Holy Bible

Thou restrainest prayer before God. Job 15:4 The hindrances to spiritual prayer R. P. Buddicom, M. A. All the motives by which the heart of man can be influenced, combine to urge upon him the great duty of prayer. Whence, then, arises the guilty indifference to spiritual prayer, so prevalent among us? Why will men, whose only hope depends upon the undeserved compassion of their Heavenly Father, close up, as it were, by their own apathy and unbelief, the exhaustless fountain from whence it longs to flow, and restrain prayer before God? Examine some of the more common hindrances to comfort and success in the exercise of prayer; and inquire why so little growth in grace is derived from this essential element of the Christian life. Prayer is restrained before God — I. WHEN HE IS APPROACHED IN A PROUD, UNHUMBLED STATE OF HEART. Such was the sin of Job when the Temanite reproved him. Can an unrestrained communion be held with God by one whose spirit has not yet been subdued by the knowledge of his sin, the conviction of his danger, the shame of his ingratitude? If prayer be anything, it is the utterance of one self-condemned, to the Being by whom he was made, the Judge by whose verdict he must abide, the Redeemer through whose mercy he may be saved. If prayer have any special requisites, contrition must be its very essence. Without a proper sense of the evil predominating within us, there can be no holy freedom in prayer; no aspiration of the soul towards heaven; no unrestrained utterance of the Psalmist's cry, "Make me a clean heart, O God!" An unhumbled mind and an unrestrained prayer are palpable contradictions. II. WHEN THE SUPPLIANT IS ENSLAVED BY THE LOVE AND INDULGENCE OF ANY SIN. relates of himself, that although he dared not omit the duty of prayer, but, with his lips constantly implored deliverance from the power and love of his besetting sins, they had so strongly entwined themselves around his heart, that every petition was accompanied with some silent aspiration of the soul, for a little longer delay amidst the unhallowed sources of his past gratifications. Judge, then, whether Augustine in this state did not restrain prayer before God. Forbidden acts, or the indulgence of unblest desires, overrule and hinder the transgressor's prayer. Let me warn you also against a devotion to the pursuits, pleasures, and attractions of the world. The spirit thus entangled and ensnared, may indeed undertake the employment; but instead of being occupied by the majesty of Jehovah, the love of Immanuel, and the momentous aspect of eternal things, it will be fluttering abroad among the passing and perishing vanities in which it seeks its mean and grovelling good. Can he whose attention is mainly confined to the acquisition of temporal good, expand his heart in prayer for mercies unseen and spiritual? God comes to us in His Gospel, exhibiting on the one hand His greatness and His goodness, and on the other, exposing the emptiness of time and sense. III. WHEN WE PRAY WITHOUT FERVENCY. What is the object of supplication? Is it not that we may share the privileges of the family of heaven; serving God with delight and love among His people below; and becoming meet to serve Him day and night in His temple above, among the spirits of the just made perfect? Are these, then, mercies which should be sought in the mere language of prayer, unanimated by its spirit and its fervency? The prayer which God will hear and bless, demands some touch of the spirit manifested by the believing Syrophenician woman. If this fervour of prayer be wanting, the deficiency originates in an evil heart of unbelief which departs from the living God. IV. WHEN WE NEGLECT TO PRAY FREQUENTLY. Our wants are continually recurring; but only the fulness of infinite mercy can supply them. We are, in fact, as absolutely dependent upon the daily mercies of our God, as were the Israelites upon the manna which fell every morning around their tents. Constant prayer, therefore, must be necessary. There is continual need of prayer for growth in grace. V. WHEN WE REGARD PRAYER RATHER AS A BURDENSOME DUTY THAN A DELIGHTFUL PRIVILEGE. A wondrous provision has been made to qualify guilty and polluted creatures for approaching the God of all purity and holiness. "We who some time were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." "Through Him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father." The Christian draws nigh with the united offering of prayer and thanksgiving. Do we then not restrain prayer, when, instead of addressing ourselves to it with glad hearts and holy boldness, we are led unwillingly to the duty, and urged only by the gloomy demands of a spirit of bondage? Until converse with God in prayer be the life and pleasure of the soul, the balm that best allays its pains, the consolation that best speaks peace and silence to its sorrows, the cordial that revives its fainting affection, there can be no unreservedness of heart in this great duty. We should open our whole hearts to the eye of His mercy; tell Him of every wish; relate every sorrow; entreat Him to sympathise in every suffering, and feel assured that He will minister to every want. VI. WHEN IT IS CONFINED TO REQUESTS FOR MERCIES OF LESSER CONCERN AND MOMENT. We have immortal spirits, no less than perishable bodies. We are probationers for heaven. We have sinful souls which must be pardoned; we have carnal minds, which must be renewed. The spirit is more valuable than the body; eternity more momentous than time. Is not prayer then restrained, when, instead of employing it to seek the things which belong to our peace, we desire this world's good with absorbing earnestness; and the better part, which cannot be taken away, feebly, if at all? Every mercy, we may be sure, waits upon the prayers of an open heart. ( R. P. Buddicom, M. A. ) Restraining prayer This is part of the charge brought by Eliphaz against Job. I address myself to the true people of God, who understand the sacred art of prayer, and are prevalent therein; but who, to their own sorrow and shame, must confess that they have restrained prayer. We often restrain prayer in the fewness of the occasions that we set apart for supplication. We constantly restrain prayer by not having our hearts in a proper state when we come to its exercise. We rush into prayer too often. We should, before prayer, meditate upon Him to whom it is to be addressed; upon the way through which my prayer is offered. Ought I not, before prayer, to be duly conscious of my many sins? If we add meditation upon what our needs are, how much better should we pray! How well if, before prayer, we would meditate upon the past with regard to all the mercies we have had during the day. What courage that would give us to ask for more! It is not to be denied, by a man who is conscious of his own error, that in the duty of prayer itself we are too often straitened in our own bowels, and do restrain prayer. This is true of prayer as invocation; as confession; as petition; and as thanksgiving. And lastly, it is very clear that, in many of our daily actions, we do that which necessitates restrained prayer. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) On formality and remissness in prayer John Foster. This is one of the many censures that Job's friends passed upon him. He could not be convicted of the fact, without being convicted of sin. Prayer is most positively enjoined, as a primary duty of religion; a duty strictly in itself, as the proper manner of acknowledging the supremacy of God and our dependence. Prayer cannot be discountenanced on any principle which would not repress and condemn all earnest religious desires. Would it not be absurd to indulge these desires, if it be absurd to express them? And worse than absurd, for What are they less than impulses to control the Divine determinations and conduct? For these desires will absolutely ascend toward Him. Again, it is the grand object to augment these desires. Then here too is evidence in favour of prayer. For it must operate to make them more strong, more vivid, more solemn, more prolonged, and more definite as to their objects. Forming them into expressions to God will concentrate the soul in them, and upon these objects. As to the objection that we cannot alter the Divine determinations; it may well be supposed that it is according to the Divine determinations that good things shall not be given to those that will not petition for them; that there shall be this expression of dependence and acknowledgment of the Divine supremacy. Now for the manner in which men avail themselves of this most sublime circumstance in their condition. We might naturally have expected an universal prevalence of a devotional spirit. Alas! there are millions of the civilised portion of mankind that practise no worship, no prayer at all, in any manner; they are entirely "without God in the world," To say of such an one, "Thou restrainest prayer," is pronouncing on him an awful charge, is predicting an awful doom. We wish, however, to make a few admonitory observations on the great defectiveness of prayer in those who do feel its importance, and are not wholly strangers to its genuine exercise. How much of this exercise, in its genuine quality, has there been in the course of our life habitually? Is there a very frequent, or even a prevailing reluctance to it, so that the chief feeling regarding it is but a haunting sense of duty and of guilt in the neglect? This were a serious cause for alarm, lest all be wrong within. Is it in the course of our days left to uncertainties whether the exercise shall be attended to or not? Is there a habit of letting come first to be attended to any inferior thing that may offer itself? When this great duty is set aside for an indefinite time, the disposition lessens at every step, and perhaps the conscience too. Or, in the interval appropriate to