Remarkable History

Remarkable history.  Job may be one of the oldest books in the Bible, if not the oldest.  However, have you ever stopped to consider some of the practical things that are being described.  For example, Job is speaking about mining.  The discussion is about a mine for silver, a place where gold is refined, and that copper is smelted for ore (Job 28:1).  Then there is a description about cutting a shaft to mine (v.4) and that the mine probes the deepest recesses for ore in gloomy places (v.3).  This is fascinating for me to think about.  With what tools did they cut the shaft, and with what tools did they mine?  I guess sometimes, in my mind, I think about mining coming much later in history, and to think about how long mining has been around just seems remarkable to me.  The point of Job’s discussion on mining was to communicate and illustrate the importance of wisdom.  The price of wisdom is far beyond what could be mined from the earth (v.18).  Wisdom, like the gold and silver beneath the earth, is hidden from the eyes of the living (v.21).  Yet, God understands the way to wisdom, and He knows its location (v.23).