of spirituall priviledges and benefits so death takes away all distinctions in regard of civill priviledges In death there is neither small nor great neither male nor female neither bond nor free the greatest shall lie as low as the smallest and the highest as low as the meanest every one there shall be but as his neighbour and as his brother in the flesh There is but one distinction that will out-live death and death cannot take it away the distinction of holy and unholy cleane and uncleane beleever and an infidell these distinctions remaine after death and shall remaine for ever but rich and poore honourable and base high and low King and subject these distinctions shall be done away and forgotten as if they had never been no difference no distinction but that which God makes and that which grace makes can stand out against the power and stroake of death There the small and great are the same And the servant is free from his Master The servant There are two sorts of servants There are some who are voluntary servants and others who are servants by constraint There are some who might be free but they will not and there are others who would be free but they cannot Of the former sort we reade a Law Exod. 21.5 where the servant that loved his master and refused his freedome saying I will not goe out free must be brought before the Judges and have his eare bored thorow with an awle in token of his willingnesse to serve that Master for ever Others are servants by constraint as the people of Israel in Egypt who were made to serve with rigour Exod. 1.14 to serve whether they would or no which is servitude rather then service We may understand the Text of both The servant that is either he that doth voluntarily serve and willingly puts himselfe under the command of another or he which is under the command of another whether he will or no to both these death giveth freedome whether their Masters will or no The servant is free from his Master The word which we translate is free noteth that formall manumission or setting at liberty which is used in places or Corporations where freedomes are either purchased by money or deserved by appointed service And the word here translated Master is plurall Masters it is one of the Names of God Adonai which Name the Lord hath from government That very name is given to Masters of Families because they ought to governe and order the affaires and businesse of the family with wisedome and justice Every master of a family is a governour of the family he is as it were a King in his own family The servant is free from his Master Hence note first this Sinne brought in servility and the subjection of man to man I ground it thus because Iob speakes of service as of an estate of affliction as of an estate of trouble under which many groane and from which they can get no release till death breake the bands and sets them free In the state of innocency there was a dominion granted to man over the beasts but there was no dominion granted to man over man In the state of integrity relations should have continued but subjection should not have been found only that naturall subjection of children to Parents but as for civill subjection there had been no such thing in the world Before man forsooke the service of God he needed none to serve him service comes in by sinne and the increase of it by the increase of sinne As we see when Canaan was so vile as to forget the duty of a sonne he is set below or in the worst condition of a servant Gen. 9.5 Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto his bretheren that is the lowest and most abject servant As God of Gods is the greatest God and Lord of Lords is the Highest Lord so servant of servants is the lowest the basest servant So then as civill subjection came at first from sin so the increase of subjection which is to be a servant of servants came from the increase and progresse of sin Observe secondly A servant is not in his own dispose Though he be a voluntary servant yet he must serve the lawfull will of his master He may yea he ought in every ingenuous service to serve willingly but he is not at his own will to serve when or where or how he will Some have thought they have a freedome from service by the liberty of the Gospell or Gospel-priviledge and that is the reason why the Apostle 1 Tim. 6.1 gives that rule Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own Masters worthy of all honour c. He speakes of beleeving servants Some presumed they had such freedome by Christ that they might cast off subjection to men No saith the Apostle as many as are under the yoke that is while they continue servants they must submit to their condition yea though their Masters be unbeleevers as the next verse shewes And they that have beleeving Masters let them not despise them c. nothing takes away subjection but death for as he that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lords free-man 1 Cor. 7.22 So he that is the Lords free-man being called to it is and ought to be mans servant The Centurion in the Gospell shewes the servants duty I say unto one goe and he goeth and to another come and he cometh and to my servant doe this and he doth it The servant is at his Masters beck not at his own dispose and nothing can free him but death so long as he continues under the yoke in that relation Hence observe thirdly That death concludes the subjection of man to man In the grave or there the servant is free from his Master there is no more service due to man when once death that king of terrours hath carried us into his dominions JOB 3. Ver. 20 21 22. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soule Which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more then for hid treasures Which rejoyce exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave c. AT this 20th verse the third and last Section of the Chapter begins Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life to the bitter in soule In the former part of the Chapter Job wished that death had surprised him assoone as ever he set his foot into the world yea before he came into the world that he might have died in the very wombe Here Job begins to expostulate why he having made so long a journey and in his latter time so troublesome a journey in the world why I say he is not at his request cut off and taken away by the stroake of death Why is light given to him that is in misery and life to the