this exercise, a man may defer it till very near what he knows must be the end of the allowed time. Again, an inconvenient situation for devotional exercise will often be one of the real evils of life. Sometimes the exercise is made very brief from real, unqualified want of interest. Or prayer is delayed from a sense of recent guilt. The charge in the text falls upon the state of feeling which forgets to recognise the value of prayer as an instrument in the transactions of life. And it falls, too, on the indulgence of cares, anxieties, and griefs, with little recourse to this great expedient. ( John Foster. ) Restraining prayer James Parsons. I. THE EMPLOYMENT, THE IMPORTANCE OF WHICH IS ASSUMED. The employment of prayer. The end and object of all prayer is God. God, who is the only true object of prayer, has rendered, it a matter of positive and universal duty. The obligation cannot but be reasonably and properly inferred from those relations which are revealed as essentially existing between man and God. II. THE NATURE OF THE HABIT, THE INDULGENCE OF WHICH IS CHARGED. Instead of submitting to and absolutely obeying the injunctions which God has imposed upon thee, thou art guilty of holding back and preventing the exercise of supplication. Some of the modes in which men are guilty of restraining prayer before God. 1. He restrains prayer who altogether omits it. 2. Who engages but seldom in it. 3. Who excludes from his supplications the matters which are properly the objects of prayer. 4. Who does not cherish the spirit of importunity in prayer. III. THE EVILS, THE INFLICTION OF WHICH IS THREATENED. 1. Restraining prayer prevents the communication of spiritual blessings. 2. It exposes positively to the judicial wrath of God. ( James Parsons. ) Restraining prayer A. K. H. Boyd, D. D. This text helps us to put our finger on the cause of a great deal that is amiss in all of us. Here is what is wrong, "Thou restrainest prayer before God." If you are restraining prayer, that is, neglecting prayer, pushing it into a corner, and making it give way to everything else, — offering it formally and heartlessly, and with no real earnestness and purpose, praying as if you were sure your prayer would go all for nothing, — then it is no wonder if you are downhearted and anxious; and if grace is languishing and dying in you, and you growing, in spite of all your religious profession, just as worldly as the most worldly of the men and Women round you. There can be no doubt at all that the neglect of prayer is a sadly common sin. It is likewise a most extraordinary folly. There are people who restrain prayer, who do not pray at all, because they believe that prayer will do them no good, that prayer is of no use. But we believe in prayer. We believe in the duty of it; we believe in the efficacy of it. It is not for any expressed erroneous opinion that professing Christians restrain prayer. It is through carelessness; lack of interest in it; vague dislike to close communion with God; lack of vital faith, the faith of the heart as well as head. That is what is wrong; want of sense of the reality of prayer; dislike to go and be face to face alone with God. It is just when we feel least inclined to pray, that we need to pray the most earnestly. Be sure of this, that at the root of all our failures, our errors, our follies, our hasty words, our wrong deeds, our weak faith, our cold devotion, our decreasing grace, there is the neglect of prayer. If our prayers were real; if they were hearty, humble, and frequent, then how the evil that is in us would sink down abashed; then how everything holy and happy in us would grow and flourish! ( A. K. H. Boyd, D. D. ) Restraining prayer before God George Robson. When the fear of God is cast off, the first and fundamental principle of personal religion is removed; and when prayer before God is restrained, it is an evidence that this first and fundamental principle is either wanting altogether, or for a time suspended in its exercise. To "cast off fear" is to live "without God in the world"; and to restrain prayer before God is a sure indication that this godless, graceless life, is already begun in the soul, and will speedily manifest itself in the character and conduct. I. WHAT IS PRAYER BEFORE GOD? 1. It has God for its object. To each of the persons of the Godhead prayer may and should be made. To pray unto any of the host of heaven, or any mere creature whatever, is both a senseless and a sinful exercise. Because none of them can hear or answer our prayers. They know not the heart. They cannot be everywhere present. They cannot answer. To pray to any creature is sinful, because giving to the creature the glory which belongs exclusively to the Creator. To hear, accept, and answer prayer, is the peculiar prerogative of the only "living and true God." By this He is distinguished from the "gods many and lords many" of the heathen. 2. It has Christ for its only medium. "In whom we have boldness, and access with confidence, by the faith of Him." He is our friend at the court of heaven. 3. It has the Bible for its rule and reason. For its rule to direct us. It is the reason for enforcing prayer. 4. It has the heart for its seat. It does not consist in eloquence, in fluency of speech, in animal excitement, in bodily attitudes, or in outward forms. Words may be necessary to prayer, even in secret, for we think in words; but words are not of the nature and essence of prayer. There may be prayer without utterance or expression; but there can be no prayer without the outgoing of the heart, and the offering up of the desires unto God. II. WHAT IS IT TO RESTRAIN PRAYER BEFORE GOD? This fault does not apply to the prayerless. They who never pray to God at all, cannot be charged with restraining prayer before Him. 1. Prayer may be restrained as to times. Most people pray to God sometimes. It is a great privilege that we may pray to God at all times. The pressure of business and the want of time, form the usual excuse for infrequency in prayer. But is it not a duty to redeem time for this very purpose? 2. As to persons. For whom ought we to pray? Some are as selfish in their prayers as they are bigoted in their creed, and niggardly in their purse. Paul says, "I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men." 3. As to formal prayer. The attitude of prayer is assumed, the language of prayer is employed, and the forms of prayer are observed; but the spirit of prayer, which gives it life and energy and efficacy, is wanting. Now look at prayer in its power. Three attributes are requisite to make prayer of much avail with God; faith, importunity, and perseverance. III. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF RESTRAINING PRAYER BEFORE GOD? These are just like the spirit and habit from which they flow, — evil, only evil, and that continually, to individuals, to families, and to communities, civil and sacred. The evils may be comprised and expressed in two particulars, — the prevention of Divinely promised blessings, and exposure to Divine judgments. Let these considerations be — (1) A warning to the prayerless, and (2) A monitor to the prayerful. ( George Robson. ) "You don't pray" Christian Age. This instructive anecdote relating to President Finney is characteristic: — A brother who had fallen into darkness and discouragement, was staying at the same house with Dr. Finney over night. He was lamenting his condition, and Dr. F., after listening to his narrative, turned to him with his peculiar earnest look, and with a voice that sent a thrill through his soul, said," You don't pray! that is what's the matter with you. Pray — pray four times as much as ever you did in your life, and you will come out." He immediately went down to the parlour, and taking the Bible he made a serious business of it, stirring up his soul to seek God as did Daniel, and thus he spent the night. It was not in vain. As the morning dawned he felt the light of the Sun of Righteousness shine upon his soul. His captivity was broken; and ever since he has felt that the greatest difficulty in the way of men being emancipated from their bondage is that they "don't pray." The bonds cannot be broken by finite strength. We must take our case to Him who is mighty to save. Our eyes are blinded to Christ the Deliverer. He came to preach deliverance to the captive, to break the power of habit; and herein is the rising of a great hope for us. ( Christian Age. ) Prayer the barometer of the spiritual state H. G. Salter. Among the wonders which science has achieved, it has succeeded in bringing things which are invisible, and impalpable to our sense, within the reach of our most accurate observations. Thus the barometer makes us acquainted with the actual state of the atmosphere. It takes cognisance of the slightest variation, and every change is pointed out by its elevation or depression, so that we are accurately acquainted with the actual state of the air, and at any given time. In like manner the Christian has within him an index by which he may take cognisance and by which he may measure the elevation and degrees of his spirituality — it is the spirit of inward devotion. However difficult it may seem to be to pronounce on the invisibilities of our spirituality, yet there is a barometer to determine the elevation or depression of the spiritual principle. It marks the changes of the soul in its aspect towards God. As the spirit of prayer mounts up, there is true spiritual elevation, and as it is restrained, and falls low, there is a depression of the spiritual principle within us. As is the spirit of devotion and communion such is the man. ( H. G. Salter. ) Restrained prayer of no effect In vain do we charge the gun, if we intend not to let it off. Meditation filleth the heart with heavenly matter, but prayer gives the discharge, and pours it forth upon God, whereby He is overcome to give the