Matthew Henry Commentary Job 12
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 12
Matthew Henry Commentary
Job 12
"Then Job answered and said, No doubt but ye are the people, And wisdom shall die with you. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor, I who called upon God, and he answered: The just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock. In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; It is ready for them whose foot slippeth." — Job 12:1-5 (ASV)
Job rebukes his friends for the high opinion they had of their own wisdom compared to his. We are prone to interpret rebukes as criticisms and to think ourselves mocked when advised and warned. This is our foolishness; yet, in this instance, there was some justification for Job's charge.
He suspected the true reason for their conduct was that they despised him because he had fallen into poverty. This is the way of the world. Even the just, upright man, if he comes under a cloud, is looked upon with contempt.
"The tents of robbers prosper, And they that provoke God are secure; Into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly]. But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this, In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? Doth not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth its food?" — Job 12:6-11 (ASV)
Job appeals to facts. The most audacious robbers, oppressors, and impious evildoers often prosper. Yet this is not by fortune or chance; the Lord orders these things. Worldly prosperity is of small value in his sight: he has better things for his children. Job explains all this by the absolute ownership which God has in all creatures. He demands from his friends the freedom to judge what they had said; he appeals to any fair judgment. (Job 12:12–25)
"With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding. With [God] is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; Again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom; The deceived and the deceiver are his. He leadeth counsellors away stripped, And judges maketh he fools. He looseth the bond of kings, And he bindeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth priests away stripped, And overthroweth the mighty. He removeth the speech of the trusty, And taketh away the understanding of the elders. He poureth contempt upon princes, And looseth the belt of the strong. He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death. He increaseth the nations, and he destroyeth them: He enlargeth the nations, and he leadeth them captive. He taketh away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, And causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light; And he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man." — Job 12:12-25 (ASV)
This is a noble discourse of Job concerning the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God, in ordering all the affairs of humankind according to the counsel of His own will, which no one can resist. It would be well if wise and good people, who differ about lesser things, would see how it is for their honor and comfort, and the good of others, to focus most on the great things in which they agree. Here are no complaints or reflections.
He gives many instances of God's powerful management of humankind, overruling all their plans and overcoming all their oppositions. Having all strength and wisdom, God knows how to make use of even those who are foolish and bad; otherwise, there is so little wisdom and so little honesty in the world that all would have been in confusion and ruin long ago. These important truths were suited to convince the disputants that they were out of their depth in attempting to assign the Lord's reasons for afflicting Job; His ways are unsearchable, and His judgments past finding out.
Let us remark what beautiful illustrations there are in the Word of God, confirming His sovereignty and wisdom in that sovereignty: but the highest and infinitely the most important is that the Lord Jesus was crucified by the malice of the Jews; and who but the Lord could have known that this one event was the salvation of the world?
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