John Trapp on Job 1:13

Verſe 13. And there was a day] A diſmal day it proved to Job, a day of trouble and diſtreſſe, a day of waſtneſſe and deſolation, a day of darkneſſe and gloomineſſe, a day of clouds and thick darkneſſe, as Zeph. 1.15. That ſubtle ſerpent ſet upon miſchief, purpoſely picketh out ſuch a time to do it, as wherein ſuch a ſad and ſudden change was leaſt of all looked for; and then laies on amaine (as if he were wood) with the hail-ſhot, hell-ſhot of ſharpeſt afflictions. He knowes well, that as mercies and deliverances, the more unexpected they are, the more welcome, (as Abrahams receiving his ſon Iſaac after a ſort from the dead: Iſraels eduction out of Egypt, when they were forſaken of their hopes: Jonah his being drawn out of the belly of hell (as he phraſeth it, chap. 2.2.) ſo croſſes, the more ſuddenly they befall men, the more they amate them; and finding weak minds ſecure, they make them miſerable, leave them deſperate.

When his ſons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine] Wherewith, if their hearts were overcharged (and what more eaſie? the divel foiled our firſt parents by inordnate appetite, and finding it then ſo ſucceſsfull a weapon, he maketh uſe of it ſtill) that day might come upon them unawares, Luke 21.34. That was Satans drift ſurely, however it fell out: and ſo, to deſtroy body and ſoul together. But it is to be hoped, that he was diſappointed of his aime; and that death was ſent in haſt to Jobs children, as an invitant to a better feaſt: and that they might do as our Saviour did, who being at a feaſt at Bethany, fell into a meditation and diſcourſe of his death and b[illegible: 3 letters]al, John 12.7, 8. Sure it is, that although the wicked may die firming, and ſhall die in their ſins, John 5.21 and ſo be killed with death, as Jezebels children were, Rev. 2.23. Yet Gods children ſhall not dye before their time, Eccleſ. 7.17. or till the beſt time, till their work is done, Revel. 11.7. No malice of man or divel can antedate my end a minute (ſaith one), whileſt my maſter both work for me to do. It is the happineſſe of a Saint, that he is ſure not to die till that time, when, if he were but rightly informed, he would even deſire to die. Happy is he, that after due preparation is paſſed through the gates of death, ere he be aware, as Jobs children were.