We now start the second round of peaches by Job’s friends. The tricky thing about Jon’s friends again is that they are not completely wrong. Much of what they say is true about how the world works. The main place in which they are wrong is that they assume all suffering is caused by the person who is going through the hardships. This is not true. We have already been told by the narrator that Job is innocent. With this knowledge, we can engage with Bildad’s second round of speeches.
Job 18
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.
11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
Usually I break up the passages to talk about each point, but this speech is very unified. Bildad is observing how those who live a wicked life bring there own suffering. He implies that Job is wicked and that this is a description of him. If we ignore his connecting this description to Job, we can agree that wickedness brings all sorts of trouble to the evil doers. There is that kind of justice built into the world.
I have noticed that when I am going through difficulty, I find myself asking if I caused it because of these same observations. When we see nationally broadcast trials and hear the decisions the criminal made that lead to the horrible conclusion, we are often not surprised at the tragic results of their lives. Sometimes it prison time, financial ruin, divorce, being blacklisted, and complete rejection from society. Yet, we can see similar results on a smaller scale to those we know. Society feels smug at these people and say, “You deserved it!”
I often wonder, though, want makes me so different than the tragic criminal. Perhaps it was wiser choices. Maybe I was more virtuous and honest. It could be that I had a more supportive family or came from the right culture. In the end though, we can still find vices in ourselves enough to question our innocence.
What I am saying is that when we go through hardships, sometimes we do wonder if we caused it to ourselves. Yet, the book of Job allows us know that this is not the law of the universe. So we can search ourselves for evil choices or actions and repent of them so we can receive God’s mercy. We can also see that our suffering is not for some wrong action and find consolation in Job’s struggle and eventual vindication. God created the world much more complex than the image Job’s friends gives us. The fate of the wicked is not the fate of the righteous even if moments on the journey appear similar at times.
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