Behold, he put no trust in his servants
Some think the divine oracle or revelation ends in ( Job 4:17 ) , and that here
Eliphaz makes some use and improvement of it, and addresses Job,
and argues with him upon it, with a view to his case and
circumstances; but rather the account of what the oracle said, or
was delivered by revelation, is continued to the end of the
chapter, there being nothing unworthy of God, either in the
matter or manner of it: and here Eliphaz himself is addressed,
and this address ushered in with a "behold", as a note of
admiration, asseveration, and attention; it being somewhat
wonderful and of importance, sure and certain, and which deserved
to be listened to, that God, the Maker of men and angels, did
not, and does not, "put" any "trust" or confidence "in his
servants"; meaning not the prophets in particular, as the Targum,
though they are in an eminent sense the servants of God; nor
righteous men in general, as Jarchi and others, who though
heretofore servants of sin, yet through grace become servants of
righteousness, and of God; but as men who dwelt in houses of clay
are opposed to them, and distinguished from them, in ( Job 4:19 ) , they must be
understood of angels, as the following clause explains it; who
always stand before God, ministering unto him, ready to do his
will, and to do it in the most perfect manner creatures are
capable of; they go forth at his command into each of the parts
of the world, and execute his orders; they worship him, and
celebrate his perfections, ascribing honour and glory, wisdom,
power, and blessing to him; and this they do cheerfully,
constantly, and incessantly. Now though God has intrusted these
servants of his with many messages of importance, both under the
Old and New Testament dispensation, yet he has not trusted them
with the salvation of men, to which they are not equal, but has
put it into the hands of his Son; nor indeed did he trust them
with the secret of it, so as to make them his counsellors about
it; no, Christ only was the wonderful Counsellor in this affair;
the counsel of peace, or that respecting the peace and
reconciliation of men, was only between him and his Father; God
was only in and with Christ, and not angels reconciling men, or
drawing the plan of their reconciliation; and when this secret,
being concluded on and settled, was revealed to angels, it is
thought by some to be the reason of so many of them apostatizing
from God; they choosing rather to have nothing to do with him,
than to be under the Son of God in human nature: but, besides
this, there are many other things God has not trusted the angels
with, as his purposes and decrees within himself, and the
knowledge of the times and seasons of the accomplishment of them,
particularly the day and hour of judgment; though the sense here
rather seems to be this, that God does not and did not trust them
with themselves; he knew their natural weakness, frailty,
mutability, how liable they were to sin and fall from him, and
therefore he chose them in Christ, put them into his hands, and
made him head over them, and so confirmed and established them in
him; and, as it may be rendered, "did not put stability or
firmness" F23 in them, so as to stand of
themselves; or "perfection" in them, as some render it
F24, which cannot be in a creature as
it is in God:
and his angels he charged with folly;
that is, comparatively, with respect to himself, in comparison of
whom all creatures are foolish, be they ever so wise; for he is
all wise, and only wise; angels are very knowing and intelligent
in things natural and evangelical, but their knowledge is but
imperfect, particularly in the latter; as appears by their being
desirous of looking into those things which respect the salvation
of men, and by learning of the church the manifold wisdom of God,
( 1 Peter
1:2 ) ( Ephesians
3:10 ) ; or by "folly" is meant vanity, weakness, and
imperfection F25, a liableness to fall, which God
observed in them; and which are in every creature in its best
estate, and were in Adam in his state of innocence, and so in the
angels that fell not, especially previous to their confirmation
by Christ, see ( Psalms 39:5 ) ; and so
the sense is the same with the preceding clause: some render it
by repeating the negative from that, "and he putteth not
glorying" or "boasting in his angels" F26; he
makes no account of their duties and services, so as to glory in
them; it is an humbling himself to regard them; or he puts
nothing in them that they can boast of, since they have nothing
of themselves, all from him, and therefore cannot glory as though
they had received it not. Others observe, that the word has the
signification of light, and differently render the passage; some,
"though he putteth light in his angels" F1, makes
them angels of light, comparable to morning stars, yet he puts no
trust in them; and what they have is from him, and therefore not
to be compared with him, nor can they glory in themselves; or,
"he putteth not light", or "not clear light into [them]"
F2; that which is perfect, and fire
from all manner of darkness; such only is in himself the Father
of lights, with whom it dwells in perfection, and there is no
shadow of turning in him: some would have this understood of the
evil angels, whom God charged with folly; but this is too low a
term, a phrase not strong enough to express their sin and
wickedness, who are not chargeable only with imprudence, but with
rebellion and treason against God; nor does this sense agree with
parallel places, ( Job
15:14-16 ) ( Job 25:4 Job 25:5 ) ; and besides,
the beauty of the comparison of them with men would be lost, and
the strength of the argument with respect to them would be sadly
weakened, which we have in ( Job 4:19 ) .