Ver. 13. O that Thou wouldest defend me in hell!
13. That before the coming of the Mediator between God ix. and man, every person, though he might have been of a pure and approved life, descended to the prisons of hell, there can be no doubt; in that man, who fell by his own act, was unable by his own act to return to the rest of Paradise, except that He should come. Who by the mystery of His Incarnation should open the way into that same Paradise. For hence after the sin of the first man it is recorded, that a flaming sword was placed at the entrance of Paradise, Gen. 3, which is also called 'moveable*,' in that the time should, ^;^,^^j^_ come one day, that it might even be removed. Nor yet do til's, V. we maintain that the souls of the righteous did so go down into hell, that they were imprisoned in places of ])unishuienl; but it is to be believed that there are higher regions in hell, and that there are lower regions apart, so that both the
Job 14, righteous might be at rest in the upper regions, and the unrighteous be tormented in the lower ones. Hence the
Psahuist, by reason of the grace of God preventing him, says, Ps. 86, Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. Thus blessed Job before the coming of the Mediator, knowing of his going down into hell, implores the protecting hand of his Maker there, in order that he might be a stranger to the places of punishment; where, while he is brought to enjoy rest, he might be kept hidden from punishment. Hence he subjoins; transHt' That thou wouldest keep me secret^ until Thy wrath quite ' Vuig. pass by, X. 14. For the wrath of Almighty God does herein execute the force of its severity every day, that those who live unworthily it swallows up in most worthy punishments. Which wrath now indeed ' passes by,' but at the end it ' quite passes by,' in that now it is executed, but at the end of the world it is finally consummated. Yet this wrath as to the souls of the rigliteous ' quite passed by' on the coming of our Redeemer, in that those the Mediator between God •and man brought back from the prisons of hell to the joys of Paradise, when He did Himself go down there in pity. And on this subject it is necessary to be known, that the term ' wrath' does not suit the Divine Being, in that no disquieting influence disorders the simple nature of God. Wisd. Whence it is said to Him, But Thou^ Ruler of power, ' ' Judgest with tranquillity, and orderest us with exceeding great regard. But because the souls of the righteous were one day to be set free by the coming of the Mediator from the regions of hell, though not the places of punishment, this too the righteous man foresees, and beseeching adds;
And appoint me a set time, ivhen Thou shoiddest remember me. xi. 15. But tvhen the fulness of the time was come, Ood sent 4.^5*. ' forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law. Thus the man of the liOrd foreseeing this redemption, wherein many of the Gentile world as well were destined to be set free, as he Job JO, himself says; Though these things Thou dost hide in Thine heart, yet L know that Thou dost remember all things;
Our Lord the Death of death, the Biting oj" Hell. 55 prays for a time for the remembering of him, to be appointed Bdok him with Ahiiighty God. For it is hence that the Lord saith "
in the Gospel, A?id I, if I be lifted up from the earth, ivillJohnU, draw all things unto 3Ie, i. e. ' all things Elect;' for neither ^^* did the Lord, when He retm'ned from hell, draw the Elect and the lost together, but He bore off all those things from thence, which He did foreknow would have attached themselves to Him. Hence He also says by the Prophet Hosea, I will he thy death, O death; I itill be the biting of thee,B.osA3, O hell. Now what we put to death, we do our best that it ^'^' should not be at all, and of that which we bite, a part we take away, and a part we leave. Therefore whereas the Lord wholly destroyed death in His Elect members, He proved Himself the ' Death of death;' but whereas He took a part from hell, and left a part, He did not wholly destroy but did ' bite hell.' Therefore He says, / will be thy Death, O death; i. e. ' in Mine Elect, I utterly destroy thee. — I will be the biting of thee, 0 hell; in that in taking those away, I pierce thee in pari.' And so let blessed Job, knowing of this coming of our Redeemer to hell, pray for what he foresaw in the future, and let him say. And that Thou shoiddest appoint me a set time wherein Thou tcouldest remember me. It goes on;
Ver. 14. Thinkest thou that a dead man shall live again? "^"'g.
