5/29/13. Job 12:6-13:5; 28:1-28. Where Can Wisdom Be Found – my devotional

Job 12:6-13:5; 28:1-28                                     Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse: Job 28:12                                        5/29/13

“But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?”

    Dear Lord, thank you for calling us all to a great and wonderful mission to reveal your love, and grace to a world lost in sin. Lord, I also thank you for opening up many opportunities for ministry in NW Ontario. Please establish a team to go and create a movement among us at KBC to support you wonderful works in the North. Bless our trip there to bear much fruit and many hearts may be committed. Grant me one word of God to hold on to. Help me to understand the message that Craig Smith wants to deliver in his book, “Whiteman’s Gospel”.  I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: Where can Wisdom Be Found? (28:1-28)

Through the Book of Job, Job does not understand why he suffers like the wicked. He longs for God’s wisdom and his understanding. And so he asks where one can find wisdom and understanding. Look at verses 12-28,“¹² But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? ¹³ Man does not know its worth, and it is not 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 bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. ¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. ¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. ¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;    the price of wisdom is above pearls. 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 Abaddon and Death say,    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ ²³ “God understands the way to it,    and he knows its place. ²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth    and sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight    and apportioned the waters by measure, ²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain    and a way for the lightning of the thunder, ²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;    he established it, and searched it out. ²⁸ And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

He describes the mining techniques by which men search for precious metals and jewels. To find wisdom is infinitely harder. Where does a person find wisdom? It cannot be bought, weighed or valued or bought with fine jewels. If this is so, (and it is) then where do you get wisdom?

Only God understands the way to wisdom. Verses 23-24 read, “²³ “God understands the way to it,    and he knows its place. ²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth    and sees everything under the heavens.”  If one wants to have true wisdom and understanding, they must begin with God. God says to man, in verse 28, “‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,    and to turn away from evil is understanding.” Indeed, for all humanity, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

First, let’s think about our need to come to God, to Christ, for wisdom. People think that they are so wise without inquiring or God. But where does that earthly wisdom get them? Karl Marx felt that communism was truly wise. But we can see, one century later that it was a bankrupt philosophy that has caused a century of suffering. Over a billion people think that getting more sincere towards their own religious beliefs is true wisdom and will rescue many countries from being failed states.  But a quick survey of the news reveals that this is not true. Some people hold onto to their own personal idea of wisdom is the only right thing to do. But this makes us in-grown intellectually and blind to false ideas that we are holding onto. And actually, when you think about it, such people are actually becoming filled with the wisdom piped into them from the media world. We need to definitely see the wisdom of God.

Wisdom begins with God. God created the world by his wisdom. He used his wisdom to create humans from the dust of the earth. In his wisdom, the Father sent his One and Only Son to suffer and die at the hands of sinners and through his death and resurrection, he brought salvation to the whole world. This does not make sense. God’s way of salvation does not make sense to the unredeemed. They will not believe what God does in his wisdom, even if he tells them directly. God’s ways are not our ways. We need to be humble and acknowledge that our ways are pocked with flaws. But God’s ways are flawless. Our duty is to ask the question that Job asks, “Where can wisdom be found?”

It is not easy to find. It is not something physical. It is not something tangible. But when you find it you will know that you have found the wisdom of God. Jesus once said in John 8: 31-32, “³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (ESV)

I could have spent the rest of my life trying to find the source of wisdom in creation, in my own mind and feelings, in other religions and philosophies that just don’t “cut it”. But by the grace of Jesus Christ, God could come to me with his perfect wisdom at the age of 22.  I stopped my wandering and am now completely satisfied with the wisdom of the Creator God, (Father-Son-Holy Spirit).

Those who want to be filled with the wisdom of God must have a fear of God in their hearts. Proverbs 9:10 reads, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  (NIV) of God is a deep respect for God and a sincere desire to do what is right in his eyes. People who fear God, love God and they seek first, God’s kingdom and his righteousness. (Matt 6:33)

There is a great blessing when one acquires the wisdom of Christ. Proverbs 9:11 reads, “For through wisdomyour days will be many, and years will be added to your life.” (NIV) you will have endless years added to your life, for you will have eternal life when the wisdom of God rings loudly in your heart. The wisdom of God in the Bible has added years to my life. The wisdom of God satisfies my heart and satisfies my heart. I am not chasing after many sinful vices to quench my spiritual thirst. I can prioritize properly. I can be saved from depression and despair, which has been said to have the same negative health benefits as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. I praise God for God’s wisdom. It is worth more than rubies to me. No wonder Job longed for the wisdom of God more than anything else.

