The Book of Job #32 (8:1-7) God Orders the World

In today's episode we take a look at Bildad’s first speech in the book of Job. We see a defense of the doctrine of retribution by Bildad as well as a defense of the righteousness of God, the latter of which we can appreciate more than the former.

The most significant development in this chapter, so far as I can tell, is the cosmic ordering of God, from which we borrow the title for this lesson. Here we learn about God’s sovereignty over the world.

Another important development is Bildad’s theological stance and how he “digs in his heels,” as it where, on a doctrine that is true but not formulaic to life.

We learn also that there is much truth to what Bildad says, and we want to truly learn from this and apply the truth to our own lives, even if his advice was wrongly applied to Job in the context of Job’s particular situation.
Another interesting development in the verses we cover is that forgiveness is not apparent, neither is any meaningful talk of repentance, though we do see a hint of it in verse five. The verses offer a cold view where only retribution is considered.

There is also a judicial view of God that connects to the bigger theme of God’s order, but it sees God as one who can give good things in exchange for good deeds, one must be “pure and right” (v6). There is some irony, perhaps unintended here also, in verse six Bildad speaks of God being roused or awakened, something Job feels he has had enough of.

The section ends with the idea of Job’s “righteous estate” being restored which confuses “success” with righteousness. We learn here that Job was always in his “righteous estate” and had remained there. We know this from the previous chapters that describes Job accepting God as the one who gives and takes away. In this last section, Bildad also assumes that Job’s great future behavior will provide him with great increase, again ignoring God’s sovereign grace.

Some of the things you will hopefully pick up in this lesson and be able to think about are that:

- God is an ordering God.
- That you can trust him.
- That you ought not to go against him.
- That his righteousness will often hit hard (calamity).
- But that we are to stay humble and stay true.
- God’s order, law and justice will prevail, and do so for the benefit of the believer.

For your convenience we have provided chapters for you.

00:00 – Introduction
8:15 - 10:14 Prayer & Scripture Reading
10:14 - 13:31 Overview
13:32 - 29:23 The Back & Forth of Bildad & Job
29:23 - 34:55 Bildad Defends Divine Retribution
34:55 - 36:34 Bildad Defends the Righteousness of God
36:37 - 44:11 God Cosmically Orders the World
44:25 - 53:33 Digging Heels into Theology
53:39 - 01:15:23 Where is Grace?

Thank you for listening, enjoy! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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At The Mind of Miz Podcast, our first goal is to engage people of faith in a deeper understanding of scripture while reaching out to the unbeliever so that they may hear the Gospel taught in a way consistent with the Bible which we believe can change their lives and bring them to salvation. Our second goal is to create an awareness of how culture disintegrates without a proper understanding of the Bible and the valuable truth found in it. Our third goal is to use technology to create awareness of Biblical teachings online and increase the overall footprint of Biblical Truth online.