How would you define wisdom? What does it mean to be wise? Do the proverbs you read in a fortune cookie
after a meal at a Chinese buffet make you a wise person? For many people, wisdom is something you
measure by intelligence. For others,
wisdom is something measured by a person’s experience. But while fortune cookies, IQ, and life
experience may contain traces of wisdom, what is unique about the “wisdom
literature” (Job-Song of Solomon) of the Bible is that always connects true
wisdom to God. In other words, no matter
how intelligent a person may be and no matter how much life experience they may
have, if they live like there is no God, then they are a fool (Psalm 14:1).
Today we
will be covering what may be the most important chapter in the book of
Job. It is a poem that asks the question
of where wisdom can be found, and based upon the structure of the book of Job
as a whole; it appears that this chapter is “the point” of the book of Job:
A. Narrative
Introduction (1-2)
B.
Three
Rounds of Dialogue (3-27)
C. Wisdom
Poem (28)
B’. Three
Rounds of Monologue (29-42:6)
A’. Narrative
Conclusion (42:7-17)
In Job
28:1-28, the author of Job
beautifully contrasts mankind’s ability to obtain treasure with
mankind’s inability to obtain wisdom
and then declares that wisdom can only be found with God (this point will
be powerfully illustrated later when God finally speaks to Job). The question of where wisdom can be found is vital
to our glorifying God in our suffering.
Suffering brings our inability to make sense of things and our need for
the only wise God to bear in a way that nothing else does. When we suffer it is essential to realize that
true wisdom can only be found with God. My prayer today is that we would look to God
as the only true source of wisdom, which, as you will see, in this chapter
equates to fearing “the Lord” and asking
for grace to “turn away from evil,”
even in the midst of unimaginable suffering.
I want to give you two reasons from this text why we should do so.
I.
We Cannot Mine the Treasures of Wisdom on Our Own (28:1-20)
The first reason we should look to God as the only
source of wisdom, especially in our suffering, is because we cannot mine the
treasures of wisdom on our own. This passage
seems to be composed of three stanzas (1-12,
13-20, 21-28). The first two stanzas end
with the question of where wisdom can
be found as a refrain (12,20) and the third ends with the answer to where wisdom can be found as its refrain (28).
In this poem, we first see mankind’s superiority in his search for earthly treasure (1-11). This section focuses upon mining operations to
illustrate that only mankind knows how to bring “the thing that is hidden…out to light” (11) and that he does so
with diligence and at great risk. Neither
the falcon for all his incredible vision nor the lion for all his fearless
courage is able to know the “path” to
earthly treasures or is able to acquire them (7-8). The big idea here is simply that there is a humongous
gap between mankind and the rest of
God’s creation here on planet earth when it comes to discovering earthly
treasures.
What’s interesting to note is that the wisdom
literature of the Bible often likens the search for wisdom to the search for earthly
treasure. Solomon tells his son to seek
wisdom and understanding “like silver”
and to search for it “as for hidden
treasures” (Proverbs 2:4). But here we see that for all mankind’s
intelligence and ingenuity in discovering earthly treasures, he cannot
“unearth”[1]
the treasures of wisdom. This is the
point of the refrain in verse 12 (BUT
where shall wisdom be found? And where
is the place of understanding?) and of the second stanza (13-20), which
ends with an almost identical refrain.
Here, mankind’s inferiority is
seen in his search for the eternal treasure of wisdom (12-20). Though mankind is vastly superior to the rest of the beings on earth when it comes to
discovering earthly treasures, we are utterly inferior when it comes to discovering the eternal treasure of
wisdom.
Watch how the author develops this truth. The human race is ignorant of wisdom’s worth and wisdom’s place. “Man does not know” wisdom’s
“worth,” because “it is not found in the land of the living” (13). Wisdom is worth far more than earth’s
greatest treasures and it cannot be bought (15-19). Just like the “path” to and “place” of
earthly treasures were hidden to the animals, so wisdom’s “path” and “place” is
hidden from mankind (21). Even “Abbadon,” the angel of the bottomless
pit (Revelation 9:11), and “Death” can only say that they have heard a “rumor” of it (22)! This all
builds to drive home the refrain of verse 20: “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?”
Every since the garden of Eden, mankind has been
on a search to find wisdom. Why did Eve
eat the forbidden fruit? She did so
because she believed that it would make her “wise”
(Genesis 3:6). What she and Adam discovered was not
wisdom, but the height of foolishness.
Here in the book of Job, Job and his friends have spent twenty-five
grueling chapters (and they’re not done yet!) seeking to discover wisdom for
Job’s suffering and have come up with nothing.
This is an immensely humbling reality.
For all of our ingenuity and skill, we cannot discover true wisdom on
our own. We can build remarkable smart
phones, split atoms, travel to outer space, peer at distant galaxies, apply the
laws of aerodynamics in order to fly aircrafts that weigh tons thousands of
miles above the earth, but we don’t have answers to life’s most important
questions. Not on our own.
I recall a debate between a pastor and an
accomplished atheist once where in the middle of the debate over God’s
existence, the pastor posed a question that the atheist struggled to
answer. He asked the atheist what he
would tell his young son at his bedside if the boy were dying of cancer and
begging for answers. The atheist, with
all of his PhD’s struggled to give an adequate answer to this pastor’s
question. It was a powerful illustration
of what we are seeing here in Job, that when suffering strikes, we are reminded
of just how helpless and inadequate we are in our search for wisdom. This reality should greatly humble us and
point us to the only source of wisdom in this world.
