Chapa 4. An Expofitionupon the Book of J O B. Vcrf i o. 65 arenot dcflroyed immediately by the breath, and by theWaft of God, thenGod airs up the creaturesagainft them, and will de- ftray them by Lyons:We know it was a fpecial judgment threat- ned in the Law, againfì the ditòbedicnt, (Levit.. 26.22.) that God would fend evil beafts among them : The Prophet numbers this, among Gods fore judgments : Sword, famine, pejrilence, and evil heap areput together. Inthe Hifrory of the Kings, we have a fa- mous record, how the Lord fent Lyons, who flew tome . of thofe z King'' 1.25. Idolators, whom the King of Babylon had tránfplanted.into the Cities of Samaria, But I rather conceive the former expofition ofthe words, tobe the truth, and molt futable to the context; and there is this rea- fon tobe given,becaufe it agrees belt with thepnrpofe ofEliphaz, whole work was, fo to defcribe thedeflrufion of wicked men in general, that he might particularly intimate. the deftruétion,fallen upon Job and his family, with the reafoh ofit. lob was a great man in his time ; he wasamong men, as the Lyon among beads, a chief.fis friends thought him a cruel Lyon too,and fu he is told to his face afterward, by one of them, that he ( like a greedy Ly- on) hadtaken away the pledge, and thegarment from thepeor; This Elipbaz would hint at lcalt to Job, and that God had found him out in his Lyon-like qualities ; that he being a Magiftrate, and a man in authority, having dealt hardly and cruelly with others, now the Lord had meafured to him,the fame eneafure he had gi- ven others ; He, thé Lyon ; and the, the fierce Lyon or Lyonefs his wife ; they, the young Lyons, his children, were all broken, and either perithed orperithing. So much for the clearingof the Words ; I (hall now add fomcobfervations from them. First, Wickedmen, howporrerful,bow ftrong foever, (hall fall be- fore the wrath and indignation of God. The day of the Lord!hall be agaixft every one that is high, and that it liftedup. Goddefirts in a fpeciai manner, to be dealing with thefe,for they, in the pride oftheir fpirits,think themfelves a match for God; though indeed, their ttrength be but weaknefs, and their wifdom foolifhnefs; yet in their own conceits they are fironger, and wifer then God himnfelf. Hence ( like Pharaoh) they fend defiance to Heaven,and fay, Who is the Lord ? Exod. 5. r . When God fees the hearts of min fwoln to this height, of ìnfoléntmadnefs, he delights to thew himfelf, and graplc with therm, that the pride of man may be abafed, and every one that is exalted may be laid low K that
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