The Book of Job Paraphrased, Appendix
AN APPENDIX TO THE PARAPHRASE.
HERE ends the Book of Job: whoſe ſhort Sufferings (for the ſpace of XII months, as the Hebrews reckon in Seder Olam) were recompenſed with a very long Life in great Proſperity. If we could rely upon all their Traditions, this might have been added to the Paraphraſe upon the laſt words, that the whole time of his Life was two hundred and ten years. For in the Hieruſalem Targum upon XII. Exod. 40. and in Bereſchit Rabba upon XLII. Gen. 2. they make account that the Iſraelites ſtaid juſt ſo long in Egypt: And in the Chronicle forenamed, and in Bava Bathra and other Books they tell us, that Job was born that very year when Jacob went with his Family down thither to ſojourn; and died that year when they were delivered from thence by the hand of Moſes. But this agrees neither with what other of their Authours ſay, whom I mentioned in my Preface; nor with the LXX, who in the laſt verſe but one of this Book inſert this Clauſe, All the days of his life were two hundred and forty years.
This indeed might be eaſily reconciled with the account before mentioned, if we did but rectify their numbers in the beginning of that verſe by the Hebrew Truth, and cut off the thirty years which they have added to the true time that he lived after his recovery from his ſickneſs: for then this paſſage alſo muſt be corrected, and in ſtead of 240, we muſt ſet down 210. Which we might alſo prove in this manner (out of Seder Olam, Cap. 3.) to be the right account of his Age: becauſe it is ſaid v. 10. of the laſt Chapter, that the Lord added to Job the double of what he had before; and therefore if an hundred and forty years were added, he had ſeventy before, which in all make two hundred and ten. But it is not worth our while to trouble our ſelves with ſuch uncertainties: much leſs is it ſafe to rely upon any thing which is ſupported by no ſtronger Authority then the Hebrew Tradition. The vanity of which appears moſt notoriouſly in this, that Manaſſeh Ben Iſrael ſaith *Lib. 1. de Reſurrect. Cap. ult., it is evidently certain by Tradition, that the Mahometans at this day pay a great reverence to this holy man's Sepulchre, and honour it at Conſtantinople with much religion and devotion: when all men that have any conſiderable acquaintance with other Authours beſides thoſe of their own Nation (upon which the Hebrews dote) may eaſily know, that the Job whom the Turks honour was a Captain of the Saracens, who was ſlain when they beſieged that City in the year of Chriſt 675.
It will be to better purpoſe, if I take notice of an obſervation of theirs which hath more certainty in it; becauſe clearly founded upon the Holy Scriptures. Which is, that Job was a Prophet among the Gentiles; and a Prophet of very eminent quality and degree. Who deſerved to have been at leaſt mentioned by Joſephus in his Book of Antiquities, where he hath not vouchſafed to Name him: nay, to have been praiſed by the Son of Sirach in his Catalogue of famous men, (XLIV. Ecclus, &c.) who were honoured in their Generations, and were the glory of their Times. But, according to the humour of the Jews, he magnifies onelyonly thoſe of their own Country, or ſuch from whom they were directly deſcended: not conſidering how much it was for their honour, that by the care of their noble Anceſtours the Hiſtory of Job and his excellent Vertues had been preſerved. Which he ought not therefore to have omitted; but to have celebrated him among the chief of thoſe Worthy perſons, by whom God wrought great glory; ſuch as did bear rule in their Kingdoms, men renowned for their power, giving counſel by their underſtanding, and declaring prophecies, &c. XLIV. Ecclus 2, 3.
