(Continued from page 167.)

2. – The Third Address of Bildad-Job's Reply (chaps. 25, 26.)

Bildad, in this third address, is the last of the friends to speak. Zophar remains silent, having poured out all his impetuous heart in his former addresses.

Judging from the brevity of Bildad's address, and the fact that it contains practically nothing new, it would seem that the friends have exhausted all the arguments that their position permitted them to advance. And this is saying a great deal, for they were men of sober thoughtfulness, with abilities for expression rarely excelled. Their language is noble and elevated, their metaphors of rare beauty and force, but their position and contention were wrong, narrow, and untenable. Hence the brevity of these closing words.

Yet we cannot speak contemptuously of these few sentences, for they state the two great basic facts which stand out in their clearness at the close of the book. They may almost be said to be prophetic of "the end of the Lord," which Job himself will acknowledge at the last. But Bildad is scarcely conscious of the force of what he says, for he links it with his theory, and thus tries to prove that Job is the evil man they have all along maintained he was. But his words were as true for himself and the other friends as for Job. The address may be divided into two parts, which give prominence to the two great facts which will yet stand out.

(1) God's greatness (vers. 1-3).

(2)Man's nothingness (vers. 4-6).

(i). "Dominion and fear are with Him." Who can declare the infinite greatness of God, who fills heaven and earth, and transcends all His limitless creation? "The heavens, even the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee." Nor is this infinitude of being powerless; He reigns over all things, the government is His-

" He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might."

Well may we pause and meditate with reverent awe upon the majesty and power of God. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? . . . It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth . . . that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in …. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created thee things, that bringeth out their hosts by number:He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power:not one faileth " (Isa. 40 :12, 22, 26).

"Great God, how infinite Thou art!
What helpless worms are we! "
Who would not fear such an infinite .Being ? And yet what an awful proof of man's apostate, fallen condition we have in the well-nigh universal lack of the fear of God. He before whom the seraphim veil their faces, is ignored and blasphemed by puny sinners !

"He maketh peace in His high places." Those heavenly orbs display not only His power, by their immensity, but His wisdom and skill in the harmony with which they pursue their appointed courses, held fast in their orbits of unthinkable greatness by Him who created them. " Not one faileth." There is no discord, no clash-all makes melody as they declare His glory,

" Forever singing as they shine,
The Hand that made us is divine."

Similarly the angelic hosts, who are associated with these "morning stars," are kept in peace, with one purpose, to "do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word." There is no strife or discord among those exalted beings :all is maintained in peace. Or if we think of the discord which did intrude, when Satan fell from his high place, and when the angels kept not their first estate, God was not thwarted, His throne was not shaken. The rebellious angels were "delivered into chains of darkness," and if Satan was allowed freedom for a time, we see that it is only for a limited period; the time is coming when he will be cast out of heaven, bound and cast into the abyss, and eventually, with all who follow him, be eternally confined in " the lake of fire." Peace will be maintained in the high places.

Among the asteroids there seems to be evidence of a collision among some of the planets, but all has become quiet, and each body has found its right place-all is at peace. One day the heavens about us will pass away with a great noise. But "we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Thus at the last all creation will vindicate the statement of Bildad, " He maketh peace in His high places."

" Who can number His armies?" At one word our Lord could have received "more than twelve legions of angels." " The number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." The "innumerable company of angels . . the general assembly." What are the armies of men compared with these ? The prophet prayed that his servant's eyes might be opened to see the mountain "full of horses and chariots of fire" (2 Ki. 6:17).

" God is light," and His hosts are hosts of light; they shine in a glory not their own, "Whom doth not His light surpass ?" Let any of these sons of the morning vaunt themselves, and their brightness would become dim. "Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness " (Ezek. 28:17). Of God it must ever be said/ "Who dwelleth in light unapproachable." His light surpasses that of all His creatures, be they never so exalted. It rises above and exceeds infinitely the light of the brightest of them all. This gives a meaning more in accord with the context than that of our version -" Upon whom doth not His light arise?"

(2) Having in a few grand strokes depicted the greatness of God, Bildad turns to the littleness of man. " How then can (mortal, frail) man be justified with God ? " How can one whose very mortality is a witness of his sinfulness stand before the Almighty ? How can one born of woman, with a nature inherited from the disobedient one, be clean in God's sight ? Is it not true that all right apprehension of the greatness and majesty of God begets a sense of sin and uncleanness ? It was so with Job and with these friends at the last.

