In Job 18, Bildad, the Shuhite, shows his lack of spiritual stature.
In his description of “the wicked” (Job 18:5), he implies that all that
he says applies to Job. His speech ends with the summarizing words:
“This is what happens to the homes of wicked people and to those who do
not know God” (Job 18:21). The opening words of the book of Job - “He
was a man of integrity ... He feared God” (Job 1:1) - make it clear that
Bildad’s words do not apply to Job.
For most of his speech, in
Job 19, Job is in the depths of despair, then, towards the end of his
speech, there is a breakthrough- “I know that my defender (or Redeemer)
lives, and, afterwards, he will stand on the earth. Even after my skin
has been stripped off my body, I will see God in my own flesh. I will
see Him with my own eyes” (Job 19:25). There is, in Job’s heart, a great
conflict. Immediately after speaking these great words of triumphant
faith and glorious hope, he speaks, again, with deep agony - “My heart
fails inside me!” (Job 19:27).
