Job 28
Job continues his discourse, but changes gears abruptly. He paints a picture of men searching for gold, silver, iron, copper, and sapphires, mining deep into the earth for precious things. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (v. 12) He sees that wisdom is priceless, exceeding the value of precious metals or jewels. From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? (v. 20) He recognizes that God knows the way to wisdom. And [God] said to man, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (v. 28)
I love the mining metaphor, how people work so arduously to obtain resources from the earth, yet wisdom is not to be found this way. The world spends a tremendous amount of energy seeking natural resources, and their value is enormous. And we pour time and money into education, seeking knowledge and expecting a payoff. But what is priceless? Wisdom. And where do we find real wisdom and understanding? Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.
(By the way, Job is not alone in his assessment of both the value of wisdom and where to find it, as we shall see, especially in Proverbs. See Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 8:10-13; 9:10 for starters.)
If God were to respond to Job’s words today, it would probably be the first time during these 28 chapters that He would say, “Well said, my friend.” He would be in full agreement. And it’s not the case that he may or may not have been actively disagreeing with anything Job or the others said – although he would probably have more trouble with Job’s friends than with Job. But even with Job proclaiming his innocence and wanting a trial, God could be looking down at Job and seeing Job’s pride screaming out from behind his words. And God could see Job’s faults therein; He could not say to Job, “Well said, my friend.”
How can I make these statements? Easily. I have my own pride problems. It’s always there, either right up front or lurking in the background. I find it hard to simply fully humble myself before the Lord and let Him work in me as He will. There’s always the “me” at work in whatever I do. Do I have “fear of the Lord”? I think so. Do I turn away from evil? I try. Do I lack wisdom? Yes. All these years in the Lord and I’ve still got a long way to go!