for all the rest The Booke begins with the description of his person in the first verse where Job is described by that which is accidentall and by that which is essentiall By accidentals so he is described by the place where he dwelt There was a man in the land of Uz. 2. By his name whose name was Job The essentials are foure qualifications which were essentiall to him not as a rationall man but as a holy man And that man was 1. Perfect 2. Vpright 3. One that feared God 4. Eschewed evill As they who write the Acts or Stories of great men usually give us some description of their persons before they set downe their undertakings or atchievements as you see in the 1 Sam. 17.4 5 6 7. how the great Giant Goliah is described So here the Holy Ghost by the Pen-man of this Booke being to record a glorious combate a combate not with flesh and blood alone but with Principalities and Powers a wrestling with mighty and strong temptations first gives us if we may so speake the Prosopographie of this divine Heroes soule the lineaments and abilities of his spirit This was the heighth and this the stature of the Combitant such were his limbes and such his weapons there he dwelt and this was his name There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job There was That referrs us either to the truth of the Story or to the time of the Story Such a man there was that 's certaine Such a man there was but the time when is uncertaine It referres us to the time onely indefinitely There was such a man but when is not exactly and precisely set downe The Scripture we know doth often keepe an exact account of yeares the Scripture is the guide and key of all Chronology and sometimes it leaves things in generall for the time and onely saith thus much such a thing was or such a person was So here Yet some have undertaken to define what the Spirit of God hath left at large the precise time wherein Job lived and tell us in what yeare of the world these things were done But I desire not to be so accurate unlesse the Rule were so too Onely thus much we may safely say that Job lived betweene the times of Abraham and Moses and nearer Moses than Abraham and for that I conceive there is ground sufficient There are these two speciall Reasons why it should be circumscribed within that limit 1. Because Job offered Sacrifice at that time in his owne Country which after the giving of the law and setting up of a publike worship was forbidden all both Jewes and Proselytes They that were acquainted with the wayes of God knew they must not worship by Sacrifice any where but before the Tabernacle or after the Temple was built at the Temple 2. Because in the whole booke there is not the least print or the least mention of any thing which did concerne those great and glorious passages of Gods providence towards the people of Israel either in their going out of Aegypt or in their journey thorough the wildernesse to Canaan Now in a dispute of this nature such as was betweene Job and his friends there would have been frequent occasion to have considered and instanced some of those things There is scarce any booke in Scripture that beares date after that great and wonderfull dispensation of God but it makes mention of or referrs to some passages concerning them Againe for the time that which some collect to cleare it is from the Genealogie of Job there are three speciall opinions concerning the line of his pedegree One that he descended from Nahor who was brother to Abraham Gen. 22.21 It was told Abraham behold Milcah shee hath borne children to thy brother Nahor Uz his first-borne and Buz his brother c. This Vz who was the first-borne of Nahor Abrahams brother is conceived to have given denomination to the land of Vz and so from him Job to be descended Another opinion there is maintain'd by many that Job was of the line of Esau and that he was called Jobab by Moses Gen. 36.33 And Bela died and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah raigned in his stead This Jobab who was a descendant or one of the Dukes of the line of Esau they say was Job But why the name Jobab should be contracted into Job I see little reason offered A third opinion for his descent is that he came from the children of Abraham by his second wife Keturah Gen. 25. where it is said that Abraham by her had divers sonnes and that hee gave them portions and sent them Eastward into the East country and from Midian who was the fourth sonne of Abraham by that second marriage our Genealogies doe positively and directly affirme that Job was descended That may suffice for the time for bringing of him within a narrower limit I have no grounds but conjecturall A man He is not called A man here barely as the Phylosophers Animal rationale c. as man is opposed to a Beast Nor barely is he called a man to distinguish his Sex as a man is opposed to a woman But there is somewhat more in the expression he is called a man by way of excellency And for the clearing and opening of that we may consider that there are 3. words in Scripture originall by which man is exprest 1. Man is called Adam That was the proper name of the first man and it became the common name for all men since So man was called from the matter of which he was made Adam from Adamah because as the reason is given Gen. 2.7 God made man dust out of the earth or as we translate of the dust of the earth 2. Man is called Enosh So he is called in regard of the infirmities weaknesses and sorrowes which he hath contracted by sinne since the fall sinne made the red earth weake and brittle earth indeed earth moystened with teares and mixt with troubles 3. He is called Ish which the Critticks in that language say comes from and hath allyance with two words One signifying Beeing or existence and the other heat or fire So that the excellency of mans being the heat courage and spirit that flames in him is set forth in that word and that 's the word here in the Text There was a man it is Ish an excellent a worthy man a man of an excellent spirit a man of men a man fitted to honour God and governe men And that it is so used in Scripture I will give you an instance or two that you may see it is not a bare conjecture In the 49. Psalme David as it were summons and divides mankind In the first verse he summons Heare this all ye people give eare all ye inhabitants of the world In the second verse he divides Both low and high rich and poore together The word in the Hebrew for high is Bene-Ish sons of Ish
and disposing the affliction of Job 2. The subordinate efficient cause and that was Satan he was an efficient but under God Satan found out other instruments and tooles to doe it by but he was an efficient subordinate unto God And the Text discovers him three wayes 1. By his diligence in tempting ver 7. 2. By his malice in slandering ver 9 10 11. 3. By his cruelty in solliciting the overthrow and affliction of Job ver 11. Secondly We have the materiall cause of Jobs affliction or in what matter he was afflicted and that is laid downe first positively in those words All that he hath is in thy power that is his outward estate that was the matter wherein he was afflicted Then it is laid downe negatively in those words Only upon himselfe put not forth thy hand God doth set him out how farre the affliction shall go in the things that he hath thou shalt afflict him but thou shalt not meddle with his person with his body or with his soule Thirdly The finall cause of Jobs affliction and that is the practicall and experimentall determination decision or stating of a great question that was betweene God and Satan concerning Jobs sincerity God tells Satan that Job was a good and a just man Satan he denies it and saith that Job was an hypocrite Now the determination of this question was the generall finall cause of Jobs affliction When on the one side God affirmes it and on the other side Satan denies how shall it be tryed Who shall be the Moderatour and Vmpire between them Satan will not believe God and God had no reason to believe Satan How then should this be made out It is as if