Job's Calamities

11 A man there hath been in the land of Uz—Job his name—and that man hath been perfect and upright—both fearing God, and turning aside from evil. 2 And there are borne to him seven sons and three daughters, 3 and his substance is seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred pairs of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a service very abundant; and that man is greater than any of the sons of the east.

4 And his sons have gone and made a banquet—the house of each 'in' his day—and have sent and called to their three sisters to eat and to drink with them; 5 and it cometh to pass, when they have gone round the days of the banquet, that Job doth send and sanctify them, and hath risen early in the morning, and caused to ascend burnt-offerings—the number of them all—for Job said, 'Perhaps my sons have sinned, yet blessed God in their heart.' Thus doth Job all the days.

6 And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst. 7 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Whence comest thou?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, 'From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down on it.' 8 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?' 9 And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, 'For nought is Job fearing God? 10 Hast not Thou made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that he hath—round about? 11 The work of his hands Thou hast blessed, and his substance hath spread in the land, and yet, put forth, I pray Thee, Thy hand, and strike against anything that he hath—if not: to Thy face he doth bless Thee!' 12 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Lo, all that he hath 'is' in thy hand, only unto him put not forth thy hand.' And the Adversary goeth out from the presence of Jehovah.

13 And the day is, that his sons and his daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born. 14 And a messenger hath come in unto Job and saith, 'The oxen have been plowing, and the she-asses feeding by their sides, 15 and Sheba doth fall, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped—only I alone—to declare 'it' to thee.' 16 While this 'one' is speaking another also hath come and saith, 'Fire of God hath fallen from the heavens, and burneth among the flock, and among the young men, and consumeth them, and I am escaped—only I alone—to declare 'it' to thee.' 17 While this 'one' is speaking another also hath come and saith, 'Chaldeans made three heads, and rush on the camels, and take them, and the young men they have smitten by the mouth of the sword, and I am escaped—only I alone—to declare 'it' to thee.' 18 While this 'one' is speaking another also hath come and saith, 'Thy sons and thy daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born. 19 And lo, a great wind hath come from over the wilderness, and striketh against the four corners of the house, and it falleth on the young men, and they are dead, and I am escaped—only I alone—to declare 'it' to thee.'

20 And Job riseth, and rendeth his robe, and shaveth his head, and falleth to the earth, and doth obeisance, 21 and he saith, 'Naked came I forth from the womb of my mother, and naked I turn back thither: Jehovah hath given and Jehovah hath taken: let the name of Jehovah be blessed.' 22 In all this Job hath not sinned, nor given folly to God.

21 And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst to station himself by Jehovah. 2 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Whence camest thou?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, 'From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down in it.' 3 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Hast thou set thy heart unto My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and turning aside from evil? and still he is keeping hold on his integrity, and thou dost move Me against him to swallow him up for nought!' 4 And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, 'A skin for a skin, and all that a man hath he doth give for his life. 5 Yet, put forth, I pray Thee, Thy hand, and strike unto his bone and unto his flesh—if not: unto Thy face he doth bless Thee!' 6 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, 'Lo, he 'is' in thy hand; only his life take care of.'

7 And the Adversary goeth forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smiteth Job with a sore ulcer from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8 And he taketh to him a potsherd to scrape himself with it, and he is sitting in the midst of the ashes. 9 And his wife saith to him, 'Still thou art keeping hold on thine integrity: bless God and die.' 10 And he saith unto her, 'As one of the foolish women speaketh, thou speakest; yea, the good we receive from God, and the evil we do not receive.' In all this Job hath not sinned with his lips.

11 And three of the friends of Job hear of all this evil that hath come upon him, and they come in each from his place—Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—and they are met together to come in to bemoan him, and to comfort him; 12 and they lift up their eyes from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep, and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads—heavenward. 13 And they sit with him on the earth seven days and seven nights, and there is none speaking unto him a word when they have seen that the pain hath been very great.

22 and Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works. 23 'And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to look after his brethren, the sons of Israel; 24 and having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he did defend, and did justice to the oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian; 25 and he was supposing his brethren to understand that God through his hand doth give salvation; and they did not understand. 26 'On the succeeding day, also, he shewed himself to them as they are striving, and urged them to peace, saying, Men, brethren are ye, wherefore do ye injustice to one another? 27 and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 to kill me dost thou wish, as thou didst kill yesterday the Egyptian? 29 'And Moses fled at this word, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons,

30 and forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai a messenger of the Lord, in a flame of fire of a bush, 31 and Moses having seen did wonder at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord unto him, 32 I 'am' the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 'And Moses having become terrified, durst not behold, 33 and the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place in which thou hast stood is holy ground; 34 seeing I have seen the affliction of My people that 'is' in Egypt, and their groaning I did hear, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send thee to Egypt. 35 'This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush; 36 this one did bring them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years; 37 this is the Moses who did say to the sons of Israel: A prophet to you shall the Lord your God raise up out of your brethren, like to me, him shall ye hear. 38 'This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us; 39 to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him. 41 'And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands,

42 and God did turn, and did give them up to do service to the host of the heaven, according as it hath been written in the scroll of the prophets: Slain beasts and sacrifices did ye offer to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43 and ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan—the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 7:22-43

Commentary on Acts 7:17-29

(Read Acts 7:17-29)

Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest, and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, "fair toward God;" it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of great price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will take special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And did he thus protect the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interests of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered together against him. They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Christ and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law. They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes against the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a worse slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong their own miseries, yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his own designs of mercy.

Commentary on Acts 7:30-41

(Read Acts 7:30-41)

Men deceive themselves, if they think God cannot do what he sees to be good any where; he can bring his people into a wilderness, and there speak comfortably to them. He appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, yet the bush was not consumed; which represented the state of Israel in Egypt, where, though they were in the fire of affliction, yet they were not consumed. It may also be looked upon as a type of Christ's taking upon him the nature of man, and the union between the Divine and human nature. The death of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, cannot break the covenant relation between God and them. Our Saviour by this proves the future state, Matthew 22:31. Abraham is dead, yet God is still his God, therefore Abraham is still alive. Now, this is that life and immortality which are brought to light by the gospel. Stephen here shows that Moses was an eminent type of Christ, as he was Israel's deliverer. God has compassion for the troubles of his church, and the groans of his persecuted people; and their deliverance takes rise from his pity. And that deliverance was typical of what Christ did, when, for us men, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven. This Jesus, whom they now refused, as their fathers did Moses, even this same has God advanced to be a Prince and Saviour. It does not at all take from the just honour of Moses to say, that he was but an instrument, and that he is infinitely outshone by Jesus. In asserting that Jesus should change the customs of the ceremonial law. Stephen was so far from blaspheming Moses, that really he honoured him, by showing how the prophecy of Moses was come to pass, which was so clear. God who gave them those customs by his servant Moses, might, no doubt, change the custom by his Son Jesus. But Israel thrust Moses from them, and would have returned to their bondage; so men in general will not obey Jesus, because they love this present evil world, and rejoice in their own works and devices.

Commentary on Acts 7:42-50

(Read Acts 7:42-50)

Stephen upbraids the Jews with the idolatry of their fathers, to which God gave them up as a punishment for their early forsaking him. It was no dishonour, but an honour to God, that the tabernacle gave way to the temple; so it is now, that the earthly temple gives way to the spiritual one; and so it will be when, at last, the spiritual shall give way to the eternal one. The whole world is God's temple, in which he is every where present, and fills it with his glory; what occasion has he then for a temple to manifest himself in? And these things show his eternal power and Godhead. But as heaven is his throne, and the earth his footstool, so none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.