Christian his desired relief and succour. The promise is the bill or bond, wherein God makes Himself a debtor to the creature. Now, though it is some comfort to a poor man that hath no money at present to buy bread with, when he reads his bills and bonds, to see that he hath a great sum owing him; yet this will not supply his present wants and buy him bread. No, it is putting his bond in suit must do this. By meditating on the promise thou comest to see there is support in, and deliverance out of, affliction engaged for; but none will come till thou commencest thy suit, and by prayer of faith callest in the debt. God expects to hear from you before you can expect to hear from Him. If thou "restrainest prayer," it is no wonder the mercy promised is retained. Meditation is like the lawyer's studying the case in order to his pleading it at the bar. When, therefore, thou hast viewed the promise, and affected thy heart with the riches of it, then fly thee to the throne of grace and spread it before the Lord. ( W. Gurnall. . ) The grey-headed and very aged men. Job 15:10 Grey-headed and aged men William Walters. I. OLD AGE PRESENTS SOCIAL CONTRASTS. Some are rich and some are poor. Some have all their wants anticipated and supplied; others are beset with difficulties, which seem to thicken with advancing years. II. OLD AGE PRESENTS PHYSICAL CONTRASTS. There is an old man, fresh and ruddy, renewing his youth like the eagle. There is another who answers to Solomon's melancholy description. The cause of this diversity may frequently be found in the past life. "The sins of youth bite sore in age." III. OLD AGE PRESENTS INTELLECTUAL CONTRASTS. In most cases age brings its mental as well as its bodily infirmities. The imagination grows dull, the understanding loses its vigour, the power of originating and sustaining thought fails. There is no intellectual sympathy with living thought, nor power of appreciating it. There are instances of intellectual power remaining unimpaired to the last, so that the latest efforts of their possessors have been among their best. Plato continued writing until he was over eighty. Dryden produced his noblest poem when he was near seventy. We generally speak of old age as pregnant with experience; but "great men are not always wise, neither do the aged understand judgment." Some old people are as foolish as if they had walked through the world with their eyes and ears shut. There are contrasts of temper as well as of intellect. Old age is often fretful. It would seem as if infancy had come again, with all its peevishness, and none of its charms. IV. OLD AGE PRESENTS SPIRITUAL CONTRASTS. The hoary head is sometimes a crown of glory. But there are old sinners as well as old saints. Some men are a terrible curse to society. And a sinful old age is often a miserable old age. This is especially the case where the besetting sin is covetousness. One lesson for all. If you live to be old, your old age will be very much what you are pleased to make it. Your moral and spiritual character rests with yourselves. ( William Walters. ) The old faith and the new experience R. A. Watson. The Catholic doctrine has not yet been struck out that will fuse in one commanding law the immemorial convictions of the race and the widening visions of the living soul. The agitation of the Church today is caused by the presence within her of Eliphaz and Job — Eliphaz standing for the fathers and their faith, Job passing through a fever crisis of experience and finding no remedy in the old interpretations. The Church is apt to say, Here is moral disease, sin; we have nothing for that but rebuke and aversion. Is it wonderful that the tried life, conscious of integrity, rises in indignant revolt? The taunt of sin, scepticism, rationalism, or self-will is too ready a weapon, a sword worn always by the side or carried in the hand. ( R. A. Watson. ) The aged that linger in the world H. W. Beecher. Sometimes the sun seems to hang for a half hour in the horizon, only just to show how glorious it can be. The day is done, the fervour of the shining is over, and the sun hangs golden — nay redder than gold — in the west, making everything look unspeakably beautiful with its rich effulgence, which it sheds on every side. So God seems to let some people, when their duty in this world is done, hang in the west. that men may look at them and see how beautiful they are. There are some hanging in the west now. ( H. W. Beecher. ) Are the consolations of God small with thee? Job 15:11 Losing the Divine consolations D. Wilcox. Some take the words to be an expostulation with Job, showing him the unreasonableness of impatience or despondency, how sad soever were his case, while having the consolations of God to make recourse to. They may also be taken as a reproof to Job for the complaints he had uttered under his sufferings; as if he had not been duly attentive to the Divine consolations. Even the servants of God, under afflictions, are apt to lose the sense of Divine consolations, and to behave as if they were small to them. I. THE CONSOLATIONS HERE SPOKEN OF. Consolation is said to be God's, as He is the father and fountain of it. All true consolation is of and from Him. 1. By way of eminency. No comforts like the comforts of God. 2. By way of sovereign disposal. In and from Him alone consolation is to be had. As none can comfort like Him, so none without or in opposition to Him. Christ, who is called the consolation of Israel, came out from the Father. 3. Note the plenty and variety of the consolations of God. He is the God of all consolation. 4. The consolations of God imply their power and efficiency. No trouble or distress can be too great for Divine consolations to overbalance. II. WHEN MAY THESE CONSOLATIONS BE SAID TO BE SMALL? 1. When God's servants are ready to faint under their affliction. 2. When they grow impatient under affliction, if they are not speedily delivered, or as soon as they desire or expect. 3. When they have recourse to any other method for ease and deliverance from trouble, than that which God has appointed, of waiting upon Him, and looking to Him. 4. When they are full of anxious disquieting thoughts, what will become of us if our afflictions continue much longer? III. THE SERVANTS OF GOD ARE LIABLE TO SUCH COMPLAINTS AND GRIEVINGS. This proceeds — 1. From the grievousness and weight of affliction itself, especially of some sorts of it, under which it is not easy to bear up, or behave ourselves as we ought. 2. From the weakness and imperfection of grace, and the strength of the remains of corruption. Their thoughts are held down to what they suffer, and seem wholly taken up with it. Amidst so much confusion and affliction, if they think of God, they apprehend Him as departed from them, or turned against them. And as their life is bound up in His love, the apprehension of His displeasure wounds them to the heart. IV. THE SINFULNESS OF NOT ATTENDING TO THE CONSOLATIONS OF GOD, OR MAKING LIGHT OF THEM. 1. The consolations of God are great in themselves; so it is a high affront to Him that they should be small with us. The consolations in God, from Him, and with Him, are great. There is no case in which a saint can need consolation, but he is encouraged to look for it from some or other of the perfections of God. He is a God of infinite wisdom, almighty power, infinite goodness and mercy, everywhere present, and this to His people in a way of grace; and unchangeable in His nature and perfections. The consolations from God are in His Son, and by His Spirit, and in His Word. 2. The affront of slighting them may be aggravated, from the unworthiness of the person by whom they are slighted. 3. And further aggravated by the obligations His people are under to Him, for what He has done for them, and bestowed upon them. A servant of God has more matter of comfort and delight in him than reason of sorrow, upon the account of what he suffers. Application — (1) What a wonder is it that there should be such consolations of God. (2) Beware of the guilt of treating such consolations as small. (3) Let God have the glory of any consolation you have had from Him. (4) Under all your troubles, make conscience of applying to your Father in heaven, as the father and fountain of consolation. (5) Wait for comfort in God's time, and presume not to prescribe to Him; but continue to pray and look up. ( D. Wilcox. ) The consolations of God B. Beddome, M. A. I. TAKE A BRIEF VIEW OF THE CONSOLATIONS OF GOD. Real comfort, of every kind and in every degree, is from God. 1. There are consolatory providences. There is a special providence which attends the saints. 2. The promises are full of consolation. These unfold the gracious purposes of God, and come between the decree and the execution. 3. There are many experimental consolations, which true believers enjoy. II. WHEN MAY WE BE SAID TO MAKE LIGHT OF THESE CONSOLATIONS AND TO ACCOUNT THEM SMALL. 1. When we undervalue the blessings of salvation, by placing carnal gratifications on a level with them, or not giving them the preference. 2. These consolations are small to us when we are slothful and negligent in seeking after them. 3. When we do not so estimate the blessings of the Gospel as to find satisfaction in them, in the absence of all created good, we may be said to account them small III. THE UNREASONABLENESS AND SINFULNESS OF TREATING THE CONSOLATIONS OF THE GOSPEL WITH NEGLECT. 1. These consolations are not small in themselves, and therefore ought not to be lightly esteemed by us. They lay a foundation for peace and comfort under the greatest afflictions. 2. To make light of them is the way to be deprived of them, either in whole or in part. 3. It is to cast contempt upon their Author. Improvement —(1) To those eagerly pursuing riches, honours, and pleasures of the present life in the neglect of their souls.(2) To those dissatisfied with the appointments of Providence.