Job 24-28

0:24 And I guess I think I should also warn you that we're in the book of Job. And some people love the book of Job. Some are not too fond of the book of Job. I am somewhere in between. It is God's word, so I definitely love it. but it can be arduous kind of working our way through some of the arguments of these three friends of Job who have come to set him straight and give him counsel. Have you ever been in a conversation with somebody where you feel like you're not really talking to that person, but you guys are sort of talking over each other? I get that impression when I read the book of Job. It's almost like Job is being very honest and pouring out his heart while his friends are waiting for Job to finish so they can say what they want to say to him about his condition. And they're just listening to Job to prepare for their next little diatribe against him.

1:27 And so we are in chapter 24. That's where we pick it up tonight. Chapter 24 of the book of Job. Let me just also tell you, you probably already know this, that the book is written in a very interesting fashion. It is framed by prose, but it is mainly written in poetry. I'll just briefly explain that. It's really bookended by narrative. The story is told about God and Satan having a conversation. It's very straightforward narrative language. The end of the book of Job is also narrative. It tells the story of the latter end of Job's life. But in between those two bookends of narrative prose is Hebrew poetry. So it's a very highly poetic, flowery kind of conversation they're having with each other in these ancient times.

2:34 and hebrew poetry is different i think i told you than english poetry english poetry rhymes sounds hebrew poetry rhymes thoughts sounds are unimportant whether you have the words at the very end of the line match the other word in in tone or sound um it hebrew uh poetry is different in that it's called parallelism. Parallelism. And there are different types. This will actually help you in studying the scriptures. Hebrew parallelism, you find that in Job, you find it in Psalms, you find it in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the wisdom literature. These are highly poetic books. Now, Hebrew parallelism takes a few different forms. there is what is called synonymous parallelism where you have a line stated and the line after it amplifies or parallels with a little bit of amplification or kind of restating it in a different form that's synonymous parallelism then there is something called synthetic parallelism where truth is stated, the truth is amplified, and the truth is stated again in a further amplification, sort of like stair-like. It is taking a portion of the truth and building it up with each line. So synonymous, synthetic, and then there's something called antithetic parallelism, where you have a statement made and then the contrasting statement follows.

4:15 The righteous are like this, but the wicked are like that. So the book of Job is usually synonymous parallelism, though it kind of employs all three of those. It begins with prose, then it's filled with poetry, and then it ends with prose at the end. The theme of the book, we already know, is why people suffer. Why is there suffering in the world? I have discovered most people really aren't as concerned about why there is suffering in the world as much as why is there suffering in my life. Why am I suffering? And there are many reasons that people suffer, and I'm not here to answer that deep theological, practical question of life. But I will say this, for a number of reasons we suffer. Job's friends were saying, Job, you are suffering because you're an idiot.

5:16 You have sinned. You've got something we haven't known about, but now we think we know what it is. We think you've robbed the poor. We think that you've mistreated widows. You haven't been kind in your business dealings. They've charged him of a number of things with no evidence at all. and it is true we can suffer because of our own sin there's not always a direct cause and effect relationship but people when they sin will experience suffering if I get drunk and run out in traffic and get hurt because of that I have no one to blame but myself I just am now suffering because of sin that I've committed. but sometimes we suffer to be strengthened by God. You remember Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 talked about his thorn in the flesh, and he said that he pleaded with God three times to take it away. God came to him and said, my strength is sufficient for you. In fact, my strength is made perfect in your weakness.

6:33 So Paul began to understand that he is suffering and God allowed it, even though it was a messenger of Satan, he said to buffet him, God allowed it in order to strengthen his life. Sometimes we suffer not because we sin not because god is strengthening us or tempering us sometimes he's chastening us you're not perfect i think you know that if you don't i just told you i hope you will take that to heart we need to be chastened um in hebrews 12 whom the lord loves he chastens he corrects every son that comes to him sometimes we just need a course correction it's not that we're blatantly sinning but we are on the road to development and we need to be corrected or chastened by God in a certain area another reason we suffer is in order to be of encouragement and strength to somebody else who is suffering second Corinthians 1 God comforts us and all our tribulation that we might be a comfort to those who are suffering similar circumstances.

