Will the Real Windbag Please Stand Up?
Bildad was one of Job’s three friends. I use that word “friends” somewhat loosely, but I do believe these three guys had Job’s best interest at heart. The problem was none of them could see past the prison bars of their own theology.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, or as Rachel Held Evans refers to them, Eli, Bill, and Father Z, were answer men.¹ They knew everything there is to know about God and were eager to share their knowledge with others. The problem was that, as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13:12, in this life, we only see a reflection of God as in a mirror. And when you consider the low quality of mirrors in Paul’s day, there is a lot about God we do not see and cannot know.
Anyway, back to Bildad. He was the harshest of Job’s friends. Like the t-shirt my Marine son wears when he goes to the gym or leads recruits in physical training, Bildad’s philosophy of suffering was — pain is just weakness leaving the body. And Bildad was quick to help expel Job’s pain by adding to his suffering!
Eliphaz was the first to speak after Job’s initial outcry. As we read his words, we see some degree of tact and even compassion. Not Bildad. The first words out of his mouth are these: How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. (Job 8:2, NIV) Bildad then proceeds to commit theological slander by saying to Job: When your children sinned against him, God gave them over to the penalty of their sin. (8:4) As readers of the story, we know that statement is patently false. Bildad is playing God and meting out judgment on those who are guiltless. But he doesn’t stop with Job’s children: If you are pure and upright even now, God will rouse himself on your behalf, he tells Job. And it’s pretty obvious Bildad believed Job to be neither pure nor upright since God had not delivered him.
James tells us, we should be quick to listen and slow to speak. (Js. 1:19) It’s easy to Bible answer men and women, but mature believers know there are often no easy answers to the suffering and pain life often brings. Bildad accused Job’s cries of suffering and pain and the questions and doubts they brought as those of a windbag, but the real windbag was the one with all the answers who couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Sometimes the best thing we can say to those who suffer is nothing. Just by entering into their pain and suffering with them, we demonstrate the caring, sacrificial love of Christ.
In Christ,
Dan
1. Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, by Rachel Held Evans.
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