Podcast 32, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 18”

Podcast 32, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 18”

Ignoring Job’s declaration of innocence and his teachings about the resurrection Bildad challenges Job.

Job 18:1-3

“Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak. Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?” 

Then Bildad mocks Job.

Job 18:4

“He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?”

In other words, Bildad is saying Job is nothing. He is not the center of the universe. Then effectively Bildad condemns Job to suffer in hell forever. Notice the stages of Job’s punishment as imagined by Bildad, before he is finally confined to the fires of hell. They are presented in climactic order, meaning they begin at the least and progress to the worst.

In Stage One Job is caught in a snare. 

Job 18:7-10

“The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.”

‘Straightened,’ as used above, means restricted, pressed in, constrained, hemmed in, or distressed. It means a narrow or tight place. A snare is a loop made of cord, wire, or rope. When something steps into a snare it tightens. The more one tries to escape, the tighter it gets. A thin wire or rope would tear into the flesh or choke a person or animal to death. A net entangles the victim as they struggle to free themselves. A gin is like a bear trap. It is spring loaded, generally of serrated teeth, that instantly snaps shut. It tears the flesh  and breaks the bones while holding the victim tight in its grip. In the above it says, “The gin shall take him by the heal.” Only then can the robber prevail against him. Using the terms net, snare, gin, and trap together suggests that if one misses, the other will catch the prey. After the pray is caught, it is at the mercy of the one who set the trap. 

Stage two is dominated by the image of “devouring the strength.”

Job 18:11-14

“Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength. His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.”

The victim is totally helpless. Before the trap held the victim captive, now the victim is devoid of power. His strength is ‘hungerbitten,’ meaning starved. He is near death. Bildad said, “destruction shall be ready at his side.” It ‘devours the strength of his skin,’ meaning his muscles and flesh have lost all movement. Bildad added, “the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.” ‘Firstborn of death’ means child of death or death’s first victim which then turns on the victim. All confidence is gone, meaning all hope is lost. The final image above is even more horrifying: “His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle.” His tabernacle is his body and it lies like one dead. That is when he is delivered into the third stage, “it shall bring him to the king of terrors.” The king of terrors is Satan himself.

Job:15-21

“It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. 

The progression begins with the snare followed by starvation, and then tormented by brimstone or fire.