Wisdom Wednesday: The Wisdom of the Early Believers
Part 1 The Wisdom of Job
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:1) NASB 95
We now begin a series of weekly studies examining the wisdom theme among the earliest believers in the Bible, beginning with Job. So, we are looking at what the Scripture says about some men who lived between 2000-2500 BC, and their concept of the world. We must remember:
- They lived in an agrarian society, raising plants and animals to survive.
- They were married and their wives and their own faith were instrumental in these men’s lives; they were family men whose children are recorded.
- They had no written Scripture but were in awe of the Creation and its Creator.
- They perhaps had an oral tradition of the Flood, and, before that, of the pre-flood civilization and its created ancestors, Adam and Eve.
We study each man very briefly to see what Scripture says about their fear of the Lord (the first principle of wisdom) and the wisdom (and foolishness) recorded about their life.
Job was a man who was most likely living during the period of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in the place called Uz, which scholars place in the region of Edom, south of the Dead Sea. Perhaps Job was a contemporary of Abraham and Melchizedek, living in the same general area.
We summarize some aspects of Job’s wisdom.
- Job feared God – Job was a wealthy man and a godly, respected leader (1:2-4). God referred to Job as unique among men and God’s servant, “… there is no one like him moving on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Job 1:8; 2:3.
- Job valued the wisdom from God – Job recognized that God’s wisdom is highly prized and to be sought after in life. Chapter 28 is an entire speech on the subject. He concluded, “And to man [God] said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.” Job 28:28.
- Job endured challenges to his Faith – Job’s friends came to comfort him (2:11-13) and then in the following chapters challenged him, seeking the cause of his suffering in his own behavior. Job challenged them, asserting God is the only truly wise Person (12:13), and denounced the wisdom of some of the accusations they posed to him. (chapter 26)
- Job foolishly faltered in questioning and challenging God – in his suffering, Job wished he had never existed (chapter 3), and he did question God’s actions in his own suffering and in the suffering he observed in the world. (Chapters 7,10, 23-24)
- Job wisely learned and humbled himself – but after God spoke (chapters 38-41), Job realized his failure and repented in 42:1-6. He told the Lord, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:5–6.
- Job’s wise and steadfast hope in Seeing God, His Redeemer – Job asserted his faith that he believed his Redeemer lives, and the redeemer will stand on the earth at the last, and that Job himself will see God with his own eyes, even after his body has decayed. (Job 19:25–27)
In the momentous chapters 38-41 where God speaks to Job, challenging him to realize that things that only God can do, He asks Job if he can command the lightning: “Can you send forth lightnings that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are’?” (38:35) and God immediately follows up by asking, “Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or given understanding to the mind? (38:36).
It is God alone that gives wisdom to know Him, and His ways. Perhaps each strike of lightening in the ancient Near East reminded Job that it is God alone who imparts wisdom and understanding to those who Fear God and turn to Him.