(3) Let all those who, like Hannah, are of a sorrowful spirit, endeavour to recollect their former mercies, as an antidote to present despondency. ( B. Beddome, M. A. ) The consolations of God W. A. Bevan. I. THE SUBSTANCE AND CHARACTER OF GOD'S CONSOLATIONS. In their substance they are true, solid, strong, everlasting, and are set in love. The character of these consolations reaches as high a standard as their substance. Consolations, to be effectual, must be appropriate and adequate. For us this character is reflective, contemplative, comparative, and prospective. II. THE METHOD AND MANNER OF THE CONVEYANCE OF GOD'S CONSOLATIONS. God uses the method of an over-ruling providence; of Divine revelation; of the abiding Spirit,. The ministry of consolation peculiarly needs a tender heart, an enlightened mind, a gentle hand, and a gracious tongue. There is always need for such a ministry in a world like ours. The manner of God is considerate and concessive and conclusive. III. THE SPIRIT OF RECEPTION GIVEN TO GOD'S CONSOLATIONS. They must be received in the spirit of faith. The spirit of cheerfulness will be the offspring of this submissive faith. The spirit of prayer will discover that "calamity is but the veiled grace of God." ( W. A. Bevan. ) The consolations of God Phillips Brooks. 1. God is the consoler of man by the very fact of His existence. There is a class of passages in the Bible which appear to rest the peace of the human soul upon the mere fact of the existence of the larger life of God. It is because God is that man is bidden to be at peace. I pity the man who has never in his best moods felt his life consoled and comforted in its littleness by the larger lives that he could look at, and know that they too Were men, living in the same humanity with himself, only living in it so much more largely. For so much of our need of consolation comes just in this way, from the littleness of our life, its pettishness and weariness insensibly transferring itself to all life, and making us sceptical about anything great or worth living for in life at all; and it is our rescue from this debilitating doubt that is the blessing which falls upon us when, leaving our own insignificance behind, we let our hearts rest with comfort on the mere fact that there are men of great, broad, generous, and healthy lives — men like the greatest that we know. It is not the most active people to whom we owe the most. 2. Then there is the sympathy of this same God. It becomes known to us, not merely that He is, but that He cares for us. Not merely His life, but His love, becomes a fact. The real reason why the sufferer rejoices in the sympathy of God is, that thereby, through love, that dear and perfect nature after which he has struggled before, is made completely known to him. Love is the translating medium. Through God's sympathy he knows God more intensely and mor

Benson Commentary Job 15:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Job 15:1 . Then answered Eliphaz — Eliphaz, not a little incensed that Job should pay no regard to his advice, and should dare to challenge the Almighty to argue the point with him, charges him home with self-conceit in entertaining too high an opinion of his own knowledge; with arrogance in undervaluing the arguments drawn from their experience, whose age was a sufficient voucher for their wisdom; and with impiety, in thus rudely challenging the Almighty to answer for his conduct in afflicting him. He presses home the same argument upon him a second time, to which he adds that of universal tradition; insinuating, that he had yet worse to expect unless he prevented it by a contrary conduct: and then presents him with a picture of the final state of a wicked man; in which he so works up the circumstances as to make it resemble Job and his condition as much as possible; intimating thereby, that he imagined him to be that very wicked man he had been describing, and that he had by that means drawn down God’s judgments on himself: that, therefore, his imaginations of innocence were an illusion; but one, however, of the worst kind; he had deceived himself. — Heath. Job 15:2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Job 15:2 . Should a wise man — Such as thou pretendest to be, utter vain knowledge — Hebrews ??? ??? , dagnath, ruach, knowledge of wind; that is, empty words, without any sense or solidity in them; and fill his belly — Satisfy his mind and conscience; with the east wind — With notions and speeches, which are not only unsubstantial and unprofitable, but also hasty, impetuous, and pernicious; and full as hurtful to the peace of his own mind, and the quiet and comfort of others, as the boisterous, scorching east wind is to fruits and herbs of every kind. The Hebrew is literally, And should the east wind fill his belly — his vain and useless knowledge puff him up with pride and self-conceit? Job 15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? Job 15:3 . Should he reason with unprofitable talk? — Of what consequence are all his arguments? Do they carry any weight with them? Do they convince and satisfy those with whom he contends? No: they are no better than unprofitable talk. With speeches wherewith he can do no good? — Either to himself or others, but will do much hurt. Job 15:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. Job 15:4 . Yea, thou castest off fear — Hebrew, Thou makest void fear; the fear of God, piety, and religion, by thy unworthy speeches of God, and by those false and pernicious principles, that God makes no difference between good and bad in the course of his providence, but equally prospers or afflicts both: thou dost that which tends to the subversion of the fear and worship of God. And restrainest prayer — Thou dost, by thy words and principles, as far as in thee lies, banish prayer out of the world, by making it useless and unprofitable to men. Houbigant’s translation of the verse is, Truly, thou loosest the bonds of religion; thou preventest the groans or prayers which are sent up to God. Thy speeches, says Bishop Patrick, “destroy all religion, and discourage men from pouring out their complaint in prayer to God.” Job 15:5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. Job 15:5-6 . Thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity — Thy words discover the naughtiness of thy heart, and justify my charge against thee, that thou castest off fear, &c. Thou choosest the tongue of the crafty — Thou speakest wickedly and craftily: thou coverest thy impious principles with fair pretences of piety and respect for God, wherewith thou endeavourest to deceive men. Thine own mouth condemneth thee — My condemnation of thee is grounded on thy own words. Job 15:6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee. Job 15:7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? Job 15:7-10 . Art thou the first man that was born? — Hast thou lived ever since the creation of the world, and treasured up the experiences of all ages in thy own breast, that thou speakest so arrogantly and magisterially, and with such contempt of other men? Art thou the most ancient and the wisest of all mortal men? Whom dost thou make thyself? S. Jarchi’s comment is, “What, wast thou born before Adam? Wast thou made before the hills? — As wisdom herself was, Proverbs 8:23 . Didst thou exist before the earth was created, and distinguished into mountains and valleys? Hast thou heard the secret of God? — Hath God acquainted thee with all his secret counsels, whereby he governs the world, that thou dost pass so bold a censure upon his designs and actions? Dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? — Art thou the only wise man in the world, and we and all others but fools? What knowest thou that we know not? — He retorts upon Job his own expressions, Job 12:3 ; Job 13:2 . With us are both the gray- headed, &c. — That is, among us; meaning either some of them, or some others with whom they had conversed, and who were of their opinion in this matter. And this they oppose to what Job had expressed, Job 12:12 . Very aged men, much elder than thy father — Perhaps all these three friends of Job were elder than he, and therefore they thought he was bound to acknowledge them to be wiser. And many think themselves wiser than others for a similar reason, and are confident they know more, because they have lived more years! Job 15:8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? Job 15:9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us? Job 15:10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father. Job 15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? Job 15:11 . Are the consolations of God small with thee? — Are those blessings which we have pro-pounded to thee, on condition of thy repentance, small and inconsiderable in thine eyes? He takes it ill that Job did not value the comforts which he and his friends administered to him, more than, it seems, he did, and that he did not welcome every word they said as the truth of God. And he represents this as a slight put upon divine consolations in general, as if they were of small account with him; whereas, really, they were not: if Job had not highly valued them he could not have borne up as he did under his sufferings. It is true Job’s friends had said some very good things, but in their application of them to him they were miserable comforters. Is there any secret thing with thee? — Hast thou any secret and peculiar way of obtaining comfort, which is unknown to us, and to all other men? some cordial to support thee, that no body else can pretend to, or knows any thing of? Or, perhaps he means, Is there some secret sin harboured and indulged in thy bosom, which hinders thy reception of divine comforts? None disesteem divine consolations but those that secretly, if not openly, are attached to the world, and live after the flesh. Job 