Job 28:1-28
Job’s Discourse on Wisdom
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
And copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And searches every recess
For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from people;
In places forgotten by feet
They hang far away from men;
They swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, from it comes bread,
But underneath it is turned up as by fire;
6 Its stones are the source of sapphires,
And it contains gold dust.
7 That path no bird knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The proud lions have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
And his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams from trickling;
What is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 “From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’
23 God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And sees under the whole heavens,
25 To establish a weight for the wind,
And apportion the waters by measure.
26 When He made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.
28 And to man He said,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
True fear of the LORD leads to leaving evil as a man draws near to God in humility and repentance, for real repentance is a change of the direction of the heart, mind, and life directed away from all that displeases God to what honors and pleases Him. That is true godly fear and righteous understanding brought to light in understanding what the will of the Lord (Ephesians 5:15-17) is. Job saw wisdom and gave this great discourse for us to consider and act upon, especially to show us that God understands the way of death and destruction and points us away from them to Him. Such wisdom is beyond the value of mere jewels and precious metals; unregenerate man can never understand what only God can reveal as the wisdom of true and eternal value in Him. Man vainly mines the earth for wisdom as if it it was simply material wealth, missing the infinite value of the ways and words of God who created all things and yet in Himself is found the only lasting (Proverbs 9:10, Psalm 111:10, Matthew 6:19-20, Luke 12:33, Colossians 1:9) and unfailing wealth that only comes down from heaven above. Thank the Lord that we have His word that is the mine of wisdom to uncover (Ephesians 1:17, 18, 3:8, 9, 2 Corinthians 4:6) by the enabling of His indwelling Spirit in us who alone gives understanding from above as we cannot reason out on our own! This begins with the fear of the Lord in facing death and destruction and then repenting from sin by faith to follow Him with right living in the understanding and guidance of His Word.
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