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 beasts,
As stupid in your eyes?
4 “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?
5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,
And the flame of his fire gives no light.
6 “The light in his tent is darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.
7 “His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own scheme 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 path.
11 “All around terrors frighten him,
And harry him at every step.
12 “His strength is famished,
And calamity is ready at his side.
13 “His skin is devoured by disease,
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 “There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.
16 “His roots are dried below,
And his branch is cut off above.
17 “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 posterity among his people,
Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
20 “Those in the west are appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.
21 “Surely such 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 erred,
My error lodges with me.
5 “If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that God has wronged me
And has closed His net around me.
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 walled up 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 are completely estranged from me.
14 “My relatives have failed,
And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
15 “Those who live in my house and my maids 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 him 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 rise up and they speak against me.
19 “All my associates abhor 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, O you my friends,
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 inscribed in a book!
24 “That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 “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 shall see God;
27 Whom I myself shall behold,
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.