Death Is Not The End

INTRO

Job responded to Eliphaz in chapter 16. In Chapter 18, Bildad gave his second speech. Bildad’s first speech was in Job 8. Bildad’s basic argument throughout this speech was, “Job, you’ve got to come to your senses.”

TEACHING

Job 18:1–4: Constable pointed out that these verses contain Bildad’s criticism of Job.¹Both Job and his friends believed the other had spoken too much. Neither group liked the attitude of the other, and they expressed their disappointment (v. 2). Neither group seemed to care much for the other. Bildad was mad because he thought Job called him cattle (v. 3) (Job 12:7–9) and became scornful. He didn’t appreciate being called an animal nor did he appreciate being called stupid. The first four verses of this chapter are laced with sarcasm. Then Bildad’s speech turned to fear as things got more serious.

Job 18:5–21: Constable highlighted that these verses were Bildad’s warning concerning the wicked.²Bildad set forth four pictures of death as a warning to Job ³:

1. A light put out (vv. 5–6)—“The Lord’s lamp sheds light on a person’s life, searching the innermost parts” (Proverbs 20:27).
2. A traveler trapped (vv. 7–10)—Six Hebrew synonyms for “net” and “trapped” were used to describe this point. A net was spread to catch him, a snare covered over a pit with branches, a trap using a noose that sprung when touched, a robber, a snare hidden on the ground, and a trap, a generic term for any device used to catch prey.4 Bildad used all of these images to convey fear that wickedness would lead to death. Bildad used all these images to convey fear that wickedness would lead to death. Wiersbe noted that fear is a normal human emotion that can motivate us to take good, healthy actions. However, the fear that Bildad seemed to want to instill in Job was a hopeless fear of death.5
3. A criminal pursued (vv. 11–15)—Bildad referenced “the king of terrors” in verse 14. This was most likely death,6 but it could also be Satan. John Burns suggests this could be “a reference to Namtar, the Mesopotamian god of pestilence and a vizier of the underworld.”7
4. A tree rooted up (vv. 16–21)—Job had previously expressed that, despite calamity, a tree retained some form of hope (Job 14:7–9). Bildad argued that once the roots of a tree dried up, there was no hope for any part of the tree, whether it be above or below ground. This image brought to mind a family tree. Once a wicked man came to his end, all of the branches would also fall.8

As Bildad wrapped up his speech to Job, he went to drastic lengths to refute Job’s claim of innocence. Bildad argued that Job’s situation, in which he found himself with no children, no heritage, and nothing left of all his possessions, were the marks of an “unjust man,” and were evidence of a person “who does not know God” (v. 21).

In their more recent speeches, both Eliphaz and Bildad described the wicked with some commonalities⁹:

7 John B. Burns, “The Identity of Death’s First-Born (Job XVIII 13),” Vetus Testamentum 37:3 (July 1987), pp. 362–64; quoted in Thomas Constable, Dr. Constable’s Expository Bible Study Notes: Job, p. 72; https://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/job.pdf.

CLOSING

Wiersbe observed, “Death is an enemy to be feared by all who are not prepared to die.”¹⁰In many ways, Job’s life was like ours. Satan threw many negative messages against Job, and he does the same thing to us every day to try to get us to fall. But if we believe in, and hold fast to Christ, all of Satan’s attacks mean nothing. Jesus said, “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

We have nothing to fear in this life when we belong to Christ. For us, death actually means life. Death means that we get to go home and be with the Father instead of being separated from God.