Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Relationships and Religion
Where Can Wisdom Be Found? With God!

Where Can Wisdom Be Found? With God!

Last updated on: November 5, 2024 at 10:39 am by Rick Rice

0 Comments

Where Can Wisdom Be Found? With God! 2024-11-05T10:39:01-05:00 Rick Rice

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash

We live in the “Information Age” – we can find out anything on the internet with the click of a button. But where can wisdom be found? With God!

Scripture:

Job, chapters 28-29; Galatians, chapters 1-2

Job 28:12-28 (CEB):

But wisdom, where can it be found; where is the place of understanding? Humankind doesn’t know its value; it isn’t found in the land of the living. The Deep says, “It’s not with me”; the Sea says, “Not alongside me!” It can’t be bought with gold; its price can’t be measured in silver, can’t be weighed against gold from Ophir, with precious onyx or lapis lazuli. Neither gold nor glass can compare with it; she can’t be acquired with gold jewelry. Coral and jasper shouldn’t be mentioned; the price of wisdom is more than rubies. Cushite topaz won’t compare with her; she can’t be set alongside pure gold.

But wisdom, where does she come from? Where is the place of understanding? She’s hidden from the eyes of all the living, concealed from birds of the sky. Destruction and Death have said, “We’ve heard a report of her.”

God understands her way; he knows her place; for he looks to the ends of the earth and surveys everything beneath the heavens. In order to weigh the wind, to prepare a measure for waters, when he made a decree for the rain, a path for thunderbolts, then he observed it, spoke of it, established it, searched it out, and said to humankind: “Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; turning from evil is understanding.”

Observations: Where Can Wisdom Be Found?

In the midst of his petition for God to hear his case, Job comes to a question: Where can wisdom be found? Certainly not in the words of his “friends,” for they continue to roll out the same old platitudes and proverbs. Their “wisdom” comes from their flawed observations of a limited part of God’s creation. Those observations are flawed because they are tainted by their preconceived notions of what is true. “What do you know that we don’t know; what do you understand that isn’t among us?” (Job 15:9). They are unwilling to listen to anything that doesn’t fit their narrative.

Job is not so close-minded. He recognizes that there is much that he doesn’t know, that no one can explain. Wisdom is not found in the land of the living. It is not among the dead, either (that’s what the phrase The Deep says, “It’s not with me” means in verse 14). Wisdom cannot be bought, as though it were a commodity. People search, thinking that they can find it, but she’s hidden from the eyes of all the living.

God Understands Her Way

But the quest for wisdom is not hopeless; God understands her way. And because God understands wisdom, and knows where it can be found, we too can find it. God observed it, spoke of it, established it, searched it out, and said to humankind, “Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; turning from evil is understanding.”

Application: Where Can Wisdom Be Found? With God!

“But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask” (James 1:5). That’s what Job means when he says that the fear of the Lord is wisdom. To “fear” the Lord is to acknowledge Him as God, as Sovereign of the universe. From the beginning, sin has involved our attempts to obtain knowledge apart from God. “God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5, emphasis added).

“Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds people up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge makes us arrogant because we can acquire knowledge through our own efforts. And the more we come to know, the more arrogant we become – unless we remember that God is the source of all knowledge. And that’s what wisdom reminds us. The fear of the Lord is wisdom. In fact, Paul goes on in the next verse of 1 Corinthians 8 and says, “If anyone thinks they know something, they don’t yet know as much as they should know” (8:2).

The more we search for wisdom apart from God, the more frustrated we get – because only God can give us wisdom. But when we search for wisdom with God, He gives it to us! And He gives it to us by telling us “which way to go.” Seeking our own way leads to destruction; seeking God’s way brings life. As Job closes today’s passage: turning from evil is understanding. Wisdom helps us to see that God’s way is the only way!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for reminding us that wisdom can only be found in You. Thank You also for the promise that when we ask You for wisdom, You give it to us. Help us to continue to seek Your wisdom, and to put it into practice each day by walking in Your way. “The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice, doesn’t stand on the road of sinners, and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. Instead of doing those things, these persons love the Lord’s Instruction, and they recite God’s Instruction day and night!” (Psalm 1:1-2). Amen.

Evangelical

History and Religion

Spiritual Formation

God gives wisdom to all who ask

knowledge

Knowledge is not the same as wisdom

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Where Can Wisdom Be Found

Wisdom

Previous Post

November 4, 2024

Who Can Understand God? We Only See the "Outer Fringe"

Next Post

November 6, 2024 The "Weak and Worthless World System" or "Children of God"?

What is the biblical view of work?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Work hard as for the Lord Avoid work Only kings should work Work is a curse