Job 35:3, 4 For you said, What advantage will it be to you? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?… I. A NATURAL QUESTION. Job is driven to put this question; or, rather, Elihu concludes that Job's language shows that the patriarch is debating it within himself. Satan had sneered at the notion of disinterested goodness, and had asked, "Doth Job fear God for naught?" (Job 1:9). Now Job is begin-nine to see that the profits of goodness, as they are commonly believed in, do not accrue, for good men suffer as much as other men, if not more. The utilitarian question crops up in practice, whatever ethical theory we may have adopted. People will ask - What is the advantage of religion? Why should they deny their passions? What will they be the better for refraining from evil? The inquiry is natural for two reasons. 1. We naturally desire to see results. Men wish to know that some good end is to be reached. They are not satisfied with a good road; they must know where it leads to. 2. We naturally desire our own advantage. The instincts implanted in us encourage such a desire. In itself it is not bad, but natural. Evil comes from the abuse or the supremacy of it. II. A SUPERFLUOUS QUESTION. Although the question is natural, we ought to be able to rise above it. After all, our chief concern is not with results, but with duty. Our part is to do the right, whether it leads to failure or to success. Obedience is our sphere; results are with God. We sow and water; he it is who gives the increase. It is difficult to learn this lesson, for we all gravitate to selfish and material ends unless we are lifted out of ourselves. Still, the lesson must be learnt. If a man is only virtuous on account of the rewards of virtue, he is not really virtuous at all. He who does not steal simply because be is persuaded that "honesty is the best policy," is a thief at heart. Conscience is independent of advantage, and true goodness is only that which rests on conscience. III. AN ANSWERABLE QUESTION. Elihu is ready with his reply. Perhaps it is not quite so simple a matter as he assumes, for he is one of those fearless talkers who handle the most difficult problems with jaunty confidence. Still, he helps us towards a reply. Goodness is not ignored by God. This Elihu show, in three ways. 1. God is too great to unjustly deprive men of the rewards of their deeds. These may not come at once; but God can have no conceivable motive for withholding them (vers. 5-8). 2. The absence of immediate blessings is an proof of Divine negligence. While complaining that their rewards are not given them, men may not be treating God aright, and so nor deserving his blessing (vers. 9-13). 3. God's watchfulness ensures his righteous treatment of his creatures. (Vers. 14-16.) Thus according to Elihu goodness is ultimately for the advantage of its possessor. But may we not go further, and say that even if it brings no ultimate reward it is infinitely better than sin, for goodness is in itself a blessing? Few of us can be great, or rich, or very successful. But it is better to be good than to be great, or rich, or successful; for to be good is to be like Christ, like God. - W.F.A. Parallel Verses KJV: For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? |
    |