September 29
Reading: Job 8
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your children have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 If you will seek God
and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
7 And though your beginning was small,
your latter days will be very great.
8 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,
and consider what the fathers have searched out.
9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you
and utter words out of their understanding?
11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
12 While yet in flower and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.
13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless shall perish.
14 His confidence is severed,
and his trust is a spider’s web.
15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand;
he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
16 He is a lush plant before the sun,
and his shoots spread over his garden.
17 His roots entwine the stone heap;
he looks upon a house of stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his place,
then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the soil others will spring.
20 “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
nor take the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
In the book of Job, it is important to understand that when Job’s friends speak, they are saying things that every God-fearing person knows. But what they are saying is misguided and wrong when applied to Job’s situation. This is the same mistake that people make today when reading the Proverbs and applying them as promises or declarations of the secret sovereign will of God. Knowing how things usually go in God’s world does not tell you what is happening now in a particular situation.
In chapter 8 Bildad adds his counsel to that of Eliphaz and does no better. Bildad is sure he understands the righteousness of God. In the first eight verses he explains to Job that God never does wrong. If you sin against God, you receive God’s judgement. “If you are pure and upright” then He will bless and restore you. In verses 8-10 he urges Job to just look at the past generations and see that this is so.
In the rest of the chapter Bildad explains that just as there are physical and biological laws that govern the physical universe, so there are moral and spiritual laws that govern men. Among them is this: “The hope of the godless will perish.” (vs. 13) and “God will not reject a blameless man.” (vs. 20)
All this sounds good, right? Simple, right? Is it true? Well, yes…
But it doesn’t help Job where he is. It is simplistic, reductionistic, trite, easy to say but lacking explanatory power. Bildad is also lacking compassion. Yes, God is righteous, and He blesses the righteous and judges the wicked. But who is righteous? And when does He do so? How long does it take? Look at the world and see that things seem not to be like this much of the time!
Neither Job nor Bildad know this but we understand that these calamities have happened to Job because he was righteous! (chapters 1-2) Explain that!!!
A little humility needs to be added, Bildad.