7:50 So God will reveal his comfort, his strength, his glory, his truth, so that we can be a benefit to other people. Sometimes we suffer and we don't know the reason for it. Usually that is the case. Now, all of these may be employed behind the scenes, but sometimes you work hard to figure out why you suffer and you have to just tap out and say, I don't get it. And you may never understand it this side of eternity. And you need to be okay with that. We know in part, Paul said, but there's so much we don't know. one of my favorite scriptures is Deuteronomy 29 29 that says the secret things belong to the Lord our God but those things that are revealed belong to us and our children so there are certain things we know God reveals them to us but there's a lot we just have to leave with him and and that is the place Job is coming to in this book now in chapter 24 he continues he's answering Eliphaz chapter 24 verse 1 since times are not hidden from the almighty why do those who know him not see his days job says look i understand god is god he is sovereign and he appoints times for different things different events all things under heaven has its time ecclesiastes chapter 3 to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. So I know that God has his appointed times.

9:41 I just wish he would inform me of them. He doesn't tell me his timetable or what he's up to. Some, he continues, remove landmarks. They seize flocks violently. These are the wicked people. and feed on them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless. They take the widow's ox as a pledge. They have accused Job of this. Job has denied this is the case. But he is describing the life choices of the wicked. And when he says they remove landmarks, if you are writing notes or writing in the margin of your Bible, don't look it up now, but write Deuteronomy chapter 19 in the margin of your Bible. There it talks about not removing the ancient landmark, that is the property markers. Your neighbor would have stones set out on his property that would delineate that that property belongs to him or her.

10:51 So let's say you're living next to a widow and she has the property that her husband bought marked off by stones. it was practice in ancient times, malevolent practice, not a righteous practice, to while somebody is away from their property or sleeping at night, to move that landmark just slightly in your direction.

11:20 And then to do it again a little bit later on and a little bit later on. And eventually you are taking land that doesn't belong to you by removing the ancient boundary stone. That's the idea of some removed landmarks. They drive the donkey of the fatherless. They take the widow's ox as a pledge. They push the needy off the road. That would be very, very bad form. So that the poor of the land are forced to hide. Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children. They have to forage for it out in the desert, out in the wilderness. They gather their fodder in the field and glean in the vineyard of the wicked. They spend the night naked without clothing and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the showers of the mountains and huddle around the rocks for want or lack of shelter.

12:22 What Job is complaining about in dealing with the wicked is he is complaining that God seems to be indifferent to overt sinners. to people who do take advantage of the poor and move boundary markers and take stuff from widows. It happens all the time. And Job says, that bothers me, that God doesn't do something about it directly. So he is complaining that God seems indifferent towards such overt, sinful activity. Now when it talks here about they spend the night naked, if there was a poor man who needed to borrow money, that poor person would give you as a pledge his cloak. It's the outer robe that covered his body.

13:22 but even if that person did not pay you back that day you would have to give that cloak back at the end of the day so that at night he had something to cover his body with that was in the mosaic law but he is talking about those who are not doing that they're taking advantage of the poor and and letting them be at the uh complete disposal of the elements some snatch the fatherless from the breast and take a pledge from the poor. They cause the poor to go naked without clothing. They take away the sheaves from the hungry. They press out oil within their walls and tread wine presses, yet suffer thirst. The dying groan in the city and the souls of the wounded cry out. Yet God does not charge them with wrong. You see his complaint. Job is saying, look, in a human court, people like that get charged for doing wrong. Why not in a heavenly court? Why doesn't God act immediately when there is wickedness in the world and give people their comeuppance right away. Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

14:46 There are those who rebel against the light. They do not know its ways nor abide in its paths. The murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. And in the night, he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight saying no eye will see me and he disguises his face in the dark they break into houses which they mark for themselves in the daytime they do not know the light for the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death if someone recognizes them they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. His second complaint in this chapter is, number one, God is indifferent to overt sinners. Number two, God is indifferent to secret sinners who do stuff under the cover of darkness. They're not so blatant. They're not so in your face. They're not so overt and out in the open. They're still criminals. They're still doing bad stuff, but they're covering it up so people can't see it, but God can see it. Why is God indifferent to both types?

