Job’s Reply to Bildad   (26:1 – 31:40) — continued

28:1-11
Job compared his search for wisdom to a prospector’s search for silver and gold. A prospector risks his life to uncover treasures so hidden in the earth that not even the beasts have seen it.

28:12-22
Job said that a man does not find wisdom by digging shafts deep into the earth, nor can he purchase it with precious stones at a market. No earthly creature knows where wisdom can be found, and Abaddon and Death can only report rumors about it. Wisdom cannot be purchased in the market-place nor found in the abode of the dead.

28:23-28
Job declared that God, who established the wind and waves and thunderstorms, is the source of wisdom. God has revealed what wisdom is (28:28): “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.” To fear the Lord is to be filled with awe and reverence for Him, to take Him seriously. This fear leads to both the hatred and avoidance of evil. Job understood that only God’s wisdom (not that of his friends) could help him face his perplexing situation.