Nay, his Friends deſerved a ſhort remembrance, who ſeem nothing inferiour to the Wiſe men among the Jews, (though they miſtook in the application of many excellent Truths,) but are acknowledged by themſelves to have been Prophets among the Gentiles. And not without reaſon; for Eliphaz we reade IV. 13, &c. had Nightviſions, an Apparition of an Angel, and ſecret Whiſpers, like the ſtill ſmall Voice which Elijah heard 1 Kings XIX. 12. which made R. Sol. Jarchi not fear to ſay that the Shechinah was upon him. And Elihu, it is eaſy to diſcern, felt a Divine Power working in him mightily, XXXII. 8, 18, 19. which was not altogether a ſtranger he ſhews (XXXIII. 15, 16.) to other men; whom God in thoſe days inſtructed by Dreams, among other ways that he had of communicating his mind to them. But there was none equal to that wherein He made Himſelf known to Job: who in three things ſeems to have had the preeminence above all the Gentile Prophets. Firſt, In that God was pleaſed to ſpeak to him aloud by a Voice from Heaven, XXXVIII. 1. (which the Jews call the Bath Col,) and not merely in ſuch ſilent Whiſpers as He did to Eliphaz. Secondly, That this Voice was attended with a notable token of a Divine Preſence, from whence it came, viz. a Whirlwind: which I take to have been ſomething like that ſound as of a ruſhing mighty wind, wherein the Holy Ghoſt came upon the day of Pentecoſt. And Laſtly, He ſaw likewiſe in all probability the appearance of ſome Viſible Majeſty (XLII. 5.) ſuppoſe in a glorious Cloud (as the LXX ſeem to underſtand it, XXXVIII. 1.) or ſomething like that which Moſes beheld in the Buſh, when God firſt called unto him out of the midſt of it. III. Ex. 4.
Which need not at all puzzle our belief; when we conſider that the Church in thoſe days was Catholique, and not as yet confined to any one Family or Nation. God was pleaſed indeed to ſhew an extraordinary grace to Abraham, in calling him out of his own Country and Father's Houſe, where Idolatry had taken a deep root, and had been long growing without any hope of amendment. (For if we may give any credit to Keſſaeus a Mahometan writer, or to Elmacinus a Chriſtian, they were infected with it in the days of Heber, who ſtoutly oppoſed it; but with ſo little effect, that though God ſent a whirlwind which threw down all their Idols and broke them in pieces, that falſe worſhip ſtill prevailed.) But this doth not warrant us to imagine that God utterly rejected, and neglected all other people: to whom He revealed Himſelf in a very familiar manner, and gave many demonſtrations of his Divine Preſence among them; till they corrupted their ways by ſuch abominable Idolatries, that they became altogether unprofitable, and unfit for the ſociety of that Holy Spirit, which oft times moved them. Even among the Canaanites (into whoſe Country God led Abraham) we find Melchiſedeck was then a Prieſt of the moſt high God; a greater perſon then that Prophet, and the Miniſter of that Oracle (ſome fancy) which Rebekah went to conſult when ſhe felt the Twins ſtruggling in her Womb, XXV. Gen. 22. To whom I might adde ſeveral others, if I had a mind to prolong this diſcourſe.
And though the Book before mentioned (Sedar Olam Rabba, Chap. 21.) is pleaſed to ſay, that the Holy Ghoſt ceaſed to inſpire men of any other Nation after the giving of the Law; yet it is eaſy to ſhew that therein it contradicts even their own affirmation elſewhere, which is grounded on good reaſon, that Balaam was a Prophet divinely moved among the Syrians in Meſopotamia. He was a man indeed of naughty affections, and inclined to Superſtition, but ſtill had many illuminations and motions from the moſt High; as appears not onelyonly by his predictions, but by the expreſs words of Moſes, who ſays the Spirit of God came upon him, XXIV. Num. 2. To which if I ſhould adde his own teſtimony concerning himſelf, that he heard the words of God, and ſaw the viſion of the Almighty, and that in an extraordinary manner, having his eyes open in his ecſtaſy; I ſee no reaſon why it ſhould be rejected; eſpecially ſince he declared at the firſt, when the Princes of Midian importuned him to goe with them, that he would be wholly guided by the LORD in the buiſineſs; and when he was come to Balack, conſtantly went to meet the LORD, to ask Him what he ſhould ſay; and profeſſed his care to ſpeak what the LORD had put in his mouth: XXII. 8. XXIII. 3, 12, 15, &c. Theſe conſiderations, to which many more might be added, are ſufficient to ſhew that there is little, if any, ground for the opinion of Theodoret, who reſolves *Quaeſt. 39. in Num.that Balaam did not enquire of the True God; though the anſwer was given by him of whom he was ignorant, not by him whom he invoked: and that the concluſion of S. Baſil, *Epiſt. 80. ad Euſtath.or Greg. Nyſſen ‖Lib. de Trinitate.(it is uncertain whoſe Work it is wherein we find it) is more remote from truth; who determine, that when the Scripture ſaith he went to conſult with God, we are thereby to underſtand the Devil. For ſhould we allow the word ELOHIM or GOD, to be ſo equivocal, that it may be applied not onelyonly to other excellent Beings beſides the Divinity, but to the Devil himſelf, (which is the foundation there laid for that concluſion) yet the word JEHOVAH or LORD, is never ſo uſed; and Balaam always ſays that he would go and meet with Him. And accordingly the LORD is ſaid to put a word in his mouth, even then, when, juſt before, we reade that God met him, XXIII. 4, 5. where it is moſt reaſonable by GOD to underſtand the Angel, mentioned XXII. 35. whom the LORD imployed to deliver His mind unto him.
All which I have ſaid to ſhew that God did not quite deſert the Gentile World, as long as there were any conſiderable reliques of the ancient Religion remaining among them; and they did not wholly divert to fables, and deliver up themſelves to the guidance of evil ſpirits, againſt the apparent teſtimony of the Holy Spirit of God. Who ſpake to them by ſuch good men as Job; in whoſe days thoſe ſinners were not onelyonly reproved but puniſhed alſo by the Judges, who worſhipped the Sun, Moon, and Stars: which ſeems to have been the oldeſt Idolatry of all other; as not onelyonly Maimonides, but Diodorus Siculus obſerves. And if they had liſtened to ſuch inſtructions, and not ſuffered themſelves to be led merely by ſenſe, to which thoſe heavenly bodies appeared in ſuch an amazing brightneſs that ſtruck with admiration (as the laſt named Authour ſpeaks) they fancied them to be foreign, both Eternal and the firſt Gods; we cannot conceive that they would have ſunk ſo low, as to fall into Image-worſhip; which in Job's Country doth not ſeem to have obtained in his days.
But the chiefeſt part of the Wiſedom of this Prophet conſiſted in his piety: of which he proved a rare example, as I have ſaid already; eſpecially in adverſity. Wherein he behaved himſelf with ſuch admirable Vertue, that, though the Apoſtle to the Hebrews do not mention him among thoſe who were famous for their Faith (he not being of their race to whom the Promiſes were made, yet) S. James in the next Epiſtles highly magnifies and applauds his Patience. And not only propounds him (together with the Prophets and Holy men who had ſpoken to them in the Name of the Lord, v. 10.) as a pattern of well doing and contented ſuffering to the Chriſtian Hebrews; but numbers him among thoſe Bleſſed Souls, whoſe worthy deeds we praiſe, and whoſe happineſs we admire, v. 11. Or rather he names him alone as an example of a happy man; who endured more then any that we reade of in ancient times, and in the end found the Lord ſo mercifully gracious and bountifull to him, that it may incourage all pious men to indure with ſuch wonderfull ſubmiſſion as he did.
