Job 28 - Fear the Lord

Job 28 1Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 3He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 7There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: 8The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 9He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. 11He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. 14The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 18No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. 20Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 21Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 22Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 23God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. 24For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 25To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. 26When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: 27Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 28And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Today's Scripture Meaning  Concerning wordly wealth. (1-11) Wisdom is of inestimable value. (12-19) Wisdom is the gift of God. (20-28) Verses 1-11: Job maintained that the dispensations of Providence were regulated by the highest wisdom. To confirm this, he showed of what a great deal of knowledge and wealth men may make themselves masters. The caverns of the earth may be discovered, but not the counsels of Heaven. Go to the miners, thou sluggard in religion, consider their ways, and be wise. Let their courage and diligence in seeking the wealth that perishes, shame us out of slothfulness and faint-heartedness in labouring for the true riches. How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! How much easier, and safer! Yet gold is sought for, but grace neglected. Will the hopes of precious things out of the earth, so men call them, though really they are paltry and perishing, be such a spur to industry, and shall not the certain prospect of truly precious things in heaven be much more so? Verses 12-19: Job here speaks of wisdom and understanding, the knowing and enjoying of God and ourselves. Its worth is infinitely more than all the riches in this world. It is a gift of the Holy Ghost which cannot be bought with money. Let that which is most precious in God's account, be so in ours. Job asks after it as one that truly desired to find it, and despaired of finding it any where but in God; any way but by Divine revelation. Verses 20-28: There is a two-fold wisdom; one hid in God, which is secret, and belongs not to us; the other made known by him, and revealed to man. One day's events, and one man's affairs, have such reference to, and so hang one upon another, that He only, to whom all is open, and who sees the whole at one view, can rightly judge of every part. But the knowledge of God's revealed will is within our reach, and will do us good. Let man look upon this as his wisdom, To fear the Lord, and to depart from evil. Let him learn that, and he is learned enough. Where is this wisdom to be found? The treasures of it are hid in Christ, revealed by the word, received by faith, through the Holy Ghost. It will not feed pride or vanity, or amuse our vain curiosity. It teaches and encourages sinners to fear the Lord, and to depart from evil, in the exercise of repentance and faith, without desiring to solve all difficulties about the events of this life. 

Today's Scripture Application Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the Book of Job with Chapter 28. In our text today we see Job continue to speak as he outlines the riches of the Lord and in verse 28 he speaks of the fear of the Lord. A theme throughout the Bible. This word fear means to respect and reverence the Lord and fear is the starting point to find wisdom. In making application we see that we need to fear the Lord. Understanding that he owns it all and is in control of it all with all knowledge and power. When we see - who He is - then we can attain wisdom as it places us in the humble position to seek Him. How about you? Do you fear the Lord? Let us learn from our text today as Job explains to respect and reverence the Lord so we will fear Him and attain wisdom

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Sincerely, Dr. Dave Burnette Director, The United States Bible Society, Inc.