15:12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, Job 15:12-13 . Why doth thy heart carry thee away? — Why dost thou suffer thyself to be transported by the pride of thy heart, to use such unworthy and unbecoming expressions, both concerning us and concerning God and his providence? And what do thine eyes wink at? — Why dost thou look with such an angry, supercilious, and disdainful look? But Buxtorf translates the words, Quid collimant oculi tui? What are thine eyes taking aim at? Or, Quid innuunt? Quorsum spectant? What do they intimate? Or, Whither, what way, or toward what, do they look? The Hebrew, ?????? , jirzmun, properly signifies to wink with one eye, as those that aim at a mark. That thou turnest thy spirit against God? — Opposest thyself to him, and art become his enemy. He thought Job’s spirit was soured against God, and exasperated at his dealings with him, and so was turned from what it had been: and that this was evident from his letting such words go out of his mouth as reflected on God, and his justice and goodness. But Eliphaz wanted candour and charity, otherwise he would not have put such a harsh construction on the speeches of one that had such a settled reputation for piety, and was now sorely assaulted with temptation. This was, in effect, to give the cause on Satan’s side, and to own that Job had done as Satan said he would, curse God to his face. Job 15:13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Job 15:14-15 . What is man? — Hebrew, ????? , enosh, frail, weak, imperfect man; that he should be clean? — That is, that he should pretend to be so; or, that any should expect to find him so: and he that is born of a woman — A sinful woman, from whom he has derived infirmity, corruption, and guilt; that he should be righteous? — Just and holy in his own eyes, or in the eyes of others, and especially that he should be such in the sight of the just and holy God? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints — That is, in his angels, (see Job 4:18 ,) who are called his saints or holy ones, Deuteronomy 33:2 ; Daniel 4:13 ; Daniel 4:23 . Who, though they were created holy, yet many of them fell. Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight — The angels that dwell in heaven; heaven being put for its inhabitants. None of these are pure, simply, and perfectly, and comparatively to God. The angels are pure from corruption, but not from imperfection. Job 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. Job 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? Job 15:16 . How much more abominable and filthy is man — If saints are not to be trusted, much less sinners. If the heavens are not pure; if heavenly beings, who maintained their allegiance to their Maker, are not free from imperfection, when compared with God, much less is man, who is degenerated, and has rebelled against him. Which drinketh iniquity like water — Who, besides his natural proneness to sin, has contracted habits of sinning; and sins as freely, as greedily, and delightfully, as men, especially in those hot countries, drink up water. Job 15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; Job 15:17-18 . I will show thee, hear me — I will prove what I have affirmed, namely, that such strokes as thine are peculiar to hypocrites and wicked men. And that which I have seen I will declare — I will not speak from hearsay, but only from my own observation and experience. Which wise men have told — Who are most able to be witnesses and judges in these matters; from their fathers — Or, ancestors; who diligently observed this, and carefully transmitted their own judgment and experience successively to their posterity. And have not hid it — They judged it to be so certain and important a truth, that they would not conceal it in their own breasts. Job 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it : Job 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. Job 15:19 . Unto whom alone the earth was given — By the gracious gift of God: this he alleges to make their testimony more considerable, because these were no obscure men, but the most worthy and famous men in their ages; and to confute what Job had said, Job 9:24 , that the earth was given into the hand of the wicked. By the earth he means the dominion and possession of it. No stranger passed among them — No person of a strange nation and disposition, or religion, passed through their land, so as to disturb or spoil them, as the Sabeans and Chaldeans did thee. God watched over those holy men so that no enemy could invade them; and so he would have done over thee, if thou hadst been such a one. It seems evident, that Noah and his sons, Melchizedeck, Abraham, and others of the patriarchs, who lived before Job, are here intended. Job 15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. Job 15:20 . The wicked man travaileth with pain — That is, lives a life of care, and fear, and grief, by reason of God’s wrath, the torments of his own mind, and his outward calamities. The number of his years is hidden — He knows not how short the time of his life is, and therefore lives in continual fear of losing it. To the oppressor — To the wicked man: he names this one sort of them, because he supposed Job to be guilty of this sin; and in opposition to what Job had affirmed of the safety of such persons, Job 12:6 , and because such are apt to promise themselves a longer and happier life than other men. Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. Job 15:21-22 . A dreadful sound is in his ears — Even when he feels no evil, he is tormented with perpetual fears and expectations of it, from a consciousness of his own guilt, and a sense of God’s all-seeing eye and righteous judgment. In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him — In the most peaceable and prosperous time, he is not in safety, nor does he think himself to be so, but he is always fearing some one or other will injure him as he has injured others; and that some enemy will invade and destroy him suddenly and unexpectedly. He knows both heaven and earth are incensed against him; and that he has done nothing to make his peace with either, and, therefore, thinks every one that meets him will slay him. A guilty conscience represents to the sinner a flaming sword turning every way, and himself inevitably running upon it. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness — When he falls into trouble he despairs of deliverance, by reason of his guilty conscience. And he is waited for of the sword — Besides the calamity which is upon him, he is in constant expectation of greater. The sword is used for any grievous affliction. Job 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword. Job 15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying , Where is it ? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. Job 15:23 . He wandereth abroad for bread — His poverty is so great, that he is forced to wander hither and thither to seek for bread, and cannot find it, a just punishment for him that took away the bread and substance of others by violence. He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand — He is assured, from his own guilty conscience, that the time of his total, and irrecoverable, and everlasting destruction is ready to seize upon him, and arrest him, as an officer of justice arrests a criminal; that it is appointed to him and cannot be put by, that it is hastening on and cannot be put off. The Hebrew ???? ???? , nachon bejado, may be properly rendered, Is prepared by his own hand, that is, by his works or actions. So the sense is, He is conscious to himself that, by his wicked life, he hath prepared and treasured up calamities and destruction for himself. This day of darkness is something beyond death; it is that day of the Lord which, to all the wicked, will be darkness and not light, and in which they will be doomed to utter, endless darkness. Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. Job 15:24 . Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid — When trouble comes, instead of trusting and hoping, and comforting himself in God, as good men do in such cases, 1 Samuel 30:6 , he is full of torment, dreading the issue of it, and concluding it will end in his utter ruin, as he has great reason to do. They shall prevail against him — Though he would fain shake off his fears, and uses many expedients to free himself from them, he is not able; they overpower him, as a king ready to the battle — With forces too strong to be resisted. He that would keep his peace must keep a good conscience. Job 15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. Job 15:25 . For he stretcheth out his hand against God — He sinned against him with a high and outstretched hand; that is, boldly and presumptuously, as one that neither desired his favour, nor feared his anger. Thus he gives the reason of the fore-mentioned calamities that befell him, which was his great wickedness in the time of his peace and prosperity. And strengthened himself against the Almighty — Putteth his forces in array, as if he would fight with him who is almighty, and therefore irresistible. This aggravates the madness of this weak and contemptible worm, that he should dare to fight against the omnipotent God! Job 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers: Job 15:26 . He runneth upon him — That is, the wicked man (of whom, and of whose sin and misery, he speaks in the whole context, both preceding and following) assaults God, and, as it were, rushes swiftly and furiously upon him, as the same phrase, ??? ??? , jarats eelaiv, signifies, Daniel 8:6 . In the former verse he was represented as preparing for the battle, and here as actually and impudently fighting with him. Even on his neck — As a stout warrior who cometh close to his adversary and grapples with him. He acts in flat opposition to God, both to his precepts and providences. Upon the thick bosses of his bucklers — Even where his enemy is strongest. He is not discouraged with his enemy’s thick, and strong, and eminent shields, but boldly ventures to rush upon them, though to his own certain destruction. Every sinner departs, or runs, rather, from God: but the presumptuous sinner, who sins with a high hand, runs upon him, fights against him, and bids defiance to him; and it is easy to foretel what will be the issue. Job 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks. Job 15:27 . He covereth his face with his fatness — This is mentioned as the reason of his insolent carriage toward God. because he was fat, rich, potent, and successful, as that expression signifies, Deuteronomy 32:15 ; Psalm 78:31 ; Jeremiah 46:21 . His great prosperity made him proud and secure, and regardless of God and men. Maketh collops of fat on his flanks — His only care is to pamper and please himself, and satisfy his own lusts, and in defence and pursuance of them he contends with God. Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. Job 15:28-29 . And he dwelleth — It should rather be translated, But he dwelleth in desolate places. This is fitly opposed to the prosperity last mentioned, and is the beginning of the description of his misery, which is continued in the following verses. Which are ready to become heaps — Which are ready to fall, and to be turned into heaps of stones. He shall not be rich — He shall not remain rich, but shall become poor. Neither shall his substance continue — He shall lose what he had gotten. Neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof — The perfection of his substance, or that complete estate and glory which he had attained, shall not be continued to him and his posterity. Or, neither shall their perfection (that is, that prosperity, wealth, and power, wherein they placed their perfection or happiness) spread itself, or be spread abroad; but shall be diminished and taken away. It is a metaphor from a tree. See Job 8:16 . Job 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth. Job 15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. Job 15:30 . He shall not depart out of darkness — His misery shall have no end. The flame — God’s anger and judgment upon him. Shall dry up his branches — His wealth, and power, and glory, wherewith he was encompassed, as trees are with their branches. By the breath of his mouth, &c. — This expression intimates, with how much ease God subdueth his enemies: his word, his blast, one act of his will, is sufficient. Shall he go away — Hebrew, go back: that is, run away from God faster than he ran upon him, Job 15:26 . So it is a continuation of the former metaphor of a conflict between two persons. Job 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence. Job 15:31 . Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity — That is, in the vain and deceitful things of this world, such as power, riches, honour, &c., of which, and of the loss of them, he had been discoursing largely; and now he subjoins a general caution to all men to take heed of running into the same error and mischief with the fore-mentioned persons: and, withal, he secretly intimates what, he judged, had been Job’s great sin, and the cause of his ruin, namely, his carnal confidence in those vain things, his wealth and glory, and the children which God had given him: from which crime Job, therefore, vindicates himself hereafter. For vanity — Disappointment, dissatisfaction, and the loss of all his imaginary felicity; the same word vanity being elegantly repeated in another sense, as is usual in the Scripture, and all authors. Shall be his recompense — Hebrew, ?????? , temuratho, permutatio vel commutatio ejus; his exchange, Leviticus 27:33 ; he shall exchange one vanity for another, a pleasing vanity for a vexatious vanity. This verse however may be rendered otherwise, thus: He that is deceived with vanity (that is, with the vain things of this world, wherewith most men are deceived and bewitched) will not believe that vanity (namely, emptiness, disappointment, and misery) shall be his recompense. And thus this is an aggravation of his calamity, that it surprised him when he was confident, and secure from all fears of such an event. Job 15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green. Job 15:32-33 . It shall be accomplished — Namely, that which was last mentioned, that vanity should be his recompense: before his time — When, by the course of nature, and common providence, he might have continued and flourished much longer. And his branch — His glory and prosperity, or his children; shall not be green — Shall not continue to flourish as heretofore. He shall shake off his unripe grapes — The wicked man, who, by his sins, is the author of his own ruin, shall be deprived of his fruit, of his children, and other comforts, before their time; as the vine — Which either of itself drops its tender grapes, or loses them when they are plucked off by a violent hand; and shall cast off his flower as the olive — Which flourishes much about the same time with the vine, and commonly suffers similar injuries. Job 15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. Job 15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. Job 15:34-35 . For the congregation of hypocrites — Their children, servants, friends, and dependants; shall be desolate — That is, utterly destroyed; and fire — Some eminent and terrible judgment of God, often expressed by fire: see Isaiah 9:19 ; Isaiah 26:11 ; shall consume the tabernacles of bribery — Which were either built or maintained by extortion and bribery, or such unrighteous practises, of which they thought Job guilty, Job 22:8 . They conceive mischief — They devise and contrive pernicious enterprises against others; and bring forth vanity — They execute what they had contrived. They produce iniquity, injury, or trouble, either to others, or rather to themselves: for the mischief they designed for others falls upon their own heads, and they reap what they sowed. And their belly — That is, their inward parts, their hearts and minds; prepareth deceit — For others, whom they design to cheat; and especially for themselves, who, while they seek to deceive others, shall find that they themselves are most deceived, as being deprived of all their desires and hopes wherewith they fed themselves, and cast into all those calamities which they thought to prevent by these artifices. This whole description is evidently pointed at the situation of Job. His prosperity was become vanity; his children were all cut off before their time; his family become solitary; and his hopes, to all appearance, an illusion. All the fine prospect with which the wicked man entertained himself, and for which he endured all the anguish here described, produced only a deceit. He hath imposed on himself. Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . 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Expositor's Bible Commentary Job 15:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, XIII. THE TRADITION OF A PURE RACE Job 15:1-35 ELIPHAZ SPEAKS THE first colloquy has made clear severance between the old Theology and the facts of human life. No positive reconciliation is effected as yet between reality and faith, no new reading of Divine providence has been offered. The author allows the friends on the one hand, Job on the other, to seek the end of controversy just as men in their circumstances would in real life have sought it. Unable to penetrate behind the veil the one side clings obstinately to the ancestral faith, on the other side the persecuted sufferer strains after a hope of vindication apart from any return of health and prosperity, which he dares not expect. One of the conditions of the problem is the certainty of death. Before death, repentance and restoration, - say the friends. Death immediate, therefore should God hear me, vindicate me, -says Job. In desperation he breaks through to the hope that God’s wrath will pass even though his scared and harrowed life be driven into Sheol. For a moment he sees the light; then it seems to expire. To the orthodox friends any such thought is a kind of blasphemy. They believe in the nullity of the state beyond death. There is no wisdom nor hope in the grave. "The dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten"-even by God. "As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." { Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 } On the mind of Job this dark shadow falls and hides the star of his hope. To pass away under the reprobation of men and of God, to suffer the final stroke and be lost forever in the deep darkness; - anticipating this, how can he do otherwise than make a desperate fight for his own consciousness of right and for God’s intervention while yet any breath is left in him? He persists in this. The friends do not approach him one step in thought; instead of being moved by his pathetic entreaties they draw back into more bigoted judgment. In opening the new circle of debate Eliphaz might be expected to yield a little, to admit something in the claim of the sufferer, granting at least for the sake of argument that his case is hard. But the writer wishes to show the rigour and determination of the old creed, or rather of the men who preach it. He will not allow them one sign of rapprochement. In the same order as before the three advance their theory, making no attempt to explain the facts of human existence to which their attention has been called. Between the first and the second round there is, indeed, a change of position, but in the line of greater hardness. The change is thus marked. Each of the three, differing toto coelo from Job’s view of his case, had introduced an encouraging promise. Eliphaz had spoken of six troubles, yea seven, from which one should be delivered if he accepted the