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557

SAFETY IN THE GRAVE,

[nISC,

xr.

day upon the earth

:

and though after

my skin worms

destroy

this

body,

yet

in

my flesh

shall

I

see

God

;

whom

I

shall

see

for

myself,

and

my

eyes

shall behold, and

not

another

;

though

my

reins

be

consumed within

me."

But

in

many

parts

of

this book the good

man lets

us know,

that

he

had

no

manner of hope of

any

restoration

to

health

and peace

in

this

life

;

"

Job

vii,

G,

7,

8.

"

My

days

are

spent without

hope

:my

eye shall no

more

see

good

:

the

eye

of

him

that

bath

seen me shall see me

no more

:

thy

eyes

are upon

me,

and

I

am

not." Verse

"

Now shall

I

sleep

in

the dust, and thou

shalt

seek

me

in

the morning,

but I

shall

not

be."

Job

xvii.

15.

Where

is

now

my

hope

?

As

for my hope, who shall

see

'

it

?"

lie

and

his

hope seemed

"

to go

down to

the bars

of

the

pit together,

and

to

rest

in the

dust:

And

if

Job

had

no

hope

of

a

restoration

in

this world,

then

his

hopes

must

point

to

the

resurrection of

the

dead.

Reason

IV.

If

we

turn

these verses here,

as well

as

that

noble passage

in

Job

xix.

to the more

evangelical'

sense

of

a resurrection,

the

truths

which

are contained

in

the

one

and the other, are

all

supported

by

the language

of

the

New

Testament

:

and

the

express

words of both

these texts

are

much more

naturally

and

easily

applied

to

the evangelical

sense

without

any

strain and

difficulty.

The

expressions

of

Job

in

chapter

the

xix.

I

knew

that

my

Redeemer

liveth," have been

rescued

by

many

wise

interpreters

from

that

poor

and

low

sense

which has

been

forced upon them,

by

those who

will

not

allow

Job

to

have any prospect beyond

this

life

:

and

it has been made

to appear

to be

a bright

glimpse

of

divine light and joy,

a

ray or

vision

of

the sun

of

righteousness breaking

in

be-

tween the

dark

clouds

of

his

pressing sorrow

:

And

that

the words

of

my

text

demand the same

sort

of interpre-

tation,

will

appear further

by

these

short

remarks, and

this

paraphrase

upon

them.

Job

had been speaking, verses

7-10,

&c.

That

i`

there

is

hope

of

a tree

when

it

is

cut

down,

that

it

will

sprout

again

visibly,

and bring forth boughs; but

when man

gives

up

the

ghost, he

is

no

more

visi-

ble

upon

earth

:

Where

is

he

?"

Job

does

not

deny

his

future

existence,

but

only intimates

that

he does

not

appear

in

the place

Where

he was

;;

and

in the follow-

ing

verses he does

not

say,

a

dying

man

shall never

rise,

or

shall never

be

awakened

out

of

hips

sleep,

but

asserts