Page 89 - Reading Job to Know God
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can see it, so I can confess it, so it can be forgiven? And Job cries out,
          “What  is  going  on  in  my  life?”  and,  “Why    are    You  picking  on
          me,?” Questions we will certainly ask if we walk deeply with Him!


            Reading JOB to Know God




           Chapter  8            Job Struggles with God




           Okay, let’s look then at chapter 8. Here is the thing that is crushing Job.
           He  really  wants  to  know  the  answers  to  life.  He  is  confused  about
           something deeper. He is not concerned so much about his boils and about
           his pain and about his sleeplessness. He is concerned about the mysteries
           of God, the riddles of life and the relationship between God and men.
           8:1-3,
          “Then  Bildad  the  Shuhite  answered,  ‘How  long  will  you  say  these
          things,  and  the  words  of  your  mouth  be  a  mighty  wind?  Does  God
          pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?’ ”
           You see, Bildad expresses wonder, almost astonishment. Abhorrence that
           Job  can  utter  what  he  has  just  uttered  in  chapter  7.  He  interprets  the
           essence of Job’s reply. Verse 3, “Does God pervert justice?” You see,
           Bildad  has  the  idea  that  Job  thinks  God  is  perverting  justice,  that  God
           rules His world in an unmoral way. Bildad answers in language stronger
           than Eliphaz used.
           Let me give you a simple outline of what I think the philosophy of Bildad
           is. Now I am not trying to be clever and give you alliterations. In the first
           seven verses he gives his principles. In other words, this is what Bildad
           believes – chapter 8:1–7. Then in verses 8-19 he illustrates his principles.
           He gives three illustrations of his principles. Then in chapter 8:20-22, he
           restates his principles again.
           Actually, this speech of Bildad is very logical, very easy to follow. Let me
           try to examine it a little more closely. What is it that Bildad believed? Let
           me  first  state  it  for  you  and  then  try  to  illustrate  it  through  chapter  8.
           Bildad  believes  that  God  is  discriminately  righteous.  That  is,  God
           distinguishes  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  And  because  He
           distinguishes  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  He  treats  them
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