Sermon Tone Analysis

The Quest for Wisdom

The Quest for Wisdom

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From chapter 4, all the way until chapter 27, Job has been in a back and forth dialogue with his three so-called friends.

They came supposedly to comfort him in his unspeakable suffering - but have ended up lecturing him, insulting him, mocking him and just plain, ripping him apart in their attempts to persuade him that the reason he is suffering is HIS FAULT - he has done something sinful, something wrong - and now he’s suffering the consequences.

It “HAS TO BE” this way, because that’s the way God set up the universe.

Job has been defending himself - and the discussion has gone nowhere except deeper and deeper into argument.

The exchanges get hotter and hotter.

In chapter 28, Job is responding again to one of the friends.

This time, it’s Bildad.

Bildad took another run at him in chapter 25, but ran out of steam after 5 verses.

The last thing he said was that ‘man is a maggot and the son of man is a worm’.

Job’s response to Bildad starts in ch.

26 and continues on in chapter 27.

But then chapter 28 comes and it stands alone.

It’s a poem - a poem specifically about wisdom.

And it reminds us very much of some of the other parts of Wisdom literature in the Bible - it sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes and some sections of the book of Proverbs.

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The theme of the whole chapter can be summed up in v. 12, “But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?” “Where can I find wisdom?”

And that really is the theme of the entire book of Job: “How can I make sense of the world, when MY LIFE doesn’t make any sense?”

Job is about the search for wisdom - - “where can I get answers for the pain that I’m enduring?”

That’s a question some of you are asking.

When you are suffering – there is NOTHING more important for you to know than this: “Is there a reason for this pain?

Is there meaning here?”

Job has lost everything: business, money, retirement plans, house … his children.

His friends come along and give him their conclusion - - you’ve sinned.

Job says, ‘No I haven’t’ - holds fast to his integrity.

Not that he is free from sin - but he is a godly man - that’s not his conclusion … that’s God’s verdict on him.

It’s what God said to Satan before this all began - “Have you seen my servant Job? - BLAMELESS and UPRIGHT!”

This is the godliest man in the entire world.

But here he is, sitting in the garbage dump, scraping his pussing sores with the shards of broken pots … homeless, suffering – alone – - the heavens are silent.

God hasn’t said a word to him.

All he can see is his suffering, while his friends are nattering their empty advice to him.

He’s looking for an explanation - a metanarrative - big picture view of the way things are - the world, the universe - to makes sense of everything.

A metan. that puts, not just parts, but the WHOLE together.

Why is the universe the way it is?

What’s the explanation - - when God seems far away?

That’s the experience of some of you.

You are suffering.

You cry out to God in your pain.

Lord, WHY?

And you feel like heaven is silent.

You feel as though God isn’t answering you.

All you can hear is the echo of your own prayers bouncing back at you from the ceiling and crashing at your feet.

And you need an answer.

Is there wisdom that makes sense of this all?

1 THE QUEST FOR TREASURE, vv.

1-11

Job begins chapter 28 on a mining expedition.

Describes digging down beneath the surface of the earth.

Verse 1, “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.

(2) Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore ...”

Verse 3, “Man puts an end to darkness and searches out to the farthest limit … the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

(4) He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives …

Verse 5 - “As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

(6) Its stones are the place of sapphires and it has dust of gold.”

On the surface of the earth, you pluck up the grain and you can make bread.

Bread is important.

You need bread to live … but you don’t see it as a treasure - there’s plenty of it.

It’s easy to access – growing there in the fields, before your eyes.

But under the ground - that’s where the treasure is … that’s where you find the sapphires, gold … jewels and precious metals.

Some of you come from large families - and you have known some special challenges in your life.

I didn’t.

Growing up, it was just my sister and me.

She was a girl, I was a boy (obviously); she was almost 6 years younger, didn’t eat a ton and had different tastes than I do.

What that meant, was that when mom brought home some of my favorite food treats … they were pretty safe.

I could leave them in the open and they would be there for me to eat, whenever I cared to come back for them.

Well, I’ve heard the horror stories from some of you - that you didn’t grow up with that kind of safety.

And now, I have three boys - - three big boys - who definitely like to eat … AND, to make it worse - they have almost exactly the same tastes in food as I do.

What that means is that when some kind of treat comes into the house … if it’s left in the open and not consumed IMMEDIATELY - the next time I walk into the kitchen - - - it will be gone.

It’s as if there’s a built in vacuum cleaner that comes out, as soon as I walk out of the kitchen … and it sucks up every morsel of treats that are there.

And what THAT means is, if I want to enjoy a treat for myself, and I can’t eat it right away ....

It MUST BE HIDDEN.

And the boys aren’t dumb, either.

So it has to be hidden in a GOOD spot.

just hiding something in the back of the fridge isn’t good enough - it’ll be found.

Hiding it in my sock drawer - not good enough.

And, if the treat is something perishable - not very practical (Don’t think I haven’t tried though).

To be a good enough hiding spot, we’re talking serious vigilance and creativity here - we’re talking about transferring packages, camouflaging containers - cheesecake in an old cottage cheese container … this is serious business (unfortunately, I’ve just given away my secrets.

That’s it for treats for me).

If it’s a food treasure in my house, you know that it’s going to be hidden … and if someone’s going to get it, they are going to have to go on a mining expedition to find it.

That’s why humans dig for treasure.

Verse 9, “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots.”

Job is pointing to man’s creativity and great technological achievements in getting at precious treasures underneath the earth - - - “overturns mountains by the roots.”

‘sapphires and gold’ are down there.

V. 7, “That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

(8) The proud beasts have not trodden it, the lion has not passed over it.”

The greatest hunters in the animal kingdom - the falcon, hunting with its speed … did you know that a falcon is the fastest animal in the world - clocked at 242 mph?

Oh but the falcon hasn’t seen the treasures under the earth.

The jewels we mine for are hidden from it.

The lion may be considered the ‘king of the beasts’, but lions don’t know how to hunt for treasure in the ground.

Humans have found it.

Even in Job’s day - mining was an important industry.

V. 11, “(Humans) dam up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.”

Human ingenuity (given by God) has done this.

BUT - - he asks in V. 12, “Where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?” “Where can I mine for wisdom?”

2. THE ELUSIVE QUEST, vv.

12-19

WHERE CAN I FIND WISDOM?!!! That’s what Job is crying out to know?

Verses 12-19 describe Job’s quest for wisdom.