(Continued from page 72.)
3.-The second challenge of Satan and its results.
Again Satan presents himself before God as at the first, and again the Lord asks concerning Job, faithful in spite of the afflictions through which he had passed. Unabashed by his failure to move Job, Satan makes fresh demands, coupled with fresh accusations. " Skin for skin"-to save part of his skin man will give up another part; yea, to save his life he will surrender everything he has, including his fear of God. Hitherto God had not allowed Job's body to be touched; let the hand of God be laid upon that, and how quickly will Job's vaunted piety disappear.
We may be sure that divine love, as well as divine wisdom, subjected this afflicted child of God to fresh assaults at the hands of Satan. We see the tenderness in the words, " Save his life." The enemy is to do all, and thus prove the falsity of his own charge. Every prop is to be removed, every earthly joy taken away, and still Job will cleave to the God whom he has trusted, even though dimly. And on the other hand, through the very exercises through which he must pass, Job will learn the lesson of all lessons, for all eternity, that God is all in all; and as a step to that knowledge, he will see that he is nothing.
It is not necessary that we should know the exact nature of the disease which fell upon Job. Some have thought it to be leprosy, the most hopeless, loathsome and deadly of all human affections. Others have named it elephantiasis, a repulsive and fearful disease in which every part of the body is affected. It is accompanied not only by the distortion and swelling of the limbs, which gives it its name, but by putrid inflammation extending throughout the entire frame. It "begins with the rising of tubercular boils, and at length resembles a cancer spreading itself over the whole body, by which the body is so affected that some of the limbs fall completely away."
Without going into speculation, however, we may recall the solemn warnings of God if His people should depart from Him:"The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed" (Deut. 28:27, 35). When, in Old Testament times, practically all God's dealings with men were on an earthly plane, it is evident that such an affliction would be regarded as a particular token of His displeasure-at least by those who had not learned the varied uses of adversity in the school of God. We shall find that practically all-Job's friends, and even himself – labored under this misapprehension; and this accounts for the long and painful controversy between them, in which neither side could reach what God could approve.
And, apart from revelation, how wretched and hopeless was Job's condition! Who that knew him in the days of his prosperity could have recognized him in the abject misery of his present condition, sitting in ashes and scraping himself with a potsherd ? The ashes suggest his mourning for his losses, especially his bereavement; the potsherd might well typify his own broken condition, and while he vainly seeks to alleviate the intolerable pain and itching of his "putrefying sores," his self-contemplation is equally powerless to alleviate the sufferings of his soul.
The wife is the first to break down completely. As "the weaker vessel" this is not surprising, for the husband should ever be the leader in faith and love, as in the responsibilities which he cannot transfer to another. But there is something more than the outward collapse of faith; there seems to be a spirit of apostasy which had listened to the lie of Satan. As the woman of old was beguiled by the attractiveness of Satan's snare, so she seems to have fallen before the apparent hopelessness of Job's contending against a "sea of troubles."
The wives of men of faith have not always been on the same plane as their husbands. Sarah counseled Abraham to resort to human expedients to secure the promises. Zipporah evidently stood in the way, for a time, of Moses acting in faithfulness in his family (Exod. 4:24-26). Michal mocked when David exhibited the joy and liberty which a sense of grace always gives (2 Sam. 6:16, 20-23). Faith must necessarily be an individual matter between the soul and God. It cannot be received at second hand. On the other hand, however, God abundantly blesses the family of the man of faith, and often gives him the joy of seeing those dear to him resting also in the unfailing faithfulness of One who invites all to trust in Him.
We will not dogmatize about Job's wife. The root of the matter may have been in her, and she may have been only for a time overwhelmed by her grief. But her words are very evil;:" Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die." It has been thought that her love to Job prompted these words; that she could not endure seeing one so dear to her suffering such torture, and practically counseled suicide. We can leave her case with Him who searcheth the heart, and seek to get the benefit of Job's noble reply:" Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What ! Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" She was associating herself with the profane who despise God. She had been quite willing to enjoy good things at the hand of God, and no doubt to acknowledge Him as the Giver. If now He sees fit to send trial, shall we refuse to take it as meant for good ? It was God who was the giver in each case.
