“Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who knows not God.”
~ Job 18:21
Hi James and Ellen,
How do you feel when you are criticized? How do you feel when you are told that you are wrong? How do you feel when you know that you are not being heard? Job had to take continuous criticism from three self-proclaimed friends. Job had to take being told over and over again that he was wrong by the three self-proclaimed friends. Job had to take not being heard by the three self-proclaimed friends. Job 18 has Bildad berating Job. Bildad had a case against Job. Bildad’s perception – which Bildad resented, was that Job had a belittling attitude towards him and the other two guys who were there with him. Bildad felt that Job was treating him and his two cohorts like cattle. Bildad also felt that Job considered him and his two cronies to be stupid. Bildad considered Job’s emotional reaction to his physical circumstances as being self-centered and irrational. Job had just told the three self-proclaimed friends that he was tired of their long-winded speeches. Job wanted to hear words that would comfort him instead of words that were critical of him. Job wanted to be told that he was understood instead of being told he had to have been an evil guy to have to suffer the way that he was. Job wanted to be told that he had been heard instead of being told that he must not know God. Verse 21 says, “Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who knows not God.” Bildad’s angry diatribe against Job has Bildad telling Job that God will always in the end snuff out the life of every evil guy – like Job, by causing each evil guy’s life flame to stop burning, by causing the light in each evil guy’s tent or life to become dark and by causing each evil guy’s guiding life lamp to go out. Bildad callously went on in his harangue to tell Job that God slowly ends the lives of evil guys – like Job, by weakening the vigor of their steps, by throwing their own schemes down on top of them, by thrusting their feet into nets, by causing them to wander into meshes, by seizing them – with the use of traps, by their heels, by snaring them and holding them fast, by catching them in nooses that are hidden on the ground and by laying traps on the paths that they walk. Bildad unsympathetically continued in his tirade to tell Job that terrors were startling him, that fears were dogging his steps, that calamities were hungry for him and that disasters were waiting for him to fall. Bildad then heartlessly tells Job that he just has to accept the obvious fact that it was because of the evil that has to be in his life that his skin is being eaten away, that his firstborn kid’s death is destroying his limbs, that he needs to be torn away from the security of his home, that there is a burning sulfur smell around him, that the roots of his life are drying up, that the memory of his life is going to be forgotten and that there will not be a family survivor to carry on his name.
How would you feel if a self-proclaimed kid friend told you everything that Bildad told Job? Your grandpaa thinks that it was Bildad’s lack of respect for Job that probably rubbed against Job’s feelings more than Bildad’s invective condemning of him. Your grandpaa has sometimes responded to a gal who has ‘glibly’ told your grandpaa that she loves your grandpaa by telling the gal that he does not want the gal’s love – that what your grandpaa really wants from her is her respect. Your grandmaa and grandpaa finished last week a book called Love and Respect that was written by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. Dr. Eggerichs’ book’s focus is on a married guy needing the respect of his wife and a married gal needing the love of her husband. Your grandpaa believes that most guys and gals desire and need to be given respect by guys, gals and kids who they meet and who they know. When your grandpaa was a kid, your grandpaa never called an older guy or gal by his or her first name. When your grandpaa was a little kid, your grandpaa was taught by his dad and ma to always use Mr. or Mrs. or Rev. or Uncle or Aunt in front of the name of an older guy or gal who your grandpaa would be with. When your grandmaa and grandpaa were missionaries on the South America Mission field missionary team in Bolivia, guys, gals and kids would use don Gary when they greeted your grandpaa and doña Nancy when they greeted your grandmaa. The Spanish words don and doña are titles of respect that are used when an older guy or gal is being introduced to or is being greeted by younger guys, gals and kids who live in countries in South and Central America. When your grandmaa and grandpaa were missionaries on the South America Mission field missionary team in Bolivia and then on the OC International field missionary team in Guatemala, your grandmaa and grandpaa would use don when they introduced another guy or gal to or greeted an older guy and doña when they introduced another guy or gal to or greeted an older gal.
Do you think that there are times when it is okay for a kid to talk harshly to another kid or for a guy or gal to talk harshly to another guy or gal? Your grandpaa knows that what he says sometimes sounds harsh. Your grandpaa regrets now about the times when he spoke harshly to another guy or gal. Your grandpaa now is convinced that if something cannot be said in a kind way – which your grandmaa is really good at doing, it is best not said. Your grandpaa now tries to be more intentional to parse his words so that they will affirm, approve and accept a kid or a guy or gal when he is interacting with a kid or a guy or gal. How often have you come across being like a Bildad?
Job 18 (951)