Most of us have probably seen enough courtroom dramas to know that witnesses in a criminal trial are sworn to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” As Job stood trial before his friends, they consistently spoke what they considered to be the truth. In isolation, much of what they said was true. But their woeful application ensured that they were not speaking the whole truth, and certainly not nothing but the truth.Bildad’s second speech in chapter 18 is Exhibit A.
Bildad began by once again rebuking Job for not receiving the counsel they had offered (vv. 1–4). His refusal to concede their simplistic systematic theology was an insult to their intelligence.
Job had ended his response to Eliphaz’s second speech by wondering if Sheol was his only hope of rest (17:12–16). Should he abandon all hope of vindication in this life and instead long for the sweet release of death? Bildad affirmed that Job was, indeed, destined for Sheol, but he should not look at it as a place of release. Job was a sinner in the hands of an angry God and, at least for him, Sheol would be a place of terror rather than release (vv. 5–21). In a series of images, he points to the death that Job would surely inherit for his sin. Job’s hope of resurrection to life was futile. With all the wicked, his destiny was eternal death, not life. He argued his point with vivid imagery.
First, Job’s experience in Sheol, like all the wicked, would be an experience of darkness (vv. 5–6). Four times in these verses, Bildad portrays Job’s life as a light, flame, or lamp that would be extinguished in Sheol.
Second, Job’s experience in Sheol, like all the wicked, would be an experience of irreversible punishment (vv. 7–10). The dominant theme here is that of a trap or a snare. As animals are snared to be killed in a hunt, so Job’s wickedness would serve as the trap that would lead to his demise.
Third, Job’s experience in Sheol, like all the wicked, would be an experience of inconsolable terror (vv. 11–14). He would be encompassed with terrors on every side until death itself, “the king of terrors,” came for him.
Fourth, Job’s experience in Sheol, like all the wicked, would be an experience of complete consumption (vv. 15–16). Nothing of his own would remain for, as at Sodom, sulphur would consume everything he owned, even his life itself. Like a withered tree, his roots would dry up as his life was drained from him.
Fifth, Job’s experience in Sheol, like all the wicked, would be an experience of absolute separation (vv. 17–20). He would be separated from light and life as he was separated from the source of light and life—God himself. There is no light or life for those separated from God’s sustaining power.
Bildad brought his speech to a conclusion in v. 21: “Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God.” He never explicitly said that what he described would be Job’s reward for wickedness, but the implication is clear. Only the “unrighteous” inherit this destiny. If Job was headed for such a destiny in Sheol, there could be only one conclusion: He was among the unrighteous.
If we consider Bildad’s speech in isolation, it appears quite orthodox. Indeed, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and those who resist the gospel are destined for “eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:9, CSB). The problem is that Job was not among the unrighteous. On the contrary, he was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (1:1).
We learn from Bildad’s speech, on the one hand, that God’s anger is settled against the ungodly. Everything that he described is true—of the ungodly. The doctrine of God’s wrath is clearly taught in Scripture and, as Steve taught Sunday night, we should not apologise for it.
We also learn from Bildad, however, truth can easily be wrongly applied. As Preston Sprinkle argues, in another context, “a one-size-fits-all view” of any person’s particular circumstances is “irresponsible and unloving.” Indeed, “we need to really get to know someone on a practical level and enter their story before we give an opinion” on their particular afflictions. “Jesus bids us to embody God’s kindness and love toward neighbor and enemy alike, and this can’t be done if we don’t learn how to listen.”
As you meditate on Job 18 this morning, ask God for the wisdom required to know how to balance unapologetic affirmation of truth with a willingness to hear and understand where people are before applying hard truths to them. Ask God for grace not be a Bildad.