16. It is common with righteous men, in that which xii. they themselves feel to be sure and well-grounded, to urge something as if in doubting, so as to put the words of the weak into their own lips; and again by a strong sentence they gainsay utterly him that halts in doubtfulness, that by that which they are seen to put forth doubtfully, they may in some degree condescend to the weak, and hereby, that they deliver a sure sentence, they may draw the doubtful minds of the weak to firm ground. Which whilst they do, they are following the pattern of our Head. For our Lord, when He was near to His passion, took up the voice of those that were weak in Himself, saying, 0 My Father, if it be Matt. possible^ let this cup pass from 3Ie; and that He might" ' " remove their fear. He took it in Himself. And again shewing by obedience the force of strength, He saith. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as TIiou wilt. That so when that thing threatens
50 Job seems to doubt that he may confirm the Resurrection.
Job 14, us which we would not have take place, we should so in weakness pray that it may not, as that in strength we may be ready for the will of our Creator to be done, even in opposition to our own will. After this pattern, then, the words of weakness are sometimes proper to be adopted by the strong, that by their strong preachings afterwards the hearts of the weak maybe more acceptably strengthened. Hence blessed Job when he uttered words as of one in doubt, saying, Thinkest thou that a dead man shall live again? presently added the sentence of his sure belief, whereby he saith,
All the days that I now serve militant will I wait, till my change come. ^"1* 17. He that waits for his change with such ardent longing, shews how great his certainty was of the Resurrection, and he makes it appear how greatly he looks down upon the course of the present life, who designates it a ' service militant.' For in the militant state there is the going on continually to an end, day by day the finishing of the conclusion is expected. Thus he despises the course of this life, and looks for the settling of fixedness, who hereby, that he is serving subject to changcableness, is in haste to attain to his change. For to the just man in this life the very load of his corruption is burlhensome. Because watchings exhaust with weaiiness, sleep is sought, that the labour and harassing effect of watchings may be moderated: but sometimes even sleep kills. Hunger wastes the body, and that its craving may be banished, victuals are sought after: but frequently even the very victuals oppress, which had been sought in order to banish the oppression of debility. And so the load of corruption is a heavy burthen, which except it were so heavy, Eom. 8, Paul would never have said, For the creature was made subject
""" to vanity, not willingly, hut by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For ue know that the whole creation groaneth and iravaileth in pain together until now. So let the holy man, longing for the state of incorruption, say, All the days that I now serve militant uill I wait till my change come. In which same change what it is that takes place, he addsj Ver. 15. Thou shall call me, and I will answer Thee.
18. We are said to answer any one, when we do works in Book turn answerable to his deeds. Thus in that change the Lord
* calls,' and man ' answers,' in that, before the brightness of The Incorrupt, man is shewn forth incorrupt after corruption. For now so long as we are subject to corruption, we do not in any wise ' answer' our Creator, seeing that whereas corruption is far from incorruption, there is no similarity suitable to our answering. But of that change it is written, W/ien } John He shall appear, we shall he like Him: for we shall see ' Him as He is. Then therefore we shall truly ' answer God,' Who ' calleth,' when at the bidding of the Supreme Incorruption we shall arise incorruptible; and because the creature is not able to earn this by itself, but it is brought to pass by the gift of Almighty God alone, that it should be changed to that exceeding glory of incorruption, it is rightly subjoined;
Thou wilt stretch forth Thy right hand to the work of Thine hands.
19. As if he said in plain words; ' For this reason Thy ^xv. corruptible creature is able to hold fast unto incorruption,,; because he is lifted up by the hands of Thy power, and is 'i kept by the grace of Thy regard, that he should hold fast.' For the human creature by this alone, that it is a creature, has it inherent in itself to sink down below itself, but man has obtained it from his Creator, that he should both be caught above himself by contemplation, and held fast in himself by incon'uption. And so that the creature may not fall away beneath himself, but hold on in incorruption, he is lifted to the stedfastness of immutability by the right hand of His Maker. Moreover it may be that by the title of ' the Right Hand' the Son may be designated; in that, All things John l, were made by Him. Thus Almighty God ' stretched out His ^• Right Hand to the work of His hands,' because, that He might lift on high the human race, become refuse and grovelling in the lowest things. He sent the Only-Begotten One, made Incarnate for this end. By Whose Incarnation it has been vouchsafed to us that we, who fall into incorruption of our own will, should one time be enabled to answer God when He calls us in the glory of incorruption. Wherein who can estimate the bountifulness of Divine Mercy, that He should bring man after sin to such a height of glory.?
