the Lord saith expressly The silver is mine and the gold is mine Hag. 2.8 Thirdly If all be the Lords then the Lord is able to supply the wants of all who wait upon him and to supply them plentifully The Lord supplieth the wants of all creatures The Lord keepeth a great house he feedeth all that he hath made he provideth food for Leviathan he satisfieth every living thing Psal 145 16. and Psal 115.16 The heaven even the heavens are the Lords but the earth hath he given to the children of men that is whatsoever of the earth the children of men that is men in common or mankind have the Lord hath given it to them and seing his own children have need of it surely he will not deny it them The Lord I say hath given the earth to the children of men and if the Lord hath bestowed the earth on men as men then much more hath he the earth to bestow upon his own children Christ in his Sermon upon the mount Mat. 6.32 assureth them of it Your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of these things Food and cloathing is in your fathers hand your father is rich he is rich indeed and therefore he can supply your wants If children do but remember that their father hath such and such lands and houses they think they shall be well provided for how much more may a godly man say my father hath a great deal of land the whole earth is his and therefore I shall be provided for The Apostle improves this position twice 1 Cor. 10. First to makâ— use of our liberty in eating whatsoever is fold in the shambles asking no question for conscience sake for saith he the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof vers 26. He makes use of it Secondly to perswade us not to abuse our liberty ver 28. But if any man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols eat not for his sake that shewed it do not offend him and for conscience sake do not offend thy self The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof As if he had said why shouldst thou trouble thy self or others by eating such meat seing there is enough
his people had given to the Lord. Tenthly Is all the Lords then use all as the Lords and not as your own Remember you are but Stewards God hath a title paramount to all you have do not use what is yours as your own but as the Lords you are but Stewards of the things you have in this world The Lord rebuked Israel Hos 2.8 9. for useing their riches their corn and wine otherwise than he had appointed they did not use them as Stewards they used all as Lords not as the Lords They thought it was their gold and their silver and their wine and their oil their wool their flax and they bestowed all upon an idol and prepared all for Baal See what the Lord saith in the next verse Therefore will I return and take away my corn in the time thereof and my wine in the season thereof and will recover my wool and my flax All these are mine and you use them as your own and bestow them upon Baal Thus men bestow their gold and silver upon their lusts upon their pride and intemperance upon their revenge and uncleanness yea to adorn their idols take heed of applying your possessions to wrong uses God is the Lord of all and he will have an account of Lords as they have of their Stewards what they have done with all for they are but Stewards In the Eleventh place Then the Lord may give and take of all that is under heaven when he pleaseth and how he pleaseth to whom he pleaseth and from whom he pleaseth May not he do what he will with his own Mat. 20.15 If he gives to one he giveth but his own and if he takes from another he taketh but his own if he gives another much and you but a little you must be quiet and submit he giveth but his own If he give much of this worlds good to evil men if he adorn and beautifie them with all outward blessings who hath any thing to say against it what though men measuring things by their own reason see no reason yet let them know what he bestoweth is of his own not of any mans possession and if he bestow great things upon the unworthy he doth no wrong to those that are worthy much less to those who are as unworthy as they The benefits he bestows upon any are no wrong to others Upon this ground the Lord commanded the Nations quietly to submit to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babilon Jer. 27.4 5 6. Thus shall ye say to your Masters The Word was given by Jeremiah from the Lord to the Messengers of several Princes I have made the earth the man and the beast that are upon the ground by my out-stretched arm and by my great power and have given it unto whomsoever it seems meet unto me And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar c. And the beasts of the field have I also given to serve him and all Nations shall serve him c. Thus if the Lord gives he giveth his own and if he takes all away from any it is but his own thus Job quieted his spirit at first The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. In the Twelfth place If all be the Lords under the whole heaven then be sure you pay your Land-lord your rent Shall we live in the Lords house and use the Lords land and not pay him his rent let us pay the Lord his rent for we are all Tennants and Tennants at Will Pay him his rent you will say what is that It is the rent of praise and obedience the Lord hath a service due to him for all In the Thirteenth place Let all the godly rejoyce All that is under the whole heaven is Gods it is in the hand of their friend and father all their enemies are in the hand of the Lord their tongues are the Lords and their power is the Lords and all they have is in the hand of the Lord and therefore no wonder if David concluded Psal 144.15 Happy are the people that are in such a case yea happy is that people whose God is the Lord for they have him who is Lord of all of all under the whole heaven Lastly If all be the Lords under the whole heaven then let us above all things labour to assure an interest in the Lord. To be able to say the Lord is our God is the surest way to a worldly estate if we have him who hath all we have all as one said If God be mine then all is mine 'T is the happiness of all the people of God that God is theirs This God is our God we have waited for him The Lord who is our God is the God of salvation Believers appropriate God to themselves they do not stand talking of gold and of silver of houses and lands but say they God is our God Keep close to God in Christ and he will keep you You cannot but have enough when you have God who hath all things under heaven yea and all things in heaven JOB Chap. 41. Vers 12 13 14 15 16 17. 12. I will not conceal his parts nor his power nor his comely proportion 13. Who can discover the face of his garment or who can come to him with his double bridle 14. Who can open the doors of his face his teeth are terrible round about 15. His scales are his pride shut up together â—s with a close seal 16. One is so near to another that no air can come between them 17. They are joyned one to another they stick together that they cannot be sundred THe Lord having spoken both of the quantity or greatness and of the quality or stoutness of Leviathan having also made application of both in the former part of the Chapter he now proceeds to a more particular description of him Vers 22. I will not conceal his parts nor his power nor his comely proportion We have here God speaking I saith the Lord will not conceal his parts There is a two-fold opinion about the connection or dependance of this verse Some joyn it with the former the eleventh verse Who hath prevented me that I should repay him whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine Now in case any one should stand forth with that boldness as to tell the Lord he had prevented him he had been a fore-hand with God Well saith the Lord Si quis me ante vertere aut superior me esse posset ejus laudes utique celebrarem Merc. if any will undertake this if any man dares affirm that he hath prevented me I will not conceal his parts nor his power nor his comely proportion I will do him no wrong I will not shadow nor obscure his worth I will set him forth in his fairest colours or paint him to the life in all that he is in all that he can say or do or shew himself to be in such a contest with
