Exposition of Job, Exposition of Job · Chapter 15 · Verse 20
Verſ. 20. The wicked man travelleth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppreſſour.
Followeth to v. 31. the Second Branch of this part of the Chapter. Which is the Theſis, or, Doctrine, which he proves by his own experience, and the conſent of Antiquity; And that is, the miſerable eſtate of wicked men, agreeable to what Job now ſuffered: whereof he makes a large Narration, to convince Job that only the wicked were ſo afflicted, and, conſequently, that he could not be a godly man, as he pretended. This Narration may be ſummed up in three Heads.
1. … gives an account, chiefly, of the inward troubles and vexations of the wicked, by reaſon of an evil Conſcience, v. 20.—24.
2. The Cauſe of this, and their other miſeries is interlaced, v. 25.—28.
3. Unto this is ſubjoyned the outward Plagues, which God ſends upon them, v. 29, 30.
In the firſt Head of this Narration, containing, chiefly, an account of their inward vexations, becauſe of an evil Conſcience, we are to remark a few things in general, for clearing … way.
1. That this Doctrine was not only gathered and obſerved by Eliphaz in his own experience; but was indeed the Doctrine of the Ancients, which they had, from time to time, inculcated, that they might terrifie men from wickedneſs. For Eliphaz aſſerteth they had taught this, v. 17, 18. and we are bound in charity to believe he ſpeaks true.
2. That in this Narration he pitcheth upon thoſe particulars which himſelf had learned, by experience, or gathered from the inſtructions of the Ancients, which ſeem moſt nearly to parallel Job's preſent caſe. For, in what he ſpeaks of the wickeds pain and apprehenſions in his proſperity, v. 20, 21, 23. he reflects upon what Job had ſaid, Chap. 3.25, 26. In ſpeaking of the wickeds want of hope, v. 22. he reflects upon Job's frequent Declarations that he expected never to get out of this trouble; And in ſpeaking of the fear and anguiſh of the wicked, v. 24. he reflects upon the exerciſe that was upon Job's ſpirit, Chap. 7.13, 14. And ſo throughout all the reſt of this Chapter, he ſpeaks ſo as might touch Job moſt nearly, and prove him a wicked man, being exerciſed as they are. It was a poor trade (yet ſuch a trade this godly man was at) to rake into every particular of his godly friends miſeries, that he might prove him wicked.
3. That this Doctrine which he had learned from the Ancients, concerning the caſe of the wicked, is not erroneous (whatever may be ſaid of Eliphaz's Opinion, in the Application thereof to the queſtion in debate) but holds true of them in ſeveral reſpects.
(1.) That all the evils here recorded are deſerved by all wicked men, according to the tenour of the threatnings of the Law. See Lev. 26.36. Deut. 28.65. and frequently throughout theſe Chapters.
(2.) Some of the wicked meet with theſe plagues, and particularly with this inward terror and vexation, eminently; that they may be a warning to all others; as witneſs Cain's terror, Gen. 4. and Paſhur's, Jer. 20.3, 4.
(3.) Such of the wicked as are not put to this vexation at preſent, yet have no ſecurity againſt it by vertue of any Promiſe, but it may come upon them when they leaſt expect it.
(4.) Nor is the preſent quiet, which wicked men enjoy, any true or ſolid Peace of Conſcience; but a ſtupid ſecurity, ariſing from negligence, or ſome defect in their Conſciences, or from judicial Plagues infl…cted upon their heart by God.
(5.) And then being exempted, in this life, from the extremity of this vexation, will be ſadly made up in end, when, in the Pit, their Worm ſhall gnaw for ever.
4. Notwithſtanding all this, which may and ought to be conceded as true in the Doctrine of the Ancients; Yet Eliphaz errs here in his Scope and Application of this Doctrine. And,
1. (As hath been often marked) In that he underſtands the Ancients true obſervation of the lot of ſome wicked men, as if it were univerſally true of all wicked men, even in the extremity here recorded: For many of the wicked may live in great caſe, as experience verifies; and Job often aſſerts. See Chap. 21.13. and frequently.
