It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
Bildad is painting the end of the wicked man. Here the picture turns to the body: a disease eats the skin, then the limbs. Job listened while covered in sores. So the question is not whether the words are true, but whether they are true of him.
Meaning of "the firstborn of death"
The phrase names a sickness, not a person. One writer explains the picture and where it leads:
Samuel RidoutCalamity devoured the various parts of his skin. "The firstborn of death" is a solemn and poetic description of the bodily disease that devoured Job. It devours his limbs, and leads him on to death, "the king of terrors."
Another writer follows the same picture to its end, and notes that the eating goes deeper than the skin:
William KellyHis calamity is not satisfied; it is hungry for more. Destruction, a heavy load of suffering, waits at his side to weigh him down. Deadly disease — death's firstborn — is already devouring the parts of his skin. It devours more than the skin; it devours the parts themselves. In short, everything that makes his tent bright, now or in the future, is torn out. He has to march off to the king of terrors.
Aimed at Job
Bildad was not describing a stranger. He was describing the man in front of him, with extra horrors added:
Leslie M. GrantBildad goes farther here to speak of the disease that overtakes the one who is snared. His words really describe what Job was suffering at the time. But he adds more fearsome afflictions to frighten the poor sufferer. His strength has dwindled to nothing, and his destruction is close. Disease breaks out in patches of his skin, and "the king of terrors" — death — stands before his eyes as what is coming… Perhaps not everything Bildad said was literally true of Job. But it was close enough that Job knew Bildad was thrusting at him.
True statements, wrong target
Bildad's theology was not the problem. His aim was. True words can still crush a man when they hit the wrong one:
Charles StanleyBildad again takes his place in the contest. 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.
That leaves a warning for anyone who feels sure about another person's suffering. Sincerity is no guarantee of being right, and we answer for what we believe:
William KellyIs it not humbling and solemn that we can be entirely sincere in what we believe, and still be 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 who alone gives the wisdom and strength to carry it out. It is God Himself.
What Bildad never mentions
Bildad's rule worked both ways, but he only ever used one side of it:
William KellyWhat a man sows he reaps: if evil, ruin; if good, blessing. But of the latter Bildad has not a word to say. Did he know what grace works through faith? Faith can not only remove the rock, but also cast a mountain into the sea.
Where the march ends now
In Bildad's picture the disease marches a man off to the king of terrors. For the Christian, one writer says, that ending has changed:
William KellyUp to that time no one could say that death was conquered, for indeed it was not. Even for a believer, death still had its terrors. Now death has lost its terrors. It is no longer the king of terrors to a Christian, and for this simple reason: death must now serve the Christian. It must bring the departing Christian into the presence of the Lord. This is not loss, but gain.
Summary
- Disease — "the firstborn of death" is a poetic name for the illness eating Job's skin and limbs. It leads the sufferer on toward death, "the king of terrors."
- Aimed — Bildad's description matched what Job was suffering. Job knew the words were thrusts at him, with extra horrors added to frighten him.
- True — every word fits the wicked. What crushed Job was the aim. True words can still be poisoned arrows.
- Missing — a man reaps what he sows: ruin for evil, blessing for good. Bildad never spoke of the blessing side, or of what grace works through faith.
- Ended — Bildad's picture stops at the march to the king of terrors. For the Christian, death is no longer a king but a servant, bringing the believer into the Lord's presence.