Job 18-19, Bildad and Job, Round Two

Have you ever seen the movie Rocky? It's the story of a down on his luck boxer that finally gets a chance. He ends up fighting the heavyweight champion of the world. Rocky then goes on in Rocky IV to end the cold war after beating a nine foot tall Russian, but I digress. Today we think about Rocky II, when Rocky fought Apollo Creed for the second time, (SEGUE WARNING), just as Job is about to debate with Bildad for a second time. Yo Adrian!

In the last section Job debated Eliphaz again. Eliphaz, having exhausted all of his words and ultimately saying nothing, (he must have been a politician), now gives way to Bildad. As always, please read along in your Bible or your telephono inteligente. Ole!

Job 18:1-4 - Bildad is angry at Job for rejecting the words and wisdom of his friends, (which have been spoken with such gentleness by the way). He feels as if Job, by rejecting the wisdom of his friends, is treating them as if they were stupid, (no comment). "Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight?" (3). To Bildad there are some absolute truths Job is rejecting; these truths are as certain as gravity and the rising of the sun. "Shall the earth be forsaken for you, or the rock be removed out of its place?" (4) So what are these absolute truths?

Job 18:5-20 - An absolute truth of life, according to Bildad. Bildad goes into a rather lengthy explanation here. Let's see if we can pick out the theme of his speech.

"Indeed the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine...Terrors frighten him on every side and chase him at his heels...He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors...His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street...Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God," (selected verses). 

An absolute and unshakable truth of life, (according to Bildad), is that the wicked are destroyed by God and do not prosper on the earth. This is as plain as the blueness of the sky and the tastiness of a Hot Kripy Kreme doughnut. Therefore Job must accept that God is punishing him for his wickedness and just move on with life. There can simply be no other explanation for what is happening. Suffering only happens because of sin.

Does what Bildad say match up with reality as you've seen and experienced it? Do murderers always get found out and punished? Are greedy swindlers always convicted? (Consider Washington D.C. and Wall Street before answering). Are dictators and cruel oppressors quickly overthrown or killed? Does their memory perish from the earth and do they have no name in the street? (Do you remember Stalin, Ghengis Kahn, Hitler, Pol-pot, etc?). Do the wicked "have no posterity or progeny among his people"? I seem to remember Fidel Castro's brother taking over Cuba and Kim Jong Il's crazy son taking over North Korea. Was that true for slave owners all over the world who prospered for years in the slave trade? Was that true of the Catholic church during the Spanish Inquisition when they either drove out or killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and Muslims?

No. Bildad's words ring hollow. Bildad's idea that people who do evil are justly punished in this life is faulty. You know it, I know it, and Job knew it. We all experience or have witnessed injustice and corruption in this world on a daily basis. Whether it be someone taking 15 items in the 10 items or less line, (jerk), a bully messing with your children at school, or a killer getting off in court. These people don't immediately get the Bubonic plague or have their eyebrows catch on fire. The wicked sometimes prosper. Sometimes they live long and healthy lives. Suffering in one's life is not an automatic indicator of God's judgment. Neither is prosperity in this life and indicator of God's favor, by the way.

So Bildad ends his second speech without saying anything too helpful, (and we are all surprised). If this was a boxing match, he would be the equivalent of Glass Joe. Now Job responds. Cue the "Eye of a Tiger" theme music.

Job 19:1-6 - Job's rebukes his friends and God for their unjust attacks upon him. "How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?" Job is obviously tired of his friends' commentary and attacks on his integrity. He still retains that he is innocent and his sin is not the cause of his suffering. Then Job boldly states that God has wronged him by the way he has treated him. "Know then that God has wronged me and has closed his net around me," (6).

Job 19:7-12 - Job describes how God had unjustly treated him. God has not answered Job's pleas for justice. "Behold I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice," (7). He then continues to list things God has done to him, as evidence of God's injustice. "He has...he has...he has...he breaks...he has...his troops...they have," (8-12). Job is listing out the ways he perceives God has wronged him. In the mind of Job's friends, God was treating Job this way as judgment for his sin. In Job's mind, God was treating him as an enemy without any just cause. Job did not think it fair for God to be treating him this way.

Side note: Do you know who are the absolute experts at fairness? Children. Children are the supposedly perfect judge and jury of all things fair. Whenever someone gets the bigger fish stick, they cry out, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Whenever someone gets a cookie and they don't, they cry out, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Whenever they have to clean their room or make their own lunch, they cry out, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!" However, children are not very good at the opposite end of the fairness spectrum. They don't consider other children in the world who don't have beds, warm meals, and loving parents to care for them. Is that fair? Children don't consider the amount of presents or desserts other children don't receive. Is that fair? Children don't consider the jobs or restrictions other children have placed on them. Is that fair? Children are experts at understanding what is "unfair" in their own lives, but aren't so good at considering how graciously and kindly they have been treated by those who love them.

What's that you ask? Do I consider how good I have it? Do I ever complain about unfairness? Did I ever act that way as a child? Do I still act that way?...I'm sorry, you don't get to ask those questions. Let's just move on.

WARNING! WARNING!

Here's my point. Job has so far complained that the incredible suffering he has endured did not match up with the righteous character of God or the integrity of Job's life. He had valid concerns. He wanted to know "why" God had treated him this way. But now Job is starting to complain about the justice of God. Personally, I don't think it's such a good decision on Job's part. It's never a good idea to argue about the justice of the sovereign, holy, righteous, perfect and eternal God. Nevertheless, when we're suffering it is hard not to doubt the fairness of God. It may seem to us that God is acting cruelly and out of touch with his character. However, if there was a warning light on Job's dashboard, it should be going off right now. He continues...

Job 19:13-22 - God has also ruined Job socially. "He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me...I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; My breath is strange to my wife...Even young children despise me." God has treated him unjustly. Men, women and children have rejected him. Where is Job's hope?

Job 19:23-29 - Job hopes in a life after death where he will see and be vindicated by God. Throughout the book, Job has been arguing for his integrity against his friends, and in some ways against God. He believed he did not deserve the suffering he was enduring. "Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!" (23). Job hoped that a record would be taken of his complaint and certainty of his integrity. (If you can't see the irony here then I just can't help you). Then he announced his trust in God's ultimate vindication of his character, even if that vindication came at the end of the world. "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God," (25-26). Did Job know about Jesus? No. Did Job have a clear understanding of the resurrection of the living and the dead? Not really. Remember, this was written around Abraham's time period, when the revelation from God was a bit limited. However, Job trusted that God would one day support and vindicate Job for the life he had lived. Job believed there was a Redeemer for him who would present the truth of his case to God and thus vindicate his righteous and faithful life.

Even if Job didn't get the answer he wanted in this life, he believed God would give it to him in the end. Even if Job was mocked and scorned by everyone around him, he believed God would make things right in the last day. Even if he was viewed as a sinner in this life, he believed God would justify him as a righteous man when he stood before God in heaven, (or his understanding of heaven, anyways). There's a point here for the rest of us. We may not grasp the purposes of God in this life, but one day we will see and understand God's plan. We may not be approved of by people around us now, but we should ultimately looking to the smile of God, the "Well done" in heaven. Life on earth is not easy and not fair, but there is God in heaven to whom we can fix our eyes and trust that one day he will make things right.

Let's close with some insights from Hebrews 11, (right side of the Bible, towards the end):
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation," (1-2). 
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him," (6). 
"If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city," (15-16).