#10. Job 28-31 | Is There A "Proverbs 31" for Men? + The Beginning of Wisdom

Speaker: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Dwelling Place.

2

: 00:00:02

With all you have going on, I'm so

thankful that you're still choosing to

3

: 00:00:05

make the Lord and his word a priority.

4

: 00:00:07

I'm Stephanie Hickox from Entrusted

Ministries and I am praying we would

5

: 00:00:10

be transformed by this process.

6

: 00:00:12

We're gonna continue in the Book of

Job, and we only have a few more days

7

: 00:00:15

in this book of the Bible I read today

from Mark Dever that the theme of this

8

: 00:00:19

book is we often suffer, we sometimes

understand, we can always trust.

9

: 00:00:25

What a phenomenal summary.

10

: 00:00:26

I'll say that again.

11

: 00:00:27

We often suffer, we sometimes

understand, we can always trust.

12

: 00:00:32

And the reason we can trust is that we

serve an all wise, all powerful God.

13

: 00:00:36

Today we'll hear some lengthy speeches

from Job that elevate the wisdom of God

14

: 00:00:40

Above all else, he says, we can't really

know the mind of God for he alone is wise.

15

: 00:00:46

I really like this definition of wisdom

from the W Cliff Bible commentary.

16

: 00:00:49

A man begins to be wise when

he ceases to strive for wisdom

17

: 00:00:53

independently of God and his own power.

18

: 00:00:55

I agree that humility is part of the

process of learning anything, but

19

: 00:00:59

particularly to walking in wisdom.

20

: 00:01:01

When I read this next part in my Moody

commentary, I felt a little bit naive, but

21

: 00:01:05

it says that Chapter 28 is the literary

and theological heart of the book.

22

: 00:01:09

Hmm.

23

: 00:01:09

It made me feel a little foolish,

like, how did I miss that?

24

: 00:01:12

But also the book ends with like

four chapters of God talking,

25

: 00:01:16

so I've obviously always thought

that that was the highlight.

26

: 00:01:19

Reading their thoughts on it made me press

in a little bit to the reason that this

27

: 00:01:23

chapter is elevated as being so pivotal,

28

: 00:01:25

and I think that they would

all say that this chapter

29

: 00:01:27

summarizes the entire book of job.

30

: 00:01:30

The first portion describes how amazing

humans can be, how hard they'll work,

31

: 00:01:34

the dangerous things that they'll

do to find a way to get something

32

: 00:01:37

that's valuable or to conquer a feet.

33

: 00:01:39

But as amazing as humans can be, they

cannot find wisdom in and of themselves.

34

: 00:01:44

It's from the hand of God, even

though Job and his friends have

35

: 00:01:47

sought to understand God throughout

the book, here we are 28 chapters

36

: 00:01:51

in and we're at a stalemate.

37

: 00:01:52

They've not reached an agreement

and they still haven't uncovered

38

: 00:01:55

the real reason for job's suffering.

39

: 00:01:57

Let me read you a portion from

chapter 28, beginning in verse

40

: 00:02:01

12, describing the wisdom of God.

41

: 00:02:03

But where shall wisdom be found and

where is the place of understanding man

42

: 00:02:07

does not know it's worth and it is

not found in the land of the living.

43

: 00:02:11

The deep says, it is not in me, and

the sea says, it is not with me.

44

: 00:02:16

It cannot be bought for gold and

silver cannot be weighed as its price.

45

: 00:02:20

It cannot be valued in the gold of aur.

46

: 00:02:22

In precious onyx or sapphire, gold

and glass cannot equal it, nor can it

47

: 00:02:27

be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

48

: 00:02:29

No mention shall be made

of coral or of crystal.

49

: 00:02:32

The price of wisdom is far above pearls.

50

: 00:02:35

The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal

it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.

51

: 00:02:40

From where then does wisdom come and

where is the place of understanding?

52

: 00:02:44

It is hidden from the eyes of all living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

53

: 00:02:48

Abbadon and death say, we have

heard a rumor of it with our ears.

54

: 00:02:51

God understands the way to it and he

knows its place for he looks to the end

55

: 00:02:56

of the earth and sees everything under

the heavens When he gave to the wind

56

: 00:03:00

its weight and apportioned the waters by

measure, when he made a decree for the

57

: 00:03:04

rain and away for the lightning of the

thunder, then he saw it and declared it.