Concerning knowledge and wisdom, Craig Smith, in his book “Whiteman’s Gospel” states that the Native people place a high value on wisdom. On the contrary the European’s value and influence lies in knowledge. Natives honor elders and their wisdom for they have experienced life. European values experts and the pursuit of degrees. Education perpetuates the European culture. Each view has it’s benefits. Both are needed to fill out our lives. We need wisdom to apply knowledge. “Knowledge expands our breadth of understanding. Wisdom expands our depth of understanding.” (P. 113) Smith, a Native himself, states that Native people value wisdom but they generally lack the knowledge of true Christianity. They have zeal for the concept of God, but lack a scriptural knowledge of God’s plan of redemption. (p. 113) Smith also blames the immigrants who came for shrouding the true, unadulterated gospel by their own preconceived notions, from the Native people. He also stated that the Europeans had the knowledge of the gospel, but lacked the wisdom on how to present the gospel to the Native people. He states the gospel is powerful enough in and of itself to permeate any culture if presented with knowledge and wisdom and not shrouded in the culture of the immigrants.

Part 2: Job Longs To Speak To The Almighty (12:6-13:5)

In these verses we can find Job’s sincere quest for wisdom. Look at verses 12:6 – 13:5, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. ⁷ “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;  the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; ⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;    and the fish of the sea will declare to you. ⁹ Who among all these does not know  that the hand of the Lord has done this? ¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹ Does not the ear test words  as the palate tastes food? ¹² Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. ¹³ “With Godare wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. ¹⁴ If he tears down, none can rebuild;  if he shuts a man in, none can open. ¹⁵ If he withholds the waters, they dry up;  if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. ¹⁶ With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools. ¹⁸ He looses the bonds of kings    and binds a waistcloth on their hips .¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped  and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders. ²¹ He pours contempt on princes  and loosens the belt of the strong. ²² He uncovers the deeps out of darkness  and brings deep darkness to light. ²³ He makes nations great, and he destroys them;  he enlarges nations, and leads them away. ²⁴ He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth  and makes them wander in a trackless waste. ²⁵ They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. 13 “Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. ² What you know, I also know;  I am not inferior to you. ³ But I would speak to the Almighty,  and I desire to argue my case with God.⁴ As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all. ⁵ Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!”

Job knows everything his friend, Zophar knows and more. He knows that God is sovereign; that he holds in his hand the life of every creature (10); that to him belong wisdom and power and counsel and understanding. What God tears down cannot be rebuilt; he makes nations great and destroys them. But academic knowledge does not satisfy Job; he wants to know God and talk with him personally.

I can see in these verses that wisdom is found in the Creator. You can even ask his creation. Jobs says in verses 7-8, “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;  the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; ⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.” It is true that God and his wisdom are reflected in creation. Romans 1:19-23 states this fact very well. It reads, “¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

The problem is that, though we can see God reflected in his creation and we can learn of God’s wisdom in creation, but we begin worshipping created things rather than the creator. We should not worship created things. We look beyond created things and go to the source, the Creator himself. And at the same time we need to be good stewards of his world.

Wisdom is also with the elders among us. Look at verse 12, “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”Wisdom is not found in every elder. It is found in elders who are in Christ. When I worked for 4 ½ years in a nursing home, I frequently asked seniors about wisdom that they could tell me. 99% had nothing to say. One senior says to me regularly, “Don’t get old. Enjoy life when you are young because when you get old you can’t enjoy things.” Her wisdom is “Eat and drink for tomorrow you die.”. Another senior, tried to counsel me in my depression when I was an unbeliever and single. She said, “You need a girlfriend.” That is worldly wisdom. We need to turn to elders who are Christian elders. Then we can get some deep and rock solid wisdom. I like the Native idea about respect for elders. They have elders leading their communities. We can learn from the Native culture. Craig Smith, in his book, talks about the importance of elder sin the Native culture. They have an important role in the community and pass down from one generation to another Native oral tradition.

In verses 14-25 we see the sovereignty of God and his power of mankind. God is powerful and he authors history by his wisdom. He humbles the proud and he exalts those who seek his wisdom and have a fear of the Lord in their hearts.

Job came to the obvious conclusion in 13:1-3, “Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. ² What you know, I also know;  I am not inferior to you. ³ But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.” Job has seen it all. He has heard all kinds of counsel. But he knows the most important thing… he longs to speak to God and bring his case before him.

Job wants to argue his case before God. Job 13:3 reads, “Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. ² What you know, I also know;  I am not inferior to you. ³ But I would speak to the Almighty,  and I desire to argue my case with God.” (ESV)  Wow! We can argue our case before God. This is the grace of God. Jesus died and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. We now have access to the very throne of God. One of the privileges is to be able to speak to God directly, in prayer, based on the blood of Jesus. This means praising, confessing, praying and sharing what is on our hearts. But it also means arguing our case with God. God invites us to do so in Isaiah 1:18-20, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. ¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword;  for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (ESV) I thank God for this privilege to come before him, in total freedom and be able to argue our case and he listens and leads our hearts gently to himself in grace and truth. What other idol allows us to do that? No one. Only Jesus.

I need to take advantage of this great privilege and talk to God in prayer. Prayer is something that people like to talk about but very few people do. I need to do this more. I need to unload the burdens of my heart and receive counsel from my Father in heaven. He is there and wants to listen and reveal his wonderful wisdom to my heart.

Prayer: Lord, Teach me to walk in the fear of the Lord and give me wisdom. Help me to accept your sovereignty and talk with you personally.

One Word: Know God and understand his wisdom