Job 14, God takes account of the bad things we do, yet by the grace
—— — ' of His lovingkindness He remits them to us in mercy. And hence it is added;
Ver. 16. For now Thou manherest my steps, hut Thou sparest my sins. xvi. 20. God ' numbers our steps,' when He marks each one of our several deeds for the recom}Densing them. For what is denoted by the steps, but each particular act of ours? Thus Almighty God both ' numbers our steps' and ' spares our sins,' in that He at once surveys our actions with exactness, and yet remits them in mercy to those that repent, Who both sees obduracy in those that sin, and yet softens it into penitence by preventing grace. Thus He ' numbers sins,' in that He turns us ourselves to bewail the several things which we have done. And He remits them in mercy, in that whilst we our own selves punish them, He Himself never judges them in the last reckoning, as Paul testifies,
1 Cor. who saith. For if we should judge ourselves.^ tve should not ' '\he judged. Hence it is further added;
Ver. 17. Thou hast sealed up as it were in a hag my transgressions; hut Thou hast healed mine iniquity. xvii. 21. Our ' transgressions are sealed up as it were in a bag,' in that that thing which we ourselves do in outward act, except we wash away by penance in the mean while, is kept in the secresy of God's judgments under a kind of hiding, that one day it may also come forth out of the bag of secresy into the publicity of the Judgment. Hence it is said by
Deut. Moses too; Is not this laid np in store with Me, and sealed
' ' up among My treasures? In the day of vengeance I icill repay them. But when for the evil things that we have done, we are bruised with the stroke of discipline, and lament the same by penance. He ' sealeth up,' and ' healeth' our iniquity, in that He neither leaves things unjmnished here, nor reserves them to be ]ninished in the.Judgment. Thus He ' seals transgressions,' in that He marks them with exactness here, to chastise them with the rod, but He ' heals' them, in that He wholly remits them in the stroke. Hence the iniquity of that persecutor of Him, whom He laid prostrate on the ground. He did also by sealing heal, seeing Acts n, that He said concerning him to Ananias: He is a chosen vessel unto Me to hear My Name he/ore the Gentiles, and Book kings, and the children of Israel. For I will sheiv h im how great things he must suffer for My Name's sake. For to that man, whom on account of past transgressions He still threatens with future sufferings, what he had done wrong, surely He kept sealed in the heart; but as surely in so sealing He had healed his transgressions, in that He called him ' a chosen vesseP.' Or, sm*ely, ' our transgressions are ' vas esealed in a bag,' when the evil ihings we have been guilty of, we reflect on continually with a heedful heart. For what is the heart of man, but God's ' bag?' wherein whilst we earnestly look to see how much we transgress, we carry our sins as it were ' sealed up in God's bag.' Did not David keep his sin ' sealed up in a bag,' when he said. For I acknoic-Fs.5i,3. ledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before m,e. And because the faults, which we are made acquainted with in reviewing and repeating, the pitiful Creator remits to us, after the ' transgressions being sealed in a bag,' it is rightly subjoined. But TJiou hast healed mine iniquity: as if he said in plain speech, ' What things Thou dost now seal, so that I in repenting should see, doubtless Thou doest it, that in the retribution they should never be seen.' It follows;
Ver. 18, 19. And surely the mountain falling slippeth away, and the rock is removed out of his place. The ivaters wear the stones, arid by icashing little by little the earth is consumed, and so Thou wilt in a like icay destroy man.
