Bildad's Last Word
so you can become rich."
—Rev.3:18
Now it is Bildad's chance to put in his last two-cent worth, but they do not seem very appropriate at this time. He ignores all that has been said between Job and his other friends, and jumps back to the question that the spirit-voice gave to Eliphaz—a question that Job already dealt with the first time Bildad talked.
The question as to how a man could be just before God is still on Bil's mind. He tells Job that God is the One Who certainly has complete dominion, because He is the Lord of Hosts, there is no numbering of His armies. His light shines on all men, both good and evil, but the question remains to be answered: Since the Lord is so great and mighty, "How can man be just before Him?" (v.4) "How can he be clean" when even "the stars are not pure in His sight . . . much less man, who is but a maggot."
Job's Response to Bildad
Job answers Bildad's "How?" with some other "Hows" which are more to the point than the question troubling poor Bildad.
If Bildad did not know how to find acceptance with God, and how to have a clear conscience before Him, what right did he have to come with his lack of compassion to a man in affliction? All his advice had been about the calamities that would come on those who forgot God.
Job asks Bildad very plainly what sort of help he had given to someone without power. What kind of salvation did he offer to someone who had no strength to save himself? What counsel did he have for someone in such distress, and darkness? "How have you enlightened my stupidity?" What spirit had come from him to encourage and help his friend in his time of trouble? "How did you ever think of all these brilliant comments?"
Bildad's question is best answered by reminding him of the omnipotence of God. Everything, whether visible or invisible, are open to Him. He made the world and hung it over nothing, upholding it by the Word of His power. He closes in the face of His throne when He pleases and no one can reach Him through the clouds that surround it; He controls the mighty waters; the pillars of heaven tremble before Him; He stills the sea, smites arrogance, and by His Spirit makes the heavens beautiful.
All of these things are just the outer fringe of his works and in all His mighty works, we only hear a whisper. If we cannot trace the outlines of His ways, then we certainly cannot understand the full manifestation of His mighty deeds.
Bildad's "How?" is answered by the power of God. If He works all these wonderful things in the world of nature, is it possible that His noblest work of creation—man—is beyond His power? It is true that compared with his Creator, man is nothing but a worm and has fallen from his first estate to become the slave of the world he was created to rule. But God is able to devise a way so that His lost ones can be restored to Him.
Job's Integrity
Before Job was interrupted back in Chapter 23, he was explaining how God was doing all these things for him. Then he drifted off into meditating over the strange ignorance of God's "times" or "days" shown by those who claimed to know Him. After replying to Bildad, he returns to the parable, or narrative he was on, and closes it with a deliberate and final affirmation that he intends to hold fast his integrity to the very end.
The Spirit of God is in me, "my lips will never speak wickedness" or utter deceit. So if I was in His presence, I could not justify you, my friends, or say that you have dealt with me fairly. Neither could I go back from what I know before God to be my true attitude of heart. I cannot say that I have forsaken the ways of God when "my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live."
"Till I die," Job declares, "I will not deny my integrity." I have walked with God in righteousness and truth. I hold fast to this confidence in spite of all my strange afflictions, and I "will not let it go"
You have to give it ol' Job. He knows where he stands and how he has lived. With our new birth and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, our conscience should be washed and we are “to no longer have any consciousness of guilt.”
Job cries, Those who "rise up against me," and falsely condemn me when I am innocent of their charges, are not my friends but my enemies, and on them will come the "portion of the wicked."
Oh yea, Job! Go get 'um!
Job asks what he would gain by being a hypocrite. In his time of need, would God hear his cry? A hypocrite would not have called on God "at all times," and delighted himself in the Almighty as he had done.
Job Teaches his Teachers
It was Zophar's turn to speak after Bildad's last speech, but Zophar is silent—So Job breaks out with the words, "I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal." He will show his would-be teachers that he is not blind. He has seen the other side of the "portion of the wicked" in this world, as well as they did, and he could describe their sorrows as well as their prosperity. Why were his friends so vain as to think that no one else had eyes to see as well as they did?
It was not true that suffering was invariably the fruit of sin, but it was true—terribly true—that a life of utter disregard of God, and sinful self-grasping must have horrible consequences in this world and the next.
It was true that if in some cases the children of the oppressor were multiplied, it was for the sword. They would never be content with the simple things of life, because the same restless dissatisfied spirit they had seen in their home would possess them. The oppressor would have no lamentation made over him at his death. His true character would come out at last, and repel even those who had loved him. He might heap up silver and personal possessions, but he would have to leave it all at the end. He might build his house with great trouble as the spider weaves his web, but it would prove to be nothing more than a temporary shelter after all. Maybe he would lay down rich, but his riches would not save him. He would be swept away by a sudden tempest, or an east wind blighting his life. In short, God would lay His hand on him suddenly, and say, "You stupid fool, tonight I require your soul," and he would try desperately to get out of God's hand, but he would not be able to do so.
That would be the end of the ungodly, although no one could tell that God's judgment was on him in his earlier years.
Heaven's Wisdom
After Job finished describing the "heritage of the oppressors" and showed the foolishness of anyone who sets his heart on the things this world has to offer, he breaks out into a striking description of the trouble and pain that men expend to find earthly treasure. Then, contrasts the wisdom enabling them to obtain the riches hidden in the earth with the value of the wisdom that comes from above.
Silver has to be dug out of a mine with a lot of hard labor; gold has to placed in a furnace to be refined; iron has to be taken out of the dust that it lies in, and brass has to be melted out of stone.
Considering the amount of eagerness, perseverance, tenacity, and energy that men search for earthly treasures, how much more energy should we expend to find heavenly wisdom? Men understand the value of gold, but do they know the greater value of true wisdom and knowledge?
If they do set their hearts on getting it, do they know where to find it? It is not in the depth of the earth, or in the sea. No gold or silver can buy it—it can't even be compared with the gold of Ophir, or the precious stones. Its value is above all the precious things of earth.
This is why I always feel compelled to share what I discover in God's word. My only joy comes in sharing the Truth of God's love and wisdom. My greatest desire is to inspire a hunger and thirst for the very heart of my Father. Hebrews 11:6b says that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. I want to stimulate your search for the Life that is only found in His presence. I don't know what all of those promised rewards are, but I figure any reward from the heart of the Father is worth pursuing.
So where does wisdom come from if it can't be found on earth or purchased with the most precious things of earth, and is hidden "from the eyes of all living?"
God understands the source of wisdom, and He is the only One that can teach the way to obtain it. All wisdom is hidden in God Himself. "He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens" including the hidden things which men try to discover with all their labor. So He alone knows the place of wisdom, and He says; "The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."
Men think that wisdom is knowledge—knowledge of gaining wealth; knowledge of how to refine gold; to melt iron; to polish brilliant stones; to blast flinty rocks; to remove mountains by their skill, and to divert mighty rivers, so that all the secrets hidden in the earth are under their command and control. God says that the highest wisdom is to be obtained in knowing Him, in understanding His will, and departing from evil.
This is the wisdom that "comes from above," because "the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."
