The speeches are getting shorter on both sides by the time we get to Chapter 18 where Bildad jumps into the conversation. Less tactful than Elipaz, Bildad warns Job of all the bad things that happen to those who have unconfessed sin.
A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare lays hold of him.
A rope is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path.
Terrors frighten him on every side and chase him at his heels.
Job replies, “How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?” Instead of being a comfort, affirming Job for who he is and has been, his friends continue to try to convince him he has sinned until Job proclaims:
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
What a proclamation! What a truth to stand on! When it gets tough, when all else fails us and even our friends turn against us, we know this is true – we have a Redeemer and when all else is said and done, he will remain.
Job lived before Jesus’ time, but he knew a Redeemer was coming. He knew redemption in his life through the truth of God and sacrifice. At this point, he may be doubting everything else he knew about righteous living, but he knew his Redeemer would at some point end all arguments, all struggles, all wrongs.
What a word of wisdom for my life!
