I am thinking of a poem that is often overlooked. But first, what triggered the thought? My wife and I were enchanted recently. In a local and expensive jeweler’s shop we examined a bejewelled model of a crystal chasm, where miniature silver miners worked at a precious rock face, suspended on silver threads, with picks and hammers and buckets.
This memory sprang to mind clearly when I read Job 28 again. Let us have a look at it.
It is a remarkable poem about workers in the dark bowels of the earth, working under dangerous conditions to collect the treasures hidden there. Poetry gives us more than words. We scan compressed phrases, and then imagination adds to and fills the gaps. The NIV is clearer than the AV here:
“Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft, in places forgotten by the foot of man; far from men he dangles and sways… No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon’s eye has seen it. Proud beasts do not set foot on it, and no lion prowls there. Man’s hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains. He tunnels through the rock; his eyes see all its treasures. He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light” (Job 28:4,7-11).
Today also many people risk and lose their lives for treasure they will not use, but the poet makes a leap here which reveals much to us. From one kind of riches he moves to another kind of riches altogether:
“But where can wisdom be found?… The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver” (vv 12,14,15).
With this we compare other passages, from the Psalms:
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psa 139:6-8).
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Psa 73:25).
Back to the mine. Who wore those jewels? Who made and wound the rope? What did they eat? How far did they travel? Were they slaves, or prisoners? Were they cared for, these miners who dangled in space, in the flickering dark, invisible to those on the surface above?
Remember the backroom people we don’t see, cleaners, couriers, rubbish collectors — who work sewing our clothes, gathering and processing our food, and stocking it on shelves, assembling our computers and mobile phones? Who makes the trinkets we wear and display and use?
The author Dale Carnegie wrote of making new friends by noticing them. “Say to the shoeshine boy, ‘How’s the family?’ Say to the lift-boy [the elevator operator], ‘Thanks and have a good day’. ” They also are a part of us, and we are a part of them.
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Wisdom, we learn, is often found in the depths of silence, whereas foolishness can be revealed in extended and superficial talking — as seen in Job’s friends. We should be careful lest we take over their role in our turn, by extensively reviewing their faults.
The book of Proverbs considers ‘wisdom’ consistently throughout.
“Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed. By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew” (Prov 3:13-20).
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding” (Prov 4: 5-7).
“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad” (Prov 23:15).
“Get wisdom?” How is this possible? It is like the rainbow; we can’t grasp it, and hold it. But we can observe it.
“If your heart is wise…” How do we behave wisely? Can we be wise on command? ‘Now I am wise!’
We cannot be wise by choosing to be so. But slowly, like fruit on the tree, wisdom may grow, almost unnoticed. The “fruits of the Spirit”, like the attributes of “love” described in 1 Corinthians 13, are a measure and a model of our character.
More than an accumulation of knowledge, “wisdom” is a skill we may learn. Ever so slowly, we gain insights into God’s ways, and then we apply the lessons in our daily lives. Perhaps others may discern wisdom in us, even if we do not see it.
Wisdom is something like happiness. We can’t grasp it, but it’s a result, a byproduct, of our outlook, our way of life. Like a butterfly that flutters before us — we reach for it, we lose sight of it, and then there it is on our shoulder. Others may be aware of it before we are.
Regarding his own citizenship, the Roman captain said to Paul, “With a great sum obtained I this freedom” (Acts 22:28). May we paraphrase him?: ‘At great expense obtained I this wisdom.’ For we find it not all at once, but over a lifetime, through many and varied experiences. It may cost us our lives, so to speak, before it can be “bought”. Then also, as Paul himself says, “God has made foolish the wisdom of this world” (1Co 1:20), and if this is so, then perhaps also those who are “foolish” in the things of this world may find true “wisdom” in God. That would be a relief.
How can we begin, and continue, this journey of redemption which is our life? Again, we go back to Job 28:
“The fear of the Lord — that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding” (v 28).
So it had been said of Job himself from the beginning:
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).
It’s clear that Job was well on the way to wisdom when his troubles began; we might forget that when we consider him.
“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!” (Prov 16:16).
We have two tempting invitations:
- The Lady ‘Wisdom’ invites us to her house with seven pillars (Prov 9:1): “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (v 10). To “fear God” is to give Him reverence. “If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you” (v 12).
- The Woman ‘Folly’ also invites us, but her guests are on their way to the grave (Prov 9:13-18).
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever!” (Rom 11:33-36).
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic 6:8).
Will we go on a quest? Should we make another vain resolution? How do we find wisdom?
Job was a man who feared God and shunned evil; he was blameless and upright; he was knowledgable and wise. Yet even he finally had to conclude: ‘What do I really know? I can only leave it all in God’s care.’
Thinking on these lines, I came across this following statement, from the French philosopher Marcel Proust: “We cannot be taught wisdom. We have to discover it for ourselves by a journey which no one can undertake for us, an effort which no one can spare us.”
I see a cameo of Jesus and ourselves here. For all our seeking there is a space within us only Jesus can fill. Without him, we will search endlessly and in vain. These days God speaks through His Son, offering us the gospel of the Kingdom. Paul writes to the Colossian brethren, and to us, remarkable words — dense, close-packed words:
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2,3).
In our mind’s eye we go back to the miniature silver miners, hanging precariously on little silver threads, giving their lives to seek precious riches. Now we know who they really are. They are us:
“Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honoured his name. ‘They will be mine,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession [my jewels: KJV]. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him’ ” (Mal 3:16,17).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One