In the midst of his plenty, he will be distressed; the full force of misery will come upon him. Sermons
I. SUDDEN DISASTER. This had come upon Job. It looks as if the pragmatic Zophar was rude enough to insinuate that the picture he was painting would be recognized by the patriarch as a portrait of himself. Now, the external part of the picture was true to the circumstances of Job. Therefore the broad hint that the internal part also applied to him was the more cruel. Job's sufferings were extreme, but they were not contrary to precedent. Sudden disaster is not unknown. The rich man is beggared by an unexpected commercial collapse. An epidemic or a storm at sea suddenly bereaves a father of his whole family. Death snatches the prosperous person away at the height of his success. 1. This is not expected. Although it is not uncommon, people are generally unprepared for it; and when it comes they are astounded and dismayed. We are deceived by present appearances. It is difficult to believe in the overthrow of that which gives no sign of being in danger. 2. This is crushing. The pain of a fall is determined by the height from which one descends as much as By the depth that is reach, d. The troubles of those who were once prosperous are far worse to bear than the troubles of people who do not know what earthly happiness means. 3. This should teach us to look beyond the present. (1) In preparation for possible disaster. We should not, however, be always brooding over the possibility. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Still, we should be fortified against it. (2) In the possession of better than earthly things. We can endure the shocks that strike our earthly tabernacle, if we have "a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). II. INTERNAL POVERTY. The ruin may take another form. There may be no such external and visible calamities as those that came upon Job. The normal coupe of events may be unbroken, the material prosperity may be unaffected. Yet there may be distress and misery. Then the soul is straitened although the fulness of earthly sufficiency is not touched. 1. This comes from our spiritual nature. The body has been fed, but the soul has been starved; therefore the soul is straitened. There are times when we perceive deeper needs than any earthly bread can satisfy; "for man shall not live by bread alone," etc. (Matthew 4:4). 2. This is felt in the awakening of conscience. A voice within calls us to a service for which our earthly sufficiency affords no rapport. On the contrary, the wealth of external things seems a sort of hindrance, distracting our thoughts and absorbing our care when we should be turning to more spiritual affairs. The spiritual nature, once aroused, feels cramped and oppressed by the very fulness of earthly sufficiency. 3. This should drive us to the wells of living water. We are tempted to neglect those sources of spiritual life when the streams of earthly blessings flow in fulness. Yet nothing but the water of life can nourish the soul. Without this we are thirsty still. We are straitened that we may turn to Christ for the water which he gives, and for his bread of life. - W.F.A.
Because he hath oppressed, and hath forsaken the poor. What is it that excites all this Divine antagonism and judgment? Was the object of it a theological heretic? Was the man pronounced wicked because he had imbibed certain wrong notions? Was this a case of heterodoxy of creed being punished by the outpouring of the vials of Divine wrath? Look at the words again. His philanthropy was wrong. The man was wicked socially — wicked in relation to his fellow men. All wickedness is not of a theological nature and quality, rising upward into the region of metaphysical conceptions and definitions of the Godhead, which only the learned can present or comprehend; there is a lateral wickedness, a wickedness as between man and man, rich and poor, poor and rich young and old; a household wickedness, a market place iniquity. There we stand on solid rock. If you have been led away with the thought that wickedness is a theological conception, and a species of theological nightmare, you have only to read the Bible, in its complete sense, in order to see that judgment is pronounced upon what may be called lateral wickedness — the wickedness that operates among ourselves, that wrongs mankind, that keeps a false weight, and a short measure, that practises cunning and deceit upon the simple and innocent, that fleeces the unsuspecting, — a social wickedness that stands out that it may be seen in all its black hideousness, and valued as one of the instruments of the devil. There is no escape from the judgment of the Bible. If it pronounced judgment upon false opinions only, then men might profess to be astounded by terms they cannot comprehend: but the Bible goes into the family, the market place, the counting. house, the field where the labourer toils, and insists upon judging the actions of men, and upon sending away the richest man from all his bank of gold, if he have oppressed and forsaken the poor.(Joseph Parker, D.D.). But Job answered and said. Homilist. There is more logic and less passion in this address than in any of Job's preceding speeches. He felt the dogma of the friends to be opposed —I. TO HIS CONSCIOUSNESS OF RECTITUDE. If their dogma was true, he must be a sinner above all the rest, for his sufferings were of the most aggravated character. But he knew that he was not a great sinner. 1. This consciousness urged him to speak. 2. It gave him confidence in speaking. 3. It inspired him with religious solemnity. The providential ways of God with man are often terribly mysterious. Under these mysterious events solemn silence rather than controversy is most befitting us. II. TO HIS OBSERVATION OF FACTS. 1. He saw wicked men about him. He notes their hostility to God, and their devotion to self. 2. He saw such wicked men very prosperous. They prosper in their persons, their property, and their posterity. 3. He saw wicked men happy in living and dying. Job states these things as a refutation of the dogma that his friends held and urged against him. III. TO HIS HISTORIC KNOWLEDGE. He refers to the testimony of other men. 1. They observed, as I have, that the wicked are often protected in common calamities. 2. That few, if any, are found to deal out punishment to wicked men in power. 3. That the Wicked man goes to his grave with as much peace and honour as other men. IV. TO HIS THEORY OF PROVIDENCE. Though nothing here expresses Job's belief in a state of retribution beyond the grave, we think it is implied. I see not how there can be any real religion, which is supreme love to the Author of our being, where there is not a well-settled faith in a future state. Conclusion. God's system of governing the race has been the same from the beginning. He has never dealt with mankind here on the ground of character. True, there are occasional flashes of Divine retribution which reveal moral distinctions and require moral conduct; but they are only occasional, limited, and prophetic. No stronger argument for a future state of full and adequate retribution it would be possible to have, than that which is furnished by God's system of governing the world. (Homilist.) People Job, ZopharPlaces UzTopics Care, Cramped, Distress, Force, Full, Fullness, Fulness, Meet, Misery, Overtake, Perverse, Plenty, Straitened, Straits, Suffers, Sufficiency, Trouble, Wealth, Wicked, WretchedOutline 1. Zophar shows the state and portion of the wickedDictionary of Bible Themes Job 20:20-23Library June 9 EveningThe triumphing of the wicked is short.--JOB 20:5. Thou shalt bruise his heel.--This is your hour, and the power of darkness.--As the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.--Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about … Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path The Christian Urged To, and Assisted In, an Express Act of Self-Dedication to the Service of God. Whether the Ashes from which the Human Body Will be Restored have any Natural Inclination Towards the Soul which Will be United to Them? God. The Hardening Operation of Love. Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men The Barren Fig-Tree; A Few Sighs from Hell; An Exhortation to Love God Man's Misery by the Fall Job Links Job 20:22 NIVJob 20:22 NLT Job 20:22 ESV Job 20:22 NASB Job 20:22 KJV Job 20:22 Bible Apps Job 20:22 Parallel Job 20:22 Biblia Paralela Job 20:22 Chinese Bible Job 20:22 French Bible Job 20:22 German Bible Job 20:22 Commentaries Bible Hub |
    |