Who when he loſt his goods, his houſe, his children, his health; nay, was all over ulcerous and in great pain; and moreover, was ſolicited by his wife to ſpeak irreverently; if not irreligiouſly of God, and to deny his Providence; and by his Friends was upbraided as an hypocrite, nay accuſed, in their paſſion, as a tyrannical Oppreſſour; whereby they indeavoured to bereave him (as S. Ambroſe obſerves *Lib. 1. de Interpell. C. 4.) of that great comfort in affliction culpâ vacare to be conſcious of no enormous crime, and to make him appear to himſelf as the authour of his calamity; at which his inferiours mockt and ſcofft, who had formerly had him in great veneration; nay, it expoſed him to the ſcorn of thoſe, who were not worthy to be ſet with the dogs of his flock; ſo that he lookt as if he had been deſerted by God, and made an example of his heavieſt diſpleaſure: yet he bare all at the very firſt, (when men are wont to be ſhaken, nay overthrown by the ſudden news of ſuch dreadfull diſaſters,) not onelyonly with much reſolution and reſignation, but with hearty thankſgiving; and through the whole courſe of his calamity committed no errour that I can diſcern, but what the indiſcreet and uncharitable cenſures of his Friends provoked him unto; which put him upon too frequent and long juſtifications of himſelf, and perplexed him extremely, (which ſeems his greateſt trouble) that he could not find out the reaſon why God afflicted him ſo ſeverely.
But in the iſſue God revealed to him what it was fit for him to think in this matter alſo: and thereby hath given us ſuch ſatisfaction in that great controverſy and difficult queſtion about God's Providence, as is no-where to be met withall, but in the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt. Even prudent men, as S. Ambroſe *L. 11. de Interpellatione, c. 1.obſerves in a Book he hath written about Job, are apt to be extremely moved when they ſee the wicked abound with good things, and the juſt very much afflicted: and truly, ſays he, it is lubricus locus, a ſlippery place, in which the Saints have ſcarce been able to tread in the path of a true Opinion, as we ſee in David, and Job; who maintained a long conflict with his three ancient Friends that came to comfort him upon this ſubject. And God himſelf brought the diſpute at laſt, to ſuch a concluſion, as may fully ſettle the minds of all thoſe who meet with this Book, and preſerve them from being ſcandalized, or in the leaſt offended, on ſuch occaſions. The Mahomtans themſelves ſeem to be fully ſatisfied; as we reade in the Lives of the Fathers, written in the Arabian language by Keſſaeus: who brings in the Moſt High, ſpeaking to Job's Friends after this manner *Hotting. Hiſt. Orientalis, l. 1. c. 3.Do you not know that Job is a Prophet of God, whom He hath choſen to his Apoſtleſhip; and to whom He hath committed his Inſpiration? God would not have you think that He is angry with him; as you ſeem to gather from this afflicted ſtate wherein he lies. For you know that God is wont to prove the Prophets, the Juſt, the Martyrs, and other good Men; wherein notwithſtanding there is no indignation, or contempt of them, but honour rather with God moſt high.
Thus S. Chryſoſtome I find moſt elegantly repreſents him as a far more glorious ſpectacle when he ſate on the Dunghill, then the greateſt Prince, without his vertue, is when he ſits upon a Throne. His Ulcers, ſays he *Hom. V. ad Populum Antiochenum.were far more valuable in my account, then all their precious Stones. For what profit do we receive by them? what neceſſity, what want do they ſupply? But theſe Ulcers of his, are the comfort of all manner of heavineſs that can ſeiſe upon us. You may know this to be true, if when a man hath loſt his genuine and onelyonly Son, you ſhew him a thouſand Jewels and precious Stones; which give no comfort at all to his grief, nor in the leaſt aſſwage his trouble and pain. But in this caſe, if you remember him of the wounds of Job, he preſently finds ſome eaſe; when you ask him, ſaying, why doſt thou weep and lament, O Man, on this faſhion? thou haſt loſt one Son; but that Bleſſed Man loſt all the Children he had; and, together with that blow, received a ſtroke in his Fleſh, and ſate naked in the Dung, beſmeared all over with the ſilth that ran out of his Wounds; in a deep Conſumption, which by little and little waſted that juſt that true, that devout Man: who abſtained from all manner of evil, and had God himſelf for the Witneſs of his Vertue. If thou doſt but ſpeak theſe words, inſtantly thou extinguiſheſt the heavineſs of the Mourner, and riddeſt him of all his grief; and ſo the Ulcers of that righteous Man become more profitable to him then Jewels.
