Job 8:16-17

16 He is green [ratob] before [paniym] the sun [shemesh], and his branch [yowneqeth] shooteth forth [yatsa'] in his garden [gannah].

17 His roots [sheresh] are wrapped about [cabak] the heap [gal], and seeth [chazah] the place [bayith] of stones ['eben]. KJV-Interlinear

16 'He thrives before the sun, And his shoots spread out over his garden. 17 'His roots wrap around a rock pile, He grasps a house of stones. NASB

Bildad continues his list of comparisons of the wicked person, to various plants. Here is yet another comparison to a plant that spreads and grows quickly in the sunlight and abundant water.

Now we need to understand that these plants and symbols, which Bildad is comparing, are representations to wicked people living in this world.

God made this world and filled it with abundance. The world was not made exclusively for believers in Christ. Our exclusive world will come in the next life, in eternity. There believers only will live.

But for now, this world was restored with the intent of supporting all peoples, whether believers of not.

Sunlight and water are common to all. We call these resources, Gods common grace provision. God has left a great deal of provision in this world for everyone. Whether it is the sunlight or water, or the air we breathe or our individual volition with which we can make our own decisions, God has left humanity with a tremendous support system, such that humanity could survive in history.

Included in this support system are Gods divine establishment laws. Satan has introduced his own jungle laws, which favor no one, but Gods establishment laws allow humanity to survive even when humanity screws everything up.

And that screw up is incorporated in this metaphor.

Bildad's plant spreads out using all of the abundant sunlight and water available. This plant, mans plan, spreads throughout mans garden, planet earth, and beyond.

Mans plan goes beyond his own environment to incorporate everything man can reach. This plant even reaches its roots down in amongst the rocks in the ground for security and its roots grow in amongst the stones of the mans home.

The plant, mans self-defined plan, like the spiders web, becomes complex and complicated. And man can sit back ant look at the work of his own imagination and boast or be proud of his accomplishments.

Such is life in the world around us all. In our individual lives, we have our personal accomplishments, or efforts in making a living. In organizations, there are the accomplishments, inventions, innovations, successes of the organization. In governments, there are the grand plans, regulations, bureaucracies, and such for running a nation or even the world.

Humanity can build grand buildings or structures, invent grand articles, tools, equipment, toys and such. Anything you can imagine which man has invented or accomplished, either is, or can be, a part of this world scheme for human self-determination.

These accomplishments are not in themselves, evil. It is only mans intent which can make things, evil.

The ungodly person, which is anyone who does not make God and doctrine central in their lives, pursues the things of this world. They make the world, which is a temporary environment, their whole life.

And then the sun goes away. Summer becomes winter. The weather turns cold. The rains stop and the water dries up and then what?

The grand plant, mans grand plans, suddenly come to a halt.

Man cannot prevent the seasons, anymore than he can stop history. I just read an interesting article on global warming. It has been in the news quite a bit recently. There were some interesting speculations. Even if the worlds' use of fuels were maintained at the usage levels of the year two-thousand, the warming effects will continue in the decades and centuries to come. In order to stop mans contribution to the warming effects, life would have to return to the pre-industrial age of the 1700's. Hummm. Somehow, I just don't see that happening. And even if that were possible, the warming trends which are caused by nature will continue anyway.

We already know that in the Tribulation, the environment and weather patterns will be horrendously screwed up. Of course that just applies to a seven year period, which will occur at some point in the future. Perhaps all of this warming stuff will be a contributing factor toward that future time. I suspect that it is, along with any other contributions to global warming due to sun activity, volcanoes and so forth.

But, as for Bildad's plant, life in this world has its limits. Whether imposed by man or other factors, the limits are beyond the control of humanity.

The plant, like the ungodly, will reach out beyond its defined boundaries, and try to incorporate everything it can lay its hand on, for survival. The plant becomes a life sucking leach, rather than a life giving contribution to its environment. That is the nature of life without God. The leach will drain the life out of its host until they both die. That is where human history is headed.

Of course, that is why we are studying the Word of God, too. None of us want to be lost in the void of human history.

There is a way out, and that way is obtained only through spiritual growth and living in accordance with Gods plan for each of our respective lives.

Bildad, even though he has pegged Job wrong, has a lot to say, which gives us a lot of insight as to the level of knowledge that existed even in those very ancient times. Bildad's metaphor is wrong in his application to Job's life, but it is right with respect to its spiritual principles in general.

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