Introduction. Read Job8

Bildad is a forceful speaker and puts forward the view of a traditionalist with appealing eloquence. Indeed, he seems to be making some excellent points. Bildad's views are shared by a considerable number of Christians today. I can identify 5 weaknesses in the case Bildad made. They are:

(1) A lack of sympathy.

Bildad dismisses Job's impassioned reply to Eliphaz by saying: "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind." He says in effect, words pour out of you helter-skelter like leaves blown here and there by a swirling wind.

This is a very unsympathetic response. Bildad is better at criticising Job than empathising with him. He didn't share Job's experience and so he was unable to empathise with his distress. It is significant that neither Bildad nor any of his other two friends offered to pray with him.

I am afraid there are many like Bildad. If you are a successful teacher it is easy to be impatient with and dismissive of a struggling one. A pastor of a thriving, growing church finds it difficult to experience the very real pain of the leader of a declining and ageing fellowship. A strong minded husband may be disinclined to empathise with his wife's fears. I know a confident Christian who gets very impatient with his wife for her reluctance to play the organ owing to her self-consciousness. He just cannot understand her!! It doesn't helped to tell the stressed that they have nothing to be stressed about or to urge the depressed to snap out of it!

(2) A one dimensional view of God.

Bildad promoted the justice of God to the exclusion of some of his other attributes. He asserted: "Does God pervert justice? Does the almighty pervert what is right." v3. He bluntly affirmed that Job's children sinned and consequently deserved to die. Then he tries to rally Job. If the patriarch of the East is pure and upright and pleads his case with God then because God is just he will restore Job's fortunes.

The problem with this simplistic view is that there is sometimes a clash of principles. If during the last World War you were a Dutch citizen hiding Jews in your house you would not admit it if questioned by the Gestapo. You would be prepared to bear false witness out of compassion for the Jews you were harbouring.

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son the father doubtless wanted to protect his younger boy from the dangers of the world. However, he also wanted him to be free - so the father set his son free and exposed him to the temptations of the far country. Then when the prodigal returns home the father does not treat him with strict justice. He doesn't get what he deserves. Much to the disgust of the older brother he gets new sandals, a robe, a ring, a party and the fatted calf. The father's love for the prodigal triumphs over justice.

There are many evangelical Christians who affirm that at the cross God's love and justice meet. In other words they believe that the cross accommodates God's commitment to love and justice in equal measure. It is certainly true that God allowed his son to be crucified to show the depths of man's sin. It is also true that God demanded that a price be paid for the sins of the world. However there is nothing just about an innocent man being punished for the sins of the guilty. There is also nothing just about one bearing punishment on behalf of the many. If an upright and righteous German had offered to die in place of all the Nazi war criminals that would have been absolutely unacceptable to the war crimes tribunal. It would not be just.

The fact of the matter is that a sacrifice is ALWAYS only a token payment made to the offended party. It ALWAYS relies for its effectiveness on the willingness of the offended party to accept it. In other words it relies on grace. At the cross God's grace superseded his justice. God in grace accepted the payment Jesus offered for all the offences AGAINST HIMSELF.

God wasn't treating Job strictly as he deserved in sending him one disaster after another. God had a higher aim than rewarding him materially and physically for his righteousness. He desired to develop and deepen Job's relationship with himself.

(3) A misplaced trust in tradition. See vs8to10.

Bildad believed Job should listen to, respect and believe what wise men of former days taught. He said, "Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding." v10. So apparently sages of old taught that God being just would reward the righteous and punish the unrighteous in this life.

It would certainly be foolish to dismiss the wisdom of the past. After all, Christians depend heavily upon an old book that hasn't been added to for 1000s of years. There is also something very comforting about being securely rooted in tradition. However, it is foolish to be so bound by tradition that you are unable to change. Sometimes it is necessary to leave our comfort zone.

The Roman Catholic Church opposed the reforms of Martin Luther. He was seen as challenging the authority of the Fathers. William Booth received very little support from members of the religious establishment because they were appalled by his unorthodox methods. Some reformed Christians are stuck in a time warp with their devotion to the Authorised Version, Thees and Thous in prayer and Puritan literature. Not for them the writings of C.S. Lewis or Philip Yancey.

The best example of the dangers of custom and tradition is to be seen in the life and ministry of Jesus. The Pharisees and lawyers considered Jesus had no authority to teach because he was not schooled in the judgments and rulings of renowned former rabbis.

When Jesus began to teach in the temple courts: The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" Jn7v15. This translation in the NIV is very misleading. It suggests that the Jews were amazed at how well Jesus taught considering that he had received no education. It was almost a compliment. Such a view does not fit well with either the contempt the Jews had for Jesus or the forthright response Jesus makes to their remark.

