Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous
Bildad showed that man cannot be justified before God.
Job 25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
This short reply of Bildad closes what the three friends of Job had to say, for Zophar does not attempt to answer. The speech appears to be the labored effort of one who felt that he must say something, but who did not know how to meet the line of arguments Job had pursued.
Far from accepting Job’s challenge and grappling with the difficulty involved in the prosperity of the wicked, Bildad entirely avoids the subject and limits himself to touching briefly two old and well-worn topics—the might of God and the universal sinfulness of men. On neither of these points does he throw any fresh light. He repeats largely what Eliphaz had said in former discourses (see chs. 4:17; 15:14).
Job 25:2 “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
Job had fully recognized God’s sovereignty (ch. 23:13). However, Bildad could make such statements glibly because he was not passing through an experience like that of Job. Job was undergoing a personal test of his confidence in God. Bildad was not.
Job 25:3 Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?
The more obvious interpretation of this term is that it refers to the hosts of supernatural beings (see 2 Kings 6:16, 17; Ps. 68:17; Dan. 7:10; Matt. 26:53; Heb. 12:22). Like armies, these hosts carry out the commands of God.
Job 25:4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
Neither Bildad nor his friends nor Job could answer this question. Only in the gospel era did men receive a full elucidation of the principle of justification by faith (see Rom. 3:23–25; Col. 1:25–27).
Job 25:5 If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
Bildad is assuming that both the moon and the stars are imperfect when contrasted with God, their Creator. This being the case, how lowly should man appear! What Bildad did not know is that man, despite his frailty, is infinitely more precious in the sight of God than the inanimate works of creation.
Job 25:6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!”
See ch. 7:5. These words are intended to humble Job and to impress upon him his littleness. Job needed to be encouraged rather than to be reminded of his weakness. Thus, his friends end their defence of tradition—speaking of worms! In their zeal for their defence of an idea, they have failed utterly to understand either God or their suffering friend.