Notes on Job 29, 30, and 31...

To My Daughters:

Listen to the first few verses of Chapter 29:

Job further continued his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone upon my head, And when by His light I walked through darkness; Just as I was in the days of my prime, When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, When my children were around me;

Job missed his God and he missed his children. He was feeling alone and abandoned.

The rest of chapter 29 finds Job longing for his past. Now it is helpful and good during times of trial to remember God's faithfulness and his past blessings. I do not think, however, that this is what Job is doing here. It is also normal, when we are grieving, to look back at the past and wish it could be like that again.  This kind of thinking is not very helpful because we are dwelling on what made us happy and comfortable rather than God's eternal desire for our holiness.  All of us do this but to spend much time there is a mistake. We are focusing on that “me, myself and I” rather than looking outward and seeing what God might have for us in the moment...what he might be wanting to accomplish in us and through us in the trial we are facing. 

Putting all that aside if we go through the chapter what you discover is that Job was a very godly man. He spoke with authority and his counsel was sought. He took care of the poor, the fatherless, the helpless and the oppressed. He caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Righteousness clothed him and justice was his robe. He was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. Job was Jesus to those around him.

Chapter 30 we find Job moving from the past to the present and lamenting his losses. Men mock him...he is their taunting song...a byword. His riches are gone, his body is diseased and is heart is grieved. Verse 20 tells us that he feels that God has deserted him and further down his hope is now darkness. I have felt this way in times of grief. (I am sure not to the extent that Job did)...but all of us at one time or another in our lives will feel cornered with no room to move forward or backward. The only thing we can do is stay in the present and endure. We cannot go back to the past...it is gone. We cannot endure the pain of the present and the future seems dark, full of unknowns and frightening to face.

I am so grateful for Jesus during these times of grief and suffering. I take comfort in the fact that He has gone before and has borne my griefs and carried my sorrows. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. My reality is that my past is taken care...my sins are forgiven. My present reality is that He is always with me...that in Him I live and move and have my being. My future is bright because He is my sure and certain hope. I will “awake” in His likeness.

Job continues his claim that he is innocent of any pattern of sin and desires that God would answer him and tell him why he was suffering.  Chapter 31 can be used as a  “spiritual inventory”. Job is going through sins that he did NOT commit.  I liked the list of questions that Warren Wiersbe puts together for us to ask ourselves from chapter 31. I will close with it.

Do you have eyes that wander lustfully (vv. 1–4)

or feet that move deceitfully (vv. 5–8)?

Has lust been fulfilled in overt sin (vv. 9–12)?

Have you treated others as God wants them treated (vv. 13–23)?

Have you coveted wealth or been proud of what you possess (vv. 24–28)?

How do you respond to the suffering of an enemy (vv. 29–30)

or the needs of a stranger (vv. 31–34)?

Are you a faithful steward of the natural resources God gives (vv. 38–40)?

Love

Mom

Wisdom...Job 28

To My Daughters,

Though Job had agreed that the wicked suffer, this did not explain why he was suffering...since Job was righteous.  Job asks his friends to consider that maybe God’s wisdom was beyond their understanding. (You think?) That is the theme of this chapter. “The wisdom of God is not gained by natural or theoretical knowledge. What God does not reveal, we can’t know.

The question then at the outset of this study is how do we gain the wisdom of God if it is not gained by natural means?

Verses 1-11 of Chapter 28 is chockful of mining references. Men spend much time and much effort mining for precious things. 

Verses 12-20 of chapter 28 sum it all up:

12 “But where can wisdom be found?
 And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
 And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15 It cannot be purchased for gold,
 Nor can silver be weighed for its price.

16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
 in precious onyx or sapphire.

17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it,
 Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz,
 For the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
 Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20 “From where then does wisdom come?
 And where is the place of understanding?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
 And concealed from the birds of the air.

22 Destruction and Death say,

 ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’

23 God understands its way, And He knows its place.

24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
 And sees under the whole heavens,

25 To establish a weight for the wind,
 And apportion the waters by measure.

26 When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt,

27 Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
 He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.

28 And to man He said,

‘ Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, 
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Did you get that? No amount of effort on a human being's part will yield God's wisdom. It can't be valued or found in the world. It can't be bought and neither the living or the dead can find it.

Wisdom can only be found in God. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Solomon the wisest man on earth searched out this very matter...here is his conclusion.

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.--Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33; 19:23). When we honor Him and seek to please Him, He teaches us His wisdom and His way

James tells us that if we lack wisdom we are to ask God for it. He will give it liberally and without reproach. 

Paul tells us that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:3)

I discovered this very thing at the moment of my salvation. A veil was lifted off of my eyes and I understood that the true wisdom I needed...the true wisdom I had desired for so long...would be found in Him. All we need for life and godliness is in the Scriptures. Everything we need to know to get through this day and the next can be found in our God. Stand in awe of Him, girls.  Talk to Him and walk with Him. He is awesome. He is gracious. He is good and He will become whatever you need.  Begin and end each and every day with Him. Be desperate for Him. Search for Him and you will find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.--Deuteronomy 29:29

Love

Mom