the ghost The Hebrew is but one word which costs us five in English I give up the ghost the word signifieth that last act of those who are in the agonie of death In the Greeke and Latine that act is exprest by one word Luk. 23.46 Where it is said that Christ gave up the ghost The word is conceived to note a willing cheerefull resignation of our selves in death a dying without much reluctance or resistance a being active in death rather then passive we call it well a giving up the ghost Some apply it only to the death of the godly as Gen. 25.8 of Abraham c. whose lives are not violently snatcht from them but willingly surrendred When a godly man dyes a violent death he doth not dye violently Whereas a wicked man dies violently when he dies naturally and though sometimes being weary of his life or despairing of reliefe he drives out his ghost yet in a strict sense he never gives up the ghost It is said to the wicked rich man in the Gospell Luk. 12.20 Thou foole this night shall thy soule be required of thee demanded indeed but O how unwillingly doth the rich man pay this naturall debt who is so able to pay all civill debts Yet it must be confest that we find the word often used promiscuously applied as well to the death of the wicked as of the godly To Ismael Gen. 25.8 as well as Abraham to Annanias and Saphira Acts 5.10 Yea it is applied to the death of any or all living things Gen. 7.21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth both of fowle and of cattell and of beasts and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth and every man Then againe If I had not so much favour to die assoone as ever I came from the wombe or to die in the very birth yet Why did the knees prevent me or the breasts that I should sucke Here are two steps aggravating the cause of his curse against his day If I had not been borne dead saith Job or died naturally assoone as I was borne yet why was I not left to perish I should have died quickly if they had let me alone though I were born alive into the world that is the meaning of those words Why did the knees prevent me why was there any care taken of me why did the Midwife and the Assistant women take me upon their knees why did they wash me swathe me and bind me up If they had not been so kind it had been a kindnesse unto me if they had spared their labour they had done me a favour If they had omitted their care how many cares had I escaped Why did the knees prevent me or which is a further step and the fift step by which this speech ascends why the brests that I should suck As if he had said If they would needs be so favourable as to take me up upon the knee to wash me to binde me up and cloath me yet why was the brest presented to me why was I layed to the brest If they had kept me from sucking the brest I should have suckt but little breath I had died quickly So that in these words there are five gradations by which Job aggravateth the cause of this curse against his day First Because he was conceived Secondly Because the doore was opened for him to be borne Thirdly Because being borne he did not presently give up the ghost or die assoone as he came into the world Fourthly Because there was so much care taken for him as to take him upon the knee and bind him up Fifthly Because there was a brest provided and papps for him to sucke If any of these latter acts had been neglected Job had died and so escaped all these ensuing troubles of his life sorrow had been hidden from his eyes And it is observed especially in these latter acts of this gradation that Job alludes to the custome of those times wherein unnaturall women left their children upon the cold earth naked and helplesse assoone as they were borne or casting them out expose them to misery or the casuall nursery of nature lent them by beasts more mercifull then those beastly mothers who would not afford them knees to prevent nor brests to give them suck As in that place Ezek. 16.4 5. the wofull condition of such an infant is exprest to shadow out the sinfully polluted and woefuly helplesse estate of that people and of all people by nature till the Lord prevents them by the knees of free grace and suckles them with the brests of his consolation Thy father was an Amorite and thy mother an Hittite of a barbarous people and what then In the day thou wast borne thy navell was not cut neither wast thou washed in water thou wast not salted at all nor swadled at all none eye pittied thee to doe any of these unto thee but thou wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of thy person in the day that thou wast borne Now this is a certaine rule that such parabolicall and allegoricall Scriptures are grounded upon known customes and things in use It is certaine there were some so unnaturall to their infants that they would bestow no care upon them when they were borne neither wash nor cleanse nor binde them up but cast them out as the Prophet speakes to the loathing of their persons The Heathen Romanes had a speciall goddesse or deity whose name imported her care and office that children when they were borne should be taken up from the earth and set upon the knee And for the