In the middle of his suffering, Job worships God. So far he’s displayed his belief and trust in God, even in the face of his friends’ unbelief and accusations. Now with Chapter 28, Job lays everything aside and praises Wisdom, a characteristic of God. Throughout what some versions label as a Hymn, we see how precious Wisdom is, and if Wisdom is precious then so is the One who holds it.
Wisdom is Hidden
Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where they refine gold. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the stone ore. Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light], and to the farthest bounds he searches out the rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.
Job 28:1-3 AMP
Am I an efficient miner? Even when there is darkness surrounding me, do I search the deposit recesses for the Precious Treasure, who is God? Do I seek God to the extent that I am capable of? Or do I let the darkness deter me from Him?
Just as the earth hides precious metals, so is God hidden. The trials found in darkness, the times when God seems hidden from us, not only bring us closer to Him, they also work to refine us in the same way. When God is hidden, we have to work to find Him. That requires us pushing through whatever is coming against us and relying on our faith that He is still for us and not against and that nothing can separate us from Him. (Rom. 8:31;38-39)
[As for] the earth, out of it comes food, but underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.
Job 28:5 AMP
We may intake food (bread) and we may give it to others, but true transformation comes within our spirit by God’s Word, which burns as fire.
We are like the land, our bodies even originally from the dust of the earth, but there was no life in us until God breathed His Spirit into us. (Gen. 2:7) We can toil in earthly ways, but we will never be truly transformed until we let the fire of God burn within us.
We have to mine deeply into God’s Word, seeking out His Wisdom that comes from it, and let us transform us. We need to treat God’s Word, God Himself with all of His characteristics––what we would call the fruit of His Spirit––as a necessity, even more-so than food or water.
The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it. The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it, nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
Job 28:7-8 AMP
There is a path to God special only for humans. Animals do not need to be reconciled to God as mankind does. They have no knowledge of God in the way that we do.
Mankind is unique not only in how we were formed––with God’s own breath––but also in how we relate to God.
Do the birds question if God will take care of them? Do they question if they were created by a Being or a simple evolution? No. They also have no need to search the deep to find God and know Him in the ways that we can and do. Our relationship with God is unique to that of nature’s and so is our path to Him.
Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock; he overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].
Job 28:9 AMP
We must be relentless in our search for God, and through Him is found true Wisdom. We have to seek Him out. God knows us, He knows where we are, and He knows us in ways that others––or even ourselves––don’t. At times it won’t seem easy, that’s where we become refined and stronger in faith. Yet if we are relentless in our pursuit of God, we will draw closer to Him and in doing so, will come to know Him more.
Damming the Stream
Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine], and what is hidden he brings out to the light.
Job 28:11
“The miner dams up the streams…” This image of closing up every little trickle of water so that the miner’s treasure––that which he searches for––will not be missed or swept away.
Reading this, I asked myself the question: What do I allow in my life to trickle in?
Are there little streams of sin or ungodly influence that I allow to trickle into my life and hinder my view of the most Precious Treasure? Even a little stream can hinder us from seeing and knowing a portion of God. It can be a threat that, if left untreated, could turn into a bigger problem.
If we don’t want to miss anything of God or what He has for us then we need to work in partnership with God to dam up the streams of sin in our life. If we are in search of Wisdom then we have to work to not let the world’s “wisdom” stream in. We need to dam it up so that God’s Wisdom isn’t carried away in the way of the world’s thinking.
Not only that, but we must share the Wisdom we have uncovered with others. We are not to keep it hidden but are to bring it out to the light. Funnily enough, this verse reminds me of the song This Little Light of Mine. Yes it’s generally taken as speaking of God’s Light within us, but if we’re not hiding God’s Light then His Wisdom is part of that.
God’s Wisdom, just like everything else of God, is meant to be shared with others, believers and unbelievers alike.
But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know the value of it
Job 28:12-13
True Wisdom cannot be bought. There is no exchange note for it. It cannot be traded in the marketplace, in a store, or a warehouse.
To know and possess true Wisdom is to have the most precious thing on earth and there is only one way to truly receive it: by having a relationship with God.
God understands the way [to wisdom] and He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].
Job 28:23 AMP
God doesn’t simply have knowledge of Wisdom, He actively understands it in a way that can only be taught by Him. He lives it out and our only hope of doing the same is to be imitators of Him. (Eph. 5:1) In order to correctly imitate God, we must have a genuine relationship with God.
Active Understanding
Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He established it and searched it out. But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord––that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’
Job 28:27-28
It is not enough to simply know, or have knowledge of, but do we understand?
Anyone can speak words, but do we understand what they mean? We can sing songs of praise and recite scripture, but do we truly understand what we are saying and doing?
It’s like the difference of knowing about God and understanding what it takes to have a relationship with Him.
What is Wisdom? Worshipping God.
What is Understanding? Turning away from everything God speaks against or directs us away from. To walk wholly in the way of the Lord no matter the circumstances.
We study God’s Word to know it, then we walk it out to understand it.
I’ve come to term it for myself as active understanding. There has to be action behind it to truly understand it. To truly gain Wisdom and have it affect our lives as it should, we must actively use it. To truly have a relationship with God, coming to know Him and not just about Him, we must actively pursue Him.
We search the depths of His Word for Wisdom, for God, and once we have found Wisdom, we choose to live by it. We choose to act in God’s Wisdom over whatever worldly wisdom we previously had knowledge of or are taught.
Searching the Depths
Think of the miner again. When a vein dries up, the miner goes deeper to find more. The miner searches the depths for more and more of that precious thing which he seeks.
Now we can sit on the edges of the mine and be content with what we find there, and if we’re actively choosing to live in it then our life will be transformed in some way for the better, but we will never know more. Or we can choose to pursue the depths, fighting to gain the Wisdom we seek, the relationship with God which our inner-being craves.
Remember, Job asks, Where can wisdom be found?
If wisdom was so easy to find, it wouldn’t be a question. Think of the world’s wisdom. To find out something in the world, we can simply Google it or ask Alexa, right?
Where do we go to find true Wisdom, the kind God has searched out and declared? We start with God’s Word in written form, the Bible. However, that is not the end of Wisdom. Even the Bible has levels of Wisdom. Once again we can settle for the surface level of Wisdom, or we can choose to delve deeper to find more.
Yet God’s written Word is not His final word. He still speaks and Wisdom is still found within His Word––the Rhema Word, His Spoken Word.
There are un-mined levels of Wisdom yet to be found and they will be discovered in God’s Spoken Word.
Are we willing to continue into the depths of God and His Word to gain more relationship with Him and to gain more of His Wisdom?
We find Wisdom by pressing in closer to God, from depth to depth, glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18) We travel to the next step by walking in and gaining understanding in those hidden things we have come to know. God is a continual well, He has no end either in life or depth, and it is our choice whether we continue on searching the depths, pressing to gain more of Him and the fruit of His Spirit, or not.
Are You Willing to be a Miner of Wisdom?
Will you endure the depths, the trials, the hard work it takes to find Wisdom? And when you do, are you willing to give up the wisdom the world has taught you for something far greater?
We have the promise that if we seek, we will find. (Matt. 7:7) What we find in God is far greater than anything we could find on this earth.
As Job’s Hymn conveys, Wisdom, and God, are far more precious than any earthly treasure.
Above My Waves 
Leave a Reply