chastening of the Lord. Bildad affirmed "Behold, God will not east away the perfect: He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter And thy lips with shouting." Zophar had said that if Job would put away iniquity he should be led into fearless calm. "Thou shalt be steadfast and not fear, For thou shalt forget thy misery Remember it as waters that are passed by." That is a note of the first series of arguments; we hear nothing of it in the second. One after another drives home a stern, uncompromising judgment. The dramatic art of the author has introduced several touches into the second speech of Eliphaz which maintain the personality. For example, the formula "I have seen" is carried on from the former address where it repeatedly occurs, and is now used quite incidentally, therefore with all the more effect. Again the "crafty" are spoken of in both addresses with contempt and aversion, neither of the other interlocutors of Job nor Job himself using the word. The thought of Job 15:15 is also the same as that ventured upon in Job 4:18 , a return to the oracle which gave Eliphaz his claim to be a prophet. Meanwhile he adopts from Bildad the appeal to ancient belief in support of his position; but he has an original way of enforcing this appeal. As a pure Temanite he is animated by the pride of race and claims more for his progenitors than could be allowed to a Shuchite or Naamathite, more, certainly, than could be allowed to one who dwelt among worshippers of the sun and moon. As a whole the thought of Eliphaz remains what it was, but more closely brought to a point. He does not wander now in search of possible explanations. He fancies that Job has convicted himself and that little remains but to show most definitely the fate he seems bent on provoking. It will be a kindness to impress this on his mind. The first part of the address, extending to Job 15:13 , is an expostulation with Job, whom in irony he calls "wise." Should a wise man use empty unprofitable talk, filling his bosom, as it were, with the east wind, peculiarly blustering and arid? Yet what Job says is not only unprofitable, it is profane. "Thou doest away with piety And hinderest devotion before God. For thine iniquity instructs thy mouth, And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. Thine own mouth condemneth thee: not I; Thine own lips testify against thee." Eliphaz is thoroughly sincere. Some of the expressions used by his friend must have seemed to him to strike at the root of reverence. Which were they? One was the affirmation that tents of robbers prosper and they that provoke God are secure; another the daring statement that the deceived and the deceiver are both God’s; again the confident defence of his own life: "Behold now I have ordered my cause, I know that I am righteous; who is he that will contend with me?" and once more his demand why God harassed him, a driven leaf, treating him with oppressive cruelty. Things like these were very offensive to a mind surcharged with veneration and occupied with a single idea of Divine government. From the first convinced that gross fault or arrogant self-will had brought down the malediction of God, Eliphaz could not but think that Job’s iniquity was "teaching his mouth" (coming out in his speech, forcing him to profane expressions), and that he was choosing the tongue of the crafty. It seemed that he was trying to throw dust in their eyes. With the cunning and shiftiness of a man who hoped to carry off his evil doing, he had talked of maintaining his ways before God and being vindicated in that region where, as every one knew, recovery was impossible. The ground of all certainty and belief was shaken by those vehement words. Eliphaz felt that piety was done away and devotion hindered, he could scarcely breathe a prayer in this atmosphere foul with scepticism and blasphemy. The writer means us to enter into the feelings of this man, to think with him, for the time, sympathetically. It is no moral fault to be over jealous for the Almighty, although it is a misconception of man’s place and duty, as Elijah learned in the wilderness, when, having claimed to be the only believer left, he was told there were seven thousand that never bowed the knee to Baal. The speaker has this justification, that he does not assume office as advocate for God. His religion is part of him, his feeling of shock and disturbance quite natural. Blind to the unfairness of the situation, he does not consider the incivility of joining with two others to break down one sick bereaved man, to scare a driven leaf. This is accidental. Controversy begun, a pious man is bound to carry on, as long as may be necessary, the argument which is to save a soul. Nevertheless, being human, he mingles a tone of sarcasm as he proceeds. "The first man wast thou born? Or wast thou made before the hills? Did’st thou hearken in the conclave of God? And dost thou keep the wisdom to thyself?" Job had accused his friends of speaking unrighteously for God and respecting His person. This pricked. Instead of replying in soft words as he claims to have been doing hitherto ("Are the consolations of God too small for thee and a word that dealt tenderly with thee?"), Eliphaz takes to the sarcastic proverb. The author reserves dramatic gravity and passion for Job, as a rule, and marks the others by varying tones of intellectual hardness, of current raillery. Eliphaz now is permitted to show more of the self-defender than the defender of faith. The result is a loss of dignity. "What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou that is not in us?" After all it is man’s reason against man’s reason. The answer will only come in the judgment of the Highest. "With us is he who is both grey-haired and very old, Older in days than thy father." Not Eliphaz himself surely. That would be to claim too great antiquity. Besides, it seems a little wanting in sense. More probably there is reference to some aged rabbi, such as every community loved to boast of, the Nestor of the clan, full of ancient wisdom. Eliphaz really believes that to be old is to be near the fountain of truth. There was an origin of faith and pure life. The fathers were nearer that holy source; and wisdom meant going back as far as possible up the stream. To insist on this was to place a real barrier in the way of Job’s self defence. He would scarcely deny it as the theory of religion. What then of his individual protest, his philosophy of the hour and of his own wishes? The conflict is presented here with much subtlety, a standing controversy in human thought. Fixed principles there must be; personal research, experience and passion there are, new with every new age. How settle the antithesis? The Catholic doctrine has not yet been struck out that will fuse in one commanding law the immemorial convictions of the race and the widening visions of the living soul. The agitation of the church today is caused by the presence within her of Eliphaz and Job-Eliphaz standing for the fathers and their faith, Job passing through a fever crisis of experience and finding no remedy in the old interpretations. The church is apt to say, Here is moral disease, sin; we have nothing for that but rebuke and aversion. Is it wonderful that the tried life, conscious of integrity, rises in indignant revolt? The taunt of sin, scepticism, rationalism or self-will is too ready a weapon, a sword worn always by the side or carried in the hand. Within the House of God men should not go armed, as if brethren in Christ might be expected to prove traitors. The question of the eleventh verse-"Are the consolations of God too small for thee?"-is intended to cover the whole of the arguments already used by the friends and is arrogant enough as implying a Divine commission exercised by them. "The word that dealt tenderly with thee," says Eliphaz; but Job has his own idea of the tenderness and seems to convey it by an expressive gesture or glance which provokes a retort almost angry from the speaker, - "Why doth thine heart carry thee away, And why do thine eyes wink, That thou turnest thy breathing against God, And sendest words out of thy mouth?" We may understand a brief emphatic word of repudiation not unmixed with contempt and, at the same time, not easy to lay hold of. Eliphaz now feels that he may properly insist on the wickedness of man-painfully illustrated in Job himself-and depict the certain fate of him who defies the Almighty and trusts in his own "vanity." The passage is from first to last repetition, but has new colour of the quasi-prophetic kind and a certain force and eloquence that give it fresh interest. Formerly Eliphaz had said, "Shall man be just beside God? Behold He putteth no trust in His servants, and His angels He chargeth with folly." Now, with a keener emphasis, and adopting Job’s own confession that man born of woman is impure, he asserts the doctrine of creaturely imperfection and human corruption. "Eloah trusteth not in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight; How much less the abominable and corrupt, Man, who drinketh iniquity as water?" First is set forth the refusal of God to put confidence in the holiest creature, -a touch, as it were, of suspicion in the Divine rule. A statement of the holiness of God otherwise very impressive is marred by this too anthropomorphic suggestion. Why, is not the opposite true, that the Creator puts wonderful trust not only in saints but in sinners? He trusts men with life, with the care of the little children whom He loves, with the use in no small degree of His creation, the powers and resources of a world. True, there is a reservation. At no point is the creature allowed to rule. Saint and sinner, man and angel are alike under law and observation. None of them can be other than servants, none of them can ever speak the final word or do the last thing in any cause. Eliphaz therefore is