58

: 00:03:08

He established it and searched it

out, and he said to man, behold, the

59

: 00:03:12

fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to

turn away from evil is understanding.

60

: 00:03:18

Jesus affirmed the value of

wisdom and the kingdom of heaven.

61

: 00:03:21

In Matthew 13, verse 44, Jesus

begins, the kingdom of heaven is like

62

: 00:03:26

treasure hidden in a field which a man

found and covered up then in his joy.

63

: 00:03:31

He goes and sells all that he

has and buys that field again.

64

: 00:03:35

The kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant

in search of fine pearls, who on finding

65

: 00:03:39

one piece of great value, went and

sold all that he had and bought it.

66

: 00:03:44

Scripture tells us exactly what the

beginning of wisdom is in Psalm 1 11 10.

67

: 00:03:49

The fear of the Lord is

the beginning of wisdom.

68

: 00:03:51

All those who practice it

have a good understanding.

69

: 00:03:54

In Proverbs one, seven, the fear of

the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

70

: 00:03:58

Fools despise wisdom and instruction,

and the entire book of Ecclesiastes

71

: 00:04:02

ends with the conclusion in chapter

12, verse 13, with the end of

72

: 00:04:06

the matter, all has been heard.

73

: 00:04:09

Fear God and keep his commandments

for this is the whole duty of man.

74

: 00:04:13

For God will bring every deed

into judgment with every secret

75

: 00:04:16

thing, whether good or evil.

76

: 00:04:18

Repeatedly we hear the fear of the

Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

77

: 00:04:21

This is a concept we can more easily grasp

as adults, but how do you teach about

78

: 00:04:25

the fear of the Lord with young children?

79

: 00:04:27

I love the analogy that Betsy,

the founder of Entrusted

80

: 00:04:30

Ministries, uses to explain it.

81

: 00:04:31

She says, it's like the ocean, that

when you stand and you see the powerful

82

: 00:04:35

waves and the tide rolling in, you

have a healthy reverence for it.

83

: 00:04:38

You know how powerful it is.

84

: 00:04:40

You understand how vast it is.

85

: 00:04:42

And wisdom is required to be safe

near it, but we can also think of

86

: 00:04:45

the joy that we have near the ocean.

87

: 00:04:47

That healthy fear that makes us

interact with it wisely, but it

88

: 00:04:51

shouldn't prevent us from drawing

near and enjoying its blessings.

89

: 00:04:54

Just as we need water to

live, we need the Lord.

90

: 00:04:56

When our fears are rightly

ordered, we realize that actually

91

: 00:05:00

his presence brings peace.

92

: 00:05:02

Proverbs 31 is a well-known chapter

to talk about what a godly woman looks

93

: 00:05:05

like, but I recently heard that my Uncle

David uses Job 31 as he's discipling men.

94

: 00:05:10

In this chapter, we see a series

of if then statements as we

95

: 00:05:14

continue job talking about how he's

innocent, as if in a court of law.

96

: 00:05:18

This was actually a protocol at that

time and a common procedure for court to

97

: 00:05:22

give these if then statements as oaths.

98

: 00:05:24

He's claiming his innocence in many ways.

99

: 00:05:27

Initially.

100

: 00:05:27

He talks about his purity and the purity

of his eyes to honor his covenant.

101

: 00:05:31

He goes on to say he has

not lied or deceived next.

102

: 00:05:34

He has not been enticed by a woman or been

unfaithful to his wife, then he has not

103

: 00:05:39

treated his servants unfairly knowing that

they were also knit together by the Lord.

104

: 00:05:44

He rebukes materialism as he states that

he has not made gold his trust, and then

105

: 00:05:49

he has not rejoiced at his enemy's ruin

or concealed transgression in his heart.

106

: 00:05:53

And finally, that he has been honest.

107

: 00:05:55

In all of his business dealings.

108

: 00:05:57

If you're raising young men, this might

be a great passage to look at and think

109

: 00:06:01

about what would be some modern parallels,

110

: 00:06:04

as I mentioned yesterday, we

should be transformed when we

111

: 00:06:07

read God's word to love others.

112

: 00:06:09

That idea is affirmed

throughout the Bible.

113

: 00:06:11

Interestingly, in the ancient

Eastern world, this is actually

114

: 00:06:14

how they measured someone's virtue.