2. In that he reflects upon, and miſconſtructs the exerciſe of Job's Spirit and Conſcience, as if it were like unto the wi… lot, when yet the difference is very great and wide. For though he was under ſad tentations, and much vexed in ſpirit; yet he ſtill drew near to God, and clave to him, which wicked men do not. This being his great miſtake in this matter, doth Teach, That not only natural men, but even ſuch as are truly godly, may, through want of experience, miſtake the exerciſe of mind, and the vexations which aſſault others; and may judge of them as unlike the lot of Saints. Thus David complains that he was a fear to his acquaintance, Pſal. 31.11.
Hence it followeth,
1. That men ought wiſely to conſider the caſe of the afflicted and poor, that they add not to their afflictions by their miſconſtructions.
2. That godly men, being exerciſed in ſpirit, ſhould be armed againſt ſuch hard meaſures from their friends; not expecting ſtill to be dandled, nor ſtumbling at it, when ſome of their friends, who ſhould comfort them, do paſs by, and others do pour Vinegar into their ſores, and add to their ſorrow.
3. That ſince other godly men may miſtake ſuch exerciſes, they who are under them ſhould guard leſt themſelves alſo ſtumble at them; and, for that end, ſhould ſtudy how uſeful and neceſſary they are.
Having premitted thoſe Generals, I ſhall …ow explain the parts of this miſery, as it is branched out in the ſeveral verſes; and draw ſome general Obſervations, accord…ng to thoſe former Rules and Cautions; without inſiſting any more upon Eliphaz his miſtakes and reflections in them. And firſt, in this verſe it is declared that the wicked man hath a miſerable life of it, being like a woman in travail (as the word ſignifieth) throughout his time; and that not only through Gods making it to be ſo with him by afflictions, but (as the form of the word bea…s) He makes himſelf to travel with pain, through diſcontent and anxiety. As for that which followeth in the end of the verſe. Some read it only as an Explication, or other expreſſion, of all his days, thus; The wicked man travelleth — all his days, even the number of years which is …id (or determined by God) to the oppreſſour, or, wicked man. But leaving this, and other readings not ſo appoſite as our Tranſlation, it contains an Explication and Inſtance of the wicked mans vexation. Wherein,
1. Having more generally deſigned the perſon he ſpeaks of, that he is a wicked man, he more particularly reſtricts what he is to ſay, to the oppreſſour, That ſo he may reflect upon Job, whom he ſuppoſeth to have been guilty of that ſin, when he was in eminency and power.
2. He inſtanceth this as a cauſe of the oppreſſours vexation and pain, that the number of years is hidden to him. Whereby we may underſtand, either, That it breeds him great vexation that the time of his death is kept hid by God, ſo that he knows not when it ſhall arreſt him; the conſideration whereof ma…s all his preſent mirth: or, That his vexations are ſo bitter to him, and his mind is ſo little at eaſe, that he never deſires to think on death, but hides from himſelf all thoughts of that ſubject. Both thoſe come to one purpoſe, and may agree in one, as ſhall be marked in the Doctrines.
From this verſe thus explained, Learn,
1. Whatever wicked men promiſe to themſelves in their way; yet if they conſidered matters well, they will find they have but a miſerable Dogs-life of it; For, ſo much may be gathered in general from this, that the wicked man travelleth with pain, and from the reſt of the Text. Not only doth God make the life of ſome of them to be viſibly miſerable; but even all of them bear ſome prints of the truth of this, in ſome meaſure. The beſt of it is but a drudgery in ſerving ſin and luſts; and many times it is ſeen they do but weary themſelves, Iſai. 57.10. Jer. 9.5. Ezek. 24.12. and pierce themſelves thorow with many ſorrows, 1 Tim. 6.10. This may keep us from complaining of Gods ſervice, ſeeing Satan is a moſt cruel Task-maſter.
2. It adds to the miſery of wicked men, that their vexations are endleſs; That he travelleth with pain all his days, not as women who travel but ſome days: Albeit they have intermiſſions of viſible troubles; yet their anxieties and drudgeries continue; and whatever they get, yet they are far from that ſweet iſſue of trouble which is promiſed to the godly, Pſal. 30.5. This may warn all to beware of provoking God to imbitter all their moment of time; And it teacheth Saints to bleſs God for any real vic…ſſitude, or change to the better, which they find in their condition.