Satan had said Here is your yea and my nay this question will never be ended or decided betweene us unlesse you will admit some course to have Job soundly afflicted This will quickly discover what metall the man is made of therefore let him come to the tryall saith Satan Let him saith God behold all that he hath is in thy power doe thy worst to him onely upon his person put not forth thy hand So that I say the generall finall cause of Jobs affliction is the determination of the question the decision of the dispute betweene God and Satan whether Job was a sincere and holy man or no. And all this to give you the summe of those 6. verses a little further is here set forth and described unto us after the manner of men by an Anthropopathie which is when God expresses himselfe in his actions and dispensations with and toward the world as if he were a man So God doth here he presents himselfe in this businesse after the manner of some great King sitting upon his Throne having his servants attending him and taking an account of them what they had done or giving Instructions and Commissions to them what they shall doe This I say God doth here after the manner of men for otherwise we are not to conceive that God doth make certaine dayes of Session with his creatures wherin he doth call the good and bad Angels together about the affaires of the world we must not have such grosse conceits of God for he needs receive no information from them neither doth he give them or Satan any formall Commission neither is Satan admitted into the presence of God to come so neare God at any time neither is God moved at all by the slanders of Satan or by his accusations to deliver up his servants and children into his hands for a moment But onely the Scripture speakes thus to teach us how God carries himselfe in the affaires of the world even as if he sate upon his throne and call'd every creature before him and gave each a direction what and when and where to worke how farre and which way to move in every action So that these 6. verses following which containe the causes of Jobs affliction are as we may so speake the Scheme or draught of providence that may be the title of them If a man would delineat providence he might doe it thus suppose God upon his throne with Angels good and bad yea all creatures about him and he directing sending ordering every one as a Prince doth his Subjects or as a Master his servants doe you this and doe you that c. so all is ordered according to his Dictate Thus all things in Heaven and Earth are disposed of by the unerring wisdome and limited by the Almighty power of God Such a representation as this we reade in 1 King 22.19 Where Micaiah said to Ahab Heare thou the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne and all the Hoast of Heaven standing by him And so he goeth on to shew how a spirit came and offered himselfe to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahabs Prophets This is only a shadow of providence there was no such thing really acted God did not conveene or call together a Synod of spirits to advise with de Arduis Regni about hard or doubtfull cases nor are wicked spirits admitted into his presence onely by this we are instructed and assured that God doth as exactly order all things in Heaven and earth as if he stood questioning or interrogating good Angels men and devills concerning those matters Having thus given some light about these six verses in generall I shall open the particulars Now there was a day The Jewish Rabbins trouble themselves much to find out what day this was They say it was the first day of the yeare Others that it was the Sabbath day But I account it a disadvantage to a cleare truth when it is proved by an obscure text The Sabbath hath proofe enough before the law though this be spared The holy Ghost hath told us only that there was a day or certain time When the sonnes of God In Gen. 6.2 The posterity of Seth who were the visible Church at that time are called the sons of God The unanimous consent of all Expositors I have met with is that here the sonnes of God are the good Angels so also they are called Cap. 38.7 of this booke Some it may be will object against this Exposition that of the Apostle in Heb. 1.5 To which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my sonne How then doe you interpret here that the sons of God are the Angels when as the Apostle hath exprest to which of the Angels c. I answer that the Angells are not the sonnes of God as the Apostle there expresseth they are not the sonnes of God by eternall Generation but they are the sonnes of God by temporall Creation for so he speakes there To which of the Angels said he thou art my sonne this day have I begotten thee They are not the begotten sonnes of God but they are the created sonnes of God And the Angels are called the sons of God in 3 respects First Because of their
the souls under the Altar cry How long Lord how long They cry to God how long they knew that he only had the time in his hand he only could tell how long and it should be as long as he pleased How long Lord They cryed not to cruell tyrants how long will ye persecute but Lord how long will it be before thou come to revenge And so David Psal 31.15 My time it is in thy hand speaking of his afflictions There is no affliction but it is in the hand of God for the continuance of it as well as for the manner of it and as no enemie man or devill can make thy crosse greater or longer or heavier so no friend man or Angell can make thy crosse lighter or lesser or shorter then God himselfe hath appointed Onely upon himselfe shalt thou not put forth thine hand thou shalt not move an inch further not a haires bredth further As our afflictions for the matter of them are by the will of God as the Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 4.19 While you suffer saith he according to the will of God those words according to the will of God note not only the righteousnesse of suffering that it must be in a good cause but also the spring from whence those sufferings come they are Ex voluntate Dei so Mr. Beza translates it they are out of the will of God Now I say as they are out of the will of God or from the will of God springing from his will and flowing from his dispensation of things in the matter of them so also in every circumstance God himself gives thy crosse length and bredth and thicknesse he fills thy cup of sorrow he directeth how many drops to a drop shall be put into it thou shalt not have a drop more then God prescribes and which is more comfortable knowes will be for thy good Secondly Observe That Satan is boundlesse in his malice toward the people of God If God did not set him bounds he would set himselfe no bounds therefore saith God unto him Onely upon himselfe c. He had a mind to have gone further he would have been upon Job himselfe as well as upon his estate if God had not stop'd and curb'd him Therefore the Apostle gives that assurance for the comfort of the people of God 1 Cor. 10.13 God saith he is faithfull who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able As if he should say Satan would with all his heart lay more upon you than you are able to beare Satan would breake your backs if he were let alone