Job 31:1-40 - Homiletics

Job's second parable: 4. A solemn protestation of innocence.

I. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF CHASTITY . (Verses 1-4.)

1 . The wickedness he eschewed. Not alone the crime of seduction, or the actual defilement of virginal innocence, but even the indulgence of so much as a lascivious desire in connection with an unmarried female, was an ungodliness which Job regarded with abhorrence and indignation. Job's morality on this point, as also upon some others, is a remarkable anticipation of the sermon on the mount, which forbids the unchaste look, the unclean imagination, the impure desire, as well as the lewd and incontinent act ( Matthew 5:28 ). Job's interpretation of the Law of God is like St. Paul's ( Romans 7:14 )—the precepts of the Decalogue covered the entire realm of the inner no less than of the outer life.

2 . The rule he observed . That he might the better guard against the uprise within his heart of any prurient desire or lustful imagination, Job "made a covenant with his eyes," as their lord and master prescribed for them a law that they should not" fixedly gaze upon a maiden." Considering bow much of evil enters by the eye ( e.g. the cases of Eve, Genesis 3:6 ; of the wife of Lot, Genesis 19:26 ; of Achan, Joshua 7:21 ), the wisdom of Job's resolution cannot be questioned. In particular the eye has often proved itself "the inlet of lust" (Robinson), of according to a Talmudic proverb, "the procuress of sin;" as, for instance, it did with Judah ( Genesis 38:5 ), Samson ( 16:1 ), David ( 2 Samuel 11:1-5 ), Amnon ( 2 Samuel 13:1-20 ). Few things are more dangerous to an unprincipled, or indeed a principled, mind, than the too ardent contemplation of female beauty, which, besides being a deceitful vanity in itself ( Proverbs 31:30 ), is prone to inflame the heart with unlawful passions. Hence the propriety of the royal preacher's counsel ( Proverbs 6:25 ), the Hebrew psalmist's prayer ( Psalms 119:37 ), and the Divine Saviour's warning ( Matthew 18:9 ).

3 . The motives he possessed. In thus habitually exercising self-restraint, gob was actuated by two considerations.

II. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF JUSTICE . (Verses 5-8.)

1 . An explicit declaration. Hypothetical in form, Job's language amounts to a vehement assertion that his life was as unimpeachable with regard to equity as with regard to chastity. With falsehood in every shape and guise he had lived at open war. With deceit and imposition in either word or deed he had had no dealings whatever. From the straight path of integrity he had never turned aside. Never once under the dominion of secret avarice had he suffered his heart to be beguiled into hankering alter his neighbour's property, as Ahab coveted the vineyard of Naboth ( 1 Kings 21:2 ). Not so much as a speck of defilement cleaved to his palm after any transaction in which he had been engaged. No living man could accuse him of underhand dealings or extortionate practices. So Samuel called his countrymen ( 1 Samuel 12:3 ), and St. Paul challenged the elders of Miletus ( Acts 20:33-35 ), to attest his personal integrity. So are Christ's people exhorted to renounce the hidden things of dishonesty ( 2 Corinthians 4:2 ), to provide things honest in the sight of all men ( 2 Corinthians 8:21 ), and to carefully maintain a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly ( Hebrews 13:18 ).

2 . A solemn invocation. So confident does Job feel that he has not swerved a hair's breadth from the law of equity, that he does not hesitate to appeal to God, challenging Eloab, as few men besides would have done ( Psalms 130:3 ), to weigh him in an even balance, literally, in the scales of righteousness, when his integrity, or moral perfection, would become apparent. If Job meant this absolutely, it was presumption and self-righteousness; but the probability is he understood, by preferring such a claim, no more than God himself did when he declared Job to be perfect and upright; though the vehemence with which he asserted and protested his blamelessness insensibly obscured his vision of the truth which he at other times acknowledged, that in God's sight no flesh living could be justified.

3. A dreadful imprecation. Not content with calmly submitting the question of his innocence to the severe and impartial arbitrament of Heaven, he invokes upon himself a curse of extreme severity. If by legal chicanery or violent extortion he has robbed another of his land, the commonest and most valuable sort of property, then he desires that he himself may be made the victim of a like oppression, that he may sow and another reap, and that his "things which spring up," not his descendants or children, as elsewhere the word is employed ( Job 5:25 ; Job 21:8 ; Job 27:14 ), but, as the parallelism demands, the produce of his ground, his harvest, may be rooted up. God's punishments are often similar in kind to the offences they follow. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" ( Galatians 6:7 ).

III. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF MARRIAGE . (Verses 9-12.) Different from the opening section, which treated of seduction, the present stanza alludes to the sin of adultery. In the former instance it is an unmarried virgin, in the latter it is a wedded wife, that is sinned against. The adulterous enterprise, which Job for himself disavows, is described in detail.

1 . By its origin. It takes its rise in a bewitched or befooled heart. "Out of the heart proceed adulteries" ( Matthew 15:19 ). Therefore "keep the heart with all diligence" ( Proverbs 4:23 ). This beguilement of the heart may be deliberately effected by the adulterous woman displaying her charms so as to fascinate her lover's eye ( Proverbs 7:10-21 ); or, as in the case of David, it may result from lascivious admiration of the married woman's beauty.

2 . By its practice. The adulterous lover, waiting for the twilight, disguiseth his face, and lieth in wait at his neighbour's door, obviously a common crime in Job's time ( Job 24:15 ), as it afterwards was in David's and Solomon's ( Psalms 50:18 ; Proverbs 6:24-29 ; Proverbs 7:5-9 ), Jeremiah's ( Jeremiah 5:8 ) and Ezekiel's ( Ezekiel 18:6 ), Christ's ( John 8:3-9 ) and the apostles' ( 1 Corinthians 6:9 ; 2 Peter 2:10 ).

3 . By its criminality. Job stigmatizes it as an act of infamy, and an iniquity to be brought before the judges (verse 11), meaning that, besides being a violation of the moral law ( Exodus 20:17 ), it is likewise an offence falling within the penal code of the land. Punished by death under Moses (Le Job 20:10 ; Deuteronomy 22:22 ), in patriarchal times it was visited by burning ( Genesis 38:24 ). Probably this was the penalty attached to it in the land of Uz (verse 12). Most heathen nations of antiquity pronounced it a capital offence.

4 . By its demerit. The sinner who defiled his neighbour's wife deserved to have the same sorrow meted out to himself—a thought euphemistically expressed in verse 10 ( vide Exposition). So David's sin against Uriah's wile was punished by Absalom's wickedness in lying with his father's concubines ( 2 Samuel 16:22 ).

5 . By its results. In addition to civil penalties and providential retributions, its ultimate issue is widespread sorrow, if not fatal ruin. Like a consuming fire, if persevered in, it has nothing but physical, moral, and eternal destruction for the perpetrator ( Proverbs 6:32 ; Proverbs 7:23 , Proverbs 7:26 , Proverbs 7:27 ; 1 Corinthians 6:18 ; Hebrews 13:4 ; Revelation 21:8 ). Even a solitary act is like the taking of a hot coal into one's bosom ( Proverbs 6:27-29 ). Not only does it demoralize the nature of him who commits it, but it spreads sorrow and desolation through the heart of her against whom it is committed. It breaks the peace of otherwise happy families. It awakens the demon of jealousy, even when it is not discovered. Detected or concealed, it is a secret fountain of death.

IV. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF MASTER AND SERVANT . (Verses 13-15.)

1 . The case supposed. Job instances a state of matters that might readily have occurred in his household, viz. the existence of some ground of complaint against him, the master, on the part of his manservant or maidservant, i.e. his bondman or bondwoman. Such contendings and disputings between master and servant, which are not unusual in modern free society, were much more likely to arise in ancient times when servants were simply slaves.

2 . The course pursued. In the event of any such charge or complaint being preferred against him, Job protests that he neither crushed it out by the strong hand of oppression nor tossed it aside with contemptuous indifference, but gave it the most kindly attention and the most patient, careful, and impartial examination. If his accusers proceeded to impeach him at a bar of justice, he did not deny them the right of public redress, as other masters might have done and as the Israelitish master was entitled by the Law to do. But counting them as persons, not as goods and chattels, he accorded to them equal rights in this matter with himself. Slavery in Job's house, as also in Abraham's, was a widely different thing from that practised in modern times.

3 . The reasons allied.

V. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF KINDNESS . (Verses 16-220.