3. It adds alſo to the miſery of the wicked, that God gives them up to be their own tormenters; That he makes himſelf to travel with pain, as the word in the Original bears. His own …theiſm, diffidence, love of this preſent life and the things thereof, his fears about them, his envy that others ſpeed better than himſelf, &c. lets him never be at quiet. And albeit the ſpirits of godly men may make them very ſad exerciſe, which th…y ſhould guard againſt; and ſo this will not always prove a man wicked, that he breeds himſelf vexations: yet the point ſhould teach all to try what is real, and done by God, in their vexations, and what is only apprehended, and made a vexation by themſelves. And when men find that they do thus vex themſelves, they ought to ſearch into the grounds and cauſes of it (whither Idols or unbelief) and avoid them, leſt the increaſe of their vexations be a juſt puniſhment thereof.
4. To be an oppreſſour is a particular evidence of a wicked man, whatever he pretend unto otherwiſe; (as he may pretend to Piety and an acknowledgment of God, Zech. 11.5.) There he inſtanceth that General Aſſertion, concerning a wicked man, in the perſon of an oppreſſour, intending (but unjuſtly) to reflect upon Job.
5. Albeit Oppreſſours ſeem to be the men who ſhould have moſt quiet, ſince they heap together ſo many outward delights, and think to ſecure themſelves in the enjoyment thereof, by the bearing down of others; Yet, in Gods judgment, they are oft times plagued with greateſt vexations and ſorrows: For, they in particular, are the wicked, who travel in pain, and of whom the following particulars, in this and the reſt of the verſes, are verified. And albeit the point hold not fully true in the ſenſe of Eliphaz; yet they have their own vexations in purchaſing, and in keeping their purchaſe, wh…rewith they dare not truſt God; And ſometimes their Conſciences alſo do vex them. Which ſhould keep the godly from envying of them, and make them be content with their own lot.
6. It is an evidence of wickedneſs, or, at beſt, of a wicked and evil diſpoſition, when the common tryals and exerciſes of mankind become intolerably bitter, and are not digeſted becauſe they are common; So the oppreſſour is wicked, in that it v…xeth him that the number of years is hid from him, although it be ſo with all mankind, 1 Cor. 10.13.
7. It is alſo an evil evidence in men, when their end, or death, is looked on as an Enemy, and when they dare not ſeriouſly think on it, or how much time they have ſpent, and how near they are to death by the courſe of nature; as being never ready nor willing to die: Thus both the Interpetations of the laſt part of the verſe agree in one, That it evidenceth his wickedneſs, that he is vexed becauſe his days▪ are hidden, and determined by God, ſo that he can neither avoid death, nor knoweth when it ſhall ſurprize him; and that he is ſo vexed with this, as it makes him hide all thoughts of death from himſelf. It is true, the godly may have their own vexations and fears about death; and ſo it is not ſimply true, that to fear death is the evidence of a wicked man; Yet, the difference betwixt the godly and wicked in this is very clear. For, partly, the godly's fear is of another nature then that of the wicked is; The godly deſire to die, if they were reconciled to God; whereas the wicked ſeek not Gods favour, and ſo love not death on any terms, except deſpair drive them upon that hopeleſs remedy, or a ſatiety of time, or want of ſtrength to proſecute the delights of it, make them weary thereof. Partly, the fears of the godly are groundleſs, as the wickeds are not; but their tentations, and fears and apprehenſions, are real plagues upon them. And if godly men in their fits of ſecurity or diſtemper, have any other fears of death, in any thing like unto the wicked, they ought to labour to be rid of them, as no evidence of their Piety, nor of their good frame for that time.
8 It is alſo an evidence of an evil diſpoſition, when it vexeth men, and imbitters their lives unto them, that they are left in all conditions upon Gods hands and Providence; as here it is a vexati…n to the wicked oppreſſour, that his years are hid, or determined by God, as Chap. 14.5. This doth not at all pleaſe the wicked; becauſe they cannot truſt God, nor willingly ſubmit to him; whereas it is enough to the godly, in greateſt troubles, that their times are in Gods hand, Pſal. 31.13. and this ſhould be their encouragement in all caſes.
9 Whatever ſweetneſs men think they reap by wickedneſs and oppreſſion; Yet, this is Wormwood in the midſt of it, and the Worm in the root thereof, that it is but temporary, and they know not how ſoon death may put a period to it; For, this is alſo implied; that it is the wicked oppreſſours pain, and vexation, that the number of years is hid, that death will put a period to his enjoyments, and he knoweth not when it may ſteal upon him.