Day 18 – Chapter 18

“Then Bildad the Shuhite responded, ‘How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding and then we can talk. Why are we regarded as beasts, As stupid in your eyes? O you who tear yourself in your anger—for your sake is the earth to be abandoned, or the rock to be moved from its place? Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, and the flame of his fire gives no light’” (18:1-5).

Wow! I almost don’t know where to begin with this chapter. Job’s so-called friends have been attacking him, his devotion to God, his integrity, even his honesty mercilessly and now after he has defended himself they are offended. Bildad speaks again, taking the offensive almost like having received the baton from a teammate in a relay race, and takes the attack to a new low. After registering his complaint over how he and his friend’s words have been received, he now, in a lengthy harangue, compares Job to those who are wicked. This is the man of whom God said, “For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (1:8). It is simply not plausible to Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz that anyone could possibly suffer to the massive magnitude they see in Job unless they were receiving divine recompense for their wickedness. Therefore, Job must be wicked.

This difficulty with what Bildad has to say does not lay in his description of the wicked and what their lot shall one day be, but rather in his presumptuous application to Job’s plight. How often have we seen this same type of presumption in our churches today, or have even experienced it for ourselves from others, particularly from those from whom we least expect it? How many times have we seen people at the altar pouring their souls out before the Lord only to have some super saint assume that obviously something horrific is happening in their life? How many times have we heard people being gossiped about based on assumptions because of someone’s limited knowledge of their situation and circumstance? How often have you, perhaps, been the object of these false assumptions only to have people categorize you erroneously?

Clearly, the contemporary church needs to recapture a biblical understanding of what it means for someone to be considered wicked before God, but we must be careful that we do not fall into a judgment that is not only not our own to make, but that also puts us into a place of supposed righteousness that is equally false. Jesus cautioned his listeners to avoid pointing out the splinter in their brother’s eye while ignoring the plank in their own (Matthew 7:3). Yes, there will one day be recompense for the wicked. They will suffer the consequences for their sin, and in the interim it may seem that God is not just because they appear to get away with their wicked behavior, but payday is coming! Today, seek to avoid making sweeping judgments about others and look to your own righteousness, then leave the rest to God.

Gracious Father, forgive us today for our assumptions about our sister or brother. Forgive us for focusing more on the sin of others than on our own sin. Forgive us for supplanting Your sovereign position as though we had a heaven or hell to which we can consign people. Help us today to focus on our own salvation, recognizing that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags before, and to leave the rest to You. Amen.