Behold the moon; its light is dim in His holy presence. The sparkling stars are not clean in His sight. How much less is sinful man-a worm .of the dust ! Bildad selects the heavens at night rather than the sun by day for this noble comparison. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:3, 4). While not so intense, the light of moon and stars is more brilliant by contrast with the surrounding darkness; and this is especially the case with the eastern skies over the dry lands bordering the deserts. The moon and stars speak of God in a special way, and by contrast bring home to man his nothingness. We have, thank God, the divine answer to the question, "What is man?" We see Jesus, who was crucified, crowned with glory and honor.

Thus, while apparently repeating the words of Eliphaz (chaps. 4:18; 15:15, 16), Bildad's close is far beyond his thoughts and suspicions. We will rest in what he says, rather than in what he thinks of his poor, suffering friend. We will not charge him with weakness or imitation, but subdue our own spirits under the quiet light of those heavens which witness to our nothingness, and turn us to Him who is our " Strength and our Redeemer."

Job's Reply (chap. 26).

Viewed from the personal standpoint, Job's reply is adequate and conclusive. He declares that Bildad's words, in the present circumstances, are utterly beside the mark. They do not touch Job's case. He then continues in the lines of his friend's words, and mounts even higher than he had, taking also a deeper and wider view of the greatness of God. It is all most admirable from a literary point of view-grand, sublime poetry; and it is much more, as the inspired record of the thoughts of a soul seeking after God.

The reply may be divided into seven parts.

(1) The futility of Bildad's words (vers. 1-4).

(2) God's domain in the depths beneath (vers. 5,6).

(3) His sway in the heavens (ver. 7).

(4)He rules the clouds and the waters (vs. 8-10).

(5) The earth and the sea (vers. 11, 12).

(6) His victory in the sky (ver. 13).

(7) More beyond (ver. 14).

The brevity and conciseness of these words of Job enhance their beauty and force. He shows himself the equal or superior of his friends in compass of thought and beauty of expression; for he also has pondered upon God in the night seasons.

(1) He first replies to Bildad's argument as it refers to himself. Admitting that he is the. one " without power," of what good are the lofty words of Bildad ? Do they help to solve the dark enigma of present suffering ? Has he given any counsel to Job, or unraveled the tormenting mystery of God's treatment of him ? The last verse seems to intimate that Bildad may have been repeating t-he thoughts of Eliphaz-"Whose spirit, or breath, came from thee?" Or it may be that Job asks if this manner of speech comes from God. In these few caustic questions he fully 'disposes of the argument of his friend, if it could be called that.

(2) Bildad had dwelt upon the glories of God as displayed in the heavens; Job declares His domain in the depths. It is not "dead things," but rather the "shades," the "things under the earth" (Phil. 2:10). This may refer to the evil spirits, to infernal things; and, according to the manner of the Old Testament, to Sheol and its inhabitants. (See Ezek. 32 :18, etc.) " Dragons and all deeps " tremble at His presence. It is folly to think of the abode of the lost as independent of God. Whether it be "the spirits [now] in prison " (i Pet. 3:19), or the bottomless pit, or the lake of fire, God, not Satan, reigns. His will at last must be obeyed. "If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there" (Ps. 139:8).

(3) Looking upward, Job still traces the footsteps of the Creator's power and wisdom. " He stretcheth out the north over the empty place." The bell-like canopy of the northern skies, where the pole-star is suspended over emptiness, has no pillars to support it. In these few words and those following, Job seems to have anticipated the great facts of astronomy regarding the earth and the heavens. He "hangeth the earth upon nothing"; how immeasurably above the cosmogonies of the heathen philosophers are these few grand words! In them we have as in germ the discoveries of a Newton and a Kepler. It is a great mistake to think Scripture does not teach scientific truth. It teaches all needed truth, even if not in scientific language, yet with scientific accuracy.

(4) Passing from the starry heavens to those more immediately connected with the earth, Job describes in beautifully poetic, and yet scientifically accurate language, the clouds as the containing vessels for the waters above the earth. It is God who gathers the vapors of the firmament and condenses them into the thick clouds. If these waters were to be poured upon the earth without restraint, a destructive flood would be the result. He binds these waters in the clouds, and sends them down in gentle showers according to His will, and as needed by the thirsty earth.

