The unchanging God.
"He is in one mind" with regard to—
I. THE PLAN OF THE UNIVERSE.
1. There is such a plan. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18; Ephesians 1:11).
2. This plan is so perfect that it never requires subsequent modification (Job 36:4; Job 37:16; Psalms 104:24; Proverbs 3:19; Isaiah 40:13).
3. This plan is efficiently carried out in its minutest detail (Numbers 11:23; 2 Chronicles 20:6; Job 42:2; Psalms 33:9; Isaiah 14:24).
II. THE SIN OF MAN.
1. That it is an abomination in his sight (Deuteronomy 25:16; Psalms 5:4; Proverbs 15:9; Jeremiah 44:4; Zechariah 8:17; Luke 16:15).
2. That it is infinitely dangerous to man (Numbers 16:38; Deuteronomy 29:18; Job 5:2; Proverbs 1:31; Ephesians 5:6).
III. THE SCHEME OF SALVATION. "There is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). From the Fall downwards, the gospel of the grace of God has been substantially the same-salvation.
1. In antediluvian times, through faith in the woman's Seed (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 4:4).
2. In patriarchal times, through faith in Abraham's promised Child (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 15:6).
3. In Mosaic times, through faith in the sacrificial Lamb, of which the Levitical offerings were the shadows and the types (Hebrews 9:8-10; Hebrews 10:3).
4. In the times of the monarchy, through faith in David's Son (2 Samuel 7:15).
5. In the times of Isaiah, through faith in the suffering Servant of Jehovah (Isaiah 53:1).
6. In the fulness of the times, through faith in him who was the woman's Seed, Abraham's Descendant, David's Son, the suffering Servant of Jehovah, and the world's Paschal Lamb, all in one.
IV. THE PURPOSE OF AFFLICTION. Ever since God's mercy came to this fallen world, and that was immediately upon Adam's transgression, the design aimed at in life's discipline has been not to punish man, but to convert and save, to purify and perfect him (Genesis 3:23; Deuteronomy 8:5; Job 5:17; Psalms 94:12; Ezekiel 20:37; John 15:2; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:7).
V. THE DESTINY OF HIS PEOPLE. Though not as clearly understood or revealed in pre-Christian times as now under the gospel dispensation, it was still the same "better country, even an heavenly," to which saints in all ages have looked forward, Cf. Abraham (Hebrews 11:10), David (Psalms 17:15), Paul (Philippians 1:23; 2 Timothy 4:8).
Conclusion. "Who can turn him?"
1. Consolation to the saint.
2. Condemnation to the wicked.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Verse 1-24:25
Struggles of faith with doubt.
To this long and severe accusation of Eliphaz the sufferer returns no reply. He comes back to the wish he has already expressed more than once, that God will appear as Witness and Judge of his innocence, and so put an end to this long embroilment (see Job 9:1-35. and 13.). He is distressed by the doubt that God has withdrawn himself from him, and left him to drain the cup of suffering to the dregs. And, again, many examples occur to him of wicked men who lived in happiness to a good old age, even to death; and he dwells on these pictures with a kind of pleasure, thinking to establish his position: the incomprehensibility of the Divine government.—J.