16:03 They should be swift on the face of the waters. Their portion should be cursed in the earth so that one would turn into the way of their vineyards as drought and heat consume the snow waters. So should the grave, those who have sinned. The womb should forget him. The worm should feed secretly on him. He should be remembered no more, and wickedness should be broken like a tree, for he prays on the barren who does not bear and does no good for the widow. But God draws the mighty away with his power. He rises up, but no man is sure of life. he gives them security and they rely on it yet his eyes are on their ways they are exalted for a little while then they are gone they are brought low they are taken out of the way like all the others they dry out like the heads of grain it seems that job is saying you know i'd rather that these people would suffer for what they have done wrong immediately. But that's not happening. So at least, Job would say, I take comfort in the fact that though they will not be judged immediately, they will be judged eventually. That eventually, justice will be done. They are exalted, as he said, verse 24, for a little while, then they are gone.

17:43 do you remember when you were a little girl or boy and you would ask your parents for something or to do something and they would sometimes answer you saying not now but later and that was their answer to all your questions can I go play not now but later can I go to the store not now but later can I go to the water park we used to have one here not now but later can I drive not now but later can I leave the house? Yes, I wish you would. No, not now, but later. I can almost hear God in Job's mind saying, not now, but later. And he's coming to grips with the fact that there will be eventually a day of reckoning. Verse 25. Now, if it is not so, who will prove me a liar?

19:00 and make my speech worth nothing. Okay, so somebody steps up to the plate to answer Job. His name is Bildad. Now this is Bildad's third speech. Remember there are three rounds of speeches where they pile insult after insult, indictment after indictment on Job, and Job has to fend them off and respond. So this is the third and final speech of Bildad. and by the way it is the final speech of all three of these men against job it will end job will speak for a few chapters and then one other person you haven't met yet will come on and spew a few things we'll meet him a little bit later so this is build add the shoe height. Remember the little guy. He's only shoe height. He's a very tiny man. Then Bildad the shoe height answered. I think I explained all where these people are from at the beginning of our study, so I won't go into where Shua is. But Bildad the shoe height answered and said, and notice there's only six verses in this chapter. Think we can cover it? Yeah, I think so too. So he's not saying much. It's as if they're admitting we got no more wind left in the wind bags.

20:29 We, we, uh, we, we've run out of good, solid arguments. So it's, he's going to say basically the same thing all three of them has said. And basically it's God is awesome. And you're an idiot, Job. You are a worm, man. You are worthless. So they're singing the same old tune. They've run out of arguments. Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, Dominion and fear belong to him. He makes peace in his high places. Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not rise? how then can man be righteous before God? That question has been asked now a few times in this book. Or how can he be pure who was born of a woman? Now this is an indictment against Job. This is not a theological question he's asking, you know, the universe or God. He is saying, Job, you have not admitted that you are a sinful person. You have maintained your innocence all along. You have claimed that there's nothing that you have done that would directly invite God's punishment. So this is speaking against Job. How can a man be pure who is born of a woman?

21:47 Who do you think you are, Job? Even if the moon does not shine, the brightest object in the night sky. And the stars are not pure in his sight. These brilliant stars and the moon that you see at night that light up the sky, especially in those days before light pollution. Compared to God, they're nothing. How much less man? Who is a maggot? Wink, wink, Job, you, maggot and a son of man who is a worm. Now Job speaks and Job will continue to speak till chapter 31. But Job answered and said, how have you helped him who is without power? how have you saved the arm that has no strength how have you counseled one who has no wisdom and how have you declared sound advice to many to whom have you uttered words and whose spirit came from you.

23:03 You guys are unhelpful. You guys are downright unrelenting. You are... rude, insensitive, and hurtful. That's the idea of that. You haven't helped me at all. You haven't given me any wisdom. You're not telling me anything I don't already know by observation. The dead tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting them. Sheol, Old Testament word for the grave is naked before him and destruction has no covering. God sees it all. The nether world and the visible world. He sees into the spirit realm and our realm. He stretches out the earth over empty space. I absolutely love this next phrase. He hangs the earth on nothing. let that sink in. He hangs the earth on nothing. Now today we know this to be true, but we're talking about the time of the patriarchs here. Think of the ancient cosmologies that were extant at the time. This is way before Isaac Newton, way before Johannes Kepler and orbiting bodies in the solar system. God hangs the earth on nothing. This is one of those great verses of scripture that talk about something that the ancients did not know and did not believe, but the Bible says it to be true, and it's one of the proofs of the inspiration of the text of scripture. For example, many cultures believe different things. The ancient Hindus believed that the earth is resting upon the backs of huge elephants.