Beyond those clouds is His throne, enshrouded from the view of our eyes:"Clouds and darkness are round about Him:righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne" (Ps. 97:2). But, with all his knowledge and skill, man fails to penetrate those clouds and to behold Him who sits upon
His throne. Faith alone beholds Him there-the face of Him who rides on to victory.

"He compasseth the waters with bounds," These are the waters of the earth, the "great and wide sea," whose proud waves cannot pass their appointed bounds. "Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again- to cover the earth" (Ps. 104:9). "To the boundary between light and darkness." The boundary is far distant, marked, only where light merges with darkness, "from the dim verge of the horizon." This gives a more beautiful and appropriate meaning than that of our Version.
(5) Earth with its lofty mountains, seeming to reach the sky as "the pillars of heaven," trembles beneath the word of the Mighty One. The sea is divided by His power, and by His understanding the proud (Rahab) is pierced. This rendering of our Version, and the"arouseth " of Delitzsch, seems to contain a remarkable reference to the smiting of Egypt and the dividing of the Red Sea. " I am the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose waves roared " (Isa. 51 :15 ; so also Jer.31 :35). But in Jer. 47 :6 the same word is rendered "quiet," and this gives a clear meaning to all these passages. If the Book of Job was reduced to writing in the days after Solomon, the reference to the passage of the Red Sea is natural. But if we retain the thought of its patriarchal date, it is more difficult to think of such a reference-for prophecy would be unlikely-especially as the entire book is singularly free from such allusions. The general thought, therefore, is preserved, which yields a clear meaning :"He stilleth the sea by His power, and by His understanding smiteth through the proud." See also chap. 9:13. "Rahab " is the poetic name for Egypt (not, of course, the Rahab of Joshua, a different root),and this is easily derivable from the generic meaning" of the word. (See Isa. 51:9.)

(6) Verse 13 is even more difficult than the preceding one. "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent." Delitzsch renders it, " By His breath the heavens become cheerful; His hand hath formed the fugitive dragon." But a clear meaning of the verb here translated "form, "is "wound, or pierce." This accords with Isa. 27 :i, where the thought is a blending of these two verses, 12, 13. The connection, therefore, would suggest the overthrow of the enemy-Satan, the embodiment of pride, "the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan" (Rev. 20:2). This would accord, in its spiritual meaning, with the words of Bildad, "He maketh peace in His high places" (ch. 25:2).

On the other hand we may, as some do, apply it all to the creative power of God. He has garnished the heavens, and His hands have formed the crooked serpent – the constellation Draco, which winds about the northern skies. From the astronomical knowledge displayed in the book, this is a quite possible rendering.

A third explanation, which we mention only to reject it, is the mythological one, that the serpent, "Draco," is trying to eclipse the light of the sun by winding himself about it. God must constantly wound it, to force it to relax its hold, and the serpent flees away, allowing the heavens to shine again in their beauty ! Can we think of Job making use of this superstition to express the greatness of God in language of singular beauty and truth?

The general meaning, therefore, seems clear :God is supreme in heaven as on earth; creating, controlling and delivering. Spiritually,,. He will overthrow all that mars His fair creation which" proclaims His glory. This will be found to accord with the latter chapters of our book, where God's creative power, and His control of the elements of hostile .pride, are declared by Himself (chaps. 38- 41).

(7) But, in his sweeping glance, Job pauses at the heavens and the earth. After all has been said, the half has not been told; these are "parts of His ways," the "edges," outskirts of His vast dominion. " But how little a portion is heard of Him," or,"How we hear but a whisper thereof." How little do we know of His greatness! We catch little whispers of His power in every passing breeze; we £>e some portion of His wisdom in every tiny blade of grass or drop of dew; but, could we understand, all nature is vibrant with its testimony. What a day will that be when we shall " eye to eye look on knowledge." When the majestic harmony of nature shall blend with the sweeter notes of grace, and all shall tell the glories of their Creator, the Lamb that was slain.

" When the praise of heaven I hear,
Loud as thunder to the ear-
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harps' melodious voice,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know-
Not till then, how much I owe." S. R.

(To be continued.)