Job's Friends Part 2: Bildad and Zophar
Job's Friends Part 2: Bildad and Zophar
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes look at the research and artwork that goes into making each scene of iBIBLE. Let's take a look at Job's friends, Bildad and Zophar.
Job has suffered immensely, and his friends have gathered to support him. We looked first at his friend, Eliphaz who believed that God was punishing Job for his sins. Let’s take a look at Job’s friends Bildad and Zophar as they also try to understand what happened to Job and argue that suffering is punishment for sin and prosperity is reward for righteousness.
As they speak with Job, their speeches become repetitive and increasingly hostile as their conversations come to a close.
The Conclusions of Bildad the Shuhite:
1. If you repent, God will restore you:
If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. (Job 8:5-6)
2: God punishes the wicked, and you are being punished:
...the light of the wicked is put out... calamity is ready for his stumbling. It consumes the parts of his skin; He has no posterity or progeny... such is the place of him who knows not God. (excerpts from Job 18:5,12,19,21)
The Conclusions of Zophar the Namathite:
1: You deserve worse than you got:
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves. (Job 11:6b)
2: Those who commit wickedness suffer for it:
The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away... This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God. (Job 20:27-29)
Throughout the interaction with his friends, Job defends himself. Contrary to his three friends' opinions, he says that there is good evidence that the wicked often prosper and the righteous often suffer. Job was not an enemy of God. His friends offer every argument, but cannot answer the cause of Job’s suffering, so they hold fast to their opinion, in error, that Job has to be in the wrong!
As Job continues to defend himself before his three friends, his words become increasingly poignant as he proclaims his own righteousness. In his final words to his friends he states:
Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown; I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. (Job 31:35-37)
Job stands his ground and maintains his integrity. However, he now poses a challenge to his Creator, and his Creator is about to answer Job and his three friends. However, before He does, another man appears on the scene who rebukes Job’s three friends and answers Job. His name is Elihu, and he will be the subject of next week’s iBIBLE: Behind the Scenes.
The story of Job is coming to life in iBIBLE as we work through the script and final animation. While it is not the favorite Bible story of many, it answers the age-old question of why a loving God allows His children to suffer. It is rich in theology and its text reads like poetry. Job will appear in two chapters of iBIBLE and will release in the first version to be published soon. Please continue to pray for us as we bring the Biblical narrative—the entire narrative—to life!
As we continue to work on iBIBLE, we seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help us bring all the truths in the Scriptures to their proper portrayal. Thank you for helping RevelationMedia bring iBIBLE to the world! This is a God-sized project, and it is only possible with the support of individuals and families like you.
