JOB LESSON 18


     We will begin this lesson in Job 18:1 "Then answered Bildad the
Shuhite, and said," Job 18:2 "How long [will it be ere] ye make an end
of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak."

     Bildad was very angry at the things that Job had said about his
friends. "Mark",  in the verse above, means consider. He was saying
that Job talked too much. I would say again, these friends were no
comfort at all to Job. They were a thorn in his already wounded side.
In a sense, he was saying, "Why don't you hush defending yourself"?

     Job 18:3 "Wherefore are we counted as beasts, [and] reputed vile
in your sight?"

     Job had every right to speak of these so-called comforters as
miserable, ungodly, and wicked. It would have been better, if they had
just stayed home. Perhaps, God allowed them to come and do this, so
Job's fighting spirit would be stirred up.

     Job 18:4 "He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be
forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?"

     Bildad said some of the most cruel things that had been said up
until this point. He accused Job of tearing himself as a child does
when he is having a temper tantrum. He said that Job actually wanted
God to change the forces of nature to suit him. He accused Job of
wanting to be the center of attention.

     Job 18:5 "Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the
spark of his fire shall not shine."

     Bildad began to speak of all the horrible things that await the
wicked man. He thought Job was a very wicked man. Bildad was saying
here, that all the splendor and blessings that had come to Job had
been taken away because of his sin. He said that Job's fire and light
had been put out. Job would not shine any more.

     Job 18:6 "The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his
candle shall be put out with him."

     This darkening of the light of Job was extended to his family. It
was saying the Light of the LORD would no longer be in any of Job's
descendents.

     Job 18:7 "The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his
own counsel shall cast him down."

     Job had great wealth and had controlled a wide area, before all
of this calamity fell on him. Bildad said that Job would be in an
isolated place where he could take only a few steps forward. He, also,
said that Job would no longer have any influence on anyone.

     Job 18:8 "For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he
walketh upon a snare."

     Bildad said that Job brought all of this upon himself by his sin.
He was snared in the net he had set for others.

     Job 18:9 "The gin shall take [him] by the heel, [and] the robber
shall prevail against him." Job 18:10 "The snare [is] laid for him in
the ground, and a trap for him in the way."

     A "gin" is a metallic sheet pounded thin, or a spring. This was
speaking of a trap that was set at night to catch robbers and thieves.
They would be held tight until morning when they would be apprehended.
Verse 10 is speaking of the two types. One above ground and one that
was like a pit.

     Job 18:11 "Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall
drive him to his feet."

     This was just saying that he had no peace of mind. Even imagined
terrors made him very afraid, and caused him to run away.

     Job 18:12 "His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction
[shall be] ready at his side."

     He would be hungry and have no food to eat. His strength had
waxed away. When a person does not eat, he becomes very weak. This
leads to total destruction.

     Job 18:13 "It shall devour the strength of his skin: [even] the
firstborn of death shall devour his strength."

     This was just saying that the muscles of his body withered away.
This was speaking of Job's disease, which they thought would
automatically lead to Job's death.

     Job 18:14 "His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle,
and it shall bring him to the king of terrors."

     Bildad wished the worst for Job, because he thought he was such
an evil man. The tabernacle, here, could be speaking of the home of
Job, which would generally have been a safe place. The king of terrors
was speaking of death.

     Job 18:15 "It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because [it is] none
of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation."

     "It" would make you think this was speaking of the terrors. He wa
s saying that Job's own house would be inhabited by terror. He was
saying that God would rain down brimstone on Job's house for Job's
sin.

     Job 18:16 "His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall
his branch be cut off."

     It appears, that Bildad was speaking of Job's ancestors being
forgotten, and him not having any children to be his branches. We read
of the tree which had no water at its roots drying up and dying.

     Job 18:17 "His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he
shall have no name in the street."

     Bildad was predicting that Job would not be remembered by anyone.
We can tell that Bildad was speaking lies. Job was one of the best
remembered people in the Bible. We can easily see, from this, how
false Bildad's predictions were.

     Job 18:18 "He shall be driven from light into darkness, and
chased out of the world."

     Job was not dreading death, as Bildad thought. Job would have
welcomed death. Bildad was saying death would be forced upon Job.

     Job 18:19 "He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people,
nor any remaining in his dwellings."

     At the moment that Bildad said this, it appeared that this part
of his condemnation of Job might come true. Job's children were dead.
Job had no idea that God would restore his children.

     Job 18:20 "They that come after [him] shall be astonied at his
day, as they that went before were affrighted."

     This may be the first indication of why Bildad attacked Job so
harshly. He was frightened of the same fate coming to him, if he took
the part of Job. Job is an astonishment to all generations.

     Job 18:21 "Surely such [are] the dwellings of the wicked, and
this [is] the place [of him that] knoweth not God."

     Bildad said the reason he said all of this was to show Job what
came to those who knew not God. He believed that Job was chief among
sinners. He believed that Job deserved all of this punishment and even
more, because he was not of God.














                           Job 18 Questions


1.  What was Bildad angry about?
2.  What did "mark", in verse 2, mean?
3.  What does the author believe these friends have been to Job?
4.  What was Bildad saying to Job, in a sense?
5.  What did Job have every right to call his friends?
6.  Why do you suppose God allowed them to attack Job?
7.  What did Bildad accuse Job of doing in verse 4?
8.  The light of the wicked shall be ______ _____.
9.  Why did Bildad speak to Job of all the things that would come to a
    wicked man?
10. Who was the darkness of the Light extended to in verse 6?
11. Bildad said that Job _________ all of this upon himself by his
    sin.
12. What is the "gin" in verse 9?
13. What was verse 9 speaking of?
14. What are the two types of traps in verse 10?
15. Verse 11 was saying that Job had no ________ of ______.
16. What happens to a person when he does without food?
17. They thought Job's illness would automatically lead to ________.
18. Why did Bildad wish the worst for Job?
19. What was the tabernacle, in verse 14, speaking of?
20. What did Bildad say would rain down on Job's house?
21. In verse 16, the roots were whom?
22. In the same verse, who was the branch?
23. Bildad was predicting that Job woulds not be _________.
24. What is the actual truth about that?
25. Bildad believed that Job was chief among _________.