preventing of this unnaturall cruelty very frequent as it seemes amongst them the Thebanes made an expresse law that infants should not be neglected or cast out when they were borne though the parents thought they would be a burden to them by reason of the charge or no delight to them by reason of their deformity Now saith Job I could wish I had had such a father or such a mother or such friends who forgetting naturall affection would have cast me out when I came first into the world Why did the knees prevent me From hence also we may observe first That an infant assoone as he liveth hath in him the seeds of death So Job speakes of himselfe Why died I not from the wombe why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of my mothers belly Or why was I not stifled in the wombe why was ever that doore opened to let me into the world I could have died as soone as I lived Not only is man acting sin but nature infected with sin the subject of and subjected to the power of death So the Apostle teacheth us Rom. 5.14 Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression And who were those Even little infants they had life yet death reigned over them they were under the
make use of our friends to doe us hurt by He tempteth not only by himself but by creatures And not only by creatures that are at a distance from us but by those who are neerest in relation and by those most He can make a servant a child a wife instrumentall for our ruine In this sense we may apply that caveat of the Prophet Jer. 9.4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour and trust ye not in any brother That also of Micah Trust ye not in a friend put ye not confidence in a guide keep the doores of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome Yea take heed of thy owne bosome Satan drawes a party from our selves against our selves Thirdly observe Satan is very subtile to make choise of such instruments as may do his work most effectually Of all those that were about Job he could not have picked out any to have carried on his plot so powerfully and with such probability of successe First in regard of her neernesse she had opportunitie to come unto him and freedome to improve that importunity Saul knew what hee did when he married his daughter to David I will give him her said Saul that she may be a snare to him 1 Sam. 18.21 Politick marriages are usually made for temptation not for comfort snares are tyed fastest with a false lovers knot Secondly the motion or perswasions of a wife whether to good or evil are very taking upon a husbands heart We see it in the first wife that ever was she by perswasions overcame Adam unto sin she was the devils agent for the undoing of her husband and the world Ahab was very wicked but he had a tempter in his bosome But there was none like unto Ahab who did sell himselfe to work wickednesse whom Jezebel his wife stirred up Unparalell'd wickednesse is ascribed to the provocations of a wife When a Prince hath given up his affections and his conscience into the hands of a malicious wanton woman he will quickly sell himselfe to such wickednesse as will be his owne trouble and entitle him like king Ahab the troublers of a kingdome Thirdly Satan knew that a wound is deeper by how much the hand is neerer that strikes it Afflictions presse us most when they are from our friends What thou my son said Caesar in the Senate What thou my wife Is thy hand upon me in my own house might Job say The Prophet brings in one questioning What are these wounds And Christ answering Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends Zech. 13.6 The height of enmity is thus exprest A mans enemies shall be the men of his own house Micah 7.6 This caused David to complaine so bitterly Psal 55.12 It was not an enemie that had done this but it was thou my friend and my equall and my companion The friend wounded more then the sword So might Job complaine It was not an enemy it was not a Sabean or a cruell Caldean that spake this but it was thou my equall my friend my companion and which is more then all these My wife my second selfe I grant that in one sense the wounds of a friend are precious Precious are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitfull Precious are the wounds of a friend when a friend doth wound with holy reproofe but when a friend wounds by sinfull counsell or solicitations unto sinne those are pernicious wounds If that which is light in us be turned into darknesse as Christ speakes how great is that darknesse So if that which should be our comfort be turned into our sorrow how great is our sorrow Therefore we see why Satan spared the wife that she might be an instrument and a most effectuall instrument either to prevaile upon him or to vex him in case she did not prevaile Doubtlesse Job did not feele so much smart when Satan smote both flesh and bone as now when his flesh and bone smote him Thus we see the cruelty of Satans mercy He spared Jobs tongue and he spared Jobs wife he spared his tongue that Job might have a member free for an instrument of sin in cursing God and he spared Jobs wife that himselfe might have an instrument to bid him sin Curse God