Exhausted and impatient, Job’s three friends eventually stop giving their counsel. Job makes his final speech to his friends, describing where he believes true wisdom comes from.
The Source
“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea. It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli. Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold. Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies. Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It’s worth more than the purest gold.
“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it. Destruction and Death say, ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’
“God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.”
(Job 28:12-24)
Reflect
Job and his friends disagreed about how people become wise. Eliphaz’s attitude toward God was: “I have personally observed how God works and have figured him out.” Bildad’s attitude was: “Those who have gone before us figured God out and all we have to do is use that knowledge.” Zophar’s attitude was: “The wise know what God is like, but there aren’t many of us around.”
Job, however, believed that God is the source of wisdom, and the first step to wisdom is to fear God. So his attitude was: “God reveals his wisdom to those who humbly trust him.”
Those who do not understand the importance of God’s Word naturally seek wisdom here on earth. They look to philosophers and other leaders to give them direction for living. Yet Job said that ultimate truth and wisdom cannot be found there.
No leader or group of leaders can produce enough knowledge or insight to explain the totality of human experience. The ultimate interpretation of life, of who we are and where we are going, must come from outside and above our mortal lives. To be lifted above and beyond the boundaries of life, we must know and trust the Lord of life.
Respond
Thank God for giving us His Word so that we can know Him better. We commit to knowing Him more by reading His Word and living by the wisdom He gives.
The Source
“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living. ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea. It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver. It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli. Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold. Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies. Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It’s worth more than the purest gold.
“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it. Destruction and Death say, ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’
“God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.”
(Job 28:12-24)
Reflect
Job and his friends disagreed about how people become wise. Eliphaz’s attitude toward God was: “I have personally observed how God works and have figured him out.” Bildad’s attitude was: “Those who have gone before us figured God out and all we have to do is use that knowledge.” Zophar’s attitude was: “The wise know what God is like, but there aren’t many of us around.”
Job, however, believed that God is the source of wisdom, and the first step to wisdom is to fear God. So his attitude was: “God reveals his wisdom to those who humbly trust him.”
Those who do not understand the importance of God’s Word naturally seek wisdom here on earth. They look to philosophers and other leaders to give them direction for living. Yet Job said that ultimate truth and wisdom cannot be found there.
No leader or group of leaders can produce enough knowledge or insight to explain the totality of human experience. The ultimate interpretation of life, of who we are and where we are going, must come from outside and above our mortal lives. To be lifted above and beyond the boundaries of life, we must know and trust the Lord of life.
Respond
Thank God for giving us His Word so that we can know Him better. We commit to knowing Him more by reading His Word and living by the wisdom He gives.