Today in God's Word—June 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
June 23, Job 28
”But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” - Job 28:12
I’ve been searching for something lately that I just can’t find. It's not uncommon for me to forget where I put something. I've put things in “safe places” where I could find them when I needed them, only to forget where I put them. But my most recent unsuccessful search was for a little leather accessory that holds 3x5 index cards. It’s called a pocket briefcase, and I got it about 30 years ago. Lately, I decided I had a new use for the little case and started looking for it. I looked at home, I looked at the office. I looked in boxes and in drawers. I have no idea where it is. If I ever do find it, it will probably be when I am looking for something else.
By now in the book of Job, we might think that Job (or at least his friends) liked to make long speeches just to hear themselves talk. But in Chapter 28, Job characterized their efforts and words as a search for wisdom. They and he wanted to make meaning of what had happened to Job. Job could not understand why disaster had wrecked his life. His friends thought they knew why and tried to bully Job into accepting their understanding of his predicament. But Job held onto his truthful integrity and refused to concede that his friends were right. Whatever and why ever his suffering had come on him, Job was sure the friends were wrong.
Job said that all things have a source. He gave examples of precious minerals and jewels that were mined from deep in the earth. They were valuable not only because of their beauty, but also because it was hard, dangerous work to get the material. The same earth, Job said, gives us grain for our bread. But wisdom came from nothing that was found on earth or came out of the earth. Even the sharpest-eyed creatures could not see its source, nor could lions or other beasts of prey stalk it. The land was not the source of wisdom, and neither was the sea. The living do not know it, and neither do the dead. Even if someone could find it, no
one could not offer anything in exchange for wisdom, the most valuable commodity of all.
But God knows and is the source of wisdom. Like a map showing the way to a buried treasure, he revealed the secret to Job, who revealed it to his friends: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." That's the same answer that Solomon shared in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It also matches God's own description of Job's conduct and character back in Chapter 1.
But proud human beings reject this map to the buried treasure of wisdom. They imagine themselves to be wise. Nothing lies beyond their vast understanding. I hope neither you nor I would be so haughty as to see ourselves that way. But are we ever displeased with what God has revealed, and want to know more than what God has told us? Are we ever displeased with God’s will or God’s timing? Disciples learn to replace the demand to know and understand with the decision to trust what the Lord has told us.
God alone is the source of what Job and his friends were trying to find. We, in our technologically advanced age, may think we're a lot smarter than the ancients. That's probably not true. It is certainly true that the true source of all true wisdom is still beyond human understanding or achievement. Our path to real wisdom is the same as theirs.
The location of my leather pocket briefcase remains a mystery. I don't know where or if I will ever find it. Please let me know if you do. But you and I can know exactly where to go to find and get wisdom. It's still true that the fear of the Lord and turning away from evil is the way of wisdom for us.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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