Chap,3. An Expofntion upon the -'Bmek of J`C`B. Verf:3. 347 Be darknefs. There is a great aggravation ofmifery inthat, as Chrifl fpeaks, Mat. 6. 23. if the light that is in thee be darknefs, horvgreat it that darknefs ? While fob witheth that his very day, which is light, thould be darknefs, how great a darknefs doth he with unto it ? And if theday bedarknefs,how darkmull the night ofthat day be? Then again, Let the day be darknefs; he doth not fay,let the day be mifty,or cloudy,or dusky, or dark; be Both not with it like that day deferibed Zech.14.6. Itfha!l come topafs in that day, that the light fhall not be clear nor dark; but he faith, Let it be darknefs. Both in Scripture and common language , Abflrafts are emphati- cally fignificant, and carry more then an ordinary fence in them. WhenDavid faith, Pfal.27.i. The Lord is my light, there is more in it then if he had only faid, The Lord doth enlighten me : So to fet forth the woful conditionof thofe who are unregenerate, or in the tiateofnature, the Apoftie tells them, Ephef5.8. Te zvere fome- times darknefs ; not only in the dark , but darknefs : So here, to exprefs how great a curfe he wífhes upon his day, job faith , Let the day be darknefs it felf. Now darknefs may be taken two wayes , Either Properly, or Improperly. Proper darknefs is nothing elfe but a privationof light, it is no pofitive creature, it hath no carafe in nature, but is the "conlequeut of the Suns abfence : When job willies, Let that day be darknefs, we may underfland it ofthis darknefs ; as if he had faid , when - ,foever that day cometh about, in the recourfe and revolution of the year , let it be darknefs ; or a very dark and. loomy day. This had been a great evil upon his day . This kind b darknefs was oneofthe ten plagues with which God finote Egylit. And yet there is darknefs , which is a greater evil then this, I mean darknefs improperly taken; and to frequently in Scripture any forrowful, troublefonie, fad condition, is exprefs'd by darknefs. A condition of darknefs is a fad condition ; a dark day is as much as a fad day : So then, Let that day be darknefs, that is, let it for ever be accounted a fad and forrowful day. Thus the Prophet f oel, Chap. 2. 2. calls a day of great trouble, a day of darknefs and gloominef:r, a day of-Clouds and of thick dark- Y y 2 nefs.
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