Bildad the Legalist

July 29th, 2007
Job 8:1-14,20
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. (Ps. 19:9) Who can escape his Justice? The “comfort” that Job received from Bildad was that Job was paying for breaking God’s laws. God was exacting punishment on Job by bring him calamity and suffering. The wages of sin is death, and Job was received what was due to him. Job was mystified concerning his fate. He did not comprehend the purpose and reasons for his misfortune and questioned God’s dealings with mankind. Bildad approached the problems of Job through the eyes of a lawyer. If Job is experiencing bad things, then God is punishing Job for doing something evil. The law of sowing and reaping is implied to the calamity of Job’s life. How quick are we to say, “They deserve what they got”. “They made their bed, now they must lay in it”. Where is mercy and compassion? Until we have walked in their shoes, it is always best to lean toward love and mercy and leave the judgments and justice to a Holy God.

Provoke response
• Bildad rebukes Job for not taking Eliphaz advise
• React to Job’s questioning of God’s character
Perverted justice
• God’s standard for right and wrong are always the same
• God is just, therefore Job has sinned
Presumption of sin
• Assuming is not good policy
• Innocent, until proven guilty- Then What?
Prosperity is absent
• What is meant by, “the righteous shall prosper”
• Prosperity is not a sign of God’s approbation
• The rich man and the beggar
Profound wisdom from the past
• We can often glean wisdom from past experience
• Must be careful how we apply past to the present
• Is right and wrong always the same for all generations
Parables from the past
• Papyrus and bulrushes- sudden destruction when God is gone
• God’s blessings is short lived for the hollow life
• May look good on the outside for short while, but will soon collapse because they are empty inside
• Spider web- Self-righteousness- no substance- all show
• Job is accused of being like papyrus and a spider web