WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN
Job 8-10

In the previous lesson we saw that what a hurting friend needs most is kindness.   Kindness is love
in action.   Kindness will reveal itself through compassion, seeks to relieve the burden, and tries to
understand the pain.   When someone is hurting they do not need theology or lecture on how they
ought to feel.   They just need kindness.

We considered Eliphaz's rationalization (chapters 4-5) and Job's reply (chapters 6-7).   We will
now consider Job's friend Bildad.

  1. Bildad's Accusations.   (chapter 8)

    1. In response to Job's plea for kindness and understanding, Bildad accuses Job of being
      nothing but a wind bag.   Job 8:2.
    2. Bildad felt a responsibility to defend God so he reminds Job of God's character.   Job
      8:3.
    3. Bildad says Job's children had died because they had sinned.   Job 8:4.
    4. Bildad was so concerned with defending God that he forgot the needs of Job.   Many,
      many people, when they should be giving comfort and consolation, make the hurting
      feel worse, much worse.
    5. Bildad turned to nature to prove that Job had forsaken God.   Job 8:11-13.   Since Job
      seemed to be withering spiritually like a plant without water, then it was logical that
      Job had forsaken God.
    6. Bildad continues his argument by saying the hypocrite is like a plant with shallow
      roots clinging to rocks.   Job 8:16-19.   The conclusion is that Job is a hypocrite for
      unless there [was] something wrong with him, God would not uproot him.   Job 8:20.
    7. Bildad was sure that God had rejected Job and all Job had to do was turn to God in
      repentance.   Job 8:21.   We must be careful that we do not over-simplify relief from
      suffering, trial, and adversity.

  2. Job's Answer.   (chapter 5:9-10).

    1. Job's first response to Bildad's accusation was "I know it is so of a truth:" Job 9:2.   Job
      was confused and frustrated.   He did not understand why God was allowing such
      things to happen to him.
    2. Job believed it to be true that God punishes evil and rewards righteousness but he
      believed himself to be innocent of any sin that would justify the punishment he was
      receiving.   Job 9:3,4.
    3. Job longed for a mediator - one who intervenes between two parties with a view to
      producing reconciliation.   We now have an exclusive Mediator between God and
      man.   I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 4:16.
    4. Up to the time of the death of Christ, no one could approach God except with a
      sacrifice for their sins and the priests at the temple acting as mediators.   Though we
      have no right to approach a holy God on our own, the Lord Jesus Christ offers us
      His righteousness so we can come directly into the presence of God with His acting
      as Mediator.

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    1. In chapter 10 Job pleads with God - not his friends.   Job 10:2.
      1. Job in his confusion, felt that God was condemning him - without revealing the
        charges.
      2. Job thought God was angry with him - and in his current state of mind wished he
        had died at birth.   Job 10:18.
      3. Since his life had no purpose, Job begged God to leave him alone.   Job 10:20,21.
    2. At the time of tragedy all have asked the question, "Why?"
      1. When a young mother's life is taken by an automobile accident "why?"
      2. When Jim Elliot and four other mies. were killed in Ecuador by the Auca
        Indians they were trying to win to Christ, many asked, "why?"
        Jim Elliot said it sometime before his death, "He is no fool who gives what he
        cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."
      3. It might be well to memorize James 5:10,11.
    3. It was not God who sent thieves to steal Job's camels, oxen, and donkeys
      (1:14,15,17) or fire to consume his sheep (1:16).   It was not God who sent the great
      wind that killed his children (1:19).   It was not God who afflicted Job with painful
      boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (2:7).   It was Satan!
    4. Keep in mind, it was God who had given Job all that he had in the first place.   When
      suffering and adversity comes, James 1:17 should be consulted and remembered.
    5. Satan is the cause of all suffering, affliction and adversity.   They were never a part of
      God's original plan but came into His creation only after sin entered the world.
      (Gen. 3:17-19).
    6. The effects of sin unleashed upon the world will continue until the new heaven and
      the new earth comes.   Rev. 21:[1]-4.

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