Job to Zophar: 3. The providence of God described.
I. As INFINITELY WISE AND POWERFUL. "With God is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding" (verse 13)—a sentiment repeated in verse 16. Of the two attributes here mentioned, the first is involved in his supreme Divinity; though in the connection Job seems to base it on his eternal existence, as if he meant to say, "You affirm that in length of days is understanding, and I grant it; but what then must be the wisdom of him who is eternal in his years?" The second, which is equally involved in the conception of Godhead, may here be said to rest upon the already stated fact that "in his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (verse 10). The Creator of the universe must be strong, and the Eternal Intelligence must be wise. Being, then, infinitely wise and powerful, the like qualities must appear in his handiwork. As the artist puts his conceptions into the painting which he executes, and the artificer directs attention to the work he has fashioned as a proof of his ability; so, reasons Job, will the providential government of God be seen, when thoroughly examined, to reflect the matchless wisdom of his omniscient mind, and attest the measureless force of his almighty hand.
II. AS ABSOLUTELY SOVEREIGN AND RESISTLESS. "Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening" (verse 14). The first may allude to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and the second to the confusion of tongues; though the reference may be more general, to such acts of destruction/and, by implication, of restoration) and of restraint (and again, by implication, of liberation) as attest his almighty power. Illustrations of the former may be found in the burning of Sodom by fire; the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus; the overthrow of Babylon and Nineveh; the engulfment of Herculaneum and Pompeii by volcanic agency; while the shutting up of men in prisons may be regarded as having been exemplified in Joseph (Genesis 37:24), Jeremiah (Lamentations 3:53; cf. Jeremiah 38:6), Jonah 1:17.
III. AS EXTENDING TO NATURE AND MAN.
1. To nature. "Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth" (Jonah 1:15). Perhaps exemplified in the first formation of the dry land (Genesis 1:9), and in the Deluge (Genesis 7:11); though more probably pointing to the Divine agency as the true cause of drought (1 Kings 17:1), and of floods or destructive inundations.
2. To man. "The deceived and the deceiver are his" (Jonah 1:16). Possibly alluding to himself and his companions (M. Good), though it is better to give the language a wider reference. Exemplified in Satan and man (Job 1:12; Revelation 20:3), the lying spirit and Ahab (1 Kings 22:22), antichrist and unbelievers (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The language forcibly expresses God's complete control over all classes of men.
IV. As CONTROLLING INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES.
1. Individuals.
2. Communities.
Learn:
1. To recognize God's hand in the providential government of the world. Habitually to do so is no inconsiderable sign of a gracious heart.
2. Not to look for an exact distribution of rewards and punishments on earth. It is not included in the Divine programme that the justice of God's procedure here shall always be perceptible by those to whom it relates.
3. To rest assured notwithstanding that God doeth all things well "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
4. To reverently bow before the providential dispensations of him who reigns in heaven and rules on earth. Though his will is too absolute to be resisted, yet the choice of how we shall submit to that will has been placed in our hands.
5. To carry the thought of God's overruling providence with us into all the relations and duties of life. It is a great help to piety to recollect that God is near.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON