Exposition of Job 8-10, Commentary on Job · Chapter 10 · Verses 18-22
JOB Chap. 10. Verſ. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
Wherefore then haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? O that I had given up the ghoſt, and no eye had ſeen me!
I ſhould have been as though I had not been, I ſhould have been carried from the womb to the grave.
Are not my daies few? Ceaſe then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
Before I go whence I ſhall not return, even to the land of darkneſse, and the ſhadow of death;
A land of darkneſse, as darkneſse it ſelf, and of the ſhadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkneſse.
THeſe five verſes are the concluſion of Jobs reply to Bildad; there are four things remarkable in them.
Firſt, He complaineth that ever he lived a day or an hour in the world, at the beginning of the 18th verſe, Wherefore then haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb?
Secondly, He wiſheth that he had died ſpeedily: ſeeing he could not have that (ſuppoſed) happineſſe not to be born into the world, his next requeſt is, that he might not have ſtaied long in the world; he would not have appeared as a man, no nor as a childe, but that birth and buriall might have been contiguous, not knowing the diſtance of a day, verſ. 18, 19. O that I had given up the ghoſt, and no eye had ſeen me! I ſhould have been as though I had not been, I ſhould have been carried from the womb to the grave.
Thirdly, He ſheweth, that however he had been diſappointed of both thoſe votes, yet he could not live long; As if he had ſaid, Though I have found much trouble in the world, yet I ſhall not much trouble the world, the time of my departure is at hand, I have lived moſt of my daies already, and all my daies are not many, verſ. 20. Are not my daies few?
Fourthly, He entreateth and ſueth that the few daies of thoſe few daies which he had to live, might be good daies, Are not my daies few? Ceaſe then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I goe whence I ſhall not return, &c.
The 18th and 19th verſes carry a ſenſe very like to that which hath been opened at the third Chapter of this book, where Iob complained of his birth, and was troubled that he had the favour of a being,Sui obliviſcitur ut ſupra vi doloris. Merc. (becauſe he found ſuch an il-being) in the world. His paſſion runneth out here into a vehement expoſtulation,
Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? As there, Why died I not from the womb? ver. 11.
Job puts the Queſtion, and demandeth an account of God, Why he came out of the womb? There are three ſorts of queſtions.
Firſt, Such as ariſe from a deſire of neceſſary information; 'Tis good to ask that we may learn.
Secondly, Such as ariſe from a needleſſe curioſity. 'Tis not good to ask what no duty enjoyns us to learn.
Thirdly, Such as ariſe from pure paſſion, or rather, from mudded perturbation, not ſo much deſiring information from others, as to vent our ſelves. 'Tis very ill to ask when we care not to learn. Such is the queſtion here put (ſay ſome) a paſſionate queſtion, ariſing from the fume and vapours of a diſtempered minde, deſiring to ask, rather then to be anſwered, Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? As if he had ſaid, Was I born only to be an object of evil? Came I into the world to be made a ſad spectacle to the world, to Angels and to men? Have my daies been lengthened out on purpoſe, that my troubles might be lengthened? Such a troubled ſenſe there is in theſe words. The complaints of Saints may ſometimes look like the blaſphemies of wicked men.
Iob complaineth of his birth, and ſeems forgetfull of all former benefits.
Hence obſerve,
Dum ita agis mecum, fit ex beneficio tuo nō beneficium Coc.When we want the mercies we would have, we grow angry with the mercies which we have had.
David ſpeaks it to the praiſe of God, Thou art he that tookeſt me out of my mothers womb (Pſal. 22.) Iob ſpeaks it as a damage to himſelf, Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb?
Secondly, obſerve,
We are ready to think we live to no end, if we have not our own ends.
That's the voice of nature, and ſo far as nature prevails in us, it ſpeaks in us.
Thirdly, Man is apt to ſay, there is no reaſon for that, of which he ſeeth not the reaſon.
When we are at our wits end, and at our reaſons end, we think there is an end of all wiſdom and reaſon, as if neither God nor man could give an account beyond ours, or anſwer, when we are non-pluſt.
Yet we may conceive Iob had a further ſenſe, which yeelds a more mollifying meaning of theſe words, for though he (as all the Saints in the old Teſtament) was much in the dark about the benefit of ſufferings, which the Goſpel hath now more clearly revealed to us, and called us unto; yet he might have ſome other intendment in theſe expoſtulations: We may charitably ſuppoſe him troubled that he was in a condition of life, which (as he conceived) hindered the main end of his life, the glorifying of God, Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? As if he had ſaid, Lord, I am in a ſtate, wherein I know not how to honour thee, and then what is my life worth unto me? Thy juſtice is greatly obſcured towards me, many are ready to ſay, for my ſake, that ſurely thou art a hard Maſter, leaving them to reap evil who have ſowed good, and paying thy faithfull and moſt active ſervants their wages in ſufferings. And as for mercy, I taſte little of that; Nunc in me juſtitia tua obſcuratur, & ego non ſentio fructum gratiae tuae, quâ in re ergo gloriae tuae inſervire poteſt vita mea? Coc.comforts are dainties with me: my cup is bitter, my ſorrows are multiplied: Now when neither juſtice nor mercy move viſibly towards me, how ſhall I glorifie thee? And wherein can my life be uſefull or advantagious to thee? Am I not like a broken veſſel, a veſſel wherein there is no pleaſure? Wherefore then was I brought forth out of the womb?
This expoſition teaches us, That
A godly man thinks he liveth to no purpoſe, if he do not live to the praiſe and glory of God.
God hath made all things for himſelf, and it is the deſign of the Saints to be for him. While that end is attained they can eaſily part with all their own; and where that is croſſed, they cannot be pleaſed in the attainment of any of their own. The intereſt of Chriſt is not only their greateſt, but all their intereſt. Any ſtop of, much more a diſſervice to this, cauſeth an honeſt heart to cry out with Iob, and ('tis eaſie to conceive) it cauſed Iob to cry out, Wherefore then haſt thou brought me forth out of the wombe?
O that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had ſeen me!
O that I had given up the ghoſt!
foreign Facilem & ſine dolore mortem innuit.The originall ſignifies uſually a gentle and an eaſie kinde of death; Giving up the ghoſt, is not a pulling or a violent rending of life away from us, but our laying it down, our ſurrender or willing reſignation of it. Some read this clauſe, not as we optatively, O that I had given up the ghoſt! but declaratively, Wherefore haſt thou brought me out of the womb? for then I had quickly given up the ghoſt. But rather take it as a wiſh, O that I had given up the ghoſt!
And no eye had ſeen me.
That is (ſay ſome) I would I had died before I had been born, for then no eye had ſeen me. Or more generally thus. O that I had died ſpeedily, ſo ſpeedily that I might have gone out of the world, before I was obſerved to have been there: Who delights to ſee the dead? eſpecially a childe dead-born, or dying as ſoon as born? Sarah was the delight of Abrahams eyes, whiles ſhe lived, and yet aſſoon as ſhe was dead, he gives any money for a ſepulchre to bury her out of his ſight. Or again, Job that he might ſhew how little he regarded life, diſregards that which is moſt deſirable in life.Innatum eſt omnibus ut cognoſci ſe velint, & ſtudio teneantur res alias cognoſcendi. Man naturally deſires, To ſee, and to be ſeen, to know, and to be known. That which carries a great part of the world, is an affectation to be pointed at, and taken notice of, as Some-bodies in the world. He that liveth unſeen in the world, is as a man out of the world, or as one buried alive. To be in priſon is a great puniſhment, becauſe a priſoner liveth out of view; he cannot freely ſee or be ſeen. Job wiſhes no eye had ſeen him, rather then his eyes ſhould have ſeen ſo much evil, or that others ſhould have ſeen him in the midſt of ſo many evils.
Hence note,
Firſt, That undue and unreaſonable queſtions, are uſually followed and fruited with undue and unreaſonable wiſhes.
Having put the queſtion, Wherefore haſt thou brought me forth out of the womb? See what a wiſh comes upon it, O that I had given up the ghoſt, and no eye had ſeen me! He that takes undue liberty to ſpeak or do, knows not where he ſhall reſtrain himſelf. They who alwaies act as farre as they may, ſhall often act beyond what they ought. And they who act at all beyond what they are directed, are often carried beyond what themſelves intended.
Secondly, Obſerve, Man had rather not be ſeen at all, then to be ſeen miſerable.
To be ſeen is a great part of the comfort of this life, but who would not gladly exchange it for eaſe in obſcurity? It is an honour to be ſeen, but who would be ſeen cloathed with diſhonour? When Chriſt is prophecied of, as the great patern of patience and ſelf-deniall, it is ſaid, He hid not his face from ſhame and spitting, Iſa. 50.6. To be a ſpectacle of miſery, is to ſome worſe then their being miſerable. They would count it a piece of their happineſſe, to be unhappy in a corner; and their troubles half removed, if they might ſteal their troubles. As to be in a good eſtate, and to know that we are ſo, makes our eſtate better to us: So to be in an ill eſtate, and to be known that we are ſo, makes it to ſome tempers a great deal worſe. As the hypocrite hopes when he ſins, that no eye ſees him: ſo many wiſh when they ſuffer, O that no eye had ſeen me!
Verſe 19. I ſhould have been, as though I had not been, I ſhould have been carried from the womb to the grave.
Some read this verſe alſo as a wiſh; O that I had been, as though I had never been! O that I had been carried from the womb to the grave.
He confirms what he had ſaid, by a further declaration of his condition, in caſe he had not been brought forth out of the womb, or had died before he had been ſeen in the throng of the world; Why, what then Job? Then, I ſhould have been as though I had not been, and my afflictions ſhould never have had any being: ſo ſpeedy a death had quitted me of all the evils of my life. I ſhould not have ſipt or taſted,Eſt & non eſt Octimeſtris partus. Hippocr. much leſſe have drunk ſo deep of this cup of ſufferings. It is ſaid of Abortives who die in the womb, and of ſuch as die immediately after they are born, They are, and they are not; they who live but a moment in nature, ſhall live for ever. A life here leſſe then a ſpan long,Abortivu… pro non nato ce…ſetur in jure. will be eternity long: yet as to the world, ſuch a life is no life, ſuch a being no being. Lawyers ſay, They who die before, or as ſoon as they are born, are reckoned as unborn; they make no change in ſtates, they never had a name, or an intereſt in the world, and ſo they go for nothing in the world. The Prophet Obadiah (verſe 16.) threatens Edom, That they ſhall be as though they had not been; that is, they muſt periſh, and their memoriall with them. Some are ſo thruſt out of the world, that they ſhall be, as if they had never been; and ſome come into the world ſo, that their being was, as if they had never been.
A ſhort life is by common eſtimation no life.
As in heaven, where we ſhall live for ever, we ſhall be, as if we had ever been: So on earth, ſome live ſo little, that they are as if they never were: That which hath an eternall duration, and ſhall never end, is as if it had ever begun; and that which is but of a ſhort duration and ends quickly, is as if it had never begun. The reaſon why the fruit of ſinne goes for nothing, is, becauſe the pleaſure of ſinne is but for a ſeaſon, and that a very little ſeaſon, What fruit have ye of thoſe things, whereof ye are now aſhamed? That is, Ye have no fruit, or your fruit was nothing: we may ſay of all the pleaſures of ſin, their cradle is their grave, or more near Iobs language, they are carried from the womb to the grave. So he ſpeaks next of himſelf, I ſhould have been carried from the womb to the grave.
I ſhould have paſſed without noiſe or notice. There would have been little trouble with me in the world, I ſhould have made but one journey, and that a ſhort one. The ſpeech is proverbiall: From the womb to the grave, Proverbiale eſt, ab u…ero ad ſepulchrum, cum quis ſimulac natus eſt moritur.is the motto of Infant-death. The Septuagint read it as an expoſtulation, Wherefore was I not carried out from the womb to the grave? It would have been a happineſſe to me, either not to have been at all, or to have had a being but equivalent (in common account) to a not being. And thus it had been with me, if my firſt ſtep out of my mothers womb, had been into the womb of that grandmother the earth. Iob is often upon the ſame point, renewing his deſires after death: he did ſo (as hath been toucht) at the third Chapter, and at the ſixth, and now he is as fierce and freſh upon it as ever.
A godly man may often diſcover the ſame infirmity.
Whileſt the ſame ſtock of corruption remains in us, it is productive of the ſame corrupt fruit. There is a ſeminall vertue in the earth, look how often it is plowed and ſowed, ſo often it ſends forth a crop; there is a ſeminall vertue in the earthly part of man, which makes him to put forth evil, as often as occaſion plows, and temptation ſoweth his heart.
Verſe 20. Are not my daies few? Ceaſe then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little.
Are not my daies few?
There is a difference in the reading:foreign Primo adjungunt colo. Numquid non paucitas dierum me…rum finiatur brevi? Vulg. Annon pauci dies mei ceſsantes, ſc. deficientes? …arg. Annon pauliſper diebus meis ceſſabit? Ju…. Many tranſlatours joyn the verb Ceaſe, with this clauſe: ſo that whereas we read, Are not my daies few? Ceaſe then, and let me alone; they read, Will not my few daies ceaſe? then let me alone that I may take comfort a little. M Broughton, and he hath a ſecond, varieth yet further, Will not he leave off a little in my daies? Inſtead of applying the word few unto daies, Are not my daies few? they (taking in the verb) joyn it to the act of God, Will not he leave off a little in my daies? That is, Will not God forbear a little to trouble me? Will not he give me a breathing time in my daies, which are but few? Surely he will, he will not be ſo ſtrict with me, I doubt not of a gracious anſwer to this humble petition.
But rather follow our ſenſe, and let the firſt clauſe be a queſtion, Are not my daies few? And then the next words are an inference or uſe which he makes from it, Ceaſe then, and let me alone, &c.
Are not my daies few?] The queſtion doth affirm, Yes, my daies are few. The ſenſe may be made out one of theſe three waies, and not unprofitably by all three,
Firſt thus, As a juſtification of his former wiſhes and deſires to die: Have I not upon good reaſon wiſhed that I had never lived? Who can be in love with a ſhort life, and a long trouble? Are not my daies few? Or
Secondly, As an anſwer to ſuch as objected againſt him for wiſhing he had not lived: Doe you know (ſaid they) what you have ſaid? Is life ſuch a ſmall matter with you? Or doe you underſtand what you deſire, when you deſire death? Is deformed death become a beauty in your eye? What ever you think of it, life is a precious jewel? Yes (ſaith Job) I know very well what life is, and I know of I had died before I was born, I had not loſt much life; What's the life of a few daiis? The life of eternity is worth the having and eſteeming; but why ſhould you think I have wiſhed away a matter of moment, when I wiſhed away this life? For are not my daies few?
Whence obſerve, The loſſe of a whole life in this world, is no great loſſe.
We cannot loſe a great deal, when all is but a little, nor many, when we have but a few in all. He looſeth but a few daies, who dieth the firſt day; then, what have we got, when we have lived according to the calculation of nature, many daies? Job makes this an argument to ſatisfie others about his wiſh, that all his days had bin cut off: May not we ſatisfie our ſelves by it, when a piece, or a part, an end, the worſt end of our daies is cut off? What if we have abated ten or twenty of thoſe years which poſſibly we might have lived; Twenty years are but a few daies; for, a whole life, conſiſting of three twenties and ten, is but a few daies. This we are ſure of, that the few daies we looſe on earth, ſhall never be miſſed in heaven; it will be no abatement to our comfort there, to think we lived but a little here; all the ſorrows of this life will be ſwallowed up in the next, and ſo will our ſudden parting with this life.
