Job 28:28 - And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’
Job 28 is the passage of the scripture that answers the most important questions of life. The question that the author is trying to answer in this chapter is:
Where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (Job 28:12)
The book of Job itself is a remarkable one. This book is categorized in wisdom literature. The book probes into issues near to the heart of every man experiencing pain and suffering.
Background:
The book of Job opens with a testimony on the character of Job - blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). In fact, God himself testified twice the very same thing.
Job 1:8; 2:3 - Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
The first few verses of the Bible are also dedicated to explaining how extremely wealthy Job was. God had blessed him enough. However, all of a sudden, all of Job’s possessions, including his dear children, were taken away through God-ordained calamities. Job’s entire understanding was challenged. Job’s understanding of wisdom was now shaken to its very roots.
Job strongly felt that he did not deserve to suffer since he had lived an upright life. Job’s plight of unjustifiable misery forces us to ask the question that has been existing since old, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
In the midst of his sufferings when Job couldn’t make sense of what was going on in his life with his finite wisdom that he ponders over the question of where man can find true wisdom. Probably this is the question that would be in each of our minds during this COVID-19 pandemic when all the worldly wisdom is failing.
The chapter, in its search for wisdom, begins with man’s efforts to find treasures and wealth.
Job 28:1-11 - “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches every recess for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. As for the earth, from it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire; Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light.
The passage begins with the finite wisdom of man in his search for treasures of the earth such as gold, silver, copper, ore and sapphires. Man treads the untrodden places to get them. They are places which neither the birds nor the proud lions have travelled. Man puts his life at risk by overturning the mountains at the roots and cutting out channels in the rocks. With all his great efforts, he brings to light, all the hidden treasures.
However, the author concludes saying that although man is able to discover all kinds of hidden treasures, he is not able to find wisdom.
Job 28:12 - But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
Although, man acquires great material possessions and lives a luxurious life, he cannot be considered wise. These are things that cannot stay with him permanently. He must leave them behind once he dies. Even when alive, these riches cannot stay with a person permanently. Job stands himself as an example. He had great riches. He was the greatest man in the East (Job 1:3). But in one stroke, he lost everything. He even lost his health. Now, he questions his wisdom and understanding.
Job realized that true wisdom was not in acquiring material wealth. They are to be left behind once we die. True wisdom lies in obtaining what is of value after our bodies die – winning our souls for eternity. We can replicate the same in what Jesus said.
Mark 8:36 - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Luke 12:16-21 - Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
In this parable, Jesus condemns the rich man who had a magnificent harvest. He assumed that his wants were covered for many years to come. In fact, he thought that his future would be the one in which he could simply eat, drink, and be merry. Jesus call him a “fool,” as he saw himself secure based on his material possessions and consequently had a false sense of security. He may have been wise in his own eyes, but he was actually a fool.
This is what the author of Job says in Job 28:12-14 -
“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
Wisdom cannot be found in the land of the living. It cannot be found in the depths of the earth, or the vastness of the sea. This is very important information since it nullifies all the fruitless search for wisdom in the land of the living. It invalidates the attempt to discover wisdom by even the greatest of human philosophers. The author continues that even if one were to find out where wisdom existed, they cannot obtain it by human means.
Job 28:15 – 19 - It cannot be purchased for gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
Gold, silver, precious gems, coral, quartz, rubies and topaz cannot be exchanged for wisdom.
Even we find the value of wisdom in Proverbs 8:11:
For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
So, the question remains unanswered.
Job 28:20 - “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
Job answers himself:
Job 28:21,22- It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’
He concluded that wisdom is hidden from all living – including the rich and the poor, the people who claim to be wise and the fools. Although man has an amazing ability to dig deep the earth and overturn mountains, thereby bringing hidden things to light, wisdom is concealed. Even birds known for their keen eye sight cannot discover wisdom. Wisdom cannot be even found in the ultimate limits of humanity – destruction and death. Death with its afterlife is said to have heard a report that wisdom does exist. Probably, those who reach the death bed or in their afterlife may have a belated understanding of what they missed in life. They may realize that they had missed to apply wisdom during life. However, they cannot go back and apply it retrospectively.