Do you therefore conceive now that you have that Champion before your eyes; and that you ſee the Dung, and him ſitting in it; a Statue of Gold, of Diamonds, I am not able to ſay of what: For there is nothing ſo precious as to be worthy to be compared with that Ulcerated Body, whoſe Sores ſhine more brightly then the beams of the Sun; which inlighten onelyonly the eyes of the mind. They make us ſee; and they made the Devil quite blind: for after he had given thoſe wounds in his body, he fled and appeared no more. See here, Beloved, how great the gain of affliction is! For when that righteous man was rich and enjoyed his eaſe, the Devil had ſomething to ſay againſt him: though falſely indeed, yet this he had to ſay, Doth Job ſerve God for nought? But after he had ſtript him naked, and made him a beggar, he had not a word to ſay; he durſt not ſo much as open his mouth againſt him. When he was rich, then he adventured to wraſtle with him, and threatned to ſupplant him: but after he had made him poor, deprived him of all he had, and reduced him to the extreameſt grief and ſorrow, he ran away and durſt not renew the aſſault. When his body was ſound, then he laid violent hands on him: but when he had filled it with wounds, he was routed and fled away vanquiſhed. By this thou ſeeſt how much Poverty may prove better then Riches, Weakneſs then Health, Temptation then Eaſe and Quiet, to thoſe that are vigilant and watchfull: who make a profit of all theſe; and by fighting grow more illuſtrious and courageous. Who ever ſaw, who ever heard ſuch noble Combats?
But there is none, that I have met withall, who repreſents him in ſuch lively colours, as the ſtreat S. Baſil; who in a Sermon of his *Tom. 1. Homil. XXIII. p. 565, &c.(the latter part of which was occaſioned by a lamentable Fire, that hapned near their Church, and put it in danger,) exhorts all the Rich, who were untouched by the flames, to relieve their poor Neighbours, whoſe Goods were conſumed in them; and then addreſſing himſelf to thoſe, who had ſaved themſelves but nothing elſe, beſeeches them not to take their loſs too heavily, nor to let their minds be diſturbed: but to ſhake off the miſty cloud of ſorrow, and to ſtrengthen their Souls with ſuch generous and manly thoughts, as might turn this Accident into an occaſion of Crowns. For which end he adviſes them to put themſelves in mind of the Conſtancy of Job; and to ſay to themſelves as he did, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it ſeemed good to the Lord, ſo it is come to paſs. And by no means, ſays he, let any of you be moved with what hath hapned, either to ſay or think, there is no Providence which rules our affairs; or preſume to accuſe the diſpenſation and judgment of the Lord: but let him fix his eyes on that Champion, and make him his Counſellour, who will adviſe him to better thoughts.
Let him recount in order all the Agonies he endured, and then obſerve how bravely he came off; and how the Devil threw all his darts at him in vain: not one of them giving him a deadly wound. Firſt he ſet upon his Goods, and endeavoured to overwhelm him with the dolefull news of various Calamities, which came tumbling like the waves of the Sea, one upon the neck of another. But all to no purpoſe; for the Juſt man received them as a Rock doth the fury of a Tempeſt: turning the rage of the Waves into froth, and ſtanding it ſelf immovable. He ſaid not a word, that we read of, he made no complaints of theſe diſaſters: or if he ſaid any thing we may well preſume it was thoſe decent and becoming words which we reade in the concluſion, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; as it pleaſed the Lord, ſo it is come to paſs. But he did not think any of thoſe Calamities that befell him, to be worth his lamenting with his tears.
