Here, Job questions why the wicked go punished while they bully the poor and needy, leaving them cold and hungry while they prosper. They do not know or care about the way of the light, and go about stealing, murdering, committing adultery. By saying this, he is also trying to prove to his friends that their argument that “God punishes wickedness + Job is being punished = Job is wicked” because wicked people do go unpunished.
Yet, he knows that these wicked people will come to no good - that the only end for them is their grave and they have nothing to look forward to after death. Thus any peace and wealth they enjoy today is only temporal, and only the foolish will seek such a life.
By saying all of these, his friend Bildad assumes that Job is claiming that he is righteous and has done no wrong and so try to convince him that he, like all men, can never be pure (But remember, God himself has said Job is one of no sin).
Job praises him for his “wise” words and asks him (sarcastically) who has taught him such wisdom because he knows that Bildad has merely repeated what Eliphaz has said before him. But he agrees with him that man are indeed nothing before God’s power. However, he is not prepared to admit that God is right in punishing him because he truly believes that he is righteous and his conscience is clear (because he has indeed not committed any sins!) But throughout all this, he still does not speak a word of wicked against God or cursed him – Satan was wrong about him!
While gold and silver can be obtained from this world, true wisdom is understood only by God – only he knows what is our present, past and future. Thus, in here Job is differentiating between knowledge and wisdom and his implication is that his friends may have the knowledge and what they say may sound correct before their audience, but they all are devoid of God’s wisdom. But he believes that if there is one thing we should know, it is that: “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding”.
Lesson to be learnt
Do not live in a world filled with guilt, thinking that nothing you do will ever please God. Do not let other people of fake counsel convince you that you are not good enough for God. We live in a world of grace today and while we are indeed sinful by nature, Jesus has died for our sins. And because of that, we should live a life of VICTORY and serve and praise God everyday, in the full knowledge that we can please him greatly in the things that we do for him.
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