The Terror of Divine Judgment

Whether it becomes. But even if the male is of this nature, but from the dominant one and towards his royal and arrogant one he remembered. And he has made a memory of the 'dragons', alluding to serpent-like men, as they themselves are subject to change and concerning them change is happening. But these are deceitful and working deception, according to that which is said: 'But I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve through his craftiness, he corrupt your minds' (2 Cor 11:3). And he seems like a 'myrmecoleon' to a boasting and forward man, who because of the unstable and unweighed thing falls down. It is said that this is born from a lion with an ant having come together, not by the life-giving nature, but by another, which indeed has the size of a lion, and so it is called. And the historians say that because the father is flesh-eating and because the mother is poison-producing, he perishes, being unable because of the birth from both to use a single food. As to how it is, let the one encountering it judge.

And those receiving this devil are likely saying, that to the saints the ant is present through weakness, but to those sinning the lion, because he 'has given him a place'. 'And the packs of lions left one another', which he said alluding to the lawless and wild men. For indeed the packs, until they are under the mother, are together, but when they become men, they tear one another apart. So also the crafty and wild man, until he has some benefit—I say human—from the one accompanying him, he hides his malice, but having been filled with the one striving, he cares little for the benefactor.

And it is necessary to understand the 'true' 'word' that proceeds from intention as being without falsehood; for there is also a word in the soul. And this must be said, that it is not fitting to regard the weighty or worthy of understanding words of every person in the Scripture. For in the Gospels, indeed the foolishness of the Jews, but even Nicodemus used words not wisely; for when the Savior said, 'It is necessary for you to be born from above' (Luke 3:23), he said, 'Can not a man, being an old man, be born or enter a second time into the womb of a mother?' (John 3:4). Thus it is not necessary to always require understanding from every person in the Scripture. 'Whether he will not receive my ear's outcry from him...

But with fear and a nocturnal sound, a fear fell upon men; and a shudder met me, and trembling, and it greatly shook my bones, and a spirit came upon my face, and my hairs and flesh shuddered. I stood up and did not recognize it; I saw, and there was no form before my eyes, but rather a wind, and I heard a voice (Job 4:12-14).

Since he used words more abundantly, the first things are to be thought of as exhortatory, then as cleansing, as Job having hurried because of the things that happened to him and because he suffered through sin—for this Eliphaz posited from the beginning—and in addition, that human matters, even if they are prosperous, receive much change. Considering that it is possible the listener might not pay attention to what is said by him, for the sake of a confirmation, he brings forward the things set forth, saying: 'Whether my ear will be opened by him?' saying only this: let no one of those listening think that I am found to be unwise. For my ear of understanding receives wonders from him, him speaking of God. For this is significant of authority, as in: 'He himself speaking, I am present,' and in: 'He himself was wise against them, and his law shall by no means be set aside,' making it clear that it is of God. For indeed, if human understanding is imposed upon that which is from God, it is filled with fear according to the saying: 'I understood your works and was terrified' (Psalm 119:46). And to the same thing, 'sound' is followed by 'nocturnal,' which is much ambiguity, from which it happens to shudder and be afraid for one who has begun to perceive something of God's judgments. Not only that, but also 'the bones' of such a thing are disturbed, which is the power of the soul. For every human reasoning fails before the precise understanding of divine things. This is the same thing Habakkuk, having perceived, says: 'From the voice of prayer, trembling entered into my bones' (Habakkuk 3:16). Therefore, when one, desiring to ascend according to the intellectual faculty, encounters the fearsome divine works as previously stated, there comes a certain type of non-precise understanding, which is indicated by: 'and a spirit came upon my face.' Next also is: 'and my hairs and flesh shuddered.' For a man does not endure a great disturbance if he should dare to impose himself upon the judgment and wonders of God. 'I stood up, and there was no form before my eyes,' so that it may be as the saying goes.