Nathan the Prophet did to reprove King David but he told his friends at first word My wrath is kindled against you Though they were good men yet not so dear to God as Job and therefore he dealt in a more fatherly and favourable way with Job than with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exarsit incensus inflammatus est Inter septem voculas Hebraeorum quae iram significant haec omnium est gravissima Scult they had only hot words My wrath is kindled against you c. I am more than angry As the coals of spiritual love spoken of Cant. 8.6 so the coals of divine wrath are coals of fire which hath a most vehement flame There are seven words in the Hebrew language which signifie anger and this notes the most vehement of them all My wrath is kindled The Latine words Ira and Irasco seem to be derived from it The word is sometimes applied to grief there is a kind of fire in grief Thus 't is said 1 Sam. 15.11 It grieved Samuel and he cryed unto the Lord all night Samuel was vehemently grieved becauâ—e of the ill performance of Saul in his expedition against the Amalakites 'T is also translated to fret Psal 37.8 9. Fret not thy self in any wise to do evil fretting hath its burning My wrath saith the Lord is kindled There is a wrath of God which is not kindled as I may say it is not blown up 't is covered in the ashes of his patience and forbearance but here saith God My wrath is kindled This is spoken by God after the manner of men God feels no change by wrath or anger no impression is made on him by any passion Wrath in God notes only his change of dispensations towards man not any in himself When he acts like a man whose wrath is greatly kindled then 't is said his wrath is kindled as when he acteth like a man that sheweth much love it may be said his love is kindled Further when God saith My wrath is kindled it implieth there is some great provocation given him by man as in the present case Eliphaz and his two friends had done The Lord threatned a sinful Land with brimstone and salt and burning like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and this being executed all Nations shall say wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this Land what meaneth the heat of this great anger Then men shall say because they have forsaken the Covenant of the Lord God of their Fathers c. Deut. 29.23 24 25. The wrath of God is never kindled till blown and that which bloweth it up is mans sin nor doth the ordinary sins of man kindle the wrath of God for then it must be alwayes kindled even against the best of men Doubtless when the Lord said in the Text to Eliphaz My wrath is kindled against thee and thy two friends there was somewhat extraordinary in their sin which kindled it and therefore the Lord directed them an extraordinary way as to circumstances for the querching of it and the making of their peace But here it may be questioned why did the Lord say his wrath was kindled only against Eliphaz and his two friends had he nothing to say against Elihu he had spoken as harshly to Job as any of them yet Elihu was not at all reproved much less was the wrath of God kindled against him I answer 'T is true Elihu spake very hard words of Job yet we may say four things of Elihu which might exempt him from this blame which fell upon those three First He did not speak with nor discover a bitter spirit as they did Secondly Elihu objected not against Job his former life nor charged him as having done wickedly towards man or hypocritically towards God he only condemned him for present miscarriages under his trouble for impatience and unquietness of spirit under the cross Thirdly That which Elihu chiefly objected against Job was the justifying of himself rather than God as he speaks at the beginning of the 32d Chapter not the maintaining of his own innocency nor the justifying of himself before men Indeed Job failed while he insisted so much upon that point that he seemed more careful to clear himself than to justifie God Fourthly When Elihu spake hardly it was more out of a true zeal to defend the justice of God in afflicting him than to tax him with injustice Now because Elihu did not carry it with a bitter spirit and hit the mark much better than his friends though in some things he also shot wide and misunderstood Job therefore the blame fell only upon Jobs three friends and not upon Elihu The Lord said to Eliphaz my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends but his wrath went no further Hence note First The Lord knows how to declare wrath as well as love displeasure as well as favour He hath a store of wrath as well as of love and that is kindled when he is highly displeased Secondly Note Sin causeth kindlings or discoveries of divine wrath Had it not been for sin the Lord had never declared any wrath in the world nothing had gone out from him but kindness and love favours and mercies Wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and against unrighteousness only Rom. 1.18 Unrighteousness kindleth wrath sin is the kindle-coal When we see wrath or displeasure going out we may conclude sin is gone out Moses said to Aaron Numb 16.46 Take a Censer and put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them for there is wrath gone out from the Lord the plague is begun Now as in this latter part of the chapter Moses shews that wrath was gone out against that people from the Lord so in the former part of it he shews that sin and that a great sin was gone out from that people against the Lord. Thirdly Note The Lord sometimes declareth wrath even against those whom he loveth Wrath may fall upon good men such were these friends of Job All the Elect whilest they remain unconverted or uncalled are called Children of wrath Ephes 2.3 Though they are in the everlasting love of God yet they are children of wrath as to their present condition whilst in a state of nature and unreconciled to God Now as the children of God are children of wrath before their conversion so when any great sin is committed after conversion they are in some sense under wrath and the Lord declareth wrath against them till the breach be healed and their peace sued out It is dangerous continuing for a moment in any sin unrepented of or we not going unto God by Jesus Christ for pardon When once the wrath of God is kindled how far it may burn who knoweth There is no safety under guilt Therefore kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed
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
