Today’s passage: Job 8
Helpful thoughts:
- Eliphaz failed to convince Job, now it’s Bildad’s turn.
- Right out of the gate, he tells Job the words of his mouth are a great wind. He was being very direct.
- He believed Job’s children died because of their own transgressions, though Job would need to repent as well.
- Bildad’s offer of repentance is found in verses 5-6.
- He believes Job has lost his way, having become distanced from God. Therefore, Bildad compares Job to a plant that no longer has it’s root in the watered soil.
- In an effort to end his message with hope, Bildad assures Job that God will bless him again once he turns back to the Lord.
Questions to consider:
- In what way was Bildad’s approach worthy of admiration? What was he trying to accomplish? How did he communicate it?
- Even if the approach was flawless, what was Bildad still assuming? How does assumption make even the best executed rebuke sound foolish (Proverbs 18:13)?
- What would have been a better thing for Bildad to do before making accusations and telling Job what to do? How would Job have known that Bildad (And his other friends) were really engaged in learning what all Job was going through and thinking?