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been largest the higher we ascend the stream of time, and the nearer we approach the
period when early traditions were still preserved in their purity in the earth. The
fullest example of this is set before us in the book of Job, which also gives a most
interesting picture of those early times.
Two things may be regarded as quite settled about the book of Job. Its scene and
actors are laid in patriarchal times, and outside the family or immediate ancestry of
Abraham. It is a story of Gentile life in the time of the earliest patriarchs. And yet
anything more noble, grand, devout, or spiritual than what the book of Job contains is
not found, "no, not in Israel." This is not the place to give either the history of Job, or
to point out the depth of thought, the vividness of imagery, and the beauty and
grandeur of language with which it is written. It must suffice to take the most rapid
survey of the religious and social life which it sets before us. Without here referring
to the sayings of Elihu, Job had evidently perfect knowledge of the true God; and he
was a humble, earnest worshipper of Jehovah. Without any acquaintance with
"Moses and the prophets," he knew that of which Moses and the prophets spoke.
Reverent, believing acknowledgment of God, submission, and spiritual repentance
formed part of his experience, which had the approval of God Himself. Then Job
offered sacrifices; he speaks about the great tempter; he looks for the resurrection of
the body; and he expects the coming of Messiah.
We have traced the barest outlines of the religion of Job. The friends who come to
him, if they share not his piety, at least do not treat his views as something quite
strange and previously unheard. This, then, is a blessed picture of at least a certain
class in that age. How far culture and civilization must have advanced in those times
we gather from various allusions in the book of Job. Job himself is a man of great
wealth and high rank. In the language of a recent writer:^28
"The chieftain lives in considerable splendor and dignity.... Job visits the city
frequently, and is there received with high respect as a prince, judge, and
distinguished warrior. (Job 29:7,9) There are allusions to courts of justice, written
indictments, and regular forms of procedure. (Job 13:26; 31:28) Men had begun to
observe and reason upon the phenomena of nature, and astronomical observations
were connected with curious speculations upon primeval traditions. We read of
mining operations, great buildings, ruined sepulchers.... Great revolutions had
occurred within the time of the writer; nations, once independent, had been
overthrown, and whole races reduced to a state of misery and degradation."
Nor ought we to overlook the glimpses of social life given us in this history. While,
indeed, there was violence, robbery, and murder in the land, there is happily also
another side to the picture. "When I went out to the gate through the city, when I
prepared my seat in the street, the young men saw me, and hid themselves; and the
(^)