The Jews were amazed that Jesus had the audacity to teach in the temple. Who was he to hold court there - an uncultured rustic carpenter from the backwoods of Galilee? What they said is better translated: "How can this fellow know letters without an education." Jn7v15 after William Hendriksen. In other words the Jewish academics were protesting: "Look, this fellow has not had an university education. He doesn't know his subject. He hasn't studied the literature that exists to interpret and clarify Scripture. He is unaware of the views of our most revered scholars. He cannot quote any of the well known authorities." In their opinion Jesus had no right to teach and was not worth listening to!

Jesus made it very clear that his pronouncements took precedence over what was written in the Law. He prefaced many of his controversial statements in the Sermon on the Mount with: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago ...... . But I tell you ..... ." Jesus justified his approach by saying: "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me." Jn7v16.

Jesus adopted a high risk strategy. God gave the Law to Moses - but Jesus was greater than Moses. Who knew at the time where Jesus teaching would lead? It certainly led the followers of Jesus out of their comfort zone - albeit in some instances extremely reluctantly.

Today there remain many like Bildad and the Pharisees who opposed Jesus. They are going to stick with what they are familiar. They are not going to think 'outside the box'. Sadly this leaves a great number of awkward questions unanswered. Bildad had no satisfying explanation for Job's plight. Christians who accept the literal truth of the Genesis creation account are unable to provide a reasonable explanation for the overwhelming Geological evidence of an old earth.

(4) Illustrations from nature that don't quite fit the case. See vs11to19.

The lessons Bildad draws from nature are found in other parts of the Bible, appear sound and in agreement with Christian teaching. The Shuhite makes three observations:

• Papyrus is a tall, upright and vigorous variety of sedge which thrives where there is a plentiful supply of water. If the plant lacks water it will wither and die. Bildad saw this as a picture of a man who forgets God.

• A spider's web is too flimsy a thing to provide a man with support. It does not double as a strong rope to cling to. So there are many things in the world that men rely upon that are no more reliable than a spider's webb - things like a job, a business, friends, savings, insurance and so on. A man who trusts these insubstantial items - family, flocks, reputation - instead of God, will discover his folly.

• A weed like convolvulus (bindweed) roots in well watered soil and then sprawls rapidly over surrounding rocky outcrops blooming luxuriantly and putting on a good show. A friend of mine owned a paddock in which he kept a score of ancient cars he intended to restore. The years passed and he never got round to it. Eventually every car was covered with bindweed - mounds of greenery with a fine scattering of the trumpet-shaped, white flowers. If the bindweed is pulled up by the roots the plant will die everywhere.

  Perhaps, Bildad is referring to the showiness of the wealthy, worldly man whose influence seems to spread everywhere. He is a bit like those TV celebrities that turn up on more and more programs. The media cannot seem to have enough of them! But fame and fortune can be lost if they are uprooted from the conditions that nourish them: glamorous looks fade, fashions change, competition intensifies, technology moves on and markets are lost.

There is a lot of truth in what Bildad says - especially in the spiritual realm. We do need to draw strength and nourishment from Jesus. He called himself the bread from heaven and the living water. We should rely on help from God in time of trouble rather than on poor substitutes. We ought to guard against putting on a show, self-publicity, courting popularity and spreading our reputation far and wide lest God cut us down.

The weakness of Bildad's observations are that they do not apply to Job. The greatest man of the East trusted God, looked to him for help and took nothing for granted. God commended Job for his blameless and upright life. He was a man that feared God and shunned evil. Yet he suffered horribly.

There are dangers in using nature to illustrate spiritual truths. A plant even grander than the papyrus, a tree for example, can be growing and thriving in ideal well watered conditions when it is attacked by an aggressive fungus and killed. For instance Dutch elm disease (DED) caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) and spread by the elm bark beetle has wiped out almost all the elm trees of England.

Something like this happened to Job. He was like that tree planted by streams of water we read about in Psalm 1 - but then calamity - out of the blue disaster struck. This teaches us that when catastrophe occurs there is not always an easy explanation. It is not because a man has stopped feeding on the living bread or drinking at the fountain head or because he has started taking God's blessings for granted or because of pride and the love of glory. There may be another explanation. Joseph was sold into slavery and thrown into prison to prepare him for his great saving work. It took the death of Stephen to shake Saul's self-confidence to the core and prepare him for the Damascus road conversion. Job suffered to test his faith and deepen his relationship with God before being restored to health and wealth.

(5) Wishful thinking?

Bildad concludes his eloquent speech by stressing: "God does not reject a blameless man." In so far as Job was blameless his fortunes would be restored. "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

This did happen for Job and so it would seem Bildad's confidence was not misplaced. The problem is that it does not always happen for God's people. Peter was miraculously released from prison but Herod put James the brother of John to death with the sword. David Livingstone's story is well known but hundreds of the early missionaries to Africa along with their families died in obscurity of disease. We can read of some Chinese pastors released after years and years in prison to triumphantly resume their ministry but others died, almost forgotten, without ever being set free.

We need to remember the words of Jesus to his disciples: "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ..... Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." Jn15v18to20.