Job's first parable: 1. The transgressions of a godly man.
I. A DARING ACCUSATION.
1. Against whom directed? Against Eloah, the All-sufficient One; Shaddai, the All-powerful One, the Self-existent, Living One, whose universal dominion, resistless might, and ineffable majesty Bildad (Job 25:1-3) and Job himself (Job 26:5-14) had eloquently pictured. With exalted conceptions of the transcendent greatness of the invisible Supreme, whose continual presence also he vividly realized (Job 23:8, Job 23:9, Job 23:15), Job should have feared to speak rashly, much more accusingly, before him (Deuteronomy 28:58; Psalms 76:7, Psalms 76:11; Jeremiah 5:22). But clear and accurate notions of Divine truth do not always possess that moral force, even over good men, that they should. Job a little while ago was afraid of God and troubled at his presence (Job 23:15); now, having lost, perhaps, his former luminous sense of the Divine presence, he hesitates not to bring against him a serious accusation.
2. By whom uttered? Job, a man who had not only been fashioned by the hands of Shaddai (Job 10:8, Job 10:9), but depended for life every moment on the breath of Eloah in his nostrils (verse 3), and therefore should have paused ere he called into question the conduct of a Being who could any instant cause him to return to the dust; a feeble man, wasted into a skeleton, shivering on the edge of the tomb, expecting every second to pass into God's presence in the world of spirits—hence one who should have feared to affront the Eternal; a guilty man, i.e. a man who, however conscious of integrity, was yet sinful in God's sight, and whom accordingly it ill became to question the proceedings of God; and likewise a pardoned man, whom God hath accepted as righteous, in proof thereof sending answers to his prayers (verse 9), which only added to the rashness of Job in impeaching Eloah as he did.
3. Of what composed? The charge preferred against God was twofold in appearance, vexing Job's soul, and taking away Job's judgment, though in reality the two things were connected as cause and effect. What irritated and inflamed the patriarch's spirit was the thought which he here, indirectly indeed but none the less really on that account, utters, viz. that God, the righteous Judge of all the earth, had denied him justice. Already had he complained that God seemed to treat him as an enemy (Job 9:28; Job 13:24; Job 14:16, Job 14:17); never until now does he in terms so explicit accuse God of withholding from him justice. For this sin Job was afterwards reproved by Elihu (Job 34:5) and by God (Job 40:8).
II. AN OVERWEENING ASSUMPTION.
1. To declare the truth about himself. There was nothing wrong or extravagantly self-asserting in the declaration that "his lips should not speak wickedness, nor his tongue utter deceit" (verse 4; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:31; Galatians 1:20). Not only should good men tell no lies (Exodus 20:16; Le Exodus 19:11; Psalms 34:13), though, alas! they sometimes do (Genesis 12:13; Genesis 26:7), but they should so hate untruthfulness (Proverbs 13:5) as to render the utterance of falsehoods impossible (Isaiah 63:8; Colossians 3:9). Job, however, claimed that he would state the exact truth about his own inward integrity, forgetting that "the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9), that God alone is competent to pronounce an accurate verdict on its character (Jeremiah 17:10; Job 36:4; Psalms 7:9; Proverbs 15:11), and that not even a saint can be trusted to deliver a perfectly unblessed judgment about himself.
"If self the wavering balance shake,
It's rarely right adjusted."
(Burns.)
2. To reveal the mind of God concerning others. With an air of authority Job avows his ability to give what he had often stormed at his friends for professing to deliver—an oracular exposition of the Divine mode of action in dealing with ungodly men (verse 11). Though "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him" (Psalms 25:14; Proverbs 3:32), it is not absolutely certain that good men do not sometimes mistake their own cogitations for Heaven's inspirations. Under any circumstances good men, in setting forth what they believe to be Divine truth, should avoid the appearance and tone of dogmatical assertion. Least of all should they speak dictatorially to those whom they have already charged with the same offence (Romans 2:21).
III. AN OVERBOLD PROTESTATION.
1. With solemn adjuration. That Job should have maintained his integrity against the calumniations of his friends was both legitimate and reasonable. That he should even have exhibited a degree of warmth in repelling their accusations was perhaps excusable. But that he should have deemed it fitting to preface his self-vindication by an oath betrayed a degree of confidence, if not of self-righteousness, which was unbecoming in a humble-hearted and truly pious man. The matter was one that did not require more than calm, quiet, modest affirmation. Yet Job, in at least two different forms, adds an oath for confirmation (verses 2, 5), as if the vindication of his (i.e. the creature's) righteousness were, and ought to be, the supreme end of his existence, and not rather the maintenance of the unchallengable righteousness of God. Nevertheless, Job's conduct in thus asserting with an oath that he faithfully followed God compares favourably with that or Peter, who with curses affirmed that he knew not the Man (Mark 14:71).
