Monday, August 28, 2017

August 28

Job 28:1-30:31; 2 Corinthians 2:12-17; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 22:7

I was all set to write a post on Psalm 42...only to realize that I've already done that!  (See February 26, if you're interested.)  At least I'm consistent in being moved by certain portions of Scripture.

So we'll have to settle for some thoughts on Job instead.  

Isn't chapter 28 interesting?  After all this pain and confusion and self-defense and pleading and even anger, Job breaks off to deliver a soliloquy on wisdom.  If you lifted this chapter from its location in Job and inserted it lock, stock, and barrel into Proverbs, it feels like no one would be the wiser.  

"Where can wisdom be found?  Where does understanding dwell?" (Job 28:12) is the question answered by Proverbs 1:20 ("Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares") and 8:1 ("Does not wisdom call out?  Does not understanding raise her voice?").  Job wonders how a person finds wisdom, and Proverbs responds that wisdom desires to be found and even gives specific ways to gain said wisdom (see Pr. 9:10, 10:19, 13:10, 17:28, among many others).

"It cannot be bought with the finest of gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver" (Job 28:15).  Echoes again of Proverbs - "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver" (Pr. 16:16) and "[wisdom] is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold" (3:14).

And the listings in Job 28:16-19 of onyx, sapphires, crystal, coral, jasper, rubies, and topaz?  Proverbs repeats the rubies (Pr. 3:15 and 8:11). The value of wisdom is indisputable: priceless, superlative, outrageously and exceedingly costly.

It's days like this one where I realize anew just how interconnected all of Scripture is - years and distance and culture separate this chapter of Job from the collections in Proverbs, and yet the thoughts are so similar.  Such an amazing book our God has given to us.


- Sarah Marsh

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