SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON PLAN - 7-4-2021 - JOB 28:12-28 - WISDOM FOUND
LAST WEEK: In Job 23:1-17, we heard Job express many spiritual up and downs as he tried to make sense out of all the suffering he had endured. On the one hand, we saw how he allowed his anger bitterness to only draw him further away from the very God that he was so desperately seeking. On the other hand, we saw him re-group and step out in faith and trust that God would give him a fair hearing that would explain the reasons for his many sufferings. Then we saw him take another nose-dive when he allowed doubts about his trust in God's judgment to plunge him into sheer terror. At the very end, he stepped out in faith and decided not to be "destroyed by darkness" (v. 17).
THIS WEEK: In Job 28:12-28, we will study an interlude that separates the report of all of Job's troubles and the follow-on dialogues of his friends from the remainder of the book. The question Job asks in v. 12, "But where can wisdom be found?" defines the theme of the entire chapter. In the first eleven verses, Job gives us a very interesting description of the ancient mining methods used for finding and extracting various types of precious metals and valuable gem stones from the earth, and goes on to highlight many of the imaginative human schemes used to do it. In the second phrase of v. 11, Job adds that the result of these efforts, "...brings to light what is hidden," which itself can be a metaphor for wisdom.
Read Job 28:12-19 - THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM IS HARDER
12 "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? 13 Mankind does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. 14 The ocean depth says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' 15 Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. 16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. 17 Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold. 18 Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is more valuable than pearls. 19 The topaz of Cush cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
OBSERVATION: The Bible contrasts two types of wisdom: God's and the world's. It would safe to say that God's wisdom is blameless, reasonable, peace-loving, impartial and sincere. It's also full of mercy and willing to yield to others; it leads to personal godliness and peaceful relationships with others. By contrast, worldly wisdom tends to be self-centered; it exalts self. A heart not submitted to God, will often be characterized by pride, jealousy, envy, and selfish ambition. At the very end of it, worldly wisdom leads to the path of destruction and ultimately, death-why? Because the world never saved anyone. Godly wisdom leads to the narrow gate and ultimately, to life, because only God has the power to save.
v. 12: "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?" - We know where to find valuable things find like gold or silver: you use your tools to dig in the right place and presto! There they are. But where would you direct someone to find wisdom in Job's day when there were no Bibles, churches, or institutions that could explain how it can be found?
v. 13: "Mankind does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living." - Job answers the question he asked in v. 12 with two broad deductions: First, since the value of wisdom is infinite, it's impossible to put a price tag on it; and second, it cannot be found among human beings.
v. 14: As to the "place of understanding" (i.e., its location), it can't be found anywhere on or under the earth, including the "ocean depth" and the "sea."
vv. 15-19: Job goes on to itemize that wisdom cannot be "given in exchange... weighed... valued... ...exchanged" like precious metals, jewels, or pearls. In saying this, Job rightly concludes that all the accumulated wealth in the world is not sufficient to purchase wisdom and understanding. And by today's standards we might say the all of the dollars, euros, pounds, marks, guilders, pesos, drachmas, lira, rubles, yen, etc. in this world added together, still couldn't buy an ounce of wisdom.
APPLICATION 1: True wisdom cannot be bought like a product. Worldly wisdom assumes that anything can be bought for the right price; however, because the value of true wisdom is infinite, it cannot be bought at any price.
APPLICATION 2: True Wisdom cannot be found among human beings or anyplace else on this earth. Mankind has achieved many advances in worldly learning and technology and has made many important discoveries though its investigation of the earth, the seas, and even space, but none of them lead to true wisdom. It's natural for people who don't understand God (i.e., spiritually ignorant people, like the learned Greeks Paul addressed at the Areopagus in Acts 17:16-34), to seek wisdom here on earth. They look to philosophers, scientists, political leaders, and other worldly people to give them direction for living, but all of it is a dead-end (literally) that never finds true wisdom.
Read Job 28:20-28 - SO, WHERE DOES WISDOM COMES FROM
20 Where then does wisdom come from? And where is this place of understanding? 21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature, And concealed from the birds of the sky. 22 Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' 23 '"God understands its way, And He knows its place. 24 For He looks to the ends of the earth; He sees everything under the heavens. 25 When He imparted weight to the wind, And assessed the waters by measure, 26 When He made a limit for the rain, And a course for the thunderbolt, 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. 28 And to mankind He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.'"
v. 20: "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is this place of understanding?" - Since all the previous answers were emphatically negative, Job restates the question of v. 12. But notice that Job poses the question a little differently: He doesn't ask where wisdom is found, but where it comes from; in other words, he's pointing toward a source rather than a location. And when he asks about the "place of understanding," its situational, not positional.
v. 21: "It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature, And concealed from the birds of the sky" - Ah! Its hidden-hidden because its immaterial, something that cannot be seen or even noticed with physical eyes, even by the sharp-eyed birds that see everything from above.
v. 22: "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.'" - "Abbadon" is a name for a place of death, like Sheol or Hades (see Unger, p. 2). Notice that the place of death has heard of it but can't tell you where to find it. Taking vv. 21 and 22 together, Job is saying that wisdom cannot be seen or heard in either the realm of the living or of the dead.