greater while against the Laws of piety ye have judged of a mans holiness by his outward unhappiness and have censured him as a bad man because he hath in this world endured so much evil This hath been your sin ye have in this dealt foolishly with my servant Job therefore hasten to him and do as I have said Lest I deal with you ac-according to your folly Hence note First Sin is folly And not only is it simple folly which a man committeth for want of wit or because he hath little understanding what a man doth for want of wit and understanding is simple folly but sin is wicked folly which is the abuse of wit and parts and gifts yea the overflowing of lust And though we cannot charge these men that they did intentionally use their wit and parts to grieve Job yet it proved so though it was not the end or design of them that spake yet it was the issue of their speech they did him a great deal of wrong and doubtless Satan stirred much or provoked them to use their parts and gifts to imbitter the spirit of the poor man and God left them to do it This was their folly and all such actings or speakings are no better nor do they deserve better or softer language This word folly is often applied in Scripture to sin especially to great sins Another word is used in the Proverbs of Solomon but in several other places sin is expressed by this Gen 34.7 When that great affliction fell upon Jacob the ravishing of Dinah her bretâ—â—â—â— came home very wroth saying He hath committed folly in â—â—â—â—â—l So Judges 19.23 Judges 20.6 the abusing of the Levites Concubine is called the committing of folly Whoredom is expressed by folly Deut. 22.21 And this word with reference I conceive to the sin of whoredom which is spoken of in that place is translated villany Jer. 29.23 All sin is folly especially any great sin is so For First It is a folly to hurt our selves No man can hurt us if we do not hurt our selves by sin The Apostle Peter saith 1 Epist 3.13 Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good 'T is strange that any should Though it be true enough that many have had not only a will to harm them that follow good but have actually done them many and great outward harms yet this is a great truth none can indeed harm them that follow good because all harms turn to their good Nothing can hurt us but our sin Secondly Sin is folly for in sinning we strive with one that is too hard for us Do we saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.23 provoke the Lord to jealousie are we so simple are we stronger than he Thirdly It is folly to do that by which we can get no good that 's the part of a fool Rom. 6.21 What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are now ashamed What have ye got by them have ye made any gains or earnings to boast of the end of those things is death is it not folly to begin that which ends in death and that a never-ending an eternal death Fourthly It is folly to sin for by that at best we run a hazard of our best portion for fading pleasures and perishing profits If we have any pleasure by sin it is but pleasure for a season and that a very short one too What a foolish thing is it to venture things that are incorruptable for perishing things It were a great folly for a man to venture gold against grass they do infinitely more foolishly who sin against the Lord for all that they can get by it is not so much to what they hazard as grass to gold Mat. 16.26 What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul As all flesh is grass so all that flesh lusteth after is no better What kind of Merchants what kind of Exchange-men are they that will traffick or truck away their souls for the profits or pleasures of sin and 't is for one of these that most if not all men traffick away their souls Secondly Observe When God dealeth mâ—st severely with sinners he dealeth justly with them What rod soever he layeth upon their backs what shame what poverty what sickness he affl cts them with It is but according to their folly they have but their own they have no reason to complain The Prophet told the people of Israel as one man when under grievous affl ctions Jerem. 4.18 Thy ways and thy doings have procured these things unto thee Thou hast no reason to complain for thy punishment is of thy own procurement that is thy sin is visible in thy punishment thou eatest but the fruit of thy own doings how bitter soever it is Another Scripture saith Num. 32.23 Your sin shall find you out that is you shall suffer according to what you have done and reap what ye have sowed And is it not folly to sow to the corrupt flesh when of the flesh we shall reap corruption Gal. 6.8 The flesh is a corrupt thing and can yield us no better a thing than it is the effect is like the cause corruption that is a miserable condition both here and hereafter now and for ever Thirdly Note The Lord will not pass by nor spare no not a godly man when he sinneth and repenteth not All this is included in the going of these men to Job As if the Lord had said I will punish you Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar for your folly unless ye repent They that are in a state of grace cannot expect favour from the Lord unless they turn from their sin and give him glory by repenting and believing Good men doing evil may suffer for it as well as the worst of men The Lord will see a work of repentance and selâ—-humbling a work of faith looking to Christ the sacrifice else he will deal with them even with them as he threatned these good men according to their folly But what was the folly of Eliphaz and his two friends for which the Lord threatned to deal so severely with them The latter part of the verse tells us what God accounted and called their folly In that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right The Lord had told them as much at the seventh verse My wrath is kindled against you because ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right Here the Loâ—d pointeth them to their sin again and layeth his finger afresh upon the soar But why doth he so Take these three reasons why Probably the Lord repeated these words First To shew that he was very sensible of their sin in speaking amiss of him and very angry with them for it They provoked the Lord much when they measured him as it were by themselves or by their own meet-wand in his ways of
for God here is an hundred-fold for you But some may say this hundred-fold is a great way off in the next Life I answer If it be so yet do not think ye shall be losers for if ye should never see good day more in this world yet if ye are assured of everlasting life in the world to come is not that enough What pitiful spirits have they that are not willing to take their hundred-fold in the life to come Yet mark it Jesus Christ doth not put us off so neither therefore another Gospel expresseth the promise fully to meet with this objection Mark 10.29 30. when some told Christ they had left all to follow him Jesus answered and said Verily I say unto you there is no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life Jesus Christ gives present recompences as well as future in this time as well as in the time or rather eternity to come And that there is a kind of Synchronism or neer joyning in time of payment and loss of suffering and rewarding some have found in the letter they have had great worldly exaltations soon after their depressions in this world And Jesus Christ who made this promise hath made it good in spirituals to the experiences of many thousands who have lost all for him they have had that at present given into their souls which hath been to them or in their