Job 18
-Bildad the Shuhite speaks up now for the second time. He will lay a discourse out with biblical thoughts on the estate of the wicked. I am not sure whether or not he has Job in mind here, but he rebukes the troubled friend at the beginning of the chapter. He personally wanted to see more understanding from Job; then, they could converse better. He felt like he and his friends were being regarded as beasts and stupid in the eyes of Job. Bildad accused Job of tearing himself in anger and being really selfish (Job 18:1-4).
-Now he makes some comments on the wicked of the earth, which does line up as truth from other Scriptures. “The light of the wicked goes out, and the flame of his fire gives no light (Proverbs 13:9).” Jesus, on the other hand, is Light and gives light (Matthew 5:14, John 8:12). Bildad goes on to speak of the vigor of the wicked man’s strides in life, and how they are shortened as his own schemes bring him down. He is “thrown into the net by his own feet, and he steps on the webbing. A snare seizes him by the heel, and a trap snaps shut on him. A noose for him is hidden in the ground, and a trap for him on the path.” This also relates to wisdom from other biblical passages (Esther 7:9-10, Psalm 35:8; 37:7-17; 69:22; 141:10). All around terrors will freak out the wicked man, and “harry (puwts- to break up, dash to pieces, disperse, scatter, aggravate) him at every step.” His strength is famished, and his calamity is constant. His skin is covered with disease that devours and death is prevalent. Again, this is confirmed by other cross references as fact (Psalm 32:10, Proverbs 10:27; 11:8; 21:15, James 5:3). The wicked have their security taken from their land and houses, and they are made to walk before the king of terrors. Their roots are dried up below, and their branches are cut off above (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21, Mark 4:5-6, 16-17, Luke 8:6,13, John 15:6). These are forgotten, and his name is not mentioned abroad. “He is driven from light into darkness, and chased from the inhabited world.” He will have no offspring or any posterity among his people (Psalm 37:37-38). No survivors will be found in the places he has sojourned. All around people will be appalled at the wicked man’s fate being seized with haunting horror. Bildad ends with this, “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him who does not know God (Job 18:5-21).”
-*Application* While all these things are true and can be verified from a plethora of biblical passages concerning the wicked man, this friend’s assessment will prove false if he is accusing Job of such misdeeds as not knowing God. We must be really careful about our judgments when it comes to people. God does judge the wicked, this is a fact. However, when we make assumptions about people’s character on the basis of hardships in their lives, we absolutely run the risk of the LORD’s condemnation for such atrocities (2 Thessalonians 1:4-6). Let the LORD do the judging. He knows all and can rightly give justice.
Verse to Memorize: Job 18:21
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