Bygone Ages
For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?
Job 8:8-10
+
Bygone Ages
We often look to the past for examples of better days. Our rose-colored glasses allow us to see things the way we wish they were as opposed to the way things really are. In a way Bildad is doing the same thing. He appeals to those who came before him as proof that God always rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. And if one wants to do the same thing today it would not be too difficult. Our history is full if good people winning at life and bad people suffering, even the Bible can be used to give examples of this. Psalm 32:10 says, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” So there it is, Bildad is right! No, we know the truth, isolated verses and out of context accounts in the Bible can be used to justify just about anything. Therefore, what are we to do then when confronted with this type of reasoning and thinking? Even though Bildad is off base in his reasoning, his advice to turn to the past for help is good. We turn to God’s Word, given in our past, but still as relevant today as it has ever been. We look to God’s Word for the truth, and the truth is that we are all sinners in need of salvation. We will all suffer in this life because of sin, and eventually we will all die. Yet this is not a hopeless situation. Because God’s Word tells us that though we are all unrighteous sinner who suffer and die, there is One who rescues us from an eternal death. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” (1 Peter 3:18). So we can look to the past and know our future is secure.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home. (LSB 733)
Job 8:8-10
+
Bygone Ages
We often look to the past for examples of better days. Our rose-colored glasses allow us to see things the way we wish they were as opposed to the way things really are. In a way Bildad is doing the same thing. He appeals to those who came before him as proof that God always rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. And if one wants to do the same thing today it would not be too difficult. Our history is full if good people winning at life and bad people suffering, even the Bible can be used to give examples of this. Psalm 32:10 says, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” So there it is, Bildad is right! No, we know the truth, isolated verses and out of context accounts in the Bible can be used to justify just about anything. Therefore, what are we to do then when confronted with this type of reasoning and thinking? Even though Bildad is off base in his reasoning, his advice to turn to the past for help is good. We turn to God’s Word, given in our past, but still as relevant today as it has ever been. We look to God’s Word for the truth, and the truth is that we are all sinners in need of salvation. We will all suffer in this life because of sin, and eventually we will all die. Yet this is not a hopeless situation. Because God’s Word tells us that though we are all unrighteous sinner who suffer and die, there is One who rescues us from an eternal death. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” (1 Peter 3:18). So we can look to the past and know our future is secure.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home. (LSB 733)
Recent
Archive
2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak Truth
2025
January
Not AshamedIn Every RespectWe Are In His HouseHear His VoiceTodayBut You BelieveRest in ChristRest in FaithRest in Christ’s WordConfidence in Our Great High PriestOur Eternal High PriestCalled by GracePerfect Through SufferingA Little MilkFoundationGod Comes to UsFaith in ChristObtaining the PromiseThe King of PeaceBlessed by the SuperiorA Priest Forever in ChristThe Forever PriestA Better HopeOur Eternal IntercessorOur Perfect High PriestOur Eternal High PriestThe Better Covenant in ChristA New CovenantPromises KeptOnly The High PriestNot the Blood of Goats