19:1-29
Job asks yet again how long his friends will torment and crush him with their accusations and uncaring words. But his friends are not getting the message. They are not listening.
Job challenged them. If he has gone away from God that is between him and God and it is not their place to behave like God in judging and condemning him.
Job then continues to state how wronged he is. He still believes God is the one causing his pain and suffering when it is in fact satan. He even blames God for alienating his friends.
He asks his friends to have pity on him and to stop pursuing him as he believes God is doing.
But despite believing he is being punished unjustly by God, he still knows his Redeemer lives and will vindicate him from his unjust punishment. This is also a hint of what is to come. Our Redeemer lives and he will stand on the earth. Despite believing his suffering is caused by God, Job still holds tightly to faith in his great and mighty God.
Job also believes death is not the end of life. He believes after death he will see God. He loves God so much, his heart yearns for Him. Do you love God this much? How beautiful to know that deep yearning for God. Job was indeed a great man of faith. His understanding of God may have been a little faulty, but that did not stop him loving God deeply (and is our understanding of God any better?). This is a good lesson for us. We may not always understand God well. We may get caught up in faulty doctrine. But this does not stop God from loving us and it does not stop us from loving God deeply. It also does not take away our salvation. So when you next want to argue a point of doctrine with a fellow follower of Jesus, stop and consider whether it is really important. Does it stop that person loving God? Does it take away our salvation? If the answer is no, then why fight that person over that point? Who is to say which of us is the one with the faulty doctrine, or whether both of us have it. What is important is our relationship with God.
I love that no matter how harshly Job believes God is treating him, he does not stop loving God. In fact, his faith in God seems to deepen.
Job concludes by warning his friends that if they continue to hound and judge him, they too will be judged. Remember in Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus warns us to not judge or we will be judged. And the measure we use to judge others will be applied to us. Never forget. Arrogance judges, humility loves. Be the humble, not the arrogant and do not judge others.
 

18:1-21
Bildad speaks again. He perceives Job’s criticisms as put downs and there appears to be an element of him thinking Job has the wrong attitude and expects everyone and all things to accommodate him. Bildad is annoyed because he is convinced Job is a sinner who is being punished and is daring to criticise he, perfect Bildad. To make matters worse, Bildad accuses Job of not even knowing God. Ironically, Bildad’s words suggest he does not know God.
In his speech, Bildad refers to his idea of death, especially as befalls the wicked, as being like a lamp that is snuffed out and no longer gives off any light. Prior to his light being snuffed out, the wicked man falls into traps of his own wickedness and faces great disaster. His skin is eaten away, no doubt a reference to the sores that afflict Job. Also his descendants are destroyed so that he is effectively wiped off the face of the earth with no one left to remember him. Of course he is referring to Job’s children being killed.
The evil man is treated like Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed by burning sulphur. In Bildad’s view, the evil are punished on earth. He has no concept of punishment, or even vindication, coming after death.
It is ironic that Bildad arrogantly states Job does not know God when it is very clear he himself does not know God. As I have mentioned before, be very careful who you accuse of not knowing God, because only God knows who truly knows Him and it is only the arrogant who presume to judge others.