1 . The objects of Job ' s compassionate regard. The poor and the needy, the hungry and the naked, the fatherless and the widow. The care of such persons is a dictate of nature, which, however, is frequently powerless to enforce obedience to its own precepts. Among heathen nations generally the helpless and the destitute have been neglected and left to perish, if not openly oppressed and destroyed. Religion, however, both natural and revealed, prescribes kindness to the poor and needy as one of its essential virtues. The Mosaic code provided special legislation for the poor (Le Job 19:10 , Job 19:13 ; Job 23:1-17 :22; Exodus 23:11 ; Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ; Deuteronomy 14:28 , Deuteronomy 14:29 ), for the widow ( Exodus 22:22 ; Deuteronomy 24:17 ; Deuteronomy 27:19 ), for the orphan ( Exodus 22:22 ; Deuteronomy 10:18 ; Deuteronomy 14:29 ). In the Hebrew Church these were the objects of God's peculiar care ( Psalms 68:5 ; Psalms 146:9 ; Jeremiah 49:11 ; Malachi 3:5 ). In the Christian Church they are regarded as Christ's brethren ( Matthew 25:40 ). The care of them a special duty of the pious ( James 1:27 ).

2 . Job ' s habitual behaviour towards the poor and needy. Previously described ( Job 29:11-17 ), it is here again set forth both negatively and positively.

(a) withholding the poor from their desire (verse 16), it might be from the wages for which they had toiled or the aims which they had craved;

(b) causing the eyes of the widow to fail, by denying her assistance or refusing her redress against her powerful oppressor ( Job 24:3 );

(c) eating his morsel alone, "in misery and grudging seclusion," lest the fatherless should see it and require to be invited to partake (verse 17);

(d) looking on with heartless unconcern while the naked shivered in their rags, and perished for want of clothes (verse 19);

(e) shaking the hand, i.e. using a threatening gesture towards the orphan who sued him in a court of justice, the moment he recognized the judges to be his friends (verse 21).

3 . The Spirit that inspired Job in his charitable deeds. He was afraid of the Divine retribution, and he stood in awe of the Divine majesty. It was the fear, not of man, but of God, that deterred him; the apprehension, not of unpleasant consequences in time, if he acted otherwise, but of the all-devouring wrath of the Almighty in the future.

4 . The proof that Job offered of his veracity in what he said. He invoked upon himself a curse if he had sinned in any of the ways above named, but more particularly if he had lifted up his hand against the orphan; he desired that his shoulder might fall from its shoulder-blade, and that his arm might be broken from its bone (verse 22).

VI. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF WORSHIP . (Verses 24-28.)

1 . The twofold idolatry from which Job had abstained.

(a) He had not allowed his confidence for time or for eternity to rest in the abundance of his gold. Probably money, in consequence of the seeming almightiness which belongs to it ( Ecclesiastes 7:2 ; Ecclesiastes 10:19 ), is the most formidable rival God encounters in his demands upon the human heart ( Matthew 6:24 ), which almost universally betrays a disposition to trust in uncertain riches rather than in the living God ( 1 Timothy 6:17 ). But Job had never permitted his gold to usurp the throne el his affections, had never even esteemed it as the chief good, and certainly had not accorded it the homage due to the Supreme. The all-absorbing devotion of a human soul to the pursuit or possession of wealth is idolatry ( Ephesians 5:5 ; Colossians 3:5 ), is incompatible with true piety ( Mark 10:24 ; 1 John 2:15 ), and should be carefully eschewed by all followers of Christ.

(b) He had not exultingly rejoiced in the greatness of his wealth. A person might stop short of actually reposing his heart's trust in his money, and yet be guilty of excessive delight therein. But not even of the common sin of setting too high an estimate upon his gold and silver, of looking on with inward gratification at the growing pile of his material goods, was Job guilty. Having the Almighty as his gold and his silver of strength ( Job 22:25 ), i.e. esteeming the Divine favour and fellowship as greater riches than any earthly treasures, it was impossible that the mere increase of material possessions could fill him with extravagant rejoicing. The most effectual way to prevent the soul from delighting in a creature is to teach it to delight in the Creator.

(c) He had not even arrogantly taken credit to himself for achieving his immense fortune. No doubt his personal industry and sagacity had contributed to the grand result ( Proverbs 10:4 ; Proverbs 13:4 ), but he piously refrained from saying. "My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth" ( Deuteronomy 8:17 ), probably remembering, as the Israelites were counselled to do ( Deuteronomy 8:18 ), that it was the Divine blessing alone which enabled him to become rich ( Proverbs 10:22 ).

2 . The twofold argument by which Job had been deterred. Had Job been addicted to either of the above specified forms of idolatry, he would have been guilty

VII. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF LOVE . (Verses 29, 30.) Job declares his manner of life in dealing with his enemies.

