CONCERNING JOB. But how by Man can this be done? I now may say to Man; The Leviathan there's none can slay, The way I said to him; And now the same I say to mas Can you destroy your foe, 107 Ch. xli. last verse. - He beholdeth all high things; he is a King over all the children of pride. Now from the verse that there is mention'd So unto he I then did sav, And I did turn his enemies, That judg'd there was deceit My thundering voice shall come; That wish my Kingdom near; 1 CONCERNING JOB. 109 In chap. viii. Job is deeply condemned by his friends, verse 13-And the hypocrite's hope shall perish-Chap. xi. 2, 3, Job is again reproved by his friends-Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold their peace ? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Chap. xv. Job is again reproved by his friends, verse 4, 5-Yea thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God: For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. Chap. xx, Job is again reproved by his friends, verse 5-The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. This they laid to Job, that his triumph was the triumph of the wicked, and his joy, the joy of the hypocrite, which they said should perish like his own dung; and they which saw him, should say where is he? Therefore Job might well say, in chap. xxi. 27-Behold I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me. But how do his friends reprove him, in chap. xxii. 5, 6, 7 -Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. But see what Job answers for himself, in chap. xxix. 12, 13-I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Now let God be true and every man a liar: for in the same manner that the Lord spoke of JOB to the Devil, in the same manner he justified Job to his friends. So, blessed be God, a good conscience is better than ten thousand witnesses. For so Job was able to justify himself; and their boasting as fools was but for a moment; and thus will be the boasting of all those who judge of things they know nothing about, as Job's friends judged him. "They neither knew the cause, nor his life; and therefore they drew a proud and ignorant judgment; but were soon cut down in their own boasting, and brought upon themselves what they blamed JOB for that they had judged as hypocrites, condemning the innocent, and clearing the guilty. For though they did not discern what they were doing: yet in the manner they condemned Job, they joined with his accuser, which was the Devil, who condemned him to MF. Now remember what I told thee in 1792: thy cause was like Job's cause; and thy friends were like Job's friends; and because they could not account for my wondrous working with thee, they were sometimes silent; and when they spoke, they spoke wrong; for when they drew their judgment, they drew it from the Devil. And now I will prove they are perfectly like Job's friends; for while they are boasting of their great goodness to ME, and the great merits of their SAVIOUR, they are just like JOB's friends, that wanted to make their GOD the Liar, by denying the PROMISE that was made in the Fall; and by denying the fulfilment of the Merit of my Death. Now, as I said by Jов, І say by thee: if Job had said of himself. what his friends said of him, he could not have said he was a perfect and upright man; for, then he must have given his God the lie, and denied the truth of what I said to Satan concerning him. And just the same I say of thee: shouldest thou speak after the manner of the world, to say thy writings were from thy own invention, thou must give the SPIRIT the lie; as I have said through thy writings that they came from ME. Now, if thou sayest they are from the Devil, then thou must be openly obeying him. But here in thy heart thou hast often pondered like Job, when confusion has filled thy mind, and knew not from whence they came. How often has this been thy CONCERNING JOB. 111 complaining-Oh! that I could come before the Lord! Oh! that I could bow myself before the Most High! has been, And now to Man I bold will come : Satan did thee condemn; Thou never would'st give up In wisdom shine the thoughts of thine, : Though 'tis from Hell some men do tell, Thou'st honour'd great my Name. |