By reminding Job of God's integrity Bildad hoped to appeal to his friend to repent. Bildad assured him that if he did God would restore him.
"Bildad's assertion that God will not reject a blameless man(20a) makes him the precursor of those who mocked Jesus with the same logic: He trusts in God; let God deliver him' (Mt. 27:43). Job has a lesser Calvary, and each person has his own. But when we know about God's rejection of Jesus, our dereliction can never again be as dark as Job's."54
Even though Bildad took a more humble basis for his view than Eliphaz did, his arguments failed to move Job. His theory, time-honored as it was, did not harmonize with Job's experience.
People with problems get little help from rigid, closed-minded Bildads who refuse to reevaluate their theories in the light of new evidence but simply reaffirm traditional answers. We must always stay open to new evidence, new insights, and the possibility that not only we ourselves but those we follow may have interpreted the facts incorrectly.
"Bildad's speech contains an important negative lesson about human nature in general and about the qualities of a good counselor. He heard Job's words with his ears, but his heart heard nothing."55
