Then ...

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered Job trying to explain the reasons he was suffering ...

‘Dominion and fear are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
Is there any number to his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his sight,
how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
and a human being, who is a worm!’

(Job 25)

There are bits of truth for me in Bildad's words. Yes, God does rule. God does make peace. God's presence or light shines forth over all creation. And although a mortal may well be "sinless" none is like God who has always been and always will be. And with Bildad I agree that the best we humans can do is reflect the goodness of God.

But Bildad, for me, misses some truths as well. First God rules, but it is in the end of creation that God's rule will truly come forth so Job's suffering as all suffering will only end then. And God does indeed make peace but he gives humans the option to rebel and kill peace. God's presence shines over all creation but we humans can shade our experiences by distractions from what God's light of goodness shows us. We can give a grand struggle against evil but our insight is never as clear as God's insight.

Tomorrow, we will explore Job's answer to Bildad.