Job 18:20

20 They that come after ['acharown] him shall be astonied [shamem] at his day [yowm], as they that went before [qadmowniy] were affrighted ['achaz] [sa`ar]. KJV-Interlinear

20 'Those in the west are appalled at his fate, And those in the east are seized with horror. NASB

From the reference to ancestors, to offspring, Bildad now turns his attention to the reputation and news of the fall of the wicked, and specifically to its impact to all of the peoples of the world.

To the east and to the west, to the remotest points of the world, news will travel, with information about the wicked, their life, their failure, and their downfall.

That kind of news is obvious today, what with all of our modern communications technologies. We can hear of events around the globe even as they are occurring, these days.

Back in Jobs time, news traveled at a much slower pace. And that should be obvious, too. Whether by camel, or donkey, or horseback, or by walking or sailing around the globe, news traveled at a slow pace, but it still traveled.

We have already seen that the people of Jobs day knew of the different star constellations beyond the equator, even though they could not see them. And here, Bildad makes reference to points in this world, which are in the fartherest, most distant, and remotest parts of the world.

The words, 'acharown' and 'qadmowniy' mean 'to be after,' and 'to go before,' respectively.

'Those that come after,' is a reference to those who are behind you. And, 'they that went before' is a reference to those who are in front of you. Remember that Bildad lives east of Job, so facing east as would be his nature because that is the direction of his home, then these directional references make more sense.

But more than the relative direction, these phrases mean to the very distant known points of the world. Today we might refer to Timbuktu, or the moon or mars, as a figure of speech when referring to a distant or remote place.

In other words gossip or news, manages to get around to the entire world, rendering universal amazement as to the news heard regarding unusual occurrences such as Jobs losses and sufferings.

By the way, Marco Polo was not the first person to establish trading routes between east and west in the mid 1200's A.D., he just happened to have a good diary of his trip. Job lived some 3700 years before Marco, and Job had an extensive camel caravan business. Remember that Job had many thousands of camels, and they were not house pets.

And one more note to add to this study. Heaven has the most thorough history record in existence. And as far as the earth is concerned, heaven is extremely remote. News of evil and its troubles gets to heaven as well.

So there is nowhere on this planet, and no place so remote, that news of the failures of evil, cannot get to. There is no one who cannot hear of trouble of some type, or receive news in some form, which serves to teach the principles of the failure of evil. And that is the purpose of these words from Bildad.

Crime doesn't pay, in other words. No good thing will ever come from rejection of truth. No good thing will ever come from indifference toward truth. No good thing will ever come from being spiritually negative in this life.

So pack up your attitude and learn this principle fast. Don't boast, don't brag, don't be negative toward the principles and mandates taught in the Bible, otherwise your life will end up as being worthless.

Now is the time to post a prayer.