Job 8:1 "Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,"

The word "Bildad" in the Hebrew means "the son of contention". This is the second of many debates between Job and these three friends of Job. We have already covered the first debate or address by Eliphaz, in the prior three chapters, and now Bildad is going to tell Job why he thinks Job's troubles and boils came. There is something in each of these debates that will make our lives a little more comfortable, for Bildad is going to address Job's problems from a human traditional viewpoint. So don't let each of these address become boring to you, but seek the one truth from each address that you can apply to your life.

Job 8:2 "How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?"

Bildad is telling Job; Your words are like a hurricane? Bildad was closed minded to everything that Job said in the prior two chapters, and now he is asking how long can you go on speaking those words with the strength that you have? There is even a little bit of scorn in this statement against Job. Just like most people that set their lives according to the tradition taught them, their minds are closed to any truths that go against those traditions.

Job 8:3 "Doth God pervert judgment? or doth The Almighty pervert justice?"

Dildad is asking Job, Doesn't God judge fairly, and doesn't God also reward in a just manner also? Here again Bildad is relating the boils to something that Job had done and deserved. Bildad is telling Job, God has judged you, and those boils are the proof of God's judgment.

Job 8:4 "If thy children have sinned against Him, and He have cast them away for their transgression;"

Job 8:5 "If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to THE ALMIGHTY;"

At first Bildad is trying to say that the loss of Job's children were for something that they have done, and then Bildad is telling Job that if he would just go to God with his sins and repent to Him, God would make you well. Job has already spent his entire life before the Almighty, and there was nothing in Job's life that was not repented.

Job was a righteous man and right before the Lord, however the problem was that he wasn't realizing that the trouble was coming from another place. It was coming from Satan, and not from the Almighty God.

When Christ went to the cross and arose defeating death,

Christ gave you the power over death, which is to say, power over Satan. 

However you have to first recognize where the trouble comes from. And if from Satan, take the power and authority to order Satan and those evil things out of your life. You can control Satan today when you are a child of the Living God.

Job 8:6 "If thou wert pure and upright; surely now He would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous."

Bildad is telling Job that if you were as pure as you say you were, God would not only answer your prayer, but He would reward you for it. Many times your friends would like to help you and guide you through hard times, but in the end their advise will head you right into more trouble than you were in before. The only advise that a child of God should take is according to God Word, which is His plan for your life. Don't let people depress you and discourage you when things seem to go wrong, but get back into the promises of God's Word.

Job 8:7 "Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase."

Bildad is telling Job that if things are bad now, when you repent to God for your evil, God will give you an increase greater than you had in the first place. Though Bildad missed the point, for Job was aleady a righteous man, God will increase Job in every manner of his life at a later time. He will double his life, and the belongings that he once had.

Job 8:8 "For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:"

Now Bildad is telling Job to look back in time and see if something our fathers had to say will help you. This is speaking of the traditions of men, and their sayings, and not seeking God's instructions.

Job 8:9 "(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)"

In that our lives are but seventy years on this earth, we can learn from those that have gone before us. We call this "traditions", and man would rather build on what another man has stated and assume that it is right and correct, than search the Scriptures for God's answers to their problems. So Bildad is telling Job to look back to the prior generation and follow the experiences of those past generations. Just what makes man think he knows so much compared to the Word of God.

If you want to follow a record of your ancestors, than follow the record of those events that the prophets have recorded from the Scriptures, and pay attentions to the rewards they had received for their actions and words. This is also important in our generation today, for that which happened in the past and recorded in God's Word is an example of what shall happen in our generation, because we are living in the final generation of this earth age.

Job 8:10 "Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee and utter words out of their heart?"

This is true, you can learn from the past for as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." There is nothing new under the sun.

Job 8:11 "Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?"

It is interesting that this material, "the rush out of the mire", was what some of the first Scriptures were written on.

Job 8:12 "Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb."

This reed life is like the greenness of this herb, for when it is in its fullness, it just blasts out and withers away.

Job 8:13 "So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:"

Bildad is implying that Job's only problem is that he forgot God. He is implying that Job is just like that little plant in the mire, when the heat and pressures of the hot sun hit it, it is gone. Those things have polluted away from the real truth.

Job 8:14 "Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web."

This should read, "a spider's house", and not "web", for the next verse explains this verse.

Job 8:15 "He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure."

You know how the spider web is spun, and when it is stretched out over a large area, when the web is touched or something blows against it, the entire house of web perishes. Old Bildad is using this spider's house to compare it to Job's life. He is saying that when some small thing comes against you, your entire house will collapse around you. This is a good explanation of how an unstable person's life can be, but it does not applied to Job.

Job 8:16 "He is a green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden."

This is another example given by Bildad to Job, as to why Job life is the way that it is. He is saying that his troubles are like the big tree that blocks the sun from hitting the plants in the garden.

Job 8:17 "His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones."

The roots of this big tree are taking all the water from the stream, and what is left in the brook is nothing but stones. Even in the places where the stones are this big tree just shades the entire area.

Job 8:18 "If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee."

That tree can be so big and beautiful that it will overshadow the entire garden. It is so rooted up that it is as if you, or this garden was never there. So the question is; How would those people around you be if you were never there? Would those next to you ever miss you, or would you be forgotten very shortly? Are you making a mark on those people around you, or do they even know that you are a Christian.

Job 8:19 "Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow."

This is said sarcastically, for Bildad is telling Job that when he is gone, someone else will fill right in where you were and you will never be missed.

Job 8:20 "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will He help the evil doers:"

This applies to both men and woman, but this Bildad is lighting into Job very hard with his criticism against Job. He is reminding Job that God wouldn't do this to somebody that is as perfect as you say that your are.

Job 8:21 "Till He fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing."

What this is saying is that if you are right Job, God is going to turn this entire thing around and God will fill your mouth with laughing and your speech with rejoicing.

Job 8:22 "Thy that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought."

Again Bildad is reminding Job that God doesn't do away with a good man. This is said in scorn to his friend Job. With friends like Bildad, who needs enemies. So the lesson of this chapter is that this friend is blaming Job for all his troubles. Job in turn is blaming God, and Satan the one that is causing all the trouble is completely left out of their discussion. Satan is having a victory and enjoying every minute of it.