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apparent signs

Job 8:1-22 (JDV)

Job 8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
Job 8:2 Until when will you go on saying these things? Your mouth’s words are a puff of breath.
Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
Job 8:4 Since your children sinned against him, he gave them over to their rebellion.
Job 8:5 But if you earnestly seek God and ask the Almighty for mercy,
Job 8:6 if you are pure and upright, then he will move even now on your behalf and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.
Job 8:7 Then, even if your first was meager, your days afterward will be full of prosperity.
Job 8:8 You see, ask the previous generation, and pay attention to what their fathers discovered,
Job 8:9 since we were born only yesterday and know nothing. Our days above the ground are a shadow.
Job 8:10 Will they not teach you and tell you and speak from their understanding?
Job 8:11 Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Do reeds flourish without water?
Job 8:12 While still uncut shoots, they would dry up quicker than any other plant.
Job 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless will be destroyed.
Job 8:14 His source of confidence is fragile; what he trusts in is a spider’s web.
Job 8:15 He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm. He grabs it, but it does not hold up.
Job 8:16 He is a well-watered plant in the sunshine; his shoots spread out over his garden.
Job 8:17 His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks. He looks for a home among the stones.
Job 8:18 If he is uprooted from his place, it will deny knowing him, saying, “I never saw you.”
Job 8:19 Surely this is the joy of his way of life; yet others will sprout from the dust.
Job 8:20 Look, God does not reject a person of integrity, and he will not support evildoers.
Job 8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with a shout of joy.
Job 8:22 Your enemies will be clothed with shame; the tent of the wicked will be no longer

apparent signs

Bildad uses an excellent argument, which would no doubt have been very successful except for the fact that Job was innocent. Bildad compares Job’s previous fortune to that of a Papyrus plant, which grows quickly and looms above other plants, – a signh of strength –yet it can be easily destroyed. The assumption was that Job was being punished for sin. How often do we see people in sad circumstances and conclude that they must have brought their fate upon themselves? How often do we suffer setbacks and ask God what we did to deserve them? This is the same mindset that caused the rich Pharisees in Jesus’ day to miss God entirely. Personal health and wealth are not barometers of our spiritual condition.

LORD, we seek a relationship with you. We will not settle for the apparent signs. We want the substance.