THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE COMFORTERS
Job
25:1-6
The last words of Job’s friends come from Bildad, which is the
shortest response of all three friends. It
brief and has no eternal value of hope for a sinner to rest in as they go
through suffering. A
quick tongue friend speaking his mind rather than speaking with sensitivity to
Job. Bildad
last response comes out with both gun barrels a blazing. John Wesley was once approached by a young lady who said, “I think I know what my talent is.” Wesley said, “Tell me.” Without hesitation she replied, “I think it is to speak my mind.” Wesley responded
with, “I do not think God would mind if you bury
that talent.”
Anyone
who speaks their mind, running overtop of others,
should bury that talent in a
heartbeat.
The Bible has some things to say about the tongue… The sinfulness of the tongue causes destruction. “For there is no truth in
their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.” Psalm 5:9. The Bible says whoever guards his tongue preserves his/her
life. “Whoever
guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”
Prov 13:3.
James said we need to bridle/restrain or curb our mouths. “If anyone thinks he is
religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's
religion is worthless.” James 1:26. To
not “bridle” one’s tongue is to boasts
of his works, or to speaks ill of his brother and sisters. It
means to backbite, and hurts their names and characters, by private implications,
and public charges without any foundation. It’s
a person who takes no care of what he or she says, but gives their tongue a
liberty of speaking anything, to the injury of others.
The tongue reveals what is truly in the heart. “The good person out of the
good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil
treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45. With
Bildad’s final words, Job’s friends become silent and this points or summarizes
the bankruptcy of the three friends. Christopher Ash says
“They stutter into silence, beaten by
Job’s perseverance, integrity and faith.”
In Bildad’s final remarks he touches on some very important
doctrinal truths about the character of God. One
being that God is sovereign. (v2-v3). Second
being that God is pure and holy above
His creation. (v5) Let’s
look at these two wonderful truth about our great God and then I want to answer
Bildad’s questions in (v4-v5) Because!
Though it seems hopeless for mankind, but we find great hope for maggots like
you and me in those questions.
1. Bildad reveals that God is sovereign and supreme over all.
(v2-v3)
He
says God is or has “Dominion” This
implying that His power is such on high as to crush all opposition, not merely
in Heaven, but on earth also. We see this truth in action when Paul wrote this truth. “He has delivered us from
the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in
whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were
created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for
him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he
is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness
of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Col 1:13-20
What does this mean?
That God is over….
Armies
Nations
Darkness
and Light
The
schemes of men.
Heaven
and Hell
Who established the armies,
the myriad of angels and the
stars?
The
all-powerful mighty God who is sovereign over everything under the earth, on
the earth and above the earth. His
power goes beyond all creation because He is the Creator of the Heaven and the
Earth and everything in between. Isaiah penned these words “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not
been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations
of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its
inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a
curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted,
scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows
on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To
whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their
host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and
because he is strong in power not one is missing.” Isaiah 40:21-26
What Bildad says here is correct! That’s
why the appropriate respond to knowing this truth about God, should be with “fear”…..that reverential awe of God. (v2) Knowing
who God is in light of who I am should cause our hearts to stir with fear and
awe of His might power. His
power is unique, but that His power is unlimited, that there is nothing too
hard for Him to do. Isaiah pens this truth to remind creation. “I am the LORD, and there is
no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that
people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is
none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create
darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all
these things. "Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down
righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear
fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the LORD have created it.”
Isaiah 45:5-8
God says,
"There isn't anybody like Me.
Who did you think would be
compared with Me?”
Look at creation.
“And you should understand that the power
of God is unique. No one can do what He can do.” Its
knowing this truth that makes my heart sings with fear and joy for my God
reigns over not just my life, or your life, but
over everything.
2. Bildad reveals that God is pure and holy and stands apart
from everything. (v5)
God
is so high and lifted up that no one can escape the reach of His all-seeing
gaze and perfect knowledge.
His
light penetrates all people and all places. James said
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights with whom there is no
variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17. This means?
Though our lives and the people around us change the seasons change, and
circumstances change, culture changes.
But! God is always the same
and never changes.
For
Him to change as we change would be to go contrary with His perfections. Isaiah said this about God’s unchanging perfection “declaring the end from the
beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall
stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'” Isaiah 46:10. The Hebrew writer reminded us about God’s unchanging
perfection. “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Heb 3:8
If you lined man’s
righteousness up against
God’s what do you think would
happen?
It
would be like putting a wax figurine in
front of a blast furnace. You and I would not be able to stand for a
millisecond. Why do I say that? Bildad
is correct in his description of creation in comparison to God and His
transcendent beauty, power and holiness.
