Job 18 Bildad’s Second Response to Job
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: “How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer! Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid? You may tear out your hair in anger, but will that destroy the earth? Will it make the rocks tremble?” Hmmm! Evidently Bildad has never heard Abraham Lincoln’s say “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt!” Blessedly, Job refuses to comment on this extremely foolish remark.
“Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow. The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched. The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall. The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit. A trap grabs them by the heel. A snare holds them tight. A noose lies hidden on the ground. A rope is stretched across their path.” PLA-TI-TUDES!!!!! At this point, Job is probably sitting there twiddling his thumbs and wondering how much longer Bildad is going to bluster on.
“Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step. Hunger depletes their strength, and calamity waits for them to stumble. Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs. They are torn from the security of their homes and are brought down to the king of terrors. The homes of the wicked will burn down; burning sulfur rains on their houses. Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.”
Gracious! How vicious can one man possibly be? Job has lost virtually everything, including his family. Job’s skin is falling apart, leaving him in constant torment. Now this know-it-all comes in with these scathing statements. All Job can do is remain silent while this guy amply demonstrates his lack of compassion and judgment. Sadly, innocent people can suffer from natural disasters. In recent years, many people on the big island of Hawaii have been forced to evacuate as volcanoes have roared back into life, spouting lava and fumes. There have always been forest fires, for lightning strikes have occurred since the foundation of the world. As I am writing this, a huge earthquake in the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia is triggering tsunamis throughout the Pacific Rim, including Hawaii. And innocent people can die from accidents, horrible tumors, or with leprosy. No, Bildad is speaking out of total ignorance.
“All memory of their existence will fade from the earth; no one will remember their names. They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world. They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in the place where they lived. People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified. They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.’”
Wait a minute, Bildad! Just whom are you addressing? Job has not rejected God; however, Job fears God has rejected him. Big difference. Once more, Bildad simply demonstrates the appalling depth of his ignorance as he hints that Job is desperately wicked and will never have a single survivor from his family. Sure, Bildad’s not mentioning Job by name, but whom else can Bildad possibly mean?
Why has God allowed someone to preserve all these dialogues for millenia? Reading comments from Job’s friends leaves us wishing we could go back in time and help Job drop a large rock on each of his false friends’ heads.
God has included the Book of Job in His Word because there is so much we can learn. On the one hand, there is poor Job, struggling to stay alive as he scrapes at his sores in an effort to get some relief. Even pain is better than that eternal itching! On the other hand, there are Job’s alleged friends who appear to feel that sitting shiva for seven days and nights gives them free rein to accuse Job of all kinds of sins he has never dreamt of, let alone committed. I’ve quoted the saying before, and it’s still true. Everybody is good for something. Some folks are good as bad examples.
Face it, while we might identify with Job, most of us behave far more like the men who claim to have come to comfort him. The problem is that these guys are hyper-religious hypocrites who make a big show of sympathy, only to betray their true sentiments by spouting pious gobbledygook. Somehow, suffering any kind of problem, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental, attracts self-important critics like honey attracts ants.
I attended a workshop several years ago at which Nigerian surgeons were touting the virtues of dark honey in place of silver sulfadiazine cream for burns and open wounds. I had a large supply of high-quality dark honey, so I tried using it on one woman’s large wound. The ants nearly carried my patient away completely! I’ve dressed open wounds with sugar for years, resulting in excellent healing, and have never encountered problems with ants; however, I won’t use honey again.
One amazing aspect of Job’s behavior is that he allows these men to continue to lecture him. Personally, after the first speeches from each of these guys, I would have told them, “Thanks for your opinion. Good-bye and have a good trip. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Job, on the other hand is both noble and polite and allows these men to have their say, no matter how scathing their comments might be. In the process, Job continues to express his faith and to say things about God that others have since quoted for centuries. In the process of doing this, Job sets an example for all believers who have followed. May God help us, so that we remain steadfast like Job!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to remain patient and long-suffering in the face of trials, particularly those inflicted on us by acquaintances taking our problems as an opportunity to say things better left unsaid. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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