Today's Scripture
Where Wisdom is found – Job 28:12-28
Today’s Reading Schedule: Job 24-28(CEB)
12 But wisdom, where can it be found;
where is the place of understanding?
13 Humankind doesn’t know its value;
it isn’t found in the land of the living.
14 The Deep says, “It’s not with me”;
the Sea says, “Not alongside me!”
15 It can’t be bought with gold;
its price can’t be measured in silver,
16 can’t be weighed against gold from Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
17 Neither gold nor glass can compare with it;
she can’t be acquired with gold jewelry.
18 Coral and jasper shouldn’t be mentioned;
the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
19 Cushite topaz won’t compare with her;
she can’t be set alongside pure gold.
20 But wisdom, where does she come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 She’s hidden from the eyes of all the living,
concealed from birds of the sky.
22 Destruction and Death have said,
“We’ve heard a report of her.”
23 God understands her way;
he knows her place;
24 for he looks to the ends of the earth
and surveys everything beneath the heavens.
25 In order to weigh the wind,
to prepare a measure for waters,
26 when he made a decree for the rain,
a path for thunderbolts,
27 then he observed it, spoke of it,
established it, searched it out,
28 and said to humankind: “Look,
the fear of the Lord is wisdom;
turning from evil is understanding.”
RJ's Devotion
What Does the passage Mean to Me/US?
We are continuing our journey to understand God, through the discussion of Job and his friends.
Chapter 28 is a turning point of the arguments, as Job shares his final remarks about ‘wisdom.’
Job and his three friends are trying to internalize why these horrible events had happened to Job.
They argue and urge Job to find and confess his unrighteousness in front of God.
Job, on the other hand, who doesn’t think he has any sins committed against God, argues that he has nothing to repent.
Though their conversation, we hear the different point of views of people’s understanding of God and the world.
They come to a point where they acknowledge that they can’t discover where to find wisdom.
It seems like their thinking and discussion have covered all understanding and they still can’t find ways to comprehend the situation.
They say, “It can’t be found by looking, no matter how deep you dig, no matter how hight you fly” (v. 21 The Message).
In a way, they were able to find the truth. They were trying to figure out God’s wisdom, through the wisdom of the world.
When we try to understand the spiritual world, through the lens of our worldly views, we will also encounter a roadblock.
The wisdom we hear from the world and the wisdom that comes from God is different.
When we see things in God’s view it is when we can fully understand God’s wisdom.
That might be the reason why Job and his friends come to a conclusion, “God alone knows the way to Wisdom, he knows the exact place to find it” (v. 23 The Message).
Only by coming to the Lord, we are able to fully understand the big picture of wisdom.
Prayer
Lord, we come to you. Show us your ways, show us your wisdom. Take away our understanding and have your ways in us. In Christ Name, we pray, AMEN
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