Bildad refers to God’s creation as “maggots and worms.” (v6) “maggot” is a translation of the
Hebrew word for “putrefying worms” Rotting and worthless! This would have been a deep criticism
for Job, considering his flesh was covered with worms. Job said
“My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out
afresh.” Job 7:5. The
word “worm” speaks of weakness; this
would have hurt Job and would cut deep into his already broken heart of grief
and suffering. Because what Bildad is saying is, “You are worthless and weak and stand accused and condemned before a
pure and holy God.” Bildad
reveals there is no hope for maggots and worms. (v4)
Why!
To
answer these questions truthfully one would have to say, “NO, no one is pure before God, no one is pure in the womb.” We
are all guilty and stand condemned for our rebellious hearts. What Bildad is doing here is he is rehashing what was
previously said.
Eliphaz said
“Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; how
much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like the moth.” Job 4:17-19
Job knew the answer to this question “Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean? There is not one.” Job 14:4
Eliphaz said again
“What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be
righteous?” Job 15:14
And
now we see Bildad firing out from the same question that Job has already
answered himself in his previous response. The natural disposition
of mankind the answer is obvious! We
are all completely lost apart from
God sovereign work in the Gospel in our lives. Bildad
argues that an infinite chasm separates the majesty of God and the depravity of
man. He is right!
The entire human race is spiritual unclean and dead in the eyes of God, because
of our sin. Paul wrote this to remind us of our natural state. “As it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,
not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues
to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their
mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to
shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have
not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Rom
3:10-18. That
is the natural condition of every man
and woman, young and old. Though this sounds really bad and it is, but the
great hope that delivers us from this is the truth that Job spoke of.
“For I
Know that my Redeemer lives.” Job 19:25
All
people have been weighted on the scale of God’s perfections and we have been found unrighteous and lacking. This is why the Good News of the Gospel is precious and gives
a living hope to people like you and me and Job.
In the
midst of suffering.
In
the midst of brokenness.
In
the midst of our rebellion and unrighteous hearts.
“The gospel penetrated our
sinful
Hearts and transformed it
with His grace.”
Paul said
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more
shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his
life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Rom 5:8-11
Peter wrote
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the
righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” 1 Peter 3:18
As one theologian said "Jesus entered
our hell so we could have His heaven. . . . Jesus joins us in our failures so we
can join Him in His family."
This
is where Bildad failed as a comforter and so did his two other friends. This was Bildad’s last ditch
effort to convince Job that he is weak and worthless in comparison to God. Bildad
forgot the same argument applies to himself! Whenever
you point an accusing finger at someone, there is always several fingers point
back at you. Like
the Pharisee’s Bildad and his friends
failed to practice what they preach. Unfortunately
for Bildad he only sees from one perspective; his self-righteous sinful heart with
the motive to teardown his friend. We do
that from time to time as well; only see things from our limited perspective.
What do I mean by that?
An English language Professor named William MacNeile Dixon,
who wrote one of many books called
“Gifford Lectures” he depicts a fly
crawling across Raphael’s masterpiece in the Vatican. He
said “How much can it know about the picture? It
knows something, of course. It knows there are smooth places and rough places
and that some pigments are brighter than others. But it has no overall view of
the painting. This restriction is not because there is something wrong with the
mural but because of the fly’s limited vision.”
I use this illustration…. because this is exactly how Bildad and his
friends approached Job’s suffering. Like
a fly on a wall that has limited
sight of the whole picture.
God is infinite and man is
finite, God is sovereign and man is
depraved and lacking any righteousness. These
truths are correct and we need to hear them in their proper context and time. What
Job needed to hear was the compassion of
God for sinners. Man’s
limited in grasping the supremacy of God and God might seem distant from His
created image bearers.
“But understand we are the
object of God’s
tender and sovereign care.”
Knowing
that God is sovereign, powerful, mighty, pure and holy brings peace and rest
into my already weary heart. A
peace that the gospel can only bring and no one can take that away from the
true child of God. As Paul wrote
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Rom 11:29. They
are immutable and unalterable; God never revokes them. That
all the promises made to the people of God shall be fulfilled. That
His people need not be discouraged in times of persecution and trial. That
none who become His true friends will be forsaken, or cast off.
As one theologian wrote “God does not
bestow the gift of repentance and faith, of pardon and peace, on people, for a
temporary purpose; nor does He capriciously withdraw them, and leave the soul
to ruin.”
As the great Hymn song by Isaac watts “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed”
Alas!
and did my Savior bleed?
And
did my Sovereign die,
Would
He devote that sacred head
For
such a worm as I?
Was
it for sins that I had done
He
groaned upon the tree?
Amazing
pity! grace unknown!
And
love beyond degree!
Well
might the sun in darkness hide,
And
shut his glories in,
When
the incarnate Maker died
For
man, His creature’s sin.
Thus
might I hide my blushing face
While
His dear cross appears
Dissolve
my heart in thankfulness,
And
melt mine eyes to tears.
But
drops of grief can ne’er repay
The
debt of love I owe;
Here
Lord, I give myself away:
’Tis
all that I can do.
A great and might God
who saved a worm such as I.
Comments