Job Sees The Light - Ninth in a series

Hover over the Scripture references to read the verses under discussion

Bildad the Shuhite lives up to the meaning of his name, Son of Contention, in Chapter 8. He is offended by Job’s cries to God (previous chapter). It is certainly obvious that Job has offended God colossally! He will correct him and provide needed guidance for “next steps”:

Job 8:1-4 NIV Stop! What could be more contentious and certain to wound and provoke controversy than to suggest that God intentionally killed Job's children for their sin?

Job 8:5-7 NIV Bildad’s perception of Job's situation and his remedy are like Eliphaz’s — confession and good behavior are the keys to his restoration. Yet, we cannot earn our standing before the Lord by our deeds. In Old Testament and New, faith is what makes man acceptable in his sight. (Rom 4:1-25; 5:1-2) Works then complement our faith.

What about the idea that God will rouse himself on behalf of the pure and upright in an instant? God will certainly come to the defense of his righteous ones, but not necessarily on a timetable that humans can comprehend. It is presumptuous to believe that God will rescue us from trials in an amount of time that seems logical and just to us.

Job 8:8-10 NIV Asking former generations is a wonderful idea. Job is not averse to learning from the past; he is simply blind to such help at the present. His situation is indeed unique.

Job 8:11-15 NIV Every believer accepts that the ungodly will eventually come to ruin, but not all are able to see that a ruined man may be very godly, not one who has been rejected by God.

Job 8:16-19 NIV The contentious Bildad, or Satan through him, here accuses Job of deceiving himself that he had hold of God when in fact he was drawing strength from cold and lifeless sources. For shame, Job! The godless prepare their own demise by grasping and holding on to what cannot save. Consequently, they will be plucked up, disowned by their former home, and replaced by better people.

Satan wants believers to question their faith and relationship with God. He takes advantage of us during times of hardship by causing us to question whether we ever had faith. “You never had roots! God never knew you!.”

The believer must firmly resist such attacks.

Job 8:20-22 NIV To Bildad, everything is black or white. He has judged Job to be an evildoer and the evidence of that is the destruction of his possessions, land and family. Obviously, God would not do this to a good person. But in the end, we discover that all those tragedies were merely instrumental in divesting Job of self-approval. If we would worship the Giver, at times the gifts must be removed.