22. This is very often the case, that upon rocks falling, a xviii. piece of rock is removed to other places; that waters wear stones, and little by little the ground is wasted by the washings of the flood: but we have need to make out with great diligence that which is brought in; and man Thou icilt in a like ivay destroy. For what is that, that to a mountain falling, a rock removed, a stone worn hollow, and ground consumed by the washing of the flood, the ruin of man is likened, but this, which we are plainly given to understand, that there are two sorts of temptations, one sort, which passes in the mind even of the good man by sudden accident, that he should be so tempted of a sudden, that by the unexpectedness of the event it should make him reel, and bring him to the ground, and that he does not see his on The stroiif/ mind may be slowly worn, or fall suddenly. Job I4,flilling, until after he has fallen; while there is another which comes by little and little into the mind, and by gentle suggestions comipts the resistmg soul, and not by its excessivencss but by its importunity wastes all the powers of righteousness therein? And so, whereas there is one sort of temptation, which by a sudden assault very often brings the good down to the ground, let it be said. And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place, i.e. the holy mind, whose place was righteousness, is by a sudden impulse removed into sin. Again, because there is another sort of temptation, which infuses itself gently into the heart of man, and wears and wastes all the hardness of its resolution, let it be said, The waters wear the stones; in this way, viz. that the unremitted and soft flatteries of lust suck away the hardness of the soul, and the slow and penetrating evil habit corrodes the hard and forcible purpose of the mind. Hence it is added, A?id by washing the ground is coyisumed little by little. For as when water flows in, ' the ground is consumed little by little,' so when bad habit creeps on " by gentle degrees, even the strong mind is engulphed. Hence it is well added. And Thou wilt in a like way destroy man, i. e. in this way, that when Thou by a righteous appointment sufferest temptation of a sudden to get the dominion over the mind of him, who is seen to have his stand on high. Thou causest ' the mountain to fall and slip away,' and when the will is changed to evil, it is as if ' the rock were removed to a new place,' but whilst Thou lettest a gentle and fine yet unremitting temptation prevail over the minds of those, who are accounted strong, ' the waters in a manner wear the stones, and by washing, the ground is consumed little by little,' in that the hardness of the mind being subdued by gentle suggesting is made soft.
23. Let us sec how that David was a ' high mountain,' who was enabled to contemplate such great mysteries of God by the Spirit of prophecy; but let us mark how he ' slipped down,' by a sudden fall, who whilst walking on the solar, lusted after and carried ofl" another man's wife, and killed her husband with loss to his own army. Then ' fell a mountain with a sudden fall,' when that mind which was used to dwell with heavenly mysteries, was overcome by sudden Book temptation, and brought under to such most monstrous pollution. And so ' the rock was removed from its place,' when the mind of the prophet being shut out from the mysteries of prophecy came to imagine filthy things. Let us see moreover how ' the waters wear the stones, and by washing the ground is consumed little by little,' in that Solomon by an immoderate intercourse and frequency with women was brought to this pass, that he built a temple to idols: and he who had before erected a temple to God, by frequency of lust, being even bowed down under misbelief, was not afraid to erect idol-temples. And so it came to pass, that by unremitting wantonness of the flesh, he was brought even to misbelief of the spirit. What else then, but that the ' waters did wear away the stone, and by washing the ground was consumed little by little,' in that by the encroaching * of sin as it flowed in little by little, the ground ' sunriof his heart crumbled away unto wasting.? Thus let blessed P'®° ® Job consider both sorts of temptation, whether the sudden and excessive, or the gentle and prolonged sort, let him contemplate the falls of his fellow-creatures, and from those things which take place outwardly let him catch the keynote of his contemplation within, saying. And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place: the waters wear the stones, and by washing little by little the earth is wasted; and Thou wilt in like manner destroy men; i. e. ' as these things without sense at one time are brought to the gi'ound suddenly, at one time are worn little by little by the softness of water being let in; so likewise him, whom Thou hast created a reasoning creature, Thou dost either overthrow by sudden temptation, or permittest to be worn and wasted by a long and gentle one;' and that reasoning creature he directly describes in the following words, saying,
Ver. 20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little space, that he might pass by for ever.
