drew his conclusion that Job was a great sinner, not merely, if at all, from his great sufferings, but from the murmuring spirit which he displayed under them, as recorded in the third chapter. HOMILY No. XIII. JOB'S REPLY TO THE FIRST SPEECH OF ELIPHAZ : (1.) GREAT SUFFERINGS. "But Job answered and said," &c.-CHAP. vi. 1–13. GENERAL NOTE. Eliphaz, to whom Job now commences his reply, was undoubtedly a man of great genius, piety, and eloquence. Notwithstanding this he signally fails through the whole of his magnificent addresses to touch the great point in question, which was simply this, Why a man whom God Himself had pronounced to be pious, upright, and a fearer of Himself, should be overwhelmed with such sufferings? He utterly failed to point out what Job had done morally to deserve the chastisement. It is true that he reproves Job in strong language for his murmuring spirit in his sufferings; in this, in all probability, he was right. But why did he suffer? This was the point, and this point Eliphaz touched not. Hence Job begins his reply by exclaiming, "O that my grief," &c. litzsch. Language this which contains obliquely, but strongly, his conviction that the magnitude of his anguish had not been appreciated by the man who had spoken to him. Eliphaz had not sounded the depths, had not gauged the immensity, of his grief. He either had not weighed them in the balance of a sound judgment or had not such a balance at command. He had reproved Job with excessive passion more than once (chap. iv. 2-11; v. 2). And the patriarch intimated that if his sufferings had been duly estimated such a charge would not have been brought. Ver. 3.-" For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea." A poetical manner of declaring that his sufferings were insupportable. Who could bear up under the ponderous weight of the sands over which oceans roll? No more, as if Job had said, is it possible to bear up under the crushing mountain of my sufferings. "My words are swallowed up." Margin, "I want words to express my grief." "Therefore my words are rash." - Delitzsch. The passion of agony is a sea that always engulfs language. "I am so troubled," said the Psalmist, "that I cannot speak." Ver. 4.-" For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit." "For the arrows of the Almighty are in me, the poison of which is drunk in by my spirit, the terrors of God like an army assail me.”Professor Davidson. He traces all his anguish to Jehovah. His pains are poignant as arrows; these arrows are poison, that stick fast within him, and their venom drinks up his spirit. Poisoned arrows were not unfrequently used amongst the ancients. The object was to secure certain death, even where the wound caused by the arrow itself would not produce it. Poison was made so concentrated that the smallest quantity conveyed by the point of an arrow would render death inevitable. "The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me." He regarded his sufferings as coming to him from God as an army marshalled for fight. Ver. 5.-" Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?" Eliphaz had found fault with him for crying out so frantically under his suffering. Job reminds him that such a cry meant great anguish. Even the brute cries not without a cause. Neither the wild ass feeding on the grass nor the ox over his fodder will cry, so long as they are free from pain and well supplied. The wild ass in such condition will not of course bray, nor will the ox low. If the wild ass bray and the ox low, it would mean pain, and so with him. He means to say that his murmurings were not empty sounds, they meant anguish. Ver. 6.-" Can that which is un savoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" The eastern people often make use of bread, with nothing more than salt, or some such trifling addition, such as summer savoury dried and powdered. Perhaps this language was intended by Job to express his feeling of the insipidity and inappropriateness of the old Temanite's address to him. 66 Ver. 7.-"The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat." My soul refuseth to touch them: they are unmeaning, in-ipid words and similes; are as the loathsomeness of my food; are as loathsome to my soul as food now is to my body. It stands to reason, that a man afflicted with such sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head could not relish any food."- Bernard. Ver. 8.-" Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing I long for !" "Would that my request were fulfilled, and that Eloah would grant my expectation."-Delitzsch. His existence had become intolerable, he longs for death, yet he will not commit suicide; he regards his life as the property of the Almighty, and he asks Him to put it out. Ver. 9.-"Even that it would please God to destroy me; that He would let loose His hand, and cut me off!"-The continuation of the idea of the eighth verse. He wishes that God would finish that work of destruction which He had commenced, that He would blot him entirely out of existence. Ver. 10." Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One." The right translation is, "That I might still have consolation, and rejoice in the pain G He spares not, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One." - Dr. S. Davidson. The idea seems to be, that if he were permitted to die he would even exult in his present sufferings, and in the consciousness that he had been faithful to his Maker. Ver. 11, 12. "What is my strength, that I should hope and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?" There are a great many different translations of this verse. I think it may be thus paraphrased: "What is my strength that I should HOMILETICS: In this reply of Job to Eliphaz, extending over two chapters, there are four subjects to be noticed :Great sufferings, mistaken friendship, life regarded as burdensome and brief, and a cry to Heaven. The first is the subject of the verses heading this article. Job indicates. three things here concerning his great sufferings, that they were unappreciated by men, misunderstood by friends, intolerable to himself. His sufferings were— I. UNAPPRECIATED BY MEN. This is the meaning of the first five verses: "Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!" Eliphaz had no conception of the profundity and poignancy of Job's suffering. There are two things indicated here in relation to his sufferings : First They were unutterable: "My words are swallowed up." His whole humanity was in torture. (1) He suffered in body. "He was smitten with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, and he took a potsherd to scrape himself withal, and sat down amongst the ashes." The physical disease with which he was smitten was acute, loathsome, and universal. It tortured every nerve, it rendered him hideous; it spread over his entire frame. (2) He suffered in mind. "The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit." He suffered secularly in mind. All his earthly possessions were gone, and he was reduced to the most abject pauperism. All that he had inherited or toiled for and valued, so far as this life was concerned, were taken from him with a suddenness that stunned him, and a ruthlessness that made an utter wreck of all his worldly possessions, plans, and hopes. He suffered paternally in mind. All his children, in whom his fatherly affections were centred, were snatched from his embraces, and his heart was left in desolation to bleed at every pore. He suffered religiously in mind. He was confounded at the procedure of the God whom he had loved and served. Truly "the arrows of the Almighty," with a rankling poison, stuck within his soul. Well might he say, therefore, "My words are swallowed up." "Swallowed up may mean either that his feelings of distress were so overwhelming as to choke his utterance, or that no words could be found to represent them. Words are always weak when the mind is charged with strong and tumultuous feelings. When the billows of distress roll over the soul they engulf vocabularies and paralyze speech. The other thing indicated here in relation to Job's sufferings is Secondly: They were irrepressible. "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?” The idea here is, I cannot but cry; my cries spring from my agonies. Had not the wild ass his grass, he would bray with a ravenous hunger; and had not the ox his fodder, he, too, would low in an agony for food: this is nature, and my cries are natural; I cannot help them. I cannot help them. Who can be silent in torture? Man's sufferings may be unutterable; they may be beyond ali language; but not beyond groans, shrieks, and vehement cries. Why should such a man as Job be thus tortured? That is the problem. Job indicates that his sufferings were II. MISUNDERSTOOD BY FRIENDS. "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" This language seems to me to point to Job's impression of the address which Eliphaz had delivered to him. He seemed to feel - First: That the address of Eliphaz was utterly insipid. "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt?" As if he had said, your speech lacks that which can make it savoury to me; it does not apply: you misunderstand my sufferings. I suffer not because I am a great sinner, as you seem to imply; my own conscience attests my rectitude; nor because I need this terrible chastisement, as you have said: you neither understand the cause nor the nature of my sufferings, therefore your talk is beside the mark. He seemed to feel - Secondly: That the address of Eliphaz was truly offensive. "The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat." Does not this mean what Dr. Bernard says, "The things you speak-your unmeaning, insipid words and similes-are as the loathsomeness of my food, or are as loathsome to my soul as food now is to my body"? You intrude remarks on me that are not only tasteless, because of their unsuitability, but that are as disgusting as loathsome food. I recoil from them with an ineffable revulsion of heart. Few things are more distressing to the heart of a sufferer than the inane and inappropriate remarks of some friend who comes to comfort. Go to the man in his cell, who has been unjustly convicted of murder, urge upon his attention the enormity of the sin in the sight of God, call upon him to repent, and to pray to the Great Creator for forgiveness, and would not the man feel towards you what Job here poetically expresses, "The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat"? You have added to the agony of the man's feelings, you have driven the nail of insult into his very heart, and he recoils from your speech with an inexpressible abhorrence. Religious teachers have often made great mistakes here, and are doing so still. They talk to men who are true believers, as if they were sceptics; who are unconscious of any great sinfulness, as if they were the chief of sinners. Job indicates that his sufferings were:- III. INTOLERABLE TO HIMSELF. "Oh that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! He longed for death, he believed that in the grave he would have rest. "Then should I yet have comfort. He does not seem to have had any idea of a future state; he |