Job 18-20: Black and White Thinking

Thoughts

Job 18 Bildad

Bildad accuses Job of being arrogant and talking at length.  He’s offended that Job considers them ignorant (“Why are we counted as beasts?”).

He sarcastically asks if the earth should be abandoned or rocks moved just for Job’s sake.

Bildad describes a terrifying picture of the wicked man’s downfall.

His Light Goes Out (vv. 5–6)

• The wicked’s “lamp” is extinguished—symbolizing loss of prosperity, guidance, and life.

He Is Trapped  (vv. 7–10)

• His steps narrow and fail.
• He falls into snares and traps he himself set.
• His own plans destroy him.

Terror and Destruction Consume Him (vv. 11–14)

• Terrors frighten him on every side.
• Disease (“the firstborn of death”) consumes his body.
• He is torn from his home and brought before “the king of terrors”.

 His Dwelling Is Destroyed (vv. 15–17)

• Fire devours his tent.
• His memory perishes from the earth; his name fades away.
• He has no descendants or survivors.

 His End Inspires Horror (vv. 18–21)

• He is driven from light into darkness.
• People who see his fate are horrified.
• “Surely such is the dwelling of the wicked, and this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Job 19

Job is upset: “How long will you torment me and crush me with words?” He feels beaten down by their accusations. Even if he has sinned, it’s between him and God and it is not their place to judge.

He believes God has “wronged” him. He cries for help, but God gives no answer. He feels trapped and surrounded: “He has set darkness in my paths.”

His family, friends, servants, and even children avoid him. Those he loves have turned against him.

“I am nothing but skin and bones.” He begs his friends for pity: “Have mercy on me, my friends, for the hand of God has struck me!” He asks them why they persecute him as if they were God themselves (v. 22).

In the middle of despair, Job expresses hope:

• He wishes his words were written and engraved forever (!)
• “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.”
• Job believes that even after his body decays, he will see God 

Job warns his friends not to continue their false judgment. If they persist, the “sword” (judgment) will come upon them.

Job 20 Zophar’s Last Speech

Zophar is back. He reacts sharply to Job’s words and says Job’s rebukes have insulted him. Claims his “understanding prompts him to answer.”

“The triumphing of the wicked is short.” Even if they rise high, they vanish like a dream. Their pride leads to destruction. Their memory fades and their wealth disappears. Their youthful strength will go down to the dust.

Sin tastes sweet at first, “though evil is sweet in his mouth.” but it turns to poison in the stomach “it becomes the venom of cobras within him.” God ensures the wicked can’t hold onto what isn’t theirs.

The wicked will not enjoy the “streams of honey and cream”.

• They oppressed the poor and seized what wasn’t theirs.
• Their appetite is never satisfied.
• In the midst of abundance, distress comes.

When the wicked fill themselves, God’s fury strikes. Zophar gives images of divine judgment: fire, arrows, iron weapons. Heaven exposes their guilt and the earth rises against them. Their possessions and families are swept away.

Questions

What drives Jobs’ friends harsh responses? Is it truly because they are concerned for Job? Or is it pride?

Why do they oversimplify God’s justice? How can something divine be black and white (or completely understandable to humans?)

Application

In these chapters, Bildad and Zophar hold their simplistic view of judgment: the wicked suffer, the righteous prosper. To them, Job’s suffering can only mean guilt. But life with God is far more complex than that. If reward and punishment were so predictable then faith would not require trust. We are constantly wrestling with understanding a God that does not “fit” into our human comprehension. God’s justice is never absent, even if we can’t comprehend it. I tend to want to “explain” God and His ways, instead of actively seeking Him. What might seem unfair now could be leading to a big story told for centuries to come.