24. Man has been ' strengthened here for a little space,' xix. in that he has received here powers of living for a while, that ^^'^• he should for ever pass away thither, where no end should bound and shut in his life, but in this moment's space where
62 Man, defaced by death, knows not things on earth save in God. Job 14, he has been ' strengthened,' he extracts that wherelrom in the everlasting world he may either find how always to have joy, or not ever escape the punishments he has entered upon. And for this reason, that ' he has been strengthened for a little space,' to ' pass away for everlasting,' it is fitly added immediately;
Tlioii wilt change his countenance, and send him away. XX, 25. * The face of man is changed,' when his form is wasted by death; but ' he is sent away,' in that from those things which he kept willingly he is necessitated to pass away to the eternal world against his will, and while he is brought thereunto, these things which he held long and thought on, how it will be with them now left behind him he knows nothing. Hence it is added;
Ver. 21. Whether his sons be in honour or dishonour, he perceiveth not. xxi. 26. For as they, who are still living, know nothing of the souls of the dead, in what place they are held; so the dead, concerning the life of those living after them in the flesh, know not at all how it is ordered; in that both the life of the spirit is far from the life of the flesh, and as the corporeal and incorporeal are things different in kind, so are they parted in knowledge. Which however is not to be imagined concerning holy souls, in that they which behold the brightness of Almighty God within, we cannot for a moment suppose that there is any thing without that they know not"*. But because carnal persons bestow their chief affection on their children, blessed Job declares that they are hereafter ignorant of that, which they loved here with all their heart, so that ' whether their sons be in honour or dishonour they know not,' whereas their care for these was always preying MoEAL. upon their minds. Which however if it is to be understood in a spiritual sense, with no unfitness by the title of sons we
1 Tim. have works denoted, as Paul saith of woman, Notwith-
' * standing, she shall be saved in childbearing. Not that a woman, who being devoted to continency never bears children,
Q. 82. Art. 8. prefers this opinion to rather againstsupposingsuchknowiedge that doubtfully given by St. Augustine, natural, than against the probability of
De cura gerenda pro Mortuis, c. xiii. its existing as a divine gift.
shall not be saved, but she is said to be ' saved by child- Book bearing,' because by the operation of good works she is '— united to everlasting salvation. Thus the children in honour are good deeds, and the children in dishonour are bad deeds. And often man strives to do things with a good intention, yet by reason of the many occasions that creep upon him, how his actions are accounted of in the sight of Almighty God is a thing uncertain. And so ' whether his sons be in honour or dishonour he perceiveth not,' in that his works being sifted with a searching scrutiny, whether they be approved or condemned he cannot tell. Thus here man is placed in the painfulness of labour, and thither he is brought in the fearfulness of misgiving. Hence it is yet further subjoined concerning the labour of the present life itself,
Ver. 22. Bui his flesh while he liveth shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over himself.
27. Concemmg the man-'ied Paul sajth, Nevertheless, such xxii. shall have trouble in thejlesh. But they may ' have trouble ^ 28? in the flesh here,' who are even now leading spiritual lives. Wherefore then is it said as it were in a sjjecial sense, that there is ' trouble of the flesh' to married persons, seeing that it is not far removed even from the life of the spiritual; excepting that those commonly meet with worse troubles from the flesh, who delight themselves w'ith the pleasures of the flesh? And it is well said, And his soul within him shall mourn over himself; in that whosoever desires to rejoice in himself, by this alone is henceforth in woe, viz. that he has gone far from the true joy. For the true joy of the soul is the Creator. Therefore it is meet that man should ever find in himself sorrow, who, forsaking His Creator, sought joy in himself. It proceeds;
Chap. XV. 1. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, Should a wise man answer as if speaking into the wind, and fill his belly with burning?
