Job 18:1-21
Q.1. What did Bildad think about Job’s complaints? Is the demise of the wicked as clear-cut as Bildad claimed? What did he imply about the suffering Job? – (Job 18:1-21)
Bildad responded to Job with similar disregard to that with which he had shown his other comforters (Job 18:1-4 c.f. 12:1-2; 16:1-3). Bildad ignored Job’s questions. He spoke in the anguish of his soul. He gave his conclusions about Job, and why he was suffering. He said Job’s suffering was the result of his wickedness. He then described the plight of the wicked – he falls into his own trap and ends up in darkness (Job 18:5-10). He is always expecting evil. Security is torn from him (Job 18:11-16). He will be forgotten after he dies, and his offspring will not survive – “Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God.” (Job 18:21 c.f. 18:17-20). The view Bildad shared about the wicked was unfair to Job and was not born out by reality. He repeated the exaggerated views he had already presented to Job earlier (Job 8:20).