Mining For Treasure

Mining for treasure.  Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible.  When we read the Bible, it is interesting to stop and consider what day to day life would have been like.  In my mind, there are some things we do today that I think are just modern inventions, or things that have come about because of modern inventions.  Here in West Viriginia, we are familiar with the topic of mining for coal.  I have heard stories about family members who worked in the coal mines and how they had to go deep underground to perform the work.  Now, I know we have some modern equipment that has changed how mining is done, but the necessity for mining has been around for thousands of years.  As a mater of fact, Job writes about it.  Job says, “Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.  Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is smelted from ore.  A miner puts an end to the darkness; he probes the deepest recesses for ore in the gloomy darkness (Job 28:1-3).  Job is going to use the topic of mining as an illustration for a greater point.  Speaking of the miner and his work, Job writes, “He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.  He dams up the streams from flowing so that he may bring to light what is hidden” (Job 28:10-11).  Beneath the earth are hidden treasures.  They are hidden from the rest of mankind, from birds of the air, and even great prey on the ground.  They are out of sight; they are unseen.  Yet, the miner knows that beneath the ground, unseen by all others, is tremendous treasure.  For millennia, mankind has risked their lives to seek these unseen treasures beneath the earth.  Job then transitions by asking, “But where can wisdom be found, and where is understanding located” (v.12)?  Wisdom is described as being of greater value than all the ore, silver, gold, or copper that rests beneath the earth.  Like those things beneath the earth, wisdom is also hidden from the eyes of every living thing. Where does wisdom come from?  When God created all things, He considered wisdom, He evaluated it, He established it, and He examined it (v.27).   Do we value wisdom as much?  Do we pursue wisdom as aggressively?  God instructed mankind, “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom.  And to turn from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).