estimation an hundred-fold better than what they lost They that have indeed suffered loss for Christ never complained of their sufferings or losses they have often triumphed in them and rejoyced as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Epist 1.8 with joy unspeakable and full of glory If any think they do foolishly who suffer worldly losses for Christs sake let them remember this return of a hundred-fold and be ashamed of their own folly in thinking so It is not foolishness but true wisdom to lose much for the gain of more Are not they wise who lose one upon good assurance to get an hundred have we not Christs word for it and is not that good assurance that it shall be so Sure no Merchant can put off his goods at a better market than he that putteth them all off for God How rich would men be if they could get an hundred for one Such a rich trade hath Christ opened and they are the wisest Merchants now who venture in it and will be so accounted in the end even by those who now call them fools and mad-men That which is lost for Christ is sown and though the seed that is cast into the ground may seem cast away yet it will spring up again Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 And what Christ saith of the good ground is most true in this case that seed of light is sown in such ground as will bring forth to some thirty to some sixty to some an hundred-fold Therefore to conclude this Inference Be not afraid to lose for God he will not only see you indempnified but at least doubly rewarded Job who once lost by God or by the hand of God upon him was repayed by the same hand with him double in kind and if we have double in a better kind double faith in God and double love to God and double zeal for God and double peace in our own consciences this is an hundred-fold better than all we can lose for him in or of this world JOB Chap. 42. Vers 11. 11. Then came there unto him all his brethren and all his sisters and all they that had been of his acquaintance before did eat bread with him in his house and they bemoaned him and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him every man also gave him a piece of money and every one an ear-ring of gold IN the former verse we have the blessed turn of Jobs state in general The Lord gave him twice as much as he had before In this verse begins the particular account of Jobs restorings There were four things wherein Job suffered loss First He suffered the loss of his estate Secondly The loss of his children Thirdly The loss of his health Fourthly The loss of his friends Jobs repair begins with his last loss his friends were the last that he lost in the day of his affliction Inter adversitates Jobi quasi praecipua erat quod fuerat ab amicis suis desertus ideo hujus adversitatis primò remedium ponitur Aquin. but the first that he recovered in the day of his restoration The first budding or spring of Jobs felicity after so long and sharp a Winter of sorrow as he had gone thorough was the putting forth of fresh and fragrant acts of love from his ancient friends that of late had forsaken him and left him in the hour of his temptation This verse wherein the account is given about this first mercy I may call or intitle The address of Jobs friends and in it we may consider First How they are described or what they are called First as to their relation His brethren his sisters and acquaintance came Secondly in their quantity or number they came all Here is all all all All his brethren and all his sisters and all that had been of his acquaintance before there was not one missing not one that forbore to make this friendly address unto him Secondly As we have an account who they were that came to him so what they did when they came and that is set forth four wayes in this one verse First They did eat bread with him Secondly They bemoaned him Thirdly They comforted him Fourthly They were very bountiful and very respectful to him They gave him every one a piece of mony and every one an ear-ring of gold Thus you have the state and parts of this verse which I call The address of Jobs friends unto him Then came there unto him all his brethren and all his sisters Then The word in the Hebrew is the ordinary copulative And which hath various rendrings in Scripture according to the state of the place Here we translate it Then which may have a double reference First to the turn of his captivity Then they came Secondly to his prayer for his friends and the Lords acceptance of him when God had so eminently declared his favour to him and his friends upon his intercession Then there came unto him All his brethren and all his sisters Brethren and sisters are taken two wayes in Scripture First Strictly and so they that are of or have the same parents at least one of them are brethren and sisters Secondly Brethren and sisters are taken largely for all of the
Thess 5.11 Comfort your selves together and edifie one another And at the 14th vers Now we exhort you brethren warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble minded support the weak The weak in the latter words are the same with the feeble in the former and the support spoken of in the one is nothing else but the comfort spoken of in the other Comfort to a feeble mind is like a prop or a pillar to a feeble building the supporter of it And because it is so important a work to comfort feeble minds I shall briefly name some special cases wherein the mind of man is feeble and then hint what word of comfort is most proper for its support in each case First If the mind be infeebled by outward wants apply that comfortable Scripture Mat. 6.32 33. Your father knoweth that ye have need of those things which if received by faith will give the mind great support in that case Secondly In case of the loss or death of friends the Apostle hath put words into our mouths for the comforting of such 1 Thess 4.13 chiefly these two ways First By remembring that their friends are only asleep in Jesus or gone to sleep in the bosome of Jesus Secondly That they shall be raised again at the coming of Jesus Thirdly In case of suffering and persecution read comfort and support Mat. 5.11 12 13. 1 Pet. 4.12 13 14. Fourthly In case of bodily sickness or any chastenings from the hand of God we have a store or treasure of comforting words Heb. 12. from the 5. to the 14th verse Fifthly In case of desertion or Gods hiding his face take comfort from Isa 50.10 Isa 54.7 8. Sixthly When any are under the sence of divine wrath for sin they may take comfort by meditating all those Scriptures which hold out the free grace of God to sinners and the full satisfaction which Christ hath made for sin to the justice of God and so for deliverance from the wrath which is to come 1 Thess 1.10 These are the principal cases wherein we need a comforter and most of these if not all met in Jobs case He was poor and had lost all that was the first case his children were dead that was the second he was persecuted vexed and reproached that was a third he was sick and weak in body that was a fourth he was under grievous desertions that was a fifth he was also under the sence of wrath the arrows of the Almighty drunk up his spirits All these evils God brought upon him and some of them in the highest degree and though he were then got out of them all yet as was said before being got but a little way out of them he needed comfort and therefore his new-come old friends and acquaintance bemoaned and comforted