but God will not suffer it Satan hath a boundlesse malice against the people of God Some observe this from his name Leviathan Isa 27.1 In that day the Lord with his great and strong Sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent Leviathan is put there for Satan and for all the instruments of Satan now Leviathan signifieth in the Hebrew an augmentation an addition or an increase And Satan is so called because say they he ever desires to lay more burdens upon to increase the afflictions troubles and temptations of Gods people he never thinkes he hath done enough against them His thirst to worke mischiefe is never quenched but still he desires to doe more he would faine have his Commission inlarged to doe more mischiefe in the world Therefore God is said not to strike after their stroake in the 7th verse of that 27. of Isa Hath hee smitten him as he smit those that smote him In the Hebrew it is Hee hath not smitten him according to the stroake of those that smote him according to their stroake noting that the stroake of Leviathan and the stroake of his instruments is an unmeasurable stroake a boundlesse stroake they would never give over striking They thinke the wound is never deepe enough nor blood shed enough but saith the Prophet verse 8. God doth it in measure so that he opposeth their striking to Gods afflicting by the measure of it God keepeth his afflictions in such a bound and compasse he afflicts in measure but Satans stroake and the stroakes of wicked men are without all measure that is without all moderation unlesse God stop them they would never make an end Lastly Observe how Satan is by this proved a deceiver he intended more than he spake you may see it plainly in this because God put a restraint upon him Touch all that he hath saith Satan that referred to his possessions outward estate as if that had bin the mind of Satan in the motion do but afflict him in his outward estate I desire no more to make this tryal now when the Lord saith All that he hath is in thy hand there he grants him the motion in the letter of it but the Lord God saw that Satan had a further reach when he said Touch all that he hath which words seeme to extend no further then his estate but had not God limited and restrain'd him he by an indefinite grant to his motion had likewise fallen upon his person that was the great morsell he gaped after all this while he would have been doing with Job himselfe else there was no need of this limitation Onely upon himselfe put not forth thy hand Satans fingers itcht to be medling with Job though his words called for what he had not for himselfe And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. As soone as he hath leave and his Commission he is gone presently He went out from the presence of the Lord. The word is he went out from the face of the Lord Now the face of the Lord in Scripture it is taken sometimes for the essentiall glory of God that inaccessible Majesty of God Exod. 33. ult Thou canst not behold my face Sometimes the face of God is put for the favour and love of God Cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary which is desolate Dan. 9.17 and cause thy face to shine upon thy servant So in many other places the face of God is put for the favour of God because as the favour and love of a man is seene and discovered in his face so there is somewhat in those dealings of God which discover God he is said to make his face to shine upon his people when he doth discover by any act of his that he loves and favours them that is the shining of his face upon them The face interprets the heart and shewes the meaning of the spirit so in those things which interpret somewhat of the love of God to us God is said to make his face shine upon us On the other side the face of God is put sometimes for the anger and wrath of God because anger is seene in the face too so in those things by which God discovereth his anger he is said to set his face against men there is an expresse place for it in this sense Lam. 4.16 The anger of the Lord the
cloathed with strength proportionable Satan is a mighty Prince commanding in the spirits of wicked men ther 's his Throne he can kindle their lusts and â—â—flame their spirits set them on fire from hell and then cause them to goe on with a rage in doing mischiefe as high as Heaven He can leade men captive at his will though not against their owne will Yet to shew the efficacy of his actings he is said to lead them captive at his will to doe his will and execute his devillships designes It is admirable what Satan can doe upon wicked men who are his willing vassals and bond-slaves if he speake the word they goe if he suggest they submit if he move they obey And likewise we see what a mighty Prince he is in the aire all the elements and the meteors stoope to his direction He cannot onely command men who have reason but he can command the fire the water the winds the thunders therefore he is called the Prince of the power of the ayre those powers that are in the aire he can command For though it be a truth that Satan of himselfe cannot make one sparke of fire or so much as one breath of wind yet if hee be let loose and unchain'd hee can goe to Gods Store-house of wind and fire hee can goe to Gods Magazin of thunder stormes and tempests he can fetch out such store of all these and so enrage them that no man is able to withstand their violence The Apostle taxes all naturall men that they live without God in the world that is they live without a sensible apprehension of the Majesty of the power and holinesse of God they are not affected with God in the world I may say in a sense unto many godly men and it may be a reproofe unto them that they live without the devill in the world that is they have not such apprehensions of the power and policy and sleights of Satan as they ought to have We doe not know or apprehend as we ought and as we might who the devill is or what his power is I doe not speake this as if I would have any meditate and pore upon the power of Satan so as to be afraid of him that 's no part of my intent but it is for this end that our hearts might be raised up to blesse God who doth binde up such an enemy and bound such a power who if hee were let alone would doe us mischiefe an hundred times in a day Nay he would unquiet and unsettle the whole world This is the reason why we should consider the power and policy of Satan to blesse God who stops the mouth of this Lyon so that he cannot stirre to doe that mischiefe unto which his nature doth at once encline and inable him Verse 20. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell downe upon the ground and worshipped Verse 21. And said Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked shall I returne thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. Verse 22. In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly These three verses containe the third Division of the Chapter as we shewed in the Analysis of it We have seene in the first the character of Job in his prosperous estate and the description of his prosperity We have seen his afflictions in the causes in the time in the instruments in the matter and in the manner of inflicting them In this third part we have the carriage of Job how Job tooke it how he behaved himselfe in this sad condition And likewise how God tooke it that Job did so behave himself So then We may note two things in the generall out of these 3 verses 1. We have the carriage of Job his behaviour 2. We have the testimony of God concerning his carriage and behaviour The carriage and behaviour of Job is laid downe verse 20 21. And concerning his carriage the Text gives us to consider 1. What Job did 2. What Job said 1. What he did and that is in the 20th verse and there we find mentioned five distinct actions of Job upon the receiving of the relation of his affliction 1. He arose 2. He rent his mantle 3. He shaved his head 4. He fell downe upon the ground 5. He worshipped 2. What he said and that is in the 21. verse And he said Naked came I out of my mothers wombe and naked c. His sayings containe two strong and undeniable argumentall Propositions and one cleare Conclusion flowing naturally from them both or from either of them by which he doth acquit the Lord in his afflicting of him and also support and strengthen his own soule under those afflictions The testimony of God concerning Jobs carriage is in the 22. ver The Lord comes in as it were like an umpire to determine who got the day which is resolved when he saith In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly These words expressely set the Laurell of victory upon the head of Job Satan undertooke that Job if touched would curse God now saith God looke upon him touch'd see what he hath done examine all his actions that are past observe what he hath spoken weigh every word that hath come out of his mouth in the ballance of truth and reason and when thou hast done both tell me whether he hath yet cursed me I pronounce that in all he hath done in all he hath said Job hath not charged God foolishly That in the generall for the sum of the Context and for the parts of it To begin first with what Job did his actions Then Job arose and rent his mantle c. Then Job stood out the three former assaults unmoveably but when he had received the fourth then his bowels were moved And then c. Job arose This was his first action to arise is properly an act of one that sitteth he is said to arise that before did sit or lie But yet in Scripture to arise is not alwayes taken so strictly neither is it in this place To arise in the Scripture language notes two things First the speedinesse of doing a thing when a man doth a thing instantly or presently he is said to arise to doe it to arise and doe it though he were standing or walking before This is an Hebraisme He arose and rent his mantle that is He presently rent his mantle upon the hearing of these messages especially the last And so you have the word in divers places as Judg. 20.18 The children of Israel arose and went to the house of the Lord that is they went presently up to the house of the Lord 2 Sam. 14.31 Then Joab arose and went to Absolom the meaning is only this that upon the receiving of that message he went with speed he made no delayes And Nehem. 2.18 when Nehemiah exhorted them to the great worke of building
And as the enmity of the serpent was mans scourge so also was the barrennesse of the earth That barrennesse in bringing forth good fruit that fertility in bringing forth bryars and thornes were both as rods for the back of man Thirdly the irrationall or sencelesse creatures are cursed in reference to that which man suffers Thus David cursed the mountaines of Gilboa 2 Sam. 1.21 because there Saul and his beloved Jonathan were slaine by the sword of the Philistines because there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away the sword of Saul as if he had not been anointed with oyle In this sense as David cursed a place so Job curses a time his day the day which either gave occaâ—ion to his sufferings or the day in which he actually suffered such a world of evills Thus also Jeremie curses his day with a vehement curse Jer. 20.14 Cursed be the day wherein I was borne let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed And not only so but he curses the man who first reported his birth verse 15 16. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father saying a man-child is borne unto thee making him very glad And let that man be as the Cities which the Lord overthrew and repented not and let him heare the cry in the morning and the shooting at noone-tide c. And why so bitter a curse was it against the day for it selfe or against the man himselfe Jeremie shewes it was not verse 18. Wherefore came I out of the wombe to see labour and sorrow that my dayes should be consumed with shame To curse any thing under the notion of a creature or as it is the worke of God is to blaspheme God to curse any unreasonable or insensible creature in themselves or to take revenge on them is to be if not sencelesse yet I am sure in that act unreasonable So farre of this cursing his day in generall It followes Verse 2. And Job spake and said This verse is only a transition into the matter of the next it is as if the holy Ghost had said Job cursed his day and would you know how he cursed it He did it after this manner or in this forme of words Job spake and said thus c. Only note that the word which we translate spake is in the originrall answered and so often in Scripture he is said to answer who begins to speake Job answered and said We shewed you before that his day in generall was the object of this curse now he curses it in the parts of it the day and the night Let the day perish c. At which words the stile alters that which you reade forward to the sixt verse of the 42 Chapter is sacred Poetry Job breathes out his passion in verse and in verse receives his answer It is questioned whether Job at that time opened his mouth and vented his sorrowes in verse or whether it were after contrived so by the pen-man of this booke As I see no profit in moving this question so I think there is no possibility of resolving it And therefore I leave it as I found it a quere still Only this is observeable that writing in verse is most sutable where the matter written is deepely steep't in and chiefely wrought out of our affections Hence we find That those parts of Scripture which set forth strongest affections are composed in verse As those holy flames of spirituall love betweene Christ and his Spouse in the Canticles of Solomon The triumphant joy of Deborah after deliverance from Sisera's Army Of Moses and Miriam after the destruction of Pharaoh The afflicting sorrowes of Hezekiah in his sicknesse And the Lamentations of Jeremie for the captivity of the Jewes The booke of Psalmes is as it were a throng of all affections Love joy sorrow feare hope anger zeale every passion acting a part and wound up in highest straines by the Spirit of God breathing Poeticall eloquence into that heavenly Prophet So this Booke of Job whose subject is sorrow hath a composure answerable to the matter Passion hath most scope in verse and is freest when tyed up in numbers The words follow Let the day perish What this day was we shewed you before It was the day of his nativity the day saith he wherein I was borne How should this day perish To perish signifies first not to be A thing is said to perish when