The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1893-04-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. %
International Lesson for April 9, 1893
Afiictions Sanctiied--Job B,1T-21.

Aniictions sanctiaed--Job B,11-a7.
GOLDEN TExr.-For whom the Lord loveth
He chasteneth.--Heb. 1915.
THE BOOK OF jon 'is admitted, with hardly
dissentient voice, to be the most sublime
religious poem in the literature Of the world
Samuel Cox II call that one Of the grandest
/ things ever written with pen x. A noble book;
all mems book -. There is nothing written, in
the Bible or out Of 1t, Of equal literary merit
/ Thomas Carlyle. h
/ AUrHoR-The authorship of the Book of
Job is entirely unknown No hint any where is
, given as to who wrote the book. He is 'the
Great Unnamed" inspired by the Holy Spirit
Of God. ~
SCENES FROM JOBS LIFE.
Scene LOB, a wealthy Arab sheik
or prince, IAN ideally perfect man, not
only morally blameless, but also both
sincerely and scrupulously religious,
man whose virtue and piety are beyond
suspicion" He was very wealthy,
with great herds Of cattle and vast
! retinue Of officers and servants. His
three thousand camels imply that he
was "a princely merchant, sending out
large caravans to trade in the cities of
the east" He was, too, of princely
heart, visiting the sick and aiding the
poor and blessing the widow and the
IdtUSTlCSS. iiG lttt UuuS RrOWH lnIO
| middle life. His children had grown up
and settled with their families around
him. Everything was religious, peace
full and prosperous.
| Scene 1.-THE counsels of God.
| We now turn from earth to the unseen
| regions above, God is represented as
doing in form what in some spiritual
way He actually does. His messengers
are gathered from all parts of the
world, among them the adversary,
Satan, "a mocking, detracting, reckless,
| impudept being, all whose regards CEN
| ter in qualification, and who,
| therefore. having no goodness himself,
does not believe in goodness anywhere.
All goodness has its price, is paid for,
and is therefore only form of selfish
ness. He that believes that there is no
goodness. no unselfish love, thereby de-
| clares that he himself has none. God
points out Job as truly good man.
; Satan replies: "Does Job fear God for
naught?" Who would not be good if
he were so well paid for it? AS Glory
McWhirk said: Anybody can be good
on five thousand year. "But put
forth thine hand now and touch all that
he hath, and he will renounce thee to
thy face" In order to prove that Jobs
! piety was sincere and true, that there
was such thing as real virtue and true
religion, God gave Satan permission to
take away Jobs property and his
| family, and leave him poor and desc
late man.
| Scene UL-Job in his home at Uz. All
at once calamity follows calamity in
rapid succession. The divine wall of
protection around his home seems to be
suddenly removed, and all the troubles
of the world rush in and overwhelm the
good man. Job bore the trial as be-
came saint. He could not know why
these evils had come upon him. Clouds
| and darkness surrounded the Provi-
dence Of God; but he knew that there
was silver lining on the other side,
and that in spite Of all God is love.
Scene IH-The counsels of Heaven.
Job is pointed out again as serving and
loving God in very truth, and not for
pay. But Satan declares that the test
was not complete. Accordingly he is
allowed to torment Job with any phys
ical ailment, only he must not touch
his life.
Scene H-Job is now afflicted with an
awful form of leprosy, the elephantia-
sis, so called, either from its likeness to
the rough hide of the elephant, or be-
cause it was a monstrous disease, as
great among diseases as the elephant is
among animals At first, though in
tensely loathsome, it is not very pain
full, SO that job could easily speak with
his friends, but it usually ends in death
in the course of few years. 1t was re-
| garded as a direct stroke from God.
| Job had before him only brief life, in
| which there was no hope, no comfort,
himself disgusting spectacle to his
friends, and looked upon as an outcast
from God as well as men.
Discussion of the Problem.-The witness
of Job to the reality Of religion and
virtue, and his own discipline and de-
velopment of character, are worked out
by the discussion of the great problem
of Providence: How can the Affections
of good men, and the prosperity of
wicked men, be reconciled with the
goodness of God and His supreme con-
troll?
Three friends, men of ability, chiefs
and leaders like Job, came to condole
with Job, and. offer him their wise ad-
vice. Eliphaz, "the wisest and Oldest"
is from Temap, a district northeast of
Edom, within easy reach of Uz in the
Hauran. Teman was famed for the
wisdom of it's inhabitants. Bildad, the
Shuhite, is a descendant of Shuah, a
Son of Abraham by Keturah. Zophar,
the Naamathite, probably belonged to
some place east of the Jordan, near the
Hauran. For seven days these friends
sat by Job in silence.
This was the beginning of a long de-
bate. The theory of the friend was:F First.
That God, being good and just, must
measure out suffering in proportion to
sin. How else could He be just?
Second Therefore, Job must have
committed some great crime 1.-THE