Job 18--Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked​
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “How long will you hunt for words?
    Consider, and then we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
    Why are we stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in your anger,
    shall the earth be forsaken for you,
    or the rock be removed out of its place?

5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out,
    and the flame of his fire does not shine.
6 The light is dark in his tent,
    and his lamp above him is put out.
7 His strong steps are shortened,
    and his own schemes throw him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
    and he walks on its mesh.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare lays hold of him.
10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
    a trap for him in the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side,
    and chase him at his heels.
12 His strength is famished,
    and calamity is ready for his stumbling.
13 It consumes the parts of his skin;
    the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
14 He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
    and is brought to the king of terrors.
15 In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
    sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
16 His roots dry up beneath,
    and his branches wither above.
17 His memory perishes from the earth,
    and he has no name in the street.
18 He is thrust from light into darkness,
    and driven out of the world.
19 He has no posterity or progeny among his people,
    and no survivor where he used to live.
20 They of the west are appalled at his day,
    and horror seizes them of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
    such is the place of him who knows not God.”

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Bildad feels compelled to respond to Job to say that Job is the one that should be quiet and should think before speaking and that his friends are not as foolish or ignorant as Job thinks, and he should listen to them and ponder what they have to say.  Then Bildad adds that the thing thing that Job is asking for is like asking for the Earth to be forsaken or the foundations of the Earth to be moved (we don't simply move planets out of their orbit because we want to).  To Bildad, the petitions of Job sound just as ludicrous.

Then Bildad once again repeats what he knows to be true (and I can see most everyone there in agreement)--God seems to punish the wicked, darken their hearts and minds and snuff out their life at an early age.  Once again thought, Bildad seems to go from general to specific and try to put some things in there that he "knows" that apply specifically to Job, such as God touching a man's skin with disease and killing the man's children and losing house and home and all that belongs to him.  Clearly Bildad thinks he knows that Job is the wicked man that God is punishing and that he knows how God is choosing to punish Job.  That's seems pretty arrogant.  Bildad even goes so far as to say that all going on in Job's life is proof that it is Job who does not know God.

Bildad seems to lack any humility here in the way he is throwing stones (a reference to "let he who is without sin cast the first stone").  He presumes to know the mind and heart of God and Job, yet he doesn't even seem to understand his own mind and heart.  How could he be so wrong?  Well, first is the fact that we have a lot more revelation of who God is now through the Bible and especially through seeing Jesus, God in the flesh.  However, even we have issues today with people falsely representing God and being bad spokesmen and even being false teachers and false prophets.  Bildad along with Eliphaz and Zophar seem to think that there is some issue with asking God questions.  They would rather assume they know all the facts and ask nothing--probably because they don't believe in a God who would answer them or they don't think they need answers because they believe in a God of their own creation and know exactly what he's like because he's exactly like them--or at least what they created.

While Job understands that the mind of God is untraceable and unknowable for natural man, he has some understanding that God wants to reveal who He is to us and the best person to know the identity, nature and character of God is God Himself, and He's also the only one that can answer the question of "Why?" that sometimes we need to ask--though He often times doesn't answer it the way we want as we'll see later in this book.  Many times He just reminds us of who He is and that we just need to trust Him and He doesn't explain Himself, but He doesn't get offended by the question, but He might ask us why we would ever doubt.