JOB 18-19
BILDAD VS JOB (ROUND 2)
God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
He has plunged my path into darkness.
—Job 19:8
“You don’t have to rush,” said the boy. “I’m still listening. I get the pacing of the story. I just don’t have much to say anymore. But I understand that if Job had lost everything and God brought his family back to life a few hours later, it wouldn’t have been much of a test. And if Job didn’t have to deal with these shitty friends ragging on him for so long, then it wouldn’t be a story about endurance. You don’t have to rush to the end. I get it.”
“Well, how patient of you,” said the man, looking relieved in his surprise. “Patience is, of course, a major lesson in the book of Job. But we’ll keep it moving along.”
And with that, he looked down to read Bildad’s next line:
How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding, and then we can talk.250
Why are we regarded as cattle
and considered stupid in your sight?251
You may tear out your hair in anger,
but will that destroy the earth?
Will it make the rocks tremble?252
The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out,
the flame of his fire stops burning.253
The light in his tent grows dark,
and the lamp beside him is put out.254
The vigor of his step is weakened,
his own schemes throw him down.255
For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.256
A trap seizes him by the heel,
a snare holds him fast.257
A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
a trap for him in the path.258
Terrors frighten him on every side
and harass him at every step.259
Calamity is hungry for him,
disaster is ready for him when he falls.260
Parts of his skin are eaten away,
death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.261
He is torn from the security of his tent
and marched off to the king of terrors.262
The homes of the wicked will burn down,
burning sulfur rains on their houses.
Their roots will dry up,
and their branches will wither.
All memory of their existence will fade from the earth,
no one will remember their names.263
They will be thrust from light into darkness,
driven from the world.
They will have neither children nor grandchildren,
nor any survivor in the place where they lived.
People in the west are appalled at their fate,
people in the east are horrified.
They will say,
“This was the home of a wicked person,
the place of one who rejected God.”264
The man looked up again. “Bildad’s opening lines are the same song and dance. He’s no longer concerned with Job’s pain and is merely set on getting admission of unspoken sins. He’s become deeply offended by Job’s hope and, like his counterparts, goes on the offensive to bludgeon it down again.”
“This is turning into a game of whack-a-mole,” said the boy.
“Indeed it is,” said the man. “And Job’s claim that there is no wise man among them is a mole that strikes at the core, so Bildad delivers a long description of retribution, one in which God is only mentioned in the last word, mind you. The wicked are punished, the righteous blessed, and that’s that, black and white. Obey and repent or suffer the consequences. The speech is as vigorous as it is vivid, and unconvincing as it is unhelpful.”
The boy gave an agreeing nod, so the man looked down to read Job’s reply:
How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?265
You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat me without shame.266
Even if I have sinned,
that is my concern, not yours.267
You think you’re better than I am,
using my humiliation as evidence of my sin.
But it is God who has wronged me,
capturing me in his net.
I cry out, “Help!” but no one answers me.
I protest, but there is no justice.268
God has blocked my way so I cannot move.
He has plunged my path into darkness.269
He has stripped me of my honor
and removed the crown from my head.
He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.
He uproots my hope like a tree.
His anger burns against me,
and He regards me as one of His enemies.270
His troops advance.
They build up roads to attack me.
They camp all around my tent.271
My relatives stay far away,
and my friends have turned against me.
My family is gone,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
My servants and maids consider me a stranger.
I am like a foreigner to them.272
I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.
My breath is repulsive to my wife.
I am rejected by my own family.
Even young children despise me.
When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me.
My close friends detest me.
Those I loved have turned against me.273
I have been reduced to skin and bones
and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
for the hand of God has struck me.
Must you also persecute me, like God does?
Haven’t you chewed me up enough?274
I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!275
I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end He will stand on the earth.276
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.277
I will see Him for myself.
Yes, I will see Him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!278
How dare you go on persecuting me,
saying, “It’s his own fault”?
You should fear punishment yourselves,
for your attitude deserves punishment.
Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment.279
“Notice how Job reflects Bildad’s opening line back to him,” said the man. “‘How long…’ How long will you torment, crush, humiliate, and mistreat me? This passionate cry should break the heart of anyone with compassion for suffering, as there are few events more painful than being rejected by those we hoped would understand us. Job rightly states that if he has sinned, that’s his concern alone. Even if the friends are right, they have already done all they can, so what purpose is there in attacking Job? As he says, their ongoing persecution should be cause for fear of their own judgment.
“Amidst all of this crushing and humiliating torment, though, Job’s hope shines through. This language of ‘persecution’ suggests a desire for legal rectification by a Redeemer who will live long after Job. There is a role of the kinsman redeemer discussed elsewhere in the Old Testament, where a person could defend the defenseless with legal action on behalf of an accused person, or, in some cases, a family member could seek lethal revenge as payment for a murder. So here Job is calling upon God to be his own cosmic redeemer, to prove his words were right and save his reputation.”
“And this actually works?” said the boy. “Does God come down to explain everything?”
“Let’s not skip ahead just yet,” said the man. “We’re almost there.”
“Alright,” said the boy, “but I’m just trying to point out that Job is only concerned with his reputation, not God.”
“What?” said the man, looking puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Job is calling for God to fix his reputation when he’s no longer around to defend himself. He’s not concerned about a relationship with God, he’s concerned about what he can get out of God. Job only cares about this final blessing he can get from God in the form of a reputation being restored. It’s not like he says, ‘I don’t care about my reputation on Earth because I know God still loves me.’ He’s concerned that his reputation on Earth will remain that of an awesome rich guy.”
The man gave a skeptical shake of his head. “I don’t think that’s true. As a righteous and upright servant of God, he says he’s overwhelmed at the thought of seeing God with his own eyes. Besides, he never mentions anything about wanting to return to his old life full of blessings.”
“No, clearly he’s past that,” said the boy. “We still don’t see any mention of his children, and the only thing he’s said about his wife is how she makes him insecure about his stinky breath. But it’s all me, me, me, and then being overwhelmed by what seeing God would mean.”
There was a pause before the man had to ask, “Which is..?”
“That Job can summon God to redeem his reputation, like a genie. Just like he thought he could summon God with prayer and sacrifice to bless him with wealth. Even now, Job is only concerned about what he can get out of God, and not about a relationship with God.”
The man hesitated but shook his head. “I still have a hard time believing all this. God himself called Job righteous and upright, and we have no reason to doubt the Almighty’s words. Job’s sense of being attacked by God is the inverse of Job’s desperate need for God. He’s hurt because he loves God so deeply.”
The boy rolled his eyes. “If you’re a prisoner of war being tortured by the enemy, you don’t want them to stop because you love them deeply. You want them to stop because pain is really annoying. Job’s relationship with God is based on transactions and fear, not genuine love. You seem to think the friends have a twisted view of God but forget that Job ran in the same circle for years, sharing the same views. Your idea doesn’t make any sense to me. But let’s just get to God already. It doesn’t seem like our disagreement will go anywhere until we hear from God directly.”
“Soon enough,” said the man. Then he raised a finger in the air and said, “But let’s not fail to point out how eerily close Job is to describing the truth of the situation. There is a heavenly being treating Job like an enemy, and there will be a heavenly redeemer coming soon. Job, in his ignorance, is just confused about what’s going on behind heavenly doors.”
“Come on, come on,” said the boy, rolling his hand in the air. “I don’t wanna go there again. Job didn’t even know about Satan, and you don’t seem to want to agree that God is equally responsible anyway. Next chapter, please.”
With a shake of his head, the man turned the page.