Alas, how few of us can bear adversity! "If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."And yet can we, would we, escape suffering in a world like this ?In one form or another, at one time or another, it must come.
"Aliens may escape the rod,
Nursed in earthly, vain delight.
But a true-born child of God,
Must not, would not, if he might.''
Judging from what follows, we might include the visit of Job's friends in the general assault of Satan. In that way we speak of that assault as threefold:first, circumstantial, in the disasters upon his property and family and himself; second, personal, in the advice of his wife and the arguments of his friends; third, inward, in the doubts of the goodness and justice of God which Job entertained. But strictly speaking, Satan's work ended when he launched his four bolts against Job and then smote him with disease.
These three friends of Job were evidently persons of age, rank and indeed piety. For we must distinguish between their erroneous dealings with Job and their personal character. Like him they were on the wrong track-more so than himself, but like him also they were in the end brought into a true realization of God's ways.
They came from districts noted for men of wisdom:" Is wisdom no more in Teman-? Is counsel perished from the prudent ? Is their wisdom vanished ? (Jer. 49:7). The "men of the East" were similarly famed. As has just been said, they seem to have been men of personal piety; at least they had a knowledge of the true God and of righteousness. Of the significance of their names we can say little. Eliphaz has been defined as "God is strength," and by others, "God is fine gold." Both meanings suggest at least the greatness and preeminence of God. His country, Teman, means "the south," the country lying under the sun, open to the light. But we have learned that while the south country is open to the light, it is apt to be dry and arid, as indeed Arabia was. It needs, as Achsah said, "springs of water." Light without life can never help.
Bildad is said to mean "son of contention." and he certainly answers to his name in these controversies. His place, Shuach, "depression or pit," is also appropriate. Zophar, "a sparrow," from the root verb "to twitter," is the masculine form of Zipporah, Moses' wife, and like her he was an unconscious opponent of God's judgment on the flesh though he was very zealous in condemning the fancied works of the flesh in Job. His vehement denunciations being utterly out of place, were as harmless as the "twitterings" of the bird for which he was named. His place, Naamah, "pleasantness " is, like the miserable comfort he offered, but a mockery of true happiness. But these meanings are only tentative.
These men have evidently heard in their distant homes of Job's affliction. As true friends they are not unmoved, and make an appointment to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Certainly their motive was excellent; how they succeeded appears later.
The second scene in this divine drama may be said to open with the arrival of these friends. As they draw near what a sight meets their shocked vision! Can this wretched, loathsome object, covered with putrid sores, sitting in the midst of ashes, be their stately friend, the greatest man of the East? They burst into tears, rend their garments and sit down with him. Very touching and appropriate this is, and the silence of seven days emphasizes the reality of their sympathy. They wept with him who wept. Unable to help by words, their silence would indicate how deeply moved they were.
Meanwhile the thoughts of all were doubtless busy. After the first shock produced by Job's terrible condition was over, they must necessarily have begun to think-why has this evil come upon him? Long accepted principles would suggest an answer, to which they seem slow to give expression. God punishes the ungodly; the righteous are prosperous; therefore . . . can it be ? On his part too Job is meditating. He too had accepted his prosperity as a mark of God's approval. He has been righteous and faithful, and God rewards faithfulness-at least he had thought He did. Can it be that God . .? But he has not yet allowed these thoughts to find expression; indeed they may not yet have been present. But his sufferings are intense, his burden of grief and pain intolerable. The silent sympathy of his friends does not soften his heart. While he muses the fire burns, and at last the pent-up grief bursts forth in bitter cursings and lamentations. S. R.
(To be continued)