it is annihilated when it returnes to nothing As the Psalmist speakes Man being in honour and understandeth not is compared to the beasts that perish The perishing of a beast is the non-entity of a beast when a beast dieth it perisheth it is not A beast is no more but vanisheth quite and is gone for ever Then such mens likenesse to a beast is not in perishing but in the want of true understanding He doth not say man perisheth like a beast but he is like a beast that perisheth A wicked man how honourable soever is a bruitish man ver 10. For he knowes nothing spiritually and what he knowes naturally in that like a bruit beast he corrupts himselfe as the Apostle Jude speakes ver 10. of his Epistle But betweene the perishing of a foolish man and a beast there is a vast difference A beasts perishing is a not-being A foolish mans perishing is a miserable being For secondly To perish signifies often a miserable being as in Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten sâ—n that whosoever beleeveth should not perish c. Not perish the meaning of it is not that all unbeleevers shall loose their very beings become a nothing and with their existence part from their essence Some wicked beastly men would be glad of this that they might live here wickedly and afterward die like beasts in that sense eternally If this were the perishing that is threatned unbeleevers many of them would be ready to say out of love and liking to their lusts as Esther did out of love and zeale to the cause of God If we perish we perish If this be to perish let us perish But that perishing is of another nature They that beleeve not shall perish that is they shall live and perish they shall be and be miserable for ever the wrath of a displeased God and the sting of a polluted conscience shall torment them to all eternity Thirdly To perish is to be empaired or loose former dignity and respect So let the day perish may be taken in this sense let not that day be solemnized let it not be remembred with wonted joy and gladnesse A day which hath usually bin solemnized may be said to perish when that solemnity is layed downe and utterly disus'd In ancient times and the custome in some places remaines to this day Great men and Princes kept the memory of their birth-dayes with feasting and triumph Thus we reade Gen. 40.20 And it came to passe the third day which was Pharaohs
twelve bretheren and behold the youngest is this day with his father and one is not Gen. 42.13 that is one is dead So Jacob speakes at the 30th verse of the same chapter Joseph is not c. Hence that answer of the Wise-man to Alexander who demanding of him whether the living or the dead were more in number said The living for the dead are not As infants that never saw the light This clause may be an exposition of the former clause shewing what Job meanes by an untimely birth even an infant that never saw the light Yet all infants that never see the light are not untimely births Infants are often still-borne when their mothers have gone out their time to the last houre before the paines of travaile come upon them And therefore I rather understand this as distinct from the former In the one Job intending such as are borne before time which births are commonly called abortions or miscarriages And in the other those who die in the birth who are commonly called still-borne The word which is here used for an infant signifies properly a weaned infant but it is likewise transferred to signifie an infant dying in the birth which is therefore said never to see the light So Salomon expresseth it too in that place Eccles 6.5 Moreover he hath not seene the Sunne And in allusion to this David when he curseth the plots of wicked men that though they have conceived mischiefe and though they have gone with it a long time and are ready to bring it forth yet in Psal 58.8 saith he let them be that is let their counsels and designes be like the untimely birth of a woman that they may not see the Sunne that is let them be dashed and blasted let them never bring forth their poisonous brood to the hurt and trouble of the world To these saith Job I am sure I should have bin like if not to Kings and Counsellours and had beene as well and all one to me In death untimely births and those that goe downe to the grave as a sheafe of corne that cometh in ripe are all one there is no difference in the grave betweene the infant that never saw the Sunne and him that hath lived to see an hundred recourses of the Sun The speech of Job proceedes to a third sort he strengthens his argument of rest in death I should certainely have had rest in death for in death even they who have been most vexed who have had least rest who have been even restlesse in the world they have found rest in death this he cleares by a further induction in the 17 18 19 verses There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest There the prisoners rest together they heare not the voice of the oppressour The small and great are there and the servant is free from his master When he had spoken of the rest of death concerning those great and mighty ones and the rest of death concerning untimely births and infants then he speakes of the rest which poore oppressed ones or which wicked oppressours have in death all these have a rest in regard of outward bodily troubles agitations and labours in the grave therefore certainely there I should have been at rest There that is in the grave the wicked cease from troubling True rest and wickednesse never meete rest and the wicked meete but seldome And it is but halfe a rest and it is rest but to halfe a wicked man to his bones in the grave and it is rest to that halfe but for a little time only till the resurrection The word which is here used for wicked is considerable Though every wicked man be a sinner yet every sinner is not a wicked man It is one thing to sin and another thing to be wicked there are divers words in the Hebrew tongue which signifie as it were the divers statures of sinners and the degrees of sinne And the Hebrew which usually expresseth many things by one word doeth here use many words to signifie one thing only differing in degree First A sinner is called sometime Cata that 's the lowest expression noting one that doth misse a marke or his way he aimes at the marke yet misses it he would goe in the right way yet mistakes it or is misled So every man the holiest men are sinners they often misse the marke the white which God sets up though they take their aime and level carefully at it Secondly A sinner is called Peshang which signifieth a willingnesse to sin and an unwillingnesse to obey it signifieth pride in sinning or a sinning from pride which is plaine rebellion Thirdly The word here used and in divers other places signifieth wickednesse in the height and men most active in wickednesse So that when Job saith There the wicked are at rest he meanes those who had beene restlesse in sin who could not sleepe till they had done mischiefe nor scarce sleepe for doing mischiefe He meanes those who had out-run others in the sinfull activity or rather turbulency and unquietnesse of their spirits such as are without peace themselves and seeke to molest and disturbe the peace of others The Prophet describes