Job 18
Bildad rejoins the conversation. He does not pursue any new line of argument here but just digs in, so, like Job, I wonder why he bothers saying anything, what provokes you that you answer? (Job 16:3) I am left thinking that Bildad is just defending his own position as a “wise” leader who cannot afford to be shamed by the likes of Job, who is clearly now at the bottom of the social heap. But I am just speculating on Bildad’s motivations…
Like Eliphaz in chapter 15, Bildad spends his words describing how miserable and short life is for the wicked. And like Eliphaz, his argument does not pass the “laugh test” because it is so easy to find counterexamples. So how is it that these leading men cling so strongly to the idea that the wicked invariably encounter disaster? My guess is that they see plenty of examples that do reinforce their position. They look around and see any number of scoundrels whose schemes fail and who do get what they deserve. Meanwhile they are happy to overlook their own “small” sins and attribute their prosperity to their own righteousness and superior wisdom. Once one starts to see prosperity as an indicator of righteousness, one starts to overlook the faults of the prosperous, while noticing all the faults of those less fortunate.
Even if Bildad were right about disaster befalling the wicked in this life, he (and Eliphaz and Zophar) are guilty of a tremendous logical fallacy in concluding that since disaster has struck Job, he must be wicked. That is like saying, “All dogs die. My cat died. Therefore, my cat was a dog.” Not only is their conclusion fallacious, but the “friends” are malicious in applying it so forcefully and directly to Job. There is no comfort offered here, nor even advice to repent. There is only accusation.
We must be careful here. It is easy to reject Bildad’s words out of hand as not accounting for counterexamples or for erroneous logic and misapplication to Job. But we must weigh his words in light of the rest of Scripture, which reinforces the idea that there are indeed negative consequences to evil behavior. For those who do not repent and put their faith in Christ, negative consequences do come — they just may not come in this life. Just as there is Heaven, there is also Hell.
Yes, one gets tired of hearing the same tried and “untrue” arguments from Job’s three friends. Almost all of Bildad’s words today are about “the wicked”. And while he does not explicitly point to Job as one of those “wickeds”, two verses clearly tie his words to Job: The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away. (v. 16) [and] He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived. (v. 19) At one time Job had many offspring – seven sons and three daughters and their children, if any. But they are now lost to him. So not only does Bildad connect Job to “the wicked”, but he also twists the knife by reminding Job that his children are no more.