Oh, boy. Bildad’s back, and he’s changing his tack. For a refresher because it’s hard to keep straight which friend said what, remember: Bildad’s first argument was that Job’s kids must’ve sinned and brought on this punishment, but that it would all get better if Job would just say he’s sorry for his kids’ sins and move on. Those naughty kids are to blame! Definitely the right thing to tell a grieving parent, Bildad. Good job. How’s that foot taste?

How long before you stop talking?
    Speak sense if you want us to answer!
Do you think we are mere animals?
    Do you think we are stupid?
You may tear out your hair in anger,
    but will that destroy the earth?
    Will it make the rocks tremble? (Job 18:2-4)

Oh, wow, that good, huh? I don’t know about you, but that whole “you can rip your hair out, but it won’t change anything” sounds kinda like something you might say to a tantrum-throwing toddler. And then! And then Bildad tosses his whole “it was your kids’ fault” right out the window and comes straight for Job:

Terrors surround the wicked
    and trouble them at every step.
Hunger depletes their strength,
    and calamity waits for them to stumble.
Disease eats their skin;
    death devours their limbs. (Job 18:11-13)

Hmmm quick context refresher:

So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot. (Job 2:7)

And another jab:

The homes of the wicked will burn down;
    burning sulfur rains on their houses. (Job 18:15)

And some more context review:

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” (Job 1:16)

And let’s make the last blow really drive the point home:

They will have neither children nor grandchildren,
    nor any survivor in the place where they lived.
People in the west are appalled at their fate;
    people in the east are horrified.
They will say, ‘This was the home of a wicked person,
    the place of one who rejected God.’” (Job 18:19-21)

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” (Job 1:18-19)

Oh, Bildad. Never one to pull your punches, were you. If this is comfort and consolation, I’ll pass. First – “your tantrum is childish” then – “you big sinner.” Wow. I hope I’ve never sounded quite like Bildad. I am afraid I may have, once or twice. Or more <wince>. Eesh. Not a pretty picture in that mirror.

I suppose this is what we all look like when we start expressing opinions we don’t have enough information to support. When we think we know things we don’t actually know. When we start trying to to make ourselves right rather than trying to seek the real right. God’s right.

I used to work at the writing center in college, and so often I would have students come in with a paper they had written entirely without evidence. I would watch them pick out quotes from whatever source supported their arguments best, and I would get to thinking how poorly we humans reason. Over and over I taught people to start from the evidence as the foundation, build main points from the ground up, and put the thesis on like the roof to cover it all. I would tell them, again and again, that if you build the roof first it’s going to collapse.

Again and again, I am guilty of forming opinions about others that are not supported by the evidence. I build my roofs with nothing underneath them, like Bildad. Without support, a roof is just a pile of sticks in the mud. A useless waste of space and resources. How many of my opinions are the same?

Lord, shut my mouth to any but your words!

And in response to this barefaced attack, when the false is exposed for what it is and the truth shines out with its real light – then Job sees what’s been there all along.

The best part is coming. Job is about to find his eternal hope. ❤