Job 18:1-21 - The Accuser of God’s Children

Job 18:1-21

Bildad: The Wicked Are Punished

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “How long till you put an end to words?
Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
3 Why are we counted as beasts,
And regarded as stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed from its place?

5 “The light of the wicked indeed goes out,
And the flame of his fire does not shine.
6 The light is dark in his tent,
And his lamp beside him is put out.
7 The steps of his strength are shortened,
And his own counsel casts him down.

8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walks into a snare.
9 The net takes him by the heel,
And a snare lays hold of him.
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
And a trap for him in the road.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side,
And drive him to his feet.

12 His strength is starved,
And destruction is ready at his side.
13 It devours patches of his skin;
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
14 He is uprooted from the shelter of his tent,
And they parade him before the king of terrors.

15 They dwell in his tent who are none of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his dwelling.
16 His roots are dried out below,
And his branch withers above.

17 The memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name among the renowned.
18 He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.

19 He has neither son nor posterity among his people,
Nor any remaining in his dwellings.
20 Those in the west are astonished at his day,
As those in the east are frightened.

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

Job’s third friend Bildad steeped in to accuse Job by telling him how the wicked are punished and ever taken away from them, a direct message that was veiled indirectly in judgment as I he knew the situation and Job’s heart and mind as only the Almighty is able to do.  He began by telling his friend to get some understanding before speaking to him and his fellow visiting friends whom he accused Job of calling stupid for all their unwanted counsel.  Bildad continued to describe the wicked as ones whose light will go out, in other words die, and his light will go out in his house as his strength fades with his own counsel of defense against these three.  He accused Job of setting his own trap by his defense to trap and ensnare himself along his life’s path and bring such terror of suffering and death.  He reiterated that Job lost his strength and faces certain consequences of destruction, just as his outward skin condition (Job 2:7-8) and loss of all property and possessions seemed to prove to Bildad.  This antagonist then told Job that others would take his house that he lost and burn it down in judgment while comparing him to a withering plant whose roots (in God and His declarations of Job’s righteousness in His eyes) and branches then dry up and die.  He told Job that nobody would remember him in his former glory among others (Job 1:1, 3) in the community and those memories would be chased away due to his present circumstances of loss and suffering that must be brought about by Job’s sin in the eyes of his advisors turned adversaries.  He would have no posterity since his children were all killed (Job 1:18, 19) and all would observe, being afraid and astonished at his demise.  Surely only the wicked man such as Job would suffer these things of loss because he really cannot know God.  Such is the judgment of the adversary whose followers imitate as adversaries in other’s adversity to slander and insult the children of God.  The accuser of God’s children will be himself judged and sentenced in the end (Zechariah 3:1, Revelation 12:10) for the true evil he has done and so we, like Job, hold to our integrity and standing declared by the Lord in our union with Christ and His righteousness until that day.  Our hope and endurance in the face of persecution, suffering, and loss it the great and everlasting gain (Philippians 3:7-8, 9, 10) we have in Christ our Lord of all.  We trust Him and what He declares about us over anyone else.  Amen!