And if it be not so now— But since this is by no means the case at present, who, &c. See Houb. and Heath.
REFLECTIONS.—1st. The argument in dispute is, whether the wicked were not always pursued with marks of the divine displeasure in this world. Job constantly denies the assertion.
1. He begins with an inference drawn from the close of the former chapter: Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, whose all-capacious mind comprehends in one view the past, the present, and the future, and according to whose will all events are directed; Why, if, as you assert, the wicked are always miserable, do they that know him, who are acquainted with his will and ways, and favoured with his love, not see his days of executing judgment in this life on the ungodly? which they certainly would, if, as you affirm, they were always punished here, whereas the very contrary is evident. Note; Whatever strange dispensations of Providence appear, we may be assured that God hath not forsaken the earth: he sees and orders all with infinite wisdom, and at last we shall adore, and wonder, and praise him, when we shall see his great designs laid open to our view.
2. He proves, in a variety of instances, the prosperity of the wicked; who, though the most unjust and cruel oppressors, go on with impunity. They rob men of their estates, and plunder them of their cattle. If the poor have but a single beast, they make a prey of it, and regard not the cries of the widow or fatherless: insolent and overbearing, it is dangerous but to stand in their way, and the poor are forced to hide themselves for safety. Intractable and wanton as the wild asses, they make plunder their trade, and, rising early, pursue their prey, living upon the fruits of their robbery. The corn which others sowed they reap, and gather the vintage of the wicked, devouring even one another; or the wicked gather the vintage of the just, oppressed by them. The almost naked are stripped of the few rags which covered them, and, merciless, they leave them in cold and hunger to pine and shiver on the barren mountain, or under the dreary rock. Even the fatherless babe they pluck from the breast, to sell as a slave, and take the pledge of the poor, or the poor for a pledge, seize them for debt, and make them their bondmen: they have no pity on the naked to cover them; and if he has gleaned but one sheaf of corn to satisfy his hunger, even that they violently take from him. Imprisoned within their walls, and doomed to hard servitude, the poor are compelled to make their oil, and tread their wine-presses, yet dare not quench their thirst with the juice of the grape. Under such oppression, even in the cities as well as the country, men groan without redress; and the soul of the wounded, struck and hurt for daring perhaps to complain, crieth out, but in vain; yet God layeth not folly to them, suffers all this sin of grievous rapine and cruelty, and interposes not with any distinguished judgments. Note; (1.) God takes notice of the sinner's wickedness, though he, from his success, promises himself impunity. (2.) It is doubly cruel to injure the fatherless and widow. (3.) They are wicked and hard-hearted masters, whose servants are scarcely suffered to live by their labour; and there is a master in heaven, who will right them shortly.
2nd, Like Ezekiel's chamber of imagery, Job goes on to describe greater abominations which pass in this world often with impunity. They are of those that rebel against the light, resist the remonstrances of conscience, and wilfully and deliberately plunge themselves into the grossest crimes; they know not the ways thereof, they refuse to know, and shun the light of truth, nor abide in the paths thereof, preferring the dark ways of wickedness before it: or, literally, the daylight is odious to them; they choose the darkness, if possible, to hide their guilty deeds. Vain attempt! while God's eye, clearer than the sun, pierces the thickest shades, and the night to him is as bright as the day. We have,
1. Their sins—murder, adultery, and house-breaking. Rising with the light, the murderer seizes the early traveller, and, though poor and needy, and there is little to be got from him, yet killeth him, as if thirsting for blood, and at night is as a thief, robbing whatever he can seize. The adulterer, ashamed to perpetrate his designs publicly, waiteth for the night, and still, in fear of discovery, disguiseth his face; and, tempted by the false hope of secrecy, rushes to the horrid deed. The robber, in the day, prowls in quest of prey, and, having marked the place and house, at night breaks through and steals. Note; (1.) Though blood in many instances be not discovered here, the day will come when it will cry for vengeance. (2.) However secret the adulterer's crime be kept, his shame shall not be covered when, on the day of judgment, the mask is plucked away.
2. Though they succeed in their enterprises, they carry about them continual terror. They know not the light, dare not be seen in it, are afraid of discovery. The morning is to them as the shadow of death, so unwelcome; if one know them, guilt flashes in their faces, and dread of deserved shame and punishment seizes them; they are like men just expiring in the terrors of the shadow of death. Note; A state of wickedness is a state of trembling: however pleasurable or profitable the sin, the continual alarm, through fear of discovery, embitters all.
3rdly. We have,
1. The farther character of the wicked. He afflicts the barren with reproach, oppresses the widow, and not even the mighty are safe; so daring is he, that when he riseth up no man's life is secure.
2. Notwithstanding all his complicated sins, it is given him to be in safety; and, instead of being affected with God's patience, and becoming penitent, he resteth thereon, promising himself continual impunity. Yea, he is exalted; so far from undergoing any distinguished suffering, he rears his head high, and, if not beloved, is feared and obeyed. Note; Prosperity often hardens the sinner, but he is least safe when most secure. For,
3. The time of recompence will come, though not here, yet in death at least. Short lived is his joy, though it endure to the last gasp; for swift as water his days are hurrying by; and, however happy he appears, the curse of God is upon him; and when he is gone, he shall no more behold the possessions in which he gloried. His remembrance shall be blotted from his parent earth. Broken down as a tree, the worms shall feed upon his carcase in the dark: secure as he was, God's eye still marked his winding way; and, as wicked men before him were, he shall be swept away from the earth, when the measure of his iniquities is full, as the ears of ripe corn are cut down. In the grave he shall be consumed, and there all his glory shall perish with him, as the snow is melted before the scorching sun. Note; Though vengeance be slow, it is sure: the longest period of a sinner's reign is a few short days, a fleeting moment of life.
4. He challenges them to confute the truths that he had advanced, to prove him a liar, or invalidate his arguments; else must they quit the field, and own the prosperity of the wicked; and that not here, but hereafter, their recompence from God awaited them; and, consequently, that their judgment, who concluded him a wicked man merely because of his afflictions, was rash and censorious.