and die This was her counsell And his wife said unto him Doest thou still retain thine integritie Curse God and die Her words consist of two parts 1. A sharpe and a scornfull exprobration 2. A wicked and sinfull direction Her scornfull exprobration in these words Doest thou still retain thine integritie Her sinfull direction in those words Curse God and die Doest thou still retain thine integritie Words quick and short It is probable we have here only the compendium or briefe of that discourse which passed between Job and his wife We have only the poison and the Antidote as a learned Expositor hints it upon this place The Septuagint have taken the boldnesse if they be not falsified to set down his wives speech at large and joyn it in with the body of the Text thus A long time being spent his wife said unto him How long wilt thou hold out saying Behold I wait yet a little while expecting the hope of my Salvation For consider thy remembrance is blotted out from the earth even thy sons and thy daughters the pains and travell of my womb whom I have brought forth in vaine Thou thy self sittest here in the rottennesse of worms abiding all night in the open ayre I poore hand-maid wander from place to place from house to house looking when the sun will set that I may take a little repose from the paines and sorrowes which now oppresse me but utter thou some word against the Lord and die The Greek Authors comment upon these words as upon the text it selfe But I shall wave them wholly Neither shall I stay here in the Explication of the words according to our reading out of the Hebrew because we have handled them at the third verse of this Chapter In the testimony which God giveth concerning Job where he speakes thus to Satan Hast thou considered my servant Job how that he is a perfect man c. and that he still holdeth fast his integritie God spake it to the praise of Job still he holdeth fast his integritie his wife speaks it to his reproach and upbraideth him with it Doest thou still retain thine integritie The words spoken by both are the same but the sense and intent of the speakers is quite different God speakes them in honour to Job his wife speakes them in contempt of Job and therefore she formes them into a question a cutting kinde of speech Doest thou still retaine thine integritie As if she should say What art thou so senselesse and so stupid so mad and sottish to go on in this course still what hast thou got by it where are thy earnings what is the advantage of holinesse or what
is the profit of integritie that thou holdest and huggest it so fast Doest thou still retaine thine integritie This I conceive is the summe of the question it is an upbraiding a reproaching question and from that we may observe First That those things which commend us most to God usually render us most contemptible before the world Doest thou still retain thine integritie She slighteth him and scorneth him for this whereas God highly commends him speakes it to his praise That which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination in the sight of the Lord. And that which the Lord esteemes highly man abominates Secondly this It is the endeavour of Satan and his instruments to perswade that the profession of holinesse is vain and unprofitable Satan hath taught wicked ones and they like forward Schollars say it without book say it openly It is a vain thing to serve the Lord Satan would faine infuse this cursed principle into the hearts of Gods own people and make them beleeve their faith is also vain Doest thou still retain thine integritie Come take a little counsell at the last work like a wise man wilt thou hold a thing thou canst get nothing by Take it on my word thou canst not thrive this way thou canst make nothing of it what dost thou meane to go on madding in such a course as this Thou shalt never get bread by it to put in thy head no nor water to wash thy hands All thou gettest by it will be a knock a rod upon thy back a dishonour upon thy name And wilt thou still be so strait-lac'd and hold fast thy integritie Thirdly observe further from Satans intendment in putting such words as these into the mouth of Iobs wife That his great designe is to take advantage from outward troubles and ill successes to discourage the hearts and weaken the hands of Gods people in holy duties That was his project quite to discourage Iob and from the ill successe he had in the service of God to get him put off his Livery and give over his service It is the course that the world instructed by Satan as here Iobs wife was still holdeth with the people of God Their language is Why are you so precise why so not c Doe you not observe you get nothing by your prayers nothing by your fasting nothing by your holinesse All that you have got you may put in your eyes and see never the worse Shew us some of your gaines what have you got where are your deliverances where are your victories where is your Salvation you have prayed till you are almost undone you have fasted till all is almost lost things are worse then they were will you still goe on in these duties of fasting and praying of humbling and seeking of waiting and beleeving This is the language of Satan this the divinity of Hell And I shall answer it in one word It is far better to die praying then to conquer blaspheming Such doctrine may stop up a hypocrites mouth and weaken his heart from duty But it will more open the mouths enlarge the hearts of those who are sincere Will the hypocrite alwayes call upon God will he delight himselfe in the Almighty saith Job No he delights in God no longer then God gives him worldly delights nor calls upon God any longer then sensible blessings are sent in unto him If God stayes his hand he stopps in duty he quickly takes out Satans lesson and will no longer hold his integrity But Grace shewes us wages in the worke A godly man hath his fruit in holinesse and therefore though he receives no outward fruit he still holds fast his integrity But what would Jobs wife advise him to doe in case he should let goe the holinesse of his life That followes in the next words having endeavoured to take him off from one course she directs him to another Curse God and dye Here is the second part of her counsell cursed counsell indeed Curse God and dye It is the same Originall word which we have opened before and met with two or three times already In the proper signification it noteth blessing and so the word is by many expositors rendred in this place Blesse God and dye Mr. Broughton translates it so in one entire sentence Doest thou still retaine thine integrity blessing God and dying We must therefore examine both sides that we may find out more fully the sense of these words Some take the words in a good sense and some take them in an ill sense Some take the words in a good sense Blesse God and dye And others who translate Blesse God and dye doe yet expound it to an ill sense First Some make a good construction out of these words of Jobs wife affirming that she gave her husband wholesome advice and so they render the words Blesse God and dye to this sense What doest thou still stand upon termes with God wilt thou not humble thy selfe shouldest thou not rather Blesse God that is pray unto God humble thy selfe and seeke his face so to blesse signifies to pray to make supplication Thou seest in what a dolefull condition thou art therefore blesse God make thy humble prayer before God and die that is desire him to take thee out of this miserable world to release thee of thy paine begge that he would cut the thred of thy life which to appearance is the only remedy of all thy troubles death will be thy best friend Thou mayest die with more ease then live as thou doest Thy life is a continuall death it were better for thee to die once then to die daily Mr. Beza is very strong in this opinion excusing yea acquitting Jobs wife in making this motion to her husband He grants indeed that she being deceived and over-wrought by Satan did work strongly for him yet denies that either the counsell in it selfe or in her intendment was evill He layes the whole matter thus That she observing her husbands silence under the hand of God in these great afflictions suspected that he stood too much upon his own integrity that he was too well opinionated and conceited of his own worth or that this proceeded from fearednesse of conscience and insensiblenesse of Gods dealing and his own condition and therefore she adviseth him to consider that surely God was very angry with him to consider that God had brought all this evill upon him to humble him and should he now defend his owne innocencie should he either be silent and not acknowledge his sin or stand upon termes with God in defence and justification of himselfe Doest thou persevere in those high thoughts of thy selfe will not all this bring thy stomack down what will not thy uncircumcised heart be humbled Doest thou still retaine thine integrity doest thou still leane upon that broken reed thy owne integrity Blesse God that is confesse thy sins and acknowledge thy transgressions Indeed confessing of sin is a blessing of God
dominion of death and subject to that king of terrour Sin is the seed of death and the principle of corruption God doth infants no wrong when they die their death is of themselves for they have the seed of death in them We may affirme in one sense that when infants die they have no losse and we are sure in every sense when they die they have no wrong All death except death to sin is the wages of sin and therefore can be no injury to the sinner Secondly We may observe concerning man in his birth what a helplesse creature man is If I saith Job had been left a little I had bin gone quickly there had been an end of me I could not have helped my selfe if the knees had not prevented me if the brests had not given me suck if I had been destitute of these succours then presently I should have been free among the dead I should have been quiet and gone into silence Thirdly Observe That every step of life stands in need of a step of mercy When the infant is conceived there must be an act of mercy to quicken it an act of mercy to nourish it in the wombe an act of mercy for the birth an act of mercy being borne to take it upon the knee an act of mercy to binde it up an act of mercy to