WHEN YOU ARE IN THE EYE OF THE STORM by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Last week, I was in Israel along with some folks from Clearview and pastors and ministry leaders from North Carolina and other parts of the United States. One of the reasons for the visit was to interview Ambassador Huckabee as part of a documentary that we are producing for the 250^thAnniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. It was truly an honor to speak with him. What I appreciated the most about Ambassador Huckabee was the wisdom with which he spoke. Wisdom is in great demand in our world. In today’s message in our series on the book of Job, we’re going to learn that wisdom was also in great demand 4000 years ago (Turn to page #811 in the pew Bible). We need wisdom in our relationships, in our business decisions, in planning for the future, etc. We especially need wisdom when we’re going through trauma. True wisdom is much more than just some pithy statement or some truism. True wisdom is a person. It is the Son of God incarnated. Jesus is wisdom personified.

Job 28 (page #811) 20 “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? 21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. 22 Destruction and Death say, “We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ 23 God understands its way, And He knows its place.”

Context: As you know, the book of Job is filled with poetic dialogues. There are 3 cycles of dialogue between Job and his friends. Then, there is the Elihu speech to which Job does not respond. Then, finally, there are the 2 dialogues between God and Job. So far, we have highlighted some important points in the first two dialogues, but, today, we’re going to focus on something very interesting in the third dialogue. Before we focus on the third dialogue, keep in mind that Job is addressing some commonly held schemas in each dialogue cycle. A schema is deeply held (core) beliefs. They are like the glass windows in our house. When we face trauma, it is like a rock has gone through a window. Suddenly, we are open to the elements – wind, rain, heat, and cold. Now, we are vulnerable to birds and rodents, and even burglars. Our sense of comfort, safety, and hope for the future are shattered. This is exactly what happens to our schemas when we face trauma. When someone goes through a divorce, it is so much more than just a breakdown of a marriage. When you visit someone in the hospital, it is much more than just a quick visit with a quick word of comfort. You may be visiting someone who has lost their place in the world. When you come across someone who has lost a loved one, it could be that you are encountering someone who no longer knows who God is.

Application: How do you see people who are going through trauma? Do you take the time to pray that God will help you see which schema in their life has been shattered? Are you the one who has gone through trauma and your schema has been shattered? What you need is wisdom.

Back to the third dialogue cycle – unlike the previous two cycles, the dialogues are not going well. In fact, they are getting more heated. Job’s friends are getting more aggressive, critical, and sarcastic with Job because he’s refusing to buy into their only schema – God’s Retributive Justice, which is “Where did I go wrong that God is judging me now?” In this third cycle, Bildad only speaks 5 verses, and Zophar does not even speak at all. In other words, the conversations are break down.

Application: Have you lost some friends through trauma? Just be prepared to lose some friends when you don’t buy into their wrong advice.

So, after Bildad stops speaking in chapter 25 and Zophar seems too angry to speak, Job starts speaking in chapter 26 and speaks all the way to chapter 31! But, between chapter 27 and 29, there is a momentary respite in chapter 28. There is a sudden shift in tone and topic. Just like that, Job goes from being angry with God to calmly talking about wisdom coming from God and then goes right back to questioning God. Listen to Job 27:2 “As God lives, who has taken away my justice, And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter.” Then in Job 28:28, he says, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.” Then, in the very next chapter, Job 29:2, says, “Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me.” Many scholars have argued that Job 28 is not Job. This must be an interruption by the narrator, or someone stuck this section here by mistake. The shift is too sudden. Michelle Keener remarked that Job 28 is like finding “one random curly fry in a box of onion rings.”

 After much study, I have come to the conclusion that it is still Job speaking. When we study the book of Job from the perspective of trauma, it makes perfect sense what is going on. After having gone through what he has gone through and after taking the verbal beatings and assaults of his friends and trying to defend himself, Job is exhausted. Temporarily, he is taking a break from the extreme stress that he is going through. Marcia Webb (professor of Psychology), talking about people who have been through trauma, writes, “It is not the case that persons generally proceed in rational, orderly, sequential trajectories from the world-view shattering experience of trauma to emotional and cognitive resolution.” Job is simply taking a breather from a heated debate. Another work (Kynes and Kynes) remarked that Job is going through “the eye of the storm, a calm reprieve from a tumultuous clash.” It is the up and down of the healing process. Bottom line: Healing is messy. It is not linear. It is not logical. Everything may be bad and all of a sudden there’s good. Or everything may be good and all of a sudden there’s bad.