Thirdly, The cleareſt ſenſe of theſe words [Are not my daies few?] is, that they are the ground of a petition for the mitigation of his troubles; As if he had ſaid, Lord, I have but a while to live in the world, my daies are few, therefore doe not think much that I ſhould have a little comfort and refreſhing in theſe my daies; Conſider my life is ſhort, O that thou wouldeſt ſlack thy hand, and yeeld me ſome eaſe and comfort in this ſhort life. He had uſed this argument at the ſeventh Chapter, verſe 16. Let me alone for my daies are vanity; Paucitas dierū, i. e. pauciſſimi dies Abſtracta ſignificationem incitant & acuunt. foreign Imminutionem decrementum que ſignificat. q d nunquam creſcit, ſed deſcreſcit, & ad anguſtias majores indies reducitur, & in perpetua conſumptione evaneſcit. Bold. foreign Quanti aevi ego Mont.here, Let me alone, for my daies are few. The fewneſſe of our daies is one of the vanities of our daies.
Are not my daies few?
The Hebrew is, Is not fewneſſe of daies mine? Yes, That's my portion. Abſtracts often encreaſe, and ſometimes they diminiſh the ſenſe. Here the ſenſe is diminutive; as if he had ſaid, My daies are ſo farre from many, that they are fewneſſe it ſelf: Mine are not encreaſing and growing, but declining and abating daies. My daies are going down, they are brought into a leſſer, and a narrower compaſſe every day. The Chaldee renders, Are not my daies ceaſing? My daies fade and wear out every day, Shew me how ſhort my life is (cloſer to the originall) how ſoon ceaſing I am, or as others, What, or of what quantity mine age is, how tranſitory, how temporary I am.
Ceaſe then, and let me alone.
Some read it in the third perſon, Therefore let him ceaſe from me, and let me alone; we in the ſecond, Ceaſe then, foreign Deponat à me, ſc. flagellum aut ſupplicium. Deponat exercitus ſuos procul à me, Jun.and let me alone. Job looks upon himſelf as one beſieged and ſtraitned with afflictions: Now (ſaith he) I beſeech thee raiſe thy ſiege, and draw off thy force from me: or if thou wilt not make a finall peace with me, yet grant me a ceſſation, let me have a truce for a limited time, let me not have ſuch continuall alarms, or be forced to ſtand armed continually; Let me reſt, ſaith the Septuagint; Iſſachar ſtooped to burdens, becauſe he deſired reſt. Some are ſo burdened that they cannot reſt, how much ſoever they deſire it. Job deſires God to give him reſt, becauſe his daies were few.
Hence obſerve,
Firſt, It is an argument moving the Lord to forbear ſending us many troubles, becauſe we have but few daies.
Thus David praies (Pſal. 89.47.) Remember how ſhort my time is, wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? Lord, I have but a few daies, and ſhall my daies be nothing but clouds and darkneſſe? The ſame argument is uſed, Pſal. 39. ult. O spare me, that I may recover ſtrength, before I go hence, and be no more. I ſhall ſoon be gone, let me have ſome eaſe, while I ſtay here. Obſerve,
Secondly, That except the Lord withdraw his hand, nothing in the world can give us eaſe.
Ceaſe then, and let me alone that I may take comfort; as if he had ſaid, If thine hand be upon me, in vain do friends comfort me; creatures offer me their help in vain, Ceaſe then, and let me alone.
From the matter of his argument, Obſerve,
The life of man is ſhort.
It is a common theame, and every man thinks he can declaim upon it, and ſpeak to it; but there are very few can live to, or act by it. A multitude of inſtructions ariſe to us from the fewnes of our daies: And did men know indeed that their daies are few, their evil deeds would not be ſo many, and their good would be more.
Again, That mans daies are ſo few, yeelds us not only many inſtructions, but many wonders. Is it not ſtrange that we who have but a few daies in our lives, ſhould have ſo many afflictions in our lives? That we ſhould have few daies and many ſorrows? Is it not ſtrange that we ſhould have few daies in our lives, and many cares about our lives? Many cares and few daies, yea many cares upon one day! Thou art carefull about many things, ſaith Chriſt to Martha. Is it not ſtrange that we ſhould have ſo few daies, and ſo many ſins? Few daies and innumerable ſins, ſo many ſins as no man can number them, and ſo few daies that a childe may number them? And is not this a wonder above all the reſt, that we ſhould have but a few daies, and yet be gravell'd and puzl'd ſo as we are in numbring them? A little humane learning will ſerve to number our daies, but we need a great deal of ſpirituall learning to number them. A little ſtudy in the Mathematicks will do it, but we need more then ſtudy, experience in Divinity before we can do it, and yet neither ſtudy nor experience can do it, unleſſe God himſelf be our Tutor, He only can teach us ſo to number our daies, that we may apply our hearts unto wiſdome. We ſhall commence fools at laſt, if we have not one wiſer then the wiſeſt upon earth, to teach us this truth.
That I may take comfort a little.
foreign Roboravit, confortavit, reſpiravit, vires collegit.The word which we tranſlate to take comfort, ſignifies ſuch comfort as they finde, who being heated extreamly, and extream thirſty, come to drink at a fountain of ſweet waters. The Vulgar readeth it, Let me alone that I may mourn a little; yet taking in the former ſenſe, He ſeems thus to explain himſelf: If the Lord would let me alone. I would go and eaſe my ſelf with complaining, the waters of my head, the fountain of mine eyes would be a refreſhing to my wearied ſoul. Sorrows are ſometimes joyous, and moderate mourning gives the minde a reviving.
But rather, Take it in the generall, Let me alone that I may comfort my ſelf, and that theſe ſorrows may abate; I deſire to rally, and recollect my ſcattered thoughts a while, and ſo take in ſomewhat of the ſweetneſſe of this life before I die,Si dolorem amov re non vult, reſpirandi locū aliquem & spacium concedat. Merc. Ceaſe from me for ſome refreſhing, ſaith M. Broughton. I do not expect much, Lord, let me have ſome before I go, whence I ſhall not return.
Here obſerve one common principle of nature,
Man deſireth his own good. A well-being, as well as a being. What is there in life for nature to prize, if there be nothing but ſorrow in it?
Secondly, Obſerve, That great ſufferings make us very modeſt in our demands.
Job was in great affliction, and now a little comfort would go a great way with him. When the people of Iſrael were in bondage under Pharaoh and his task-maſters, and had heavier burdens laid upon them, they do not ſo much as move for a totall releaſe from their task, but modeſtly complain, There is no ſtraw given unto thy ſervants, and they ſay to us, Make brick; As if they had ſaid, Let us have ſtraw, and we are willing to make brick. A poor man cries out for a half-peny, for a farthing, not for hundreds or thouſands. He that is ready to ſtarve will not ask good chear, or a plentifull feaſt, but let me have a cruſt of bread, or a little water. When Dives was in hell, what did he deſire of Abraham? Did he beg to come into his boſome? Doth he ſay, Lazarus is in a good place, let me come too? No, he deſired but a drop of water, and what was a drop of water to flames of fire? O how would it delight the damned in hell to think of a ceſſation, but for one hour from their pain! What a joy would it be unto them, if it ſhould be told them, that a thouſand, or ten thouſand years hence, they ſhould have one good day, or that they might be let alone to take comfort a little! They who are low, make low demands. Think of this ye that enjoy much comfort, and ſwim in rivers of pleaſure. Let not the great conſolations of God be ſmall to you, when you hear Job thus inſtant and importunate for the ſmalleſt, Let me alone, that I may take comfort a little.
But why is he in ſuch haſte for a little comfort? One ground is in the former words, My daies are few; and he backs it with a ſecond in the next. If it come not quickly, it will come too late. I am ready to take my laſt journey, Therefore let me take a little comfort.
Verſe 21. Before I go whence I ſhall not return, even to the land of darkneſſe, and the ſhadow of death.
Before I go.
That is, before I die. Death is a going out of the world:Periphraſis moriendi, qui m ritur dicitur abire, unde abitionem pro morte veteres uſurparunt, Druſ. Chriſt intimates his death under this notion (Joh. 16.7.) If I goe the Comforter will come. And, I go from you, &c. Dying is a journeying from one region to another. Death is a changing of our place, though not of our company. Before I go; Whether?
Whence I ſhall not return.
That's a ſtrange journey indeed. That which pleaſeth us in our longeſt journeys while we live, is a hope of returning to our own homes again. But when we die we take a journey from whence there is no returning. Not return? Shall not man return when he dieth? Is death an everlaſting departure, an eternall night? No, Man ſhall return, but he ſhall not return to ſuch a life or ſtate as he had before.Fidem reſurrectionis non laedit. Pin. He is gone for ever out of this world, and out of all worldly intereſts. Job believed a reſurrection, or a returning from the grave by the power of God, and he knew there was no returning by the power of nature, or by the help of any creature: In that reference, we go, whence we ſhall not return. So David ſpeaks of his dead Infant, I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me, Indicat nullam eſſe vim in natura cui pareat mors, & cui receptacula animarum obediāt, reddere que cogā tur, quem ſemel receperunt. Pin.2 Sam. 12.25. When once we are ſhut up in thoſe chambers of death, and made priſoners in the grave, though all the Princes in the world ſend warrants for our releaſe, we cannot get releaſed. The pertinacy and ſtiffneſſe of the grave is ſuch as yeelds to none. We are faſt ſhut up when we are ſhut up there. Love and the grave will hardly part with that, which they have cloſed with, and are poſſeſſed of. The grave is one of thoſe three things which are never ſatisfied, or ſay it is enough, Prov. 30.15. And as it is unſatiable in receiving, ſo it is as cloſe in keeping, it will part with nothing. A grave is the Parable of a covetous man; he is greedy to get, and watchfull to hold: when his money goes into his purſe, he ſaith it ſhall not return: The grave hath a ſtrong appetite to take down, and as ſtrong a ſtomack to digeſt. Till God (as I may ſo ſpeak) by his mighty power gives the grave a vomit, and makes the earth ſtomack-ſick with eating mans fleſh,Veteres Romani dicere ſolebant, ab…it & reverſurus eſt, reſurrectionem carnis haud obſcurè innuentes. Ter. Salve aeternum mihi maxime Palla Aeternum que vale Virg. Aenead. it will not return one morſel. At the reſurrection this great Eater ſhall caſt up all again. And as they who take ſtrong vomits, are put into a kinde of trembling convulſion, all the powers of the body being ſhaken; ſuch will the prognoſticks be of the reſurrection; there was an earth-quake when Chriſt aroſe, God made the earth ſhake, and commanded it to give back the priſoner, becauſe it was not poſſible that he ſhould be holden of it. And when God ſpeaks the word, it will not be poſſible for the grave to hold us priſoners: till then it will. It was uſuall among the Ancients, to ſay of a dead friend, He is gone, and he will come again, intimating a reſurrection. Heathens not knowing nor believing it, call earth,Valeant qui inter nos diſſidiū volunt. Terent. An eternall leave-taking or farewell, never to meet again.
Obſerve from this deſcription of the grave,
That the ſtatutes of death are unrepealable.
Death is an everlaſting baniſhment from the world, I ſhall go… whence I ſhall not return. This may lie very ſad upon their ſpirits,Animula vagula, blandula, &c. quae nunc abibis in loca? A…r. who have not a better place then the world to go to, when they go from the world. To go whence we ſhall never return, and yet where we cannot endure to be a moment, is deepeſt miſery: Such a man cannot chuſe but ſet out with a ſad heart. And that's the reaſon why wicked men, whoſe conſciences are awakened, go ſo unwillingly to this ſleep, they know whither they are going, only they know they cannot return. Make ye friends ('tis Chriſts counſel) of the Mammon of unrighteouſneſſe, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlaſting habitations (Luk. 10.9.) Mammon of unrighteouſneſſe, that is, ſay moſt Interpreters, Mammon gotten unrighteouſly; but ſurely Chriſt would not teach any to make men our friends, by that which makes God our enemy.Quod eſt falſum foreign ab Helleniſtis uſu Hebraeorū dicitur. Henſ. exercit. Sacr. They tranſlate better, who render it, Make ye friends of the falſe or unfaithfull Mammon, that is, of that Mammon which will deceive and leave you ſhortly, therefore make you friends of it, while you have it; that when ye fail, that is, when you die or goe out of the world, they may receive you, that is, ye may be received into everlaſting habitations; leave not this habitation, till ye have got intereſt in a better. The Saints arm themſelves againſt death by this argument, We know that if our earthly houſe of this tabernacle were diſſolved, we have a building of God, an houſe not made with hand, eternall in the heavens (2 Cor. 5.1.) We know there is no return to buildings made with hands, we muſt leave our houſes for ever, our lands for ever, and our relations for ever, but we are aſſured of a building of God, an houſe not made with hand, eternall in the heavens. This ſupported their hearts, when their earthly houſes were falling.
Job having thus deſcribed death it ſelf, proceeds to deſcribe the grave, which is the place of death, or the Black-…all of the King of terrours. Would you know what this place is, from whence there is no returning? It is, ſaith he (in the cloſe of this verſe) even the land of darkneſſe, and the ſhadow of death. And in the laſt verſe,
Verſe 22. A land of darkneſſe, as darkneſſe it ſelf, and of the ſhadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkneſſe.
This is the place where death dwels, or the ſeat of death, and here's a deſcription of it, which exceeds the phanſie of Poets, and the rhetorick of all Heathen Oratours. The Spirit of God riſeth to the height of eloquence, in diſcovering that unpleaſant region.
This ſubterranean Geography, gives a double character of it. 1. A land of darkneſſe. 2. A land of the ſhadow of death; both which are aggravated by their additions. It is a land of darknes, but not of any ordinary darknes, It is a land of darkneſſe, as darkneſſe it ſelf. It is a land of the ſhadow of death, not of an ordinary ſhadow of death, but of the ſhadow of death, 1. Without any order. 2. Where the light is as darkneſſe.
A land of darkneſſe.
That is, abounding with darkneſſe, a land where darkneſſe is the ſtaple, and the only commodity to be had. Darkneſſe is the hangings and ornament of the houſe of death. The grave is elſwhere called, A land of forgetfulneſſe (Pſal. 88.12.) becauſe there all things are forgotten. We read (Jer. 12.5.) of a land of peace, that is, a land where peace abounds, a land in every corner whereof peace ſprings and groweth up. Canaan (Deut. 8.8.) was called, A good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring o…t of the valleys and hils, A land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; A land of oyl olive, and of honey: That is, a land where theſe good things were naturall and plentifull. A land where neighbour Nations might furniſh themſelves, and fraight their ſhips with thoſe commodities.Cum ſepulchrū dicitur terra tenebrarum, ibi tanquam in nativo ſolo obſ…uritas intelligitur provenire. In ſuch a ſenſe Iob cals the grave, A land of darknes; As if he had ſaid, Would you know what the merchandize of the grave is? I will tell you, it is darkneſſe, there you may have darknes as much as you deſire, and beſides that nothing, how much ſo ever you deſire it.
This ſhews the terrour of death to a meer naturall underſtanding. Many are afraid to be at all in the dark, how much more to be alwaies in darkneſſe: As light is put for joy, ſo darkneſſe for ſorrow. Darkneſſe, whether ſpirituall or naturall, is afflictive. Dark houſes are unpleaſant, what then is a land of darknes? The face of a man is darkned with ſorrow, and joy is the light of it. It hath bin obſerved that ſome great Princes have had light beaming out from their eyes. Auguſtus had ſo ſparkling an eye,Suetonius in Auguſto, c, 7 9. that few could look upon him: his eye caſt forth raies like the Sun, dazling the beholders. Good, gracious Princes caſt out beams of favour upon their people, which refreſh them as the light. Death & the grave have no light in their faces. Death looks black and grim, hell is extreameſt darkneſſe, and the pains of hell are chains of darknes.
And of the ſhadow of death.
There is more then the ſhadow of death in the grave, death it ſelf dwels there. The words ſound an abatement of the ſenſe,Terra cujus palpebrae ſunt, ſicut caligo umbrarum mortis. T…rg. but indeed they heighten it. The ſhadow of death is thick darknes, thickeſt darknes, the very ſtrength of darknes. This ſhadow is the ſubſtance of death, or death with addition of greateſt deadlines.
Job having given the land this dreadfull name, A land of darkneſſe, and of the ſhadow of death, makes it yet more dreadfull by this further explication.
A land of darkneſſe, as darkneſſe it ſelf] Or,foreign A land of darkneſſe, which looks like darkneſſe. The word ſignifies wearineſſe, reſtleſſeneſſe, and vexation of ſpirit. To be in a dark condition, is to be in a weariſome condition. The Vulgar reads it, A land of miſery. Some darknes hath a degree of light mingled with it, but this is pure or unmixed darkneſſe, darkneſſe in it's proper hue, darkneſſe it ſelf. When a man of skill acts skilfully, we ſay, he acts like himſelf; and when a wicked man doth very wickedly, we ſay, he doth like himſelf. The darknes of the grave looks like nothing but it ſelf.
Every evil the more like it is to it ſelf, the worſe it is. When the Apoſtle would ſhew ſin in its colours, he calleth it ſinfull ſin (Rom. 7.13.) Sin by the commandment became exceeding ſinfull, the commandment cauſed it to look like it ſelf. Sorrowfull ſorrow, and painfull pain are the worſt of pains and ſorrows. There is ſorrow which may conſiſt with ſome joy and pain, which may cohabit with ſome eaſe: but he that hath ſorrow like ſorrow it ſelf, and pain like pain it ſelf, hath the extremity of both. Thus alſo every good, the more like it is to it ſelf, the better it is; holines like it ſelf, is the pureſt holineſſe; grace like it ſelf, is the ſweeteſt grace. When a holy man works like himſelf, his work is beſt. God is ever like himſelf in all he doth, and every thing we do is then beſt, when it is done moſt like to what God doth.
And of the ſhadow of death, without any order, or, The ſhadow of death, and not orders.
foreign Et non ordines.The word which we tranſlate order, is frequent in the Rabbins: the holy Text hath it only in this place, and here in the plurall number, A land of darkneſſe, and the ſhadow of death, and without any orders, a land unordered. Ther's no government, no method in the grave. And if it hath no order, then it hath nothing in it but confuſion, nothing but diſorder. That the grave, or the ſtate of death is without any order, may be underſtood two waies,
Hebraei ad vices diei & noctis, aeſtatis & hiemis &c. referūt. Expertem viciſſitudinem. Jun.Firſt, Without order, becauſe it hath no changes, or viciſſitudes in it, there is no difference in the grave between night and day, winter and ſummer, hot and cold, wet and dry, between the riſing and ſetting of the Sun: This is the order which God hath ſet in nature; and when the floud had put all things into a kinde of confuſion, God promiſed, That ſeed-time and harveſt, and cold and heat, ſummer and winter, day and night ſhould not ceaſe, that is, there ſhould be an everlaſting order continued in the creature. The dead know none of thoſe changes and viciſſitudes; as much of the vanity, ſo ſome of the comforts of this life conſiſt in changes; but all is alike in death.
Secondly, There is no order in going to the grave; men do not keep to a rule in dying, nor obſerve their ranks. The old go not alwaies firſt, and then the young; the great before, and the mean following after. Death hath no maſter of the Ceremonies; but takes promiſcuouſly, here a childe, and there a man, here a rich man, and there a beggar. And as there is no order in going thither, ſo none when we are there: the grave mingleth the duſt, and bones of one with another. We cannot diſtinguiſh the rich mans duſt from the duſt of the poor, nor the bones of Kings from thoſe of the loweſt ſubject. Though rich men are buried in more eminent places, and Kings under ſtately Monuments, though their Tombs differ from their inferiours, yet their bones do not. An old Philoſopher was obſerved ſearching a caemitery, and prying buſily among the Tombs, and being asked, what he looked for, anſwered, I come to ſee if I can finde the duſt of rich men, and the bones of Princes, but I cannot ſee which is which; the duſt of the rich and of the poor, of Princes and peſants, are all alike to my eye.
And ſeeing Iob makes this an aggravation of the miſery of death, that it is without order; We may obſerve,
That order hath an excellency, and a beauty in it.
The leſſe order there is in any place or ſtate, the worſe it is, and where is no order, there it is worſt of all. Civil order is the beauty of Common-wealths, and ſpirituall order is the beauty of the Church. The Apoſtle rejoyced to behold the order of the Coloſſians, as well as their faith (Col. 2.5.) His charge to the Corinthians is, Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14.40.) He had warned them (ver. 33.) to take heed of diſorder, becauſe God is not the God of confuſion, but of peace; where order is not kept, the peace cannot be kept. Death is evil, and that's without order; hell is worſt of all, and there is no order at all. It is a kinde of death to ſee any diſorder, and a very hell to ſee all in diſorder.
And where the light is as darkneſſe.