2. With vehement repetition. Not content with one affirmation of his integrity, Job insists upon it with a fourfold asseveration (verses 5, 6), declaring
IV. A WICKED IMPRECATION.
1. The persons upon whom it is pronounced. Job's "enemy;" not the ungodly in general, but the men who rose up against him to impeach his integrity (verse 7). While it is well-nigh certain that a good man will have enemies (Matthew 10:22; John 15:19), who hate him because they first dislike his principles (1 Peter 3:16; 1 Peter 4:4), it is a splendid testimony to a good man's character when he has no enemies except the ungodly. The mere fact, however, that his integrity is challenged by another is no proof that that other is either wicked in himself or hostilely disposed toward him. Though keenly resenting, therefore, the unjust imputations of his friends, it was wrong in Job to denounce them, as they had denounced him, as inherently ungodly.
2. The malediction of which it consists. Nothing is really gained by endeavouring to soften down Job's language into a prediction. Supposing him to merely signify that the man who spoke against him was a wicked person who would eventually meet the wicked person's recompense, he asserts it with a degree of confidence which was not warranted by the facts of the case, and which painfully suggests that the wish was father to the thought. The language of Job towards Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar finds an echo in the terrific outburst of David against his adversaries in the imprecatory psalms (Psalms 69:22-28; Psalms 109:6-15; Psalms 140:8-11), which, in so far as it was directed against individuals, we are not required to regard as entirely free from blame.
V. A SELF-EXALTING COMPARISON. In order further to set forth his integrity, Job tacitly contrasts his own case with that of the hypocrite, indirectly exhibiting himself as possessed of:
1. A better hope. However prosperous the wicked man may be in life, however successful in heaping up wealth, when he comes to die he has no hope whatever to sustain him (cf. Job 8:13; Job 20:5, homiletics), no expectation of acceptance with God; while be, Job, though standing on the verge of the grave, has. Worldly success cannot provide, and will not suffice as a substitute for, hope in death. Accumulated wealth prevents not death's approach. If God does not cut off a man's gains before death, he will certainly cut off a wicked man's soul at death. It is a poor bargain to gain the world which one must soon leave, and lose the soul which one cannot regain throughout eternity (Matthew 16:26).
2. A better privilege. When trouble comes upon the wicked man so severely as to make him cry unto the Lord, the Lord turns a deaf ear to his entreaty (Proverbs 1:28). But the good man, i.e. Job, can reckon that his prayer will find an entrance into God's ear (Psalms 34:17; Psalms 1:1-6 :15; Psalms 107:13; Psalms 145:18, Psalms 145:19); the good man's supplication being breathed forth in penitence, humility, and faith, the outcry of the hypocrite being merely an exclamation of alarm.
3. A better spirit. The imperilled hypocrite may cry to God when the fear of death is on him, or when trouble crushes him; but he has no true delight in fellowship with God. The good man derives his principal felicity from such communion with Heaven (Isaiah 58:14; 1 John 1:3), as Eliphaz had already admitted (Job 22:15); and such a good man Job distinctly claims to be. Delight in God expresses itself in happy meditation on and cheerful obedience to God's Law (Psalms 119:16, Psalms 119:35, Psalms 119:47, Psalms 119:70); it is an indispensable condition of receiving answers to prayers (Psalms 37:4).
4. A better practice. The devotion of the hypocrite is only exceptional, whereas Job's was habitual (verse 10) An occasional prayer is no true mark of piety. The child of God should be instant in prayer (Romans 12:12), and should pray without ceasing (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Christ's disciples should pray always, and not faint (Luke 18:1).
Learn:
1. That the most eminent saints are not beyond the danger of falling into grievous sins.
2. That good men, while conscious of their integrity, should guard against self-exaltation on that account.
3. That piety as little as impiety stands in need of oaths to support it.
4. That good men should never renounce their integrity while they live, however they may sometimes forbear from asserting it.
5. That however much a wicked man may gain on earth, he loses all at death.
6. That that hope only is good which extends beyond the grave.
7. That God delights in them who delight in him.
8. That a man's piety can be pretty accurately gauged by the intensity and frequency of his prayers.