them to be like the troubled sea which cannot rest Isa 57.20 The proper signification of the word wicked in the Hebrew is the word unquiet vexatious or without rest 1 Sam. 14.47 Wheresoever Saul turned himselfe he vexed the enemy So Job 34.29 And the reason of it is given because men of this height and stature in sin are men of troubled unquiet and restlesse spirits As it notes a height in holinesse and grace to have a kind of unquietnesse upon the spirit till we can doe good and compasse holy designes and purposes when we are not only pious but zealous As David resolves Psal 132.3 4. Surely I will not come into the Tabernacle of my house nor goe up into my bed I will not give sleepe to mine eyes nor slumber to mine eye-lids untill I find out a place for the Lord c. So unquietnesse upon the spirit till it can put sin into act and compasse an evill project notes a compleatenesse in the sinner Sin wakes and workes in them to purpose who cannot sleepe till they have wrought out their sin of these it is properly that Job speakes here these troublers of themselves and troublers of Israel these whom the Lord shall trouble this day or one day There sc in the grave these wicked ones cease from troubling there they have a kind of rest being dead who could not rest while they lived there at least they cease from raging This word Ragaz notes any vehement motion either of mind or body arising from feare or grief or anger or the concurrence of them all As when David heard of the death of Absolom the Text saith 2 Sam. 18.33 The King was much moved c. He was as it were for a time enraged or distracted much troubled
Satan had said thus Though Job did blesse thee when he had a full estate and though he did blesse thee when thou diddest empty him of his estate and tooke all his goods from him yet if thou doe but touch his body and afflict his bones he will breake forth into cursed language both concerning thy person and concerning thy service I will only minde you further of that which is here secretly couched in this expression Touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face here is a secret imprecation involved he tacitly subjects himselfe to the curse of God if Job curse not God As if Satan should have said If he doe not curse thee to thy face then doe so and so to me or thinke thus and thus of me If you would have the meaning of Satan from the language of his children you may take the plaine English of it thus Touch but his bone and his flesh and damne me if he doe not curse thee send me to Hell presently Satan indeed kept this cursed imprecation close wrapt up in that forme of speaking But now his children speake it out If you will have Satans heart from the mouthes of the sonnes of Belial a cursed and cursing generation among us the plaine English of it is this God damne me send me to Hell presently if he curse thee not Satan we see was more modest then these sonnes of impudence and perdition who openly imprecate upon and devote themselves unto the wrath of God almost every word these doe not only imitate but exceed the copy which Satan sets them here by bold blasphemie and horrid execrations And he will curse thee to thy face We may from hence observe First Satan had tryed in vaine to make Job curse God Now he attempts a second time Note That When Satan cannot prevaile against us by one meanes he doth not despaire of prevailing by another He gives not his cause over for lost because he cannot carry it at first he will try and try againe As it was with Balak Numb 23. when he sent for Balaam to curse the people and saw the businesse did not prosper or succeed according to his malice Balaam could not curse them he brought him to another place Come saith he I pray thee I will bring thee to another place peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence though you could not doe it in one place you may in another So Satan if he cannot worke his will one way he will try a second or a third Satans unweariednesse in a bad cause when it succeeded not reproves those who are so soone weary of a good one if it succeed not Many are ready to give up if one meanes will not doe it they cast off hope and say the cause is desperate If one or two or three or many meanes we use faile we ought to try still never despaire of the end while the worke is good and the meanes are faire In the morning sow thy seed saith the Preacher and in the evening with-hold not thy hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper this or that I may adde with-hold not thy hand in the evening though thou seest the morning seed doth not prosper this may have a blessing though that had not Secondly observe Satan tryeth another way and he tryeth a way more probable and efficacious for his ends then the former when a weaker will not doe it he provides stronger meanes As God in punishing or chastening sinners when a lesser judgement will not humble them he sends a greater God cometh not only with another but with sorer judgements If he will not yet for all this hearken unto me then I will punish you seven times more for your sinnes So Satan when by one temptation he cannot over-come prepares not only another but a stronger he assaults them more and more he not only musters new Forces but more compleate to foile the soule This should teach us when we cannot subdue a corruption in our own hearts by one meanes then to seeke a better And when by one prayer we cannot obtaine a blessing then to pray againe and to pray better to pray with more life with more faith with more humility then mix more fire with prayer more zeale and fervency of spirit mix more water with prayer As Iacob Hose 12. wept and made supplication above all mix more of Christ in prayer goe out in his Name and strength When Balacks first messengers could not obtaine Balaam to come with them Balack was not discourag'd or put off but saith the Text Balack sent yet againe Princes more and more Honourable Numb 22.15 Let not us be discouraged if our first prayers which are our messengers to God are not answered But let us send more and more honourable more strong cryes more spirituall desires which may take upon the heart of God Why should Satan doe more against us then we will doe for our selves Thirdly Note for our owne caution That we must not only expect continued or renewed afflictions and assaults from Satan but we must expect greater and greater afflictions and assaults from Satan He hath some assaults that are but as Foote-men he will bring out his Horse-men at the next bout And if having runne with Foote-men they have wearied thee how wilt thou contend with Horses Jer. 12.5 Be ready then not only to run with the Foote but to contend with Horses prepare your selves for other for more violent charges then you ever felt Satan will if he can lay a closer siege to thy soule then ever he hath done As that one evill spirit returned into the person out of whom he was gone Luk. 11.24 with seven Devils worse then himselfe so he often returnes with seven temptations worser stronger then before Fourthly observe what Satan picks out to be the matter of this second and stronger temptation it is to pinch Job in his flesh to pinch his body Note from hence That the paine of the body is very powerfull to disquiet and trouble the mind Satan is very confident to trouble and vex the mind of Job by casting darts and diseases into his body Physitians have a rule That the manners of the mind follow the temper of the body and it is a more certaine rule That the mind is much carried according to the distemper of the body when the body is distempered the mind is seldome at rest the body and soule are such neere neighbours that they cannot but sympathize in each others sufferings Some interpret that place of the Apostle Gal. 4.13 14. concerning the weakenesse and sicknesse of his body You know saith he how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the Gospell We may safely joyne it with those other troubles afflictions and reproaches which he endured and were so great a disadvantage to his acceptance in the world So the meaning is that though his body was infirme though
