“Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: “How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind? Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice? If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression. If you would earnestly seek God And make your supplication to the Almighty, If you were pure and upright, Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling place. Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly” (Job 8:1-7).
Our Father, our God, our Defender and Sustainer, it is on You that we lean, it is to You that we run when the enemy of our souls comes in like a flood! You have promised to lift up a standard against Him. A standard of defense against the judgment of others. As we continue to look at the words of the “friends” of Job, may we be determined, by Your grace, not to allow ourselves to be instruments in the hands of the evil one, to cause pain and discouragement to others! Please give us pure hearts, and pure thoughts, that from our lips may flow fountains of love and encouragement to Your glory, and the blessing of others. In the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ we pray! Amen.
Today, Eliphaz the Temanite has taken a break from his pontificating, and now it is Bildad, the Shuhite who will take over for a while. There is nothing new to be gained from his speech that has not basically been said by Eliphaz. Oddly enough, he begins at the same place that Eliphaz began, opening the wound of the death of Job’s children. The only difference, is that he does not insinuate the “fact” that it was the sin of Job’s children that had brought about divine judgment upon them, and had caused the blast of God to consume them, as Eliphaz did (see Job 4:7-9). He simply blurted out his judment upon them, and blamed God for it, If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.
There is a pattern of thought that must not be overlooked in these speeches. Remember we are on the topic of beginnings. Where are these harsh comments coming from in the name of God?
When we introduced the story of Job, in this conversation, I pointed out what Satan’s intentions were, “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has,” (Job 1:11). God was to be the villain. But God, the Giver of life, and all good gifts (James 1:17), allowed the murderer to do what he does (John 10:10a), without losing control over His servant,
“And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
It was thought that God was the author of everything that happened in a person’s life, good or bad. Listen to the words of Job and His wife:
Job: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21, emphasis supplied).
Job and his wife: “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity” (Job 2:9, 10, emphasis supplied)?
To this day, there are those who believe this! There are things that God does. And there are things that God allows, without ever losing complete control over the situation. The Sovereign God cares about the things that affect us! Never forget that!
But the truth of the matter is that it is really Satan who afflicted Job and his family. The one who is the liar, and the murderer, from the beginning (John 8:44)!
Satan’s purpose in this great controversy between good and evil, is to accuse God of the pain and suffering in the world, and have people look at our God of love, as a God to be afraid of. Nothing could be further from the truth!
So much evil has been done in the name of religion, that it is not hard for people to believe this lie! Job’s “friends” who were supposed to be followers of God, were also judging and condemning Job in the name of God! Blaming God for his calamity!
All this distortion of truth, and of the character of God, began in heaven (see Revelation 12)! When we must say something, let us stop and think, before we speak. Let us ask ourselves where are our words coming from? Who is speaking through us? Remember in our tongue is the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). We must be careful to know who, is the source of our words. From where are they beginning!