The lot of the foolish.
By a skilful turn of thought, Eliphaz exhibits the consequences of human folly—
1. AS THEY AFFECT THE LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL FOOLISH ONE. "Wrath killeth and envy slayeth" him. By his folly he excites the wrath or the envy of others, or his folly leads him into deadly courses.
II. AS THEY AFFECT HIS LOT AND CONDITION. His prosperity, even if it begin, is but of temporary duration. If he take root, suddenly his habitation is cursed.
III. AS THEY AFFECT HIS FAMILY. His children are in danger—"far from safety." They are condemned by the judge sitting in the gate; are crushed, and are not found. "The seed of the wicked shall be cut off."
IV. AS THEY AFFECT HIS SUBSTANCE. He soweth, but a stranger reapeth his harvests; his toil may be productive, but a "robber swalloweth" his substance. Dark is the picture thus presented of the judgments which fall upon the ungodly, the foolish, and the vain. If Eliphaz intended this to be a reflection upon Job, it was unmerited and uncalled for. The Divine judgment upon Job was, "My servant Job, a perfect and an upright man." Eliphaz argued from the particular to the general. However true it may be that the foolish suffers, it is not equally true that every sufferer is foolish. This was the error in Eliphaz's mode of arguing. It is a common error. We know it may be said, "He whom thou lovest is sick."—R.G.
The common lot.
"Man is born unto trouble."
I. IT IS AN INEVITABLE RESULT OF HIS EXPOSED CONDITION.
II. IT IS EVIDENTLY A PART OF THE PRESENT ORDER OF THINGS. But—
III. IT IS DUE TO THE DERANGEMENT OF THE RIGHT RELATIONS OF MAN TO HIS GOD, TO HIS NEIGHBOUR, TO THE WORLD AROUND. "Affliction cometh not forth of the dust; neither doth trouble spring out of the ground."
IV. IT IS GRACIOUSLY USED AS A MEANS OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE, CORRECTION, AND DEVELOPMENT. We now know that that which we endure is for chastening—for that culture which every wise father seeks to secure for his sons. And when the afflictions are "not joyous, but grievous," even then "God dealeth with us as with sons." He takes up the sad and dark and painful things of our life, and uses them as instruments for our discipline, "that we might be partakers of his holiness." Most assuredly we may know that "the peaceable fruits of righteousness" are yielded to them who patiently endure these afflictions when they are "exercised thereby."
Let us, therefore, learn:
1. Not to be surprised if" trouble" overtakes us. We are born in a land where it is very plentiful.
2. To see to it that our afflictions come of our frailty, not of our folly.
3. Patiently to await the end, when he shall have wrought out his purpose, who maketh "all things work together for good to them that love him."—R.G.