Job Chapter 8
Please read: Job 8 –
The second friend of Job shared his thoughts, and he was much more direct. Bildad blatantly stated that Job should repent so that he could once more enjoy life. He was certain that God would restore everything to Job if he would just repent of his sin. He even went so far as to accuse that the sons of Job were extinguished because of their sins. Therefore, it was only logical in his mind that Job had been spared but needed to repent soon as God would surely take his life as well. But again, this friend named Bildad had no idea what had transpired in the spiritual realm. He based his opinions on his own view of God, and not the true Biblical character of God.
Let's Reflect
1. Can you imagine how difficult it would have been for Job to sit and listen to his “friend” Bildad who just stated that all ten of his children had been extinguished by God at the same time because they had sinned against Him?
2. Bildad started out by accusing Job of spouting off words that he shouldn’t be saying. There was no sign of empathy for his friend. According to verse 2 he likened Job’s words to what?
3. Bildad did get one thing right even though he had no way of knowing it, because toward the end of the book of Job God does restore to him even more than he previously possessed. What did Bildad tell Job would happen if he just confessed his sin? See verse 7.
4. Bildad implores Job to look at the wisdom of those who lived before them. In his mind God always punishes the sinner and blesses the man who is upright. It is a cause-and-effect scenario. He was right in that we should look to history so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. And he was right about the length of days we have on this earth. What did Bildad call the length of a person’s life? But Bildad was wrong about his assumption of how God always operates.
5. Then to give credence to what he is saying about the “doctrine” of cause-and-effect he gives several scenarios from life to prove to Job that this is how life works. The strangest cause-and-effect he gave is found in verse 19. He talks about when someone dies, what happens to the ground he was buried under? Imagine saying that to a friend who had just lost all of their children?
6. According to Bildad, Job needed only to confess his sin and what would happen to him? See verse 21.
“The biggest benediction one man can find in another is not in his words, but that he implies: ‘I do not know the answer to your problem, all I can say is that God alone must know; let us go to Him’… The biggest thing you can do for those who are suffering is not to talk platitudes, not to ask questions, but to get into contact with God, and the ‘greater works’ will be done by prayer.” [Chambers]