28. We have already said frequently that blessed Job xxiii. bears a type of the Holy Church universal, and that his-^^^^**- friends bear the likeness of heretics, who as it were on the plea of defence of the Lord find occasion of foolish talking, and let loose insulting words against good men; to whom all is displeasing that is thought by the faithful, as though it were
04 Heretics accuse Holy Church of presumption and ill living.
Job 15, uttered to the wind. Whence it is said now, Should a wise '• man answer as if speaking into the wind? Nor do they ac- " count the words of the good as the sayings of reason, but as the stingings of madness. Whence it is added. And shall he Jill his belly loith burning? in that those things even which they know themselves to say by way of insult, they are ever bent to palliate, as has been said, on the ground of defending the Lord. Whence Eliphaz adds;
Thou reprovest with ivords him that is not equal to thee, and thou speakest what is not expedient for thee. xxiv. 29. Now they suppose that no one has the fear of the Lord, saving him whom they can draw into the foolishness of their own confession. Hence he adds. Yea, thou easiest off fear, and hast taken prayer before God. ' Taken' means ' taken away;' as if he said in plain terms, ' Presuming on Thine own righteousness, thou scornest to implore the grace of Thy Creator.' For when heretics do not find real evils to urge against the good, they feign things to reproach them with, that they may seem righteous, and it very often happens, that they come to open words of insult. Whence it is still further added,
For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, and thou followest the tongue of the crafty.
30. ' Iniquity teaches the mouth,' when there is conceived by a bad life somewhat to be spoken of a worse kind. Now because blessed Job was free in speech in proportion as he was holy in action, by his friends, who hold the type of heretics, he is found fault with at once on the grounds of a wicked life and of a bold mouth, so that it should be said. Thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth. As if it were said to him in plain words, * What thou speakest wickedly, thou hast learnt of a more wicked life.' But it often happens that heretics, whilst in seeming they venerate God, oppose His mysteries, and they think it humility if they deny the truth. For there arc some, who imagine that they are bringing injury upon God, if they confess that He took true flesh, or if they should think that^.He was capable of really dying for us in the flesh. And whilstthey endeavour as it were to bestow upon God a greater degree of honour, they are enforced to deny the real praises' of His goodness. For in praise of His charity what is there more efficacious, than that in our behalf He should make those Book
• XII things meet to Himself for the undertaking them, which seem '- for Him unworthy. But Holy Church confesses His very and true Flesh, His very and true Death, but in declaring these things she is thought by Heretics to put an indignity upon God. Whence it is said now, A7id thou followest the tongue of them that hlaspheme. And if any piece of adversity befall her in this world, they say that it was brought upon her by this very injuriousness of her confession. Hence it is yet further added;
Ver. 6. Thine own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips shall answer thee.
31. For because they suppose that the evils of adversity xxvi. break out in consequence of the erroneousness of confession; they say that ' her own lips shall answer her,' so that fault of utterance should be the cause of the scourge. But sometimes they desire to repress it as if by reasoning; whence Eliphaz sets himself to reprove blessed Job as it were on principles of reason, saying, Ver. 7, 8. Art thou the first man that was horn? or wast thou made before the hills 9 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and shall His wisdom be inferior to thee?
32. As if He said in plainer words, ' Thou, who speakest xxvii. of the Eternal One, consider that thou art a creature of time. Thou that arguest concerning His wisdom, remember that thou knowest not His counsel.' But that Heretics for this take up the words of the defence of the Lord, that they may appear to be learned, and whilst they seem to defend the glory of God, are making known their knowledge to men, the very words of Eliphaz subjoined bear witness, who began indeed to speak of the wisdom of God, but immediately fell into self-elation, saying,
Ver. 9. What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou which is not in us?
Which same sentences plainly shew in what exaltation of mind all that comes forth, which sounds as if it were for defence of the Lord. It goes on;
Ver. 10. With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.