25:05 all of which are standing on a giant tortoise shell that is swimming adrift in a vast ocean. the ancient Greeks believed that it is being carried the earth is being carried by Atlas on his shoulder and he was consigned that task as punishment for something that he did now he has to carry us around on his shoulders so these ancient belief systems these ancient cosmologies were very popular until more modern times and modern science. And here, the Bible says he hangs the earth on nothing. It's rotating around the sun. He binds up the water in thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken up under it. He's talking about the hydrological cycle that you can observe in the world.

26:15 Evaporation, precipitation. These are cycles that we're all aware of. So he binds up the water in thick clouds. By the way, you know, you think, well, a cloud is just a fluffy piece of air. The average cumulus cloud weighs 1.1 million pounds. because of the water content in it. Water in droplets or in ice. This is why pilots don't want to fly directly into a cloud of that sort.

26:55 Okay, I digress. verse 10 another great verse that talks about something that in those days they wouldn't have any common knowledge of he drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters remember what isaiah the prophet said that god sits above the circle of the earth so this is in a time when most people thought the earth was flat by the way there's still a few of them around today those flat earthers we know better we know that there is the circle of the earth you can't see it from the earth but you get up 38 000 to four 40 000 feet in the air and you can start to see that circular horizon he drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof, he stirs up the sea with his power. And by his understanding, he breaks up the storm.

28:04 By his spirit. Now in my Bible, the S is a capital S. Is it in yours? By his spirit. The translators believe their understanding is it's a reference to the Holy Spirit. By his spirit, he adorned the heavens. First of all, I like the idea of God adorning the heavens, decorating. It's a beautiful place we have here. Our solar system, you look around, if you've ever looked in a telescope or on a starry, beautiful night, just look at how God lit it up, adorned it, decorated it. His spirit, by his spirit, he adorned the heavens. And of course, you need to think about Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters or hovered over the face of the waters. So by his Spirit he adorned the heavens. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent, a reference to constellations of the stars in the heavens. Indeed, these are the mere edges of his ways. And how small a whisper we hear of him by the thunder of his power, who can understand? I like that. I have underlined that phrase in my Bible. These are the mere edges of his ways. What Job is saying is, with all this wonder and adornment and decoration in our biosphere and atmosphere and the celestial heavens beyond with all of that. It's just a glimpse of his power. Just a glimpse. It's just a little, we're only getting a little bit of information about God. This is what David said

30:10 in Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. Night into night, they reveal knowledge. Day into day, they give forth knowledge. And he describes the natural world. And what he is saying is that in looking at our world, God reveals himself to us. It's called natural revelation. Natural revelation. It's so, it is so powerful a revelation that Paul said, those who look around the universe and don't believe they're a God, they have no excuse. Therefore they are without excuse. The Bible says the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Why would that be considered the apotheosis of foolishness for this reason. Whenever there is a thing, there must have been a preceding thought.

31:14 And whenever there is a thought, there has to be someone who thinks that thought. This is the argument from design. If you look at a car that's beautifully designed, you don't walk up to them and go, what a marvelous accident. I'm sure that evolved over millions of years. It oozed up from the pavement, right? Somebody would say, you're a fool. If you think that was not designed by somebody who was creative and powerful. Okay, I get that and I agree. But now look at something much grander, how God adorned the heavens and the earth that we live in. if there's a design there must have been a designer so the fool has said in his heart there is no God and yet we have this general revelation but it's not enough yes it tells you the ingenuity of God the creativity of God it doesn't really speak of his love doesn't speak of his redemptive plan that's why you need not just natural revelation but special revelation that's why we study the book, the Bible. God has revealed the rest of the story. He tells part of the story in creation. But Job is right when he says these are the mere edges of his ways and how small a whisper we hear of him, but the thunder of his power, who can understand? Moreover, here we are now in chapter 27, verse 1. Moreover, Job continued his discourse and said, okay, this marks a literary change now. Up to this point, there have been one, two, and three courses of speech and rebuttals by Job and his friends. Now he is addressing all three of them collectively in the following chapters. He's giving a summary of all that he feels and all that he has heard.

