Lenten Study Job Ch 8
A new voice is heard in chapter eight, Bildad. He is certain he knows something that can help Job. His words are intended to be both hopeful and motivating to Job, pointing out the folly of whatever Job is or has done but also giving him hope.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
Job 8:1 (NASB)
Here we go with Bildad’s input.
2 “How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
Job 8:2-3 (NASB)
This is a rhetorical question from Bildad. Everyone sitting there believes as we should that God is good all the time. Nothing evil is in God. Nothing false comes from God. Nothing bad or sinful is in Him. This is important because Bildad is about to present Job with what he sees as a hard truth.
4 “If your sons sinned against Him, Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.
Job 8:4 (NASB)
Bildad just suggested Job’s children are dead because they did something to offend God and deserved to die. Bildad has more of what he considers hard truth for Job. Note, just because Bildad thinks this is true does not make it so. We know God knows Job is upright and righteous, so what Bildad thinks is true, in reality, is not.
5 “If you would seek God And implore the compassion of the Almighty,
6 If you are pure and upright, Surely now He would rouse Himself for you And restore your righteous estate.
Job 8:5-6 (NASB)
This is what Job has prayed for. It is not happening because God is a God of His word. He gave Job over to Satan so long as Satan didn’t kill Job or harm his person.
7 “Though your beginning was insignificant, Yet your end will increase greatly.
Job 8:7 (NASB)
This is the first thing Bildad has said that is right.
8 “Please inquire of past generations, And consider the things searched out by their fathers.
Job 8:8 (NASB)
Please learn from history, from the Torah, from those experiences we know of from our fathers and grandfathers. Bildad is imploring Job to see his situation as theirs was when they were punished for wrongdoing. There has never been a situation like Jobs before this.
9 “For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, Because our days on earth are as a shadow.
Job 8:9 (NASB)
Human beings live for so short a time we cannot possibly know the Great Mysteries of the world. Yet people do think they know them. Bildad’s point here is that he recognizes how fleeting our time is here and that people continue to make the same mistakes because we think we’ve invented something new when in reality, there is nothing new under the sun.
9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.
11 There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 (NASB)
10 “Will they not teach you and tell you, And bring forth words from their minds?
11 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the rushes grow without water?
12 “While it is still green and not cut down, Yet it withers before any other plant.
13 “So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,
14 Whose confidence is fragile, And whose trust a spider’s web.
Job 8:10-14 (NASB)
Bildad uses analogies Job knows. Papyrus is a plant from which the writing material gets its name. It is a reed that looks like a cross between a cattail and a dill plant that grows in marshes.
16 “He thrives before the sun, And his shoots spread out over his garden.
17 “His roots wrap around a rock pile, He grasps a house of stones.
18 “If he is removed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’
Job 8:16-18 (NASB)
Once plucked, the plant withers, drying out because it requires a lot of water, such as is found in marshy areas. Bildad likens this plant to the fortunes of Job in that he has done something wrong, and now God says, “I never saw you.” Or so Bildad thinks.
19 “Behold, this is the joy of His way; And out of the dust others will spring.
20 “Lo, God will not reject a man of integrity, Nor will He support the evildoers.
21 “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter And your lips with shouting.
22 “Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”
Job 8:19-22 (NASB)
We close chapter 8 with what Bildad hopes are words of encouragement to Job. He asks Job to turn from whatever has offended God and return to his ways of righteousness. Bildad hopes that he gives Job a reason to return to his old ways. He is unaware that Satan is testing Job to try and turn him away from God.