33. That all Heretics are gone out of the Holy Church xxviii.
66 Heretics fake tronhle for judgment, contemplation for hypocrisy. Job 15, Universal, Jolni testifies, when he says. They nent out from us, hut they were not of us. But that those things which 1 John they maintain they may recommend to the weak minds of 2' ^'^- their fellow-creatures as on the grounds of antiquity, they testify that they have ancient fathers, and the very Doctors of the Church themselves they declare are the masters of their school; and whilst they look down upon present preachers, they pride themselves with unfounded presumption on the tutorage of the ancient fathers, so that they avouch that the things they themselves assert the old fathers held as well, in order that what they are not able to build up in truth and right, they may strengthen as by the authority of Heb. 12 those. But because it is wi'itten, Wltom the Lord loveth He ®- chasteneth, and scour geth every son uhom He receiveth, oftentimes Holy Church travails with countless adversities in this life, and the life of the children of perdition is let to go free of the scourge, in proportion as it is not reserved for any rewards. But Heretics seeing the tribulations of Holy Church, look down upon her, and fancy that she is bruised profes- by such a multitude of strokes, in due of a false creed ^ Hence it is yet further added;
Ver. 11. Is it a great thing that God should console thee? But thine evil words prevent this. xxix. '^^- ^^ ^^ ^^6 ^^^^ *o him in plain words; ' If thou wouldest amend thy profession of faith, thou mightest long ago have had consolation in thy scourges' It goes on;
Ver. 12. Why does thine heart lift thee up, and hast thou thine eyes astonished as thinking of great things 'f XXX. 35. Often the mind of the righteous is so suspended in contemplating things on high, that outwardly their face seems to have been struck with stupefaction. But because Heretics are not taught to enforce the power of contemplation in secret, they think that it is done by the just, and those that are imbued with a right understanding, more in hypocrisy than in truth, in that wliat they cannot themselves obtain the possession of, they do not suppose exists in others in a genuine way. It goes on;
Ver. 13. Why doth thy spirit swell against God, that thou lettest such words go out of thy mouth? xxxi. 36. Very often when the righteous are afflicted with any woes, they are forced to confess their works, as blessed Job Book had done, who after just living was pressed down by the - strokes of the rod; but when the unrighteous hear their sayings, they think that they are uttered in self-exaltation rather than in truth. For they weigh the words of the righteous by their own feelings, and do not think that good words can be said in a humble spirit. For as it is a great sin, for a man to ascribe to himself what there is not, so it is commonly no sin at all if he speaks with humility the good that there is. Hence it often happens that the just and unjust have words that are like, but always a heart that is widely unlike, and by the same sayings for which the Lord is offended by the unrighteous. He is even propitiated by the righteous. Thus the Pharisee when he entered the temple said, I fast titice in the week; I give tithes of all that /Lukeis, possess. But the publican went out justified more than he. Hezekiah too, the king, when he was afflicted with sickness of the body, and brought to the last point of life, said with his heart pierced in prayer, Remember trow, O Lord, /Is. 38, beseech thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart. Nor yet did the Lord disregard this confession of his perfectness, or refuse him, whom He immediately heard effectually in his prayers. See, the Pharisee justified himself in act, and Hezekiah maintained himself to be just in thought as well, and by the same act by which the one offended, the other propitiated God. AVherefore then was this, but that Almighty God estimates the words of each by the thoughts within, and in His ear those are not high, which are uttered with a lowly heart? Hence blessed Job, when he put forward his deeds, did not in the least degree swell out against God, in that those things which he had really done, he spoke with a humble spirit. Now Heretics are accustomed to mix some true points with the statements of their erroneous persuasions. And the friends of blessed Job, though in the reproving of him they are altogether deceived, may yet even say some things true, which they learnt by frequent communication with him. Whose words were they all to be contradicted, the Apostle Paul would never have brought forward the sentence of
Eliphaz, saving, He taketh the iiise in their own craftiness, i Cor.