him as a man newly come out of great affliction And we should be much in this duty of comforting others upon these considerations First Comfort upholds the soul when burdened or weakned from sinking Secondly Comfort quiets the soul when tost up and down as with a tempest comforts wisely and seasonably ministred will make a great calm Comfort is the repose and rest of the soul Thirdly Comfort quickens and revives the soul when dying away with sorrow comforts are cordials For which cause we faint not 2 Cor. 4.16 And what the cause was which kept them from fainting we may find both in the verse going before in those words All things are for your sakes vers 15. or in the verse following Our light affliction c. ver 17. Comforts either prevent and keep us from qualms and swoonings or bring us out of them again Give wine to him that is of a heavy heart let him drink and forget his sorrow Prov. 30.6 7. Give him this wine of comfort and it will renew his spirit more than wine Fourthly Comfort confirms and establisheth the soul when we are ready to let go our hold The Apostle sent Timotheus to establish and comfort the Thessalonians concerning their faith 1 Epist 3.2 that is to establish them in the faith both in the doctrine and grace of faith by comforting them Jobs friends might see cause of comforting him upon many considerations possibly upon most of these The Text saith only They comforted him Over all the evil which the Lord had brought upon him The plaister was as broad as the soar or they administred as many plaisters as there was soars They comforted him over all the evil c. This directs us to a great point of holy prudence in comforting the sorrowful even to comfort them in or about every thing which hath been an occasion of their sorrow When we are to stop the holes of a leaking vessel if we stop three or four and leave but one we indanger all the liquor in the vessel you were as good stop none at all as not stop all so it is in this case therefore see how wisely Jobs friends carried it They comforted him over all the evil Which the Lord had brought upon him And all that was the evil of suffering The Lord is the bringer of such evils upon all that suffer them even upon his dearest and most faithful servants those evils come from him who is only good and altogether good The Lord takes these evils to himself I create evil Isa 45.7 and faith the Prophet Amos 3.6 Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it As the Lord owns these kind of evils so we honour God in acknowledging him the Author of them Our crosses are of God as well as our comforts our poverty as well as our riches our sickness as well as our health This point hath occurred more than once from other passages in this Book and therefore I shall adde no more now This was the third labour of love which the brethren of Job bestowed upon him They comforted him over all the evil which the the Lord had brought upon him Yet this was not all they did not only bestow a mouthful of good words upon him I speak not lightly of good words they are a weighty piece of charity Good words are much better as was toucht before than gold and silver and may be much more beneficial and useful to the receiver than thousands of gold and silver Yet I say Jobs friends did not only bestow a mouthful of good words upon him for the removal of his inward grief but they brought their handsful of good things to bestow upon him for the making up of his outward losses and this was the fourth act or office of love which they did him as it followeth Every man also gave him a piece of money and every one an ear-ring of gold Here was real kindness as well as verbal Though good words as was said be a great charity yet 't is no charity to give nothing but good words where more is needed unless this be our case that indeed we have nothing more to give The
ascend into the hill of the Lord c. and answered it vers 4 5. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lift up his soul to vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness that is a righteous reward or a reward according to righteousness from the God of his salvation Solomon asserts the present performance of what is only promised in this Psalm he saith not The just shall receive the blessing but they have actually received it Prov. 10.6 Blessings are upon the head of the just By the just man we may understand First him that is in a justified state or him that is just by faith Secondly him that walks in a just way or that do justly And they who are indeed justified are not only engaged by that high act of grace to do justly but are either constantly kept in doing so or are soon brought to see they have not done so and to repentance for it Just and upright men in these two notions are so much blessed that they are a blessing Prov. 11.11 By the blessing of the upright is the City exalted As an upright man wisheth and prayeth for a blessing upon the City where he liveth so he is a blessing to it and that no small one but to the greatning enriching and exaltation of it He that is good in his person becomes a common good to Cities yea to whole Nations such are a blessing because they receive so many blessings Pro. 28.20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings This faithful man is one that acts and doth all things faithfully as appears by his opposition in the same verse to him that maketh hast to be rich of whom the Text saith he shall not be innocent that is he must needs deal unfaithfully or unrighteously for in making such post-hast to riches he usually rides as we say over hedge and ditch and cannot keep the plain way of honesty Thirdly As they who are in a state of grace and they who act graciously in that state so they who worship holily or holy worshippers have a special promise of the blessing As Sion is the seat of holy worship so there the Lord commandeth the blessing upon holy worshippers Psal 133.3 And again Psal 115.12 13. He will bless the house of Israel he will bless the house of Aaron he will bless them that fear the Lord both small and great that is the generality of holy worshippers shall be blessed The fear of the Lord is often put in Scripture for the worship of the Lord and so they that fear him are the same with them that worship him Fourthly They are the blessed of the Lord who trust the Lord for all and so make him the all of their trust Psal 34.8 O tast and see that the Lord is gracious blessed is the man that trustith in him that is in him only or alone being convinced of the utter insufficiency of the creature That man is cursed who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm Jer. 17.5 therefore pure trust in God hath the blessing Fifthly They that are a blessing unto others shall have the blessing from the Lord. What it is to be a blessing to others read at large in the 29th Chapter of this Book vers 11. and in 31. Chapter vers 20. They that do good to others they especially who do good to the souls of others are a blessing to others Now they who do good they shall receive good themselves Prov. 11.25 The liberal shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself He that watereth is a common good a blessing to the place where he lives a blessing to the rich a blessing to the poor a blessing to relations a blessing to strangers upon such the Scripture assures the blessing of the Lord. Sixthly They who promote the worship and service of God they that are friends to the Ark of God