THE BOOK OF JOB loi 



surface moved the sun, moon and stars, ** the Heavenly 

 hosts/' The idea seems to us very childish, and yet it 

 inspired their matchless poetry. We now know that the 

 earth is but a little planet, circling round the sun, and 

 that the sun is one of millions of suns. Can it be that 

 the thought of such infinite immensity defies expression 

 and paralyses our poetic genius ! Certain it is that our 

 poetry is but poor stuff compared with theirs. 



But God's Wisdom and Power are not more revealed 

 in the infinitely great than in the infinitely little. The 

 wonders revealed by the microscope are not less aston- 

 ishing than those revealed by the telescope. So 

 surely the argument should not be less telling to-day 

 than it was in the fifth century B,c, On the contrary, 

 it ought to appeal to us even more than it did to 

 them ! 



Next, in a few master touches, God brings before 

 Job the wonders of the animal kingdom ; the beasts and 

 birds, which are all in need of His protecting care, Man 

 is but one of a thousand of God's cares, yet His careful- 

 ness never fails. 



But it is not the Argument of God ; it is the Vision 

 of God that brings Job to his knees. At last he cries 

 out in an agony of contrition, ** I had heard of Thee 

 by the hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye seeth 

 Thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust 

 and ashes," 



To me it is very striking that Job does not know now, 

 any more than he did at first, the reason of his sufferings. 

 We, of course, do know, because we have read the 

 Prologue, Job is as ignorant as ever he was. But he 

 has had a vision of God and that makes all the difference. 

 He is now content, if God wills it so, to remain in ignor- 

 ance and to suffer in ignorance. He repents in dust 

 and ashes that he should ever have doubted God's 

 wisdom or His Love, 