dealing with a large truth, one never to be forgotten or disallowed. Yet he fails to make right use of it, for his second point, that of the total corruption of human nature, ought to imply that God does not trust man at all. The logic is bad and the doctrine will hardly square with the reference to human wisdom and to wise persons holding the secret of God of whom Eliphaz goes on to speak. Against him two lines of reasoning are evident, abominable, gone sour or putrid, to whom evil is a necessary of existence like water-if man be that, his Creator ought surely to sweep him away and be done with him. But since, on the other hand, God maintains the life of human beings and honours them with no small confidence, it would seem that man, sinful as he is, bad as he often is, does not lie under the contempt of his Maker, is not set beyond a service of hope. In short, Eliphaz sees only what he chooses to see. His statements are devout and striking, but too rigid for the manifoldness of life. He makes it felt, even while he speaks, that he himself in some way stands apart from the race he judges so hardly. So far as the inspiration of this book goes, it is against the doctrine of total corruption as put into the mouth of Eliphaz. He intends a final and crushing assault on the position taken up by Job; but his mind is prejudiced, and the man he condemns is God’s approved servant, who, in the end, will have to pray for Eliphaz that he may not be dealt with after his folly. Quotation of the words of Eliphaz in proof of total depravity is a grave error. The race is sinful; all men sin, inherit sinful tendencies and yield to them: who does not confess it? But, -all men abominable and corrupt, drinking iniquity as water, -that is untrue at any rate of the very person Eliphaz engages to convict. It is remarkable that there is not a single word of personal confession in any speech made by the friends. They are concerned merely to state a creed supposed to be honouring to God, a full justification from their point of view of His dealings with men. The sovereignty of God must be vindicated by attributing this entire vileness to man, stripping the creature of every claim on the consideration of his Maker. The great evangelical, teachers have not so driven home their reasoning. Augustine began with the evil in his own heart and reasoned to the world, and Jonathan Edwards in the same way began with himself. "My wickedness," he says, "has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable and, swallowing up all thought and imagination, like an infinite deluge or mountains over my head. I know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be than by heaping infinite on infinite and multiplying infinite by infinite." Here is no Eliphaz arguing from misfortune to sinfulness; and indeed by that line it is impossible ever to arrive at evangelical poverty of spirit. Passing to his final contention here the speaker introduces it with a special claim to attention. Again it is what "he has seen" he will declare, what indeed all wise men have seen from time immemorial. "I will inform thee: hear me; And what I have seen I will declare: Things which wise men have told, From their fathers, and have not hid, To whom alone the land was given, And no stranger passed in their midst." There is the pride. He has a peculiar inheritance of unsophisticated wisdom. The pure Temanite race has dwelt always in the same land, and foreigners have not mixed with it. With it, therefore, is a religion not perverted by alien elements or the adoption of sceptical ideas from passing strangers. The plea is distinctively Arabic and may be illustrated by the self-complacent dogmatism of the Wahhabees of Ri’ad, whom Mr. Palgrave found enjoying their own uncorrupted orthodoxy. In central Nejed society presents an element pervading it from its highest to its lowest grades. Not only as a Wahhabee but equally as a Nejdean the native of ‘Aared and Yemamah differs, and that widely, from his fellow Arab of Shomer and Kaseem, nay, of Woshem and Sedeyr. The cause of this difference is much more ancient than the epoch of the great Wahhabee, and must be sought first and foremost in the pedigree itself. The descent claimed by the indigenous Arabs of this region is from the family of Tameen, a name peculiar to these lands Now Benoo-Tameem have been in all ages distinguished from other Arabs by strongly drawn lines of character, the object of the exaggerated praise and of the biting satire of native poets. Good or bad, these characteristics, described some thousand years ago, are identical with the portrait of their real or pretended descendants. Simplicity is natural to the men of "Aared and Yemamah, independent of Wahhabee puritanism and the vigour of its code" ("Central Arabia," pp. 272, 273). To this people Nejed is holy, Damascus through which Christians and other infidels go is a lax disreputable place. They maintain a strict Mohammedanism from age to age. In their view, as in that of Eliphaz, the land belongs to the wise people who have the heavenly treasure and do not entertain strangers as guides of thought. Infallibility is a very old and very abiding cult. Eliphaz drags back his hearers to the penal visitation of the wicked, his favourite dogma. Once more it is affirmed that for one who transgresses the law of God there is nothing but misery, fear, and pain. Though he has a great following he lives in terror of the destroyer; he knows that calamity will one day overtake him, and from it there will be no deliverance. Then he will have to wander in search of bread, his eyes perhaps put out by his enemy. So trouble and anguish make him afraid even in his great day. There is here not a suggestion that conscience troubles him. His whole agitation is from fear of pain and loss. No single touch in the picture gives the idea that this man has any sense of sin. How does Eliphaz distinguish or imagine the Almighty distinguishing between men in general, who are all bad and offensive in their badness, and this particular "wicked man"? Distinction there must be. What is it? One must assume, for the reasoner is no fool, that the settled temper and habit of a life are meant. Revolt against God, proud opposition to His will and law, these are the wickedness. It is no mere stagnant pool of corruption, but a force running against the Almighty. Very well: Eliphaz has not only made a true distinction, but apparently stated for once a true conclusion. Such a man will indeed be likely to suffer for his arrogance in this life, although it does not hold that he will be haunted by fears of coming doom. But analysing the details of the wicked life in Job 15:25-28 , we find incoherency. The question is why he suffers and is afraid. Because he stretched out his hand against God And bade defiance to the Almighty; He ran upon Him with a neck Upon the thick bosses of His bucklers; Because he covered his face with his fatness And made collops of fat on his flanks; And he dwelt in tabooed cities, In houses which no man ought to inhabit, Destined to become heaps. Eliphaz has narrowed down the whole contention, so that he may carry it triumphantly and bring Job to admit, at least in this case, the law of sin and retribution. It is fair to suppose that he is not presenting Job’s case, but an argument, rather, in abstract theology, designed to strengthen his own general position. The author, however, by side lights on the reasoning shows where it fails. The account of calamity and judgment, true as it might be in the main of God-defiant lives running headlong against the laws of heaven and earth, is confused by the other element of wickedness-"Because he hath covered his face with his fatness," etc. The recoil of a refined man of pure race from one of gross sensual appetite is scarcely a fit parallel to the aversion of God from man stubbornly and insolently rebellious. Further, the superstitious belief that one was unpardonable who made his dwelling in cities under the curse of God (literally, cities cut off or tabooed), while it might be sincerely put forward by Eliphaz, made another flaw in his reasoning. Any one in constant terror of judgment would have been the last to take up his abode in such accursed habitations. The argument is strong only in picturesque assertion. The latter end of the wicked man and his futile attempts to found a family or clan are presented at the close of the address. He shall not become rich: that felicity is reserved for the servants of God. No plentiful produce shall weigh down the branches of his olives and vines, nor shall he ever rid himself of misfortune. As by a flame or hot breath from the mouth of God his harvest and himself shall be carried away. The vanity or mischief he sows shall return to him in vanity or trouble; and before his time, while life should be still fresh, the full measure of his reward shall be paid to him. The branch withered and dry, unripe grapes and the infertile flowers of the olive falling to the ground point to the want of children or their early death; for "the company of the godless shall be barren." The tents of injustice or bribery, left desolate, shall be burned. The only fruit of the doomed life shall be iniquity. One hesitates to accuse Eliphaz of inaccuracy. Yet the shedding of the petals of the olive is not in itself a sign of infertility; and although this tree, like others, often blossoms without producing fruit, yet it is the constant emblem of productiveness. The vine, again, may have shed its unripe grapes in Teman; but usually they wither. It may be feared that Eliphaz has fallen into the popular speaker’s trick of snatching at illustrations from "something supposed to be science." His contention is partly sound in its foundation, but fails like his analogies; and the controversy, when he leaves off, is advanced not a single step. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.