shall be blessed 2 Sam. 6.11 The Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom because he entertained the Ark shewed kindness to the Ark and was ready to do any service for the Ark of God he will be a friend to the true friends of his Church Seventhly They shall receive a blessing of God who strive in prayer for his blessing Jacob was blessed but he wâ—estled for it They that would have it must ask it with a gracious importunity they that seek it diligently shall find it These are the chief characters of the persons whom the Lord will bless And seeing his blessing is so effectual for the procurement of our good we should above all things labour to procure his blessing When Jacob wrestled with the Angel he asked nothing of him but a blessing Gen. 32.26 He did not say I will not let thee go except thou deliver me from my brother Esau he did not say I will not let thee go unless thou make me rich or great he only said I will not let thee go except thou bless me let me be blessed and let me be what thou wilt or I can be What should we desire in comparison of the blessing of God seeing his blessing strictly taken is the fruit of his fatherly love A man may be rich and great and honoured among men yet not beloved but he that is indeed blessed is certainly beloved of God Esau could not obtain the blessing Now what saith the Lord by the Prophet of him as the Apostle quotes the Prophet Rom. 9.13 Esau have I hated Esau got much riches but he could not get the blessing for he was hated of the Lord and therefore it is said Heb. 12.17 He found no place for repentance though he sought it carefully with tears that is he could not make Isaac repent of blessing Jacob though through a mistake yet according to Gods appointment he could not prevail with him no not by tears to take off the blessing from his brother Jacob and place it upon himself And the reason why the blessing remained with Jacob was because he was loved of God The blessing must go where the love goes The loved of the Lord are and shall be blessed and they who are blessed have all good with a blessing Read Gen. 24.35 Gen. 26.13 Gen. 28.3 2 Sam. 6.11 Psal 107.38 Yea as God giveth all good with a blessing so he giveth himself who is the chief good best of all and blessed for evermore to those whom he blesseth Then how should we desire the blessing of God or to be blessed by God It is wonderful how passionately and even impatiently the Votaries of Rome desire the Popes blessing they think themselves made men if they can but have his blessing I have read of a Cardinal who seeing the people so strangely desirous of his blessing Quando quidem populus hic vult decipi dicipiatur said Seeing this people will be deceived let them be deceived But we cannot be too desirous of a blessing from
Lords stock and treasure can never be drawn dry he is an ever-over-flowing fountain If you had much at the beginning you may have much more at the latter end So much of these words as they hold out the restoring of Jobs estate in general the particulars are summ'd up in the close of the verse For he had fourteen thousand Sheep and six thousand Camels and a thousand yoke of Oxen and a thousand She-Asses The encrease of his estate is here set forth in cattel only as his first estate was cattel were the riches of those times and Countreys yet doubtless his estate encreased in every thing or kind First his family and servants encreased to look to so many cattel Secondly his Lands and pastures encreased to feed them Thirdly his house and buildings encreased to receive and lodge so numerous a Family Fourthly his honour and dignity increased Some affirm that whereas before he had only some small principality under his government now he was declared King over all the Land of Vz Thus all sorts of good things were given him double but whether at once or by degrees is not exprest Some of the Rabbins have a fancy and it is a wild one that Jobs cattel which were taken from him were not carried quite away but only driven into some other Country and there kept so that when he was restored they were brought home to him again with this double encrease This may well go for a fancy for not his own cattel but cattel of the same kind were restored to him double There is no difficulty in these words The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning giving double or twice as many Sheep Oxen Camels Asses as he had before Hence note Outward good things Sheep and Oxen Houses and Lands Gold and Silver are a blessing as they come from God unto his servants Here is nothing said of the best things all was but Sheep and Oxen yet in these Job received a blessing The Lord Deut. 28.4 made large promises of blessings to his obeying people or to his people in case of obedience and all in outward comforts Blessed shalt thou be in the City and blessed shalt thou be in the field blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattel the encrease of thy kine and the flocks of thy sheep blessed shall be thy basket and thy store Spiritual things are the best blessings spiritual things are not only the noblest but the most necessary blessings The favour of God the light of his countenance pardon of sin grace in our hearts these are excellent blessings and these make us exceedingly blessed and no doubt but Job did chiefly look after these blessings this good man desired the light of Gods countenance the shinings of his face upon him the workings of his grace and spirit in him the evidences of his love to him infinitely above cattel corn and wine A godly man accounts himself but in a poor condition if he were to reckon all his estate in Houses and Lands in Sheep and Oxen yet these are a blessing from the Lord upon him and so he accounts them And still it must be remembred which hath already been touched that before the coming of Christ before there was a full discovery and a clear manifestation of the grace of God in Christ to his people they in those times were much led and fed with promises of temporal blessings The faithful were allured to heaven by earthly things Jesus Christ who came down from heaven to lift us up thither who took our nature that we might partake of the divine nature who was cloathed with our flesh to shew that God dwelleth in us and hath joyned us to his glory and immortality Jesus Christ I say was known only in shadows and remote prophesies in those times and therefore it was necessary the Lord should deal with them accordingly and allure them by promises of cattel and corn and children especially by the promise of long life which hath the greatest resemblance to and bears the fairest image of eternal life and all because the heavenly life was not then so perfectly discovered as it is now in these Gospel-times For though it be a truth that all the good things of the world are not sufficient to make a love-token yet God gives those good things to his people as tokens of his love and they see love in them and these lesser good things are then best to us when we can look on them as blessings coming from the love of God which we may do First When we can say we have got and keep them with a good conscience Secondly When we use and order them with prudence Thirdly When we dispence them charitably and freely according to the needs and necessities of others When we truly and intentionally honour God with our substance in doing acts of love it shews that he hath given it us in love Fourthly When the Lord with encrease of