Ask Away – January 7

1)

Why did Bildad ask, “Does God pervert justice?” (Job 8:3).

Bildad believed that Job’s claim of innocence was an accusation against God. His reasoning went like this:

• God deals with us according to our character: the wicked are punished and the righteous are blessed.

• If Job was innocent, then God’s judgment had fallen on him unjustly.

• That was impossible, therefore Job’s claim of innocence was nothing more than accusing God of perverting justice.

2)

Why did Bildad think Job’s children were killed? (Job 8:4).

Bildad believed Job’s children were killed because they had sinned against God. His reasoning went like this:

• The freak storm that killed Job’s children was clearly a judgment from God.

• God’s judgment only falls on the wicked.

• Therefore, Job’s children must have sinned.

3)

What mistake did Bildad make when he gave the basis for his perspective? (Job 8:8–10).

Bildad committed the logical fallacy known as ‘argument from authority.’ This is a fallacy of defective induction, where it is argued that a statement is correct because the statement is made by a person or source that is commonly regarded as authoritative. Bildad appealed to the wisdom of “the fathers” as proof that only the wicked experience calamity and disaster (Job 8:8, 12-13).

4)

When Job said, “Truly I know that it is so,” to what was he referring? (Job 9:2).

Job was referring to Bildad’s opening claim: God does not pervert justice (expressed as a rhetorical question in Job 8:3a). Job agreed with much of what his friends had to say about God’s character, but he was convinced that their application of that truth to his life was flawed. “Yes, God is just,” says Job, “but I too am in the right. I have done no wrong, yet I am suffering God’s judgment.”

5)

What was Job considering throughout most of chapter nine? (Job 9:2–20).

Job considered this question: “How can a man be in the right before God?” (9:2b). Job was not asking how a man can be pure or holy before God, but how a man can be vindicated before God (shown to be right in what he says). “I know that I am innocent of any wrong doing,” says Job, “but how can I prove my case before God in court?”