Job 15, And so, because those things which they say right, they do -j-^f— not rightly say against blessed Job, let us in their sayings Moral, at oucc tread under our feet the mischief of indiscretion, and sift the marrow of rightness. It goes on;
Ver. 14. What is man, that he should he clean? xxxii. 37. For hereby alone that he is called ' man' he is described as earthly and weak; for man is so named" from the earth. And how is it possible for him to be free from stain, who being made of earth of his own will fell into infirmity? where it is added; And he that is horn of a woman, that he should he righteous? For the first piece of unrighteousness the woman proffered to the man in Paradise. And so how shall he appear righteous, who was born of her that proved the bidder of unrighteousness? It goes on;
Ver. 15. Behold, among His saints there is no one that is unchangeable; the heavens are not clean in His sight. xxxiii. 38. He repeated that with the title of ' the heavens,' ^^^' which he before denoted by the appellation of tlie 'Saints.' Ps 19,1. jpqj, jj. jg vvritten concerning those very Saints; The heavens are telling the glory of God; all of whom have by nature in themselves changeableness proper to them, but while they earnestly desire to attach themselves always to the unchangeable ' Truth,' in attaching themselves they bring it to pass that they become unchangeable; and whilst they keep themselves fixed thereto with a full affection, they one day obtain that being carried above themselves, they get the better of this, that in themselves they were changeable. For what is changeableness but a kind of death? which while it changes one thing into another, as it were kills that which was, that that should begin to be which was not. And it is written 1 Tim. concerning the Author of all things, Who only hath unchangeableness, in that He only is unchangeable in Himself. Jam. 1, Concerning whom it is written by James; With JVhotn is no variableness, neither shadow of changing. For changeableness itself is a shadow, which if it altered the light by any changes, would as it were obscure it. But because in God changeableness entereth not, ' no shadow of changing' intercepts His Light. Now it is well said, the heavens are not clean in His sight, in that by themselves before the strict cognizance of God ^ ' homo' from ' humus,' as Hebrew ' Adam.' not even they can be clean to perfection, who are preachers Book of cleanness, as John testifies, who saith. If we sag that ice Ar-r-^ have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If then ' among Hiss. ' Saints there is no one unchangeable, and tlie heavens are not clean in His sight,' who may presume in himself upon the practice of righteousness? Hence it is further added;
Ver. 16. Hoiv much more abominable and useless is man, which drinketh iniquity like icater'^
39. He who first said it was impossible that man should xxxiv. of himself be clean from sin, and righteous, calls him ' abominable' and ' useless;' ' abominable' on account of the uncleanness of his stain, but ' useless' on account of the unrighteousness of an imperfect life; who however may be understood as ' abominable and useless' in another sense. For often a bad man seems to do some things rightly, but by those things which are wrong, even those which are right belonging to him are brought to nought; and because the evil ones are very displeasing to God, neither are those pleasing which seem to be good. And so he, that is ' abominable' before God in his evil things, is ' useless' in the good; in that whilst he shews himself an object of execration to God by wicked deeds, neither is that which seems right proceeding from him well-pleasing. And it is well said. Which drinketh iniquity like icater. For what is eaten is swallowed not without delay, seeing that it is chewed in order to be swallowed; but what is drunk has no hindrance to be swallowed, in proportion as it hath again no need to be chewed. And so because sin is committed by the foolish man without any drawing back, iniquitg is drunk like water. For because he does unlawful things without fear, he swallows the draught of iniquity without let or hindrance. It goes on; Ver. 17. / will shew it thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare to thee.
40. All arrogant persons have this proper to them, thatxxxv. when they have a right notion, though the thing be little, they wrest it to serve the turn of pride, and by the same act whereby from understanding they might to themselves be raised higher, from swoln pride they only fall into the pit of selfexalting, and account themselves better instructed than the learned, and they exact respect for themselves from their
JoH 15, betters, and stand upon it to teach as with authority those
^ — - ' that are holier men. Hence it is now said, / will sheiv thee, Alleg..
hear me. And because he teaches with less authority who tells things that he has heard, than he who tells those things which he has seen, in order that Eliphaz may claim to himself the stronger kind of authority, he says, And that which I have seen I will declare. But because Heretics are somelimes confounded by their fathers being condemned, and yet bring forward as it were with authority the sentences of those, by whose folly they are deservedly rejected; the very audacity of Heretics is itself rightly introduced, when it is said,