Job 18:21 | KingComments | STEP | Bildad ends in style, his style to be precise. His whole second speech is mercilessly harsh. In his first speech (Job 8) he hinted that Job may not have belonged to the wicked. But this second speech leaves no doubt about that. He is “sure” that all the mischief he has spoken about will strike the wicked (read: Job). Then follows a further description of the wicked. The wicked, that is to say Job is that man. He is someone who “does not know God”. The fact that his house has been wiped out is proof of this. What has happened to him only happens to someone who does not know God, who has no connection with Him. This again shows the short-sightedness of Bildad and his two friends. They pretend that every wicked person will come across what Bildad has put forward in this chapter. But that is not true. Everybody sees that there are wicked people who are prosperous and that there are righteous people who are suffering. This short-sightedness is the result of a one-sided view on God. God is indeed righteous. But not every sin is already punished on earth, and not every good deed is already rewarded on earth. If we don’t have an eye for that, we have and give the wrong impression of God. The friends are a cautionary example for us not to form a simplistic idea about God and then apply it to all kinds of situations. God is much greater than we can comprehend with our intellect.

‏ Job 18:21

Bildad’s Conclusion

Bildad ends in style, his style to be precise. His whole second speech is mercilessly harsh. In his first speech (Job 8) he hinted that Job may not have belonged to the wicked. But this second speech leaves no doubt about that. He is “sure” that all the mischief he has spoken about will strike the wicked (read: Job).

Then follows a further description of the wicked. The wicked, that is to say Job is that man. He is someone who “does not know God”. The fact that his house has been wiped out is proof of this. What has happened to him only happens to someone who does not know God, who has no connection with Him.

This again shows the short-sightedness of Bildad and his two friends. They pretend that every wicked person will come across what Bildad has put forward in this chapter. But that is not true. Everybody sees that there are wicked people who are prosperous and that there are righteous people who are suffering.

This short-sightedness is the result of a one-sided view on God. God is indeed righteous. But not every sin is already punished on earth, and not every good deed is already rewarded on earth. If we don’t have an eye for that, we have and give the wrong impression of God. The friends are a cautionary example for us not to form a simplistic idea about God and then apply it to all kinds of situations. God is much greater than we can comprehend with our intellect.