Job 18:5–6

Bildad has much less gentleness of spirit, and much less self-control, than his older friend Eliphaz, who leads all these discussions. So he is far more reckless in voicing his doubt of Job and his hint of hypocrisy. That is really what soon comes out.

Bildad again takes his place in the contest (Job 18). He means well, but his words are poisoned arrows. "The light of the wicked is put out." Yes, every word is perfectly true of the wicked. But how crushing to Job! Circumstances seemed to favour the charge.

In forceful pictures he sets out how all light dies in the ungodly man. The flame of his fire shines no more, and the lamp over him goes out. His own efforts do not free him; they tangle him further. Not rashness but his own counsel plunges him into utter ruin. No cleverness helps him — it traps him, the man who trusts himself instead of God.

The light of the wicked may burn brightly for a little while, as Job's had done, but it would be put out. The light of home, with its welcoming attraction, would vanish. His strong steps would begin to falter, and he would fall by his own evil counsel.

In verse 5 he refers back to Job's claim. His friends were changing night into day, saying the light is near in the face of darkness (ch. 17:12). "Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out," Bildad says. He implies that Job had no clear light in his darkness, so Job must be wicked.

Bildad, in chapter 18, insists that since "the light of the wicked is put out," Job must not suppose that any exception will be allowed in his case. He is not to think that for his sake "the rock be removed out of its place." In other words, God will not set aside His general plan as a special favour to him. All this tells Job plainly: he was now such a great sufferer, so he must be a hypocrite. Only the light of the wicked is put out like this.

Things that are true, but misunderstood and misapplied, may do more harm than many a false thing. Misapplied truth lends the apparent authority of God to an error. The error then carries all the more weight, because it comes as the truth. If someone says a foolish thing, or one plainly false, people despise it. But no believer can brush aside the truth of God. So when people use the truth of God wrongly — when they use it to crush someone who is the object of God's intense interest at that moment — how foreign and offensive to His mind!

The lesson of the first importance here is that outward calamities do not prove that a man is in the wrong place... Nor is outward success a necessary evidence of God's approval. This is certainly a very basic lesson, yet it needs repeating often. We have such a strong tendency to judge in that crude and childish way. So we are likely to accept the ruling of Job's comforters when we judge other people's lives. We are also likely to be misled by such tests about our own course.

So, in forceful pictures, he describes how every light goes out in the ungodly man. The flame of his fire will shine no more, and the lamp over him will go out. No effort will set him free; it only entangles him more.

The light of the wicked may burn brightly for a little while, as Job's had done, but it would be put out. The light of home, with its welcoming attraction, would vanish. His strong steps would begin to falter, and he would fall by his own evil counsel.

In verse 5 he looks back to Job's words about his friends: they were turning night into day, saying the light is near when darkness is all around (ch. 17:12). "The light of the wicked indeed goes out," Bildad says. He implies that since Job had no clear light in the darkness of his experience, Job must be wicked.

Bildad again takes his place in the contest (Job 18). He means well, but his words are poisoned arrows. "Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out." Yes, every word is true of the wicked; but how crushing to Job! Circumstances seemed to favour the charge.

It was painful enough to lose all he once had, and to have the bright light quenched that once glowed in his welcoming tent. But now that loss, along with the attacks of the dreaded disease gnawing at his insides and draining his strength, was cited as proof of his wickedness. That was unbearable to human nature.

Let Job be as wildly restless as he likes, he will find out in the end that … the moral government of God is as immovable as the course of the earth, or the stubborn rock. What a man sows he reaps: if evil, ruin; if good, blessing. But of the second Bildad has not a word to say. Did he know what grace works through faith? Faith can not only remove the rock, but cast a mountain into the sea.

He is not to think that for his sake the rock will be removed out of its place. In other words, God will not set aside His general plan out of any special favour or respect for Job. All this tells Job plainly: since he was now such a great sufferer, he must be a hypocrite. Only the light of the wicked is put out like this.

What a true and striking contrast between "the light" of the righteous and "the lamp" of the wicked! Their course and end match their source… The lamp of the wicked may flare up for a while, during the pleasures of sin for a season. But before long it dims, flickers, and will be put out.

Is it not humbling and solemn that we may be ever so sincere in what we believe, but completely wrong? We are just as responsible for what our convictions are as for what we do or say. Only One can give us the right thought or feeling. He alone also gives the wisdom and strength to carry it out. It is God Himself.