Behold, God will not cast away— Lo! as God doth not cast away the perfect man, so neither doth he strengthen the hands of the wicked; Job 8:21. Therefore he will again fill thy mouth with laughter, &c. Houbigant. This appears a kind of sarcastical conclusion; in which Bildad observes, that, though the hypocrite perishes in the manner above described, yet God will never reject the good man; and therefore, if Job were really such a one, which he appears greatly to doubt, he might be assured that God's providence would remarkably display itself in his behalf.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,
1. Bildad's hasty reproof of Job: How long wilt thou speak these things? impatient in thy complaints, obstinate in self-vindication, disregarding the good advice that was given thee, and charging God foolishly. How long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? rude to thy friends, and insolent against the Almighty. Note; Reviling language shews both a bad disputant, and a weak cause.
2. His vindication of God. Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? No; the Judge of all the earth must do right. So far the truth was evident, and none would dispute it; but he was greatly mistaken in,
3. The application. He supposes Job's children wicked, and himself a hypocrite; and intimates, that the awful providences upon him were the consequences thereof. If thy children have sinned against him, which he concludes from their sudden death, and he have cast them away for their transgression, it was an act of justice. If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty, notwithstanding all these heavy visitations, if thou wert pure and upright, as thou pretendest to be, surely now, without delay, would God appear to comfort and restore thee: he would awake for thee, to rebuke thy afflictions, and make the habitation of thy righteousness, in which thou maintainest thyself, prosperous; which would be the sure evidence of his approbation; then, though thy beginning was small, reduced as thou now art, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. He seems to advise him as a friend, but insinuates a strong suspicion of his hypocrisy, and makes two suppositions. [l.] That extraordinary afflictions are always the punishment of extraordinary sins. [2.] That righteousness was always blessed with outward prosperity: both which are false, and yet God's judgment and justice in no wise impeached thereby. Note; (1.) In every affliction it is good advice to fly to God for help. (2.) We can have no good hope that he will answer us, if we are conscious of our own hypocrisy before him. (3.) God's blessing can soon make a little afford a great increase. (4.) Though men call us hypocrites, if God knows our simplicity, it need little move us.
2nd, From the miserable disappointment and end of the hypocrite and ungodly, Bildad goes on to infer, that the similar effects in Job's case proceeded from a similar cause.
1. He appeals to the experience of former ages for the truth of what he was advancing, and bids Job search for the traditions of the ancient fathers in proof of his argument, as he wished not to rest the matter on their own authority, who, though men of age and experience, were but of yesterday, creatures of a day, compared with the age of those who had gone before; and knew nothing, comparatively speaking, because their days upon earth were a shadow, so soon gone, and afforded less time for the improvement of knowledge, and opportunity of observation. But if he would be at the pains to require of those impartial judges, he would, doubtless, receive satisfaction. Note; (1.) The experience of God's saints of old, recorded in the word of truth, should be diligently inquired into, and applied to our own case. (2.) We are not now, through mercy, left to precarious tradition, but have God's infallible oracles to guide us. (3.) There is a great deference due to age and experience, and, in general, to consult with these is to do wisely.
2. He illustrates his main position by a variety of similitudes. Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? these are their nourishment and support. Whilst it is yet in its greenness, seems most flourishing, and not cut down by the scythe, of its own accord it withereth before any other herb, or in their presence, they looking on, and deriding its fall. So are the paths of all that forget God. Though planted in earth, and fed with the mire of sensual indulgencies, prosperous for a while, and flourishing; yet at best they are hollow and useless, and in a moment they wither under the blasts of God's displeasure; and the hypocrite's hope perisheth. Fair as their profession seemed, and well-grounded as their hope appeared, a day of trial, like the scorching sun, exhales the water, and, their worldly supports being withdrawn, they perish for ever; whose hope shall be cut off in black despair, and whose trust shall be as the spider's web, or house, spun from their own bowels of self-sufficient righteousness, too weak to make a cable for hope's anchor, and too thin for garments to hide the shame of their nakedness; swept away without resistance by the besom of destruction, and affording no more shelter for the soul against divine justice, than the hole of the spider. He shall lean upon his house, his prosperity, his religious profession, his moral duties, his external worship and services, but it shall not stand; tottering on the sandy foundation, it can yield the hypocrite no support; he shall hold it fast, cling to it, as the spider to her web, refusing to be beat out of his vain confidence and self-dependance, but it shall not endure; his prosperity shall fail, and his false professions be detected. He is green before the sun, like a flourishing tree, while the world smiles; or in the eyes of men he appears eminently blest, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden, strong and vigorous, and fenced on every side. His roots are wrapped about the heap, strike deep, and he seeth the place of stones, or house of stones, grow so high as to overlook the stateliest building. Such is the appearance often of prosperous iniquity, and so high the hypocrite lifts his head. If he destroy him from his place, as God assuredly will, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee: so complete will be the extirpation, that neither root nor branch will be left. Behold, this is the joy of his way, spoken ironically, this is what it comes to at last; and out of the earth shall others grow; either hypocrites, like them, who take no warning by their end; or good men, for whom the wealth of the sinner is laid up. Note; (1.) Hypocrisy among professors is the most common and deadly weed that grows in the church and garden of God upon earth. (2.) Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of all iniquity. (3.) The self-righteous formalist, fair as he may appear without, hath his spider's poison within; and, though he pride himself in his works and duties, they will be found as unable to bear the severity of God's justice, as the spider's web to bind Leviathan. (4.) Though worldly prosperity continue long with sinners, even until death, yet then, at least, the axe will be laid to the root of the tree, and all their hopes perish.
3rdly, Bildad here sums up his discourse, confident that every man would receive from God according to his work; but, as he looked no farther than temporal rewards and punishments, and extended no view to eternal ones, his inference was utterly defective.
1. The holy and pious man God will not cast away: however great his distress might be for a season, joy and gladness would again return, and peace and plenty crown his head, to the confusion of all that hated him.
2. The evil-doers God never will help out of the pit into which they are fallen, but their dwelling-place shall be covered with perpetual desolations. Hence he puts the issue of the controversy on the return of Job's prosperity; insinuating, that the continuance of his afflictions, from which there now appeared no prospect of deliverance, would be a full evidence of his insincerity and iniquity. Note; (1.) Though here the same event cometh in some sense alike to all, it is a blessed and comfortable truth, that in eternity God's justice shall be vindicated in the everlasting salvation of the righteous, and the eternal condemnation of the wicked. (2.) Till this great day comes, we may not conclude from men's outward circumstances either God's love or hatred, but must, in various circumstances, wait patiently to know the true characters of men, and judge nothing before the time when every man shall receive according as his work is.