Job 8:8-10

8 For enquire [sha'al], I pray thee, of the former [ri'shown] [ri'shown] age [dowr], and prepare [kuwn] thyself to the search [cheqer] of their fathers ['ab]:

9 (For we are but of yesterday [tamowl], and know [yada`] nothing, because our days [yowm] upon earth ['erets] are a shadow [tsel]:)

10 Shall not they teach [yarah] thee, and tell ['amar] thee, and utter [yatsa'] words [millah] out of their heart [leb]? KJV-Interlinear

8 'Please inquire of past generations, And consider the things searched out by their fathers. 9 'For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, Because our days on earth are as a shadow. 10 'Will they not teach you and tell you, And bring forth words from their minds? NASB

Bildad implies that it is Gods will and way, for dealing with people in this life. To deal with the bad, as bad, and to deal with the good as good. The bad get their due justice and the good receive their due reward.

If there exists a seemingly good person who is really bad, then God will discover it, remove his blessings and reveal his inner sins before all.

Bildad now uses the witness of former generations, the ancients, the older folks who have been on this earth far longer than the current generation of Job, to prove his point.

Since the Flood of Noah's time, there were only ten generations through the time of Abraham. We have assumed, though we do not know for certain, that Job lived prior to Abraham. If true, then there only exists perhaps six or seven generations prior to Job's time. Those few generations lived from 400's to 900's of years. Jobs life to date, has been only about a hundred years.

Folks who have been around for many hundreds of years, will have seen many things and will have experienced many things, and will have made many observations in life. What have you seen and heard in your short life of just a few decades. Imagine your knowledge and observations, if you had been around for the last several hundred years. You would know more than the history books.

Our days on this earth are nothing more than shadows. Which means that as a shadow comes and goes with the light of day, or is interrupted by clouds or other objects, so our lives are short lived and can end with little notice. Our learning curve in this world is short.

The earlier generations had many centuries in which to learn of life. As the life spans diminished, then the time to learn also diminished. One cannot learn in eighty years, what one could learn in eight-hundred years. Of course with our current age of books and technology, information comes much easier than it did in early civilization, when neither books nor technology existed.

Job and his friends learned much of what they know, by means of oral teachings from their elders.

But note one thing. Job and Eliphaz and Bildad, listened to the same teachings, and yet they will have different interpretations of what they heard.

Bildad is of the opinion that Gods policies are very simple. If you are made to suffer inordinately, then you must be a bad person. If you are a good person, then you will never suffer in such a manner.

They lived in a time when history was very young. We live in a time when history has a very long track record, dealing with the good and the bad. In our time, if you are objective, you can probably find examples of every possible situation imaginable.

Job lived in a time when the older generations were still alive. He could actually go up to someone who was several hundred years old, and talk with them.

Today, we rely on recorded documents in order to know what people thought and did in earlier generations. So we do not have the opportunity of speaking directly with earlier generations.

By comparison, Job's younger generation could not know as much as the generations that lived far longer, centuries longer.

This is Bildad's example in support of his argument. Ask anyone, especially the older generations. 'They will tell you that good gets blessed and bad gets punished. You are punished therefore you are bad.'

Bildad limits his conclusions to the extent of his observations. He does not peer into the spiritual side of life for other possible circumstances or explanations.

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