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Bildad dwells upon his favourite topic of the withering doom of the wicked. It is complete - root and branch are destroyed. A truth again, though inapplicable to Job.

I. THE ROOTS DRIED UP. The roots stand for the sources of life and strength. Roots nourish the tree and hold it in its place. If they fail, all else must perish.

1. The roots are out of sight. The most important things are not the most prominent. The secret springs of toe soul are of vital interest. All that is visible to the eye may be untouched; yet if the hidden roots of our being fail we must be utterly undone.

2. The roots depend on nourishment. They are dried up for lack of moisture in the soil. There may be no defect in the roots; yet if the soil is drained dry they cannot perform their natural function of nourishing the soul. We are all dependent on what is outside us, in soul as well as in body. If the food of the soul is withdrawn, if the water of life no longer flows near to the roots of our spiritual being, no vigour of constitution, no inherent personal life, can survive.

3. The waters may fail. The course of the river may be deflected, or there may be a season of drought. We have nothing in ourselves or in the constitution of things to guarantee a continuance of supply in this case of our deepest wants. We have no right to that supply, no claim on the grace of God. The hand that gives may withhold. Therefore our continued prosperity depends absolutely on God's continued favour. The insolent and rebellious independence that forfeits God's grace withers the roots of the soul.

II. THE BRANCH CUT OFF. The branch stands for the external growth. It is seen by all, snowed with blossoms and freshening with new green in the spring, or laden with luscious fruit in the autumn. When the root is dried up, leaves and fruit wither on the branch. But a more untimely fate may overtake it. It may be severed from the tree. Perhaps it is too stout and tough to be torn off in the gale, but it cannot resist the woodman's axe.

1. The branch is cut off by an external calamity. This is what had happened to Job. His prosperity was suddenly wrenched away from him. The family into which his life had branched out was smitten; this branch was cut off from the parent stem. What we most love, rejoice in, and pride ourselves upon may be removed by the hand of death, or by some misfortune of life.

2. The cutting off of the branch may not be an unmitigated evil. It may be a pruning process. The tree may be running to wood rather than producing fruit. Mere growth of wealth and external prosperity may be taking the place of fruit-bearing in regard to the real good of life. Then it is to be observed that pruning a tree is not felling it. Though the branch is cut off, the trunk is left, and the life of the tree will yet be seen in a new and healthier growth. We must not despair at external disaster. If the life of God is in us, we shall survive it, and even triumph over it.

3. The most fatal condition is when the dying of the roots goes with the cutting off of the branch. If the internal resources are dried up when external calamity falls upon us, our condition is desperate. There is then nothing to fall back upon. External ruin only crowns and completes internal decay. CONCLUSION. The gospel of Christ is as deep-searching and as far-reaching as the evil of in. It saves roots and branches, giving life to the soul, and also a Divine growth and prosperity. - W.F.A.

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KJV: His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

WEB: His roots shall be dried up beneath. Above shall his branch be cut off.