Job 12:16

With him [is] strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver [are] his.

Ver. 16. With him is strength and wisdom] i.e. Such strength as he exerciseth most wisely, mightily, and righteously. Sic volo, sic iubeo, I wish so, so I command, saith the tyrant, Right or wrong, thus it shall be. Volumus et iubemus, saith that man of sin, We will and command, &c., neither must any one mute or say so much as What dost thou? upon pain of damnation. When Constantius would have Paulinus, Lucifer, and other bishops subscribe against Athanasius, and communicate with the Arians, he yielded to no other reason but this, Quod ego volo, pro canone sit, Do as I bid, or get you into banishment. But God, though he hath all power in his hand, and may do whatsoever he pleaseth, yet with him is strength and equity (so Vatablus rendereth the word Tushijah here used), or the being, substance, and permanence of all creatures (so Munster), which subsist merely by his manutention; or, the rule and certain law of wisdom and judgment, by which wisdom acteth, saith Mercer. So then the Lord, though he make his will a law, yet he cannot do otherwise than well, because nothing but wisdom and equity is in it.

The deceived and the deceiver are his] This Job produceth as a proof of God's insuperable strength and unsearchable wisdom, that he hath an over ruling hand in the artifices and sleights of men, even the "cunning craftiness" (as the apostle speaketh), Ephesians 4:14, "whereby they lie in wait to deceive." These he not only and barely permitteth in his just judgment upon the deceived (whether through ignorance or idleness), but disposeth, also, and ordereth both the deceiver and the deceived (whether in spiritual things or civil) to his own righteous ends and holy purposes. See Ezekiel 14:9 1 Kings 22:19,20 2Th 2:11 Isaiah 19:14, and then conclude, with Job, that wisdom and strength are his, who can thus draw light out of darkness, and powerfully order the disorders of the world to his own glory, and the good of his people: "For there must be heresies, that they which are approved may be made manifest," 1 Corinthians 11:19. Meanwhile, here is the comfort of every good soul, that none can take them out of the Father's hands, John 10:29, and it is impossible that the elect should be totally and finally deceived, because both the deceived and the deceiver are God's; by him, and from him, and for him are deceivers and deceived (so Broughton translateth this text). By him, for he suffereth and ordereth them; from him, for he sendeth them; and for him, for they promote his glory and serve his ends. He many times suffereth the tree of the Church to be shaken, that rotten fruit may drop off. There are those who set this sense upon the words; they are both in God's hands, the deceiver, to have revenge taken upon him, and the deceived, who revengeth not himself, to have his cause righted, as 1 Thessalonians 4:6; an argument both of God's wisdom, to find out the deceiver, however subtle; and likewise of his power, in punishing them, however potent.