Monday, November 13, 2017

Monday - Job 18 - Blah, Blah, Blah...


B
ildad was quite the hellfire and brimstone preacher. In fact, he may have been the originator of an often-quoted preacher phrase, "The light of the wicked shall be put out..."  (Job 18:5).  Don't misunderstand me: I don't want to detract from the seriousness and veracity of that doctrine.  Solomon also taught this exact same thing (Proverbs 13:9). But what good was the message as it was aimed at Job? Hellfire and the fear of hellfire are not targeted at God's regenerate children.  The crosshairs of law and judgment are crisscrossed on the unregenerate (I Timothy 1:9 & Jude 1:23). In fact, damnation and eternal judgment was originally designed for Lucifer and his host of fallen angels (Matthew 25:41), although unbelievers invite the same upon themselves when they remain in their unbelief.

But, Job was NOT an unbeliever. Job wasn't destined for condemnation. Job wasn't one of Satan's followers. Job was born a sinner like all of Adam's descendants, but he had been converted. He was a sanctified saint; no longer a prisoner to the wicked ways of the world. So, why did Bildad lambast him with all the heat and such? Because he assumed that Job was guilty. And that assumption was made because Bildad's theology was wrong. He thought as simplistically as most of us do when faced with what appears to us to be senseless suffering.  But, since Bildad's words had nothing to do with Job, he could have accomplished as much by saying nothing at all, or maybe just a droning monotone, "Blah, blah, blah..."

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