Some read by the verb, where it ſhineth like darkneſſe, or thus,foreign a…radice foreign Floruit, splenduit fulgorem & magnifi…entiam exercuit. Tenebreſcet, ficut caligo Mon. Quod in ea ſp…endidiſſimum eſt caligini fim le eſt. where it lighteth like darkneſſe. The Vulgar paraphraſes rather then tranſlates, Where there is everlasting horrour. Job ſaid before, it was a land of darknes, and of darknes, like darkneſſe it ſelf: yet now he ſeemeth to affirm, that there is light in the grave, and if there be, how is that darknes like darknes it ſelf? His meaning is, that which looks moſt like to light in the grave, is darknes, and it is therefore darknes, like darknes it ſelf, becauſe if you can imagin any thing to have a ſhew of light in the grave, that very light is as darknes. When the Apoſtle would invincibly argue the infinite wiſdom and ſtrength of God, he ſaith, The fooliſhneſſe of God is wiſer then men, and the weakneſſe of God is ſtronger then men (1 Cor. 1.25.) God is only wiſe, only ſtrong, how then ſpeaks this Apoſtle of the fooliſhneſſe or weaknes of God? His meaning is, look what act ſoever of God appears to man, as having fooliſhnes or weaknes in it, even that fooliſhnes is wiſer, and that weakneſſe ſtronger then men. In what ſenſe Paul ſaith, The fooliſhnes of God is wiſdom, the weaknes of God is ſtrength, or (which is all one) the darknes of God is light: in the ſame Iob ſaith, The light of the grave is darknes. For as God is wiſdom, and in him there is no fooliſhnes at all, ſtrength, and in him there is no weaknes at all, light, and in him there is no darknes at all: So Iob ſuppoſeth of the grave, that in it there is darknes, and no light at all, while he affirms, the light found there is as darknes. Chriſt ſpeaks near this language of Job (Mat. 6.23.) If therefore the light that is in thee be darknes, how great is that darknes! he had ſaid before, The light of the body is the eye, and if the eye be ſingle, the whole body is light, that is, if a man have right aims and pure ends, theſe will keep him right in all his courſe, but if his eye be dark, his ends baſe, how baſe will his actions be, how great his darknes? We may argue thus to the point in hand, if the light of the grave be darknes, how great is that darknes? The Prophet Amos ſets forth great changes in States and Kingdoms by prodigious changes in the air, Lo, he makes the morning darknes, Cha. 4.15. Again, He turneth the ſhadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, Chap. 5.8.
When either civil or morall good is turned into evil, we are paſt all hope of good; if once our light be dark, we muſt expect nothing but darknes. The beſt works of hypocrites will be found wickednes, how wicked then will they be in their worſt? If their holines be unclean, how unclean is their unholines? All their morall light is as darknes, and all their civil light ſhall be turned into darknes.
Some (eſpecially Popiſh) Interpreters underſtand this deſcription not of the grave, but of hell. The ſame word in the Hebrew ſerves both hell and the grave. Death looks like hell, and bears much of it's image. What is there in hell, but the agonies and ſweat of death, the pangs and palenes of death? the chains and bonds of death? The ſtate of the damned in hell, is an eternall act of dying. And all that Job ſpeaks of the grave, is fulfilled there to the utmoſt. There is darknes, like darknes it ſelf, called therefore utter darknes; there is the ſhadow of death without any order, there the light is as darknes. But though the Text be true of hell, yet Job had nothing to do or ſuffer beyond the grave, and I ſhall carry his diſcourſe no further, keeping within thoſe confines: We may learn,
That death in it ſelf is no way deſirable.
Is there any beauty in darknes, in thick darknes, where there is no order, in darknes, where the very light is darknes? One of the greateſt plagues upon Egypt, Noſtri theologizantes ad infernum referūt, ſed Iob ad ſepulchrum reſpexit Merc.was three daies darknes, what then is there in death (naturally conſidered) but a plague, ſeeing it is perpetuall darknes?
If death be ſuch in it ſelf, and ſuch to thoſe who die in ſin, how ſhould our hearts be raiſed up in thankfulnes to Chriſt, who hath put other terms upon death and the grave by dying for our ſins! Chriſt hath made the grave look like a heaven to his. Chriſt hath aboliſhed death, not death it ſelf (for even believers die) but all the trouble and terrour of death, the darknes and the diſorder of it, are taken away. Chriſt hath mortified death, kill'd death, ſo that now death is not ſo much an opening of the door of the grave, as it is an opening of the door of heaven. Chriſt, who is the Sun of righteouſnes, lay in the grave, and hath left perpetuall beams of light there for his purchaſed people. The way to the grave is very dark, but Chriſt hath ſet up lights for us, or cauſed light to ſhine into the way. Chriſt hath put death into a method, yea Chriſt hath put death into a kinde of life, or he hath put life into the death of believers. All the gaſtlineſſe, horrour, yea the darknes and death of death is removed. The Saints may look upon the grave as a land of light, like light it ſelf; yea as a land of life, like life it ſelf, where there is nothing but order, and where the darknes is as light.
Jobs reply to Bildad and complaints to God have carried his diſcourſe as far as death and the grave, he gives over in a dark diſordered place, God ſtill leaving him under much darknes, and many diſorders of ſpirit. As his great afflictions are yet continued, ſo his weakneſſes continue too. His graces break forth many times, and ſometimes his corruption: Both are coming to a further diſcovery, while his third friend Zophar takes up the bucklers, and renews the battel; upon what terms he engages with Job, how Job acquits himſelf, and comes off from that engagement, is the ſumme of the four ſucceeding Chapters.
FINIS.
Errata.
PAg. 18. for foreign r. foreign p. 63. l. 5. for 29. r. 19. p. 69 l. 39. for. 7. r. 29. p. 152. l. 21. for need r needs. p. 201. in marg. fòr Apollo r. Achilles in ſome copies. p. 311 l 17. dele the. p. 331. l. 2. dele in p 430. l 22. for affliction r. afflictions. p 361. l. 37. for Apologues r. Apologies. ib. l. 38. put in to after arguments. p. 366. in m…rg. for polluerunt r. polluerent. p. 401. l. 27. for an idol u, r. idols are. p 413. l. 22. for wearied, r. weary. p. 418. l. 27. dele not.