This verse explains the utter futility of human efforts to seek wisdom. Human philosophy and reasoning have tried their best to explain wisdom but the end of everything is destruction and death. When we fail in certain areas in our lives, we begin to question our decisions which we once thought were wise. We begin to search for more precise understanding of wisdom. May be, Job was in a similar position. When he began to suffer miseries in life for reasons unknown to him, he began his quest for wisdom and its ways. However, Job realizes that wisdom cannot be discovered through any diligent human efforts such as philosophy, religion and reasoning.
Then, the question remains: where is the way to wisdom? Job answers:
Job 28:23 – 26: God understands its way, And He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt
God knows of wisdom, and in the poetic sense, where it exists and the way to true wisdom. It is because God alone is omniscient. He is only one who can see all things. Nothing can escape His knowledge. In the words of Job, God sees to the “ends of the earth” and “everything under the heavens.” It was God, who through wisdom, who laid out the laws governing every created thing.
So, Job continues that it was God who created wisdom. He prepared it.
Job 28:27 - Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.
We find it also in the proverbs of king Solomon:
Proverbs 8:22- “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.
God possesses wisdom as part of His very being.
Colossians 2:3 - In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
1 Corinthians 1:30a - But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God
Thus, God is the only one to whom every person must turn in his search for wisdom.
What has God to say to mankind about wisdom?
Job 28:28 - And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’
We have other Bible verses also reiterating the same.
Proverbs 9:10 - “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Psalm 111:10 - The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
What is fear of the Lord?
Fear of the Lord involves two things:
1. It involves loving, honouring, respecting and worshipping the Lord recognizing His Lordship.
Deuteronomy 10:12 - And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
Psalm 33:8 - Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
Fearing the Lord does involve a deep sense of respect to God and His presence. He must accept His sovereignty over our lives, irrespective of how things turn out. Be it good or bad happening in our lives, we must accept His Lordship. This was an important lesson that Job learnt at his most difficult hour. All this while, he was confused and troubled over the Lord allowing evil to happen in his life.
Job, after His encounter with the Lord, says:
Job 42: 5, 6 - “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
This attitude of fearing the Lord and His ways, which in turn lead to repentance, is what the Bible calls – the beginning of wisdom
2. It involves a good understanding to depart from evil
Psalm 34:11-14 - Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
Fearing the Lord cannot be disconnected from departing from evil. You cannot cling to sin and claim to fear God. That is not the wisdom of God. That is being wise in one’s own eyes in the words of king Solomon.
Proverbs 3:7 - Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, we find king Solomon’s attempt to understand wisdom and the meaning and purpose of life. In his attempt, Solomon searched out all things under the sun. He finally found out that human wisdom does not answers to life’s questions and problems. Rather, it simply brings grief and sorrow. He concludes the book with his important finding in his quest.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 - Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Conclusion – If you want to be truly wise, you need to look at Jesus – the source of wisdom. We must fear Him and depart from all our sins. It is he whom the Lord sent to take away our sins.
And how is that possible.
It is not possible by ourselves. Paul writes in Romans 7:19 - For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
How is that possible? Only by looking at the cross.
Wisdom is ultimately manifested in the cross of Christ.
Paul write in 1 Corinthians 1:21-25
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Greeks were known for their wisdom. The insights of great Greek philosophers like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Pliny, Galen, and others still seem fresh and relevant today. However, Paul makes an interesting statement in the passage above. The crucifixion of Christ for the salvation of humanity was a foolishness to the wisest Greeks. However, that was the way of God in his wisdom to reach out to humanity. That is the only way for us to Heaven.
We can be victorious over sin and evil only through Him.
2 Corinthians 2:14 - Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ
The true search of wisdom can only find an end in Christ Jesus.
