Jan. 21, 2026

“TRIED AND TESTED”

“THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOB”

JOB 8:1-9:35

*Job’s Resolution About God

We have already met Eliphaz, the oldest and most sophisticated of Job's friends. Now we will meet Bildad the Shuhite, who is generally considered the most hurtful and least comforting of Job's friends.

Bildad has listened to Eliphaz's words and to Job's response, and he can't wait to weigh in with his no-nonsense advice.

1. BILDAD’S INVESTIGATION OF JOB (JOB 8:1-22)

*His Assault on Job (Job 8:1-7)

*He Insulted Job's Character (Job 8:1-2)

Job 8:1-2 “Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2“How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?”

Bildad had no compassion whatsoever. He began his attack on Job's character:

*He Indicted Job's Children (Job 8:3-4)

Job 8:3-4 “Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice? 4If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.”

*He Insisted on Job's Confession (Job 8:5-7)

After insulting Job's character and indicting his children, Bildad insists in verses 5-6 that Job needs to confess his hidden sin. 

Job 8:5-7 “If you would earnestly seek God And make your supplication to the Almighty, 6If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling place. 7Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.”

*His Assumptions About the Past (Job 8:8-10)

It is always dangerous to make assumptions, and Bildad falls into this trap concerning his friend. Consider his words in verses 8-10:

Job 8:8-10 “For inquire, please, of the former age, And consider the things discovered by their fathers; 9For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow. 10Will they not teach you and tell you, And utter words from their heart?”

It was George Santayana who said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive the past.”

To Bildad, the past was a parking lot; however, God wants the past to be a launching pad.

*His Appeal to Nature (Job 8:11-18)

Bildad now turns to examples from the natural world to build

his argument against Job. Observe verses 11-13:

Job 8:11-13 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water? 12While it is yet green and not cut down, It withers before any other plant. 13So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,

Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?”

Job 8:14-18 “Whose confidence shall be cut off, And whose trust is a spider’s web. 15He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure. 16He grows green in the sun, And his branches spread out in his garden. 17His roots wrap around the rock heap, And look for a place in the stones. 18If he is destroyed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.”

Can you lean on a spider's web and be held up securely?

All of these arguments presented by Bildad are sound and logical. However, they do not apply to Job and could not be further from the real truth.

*His Assurance to Job (Job 8:19-22)

Have you ever had somebody come to supposedly help you and they just tear you to pieces?

**God Will Deliver You (Job 8:19-20)

Job 8:19-20 “Behold, this is the joy of His way, And out of the earth others will grow. 20Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers.”

**God Will Delight You (Job 8:21)

Job 8:21 “He will yet fill your mouth with laughing, And your lips with rejoicing.”

**God Will Defend You (Job 8:22)

Job 8:22 “Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

So that was Bildad's entrée into Job's life; that was his package of encouragement.

2. JOB’s INTERROGATION OF GOD (JOB 9:1-35)

Job feels like his only hope is to somehow appeal his situation before the court of heaven and prove his innocence before the Almighty.

Job wants to know how he can be declared innocent, and he uses legal terminology to express this desire.

*Job’s Respect for God (Job 9:1-13)

Job 9:1-2 “Then Job answered and said: 2“Truly I know it is so,
But how can a man be righteous before God?”

Job rattles off six statements about God that demonstrate that he is in total awe of his Creator.

1. God Is Incomprehensible (Job 9:3-4a)

Job 9:3-4 “If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. 4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?”

2.  God Is Invincible (Job 9:4b)

Job 9:4 God is "mighty in strength." 

3. God Is Invulnerable (Job 9:4c)

Job 9:4 "Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?”

4. God Is Incredible (Job 9:10, 5-9)

Job 9:5-10 “He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger; 6He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; 7He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars; 8He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea; 9He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; 10He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.”

5. God Is Invisible (Job 9:11)

Job 9:11 “If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him.”

6. God Is Irresistible (Job 9:12)

Job 9:12 “If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?”

*Job’s Reservation About God (Job 9:14-31)

Job has an incredible respect for God, but it is out of his respect for God that he feels such hopelessness at this point.

Job now offers seven reasons he feels that God is untouchable —and that his conflicts are thus irresolvable:

1. He Could Not Dispute With God (Job 9:14-15)

Job 9:13-15 “God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him. 14“How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him? 15For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.”

2. He Could Not Deal With God (Job 9:16-17)

Job 9:16-17 “If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. 17For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause.”

3. He Could Not Direct God (Job 9:18-19)

Job 9:18-19 “He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills me with bitterness. 19If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?”

4. He Could Not Depend Upon God (Job 9:20-24)

Job 9:20-24 “Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. 21“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life. 22It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’ 23If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?”

5. He Could Not Delay God (Job 9:25-26)

Job 9:25-26 “Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good. 26They pass by like swift ships, Like an eagle swooping on its prey.”

6. He Could Not Deceive God (Job 9:27-28)

Job 9:27-28 “If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’ 28I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.”

7. He Could Not Detain God (Job 9:29-31)

Job 9:29-31 “If I am condemned, Why then do I labor in vain? 30If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap,
31Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me.”

*Job’s Resolution About God (Job 9:32-35)

Job 9:32-35 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together. 33Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both. 34Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not let dread of Him terrify me. 35Then I would speak and not fear Him, But it is not so with me.”

Since Jesus Christ was fully God, He could reach out one hand to His Father in heaven. And because He was fully man, He could reach down His other hand to us.

God has made a way for us to come together!