Jim Pace

I heart Bildad…

May 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

I remember the first time I read Job.  I remember reading the wild account of God and Satan interacting.  I remember the tension of a real Satan that was seeking to harm humanity in real ways being allowed some freedom to work by God, while at the same time being contained beyond a certain point as well.  I remember Job’s life being ripped to shreds by Satan.  I remember Job’s very visceral suffering, his understandible anguish at the loss of so much in his life.  I remember Satan’s claim that Job would eventually curse God and I remember wondering if he would.

And I remember his friends.

11 “Three of Job’s friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. 12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to demonstrate their grief. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. And no one said a word, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.”  Job 2.11,12

So, Job’s friends hear that he is suffering and decide to come and comfort him.  When they got there, his pain is so overwhelming they just sit with him for a week.  Just spend that time with him.  Amazing.

Then they started to talk.

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job: 2 “How long will you go on like this? Your words are a blustering wind. 3 Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? 4 Your children obviously sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved. 5 But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty, 6 if you are pure and live with complete integrity, he will rise up and restore your happy home. 7 And though you started with little, you will end with much. 8″Just ask the former generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors. 9 For we were born but yesterday and know so little. Our days on earth are as transient as a shadow. 10 But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you from the wisdom of former generations. 11 “Can papyrus reeds grow where there is no marsh? Can bulrushes flourish where there is no water? 12 While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither. 13 Such is the fate of all who forget God. The hope of the godless comes to nothing. 14Everything they count on will collapse. They are leaning on a spiderweb. 15 They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure. 16 The godless seem so strong, like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden. 17 Its roots grow down through a pile of rocks to hold it firm. 18 But when it is uprooted, it isn’t even missed! 19 That is the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.20 “But look! God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he make evildoers prosper. 21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be destroyed.”

I remember the first time I read this I almost yelled at the page.  “You are wrong Bildad!  Watch what God is going to do”  I thought this about all Job’s friends.

But as I have read this account over the years, I don’t know, I think I’m starting to see the wisdom in what they were saying. Basically Bildad was saying that our actions impact how God responds.  He talked about how reeds cannot grow where there is no marsh.  He cautioned Job not to trust his own wisdom too much, to learn from the wisdom of others.

How is any of that bad?

I have started to realize that I kind of like Bildad.  Sometimes I wonder if I am a bit like Bildad.

The more I read the account of Job the more I wonder if it wasn’t that what Bildad said was wrong, as much as it was that he was overly confident that he was right.   Bildad was taking the information that was available to him and was simply coming to a conclusion that made sense.

One of the many wild parts about the account of Job is that we the reader got to see behind the curtain a little bit.  Certainly that was part of the reason it was written the way it was.  The Holy Spirit wanted us to see the reality of Satan, the fact that he really does accuse us and cause us great harm, and the fact that while God doesn’t stop him completely, he does keep him bound within certain restraints.

What we see that Bildad didn’t, was that there was much more going on than he was seeing.  What we see that Bildad didn’t was that Bildad himself, in his assessment of what was happening, hadn’t left room for God to do things that none of them expected.  That yes, God was going to allow Job to walk through true horror.  And at the end of it that God would restore everything.  That yes, God wasn’t going to fully restrain Satan (as we have talked about many times before) but that Satan was still subject to God.  And that yes, because Job went through what he did, we gain a great deal of information about the reality of the world we exist in.

Bildad hadn’t left room for God to be unexpected.  I wonder how often I am the same way?

Too often I fear I simply take the data, run it through the algorithm I have developed, then watch the answer spit out the other side.  As my sabbatical progresses I am wondering if God is wanting me to give him more room to be unexpected.  I am wondering if he wants me to be slower to draw my conclusions and quicker to engage him through the Spirit.

We will have to see how that goes, eh?

Peace, Jim

Categories: Culture, life, Sticky Issues