33:19 So this is now to all three, more of a summary statement, a rather long one, since it takes those chapters. Moreover, Job continued and said, as God lives, who has taken, who has, as God lives, who has taken away my justice. Remember, he has complained. okay God you've set times and appointed times you just haven't told me what those times are you're powerful and mighty you're the judge of the universe yet I can't come to your courtroom and present my case as God lives who has taken away my justice and the almighty who has made my soul bitter as long as my breath is in me and the breath of God in my nostrils my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

34:12 Far be it from me that I should say you are right. He's saying this to his three friends who accused him of being a wicked maggot. Far be it from me that I am going to agree with anything you have accused me of and say that you are right. Till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness, I hold fast and will not let it go. Okay. Two people so far in the book of Job have said that Job has integrity. number one God bragged to Satan that Job was blameless more than any person on earth and he used the word a man of integrity the second person was Job's wife she said to Job will you still hold to your integrity, curse God and die. So both God and his wife, Mrs. Job, agreed together that Job was a man of integrity. So he's holding to that till I die. He's not bragging. He's not, well, you might think, well, if he had humility, he would never say that.

35:31 that's not true humility is being known for who you are if you really are a certain way but you say you're not a certain way that's not humility that's lying so job said i'm a man of integrity and i hold to it my righteousness i hold fast that's not job claiming that he is self-righteous that he has not done anything to invite the kind of suffering that he's experiencing. He hasn't committed any kind of overt sin for which God would punish him like they are accusing him of doing. So till I die, I will not put away my integrity from me, my righteousness. I hold fast and will not let it go. You know, it's good to live that way. It's good to live in such a way that you have a clean conscience.

36:25 there's nothing better than a clean conscience you see you know you and you have to live with you and some of the phobias and problems we face are because we know ourselves and we are putting on with many people a front of who we want them to think we are than really who we are.

37:00 When Paul the Apostle was arrested in Jerusalem, remember when he went to Jerusalem to bring the Gentile offering to the Jewish people in Jerusalem? He's in the temple and he is performing a vow of a Nazarite. The Jewish people saw him in the temple and thought that he had brought a Gentile into the Jewish part of the temple and they had Paul arrested. And Paul asked the Roman guard, look, let me talk to these people. And so he talked to them and they got even more upset. But then he had a private audience with the Jewish leadership, the Sanhedrin. And he stands before the high priest and the Jewish Sanhedrin. And he begins his opening statement is this. I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. and Ananias the high priest gave a commandment to another person in the Sanhedrin said go up and hit him in the mouth for saying that and so they smacked him on the mouth and then God said to the high priest God will smite you you whited wall and the guy said how can you say that to the high priest and Paul said oh I didn't know it was the high priest which is interesting it's always an interesting story and I don't want to digress too much on it but that may lend itself to the idea that Paul did have an eye problem his eyesight was affected I have commented on that a few different occasions that Paul his thorn in the flesh could have been diminished eyesight perhaps because he was stoned at Lystra not like stoned but I mean they threw rocks at him stoned at Lystra and that affected his eyesight. So here he is in the Sanhedrin with the high priest and he says, why I didn't know that was the high priest. Being a Jewish elder himself, he would have known that, but he didn't. But anyway, the statement, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. Job is maintaining the same. My heart shall not reproach

39:10 me as long as I live. May my enemy be like the wicked and he who rises against me like the unrighteous. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he may gain much if God takes away his life? Look, fellas, if I were to admit that I was wrong like you are accusing me of being wrong, it might appear to you that I'm being humble, but I would really only be a hypocrite like you guys. will God hear his cry verse 9 when trouble comes upon him will he delight himself in the almighty will he always call on God I will teach you about the hand of God what is with the almighty I will not conceal surely all of you have seen it why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

40:12 job has had enough of these three men's simplistic notions of why he is suffering these monday morning quarterbacks these armchair counselors who have taken pot shots at job he's done with it. These simplistic notions, well, if you were righteous, you'd be blessed. If you're wicked, that's why you're going through all this. It must mean you're wicked. He's done with it. Life is more complicated than that. Job has already pointed out that there's plenty of good people that suffer and plenty of bad people that don't immediately suffer because of it. so he is kind of unbearing his soul unloading it surely all of you have seen it why then do you behave with complete nonsense now to be fair I am going to guess that given the age of Job and given what I've read so far in Job that Job would have agreed with his three friends worldview pretty much lockstep because he was blessed and he was righteous.