1 . Their treatment of him. They hated him. Their enmity was in all likelihood excited and fostered by his piety. Good men seldom pass through the world without meeting adversaries and opponents. David did not ( Psalms 38:19 , Psalms 38:20 ). St. Paul did not ( 1 Corinthians 16:9 ). Even Christ did not ( John 15:18 ). Neither can Christ's followers expect to live without molestation ( John 15:20 ). They that will live godly shall suffer persecution ( 2 Timothy 3:12 ).

2 . His treatment of them. Not only did he not rejoice in their destruction when evil fortune overtook them (verse 29), but he was conscious of never having wished that such evil fortune should overtake them (verse 30). To exult in the downfall of an enemy, if natural to the sinful heart, is yet heathenish, fiendish, diabolic ( Micah 7:8 ); it was sorely punished in the case of Edom when she rejoiced over Judah ( Obadiah 1:12 , Obadiah 1:13 ); it is explicitly condemned in the Old Testament ( Proverbs 24:17 , Proverbs 24:18 ); and is directly antagonistic to the spirit of the Mosaic Law ( Exodus 23:4 ; Le Exodus 19:18 ), and much more to that of Christ's gospel ( Matthew 19:19 ; Romans 13:9 ; Galatians 5:14 ; James 3:8 ), which enjoins not only a negative abstinence from wishing harm to one's enemies, the virtue which Job claimed (verse 30), but the positive bestowment on them of acts of kindness ( Matthew 5:44 ; Romans 12:20 ), which also we may be sure Job practised. Job's doctrine is here again a striking approximation towards the teaching of Christ, and Job's conduct a lofty exhibition of the spirit of Christianity, which will only shine out with brighter lustre if the reading (verse 31) be adopted which supposes Job was urged by the men of his tabernacle to avenge himself upon his adversary.

VIII. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF HOSPITALITY . (Verses 31, 32.) This also Job maintained he had observed:

1 . With conspicuous publicity. So open-handed had been his beneficence that with triumphant confidence he appealed to the members of his vast household to give witness in his behalf. They could testify, he was certain, that they had never seen a poor man depart unsatisfied from his mansion gate, but rather that they had every day beheld the contrary. So Job allowed his light to shine before men.

2 . With unrestricted liberality. So lavish had been his hospitality that his domestics could fairly ask—Where was the man whom their master had not sumptuously entertained? His table had stood open for all comers—for friends and relatives, as a matter of course, but also for strangers and travellers of every sort and degree. So did Abraham and Lot invite travellers and strangers to their tents ( Genesis 18:1-4 ; Genesis 19:1 ); so are Christians exhorted to be gives to hospitality ( Romans 12:13 ; Hebrews 13:2 ).

3 . With unstinted generosity. Not simply had he practised hospitality, but he had done so with no niggard band. The stranger he had welcomed to a lodging in his house. To the hungry traveller by the way he had extended, not a crust of bread merely, but a full meal, yea, a rich feast. So are Christians commanded to use hospitality without grudging ( 1 Peter 4:9 ).

IX. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF SINCERITY . (Verses 33-37.) The Language may be understood as conveying:

1 . An important admission. Job's use of the phrase, "my transgressions," is by some (Canon Cook) regarded as tantamount to an acknowledgment that, notwithstanding his blameless character and life, he was not free from sin—a statement which was certainly correct in itself, since "there is not a just man on earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" ( Ecclesiastes 7:20 ), and hopeful as an indication of the mind of Job, inasmuch as it proved he was not depending on his virtues for salvation, as well as comforting for those who should afterwards peruse the story of his life, and who but for this recognition of the fact of sin might be prone to think that Job's morality was beyond their reach. Still, it is open to grave question whether Job really intended to make this admission, or whether he did not rather design to convey an opposite idea, viz. that, as he had perpetrated no open crime, so neither was he hiding any secret wickedness. In either case his words contain:

2 . An emphatic protestation. He was not attempting, and never had attempted, to play the hypocrite by either denying his guiltiness in general, or concealing his wicked acts in particular. In all he had said to them about the manner of his life, as in all the approaches he had ever made to God, he had acted with transparent sincerity. There was no secret stain upon his soul which he had not confessed to God; there was no undivulged crime which he feared to make known to man. Pre-eminently Job claimed to be one in whose spirit there was no guile ( Psalms 32:2 ). Job's accents contain a ring of defiance, which seems to ask whether he was likely to be afraid of either the hootings of the mob or the contempt of the aristocratic families of the land, that he required to skulk within doors, and keep silent about anything that he had ever done. Doubtless Job was universally recognized as a man of courage; and, because it was so, he could appeal to that in proof of his sincerity. But beyond this his utterance, if really intended, exhibits:

