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Caution to students of God's Word - Please remember two things when using our American Wisdom Series studies:
#1. Our commentary is not God's Word. It is only our interpretation or understanding of "His Word" and even though we try our best to be accurate we may or may not be correct. #2. The King James translation, or any other translation, of the original Hebrew text has some words which were given different translations at different places probably because of the interpreters preconceived ideas of what they think God meant to say. For example: According to the notes in the "Drake's Annotated Reference Bible" the Hebrew word hayah in the KJV is Trans. (became) 67 times, (becamest or came to pass) 505 times, (become) 66 times, and (come to pass) 131 times, but for some reason in Genesis 1:2 it is translated (was)! That sure changes the way a person perceives the original creation of the earth, doesn't it? Gen. 1:2 And the earth was (became) without form, ... Having said that, let us continue with our "studies". These studies contain knowledge, we believe, you must have to fully and accurately unlock and understand the Word of God.
May the Holy Spirit be your only guiding light. Sincerely, John Rhine

Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
published at http://www.theseason.org/

You can view it at the season`s web site (address above) as originally published
or here, as now edited by people at

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

Anytime you sit back and allow a small group of people to do all your thinking for you, it is called "brainwashing", and when you allow one teacher to guide your every thought, you are in a cult. This is why it is best to seek out a teacher that teaches you to seek out the truths for yourself, and guides you in finding the tools to seek and find the truths. The sole final authority should be the Word of God, and not the thoughts of any one man. It is well to have your mind open to the truths from the Word of God, as you are guided by the Holy Spirit, but in the end it is between you and God only. If the Words of a teacher just don't add up in your mind, don't worry about it. There are levels of understanding and your level is the place where the Word is taught and it is made clear to you, whether on the "milk of the Word" level or the "meat of the Word" level. When you are required to accept anything without thinking the matter through, and having the understanding for yourself, than it is cultism.

Job was a man in the flesh and he was symbolic or a type of the elect in the end times. God was proud of Job, and told Satan to look at my man Job. Job knew God and the ways of God, however Satan told God, if you take your protective hand off Job and allow me to rough him up a bit, he will curse You to your face. This Satan did, as Job lost his family and his wealth, and sat before these three friends covered in sores and boils. When you stop and think of the emotions of Job, as all this is happening to him, yet through it all, Job did not curse God. As this is all happening to Job, Job still hasn't figured it out that it is not God that is doing all this to him, but Satan. This is why the questions; "God why are you doing this to me?" This is an example to each of us living today, that we must mature in the understanding of God's plan to the point of being able to discern whether our troubles and problems are from God correcting us, or from Satan. Satan will be walking amongst us very shortly, and he and his fallen angels will be out of deceive you if they can. It is important to mature in our spiritual lives to where you know those of the enemy, from those of the elect of God. God is love and He wants to protect His own, and that is why it is important to know the entire plan of God.

Remember that "Bildad" in the Hebrew tongue means "sparrow". Bildad the sparrow was the son of "contention", or "Shuhite", one who based all his thoughts and beliefs on human traditions. There is a message even in the names of the people.

Job 18:2 "How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? Mark, and afterwards we will speak."

What this says in the Hebrew text, is "when will you set a snare with your words, you close your trap." The "trap" will be mentioned again in this chapter. Bildad scornfully is telling Job to stop and think for a moment and then we will talk with you.

Job was sitting there with boils and sickness, and he had lost everything that he had. Bildad is saying, Job has called us every kind of beast. Of course these three so-called friends have called Job everything under the sun, including a sinner and hateful. Old Bildad is overlooking the word lashing that they gave Job the first time around. They told Job that he didn't love God, calling him a sinner, a hypocrite, and many other things. Yet all the time the only thing that Job wanted to hear from them was their comments as to what sins Job had committed.

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 is asking Job, Do you think God is going to change His divine arrangement of things just for you? So Job again just wants to know, what did I do to deserve this.

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

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

Bildad is telling Job that he is going to die and there will be no one in his tent [tabernacle] to keep your candle burning [left in his family].

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

When Job began to walk as a child, he toddled a little more each day. Bildad said, it will be like that, by your own words that you messed up to cause your down fall.

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

This "snare" is a pit covered over and camouflaged, and Bildad is telling Job that with each word that Job says he is bringing himself closer to that pit that will be his doom.

Job 18:9 "The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him."

"The gin" in the Hebrew text reads "grin", and the "grin" that Job wears as he speaks to these three so-called friends is going to be the snare to cause your fall. The word "robber" was not used here. In the Hebrew text the word should read "noose". We will see shortly why this word was placed there.

Job 18:10 "The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way."

So what we have just read was six different types of snares or traps to catch a small animal. The word "robber" was injected to take the place of "noose" so there would only be five different types. Five is the number for grace, however, six is the number for Satan's numeric value. God has caused this mistranslation to take place in the numeric values here to let it be a warning to us of the Kenites' desire to cause the altering of God's Word to trap those that are not so careful in their studies. God is trying to warn us that there are going to be six traps that God's elect must be aware of in these final days. Remember that Job is a type of God's elect, and these are the warnings by God to us in these final days. It is Satan that will cause the entrapment, and not God.

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

In loose terms, in the Hebrew text, it is saying that Job is going to be so frightened that his feet are going to get wet. He is going to have a physical accident, and you can put the details together for yourself.

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

"Hungerbitten" in the Hebrew text is "paralyzed". Bildad is telling Job that he is going to so stricken with fear, that is will cause him to be paralyzed. Of course Job did not deserve all these remarks, for Job had not sinned to cause this to be brought on himself. Job was a righteous man, with three unrighteous prideful men for friends.

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

Now old Bildad is telling Job that because of your sins, disease shall eat your skin up. Remember that "death" is another name for Satan. So who was the first born of Satan? Of course it was Cain, Satan's son from the Garden of Eden. Are you starting to get the picture, the offspring of Cain are called the Kenites, and it is these offspring of Cain, the Kenites that are going to desire to devour what ever strength you have in these final days. Though this is speaking of Job, the lesson is to each of us. The Christians in the final days of this earth age better wake up so that we will be aware of just who it is that is trying to do harm to our spiritual as well as take our physical strength.

Stop and look around you, who has the true strength in most of the fields of power today; from law, finance, medicine, education, and even politics? Of course it is the Kenites with their hidden power. This verse has come to pass even today. The Kenites pull the strings, and some underling gets the blame.

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

Many times it is through the trusting of the words of these Kenites and God's people are even rooted out of their homes. Once again the Kenites are acting not on their own behalf, but on the trust for their father, the "king of terrors". Who is the king of terrors? We all know that it is Satan. Keep in mind that these three friends of Job are blaming God for causing the loss of Job's home and uprooting him out of his house. This is also as it is becoming today, the Kenites through their press and so on, love to blame Christians and God for the misery that they and their father the Devil have caused. This is what Bildad is doing to Job, and it is what we shall see happening to God's elect in these final days. They love to give Satan a free ride for all the misery he is causing.

This is why we had better learn to recognize our enemies, not only physical but spiritual. It is sad that thirty two chapters had to be dedicated to our people, just to teach us exactly who our enemy is. Job had to live this hardship in his life so that you and I could have a warning to wake up to our enemies.

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

In the Hebrew text it is saying that he has herbs and sulpher scattered around his tent also to protect it.

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

Of course it is God that is above, and His roots are the ties that he has with God. This is Bildad telling Job that God is going to cut him off. This again is a lesson as to what we shall be told shall happen to us. It is threats that have no bases unless you listen to these lies and let those lies affect you.

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

How would that affect you if the people around you tried to forget you. This is what they are saying of Job. Job at one time was the most wealthy and well know man in the east, and this so called friend is telling Job that he is going to be forgotten in the streets, and no one will remember him. Even the thought of it is foolishness.

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

This is saying is that Job will be chased from the land of the living, which means that his physical body will die.

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

This is very cruel, especially from a friend. Bildad knew that Job's family had already been killed. Now he is telling Job that he will never have another son, nor relatives.

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

This can be translated two ways, both geographically, and physically. It is saying that men from the east and the west will forget you, and it also refers to those that shall come with you and after you will forget you ever existed. We know from this study that it just didn't happen. Today the whole world knows very much about Job.

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

As Bildad looks down on Job's sores and boils, he is taking great pleasure pouring all the blame out of Job for these things that are happening to him. Do you think that this picked up Job's spirit? About as much as a slap in the face. If you expect man to comfort you for the positions that you take as one of God's elect, you are going to be greatly surprised. If you call to their attention the errors in their traditions and false doctrines, it is like attacking one of their children, and they will turn on you.

Bildad has no idea in the world where the blame should be placed, and he finds pleasure blaming God for the acts of Satan, and giving Satan the credit for the blessings of God. Good is bad, and right is wrong, and the things of the night are day to this generation. This generation today is turning everything up side down and back side front, and they don't even know the difference, just as these three friends of Job were doing. Your only hope in these end times is by the understanding you receive in and from the Word of God