Well, but there comes one afterward that tells him a moſt diſmal ſtory, of the death of all his Children by the fall of the houſe wherein they were making merry. At this, it is true, he rent his garments; and it is the firſt expreſſion of his grief that we meet withall, in compliance with the paſſions of Nature, and to declare himſelf a moſt tender Father. But he ſet ſome bounds to his grief, and adorned what had hapned with thoſe pious words; The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, &c. As if he ſhould have ſaid, I was called their Father, as long as He, that made me ſo, pleaſed. But now He hath taken off this Crown of Children from my head, and it is not fit for me to contend and diſpute with him about his own. Let that be, which ſeemeth beſt to the Lord. He it was that formed them, I was but the Inſtrument. Why ſhould I who am but a Servant, fooliſhly complain of my Maſter; and repine at that decree, which I cannot alter?
With ſuch words as theſe that righteous Man wounded the Devil; and, as one would ſay, ſhot a dart quite through his heart. Which ſo inraged him, that ſeeing him ſtill a Conquerour, he made an aſſault upon his Body; which he turned into corruption, and made it become ſuch a bag of worms, that from a Throne it was caſt upon a Dunghill. And yet the good man remained immovable; and when his Body was torn, preſerved ſtill the hidden treaſure of piety in his Soul, of which the Devil could not rob him. And therefore, not knowing what to doe more, he betook himſelf to his old ſtratagem; and inſtigating his Wife to entertain irreligious and blaſphemous thoughts, attempted that way to overthrow this Champion. For ſhe, tired with the long continuance of his Calamities, came to him, and clapping her hands at what ſhe beheld, upbraided him with theſe lamentable fruits of his piety: and rehearſing his former proſperity, and then pointing at his preſent which he received from the Lord for all his Sacrifices. With abundance of ſuch like words, which were enough to diſturb the moſt compoſed, and ſubvert the moſt ſteady and reſolved mind. I am a vagabond, ſaid ſhe, and am forced to crouch to others like a ſlave. I, who was a Queen, am conſtrained to depend upon my ſervants for relief: I, who maintained many liberally, am now nouriſhed my ſelf out of other folks charity. Adding, that it would be far better for him, to provoke his angry Creatour, by impious words, to cut him off; then by an unprofitable patience thus to prolong both his and her miſery.
But he, more offended with theſe words then any of his former ſufferings, with eyes full of indignation look'd upon her as an enemy; and ask'd what ailed her to talk thus like one of the fooliſh women? Lay aſide, ſaid he, theſe thoughts, and let me hear no more of this advice; which makes me appear to my ſelf, as if one half of me were wicked and irreligious. What, ſhall we receive good at the hands of the Lord, and ſhall we not ſuffer evil? Remember all the paſt happineſ thou haſt enjoyed; and oppoſe better unto worſe. No man's life is intirely and throughout happy. foreign. To be always as well as we can wiſh, belongs to God. If thou art grieved at what is preſent, fetch thy comfort from what thou haſt received before. Now thou weepeſt, but formerly thou didſt laugh; now thou art poor, but there was a time when thou wantedſt nothing. Then thou drankeſt of the pure fountain of life; be content, and drink now the more patiently of the troubled waters. Behold the Rivers, their ſtreams are not clear in all places. And our life thou knoweſt is like to one of them, which ſlides away continually, and is oft times full of waves, which come roling one upon another. One part of this River is paſſed by; and another is running on its courſe. This part of it is guſhing out from the fountain; and the next is ready to follow it, as ſoon as it is gone. And thus we are all making great haſt to the common Sea; death I mean, which ſwallows up all at laſt.
If we receive good from the hands of the Lord, ſhall we not bear evil? Think of that again. Shall we go about to compell the Judge, to afford us juſt the very ſame things for ever? Shall we preſume to inſtruct our Lord and Maſter how he ought to conduct our life? He hath the power of His own decrees and orders; as He pleaſes, ſo he appoints our portion for us. And we know that He is wiſe; and that He diſpenſes to His ſervants what is moſt profitable for them. Do not then curiouſly pry into the counſels and reſolution of thy Lord and Governour: onelyonly take in good part, and affectionately embrace, whatſoever is ordered by his Wiſedom. Love his Adminiſtration; and whatſoever He is pleaſed to give, receive it with pleaſure. Demonſtrate now in a ſorrowfull condition, that thou waſt worthy of all the joy which thou hadſt formerly in a better.