he had many weakenesses upon him yet he preached the Gospell And then it followes in the next verse My temptation which was in my flesh you despised not observe he calleth his bodily infirmity a temptation The afflictions of the body are great temptations to the soule It is very considerable to this purpose what the Apostle James saith when he speaks of the severall conditions of the Saints and their duties in them Chap. 5. v. 13 14. Is any man afflicted let him pray he speakes that in generall Is any man merry let him sing Psalmes Is any man sick Is he pained by sicknesse in his body What shall he doe then He doth not say Is any man sick let him pray but Is any man sick let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him As if he should say A sick man is very unfit to pray himselfe though for himselfe he hath need to call others to pray with him and for him he hath enough to doe to wrastle with his pain and conflict with that affliction In other afflictions let him pray but if he be sick let him send for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him A diseased body unfits the mind for holy duties The prayer of sick Hezekiah is called chattering like a Crane or Swallow so did I chatter Isa 38. it was rather chattering then praying such a disquietnesse and uncomposednesse was upon his spirit thorough or by the infirmity of his flesh Paine is a piercing shaft in Satans quiver of temptations Though the spirit of a man will sustaine his infirmity yet oftentimes a wound in the body wounds the soule and the diseases of the flesh make the spirit sick A wounded spirit no man can beare and a wound in the body is a burden too heavy for many men And if it be so Then the pain and the weaknesse of the body is no advantage to repentance and returning unto God How pittifully are they mistaken who put off repentance till their bodies be in paine till they are sick and weake they doe it upon this ground because when they are in paine they thinke they shall repent with more ease Observe if Satan thinks to have such an advantage upon a holy man as to make him blaspheme when he is in paine doest thou thinke paine will be an advantage to thy repentance It is said that at the powring out of the fourth Viall Rev. 16.9 when God did smite the inhabitants of the earth and scorched them with great heat that they blasphemed the Name of God they did that which Satan presumed Job would doe and they repented not to give him glory It is a woefull thing to put off repentance to a pained body paine in its own nature fits us rather to blaspheme and turne from God then to returne to him Never thinke to have helpe for the cure of your soules by the diseases of your bodies usually we find that either sick persons repent not or theirs is but a sickly repentance At the most paine can but restraine your lusts it can never heale them The actings of some sins are quickned by diseases At the most a disease can but abate the acts of sin it can never destroy the life of it Death it selfe cannot kill sin The sins of wicked men live when they are dead the grave cannot consume them no nor the fire of Hell wast their strength the sins of unbeleevers shall remaine not only in their guilt but in their power to all eternity So much of Satans motion But put forth thy hand now and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse thee to thy face Verse 6. And the Lord said unto Satan Behold he is in thy hand but save his life Here we have the Lords grant unto that motion of Satan He is in thy hand but save his life Thou mayest doe with his bone and his flesh what thou wilt He is in thine hand We have opened what it is to have a thing put into the hand in the former Chapter where the same expression is used therefore I shall passe those words here Note only this that the Lord saith here He is in thy hand to prevent Satans cavill as if he had said Thou movest me to touch his bone and his flesh well lest thou shouldest say that I have dealt too gently with him and have smitten him with favour I will put the rod or staffe into thine hand doe thou with 〈◊〉 bone and his flesh what thou canst spare him not We know the Lord is able to strike stronger stroakes and give deeper wounds infinitely then Satan can if he pleaseth yet the love of God to his children stops his hand and breakes the blow He corrects in judgement and debates in measure Isa 27.8 when he strikes his children he strikes them as children gently Thus 2 Sam. 7.14 speaking of Davids family If he commit iniquity saith God I will chasten him with the rod of men the word there used is Enosh which signifies a weake man I will chasten him with the rod of a weake man of one that hath but a weake arme or hand the hand of a sickly fraile man A weake a sickly man cannot strike very hard Thus saith God I will chasten thy children if they commit iniquity they shall rather see my care then feele my power in their corrections Now I say lest Satan should pretend partiality God puts Job into Satans hand and gives him liberty to lay on as hard as his hand acted with utmost malice could smite him thou hast liberty to smite him into the very valley of the shadow of death to bring him so neere death that he may looke into the graves mouth but no further Save his life Here is Satans chaine the limitation or restraint of his power When God puts any of his servants into Satans hand he keepes Satan in his owne hand And as all the Elect are in Gods hand to keepe them from taking hurt so the Devill is in Gods hand to keep him from doing hurt to his Elect. Save his life The word Nephesh here used signifieth properly the soule and the soule is in Scripture often put for the life because the soule is the spring the fountaine of life life is derived or diffused into the body from or by the soule and as soone as the soule is parted from the body life departs Hence both this Hebrew word and the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 have their names from breathing or respiring For life goes out when breath goes out when we cease breathing we cease living Our life is but a blast a breath the Lord formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrills the breath of life and he became a living soule Gen. 2.7 This is that vitall spirit by which all quick things move therefore Beasts Birds Fish and creeping things are called living soules Gen. 1.20 24. And