v. 23: "God understands its way, And He knows its place" - Ah finally! Job reveals that wisdom can't be seen, heard, or found in the world of humankind because it is directly visible only to the One who possesses all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-penetrating perception (i.e., perfect understanding).
v. 24: "For He looks to the ends of the earth; He sees everything under the heavens" - So, how can God know all of this when no one else does? Because He's the only one who sees the whole picture. God, as Creator, perceived wisdom in the Beginning. As Creator, nothing in the entire universe is hidden from Him and there's nothing that He doesn't see. Therefore, since only God alone perceives and sees everything, He alone knows wisdom. But note: Job, in his own, narrow context, is using language to describe God's ability to see the whole picture and act accordingly. At the same time, however, Job lacks God's ability and doesn't understand all the things that have happened to him. To him, God's ways and purposes are confusing and make no sense. Though Job concludes that God has wisdom, he simultaneously views himself as totally lacking it. The difference between us and Job-as saved Christians-is that we can access and apply God's wisdom to our lives through His Word, but even more significantly, we can receive God's wisdom as a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12-13).
vv. 25-27: "When He imparted weight to the wind, And assessed the waters by measure, 26 When He made a limit for the rain, And a course for the thunderbolt, 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out." - These three verses establish the fact that the natural creation-in all its vast entirety and with its governing laws-all established by God, is an expression and the embodiment of wisdom. Moreover, since God foreknew all things, even before the foundation of the universe, He has all knowledge and needs no advice on anything.
v. 28: "And to mankind He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding.'" - With this, Job deduces a truly remarkable answer to his original question. In this context, "fear" equates with respect, awe, and reverence of God rather than sheer fright. In stating this truth, Job understands the alpha and omega of wisdom: to fear God and avoid sin, while leaving the unanswered questions to Him in trusting submission. The fear of the LORD is a theme that permeates the wisdom literature of the OT from Job through the Song of Solomon.
APPLICATION 4: True wisdom is directly visible only to God. True wisdom is hidden because it cannot by seen with physical eyes. It can't be seen, heard, or found in the world of humankind because it is directly visible only to the One who possesses all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-penetrating perception (i.e., perfect understanding), and God is the only one who sees the whole picture. God, as Creator, perceived wisdom in the Beginning, and as Creator, nothing in the entire universe is hidden from Him and there's nothing that He doesn't see. Therefore, since only God perceives and sees everything, He alone knows wisdom.
APPLICATION 5: The natural creation-all established by God-represents the embodiment of wisdom. Even though Job was still confused and didn't understand why he was suffering, he believed and trusted in the wisdom of the all-powerful God who created the world around him.
APPICATION 6: The fear of God is wisdom and turning away from evil is understanding. In stating this central truth, Job understood the alpha and omega (beginning and end) of wisdom: To fear God and avoid sin, while leaving all the unanswered and confusing questions of life to Him in trusting submission. This understanding is a milestone of faith and trust that all believers need to reach. So, the question here is do you truly "fear" God? By that, do you worship Him with all the reverence, awe, and respect He deserves as the Creator of the Universe? Have you reached that place of understanding? Paul tells it this way, "But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30).
ENDNOTE: We humans all have a desire to be wise. We want to understand how things work, to be able to answer questions, to make decisions, and to share what we know. Yes? However, we must learn that we only begin to be wise when we stop striving for wisdom out of our own abilities. All of our purely human efforts to attain wisdom in this world-apart from God-will ultimately result in foolishness, not wisdom. God desires to give His divine wisdom to everyone who believes in Him. All other types of learning are valuable but limited unless built upon the knowledge of the God Himself. To gain God's wisdom, we must pray for it, while studying and living out the truths of God's Word. So many distractions in this world threaten to pull us away from God. We are constantly challenged by viewpoints, images, and ideals that seem to contradict those in the Bible. In today's "Age of Information," it's easy to find our hearts wandering away from God to popular ideas and belief systems that sound impressive and appealing on their face. But as believing Christians, we must remain diligent and steadfast in seeking God's will in our lives through prayer, meditation on His Word, and fellowship with other believers in order to keep His wisdom at the forefront of our minds and hearts. It might force us at times to take a stand against the wisdom of the world or the advice of well-meaning family members and friends, and even the day-to-day battle against our own selfish, self-seeking desires. In the final analysis, God's wisdom gives us focus and direction when we have to choose between what looks good, what feels good, and what is good.
PRAYER: God, our heavenly Father, we thank and praise for allowing us to gather together once again to learn from the truth of your word. Job's words to us this morning are powerful, convicting. It tells us and instructs where we can find one of the most priceless commodities any person can obtain: Your wisdom. And the most amazing thing about it is that it's absolutely free for the taking. We thank You God for using this lesson in Job to remind all of us where and how godly wisdom can be found: That everything we need to know to gain true spiritual discernment-to make good decisions about any issue in our lives-is right in front within the pages of your Holy and perfect Word. In the powerful name of Jesus, I pray, AMEN.
