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.

Job is now going to face the second round of accusations from these false accusers. Bildad wondered when Job would stop with the talk and act upon their counsel. He was tired of hearing what Job had to say. He wanted to dominate the conversation. He was so sure they were right and Job was wrong, that he did not want to hear what Job had to say.
We see a developing case of false teachers who insist their message must be heard and obeyed. They have no room for truth in their hearts and they do not want to hear the truth. To this day, false teachers function in the same manner. There are far more false teachers than true teachers. The false teachers have far greater resources and they seek to dominate all forms of media.
We see this same philosophy in the political realm. For several months now we have been told that the past two elections were corrupted by foreign interference. Our P.M. has insisted that the elections were fair. He insists that Canada has one of the best democracies in the world. Those who pay attention to the Word of God know that democracy is a wicked form of government. All people are born lost and the majority remain lost. Lost people cannot make wise decisions. We are quickly moving to a similar government that Germany had in the days of Hitler. God is preparing the stage for the coming of the antichrist.
We can expect the world to act in a wicked and corrupt manner. However, when those who claim to know the Lord act in a wicked way, that is very concerning. There are many people who are seeking a form of religion that denies the power of God. They insist on following their leader’s lies. That is what Job was up against in this book. As we learn from the book of Job, God protects His true children. They will not fall away. They may falter, but they will not fall away. In the end, the wicked will be exposed and the righteous will be blessed.
In our text, in verse 3 Bildad wondered why Job was not showing the respect for them that they believed they were worthy of. They had not offered any wise counsel thus far, but in their minds they had done so. Job did not agree with their assessment.
In verse 4 Bildad claimed that God was amazed and shocked by Job’s unwillingness to heed their counsel. He assumed they were speaking on behalf of God. False teachers cannot back up their words with truth. They cannot honestly point to any place where God actually says what they claim He says. They add to God’s Word. God condemns those who do this, but they are so arrogant that they ignore God’s clear warnings.
God does not want man to be gullible. He gave Job enough light to know that these men were speaking lies. The devil is very good at laying his lie alongside the truth in such a way that the unlearned will not see the difference. However, those who are saved and faithful to the Lord will be given discernment by Him to see the difference between truth and error.
In verse 5 Bildad threatened Job with the fact that the wicked will have an end. What Bildad did not want to accept is that he and his two friends were the wicked ones. They were under God’s judgment and they would soon discover exactly what God thought of them.
Bildad stated that the spark of the wicked will not shine. The spark would fall on wet ground and be snuffed out. The title of this book is “the Book of Job”. It is not named after these three men. Their words are recorded but they are also condemned by God.
In verse 6 Bildad continued his attack against Job. He insisted that Job would not have a good influence on anyone else. Yet, we find that God blessed Job with more children and grandchildren. Job would have further opportunity to influence others for the good. It is true that Job would die one day. However, he would leave behind a worthy legacy.
In verse 7 Bildad insisted that Job’s steps would be straightened. The word translated as “straightened” means “narrow”. Bildad insisted that Job would have little positive influence on anyone else. He also insisted that Job’s counsel would bring him down. In Bildad’s eyes, Job’s life was worthless. He was guilty of sin and did not want to confess it and thus he was going to perish in his sin.
Bildad stated that Job would get caught up in his own net. Bildad and his two friends were the ones who were casting a net and were getting entangled within it. They were setting a snare and it was going to catch them. Again we are reminded of the danger of arrogance. God’s Word is truth. Those who want to distort His Word are in big trouble with Him. That is where Bildad and his friends were at.
The gin in verse 9 is a bird trap. This trap was set to catch the bird when it landed. Bildad stated that Job would get caught by his heel. The robber would overpower him and he would be trapped by him.
Bildad was sure that Job was setting a snare for himself. He assumed he was so much wiser and he knew so much better what was going on with Job. He had not consulted with God because he was sure he knew the mind of God. He had not bothered to look at Job’s life. He just assumed that because Job was suffering and there was no end in sight for this suffering at this time, Job must be guilty of sin.
Bildad insisted that Job would be fearful of many things. According to him, Job’s troubles would follow him even after death. Quite the “prophet” this Bildad was.
In verse 12 he stated that Job would lose his strength due to his hunger. He could not prosper. Everywhere Job would turn, there would be trouble awaiting him. This would be true for Bildad and his friends, but it certainly was not true of Job.
When a person is lacking good nutrition, his strength will be depleted. His muscle mass will deteriorate. He may be big, but he lacks strength. Bildad insisted that everything that was associated with Job would be cause for his destruction. No one and nothing could help him because he refused to deal with his sin.
Bildad also stated that Job would lose his confidence. This certainly did not happen for Job. He continued to trust in the Lord and he would continue to plead with God for an opportunity to speak with Him. He did not appreciate God’s actions. He did not know what God was doing, but he assumed that God was not being fair to him.
Bildad also insisted that the memory of Job would be forgotten. He would die and be buried and that would be the end of it. No one would speak of Job anymore because, according to Bildad, there was nothing worthwhile to remember about Job.
Bildad insisted that Job would be driven to darkness and that he would be removed by force from this world. Job would not leave a worthy legacy. Some of what Bildad said was true. It was true of him and his two friends. No one can look at their lives and build on what they believed and do well. God exposed them for the frauds that they were. Their words would come back to bite them. The accusations they were making against Job were actually going to fall upon them.
The wise person slows down and gets to know the true God first of all. Without that knowledge, they cannot make good sense of God’s Word. It will be used as a weapon that will not be beneficial. The wise person builds his life on truth. He studies the Word of God and is careful to listen to what God has to say. Rather than taking a thought here and there, he will want to be faithful with God’s Word and thus build his own life properly and then seek to help others to do likewise. Bildad was not doing that. He and his two friends were guilty of distorting the truth and using it as a whip against those they assumed to be guilty.
We need to have discernment to be able to identify the Bildads in our lives. We need to be sure that we know the truth and are walking in the truth so that we do not follow the lies of the many false professors in our world.
Pastor Bartel