41:40 and so he probably would have shared that very simplistic worldview as if you're good you get blessed if you're bad you don't get blessed but because he is now suffering he's having to revise his position and get the nuance just right he doesn't really understand why he's going through it but it can't be that simple this is the portion of a wicked man with god and the heritage of oppressors received from the Almighty. If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. Those who survive him shall be buried in death, and their widows shall not weep. Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up clothing like clay, he may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. he builds his house like a moth. Short-lived is the point. The lifespan of a moth is a few days.

42:51 If it's a really good moth, really healthy moth, he goes to the gym and works out every 20 minutes. He might live like a couple weeks, but it's a very short lifespan. He builds his house like a moth, like a booth, which a watchman makes a temporary enclosure. The rich man will lie down, but not be gathered up. He opens his eyes, and he is no more. Tears overtake him like a flood. A tempest steals him away in the night. The east wind carries him away and he is gone. It sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against him and does not spare.

43:43 Job is not denying that the wicked suffer and sometimes suffer greatly. but his point is yes the wicked sometimes suffer greatly but not all wicked people suffer greatly in proportion to what they've done life isn't that cut and dry so he agrees but he disagrees now something about his language here if you have paid close attention these are all phrases, Job is using phrases that his three friends have hurled against him in some of these previous courses of speech. So they kind of used this language and threw them at Job. Job is throwing them right back at them now. Same ammunition. It hurls him or hurls against him and does not spare. He flees desperately from its power. Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place. Clapping your hands and hissing, these were all marks of disgust. These were all ways to mock people, to level a disdain at someone.

45:05 all signs of mocking. Now chapter 28 is a great chapter. Again, Job is not arguing with them anymore. There's not going to be any comeback from these people. Job is going to continue to talk until a younger guy by the name of Elihu comes and offers his own counsel. We'll see that when we get to it, but this is his summary statement. Chapter 28 is a gem. Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth. Copper is smelted from ore. Man puts an end to darkness, that is, he burrows underneath the ground and searches every recess for oar in the darkness and the shadows of death.

46:04 he's saying that mankind will put a lot of effort into digging something precious from the earth, precious stones, gold, silver, go through the process of smelting copper, etc. He breaks, verse 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 as for the earth as for the earth from it comes bread but underneath it is turned up by fire so people dig holes under the earth they set up their smelting processes in those caves there's agriculture going up bread is being grown by grain above them but they're underneath the ground in the darkness in the finding the veins of metal in the earth and they're working feverishly working away to get those precious metals. Its stones are the source of sapphires.

47:12 It contains gold dust, that path no bird knows. Nor has the falcon eye seen it This is something man has figured out The animal kingdom doesn't know there's gold I mean they wouldn't mine gold And wear little gold chains around their falcon necks the proud lions have not trodden it nor has the fierce lion passed over it it's it's too deep deep in the earth he puts his hand on the flint he overturns the mountains at the roots he cuts out channels for the rocks and his eye sees every precious thing he dams up the streams from trickling. What is hidden, he brings forth to light. He's panning for gold in the streams as well as digging for it in the earth. So here's mankind. He's saying, look around in our world.

48:13 Man puts in an ordinate amount of effort in searching for riches, for gold, for silver, for sapphires, for smelting some of these other metals. But here's the great question, verse 12. 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. now remember there have been three rounds of argumentation job cursed the day of his birth Eliphaz came in Zophar came in Bildad came in Job responded to all of them then they started again Job responded then they started again Job responded in all of that where's the wisdom where is wisdom to be found you know people will search for precious metals, but you guys haven't produced anything that's precious wisdom. Where can wisdom be found?