give it suck The beginning of our lives and the progresse of our lives our generation and our preservation call for acts of mercy or else poore creatures as we are we quickly perish and returne unto our dust We owe our lives to God at first and we owe them every moment if he did not renew mercy every moment we could not continue life one moment As it is with our spirituall life so it is with our naturall Our lives are hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 Of and from our selves we cannot subsist either in grace or nature It followes For now should I have lien still and been quiet I should have slept then had I been at rest These words are an inlargement of the former reason taken from a description of the state and condition of the dead For now saith Job I should have lien still If you should aske me a reason of my former reason why I was so angry with that day or night wherein I was conceived and borne wherein I had that to me unacceptable mercy to be preserved and kept alive This I subjoyne for the reason of it If none of those unwelcome favours or naturall rights had been done me then I had lien still I had been quiet I should have slept I had been at rest Either I should have been as one that never was or I should have been at rest and quiet The argument lyes thus Rest and quiet are desireable things but death in the omission of those succours would have given me rest therefore I desire those succours had been omitted This conclusion is in the 11th and 12th verses which we heard before The assumption is in this 13th verse which he further confirmes in the 6 verses following by an argument which we may thus forme I will prove saith he that in death I should have rest and been quiet and lien still for all conditions and sorts of men are quiet and lie still in death There or in that estate where all degrees and sorts of persons are at rest there sure I should have found rest but in death all sorts and degrees of persons have found rest therefore I should have found rest too Now that all sorts of people lie still and are at rest in death he proves by an elegant enumeration of the severall sorts and conditions of men He makes an argument by way of induction of all or most of the rankes of men First He shewes it in Kings and Counsellours of the earth these men that make such a bussell in the world when once they are dead they are quiet enough And then he shews it in Rich-men and Princes who load themselves with thick clay who toile and moile all their days to heape up and amasse much wealth when these come to the grave ther 's an end of all their labours then they must give over all their pursuite of riches Fourthly He shewes it in children either abortives borne before natures time or borne in full perfection of nature ver 16. Lastly He shewes it in oppressors and the oppressed in prisoners and those that imprison them in the small and in the great in the servants and in their Masters Thus making an innumeration of all these from thence he infers That if all these are quiet when they are in the grave then surely his condition had been so too I should have been quiet and lien still then I should have slept and been at rest We must here take notice that Job speaking of the state of death speakes only in reference to an outward condition and our resting from outward calamities and troubles he doth not handle the point at all concerning mans eternall estate For death is not rest to all sorts of men in that sense Kings and Counsellours and rich men c. may rest from the troubles of this world and goe to a world of everlasting troubles Such a totall rest is the sole priviledge of the Saints Thus only blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their workes follow them Rev. 14.13 When the Saints die they rest from their labours and their works follow them through free-grace in glorious rewards When the wicked die they rest from their labours but their workes follow them through divine Justice in everlasting punishments And Job resting assured of his own eternall rest wishes only a rest from those temporall commotions Further We may observe 4 words used by Job to expresse the same thing First I should have lien still And been quiet there is a second I would have slept there is a third and fourthly Then I had been at rest I should have lien still The word signifies to lie down in any kind and it signifies to sleepe Gen. 19.4 Before they lay downe that is before they went to bed It is applied likewise to the sleepe of death 2 Sam. 7.12 Isa 43.17 They shall lye downe they shall not rise that is they shall die so the next words expound it They are extinct they are quenched as towe And been quiet The word signifieth also to be silent we may put both together then had I lien still and been silent and you know death and the grave are called silence I had been like those that goe downe into silence saith the Psalmist Ps 115.17 that is like those that go down into the grave And Hezekiah in his mourning describes that silence Isa 38.18 The grave cannot praise thee death cannot celebrate thee I should have slept Sleepe is the image of death and death is more then the image