riches gives us an encrease of grace when our souls thrive as well as our estates then we may look upon riches as coming to us in love Sheep and Oxen Gold and Silver without a just and wise and gracious possessing and using of them prove curses at last not blessings snares not favours There are none so unhappy as foolish rich men none so base as covetous rich men none so intollerable as proud rich men none so vile and despicable as sluggish voluptuous rich men none more ungodly and irreligious than they who having riches trust in them and dote upon them only when the Lord gives spiritual things with temporal grace with goods they are mercies to us When Luther received a favour from a great Prince he began to be afraid that God would put him off with such things A godly man receives a portion in earthly good things but he will not take all the good things of the earth for his portion Now as all spiritual things are better than temporal so among temporals some are better than others Job received good things when his cattel were doubled but he had better blessings of this life restored to him than those his estate restored double in cattle was nothing to his children restored single as it follows in the next words Vers 13. He had also seven sons and three daughters This is the third part of Jobs restauration sons and daughters We may consider this blessing First In the number Secondly In the sex In number his children were seven and three As to sex they were both sons and daughters he had seven sons and three daughters in all ten just the number he had before as we read at the second verse of the first chapter Some of the Jewish Rabbies before spoken of say his former children were not indeed slain but removed during the time of his affliction and that being ended were restored the same both in number and
person This is as groundless a dream as the other about his cattle and so I leave it For That his children were really slain with the fall of the house where they were feasting the history makes evident in the first chapter and that he had the same number of children not the same children restored is all that is evident in this Only here a question ariseth and some trouble themselves much about it to little purpose how to make good that of the 8th ver where 't is said The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before whenas he had but just so many sons and daughters as he had before Here is no doubling of them and it may be thought that the Lord being now blessing his latter end more than his beginning should have given him more children double children because the more children the greater is the blessing I answer First Negatively The reason why his children were not double though his cattle were was not First Out of any want of power in God he could have doubled his children as well as his cattle Nor was it Secondly For want of love or good will to Job Nor was it Thirdly As Tertul. lib. de patientia c. 14 one of the Antients Tertullian gives the reason that Job might never want something to exercise his patience with while he lived forasmuch as he saw himself shortned in that mercy Nor was it Fourthly As Aquinas conceived because if his children had been doubled as well as his estate then his children would not have had a double estate nor more than they should have had before Forty proportionably divided among twenty yields each of them no greater a portion than twenty will do to ten Nor was it Fifthly Because the Lord would not have him over-burdened with cares about their education none of these were any reason why Jobs children were not doubled to him in number as well as his cattle And therefore I answer affirmatively First For the word double or twice as much in the Text which this seems not to come up unto we may easily salve that difficulty for the Text speaks not of persons but of things or of his substance with respect to doubling or a twice as much As for his children they come in with an also as an additional blessing to all the rest He had also seven sons and three daughters Secondly Those words twice as much need not be taken strictly as was shewed before Job might and doubtless did receive a double mercy in his children though their persons were not doubled nor multiplied as will appear further afterwards Thirdly I answer it was the pleasure of the Lord to give him no more than the same number of children and that may suffice us Fourthly Some of the Ancients are much pleased with this other answer saying Job in a sence had his children doubled for his slain children were not lost but gone before and lived still in a blessed state They having immortal souls and being the seed of the righteous their father had reason to believe them safe in Abrahams bosome Those children are not lost to their parents when they dye Tibi non perit qui Deo non perit Non numero sed valore quod occultè insinuatur in filicabus quae pulcherrimae fuisse leguntur Aquin. who are not lost to God or are not themselves lost children Fifthly Though Jobs children were not doubled in number as his cattle were yet we may judge them doubled to him in goodness and vertuous qualities The beauty of his daughters is expressely noted in the following words And shall we think that God who had a blessing for Job blessed his children only with fading bodily beauty doubtless their minds were more richly indowed and their souls more beautiful than their bodies And if Jobs daughters were such we may well conceive his Sons were not inferiour to them in gracious qualifications and that they much exceeded the sons he had before his affliction Some have spoken doubtfully at least of Jobs former children as if though good yet not very good and they give two reasons for it out of this book First Because when they went to feast at each others houses Job used to offer sacrifice feaâ—ing his children had cursed God in their hearts Secondly Bildad chap. 8.4 seems to lay a blot upon his former children If thy children saith he have sinned against him and he have cast them away for their transgression c. which may intimate the sinful miscarriages of his former children in the course of their lives as well as that dreadful accident by which they dyed Yet I conceive we need not cast any such blot upon them they might be good though these were better and so a double mercy to their father He had also seven sons and three daughters Hence note Children are great blessings When the Lord told Abraham Gen. 15.2 I am thy shield and exceeding great reward Abraham said Lord what wilt thou give me seing I go childless As if he had said what is an inheritance without an heir Children are a blessing which God many times denieth his own children God denied Abraham that blessing long yet gave it him at last Abrahams servant reporting the blessings of God bestowed upon his master put this as chief Gen. 24.35 The Lord hath blessed my master greatly he is become great he hath given him flocks and herds silver and gold men servants and maid servants what follows and Sarah my masters wife bare a son to my master when she was old Abrahams servant counted this the complement of all his masters outward blessings that as the Lord had given him a great estate so a son to inherit and possess it after him And if children be a blessing let all who have them take heed of looking upon them as a burthen And seing they are a blessing of the Lord seing they come from him let all who have them be admonished to bring them up for him or as the Apostle directs In the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Whatever we receive from God we should use for him and return to him our estates should be serviceable to the Lord and above all we should labour to make our children serviceable to him Thus we have seen the three parts of Jobs restauration First His friends Secondly His wealth Thirdly His children were restored to him But Job had four losses and we hear nothing about the restoring of the fourth First He lost his substance Secondly His children Thirdly His health Fourthly His friends Here 's a restoring of three of them but nothing is spoken of the fourth which I place third the restoring of his health Now health being the chief of outward blessings better than sheep and oxen and whatever we can have in this world why was not the restoring of that mercy mentioned I answer Though the restoring of his health and strength be not exprest verbally yet it is exprest
