31 After this hath Job opened his mouth, and revileth his day. 2 And Job answereth and saith:— 3 Let the day perish in which I am born, And the night that hath said: 'A man-child hath been conceived.' 4 That day—let it be darkness, Let not God require it from above, Nor let light shine upon it. 5 Let darkness and death-shade redeem it, Let a cloud tabernacle upon it, Let them terrify it as the most bitter of days. 6 That night—let thick darkness take it, Let it not be united to days of the year, Into the number of months let it not come. 7 Lo! that night—let it be gloomy, Let no singing come into it. 8 Let the cursers of day mark it, Who are ready to wake up Leviathan. 9 Let the stars of its twilight be dark, Let it wait for light, and there is none, And let it not look on the eyelids of the dawn. 10 Because it hath not shut the doors Of the womb that was mine! And hide misery from mine eyes.
11 Why from the womb do I not die? From the belly I have come forth and gasp! 12 Wherefore have knees been before me? And what 'are' breasts, that I suck? 13 For now, I have lain down, and am quiet, I have slept—then there is rest to me, 14 With kings and counsellors of earth, These building wastes for themselves. 15 Or with princes—they have gold, They are filling their houses 'with' silver. 16 (Or as a hidden abortion I am not, As infants—they have not seen light.) 17 There the wicked have ceased troubling, And there rest do the wearied in power. 18 Together prisoners have been at ease, They have not heard the voice of an exactor, 19 Small and great 'are' there the same. And a servant 'is' free from his lord.
20 Why giveth He to the miserable light, and life to the bitter soul? 21 Who are waiting for death, and it is not, And they seek it above hid treasures. 22 Who are glad—unto joy, They rejoice when they find a grave. 23 To a man whose way hath been hidden, And whom God doth shut up? 24 For before my food, my sighing cometh, And poured out as waters 'are' my roarings. 25 For a fear I feared and it meeteth me, And what I was afraid of doth come to me. 26 I was not safe—nor was I quiet—Nor was I at rest—and trouble cometh!
41 And Eliphaz the Temanite answereth and saith:— 2 Hath one tried a word with thee?—Thou art weary! And to keep in words who is able? 3 Lo, thou hast instructed many, And feeble hands thou makest strong. 4 The stumbling one do thy words raise up, And bowing knees thou dost strengthen. 5 But now, it cometh in unto thee, And thou art weary; It striketh unto thee, and thou art troubled. 6 Is not thy reverence thy confidence? Thy hope—the perfection of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, Who, being innocent, hath perished? And where have the upright been cut off? 8 As I have seen—ploughers of iniquity, And sowers of misery, reap it! 9 From the breath of God they perish, And from the spirit of His anger consumed. 10 The roaring of a lion, And the voice of a fierce lion, And teeth of young lions have been broken. 11 An old lion is perishing without prey, And the whelps of the lioness do separate.
12 And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it. 13 In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men, 14 Fear hath met me, and trembling, And the multitude of my bones caused to fear. 15 And a spirit before my face doth pass, Stand up doth the hair of my flesh; 16 It standeth, and I discern not its aspect, A similitude 'is' over-against mine eyes, Silence! and a voice I hear: 17 'Is mortal man than God more righteous? Than his Maker is a man cleaner? 18 Lo, in His servants He putteth no credence, Nor in His messengers setteth praise.' 19 Also—the inhabitants of houses of clay, (Whose foundation 'is' in the dust, They bruise them before a moth.) 20 From morning to evening are beaten down, Without any regarding, for ever they perish. 21 Hath not their excellency been removed with them? They die, and not in wisdom!
44 'The tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, according as He did direct, who is speaking to Moses, to make it according to the figure that he had seen; 45 which also our fathers having in succession received, did bring in with Joshua, into the possession of the nations whom God did drive out from the presence of our fathers, till the days of David, 46 who found favour before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; 47 and Solomon built Him an house. 48 'But the Most High in sanctuaries made with hands doth not dwell, according as the prophet saith: 49 The heaven 'is' My throne, and the earth My footstool; what house will ye build to Me? saith the Lord, or what 'is' the place of My rest? 50 hath not My hand made all these things?
51 'Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers—also ye; 52 which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become, 53 who received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep 'it'.'
54 And hearing these things, they were cut to the hearts, and did gnash the teeth at him; 55 and being full of the Holy Spirit, having looked stedfastly to the heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and he said, 'Lo, I see the heavens having been opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.' 57 And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him, 58 and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning 'him'—and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul— 59 and they were stoning Stephen, calling and saying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;' 60 and having bowed the knees, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lord, mayest thou not lay to them this sin;' and this having said, he fell asleep.
(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.
(Read Acts 7:51-53)
Stephen was going on, it seems, to show that the temple and the temple service must come to an end, and it would be the glory of both to give way to the worship of the Father in spirit and in truth; but he perceived they would not bear it. Therefore he broke off, and by the Spirit of wisdom, courage, and power, sharply rebuked his persecutors. When plain arguments and truths provoke the opposers of the gospel, they should be shown their guilt and danger. They, like their fathers, were stubborn and wilful. There is that in our sinful hearts, which always resists the Holy Ghost, a flesh that lusts against the Spirit, and wars against his motions; but in the hearts of God's elect, when the fulness of time comes, this resistance is overcome. The gospel was offered now, not by angels, but from the Holy Ghost; yet they did not embrace it, for they were resolved not to comply with God, either in his law or in his gospel. Their guilt stung them to the heart, and they sought relief in murdering their reprover, instead of sorrow and supplication for mercy.
(Read Acts 7:54-60)
Nothing is so comfortable to dying saints, or so encouraging to suffering saints, as to see Jesus at the right hand of God: blessed be God, by faith we may see him there. Stephen offered up two short prayers in his dying moments. Our Lord Jesus is God, to whom we are to seek, and in whom we are to trust and comfort ourselves, living and dying. And if this has been our care while we live, it will be our comfort when we die. Here is a prayer for his persecutors. Though the sin was very great, yet if they would lay it to their hearts, God would not lay it to their charge. Stephen died as much in a hurry as ever any man did, yet, when he died, the words used are, he fell asleep; he applied himself to his dying work with as much composure as if he had been going to sleep. He shall awake again in the morning of the resurrection, to be received into the presence of the Lord, where is fulness of joy, and to share the pleasures that are at his right hand, for evermore.
