In The Word
Read: Job 18-19
Bildad Speaks of the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as animals,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
Should the earth be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock moved from its place?
5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,
And the spark from his fire does not shine.
6 The light in his tent is darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own plan brings him down.
8 For he is thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.
9 A snare seizes him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.
10 A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the pathway.
11 All around sudden terrors frighten him,
And harass him at every step.
12 His strength is famished,
And disaster is ready at his side.
13 It devours parts of his skin,
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
14 He is torn from the security of his tent,
And they march him before the king of terrors.
15 Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
Brimstone is scattered on his home.
16 His roots are dried below,
And his branch withers above.
17 The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name abroad.
18 He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased from the inhabited world.
19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
Nor any survivor where he resided.
20 Those in the west are appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21 Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”
Job Feels Insulted
19 Then Job responded,
2 “How long will you torment me
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
5 If indeed you exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with His net.
Everything Is Against Him
7 “Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put darkness on my paths.
9 He has stripped my honor from me
And removed the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
11 He has also kindled His anger against me
And considered me as His enemy.
12 His troops come together
And build up their way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has removed my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances have completely turned away from me.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All my associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job Says My Redeemer Lives
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.
26 Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
28 If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Job’s friend Bildad gives an accurate description of sin’s destructive power and effect on a person, which is recorded in Job 18. He used three vivid illustrations to make his point. First, sin darkens the light inside of a person. “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, and the flame of his fire gives no light (Job 18:5).” God intended for you to be a light to the world, shining bright to display God’s glory and goodness to the dark world all around you. In Ephesians 5:8-9, we learn, “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth).”
Second, he described sin as a trap designed to terrorize and devour. “A snare seizes him by the heel, and a trap snaps shut on him (Job 18:9).” Third, he used the illustration of a tree: “His roots are dried below, and his branch is cut off above (Job 18:16).” If a person continues in sin and refuses to repent, he is like the tree with dried up roots and withered branches that fall off; it eventually dies and is chopped down.
Sin robs everything good and will pull a person away from God’s light, security, and life. Yet many Christians delve into sin thinking there is no real harm. Learn from these illustrations, reject the sin that will destroy you, and run to God who gives true life.