Application: Are you healing from trauma or do you know someone who is? Don’t think that just because they’re having a bad day that’s all’s lost. Don’t think that just because they’re having a good day that it’s fake. Good and bad days are all part of the process.

Let’s focus on what Job says in Job 28 about wisdom. The Hebrew word for wisdom is hokma. It means masterful understanding, skill or expertise. Just like someone can be skilled in art, music, government, battle, so also wisdom is skill in living. Job is telling himself and his buddies that what he really needs in his trauma is wisdom and they’re not giving him true wisdom. There are 4 things Job says about wisdom:

1. Wisdom is hidden from common view.

Job 28 (page #810) 1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined. 2 Iron is taken from the earth, And copper is smelted from ore. 3 Man puts an end to darkness, And searches every recess for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. 4 He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. 5 As for the earth, from it comes bread, But underneath it is turned up as by fire; 6 Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. 7 That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. 8 The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. 9 He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing. 11He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light. 12 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? 13 Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. 14 The deep says, “It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ 

You cannot dig deep enough and take enough risks to acquire wisdom.

2. Wisdom is priceless.

Job 28 (page #810) 15 It cannot be purchased for gold, Nor can silver be weighed for its price. 16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx or sapphire. 17 Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, For the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. 

The rich are not the happiest people…neither are the poor.

3. Wisdom is more than knowledge and experience. For us, modern age people, it is also more than science and technology.

Job 28 (page #811) 20 “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? 21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. 22 Destruction and Death say, “We have heard a report about it with our ears.’ 23 God understands its way, And He knows its place. 24 For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, 25 To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. 26 When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt, 27 Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.

The ancients had knowledge. They understood the wind, the rain, the thunder, and the forces of nature. We who live in the modern age have been able to harness nature far more than any in the past. Nevertheless, knowledge, experience, science, and technology are not wisdom. They may make our lives easier, but they still cannot give us skill in living:

• Knowledge can save a life or take a life. Wisdom tells us that life is precious.
• A GPS can take us where we need to go, but it cannot tell us which is better going to a church or going to a bar.
• The internet is a great tool, but it can take me to a live stream of this message or to a pornographic site.
• Experience can tell us that something is painful or something feels good. Childbirth is painful, but that doesn’t make it evil. Getting drunk feels good in the moment, but that doesn’t make it good.

Wisdom is much more than knowledge, experience, science, and technology.

4. Wisdom comes from God.

Job 28:28 And to man He said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

The “fear of the Lord” is not the fright of God. It is knowing who God is. It is knowing that he is all powerful. He alone has created everything, including us. He is holy. He requires a certain standard from us. He wants us to know him, and he wants to have a relationship with us. A life of wisdom is a relationship with God of trust and obedience. He helps us to evaluate what is right and best in life. He enables us to refuse settling for instant gratification and seek ultimate fulfillment. He helps us to wade through the myriads of voices and hear his voice. He helps us to face the worst storm of our life and still sail to the shore. Kynes and Kynes define wisdom as “the best way to the best end. It involves both means and ends.” Job wants to know the meaning and purpose as to why God is allowing this to happen to him. He also wants to know what is God’s next course of action for him.

Does that mean that Job just needs to fear God and shun evil and he’ll be alright? 

• Keep in mind that the book of Job is not finished. There are still several chapters where Job is going to argue his case before God. 
• Also, Job already feared God and shunned evil. This was simply an affirmation to Job that he was on the right track, and that he needs to press forward.

If you remember, twice Job called for someone: First, a mediator (one who could touch both God and man); second, a redeemer (one who would at last stand on the earth and make all things right).

True wisdom is the order behind the order. True wisdom is knowing that the order behind the order is a mediator and a redeemer. He is a person. His name is Jesus. We who live on this side of the cross have the benefit of knowing that Jesus is God’s wisdom for us:

• John 1      1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
• Colossians 1      15   He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
• Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
• 1 Corinthians 1.      22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God… 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

Jesus is wisdom incarnated. Jesus is wisdom personified. He is the order behind the order. Do you know him? If you have him, you have wisdom? If you don’t, it doesn’t matter what else you have.