3 . An instructive comparison . The contrast which Job institutes between himself and Adam, if the translation of the Authorized Version be followed, is a valuable authentication of the biblical tradition of the Fall. It proves that the writer of the Book of Job, to whatever age he belonged, accepted the story in Genesis concerning Adam as historically correct. By putting the name Adam into the mouth of one who flourished in pre-Mosaic times, it also demonstrates that, in the judgment of the author at least, the contents of the Hebrew narrative were credited beyond the bounds of Palestine at a time when the First Book of Moses was probably not yet composed. And now, having strenuously asserted that he was guilty of no concealment, he adds, in authentication of his truthfulness:

4 . A personal subscription. "Behold my signature!" he exclaims, alluding to the practice in ancient courts of law of submitting a defence in writing, attested by the signature or mark of the accused party, and meaning that, so far as he was concerned, so confident did he feel in his own integrity, and so well prepared was he to reply to any indictment that might be brought against him, that he was willing to see the case go to trial without delay. Nay, having tendered his defences, he closes with a shout of triumph, throwing out as his ultimatum:

5 . A sublime proclamation , in which he challenges his unseen adversary, God ( Job 9:15 ; Job 16:9 ), to draw up an indictment against him (Carey, Cox), or, according to another interpretation (Delitzsch), in which he draws attention to the already prepared indictment of his opponents, viz. the three friends. In either case he offers, if only God will allow the matter to go to trial, not to shrink from the ordeal of examination, but binding the indictment (God's or what of the friends) on his shoulder as a badge of distinction, "winding it around his head like a magnificent crown of diadems, (Delitzsch), to approach God with all the princely majesty of one who is conscious of innocence, and to lay bare before his searching gaze, with the most assured confidence of ultimate vindication, every step in his by-past career.

X. WITH RESPECT TO THE LAW OF PROPERTY , (Verses 38-40.)

1 . The crime which Job disowns. The fraudulent appropriation of land, by either withholding the stipulated rent or murdering the legal proprietor, was apparently not unknown in the days of the patriarch, as, alas I in our time it is both known and practised. But of any such iniquity Job's hands were clear. For every rood of soil he cultivated be had honestly paid the market price; and, of course, he had never dreamt of killing his landlord to get his farm, as Jezebel despatched Naboth to secure his vineyard.

2 . The curse which Job invokes. Had Job been guilty of any such wickedness, not only would his fields have cried out against him, and the furrows which he ploughed have wept over his ungodliness, but he would have richly deserved that Heaven's blight should descend upon his acres; and such a blight he prays to descend upon his broad domain if he has been guilty of any such wickedness as that which he has just disowned. "May thistles spring up instead of wheat, and darnel instead of barley!"

Learn:

1 . That the Law of God, i.e. the moral Law, or the law of holiness, has been the same from the beginning of the world until now.

2 . That the spirituality of the Law el God is only concealed from them who make no attempt to keep it.

3 . That the Law of God takes cognizance of man in every department of his being and every sphere of his life.

4 . That the Law of God is as certain and severe in its penalties as it is stern and imperative in its requirements.

5 . That the Law of God is the one absolute and invariable rule of life for men under the Christian as well as under the Mosaic or patriarchal dispensation, for the pardoned believer no less than for the unconverted sinner.

6 . That the true gauge of a soul's piety is the earnestness with which it endeavours to keep the Law of God in all its precepts.

7 . That the loftiest incentive to such a keeping of the Law of God is a reverential regard for the Lawmaker, especially as he is seen in Christ.

8 . That no mere man is able to keep the Law of God perfectly, even Job's performances being not altogether unmixed with sin.

9 . That the most dangerous thing a man can do with his transgressions of the Law of God is to cover them.

10. That that man is grossly deceived who imagines God could not indict him for violations of his Law, because he (the man) cannot indict himself.

11. That those who are advancing in holiness, or sincere keeping of the Law of God, should guard against being either too proud of, or too reliant on, their own attainments.

12. That the loftiest morality attainable on earth will not enable man to dispense with the services of a Daysman or Mediator.