Art Thou A Teacher?

Job 26

If you have watched the first season of The Chosen, then you will recognize this picture. It is of Nicodemus's nighttime meeting with Jesus from John 3. I thoroughly enjoyed this scene from episode 7. In this encounter, Jesus asked Nicodemus, "Art thou a master (teacher) of Israel, and knowest not these things?" (John 3:10). That is what I read from Job's response to Bildad's questions in Job 25. As I began reading Job 26, and Job's response to Bildad, I immediately thought of Nicodemus and Jesus.

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But Job answered and said,

2 How hast thou helped him that is without power?

How savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom?

And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

4 To whom hast thou uttered words?

And whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:1-4

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Sometimes the best answer is not an actual answer but another question. That is because the question causes the one who asked the original question to think deeper. In this case, Job says, "Have you been lecturing me on God, but you yourself do not understand these things?" I reduced three verses into one question, but if we look at Job's questions, that is exactly what he is asking. Job asks 6 questions that basically boil down to "Why are you trying to teach me what you do not understand yourself?".

That is a question that all of us who teach should ask ourselves. I do not mean that we should not teach until we completely understand God; that is impossible. However, how often do we open our mouths to teach on a text, and we really do not understand the text? I try not to do this, but there have been times when I have had to correct my thinking about something I preached. If you watch preaches on TV, many of them are either willfully lying or ignorant of what the word of God says about many matters. We MUST do our best to understand the passages we preach!

Another thought that comes to mind is, we must be willing to admit we are wrong when truths are revealed to us. I believe this is where Bildad was heading and I believe that is the direction Job was nudging him. I don't think Job was berating Bildad here, just as I do not believe Jesus was berating Nicodemus in John 3. The goal was to push them towards accepting truth, not rejecting it because of the presentation of the truth.

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Dead things are formed

From under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

6 Hell is naked before him,

And destruction hath no covering.

7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,

And hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Job 26:5-7

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This is fairly straight forward and I am not going to try and break it down. If you read this, and the rest of the chapter, Job is agreeing with Bildad that God is indeed sovereign and all powerful over his creation. However, their view of his sovereignty and omnipotence led them to totally different conclusions. Bildad's belief system led him to the impossibility of being justified with God. Job's belief system led him to view only God's omnipotence as a means of being justified with God.

Bildad was extremely religious and had a high view of God. That part is great. However, his theology was not based in facts. He was trying to teach about God without knowing God. Many people today are very religious and have a high view of God, but they do not now him. Job on the other hand had a high view of God and knew him.

There are many stories in the Bible that leave me longing for more information. I want to know how the story ended. Did an individual come to salvation? Did they continue to reject Christ? However, God in his omniscience chose not to include those details in his word. This has become one of those stories for me. I want to know if Bildad came to a saving knowledge of God. Alas, I will have to wait until I get to Heaven to find out.

The take away from today's scripture would be, what is our view of God based on? Is it based on God's word or what we think or been taught by others. Even if we have good and Godly Bible teachers, we should still verify what they say with God's word. Bildad was getting a lot of theology and it was challenging the foundation of his belief system. I hope that his foundation crumbled and he discovered a new foundation in Christ.

Father, help me to be diligent to know your word before I teach your word. If I do not understand, help me to understand. My I continue to study and grow in knowledge so that I can teach the riches of your word.