Sept 10

Job 8-10

Job's friend Bildad makes an attempt to help, but ends up failing miserably! He goes into a long discourse about how God is just, He will punish the guilty, and reward the blameless. What Bildad is saying about God is technically true, but he is making some major assumptions about God that are probably not accurate. He assumes that Job's children perished as a penalty for their sin. We read in the first part of this book that they did not perish because of their sin. Satan caused it to try to prove God wrong about Job. Next. Bildad says that God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hand of evildoers. He tells Job to look to God and plead with the Almighty and he will be restored. And while God does look after the righteous and punish the wicked, Bildad is assuming that being righteous and blameless is the key to being blessed by God. Scott mentioned yesterday that many people believe that being good is what saves them. God's infinite love and grace is what saves us. If salvation were based solely on being good, we would all fail miserably.

Bildad made a mistake that I am certainly guilty of: He thought he had God figured out. He thought he knew more about the Almighty than Job did, and it was his duty to enlighten his friend. I've heard Chuck say many times that God has crawled out of every box he has tried to put Him into. God cannot be completely figured out or understood. He cannot be labeled or definited. Isaiah 55:8 says, " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' " We should never be so arrogant as to think that we completely understand all of God's ways.