the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Job 25:1-6; ; Job 26:1-14
Bildad means "son of strife", certainly a name which he deserves! But what does the Word tell us about this? "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves . . ." (2 Timothy 2:24-25). None of the three friends showed any of these characteristics. They knew how to ask questions but were not able to provide the answers; they could wound without being able to heal, throw down but not build up. After a brief discourse from Bildad, they are finally silent. The cruellest words have not succeeded in producing a real conviction of sin in Job. The more he has been accused, the more he has felt the need to justify himself. Only the Holy Spirit can produce this conviction of sin in a person’s conscience. Has He done this in yours?
Moreover Job’s heart has not been touched by any real word of comfort. We think of that exclamation by the most Afflicted of all: "I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (Psalms 69:20).
Far from consoling poor Job, or helping him with wise counsel (Job 26:2-3), his friends’ remarks have worked him up into a frenzy. And now he launches into a long and heart-rending monologue.
