Day 1,161: Job 25&26- The Wisdom Of God

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2     “Dominion and fear are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
3     Is there any number to his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?
4     How then can man be in the right before God?
How can he who is born of woman be pure?
5     Behold, even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
6     how much less man, who is a maggot,
and the son of man, who is a worm!”
26 Then Job answered and said:
2     “How you have helped him who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
3     How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4     With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?
5     The dead tremble
under the waters and their inhabitants.
6     Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.
7     He stretches out the north over the void
and hangs the earth on nothing.
8     He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not split open under them.
9     He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads over it his cloud.
10    He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11    The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
12    By his power he stilled the sea;
by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
13    By his wind the heavens were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14    Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
 
Meditation
Yesterday we encountered a neighbor crying, an only child whose father and mother recently died, husband of several decades left her for another woman, and whose finances are spiraling to the extent she is worried about losing her home. We listened to her, prayed for her, and longed with her for a day when sin will be fully redeemed and death will be no more.
 
The wisdom of God is the only comfort for people navigating pain and problems of our fallen world.
 
Bildad’s speech makes one point that is introduced with praising God for His sovereignty and purity. Couched in theologically friendly language, Bilad’s theological system is bankrupt because it has no power to save or strengthen. Emphatically condemning Job’s desire to stand before God, this self-righteous system has no margin for grace or place for a heavenly mediator.
 
Job’s response begins with sarcasm, shredding the system that offers no saving wisdom. True wisdom offers a solution to evil and suffering, strength to endure from God’s sovereign grace. Celebrating the absolute sovereignty of God, Job understands there is a wisdom superseding human understanding. Job joins the prophets in searching for wisdom from God that will bring salvation (1 Peter 1:10).
 
The cross of Christ is the ultimate revelation of God’s wisdom and power (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). To long for a day when sin is redeemed and death is no more, Christian hope is focused on the finished work of Jesus who died and rose again!
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why do we settle with Bildad in embracing a self-righteous system that believes bad things happen to bad people and there is no hope to stand before God who will punish our badness?
 
-Where do you join Job in longing to know the wisdom of God that has the power to save?
 
-How does your hope solidify and faith strengthen when you look to the cross and empty tomb of Jesus, where sin was atoned for and death was defeated?
 
Key Verses
25:4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?... 26:14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”