49:19 Where's the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. Okay. Let me read to you. You can just stay there. Let me read to you Proverbs, not all of it. Chapter two, not all of it, just a few verses. Proverbs two. Remember what Job has just said about people digging for precious metal in the earth. Listen to what Solomon says about wisdom. Chapter two, my son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God for from the Lord or for the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

50:28 since 1947 we have been in what has been called the information age I find that kind of funny that you think of 1947 compared to what we know today back in 1947 we're in the information age now today in 2026 we go because it had taken from the beginning of time to the year like 2003 for knowledge on earth to double. Now, knowledge doubles every few months. We're in the super information age. we're in the i mean you know what the debate going on in the last few days has been all about ai and what do we do with ai and is it going to get out of hand and how do we regulate it and put a stop to it but there is such a difference between knowledge and wisdom paul said there are those who are always learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

51:42 So Job says, look at these people digging out treasure in the earth. Solomon says, dig out treasure from God's truth. Just like that. If you do, God will give it to you. You'll find it. You'll be embellished with the shiny truth of God's word. where can wisdom be found where's the place of understanding man does not know its value we know the value of supercomputers we know the value of the new iphone that's just come out that folds open i don't know if it's worth what they're charging but we don't know the value of real wisdom nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, it is not with me.

52:35 The sea says, it's not with me. It cannot be purchased for gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir. We talked about that coastline of Saudi Arabia or the Arabian Peninsula called Ophir where Solomon mined gold for himself during his reign. 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 now i've been to ethiopia and i've seen some of their gems. I was in the palace of Haile Selassie and looked at some of the adornments that he had, the topaz that he had, and truly stunning. Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

53:37 From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? He's looking at his three buddies, basically saying, where can you find wisdom? Not from you guys. it is hidden from the eyes of all the living and concealed from the birds of the air. The wisdom that God has, especially here in allowing somebody like Job to suffer, Job says, I don't understand why. us, that knowledge, some knowledge is only available to God and not to us. He may reveal it to us in time. We may be soothed by some revelation from scripture. Oh, that's why I'm going through it. But you may never know this side of heaven. Some knowledge is only available to God.

54:37 It's hidden from the eyes of the living, concealed from the birds of the air, destruction and death say we have heard a report about it with our ears god understands its way and knows its place for he looks to the ends of the earth and seeks under the whole heavens to establish a weight for the wind and meet out the waters by measure when he made a law for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt. Then he saw wisdom and declared it. He prepared it. Indeed, he searched it out and said to man, here's the gem of the chapter, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.

55:27 And to depart from evil is understanding. Solomon will have a lot to say about the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The term the fear of the Lord, what does it mean? The Hebrew is Yirat Yahweh, Yirat Yahweh, the fear of Yahweh, the fear of God. My best definition that I've come up with, it is a reverential awe that produces humble submission to a loving God. A reverential awe that produces humble submission to a loving God. It's not like a fear that God's going to beat me or hurt me. That's not that kind of a fear.

56:20 That's dread. That's the fear in the Wizard of Oz that they had of the great Oz. No, it's a reverential awe. I revere God. I reverence God. And that reverence produces a submission, a humble submission to a loving God.

56:41 Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. And to depart from evil is understanding. I once heard it this way and this may help. The fear of the Lord is an awareness of his there-ness. if you always knew God is here God is there in that situation God is there I'm aware it's the awareness of his there-ness you're going to act differently if you know God is here with me seeing this a part of this a party to this the fear of the Lord is an awareness of God's God's dareness. Or, if you will, a reverential law that produces humble submission to a loving God. So behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil, that is understanding.

57:42 we made it. We'll close at this point. We're a few minutes early so we can close in a good, healthy chorus of worship. Father, we want to just leave it there. realizing there are things in this life we may never understand because, well, you are God and we are not.

58:07 You have the kind of wisdom that it takes to oversee this vast universe, to decorate and adorn the heavens, to control the movements, the vastness of not only the earth that you hang in this solar system, this globe, this 8,000 mile in diameter dirt clod we call the earth. You manage all the affairs of the universe and the affairs of this life. You created it. And in you, all things consist. They are held together. We rest in that. And I pray we would rest to the extent that we would trust you and we would obey you. you know our lives, you know what we struggle with, you know far more than we do. We seek your wisdom. We want to live in the awareness of your there-ness.