The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-02-14
some mediator. some interpreter, a Days

TIpUT TtTTONe from Upon
That the dread OF him should not unnian me.
las the debate goes on his friends grow
more provoking and Job sometimes loses his
patience and speaks in bitter sarcasm:
OF truth. ye are the people.
And wisdom will die with you
| also have understanding as well as you;
And who knoweth not things like these?
laughing stock TO his friends-sqeh must be
A laughing stock I, the just, the upright.
Hear ye now my rebuke.
win ye speak what is wrong for God?
And will W. for Him. utter deceit?
Will We respect His person?
or viii ye be special pleaders for God?
Would IL be well II he should search you out2
or will We mock Him. man mocketh man?
He VIII surely convict you utterly.
II in secret we respecters OF persons.
Shall not His majesty make you afraid?
And the dread Of Him fall upon you?
Your hulwarks turn to bulwarks of clay.
He longs in his darkness for that light
which the gospel has brought 10 the world.
II he could only be sure that there Is
would be rendered-but what hope is there
of this?
For there is hope of tree, If it be cut down,
And that the tender branch thereof will not
cease;
Though the root thereof wax old In the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground
Yet through the scent Of water IL will bud,
And put forth boughs like plant.
But man dieth. and wasteth away;
Yea. man giveth up the ghost. and where is he?
As the waters fail from the sea
And the river decayeth and drieth up,
So man Ile:h down and riseth not
Till the heavens be they shall not
awake.
Nor be reused out of their sleep.
oh that thou wouldst hide me in Sheol
That thou wouldst keep me secret, until thy
That thou wouidst appoint me set time and
If a man die shall he live again?-
All the days of my warfare would I wait, till
Thou shouldst call, and 1 would answer thee.
Thou wouldst have desire to the work of thine
bands.
But now thou numberest my steps:
Dost thou not watch over my sin?
Ny transgresson is sealed up in bag.
And thou fastenest up mine inquity.
And surely the mountain falling cometh to
AMI the rock is removed out of its place.
The waters wear the stones.
The overiowings thereof wash away the dust Of
the earth:
And thou destroyeth the hope of man;
Thou prevailest forever against him. and he
Thou changest his countenlnce and sendest him
away;
His sons came to honor and he knoweth it not;
And they are brought low, but he perceiveth IL
Only for himself his flesh hath pain.
And for himself his soul mourneth-
"Once out Of his very despair a CLEAN of
hope Is struck, like a spark from the rock
by a flint. or like a CLEAN of sunshine
through the clouds in November day:
Oh that my words were now written;
oh that they were inscribed in a book.
They were craven IN the rock forever.
For 1 know that my vndicator liveth
And that He shall stand up at the last upon
And after my skin hath been thus destroyed.
Yet without my flesh shall see God
Whom shall see on my side,
And mine eyes shall behold. and not another.
'Zophar affirms that the joy of the I'M
godly Is but for a moment:
Though his summit mount up to heaven.
And HIS head reach unto the cloud.
Yet like his own dung shall he perish utterly
They that see him shall say, Where is he?
Like dream he fiitteth and is no more found
And he is chased away as a sPecter of the night.
But Zophar is really describing not what
is but what he thinks ought to be.
Job repudiates this false picture of life and
In contrast with it depicts life as he actu-
ally sees 1t:
Wherefore do the wicked live.
Become old. yea, wax mighty in power?
Their seed is established with them in their
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their h fuses are safe from fear;
Neither is the rod Of God upon them.
They send forth their little ones like flock.
And their children dance.
Tn - sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound OF the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
and in a moment they go down to &c. sheol-
For we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways,
What is the Almighty that We should serve him:
unto him?''
"Once more his friends declare that he
must have sinned against God or he would
not suffer. but now they are not satisfied
with generalities they invent charges in Or
der to justify their philosophy. Eliphaz is
determined that Job shall be wicked what
ever happens with the facts. his theology
must not be gainsaid:
Is it thy fear of him that he reproveth thee,
That he entereth with thee into Judgment?
Is not thy wickedness great?
Neither is there any end To thine iniquities.
For thou hast taken pledges Of thy brother for
And stripped the naked of their clothing
Thou hast not given water to the weary to
And thou hast withholden bread from the hun
cry.
But as for the mighty man. he had the land.
And the honorable man, he dwelt in it,
Thou hast sent widows away empty,
And the arms of the fatherless have been
Therefore snares round about thee.
And sudden fear troubleth thee.
HE counsels Job to reconcile himself
with God and be at peace. to return to the
Almighty and be built up. Pathetic in
deed. is Jobs reply to the complacent coun-
sells of his prosperous friend.
Oh that knew where / might find him,
That might come even to his seat!
would order my cause before him
would know the words which he would answer
me.
And understand what he would say unto me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of
his power?
Nay. but he would give heed unto me:
There the upright might reason with him:
So should / be delivered forever from my
Judge.
BEHOLD l go forward.
But he is not there;
And backward.
But ] cannot perceive him;
ON the left hand. when ne doth work,
But cannot behold him.
He hideth himself on the right hand.
That / cannot him.
But he knoweth the way that | take;
When he hath tried me / shall come forth as
gold
My foot hath held fast TO his steps;
His way have i kept and turned not aside.
1 have not gone back from the commandment of
his lips.
He is drawing near TO the final denoue-
ment of the drama-itS lesson that life is a
mystery, inSOluble and that all We can know
is our duty. Save in the last chapters of
illustration of the Observation-Disclosures of life
drawn from the mysteries of mining.
THE PARABLE OF THE MINE.
Surely there is a mine for silver
And place for gold which they refine.
Iron is taken out OF the EARTH
And brass is molten out of the stone.
Man setteth end TO darkness,
And seaTcheth out TO the furthest bound
The stones of thick darkness and of the
shadow OF death
He breaketh open IL shaft away from where
men sOJourn;
They are forgotten OF the foot that passeth by:
They hang afar from men. they swing to
AS for the earth. out of 1t cometh bread;
And underneath it is turned up as it were by
The stones thereof are the place of sapphires,
And IL hath dust Of gold.
That path bird Of prey knoweth.
Neither