115

: 00:06:16

It was their treatment of the weakest

and most vulnerable people in society.

116

: 00:06:20

God deeply cares that we have

eyes to see those around us.

117

: 00:06:23

And in chapter 29 and 30.

118

: 00:06:24

Job tells us that he went beyond the

standards that were required of him

119

: 00:06:28

to honor those that society often

forgets, whether it's the fatherless,

120

: 00:06:32

the widows, the orphans, the poor, the

disabled, those sick and near death.

121

: 00:06:37

It's possible that some of these

activities that job did were indicative

122

: 00:06:41

that he was the mayor of his area.

123

: 00:06:43

In any case, job rightly understood that

righteousness is tied to how we rightly

124

: 00:06:48

treat those made in the image of God.

125

: 00:06:50

If we ever think that God's goal is just

holiness in our homes, forgive us Lord,

126

: 00:06:55

let's look outward and teach

our children to do the same.

127

: 00:06:58

Not only does job feel abandoned by his

friends and by all else in his life,

128

: 00:07:02

he feels abandoned by God right now.

129

: 00:07:04

I've had moments I've needed to

wrestle through that feeling as well.

130

: 00:07:07

In one particular instance,

131

: 00:07:08

I had a baby on an ambulance stretcher,

and instead of my medical team

132

: 00:07:12

coming with me as they had promised

they would, they left at the time.

133

: 00:07:16

It felt so painful that I was abandoned

by these people that I had trusted.

134

: 00:07:20

But as the Lord helped me process

it, he showed me that he was with me

135

: 00:07:23

every step of the way, even though

I couldn't sense it at the time.

136

: 00:07:26

I hope that whatever you're going

through right now, and even if you don't

137

: 00:07:29

feel the nearness of the Lord, that

you can persevere knowing that he is

138

: 00:07:34

Wise, in perfect Heavenly Father, we're

grateful for your nearness, but we also

139

: 00:07:39

ask that you would help us to understand

your holiness and that we would revere

140

: 00:07:42

you with all that we are, help us not

to take for granted your availability

141

: 00:07:47

that every time we open our mouths or

our hearts to pray that you hear us.

142

: 00:07:51

I ask that we would have eyes to

see those we can serve and that

143

: 00:07:55

we could model this for our kids.

144

: 00:07:57

When we have extra financially,

may we think of who we can bless

145

: 00:08:00

over how we could spend as job

said, I did not eat my food alone.

146

: 00:08:04

And if there are those that would be

blessed by us opening our homes for

147

: 00:08:07

a meal or by sharing our provision,

148

: 00:08:09

lord give us capacity to be hospitable and

to serve others even though we're often

149

: 00:08:14

weary just from serving our own families.

150

: 00:08:17

Job said, I searched out the

cause of him whom I did not know.

151

: 00:08:21

In a day and age when there's so

much information available to us

152

: 00:08:24

and so many causes, give us wisdom

and clarity about where we can

153

: 00:08:28

make an impact for your kingdom.

154

: 00:08:29

May we not be pulled in every direction,

but guide us with your spirit toward

155

: 00:08:33

the causes where you desire us to act.

156

: 00:08:36

Help us to mind for wisdom and

make it our greatest treasure.

157

: 00:08:39

I particularly pray for the young men

that they would follow in job's, steps

158

: 00:08:44

in purity and righteousness, generosity

and kindness, that they would walk up

159

: 00:08:48

rightly just as you did on this earth.

160

: 00:08:50

Jesus, it's in your name that we pray it.

161

: 00:08:52

Amen.

162

: 00:08:54

Speaking of walking in wisdom and

young men walking in righteousness, we

163

: 00:08:58

have a phenomenal interview with Emily

and Jake Dio on the Again podcast.

164

: 00:09:02

Coming up on Thursday this week,

Emily and Jake share a testimony

165

: 00:09:06

of raising their son, and they

are gonna fill you with hope.

166

: 00:09:09

If you're a mom parenting, a kid that's

impulsive, aggressive, struggling

167

: 00:09:13

academically, or can't seem to keep

their hands off of everything, Jake

168

: 00:09:17

and Emily rewrite the script of the

A DHD diagnosis and Jake even shares

169

: 00:09:21

his experience and how looking back

he realized that that's also how

170

: 00:09:25

God made him and how he's seen it.

171

: 00:09:27

Benefit him I hope you

can join us for that too.