Thus Job diſcourſing, he baffled the Devil once more; and gave him ſuch a repulſe, that he made him perfectly aſhamed to ſee himſelf thus vanquiſhed. And what enſued after this? why, when the Devil was beaten, his diſeaſe fled away too; having aſſaulted him in vain, and got no ground of him. His fleſh began to recover into a ſecond Youth. He flouriſhed alſo in his Eſtate, which was reſtored to him with increaſe. For Riches flowed ſo plentifully into his houſe, that they were double to what he had before. Firſt, that he might be no loſer by his Affliction; and Secondly, that he might have a mercifull reward of his patience under it. Therefore it was that his Horſes, and Mules, and Camels, and Sheep, and all the reſt of his revenue were doubled: onelyonly his Children were no more then equal to the number he had before; ſeven Sons, and three Daughters. The reaſon was, becauſe his Beaſts indeed intirely periſhed; but the better part of his Children ſtill ſurvived, when they were taken from him. And therefore being again adorned with as many Sons and Daughters, as formerly he enjoyed, he had a double portion of them alſo: thoſe who were preſent with him here, and thoſe who expected him in the other World. Behold then, what good things this juſt man, Job, heaped up to himſelf by his patient ſubmiſſion to God. And do thou therefore, if thou haſt ſuffered grievouſly in this ſire, which the malice of the Devil kindled, bear it conſtantly; and lenify the affliction with theſe better thoughts: according to that which is written, Caſt all thy care upon the Lord, and he will ſuſtain thee.
To this purpoſe that great perſon S. Baſil diſcourſes, when he repreſents how Job received the firſt aſſaults of his Affliction, and how happily it ended. And there is great reaſon to think that he did not, in the progreſs of it, ſwerve from thoſe good beginnings, which had ſo bleſſed a concluſion: but whatſoever expreſſions fell from him, when he was engaged in the heat of Diſputation, he ſtill preſerved ſuch a religious temper of mind, as made him not ceaſe to ſubmit himſelf reverently to God's will, and to thank him for all the benefits he had formerly received from his Bounty. Nor do I find any cauſe for the Cenſures which Maimonides *More Nevochim, Part. III. Cap. 23.(and out of him Menaſſeh Ben-Iſrael ‖Lib. 1. De Reſurrectione, c. 16.) hath paſſed upon the diſputation between him and his four Friends, about Divine Providence; which he hath thus ſtated.
Job (ſaith he) maintains that Mankind is ſo vile a ſort of Being, that God doth not regard the beſt of them any more then he doth the worſt; but it is all one to him, when a Calamity comes, whether it light upon the Offendours or upon the Innocent. Nay more then this, he affirms that there is no expectation after death, and conſequently no hope remaining for him. Which are ſuch blaſphemies, that Maimonides is fain to ſeek excuſes for him; and for that end alledges a common ſaying among their Wiſe men, that a man is not apprehended, or ſeized on, becauſe of his grief: that is, what he ſays in extremity of pain, is not imputed to him for ſin. But there is no need of this Apology; for the places he alledges do not prove him guilty of uttering ſuch things, as (to ſpeak in his words) are evil in the higheſt degree. Though Menaſſeh Ben-Iſrael is ſo preſumptuous as to charge him with ſuch a profane denial of Divine Providence, at leaſt here below the Moon, that he makes him impute all his miſery to the malignant aſpect of the Planets under which he was conceived and born.
