The End of Darkness

I told my Aramaic professor, whose native language is Hebrew, that I was preaching through Job.

He was very surprised!

In his opinion, it is the hardest Hebrew to read and understand!

We are essentially through all the speeches by Job and his friends.

As you know, we are reorganizing the book of Job a bit.

There are many who see Chapter 28 as an INTERLUDE, a BRIDGE of sorts between all the speeches and the response from the LORD.

A main reason for this is the language of the chapter changes.

There is no identified speaker

The nature of the language changes a bit

They core message of this section is...

Darkness

That is where Job is:

Spiritual darkness

Physical darkness

Job does not understand it.

Darkness is dispelled by light.

And for Job…only God’s light can dispelled the darkness.

And God has been silent with Job.

Many can identify with that.

As such, there is this section (BRIDGE) that comes in to make us think about all we have heard so far.

For there is a mine for silver, a place for pure gold. Iron is taken from dust and stone is poured out as bronze. One puts an end to darkness, searching every mine’s end for dust in the shadow of death. In a foreign place, the miner breaks open a mine shaft in places travelers have forgotten. Dangling and swaying from humanity.

Job 28:1-4

The author is using a real description of mining to make a poignant point.

A person will do anything for silver, gold, and bronze

They will dangle on the edge

They will abandon humanity for their loot

From the earth comes bread and fire turns her over from underneath. Underneath, a place of sapphire stones and dusty gold is in it. Its path is hidden from birds of prey and the eye of the raven has not seen it. Proud children have not walked on it and no lion has prowled on it.

Job 28:5-8

This location is:

Fiery and loaded with precious stones and gold.

Birds cannot see it from above

No child can find it

No lion has seen it.

The earth, birds, and beasts don’t care about it.

But...

On the hard rock, one sends out his hand to turn over the root of mountains. He splits the craggy rock to make a shaft where his eye sees every precious thing. The miner has dammed up the river’s tears and what has been hidden is brought to light.

Job 28:9-11

SUMMARY:

A miner goes to work in the darkness, places that have, likely, NEVER been exposed to light.

NOTICE THE LIGHT AND DARK references

Even the earth, through fire, turns over precious things

Birds and beasts don’t care. They don’t see IT.

Yet a human will TURN OVER a MOUNTAIN

Work through the HARD ROCK

To find EVERY PRECIOUS THING

EVEN stopping RIVERS

TO BRING what is PRECIOUS to the LIGHT

Question:

What is precious?

(The ring…)

Perhaps you could argue that JOB cared for things that ARE REAL TREASURE:

Children

Widows

Oppressed

Foreigners

After all, that is what God tells us is precious to him.

What is MOST PRECIOUS is...

WISDOM. But...

The Wisdom, where is it found? Where is the place of understanding? A human does not know the value of its place. It cannot be found in the land of the living. The deep (tahom) says, ‘It is not with me.’ And the sea says, ‘It does not stand with me.’

Job 28:12-14

Refined gold cannot be given in its place and its price cannot be weighed out in silver. It cannot be weighed for purchase with Ophir’s gold, precious onyx or sapphires. The value of its place is not gold or crystal and a vessel of gold is not equal. Coral and jasper are forgotten, the value of Wisdom’s place is more than pearls. The topaz of Cush is not like the value of Wisdom’s place. Pure gold cannot purchase it.

Job 28:15-19

You could turn over a mountain, have all the gold and precious metals and stones in the entire world.

That would not be enough to purchase it

So where does it come from?

The Wisdom, where is it found? Where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature. It has been hidden from the birds of heaven. Destruction and Death say, “with our ears we have heard a report (about where it can be found).”

Job 28:20-22

We will return to this shortly...

God understands the way to Wisdom. He knows its place. For He looks to the end of the earth and He sees everything under the heavens. When He made the weight of the wind and used a gauge to measure the waters, when he made rules for the rain and a way for the lightening and thunder, then He saw and declared its value. He established Wisdom and searched its depths.

Job 28:23-27

And He said to the human, “Behold, the fear of the LORD is Wisdom, and turning away from evil is understanding.”

Job 28:28

Is Job in darkness?

He has searched the depths of this darkness, and the place is so dark that he cannot see the light.

Everything of any value, his relationships, his family, his wealth, have all been removed.

And for Job, you don’t see him longing for gold, silver, pearls, or precious stones.

He is not interested in it.

What has Job learned?

Money, family, land, and food are not Wisdom

And Wisdom is not a result of money, family, land, and food.

So, why can Job claim his innocence and why don’t his friends get it?

The fear of the LORD is Wisdom

Turning away from evil is understanding

Has Job done this?

YES!

Job never turned to evil (just the opposite, he does not rejoice in the destruction of his enemies)

Job did not fear God’s justice, because he knew his innocence.

Many times he declared that if he is guilty, then he feared.

Job’s FEAR is, “Who can compel the Almighty to appear?”

Who can control God?

He cannot be tamed.

He will not be bought.

God will do what God want’s to do, and nothing in creation can change that.

But God is a God of justice, and Job trusted God’s justice.

Death and Destruction have “heard a rumor” about Wisdom and its location

But we are not alone in our search.

Death and destruction are personified here. How else do you “hear a rumor”

You know what? GO HERE…GO THERE…I JUST SAW IT!

TRY THIS…TRY THAT...

THIS PERSON HAS IT…NO, THEY HAVE IT!

I HEARD A RUMOR IT WAS ON YOUTUBE, TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM

IT is in this BOOK!

I KNOW IT IS IN THIS “PERSON”, so I will LEAVE MY WIFE/HUSBAND for IT.

All the precious things are hidden in darkness

And you have to go through the darkness

Revealing light on it

To find what is precious.

People today, they try to avoid darkness at all costs.

Children are shielded from simple shadows.

But the wisdom of the author sees that Wisdom comes from the depths.

It is incumbent on us to explore life’s darkness to mine out wisdom.

Not alone…it is done with loved ones, it is done with God’s word.