Perfume a very fragrant and pleasant spice of which Naturalists speak much and is commonly known by the name Cassia and so rendred Psal 45.8 All thy garments smell of Myrrh Aloes and Cassia as if in English Job had called his second daughters name Sweet spice or perfume And the name of the third Keren-happuch That 's a compound word from Keren which signifieth a Horn and Happuch which among the Learned hath a double signification First It signifieth a pouder of which they made a kind of ointment wherewith proud ones painted themselves called in Latine Stibium Some say it was a mineral others say it was a plant growing in the Sea which being ground to pouder was of an excellent redness in colour Here the word Keren signifying a Horn is prefixed to it because they used to preserve such painting-pouder in a horn We find this word Happuch made use of in the Verb 2 Kings 9.30 where it is said that Jezebel hearing Jehu was come to Jezreel Painted her face and tired her head c. The Prophet also maketh use of it Jer. 4.30 when he would shew how unable anything should be to do them good the Lord being provoked by their evil deeds True bodily beauty cannot much less can a painted face procure them favour with men with whom the Lord is angry for their wickedness and soul-pollutions and therefore saith the Prophet there Though thou cloathest thy self with crimson and deckest thy self with ornaments of gold though thou rentest thy face with painting in vain shalt thou make thy self fair thy lovers will despise thee they will seek thy life When he saith Though thou rentest thy self with painting it is only to shew that though they did their best and used their utmost skill to make themselves look fair though they should rub their faces with this vermillion till they crack'd their very skin yet it would do them no good the enemy would not be enamoured with them nor pity nor spare them for their fine cloaths and fair faces Secondly Others derive this word Happuch from a root which signifieth to turn and then the sence of the Text is He called the name of the third Keren-happuch that is The horn of conversion or of turning I shall give the reason of that translation by-and-by The Septuagint render it by a word which signifieth Plenty The horn of plenty But I conceive our rendring most proper He called her name Keren-happuch that is The horn of beauty alluding to the custom of proud women who to make themselves look fair and so to ensnare others with their beauty anointed or painted themselves with that tincturing stuff Thus we have the signification of these names But why did Job give his daughters such names as these First I suppose this may be given as a reason of it That he might in these names remember or be minded of his wonderful restoration God having brought him out of a low and miserable estate to a very high and comfortable one he therefore called the name of the first Jemima that is Day to signifie that he who before was in a night a dark night of sadness and sorrow of trouble and adversity was now come to a comfortable day of prosperity The Scripture saith Light is sown for the righteous They may be in the dark in a dark day in a day as dark as night and where the very light as Job spake Chap. 10. is as darkness but there is a Day coming Light is sown for the righteous Job might say I have been in the dark night of affliction but now 't is break of day with me and therefore that I may remember this goodness of God my first daughter shall be named Day that her name may help me to remember the goodness of God all my dayes Again When he called his second daughter Kezia that also might refer to his new state As if he had said My former condition of stink and filth is passed away I once sate as it were upon a dunghil being little better than dung my self full of ulcerous soars my breath savour'd so ill that my Wife could not endure me and I was an offence to all neer me but now the Lord hath renewed my flesh as the flesh of a child now I am sweet and clean my savour is like a perfume and therefore my second daughters name shall be Kezia Spice or perfume Job might also say My late affliction was a state of deformity I was black and uncomely my face was all as a scab and my body as a sore my countenance was slurr'd with tears and weeping as he complained Chap. 16.16 there was no beauty in me Job might say of himself in that state as it is said of Christ in the Prophesie When we beheld him there was no beauty no comeliness in him but now my sores are healed now I have recovered my former strength freshness and comeliness and therefore the name of this daughter shall be The horn of beauty to mind me how the Lord hath given me beauty for ashes and garments of joy for a spirit of heaviness Thus he might very well and very piously give his children these names to mind him of the blessed change which the Lord had made in his outward condition And this is the reason of that translation before mentioned of the name of the third daughter called Keren-happuch The horn of Conversion intimating how great a change the Lord had made in his horn his horn was in the dust before it was empty and had nothing in it but filth whereas now is become or turned to be a Horn of plenty Jobs estate was changed from poverty to plenty and his horn raised from the dust to honour and dignity and therefore he called the name of his third daughter Keren-happuch The horn of Conversion or The change of the Horn. Thus Job might have great reason to call his daughters by these names with respect to the change of his condition Hence observe Godly Parents do well when they give such names to their children as may be memorials of the providences of God towards them Joseph had a mighty turn in his estate as the Psalmist epitomizeth the History of Moses in Genesis concerning him Psal 105.17 18 19 20 c. He was sold for a servent his feet were hurt with fetters he was laid in irons until the time that his word came the word of the Lord tryed him The King sent and loosed him he made him Lord of his house and Ruler of all his substance c. This Joseph had two sons in the Land of Egypt after this turn of his estate but what were their names The Text answers Gen. 41.51 52. And he called the name of his first-born Manasseth which signifieth forgetfulness and he giveth this reason of it for said he God hath made me forget all my toyl and all my fathers house And the name of the second called he Ephraim which signifieth fruitful for said