To which opinion of Job, ſay they, every one of his Friends oppoſed a particular opinion of their own, differing each of them from the other. And firſt Eliphaz endeavours to eſtabliſh this for a certain truth; That as Afflictions do not come by chance but by the Providence of God, ſo they are ſent for the ſins of men; and therefore without all doubt Job was a great offendour, which was the cauſe he was handled on this manner. This opinion, ſays Maimonides, he held to the laſt; onelyonly was fain to adde in concluſion, that all the ways whereby we deſerve puniſhment do not appear.
Then after him (when Job had argued againſt this) comes Bildad, who produces a new opinion, grounded upon the doctrine of permutation, or recompence, as they ſpeak. That is, he believed the Evils which Job indured here, ſhould, if he proved innocent, be changed into good things; and in the iſſue be highly ſerviceable to him in another world.
After whom ſucceeds Zophar with a different reſolution from all theſe; which was, that God acts according to his own pleaſure, and that we are not to ſearch for any cauſe of his actions out of his own will; nor to ſay, why doth he this and not that? In ſhort, we are not to ſeek the way of equity, and the decree of wiſedom in his doings; for it neceſſarily belongs to his Eſſence that He doe what He will: and our underſtanding is too ſhallow to comprehend the ſecrets of his Wiſedom, whoſe right and propriety it is that He may do according to his Pleaſure, and for no other cauſe.
And theſe four Opinions about Providence Maimonides undertakes to ſhew have had their ſeveral Aſſertors ſince; who have propagated them among their Scholars. Job's opinion he ſaith is the ſame with Ariſtotle's, who attributed all to accident. Bildad was followed by the Sect of Mutazali (a kind of Phariſees among the Iſmaelites) who aſcribed all to Wiſedom: Zophar by the Sect of Aſſaria, who attributed all to will and pleaſure: And Eliphaz, he fancies, held the opinion of the Law; which is, that God deals with men according to their works.
But when all that theſe men had diſputed, nothing moved Job, there ſtands up another, whoſe name was Elihu, who firſt proves the Providence of God from prophetical dreams, XXXIII. 13. and to thoſe things which Eliphaz had ſaid, adds, according to the imagination of Menaſſeh Ben-Iſrael, the doctrine of the tranſmigration of Souls (which he labours to find in v. 14.) and thereby in a wonderfull way, ſays he, reſolves all the doubt; by determining that Job and other juſt men, may be puniſhed for ſins which they committed in a former body.
But as there is no footſtep that I can ſee for this fond conceit, which he honours with the name of a myſtery; ſo it is evident theſe men follow their own vain inventions in all this diſcourſe, directly contrary to the Book it ſelf. For they make Job's opinion the very worſt of all the reſt; when the Lord himſelf tells Eliphaz in the concluſion of the Book (XLII. 7.) that He was angry with him and his two other Friends; becauſe they had not ſpoken of him ſo rightly as Job had. And it doth not appear by their ſpeeches that they held ſeveral opinions about Providence, and took every one of them a different way (that's a meer Rabbinical ſubtilty) to ſolve the doubt, wherein Job's unuſual ſufferings had perplexed them. But they ſeem to have harped all of them upon one and the ſame ſtring; as I have repreſented in the Arguments before each Chapter: which it is thought fit ſhould be here ſet down by themſelves; that the Reader may take a view of the whole work all together.
From whence the concluſion of Maimonides will be very evident (which is the beſt thing he ſays) that The ſcope of the Book is, to eſtabliſh the great Article of Providence; and thereby to preſerve us from errour, in thinking that God's Knowledge is like our Knowledge; or his Intention, Providence, and Government, like our Intention, Providence, and Government. Which foundation being laid, nothing will ſeem hard to a man, whatſoever happens. Nor will he fall into dubious thoughts concerning God; whether He knows what is befaln us or no; and whether He takes any care of us. But rather he will be inflamed the more vehemently in the love of God; as it is ſaid in the end of this Prophecy; Wherefore I abhor my ſelf and repent in duſt and aſhes. So ſay our Wiſe men; They that act out of love, will rejoyce in Chaſtiſements.