Today in God's Word—June 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
June 20, Job 25
“How then can man be right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?" - Bildad, Job 25:4
I remember some debates from my high school and college days. In speech classes and other classes, too, we sometimes explored philosophical or political issues and debated the opposing viewpoints. We'd do our research and look at both sides of some subject. Then our teachers would assign us to either affirm or deny the proposition. I remember how it felt to be on the weak side of some of those arguments. Maybe the proposition was flawed and indefensible. Maybe I didn't agree with the side I was assigned to advocate. We won some of those debates and lost others.
Bildad's final speech in Chapter 25 reminded me of some of the tactics we used when we were out of material in those debates. The other side had clearly won, but we still had to say something in our final speeches. Our strategy was: 1) Ignore what the opponents said, especially any challenges. 2) Make a sweeping statement of something so obvious that everyone could agree. 3) Forcefully repeat the best of your poor arguments. 4) Concede nothing. 5) Stop talking and sit down.
Bildad somehow knew and employed our top secret strategy for saying something at the end of a losing situation. Read Chapter 25’s six short verses again, and see. He completely ignored Job's reasoning and challenge to his friends. He talked about how great God was, and how hopelessly insignificant a lowly, flawed human being is compared to God. (Who could disagree?) Then Bildad said one of those things that God would say was “not right” about him when he said the moon and stars were not pure in God's sight. (God said they were "very good.") He repeated a couple of Eliphaz's talking points that Job had already addressed. But he would not, could not admit they were wrong. He spoke briefly and stopped talking.
Job's friends/accusers were out of ammunition. Bildad's closing statement had nothing new or persuasive in it. Their philosophy, theology and logic had failed. Job didn't understand what was happening to him. But even in his confusion, he was still clearer than his opponents.
Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar were finished. Their speeches and arguments exposed more about their own hearts than Job’s. Their strongest words of condemnation applied just as well to them as to any other flawed human being.
It is a great credit to Job that he did not concede to his friends’ attacks. He was a man of integrity, and he could not pretend to repent of something he knew he had not done. His trust in God through all that he suffered also helped him triumph over the baseless accusations and flawed reasoning of his accusers.
I'm no longer a fan of debates. I sense that they generate much more heat than light. As Christians we should be wary of the debating spirit. It is very easy to associate debate with multiple works of the flesh from Paul's list. Paul also said that the servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Peter said we should be ready to answer with meekness when someone asks about our hope. I've seen very little meekness and lots of quarreling in debates. It's all right to engage in discussion. But let's make sure the fruit of the Spirit and not the works of the flesh show up in what we say.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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