The discourses of Jehovah.
At length, in answer to the repeated appeals of Job, the Almighty appears, not to crush and overwhelm, as fear had often suggested, but to reason with his servant; to appeal to his spiritual intelligence, rather than to smite him into lower prostration by some thunderbolt of rebuke. "Come now, and let us reason together," is the gracious invitation of him who is Eternal Reason, amidst the wild clamours of our passion and despondency. At the same time, this revelation of the majesty of God humiliates and purifies the recipient of it, teaching him his own littleness and limitation in presence of this fulness of might and of wisdom. God, as the Almighty and only Wise, with whom no mortal may contend in judgment, may appoint the sufferings of the righteous for their probation and purification. And thus the great problem of the book, the enigma of life, receives from the highest Source its long-delayed solution.—J.
Verse 1-39:30
First discourse of Jehovah: God the Almighty and the All-wise: man may not contend with him.
I. INTRODUCTION. APPEARANCE OF GOD; SUMMONS TO JOB. (Job 39:1-3.) Out of the storm, in all its grandeur and beauty, which had been gathering while Elihu was speaking, the voice of the Creator is heard, calling upon Job, as one who has been obscuring the Divine counsel by ignorant words, to gird up his loins and prepare for the contest he has so often invoked.
II. GOD'S QUESTIONS TO MAN'S REASON AND CONSCIENCE. (Verse 4- Job 39:30.) These questions all appeal to man's wonder and curiosity, which impel him to seek the causes of things, and are therefore indirect reminders of his ignorance which can find no last answer to the questions he cannot but ask.
1. Questions on the mode of creation. (Verses 4-15.)
"Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
Glasses itself in tempests; in all time,—
Calm or convulsed, in breeze, or gale, or storm,
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
Dark-heaving—boundless, endless, and sublime,
The image of eternity, the throne
Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime
The monsters of the deep are made; each zone
Obeys thee: thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone"
2. Question continued: earth's depths and heights, and the forces that thence proceed. (Verses 16-27.)
3. The wonders of the air and starry heavens. (Verses 28-38.)
4. The animal world. (Verse 39- Job 39:30.) A rich field of study is opened here in the evidences of natural history to the creative power and the loving providence of God for all his creatures. We cannot turn our sermons into lectures on natural history; to descend into details would be to lose sight of those grand elementary truths of which nature's every page furnishes such abundant illustrations. For purposes of teaching, religion and science must to some extent be kept apart in their consideration. That is, we must not burden religious teaching with natural details, however interesting; nor interrupt at every step a scientific lesson, in order to pronounce a homily, or thrust forward a moral application. But viewed in a general way for the purpose of stimulating intelligent religious feeling, the animal world presents:
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Human impotence and ignorance exposed.
Job's affliction is a mystery—a mystery that needs to be revealed. Job has not given the explanation of it. He has not known it. His friends have failed. It has been attributed to his sin; but he is confident in his honest integrity, and cannot be persuaded that he is suffering punishment, for he has not a consciousness of guilt. Elihu has indicated the hidden nature of the Divine works, and has not made the mystery clearer. But he has closed the lips of them who would accuse God of wrong and unjust dealing. Job is being led, perhaps blindfold, to a final exposition of the whole. By imperfect knowledge of the purpose of God, Job may be led to wrong conclusions. But God will not forsake his faithful servant, of whom the Divine testimony at the beginning was that he "sinned not with his tongue;" and at the end that he had "spoken the thing which is right." It is still night with Job; he is in the dark as to the purpose of his affliction, but the morning breaketh. And whilst God has appeared hitherto as the Punisher of Job, he will ere long declare himself his Friend, and when he has well tried his faithful servant will amply reward him. But there are processes in the Divine method. Job has to be humbled to the very dust, and the present stage in that process is to reveal the littleness of man in presence of the Most High. Human impotence and ignorance are displayed in presence of the wonderful creation of God.
I. GOD'S WORK INDEPENDENT OF MAN. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" "Hast thou commanded the morning," and "caused the day-spring to know his place?" "Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?" etc.
II. GOD'S WORK ABOVE MAN. "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?" etc.
III. GOD'S WORK UNKNOWN TO MAN. "Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?" "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?" etc. Thus is Job taught amidst the wonders of God's creation how great is the Creator. If his works are past finding out by puny man, surely his purpose which he hath hidden is beyond the reach of human research. It is another step in the valley of humiliation for him who is finally found biting the dust.—R.G.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY