Job 8:8–10

Job's three friends completely misunderstood God's government. They claimed he must have been doing evil, or God would not have dealt with him this way. Eliphaz went on personal experience. He said, "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same." Job 4:8. Bildad is the voice of tradition and the authority of antiquity. He said, "Inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out." Job 8:8. Zophar displayed law and religiousness. He said, "If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away... then you will lift up your face without blemish." Job 11:14-15.

Bildad says, in effect: "It does not matter what we have seen with our own eyes in our day. We ought to listen to those who went before us. They know better than we do." So he says, "For inquire, please, of bygone ages" (Job 8:8). Bildad had received his knowledge by being taught it, preferring to use his ears rather than his eyes.

In verses 8-10, Bildad showed where he stood. He prized the stored-up treasures of human wisdom. Even in those far-off days, people could search records kept from even earlier times. Eliphaz argued from his own observation — what he had seen himself. Bildad argued from tradition — what the records of earlier days could teach. He distrusted any conclusion drawn from personal experience, because a man's days on earth are only "a shadow."

In this Bildad contradicted what Eliphaz had said. If Eliphaz too was born only "yesterday", what was his observation worth? But Bildad's appeal to tradition was just as empty as the appeal of Eliphaz to observation, for Bildad came to the wrong conclusion also.

We must admit that Bildad leads us into a much wider field than Eliphaz. The authority of many "fathers" carries far more weight and respectability than the experience of one man. It also looks more modest to follow many wise and learned men than your own experience. But the fact is that neither experience nor tradition will do. Experience may be true, as far as it goes. But you can hardly find two men whose experience matches exactly. And tradition is a mass of confusion, for one father differs from another. Nothing is more slippery or uncertain than the voice of tradition, the authority of the fathers.

He goes beyond Eliphaz: "For we are but of yesterday." That is true. But what does all the stored-up wisdom of the past give us when the question is God's truth? It is not to the past that we are to turn, but to God and His word. How immeasurably better is the position of those who have the "sure word of prophecy," "the oracles of God."

Had they appealed to divine revelation, it would have been an entirely different matter. The truth of God is the only standard — the one great authority. It measures everything, and everything must bow to it sooner or later. No man has any right to lay down his own experience as a rule for others; and if no one man has that right, neither has any number of men.

It is always easier to follow tradition than the written word of God. Following tradition does not exercise the conscience. It also spares us the difficulty, sometimes a serious one, of giving reasons for what we do. It is enough that our upbringing from infancy taught us to believe and practise certain things... What one generation hands down to the next may not be bad in itself. It may even have been good, at least for its time. But it sets up a false standard and a human authority in the soul. That authority may not deny the word of God outright, but it will surely put God's word in second place.

The word yesterday is used for the previous day (Ex. 5:14; John 4:52; Acts 7:28). It is also used for past time in general, as in "a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday," and when the Lord Jesus is called "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Ps. 90:4; Heb. 13:8). It is used also as if of "no duration," as in "we are but of yesterday" (Job 8:9).

In verses 8-10, Bildad revealed his own standpoint in the argument that was developing. He set great store by the accumulated treasures of human wisdom. Even in those far-off days, people could search records kept from still earlier days. Eliphaz argued from his own observation — what he had seen for himself. Bildad argued from tradition — what the records of earlier days could teach. He distrusted a deduction from one's personal experience, since the days of a man upon earth are but "a shadow."

Now, it must be admitted that Bildad conducts us into a much wider field than that of Eliphaz. The authority of many "fathers" carries much more weight and respect than the experience of one person. It would also show much more modesty to follow the voice of many wise and learned men than the light of your own experience. But the fact is that neither experience nor tradition will do.

Now Bildad appealed to tradition (vv.8-10). In this he contradicted what Eliphaz had said. If Eliphaz had only been born "yesterday", what value was his observation? But Bildad's appeal to tradition was just as empty as the appeal of Eliphaz to observation, for Bildad came to the wrong conclusion also.

Bildad here seeks confirmation of his contention from the wisdom of past ages. He goes beyond Eliphaz: "For we are but as children of yesterday." This is true. But what does the stored-up wisdom of all the past give us when the question is God's truth? It is not to the past that we are to turn, but to God and His word. How immeasurably superior is the position of those who have the "sure word of prophecy," "the oracles of God."

No one has any right to make his own experience a rule for others. If one man has no right, neither do many men together. In other words, it is not the voice of man but the voice of God which must govern us all. It is not experience or tradition which shall judge at the last day, but the word of God.

Next comes Bildad the Shuhite (Job 8), who follows Eliphaz, but with a great deal more harshness, and so draws a sharper reply from Job. In reproving Job he does not hesitate to suppose that his children had brought on themselves the due reward of their deeds, and hints that he himself could not be what he seemed.

What a contrast this life of "days" and "vanity" and "shadow" is with life eternal! That life is now given in Christ to the believer, with the bright hope of being with Him Who is its source and fulness. There, where He is, we shall have its perfect, unhindered expansion and display in its proper heavenly sphere. But all was veiled then. Now Christ has brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.

In verses 8-10, Bildad showed where he stood in the argument that was developing. He valued highly the piled-up treasures of human wisdom. Even in those far-off days, people could search records kept from still earlier times. Eliphaz argued from his own observation — what he had seen himself. Bildad argued from tradition — what could be learned from the records of earlier days. He did not trust a conclusion drawn from one person's experience, since a man's days on earth are only "a shadow."

In this, Bildad contradicted what Eliphaz had said. If Eliphaz was born only "yesterday", what value was his observation? But Bildad's appeal to tradition was just as empty as the appeal of Eliphaz to observation, for Bildad came to the wrong conclusion too.

The authority of many "fathers" carries much more weight and respect than the experience of a single individual. What is more, letting many wise and learned men guide you shows much more modesty than following the light of your own experience. But the fact is that neither experience nor tradition will do... As for tradition, it is a mass of confusion — one father differs from another, and nothing can be more slippery or uncertain than the voice of tradition.

So Bildad goes on with this: "Will they not teach you, and tell you, and utter words out of their heart?" But we want the words out of God's heart. Only His heart can do that... and their thoughts were no better than the marsh plant that grew out of the water, or the reed that grew out of the mud.

Those are the two ways in which men are apt to slip away from the truth — confidence in self; confidence in other people no better than oneself; confidence in anyone but God. So he says, "Enquire, I pray you, of the former age" — for people think that a little further back is where we should go. Why, beloved friends, we want to go back to the beginning; we want to go back to God's beginning.

Eliphaz used his eyes; Bildad used his ears; and Zophar used his brains. Not one of them found the solution to this problem by human wisdom, however they gained that wisdom... Had it depended upon our eyes, or our ears, or our brains, what should we have known of these wonderful things?

While this is true, what does the gathered wisdom of all the past give us when the question is God's truth? We are not to turn to the past, but to God and His word. Those who have the "sure word of prophecy," "the oracles of God," are in a position far beyond compare.