II.
Only God can Reveal the Treasures of Wisdom as We
Seek to Fear and Obey Him (28:21-28)
This poem has beautifully set up the question of
where we can find wisdom and understanding.
The final stanza gives us the answer: ONLY GOD “understands the way” to wisdom and only He “knows its place” (23). This
point will be powerfully illustrated when God speaks to Job later (Job 38-42). Just as there was a humongous gap between
mankind and the rest of creation here on earth in the search for earthly treasure,
so there is an infinite gap between
God and all of creation when it comes to discovering wisdom.
Why is this so?
Several reasons are given in verses 24-27. First, God’s perspective is infinitely superior to any other being in creation
(24a). He “looks to the ends of the earth” as well as to the ends of
time. Secondly, God’s knowledge is infinitely superior to any
other being in creation (24b). He “sees” and knows “everything under the heavens.”
Thirdly, the ultimate reason that God alone is wise is because He is the
Architect, Creator, and Sustainer of the universe (25-27). He “gave
to the wind its weight.” He “made a decree for the rain.” He made “a
way for the lightning of the thunder.”
He “saw it and declared it; He
established it, and searched it out.”
The reference to weather here is also interesting because for all our
technology today, we still struggle to fully understand, predict, and cope with
weather.
One commentator says here that “the place of wisdom is not simply in the mind
of God. Wisdom is what God understands
when he looks to the ends of the
earth.
Wisdom is observable in the universe because God embodied it in his
creation when he ‘saw,’ ‘reckoned,’ ‘organized,’ and ‘fathomed.’ Men can see this for themselves, but only
when God himself shows it to them (Rom. 1:19).”[2] That last statement is a crucial
point. If wisdom is not found in the
land of the living (13) and is only found with God, then it is something that
must be revealed to us. Wisdom, then,
is God’s gracious gift to us, and “what
God does not reveal, we cannot know.”[3]
This brings us to the climax of this great poem on
wisdom. Since we cannot discover wisdom
on our own and since God alone knows wisdom’s path and place, He says to
mankind: “Behold, the fear of the Lord,
THAT is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding” (28). This is
the “path” to wisdom; this is how one
“mines” for wisdom: by fearing God
and obeying Him. Francis Andersen makes
the profound observation here that instead of being told wisdom’s location, we
are being pointed to the One who know’s wisdom’s location. He says that we are being “directed away from the search for the
architecture and toward the person of the Architect.”[4] We don’t need the blueprints in our
suffering; we need the Architect!
“The fear
of the Lord” as the beginning and substance of wisdom is the big idea in all of the wisdom literature
of the Bible. We see it here, and also
in several other passages. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures
forever! (Psalm 111:10 ESV)
The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction. (Proverbs 1:7 ESV) The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs
9:10 ESV) [11] The words of the wise are like goads,
and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one
Shepherd. [12] My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books
there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. [13] The end
of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this
is the whole duty of man. [14] For God will bring every deed into
judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes
12:11-14 ESV)
What is “the
fear of the Lord”? It is difficult
to define because it is multifaceted. It
is paralleled here with “turning away from
evil.” But it also means to
reverence God and to respect Him. It
also means to stand in awe so Him. It
also means tremble at the thought of facing His correction. But even that’s not all it is. It is also “to stand in a subservient
position to him, to acknowledge one’s dependence upon him. In the context of knowledge, it is to
recognize that there is no true knowledge without reference to him.”[5]
Fearing God is knowing our place as creatures
before our Creator and living like it. It is living in
a proper orientation to our Creator and King.
Perhaps “the fear of the Lord”
is easier to illustrate than to define: “The fear of the Lord is modeled by the
relationship between a father and child.
In a healthy family there is a love, trust, respect and reverence that a
child holds toward his father. There is
also a healthy fear, causing the heart to sink when the child knows that he has
disobeyed.”[6]
Something else this final refrain reveals is that
God desires to share wisdom with us if we will fear and obey Him (Proverbs 2:1-15). God is not a hoarder when it comes to
wisdom. But in order to receive it, we
must fear the Lord and obey Him. We must
look to Him in our marriages and consider what He reveals in His Word to be
wisdom. We must look to Him in our
parenting and consider what He reveals in His Word to be wisdom. We must look to Him in our careers and
consider what He reveals in His Word to be wisdom. Most importantly, we must look to God in our
suffering, when we don’t have all the answers, and consider what He reveals in
His Word to be wisdom. When we don’t
have the answers to our trials, we must remember that we serve a God who
does.
May we also remember that as sinners, we must look
to Christ’s work on the cross as God’s wisdom for us. We have all been “the fool” at times. Every
time we sin we stand before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and
choose to live like there is no God. But
God in His wisdom sent His Son to pay for our foolishness and set us on the
path of wisdom. By revealing Jesus
Christ to us, God has show us the greatest treasure in the universe (Colossians 2:2-3). Wisdom begins with being properly related to
God and no one can be properly related to God outside of Jesus Christ. Will you look to Christ today, whether for
salvation or as God’s guarantee that your suffering is ultimately for your good
(Romans 8:32)?
1 comment:
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