Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/87

Rh 1. That those who are wise and good do ordinarily prosper in this world. This he only hints at, v. 19. That those of whose mind he was, were such as had the earth given to them, and to them only; they enjoyed it entirely and peaceably, and no stranger passed among them, either to share with them, or to give disturbance to them. Job had said, The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, ch. ix. 24. "No," says Eliphaz, "it is given into the hands of the saints, and runs along with the faith committed unto them. And they are not robbed and plundered by strangers and enemies making inroads upon them, as thou art by the Sabeans and Chaldeans." But because many of God's people have remarkably prospered in this world, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it does not therefore follow, that those who are crossed and impoverished, as Job, are not God's people.

2. That wicked people, and particularly oppressors, and tyrannizing rulers, are subject to continual terrors, live very uncomfortably, and perish very miserably. On this head he enlarges, showing that even they who impiously dare God's judgments, yet cannot but dread them, and will feel them at last. He speaks in the singular number, the wicked man, meaning, as some think, Nimrod, or perhaps Chedorlaomer, or some such mighty hunter before the Lord. I fear he meant Job himself, whom he expressly charges both with the tyranny, and with the timorousness, here described, ch. xxii. 9, 10. Here he thinks the application easy, and that Job might, in this description, as in a glass, see his own face. Now,

(1.) Let us see how he describes the sinner who lives thus miserably. He does not begin with that, but brings it in as a reason of his doom, v. 25··28. It is no ordinary sinner, but one of the first rate, an oppressor, (v. 20.) a blasphemer, and a persecutor, one that neither fears God, nor regards man.

[1.] He bids defiance to God, and to his authority and power, v. 25. Tell him of the divine law, and its obligations; he breaks those bonds asunder, and will not have, no not him that made him, to restrain him or rule over him. Tell him of the divine wrath, and its terrors; he bids the Almighty do his worst, he will have his will, he will have his way, in spite of him, and will not be controlled by law, or conscience, or the notices of a judgment to come. He stretches out his hand against God, in defiance of him, and of the power of his wrath. God is indeed out of his reach, but he stretches out his hand against him, to show, that, if it were in his power, he would ungod him.

This applies to the audacious impiety of some sinners, who are really haters of God, (Rom. i. 30.) and whose carnal mind is not only an enemy to him, but enmity itself, Rom. viii. 7. But, alas! the sinner's malice is as impotent as it is impudent; what can he do? He strengthens himself (he would be valiant, so some read it) against the Almighty; he thinks with his exorbitant despotic power to change times and laws, (Dan. vii. 25.) and, in spite of Providence, to carry the day for rapine and wrong, clear of the check of conscience. Note, It is the prodigious madness of presumptuous sinners, that they enter the lists with Omnipotence. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker. That is generally taken for a further description of the sinner's daring presumption; (v. 26.) He runs upon him, upon God himself, in a direct opposition to him, to his precepts and providences, even upon his neck, as a desperate combatant, when he finds himself an unequal match for his adversary, flies in his face, though, at the same time, he falls on his sword's point, or the sharp spike of his buckler. Sinners, in general, run 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 foretell what will be the issue.

[2.] He wraps himself up in security and sensuality; (v. 27.) He covers his face with his fatness. This signifies both the pampering of his flesh with daily delicious fare, and the hardening of his heart thereby against the judgments of God. Note, The gratifying of the appetites of the body, feeding and feasting that to the full, often turns to the damage of the soul and its interests. Why is God forgotten and slighted, but because the belly is made a god of, and happiness placed in the delights of sense? They that fill themselves with wine and strong drink, abandon all that is serious, and flatter themselves with hopes that to-morrow shall be as this day, Isa. lvi. 12. Woe to them that are thus at ease in Zion, Amos vi. 1, 3, 4. Luke xii. 19. The fat that covers his face, makes him look bold and haughty, and that which covers his flanks, makes him lie easy and soft, and feel little; but this will prove poor shelter against the darts of God's wrath.

[3.] He enriches himself with the spoils of all about him, v. 28. He dwells in cities which he himself has made desolate by expelling the inhabitants out of them, that he might be placed alone in them, Isa. v. 8. Proud and cruel men take a strange pleasure in ruins, when they are of their own making; in destroying cities, (Ps. ix. 6. ) and triumphing in the destruction, since they cannot make them their own, but by making them ready to become heaps, and frightening the inhabitants out of them. Note, Those that aim to engross the world to themselves, and grasp at all, lose the comfort of all, and make themselves miserable in the midst of all. How does this tyrant gain his point, and make himself master of cities that have all the marks of antiquity upon them? We are told, (v. 35.) he does it by malice and falsehood, the two chief ingredients of his wickedness, who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning; they, conceive mischief, and then they effect it by preparing deceit, pretending to protect those whom they design to subdue, and making leagues of peace, the more effectually to carry on the operations of war. From such wicked men God deliver all good men.

(2.) Let us see now what is the miserable condition of this wicked man, both in spiritual and temporal judgments.

[1.] His inward peace is continually disturbed. He seems to those about him to be easy, who, therefore, envy him, and wish themselves in his condition; but He who knows what is in men, tells us that a wicked man has so little comfort and satisfaction in his own breast, that he is rather to be pitied than envied.

First, His own conscience accuses him, and, with the pangs and throes of that, he travaileth in pain all his days, v. 20. He is continually uneasy at the thought of the cruelties he has been guilty of, and the blood in which he has imbued his hands; his sins stare him in the face at every turn. Diri conscia facti mens habet attonitos—Conscious guilt astonishes and confounds.

Secondly, He is vexed at the uncertainty of the continuance of his wealth and power; the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. He knows, whatever he pretends, that it will not last always, and has reason to fear that it will not last long, and this he frets at.

Thirdly, He is under a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, (Heb. x. 27.) which puts him into, and keeps him in, a continual terror and consternation, so that he dwells with Cain in the land of Nod, or commotion, (Gen. iv. 16.) and is made like Pashur, Magor-missabib—A terror round about, Jer. xx. 3, 4. A dreadful sound is in his ears, v. 21. He knows that both Heaven