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Job 25-28

Thursday Evening Bible Study

June 18, 2015

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Target 3300 words Video = 75 wpm

In 3 weeks – Do You Believe Trailer

Job is going through the worst time anyone could imagine.

He’s lost all his possessions.

His children have died.

His health has failed.

What makes all this even more confusing is that Job is a good guy.

God has decided to allow Job to go through this difficulty because He is proud of Job, not mad at him.

God wants to show the world what a godly man will do when he is going through a difficult time.

Keep a couple of things in mind as we study Job:

Sometimes Job is wrong in his conclusions.

Sometimes Job’s friends are also wrong.

They can even say things that are true, but they are just not true about Job.

Be careful about building doctrine upon some of the things said in the book of Job.

Neither Job’s words nor those of his friends are meant to build doctrinal truths on.

They simply show us how people respond to difficulty.

We are finishing up the three rounds of debates.

25:1-6 Bildad: Man can’t be just

:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

:1 Bildad the Shuhite

This is the smallest of Job’s friends (shoe-height)

He will be the last of Job’s three friends to speak.

Zophar won’t speak during this third round.

:2 “Dominion and fear belong to Him; He makes peace in His high places.

:3 Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not rise?

:3 Is there any number to His armies?

Bildad is talking about God.

God is awesome. God is mighty.

Another title for God is “Lord Sabaoth”, or “Lord of Hosts”, or “Lord of heaven’s armies”.

:4 How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?

:4 how can he be pure who is born of a woman?

Job has been insisting that he’s a righteous man, and that the problems he’s been having can’t be because of sin.

Bildad states that nobody can be right with God.

Lesson

Getting right with God

There is some truth to what Bildad says, but there are also some problems.

Truth

Man on his own cannot be just before God.

Man is born a sinner. David wrote,

(Psalm 51:5 NKJV) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

We are all sinners. Paul writes,

(Romans 3:23 NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Problems

1. We can be right with God.

Jesus came to preach the “gospel”, the “good news” that man can become right with God.

Jesus came to make us right with God.

He was the only human to have ever been born without sin and He lived His life without sinning.

This made Him the perfect candidate to be a perfect sacrifice, someone who would die in our place and pay for our sins.

Because He was God in human flesh, He was able to lay down an infinite life, and pay for the sins of the world, not just one person.

Paul wrote,

(2 Corinthians 5:17–21 NLT) —17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

We are made right with God when we decide to trust in Jesus, to believe that He and He alone has taken care of our sins by dying on the cross.

2. Those “born of a woman” comments.

Jesus was the only person ever born who was righteous before God.

He was born of a woman.

3. Bildad is in the same boat.

He too is a sinner, just like Joab.

If Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz are in the same category as Job, and bad things happen to sinful people, then why aren’t they going through difficult times as well?

:5 If even the moon does not shine, And the stars are not pure in His sight,

(Job 25:5 NLT) God is more glorious than the moon; he shines brighter than the stars.

:6 How much less man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm?”

:6 son of man, who is a worm

maggot – rimmah – maggot, worm (as cause and sign of decay)

worm – towla‘– worm; the dye made from the dried body of the female of the worm “coccus ilicis”

When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might “bring many sons unto glory” (from page 73, “Biblical Basis for Modern Science”, 1985, Baker Book House, by Henry Morris)

It’s also interesting to note that David used the same word in that great prophetic Psalm about the Messiah on the cross:

(Psalm 22:6 NKJV) But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

This was the Psalm that Jesus quoted on the cross, in other words that Jesus was claiming to be a “worm”.

Lesson

Truth in interesting places

We’ve mentioned it before, but here again we see that someone that God will rebuke is speaking a nugget of truth.

Bildad says something very interesting here, especially in that he says that it’s a “son of man which is a worm”

Jesus, the Son of Man, would be that “towla” for us, dying for us, covering us with that red stain, giving us life.

There may be people around you who are way off the mark, but be careful that you don’t just dismiss everything they say.

26:1-4 Job’s rebuke

:1 But Job answered and said:

:2 “How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength?

:2 How have you helped

Lesson

Lousy help

Sometimes we may have the best of intentions, but our help falls far short.

This video gives you a taste of what it’s like to be in Job’s shoes, and receiving lots of “advice” from friends.

Video: Metastatic Cancer … the REAL deal

We want to give help and hope to people are suffering, but sometimes the way we respond just doesn’t help, it only hurts.

She said it was okay to not say anything. She said it was okay to pray.

:3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many?

:4 To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?

:4 whose spirit came from you?

(Job 26:4 NLT) Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?

There is a measure of sarcasm in Job’s words.

Lesson

Who’s speaking?

Sometimes as Christians, we get a little confused as to what influences our thoughts and actions.

(Luke 9:51–56 NKJV) —51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

It was offensive to the Samaritans that Jesus was heading to Jerusalem because they did not worship in Jerusalem.

They had their own twisted form of Judaism that told them to worship on Mount Gerazim, not in Jerusalem.

54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

Elijah called fire down on his enemies when they tried to capture him (2Ki. 1). James and John like the idea of getting to do this to these mean people of Samaria.

We think this might have been the incident that earned James and John their nickname, “Boanerges” or, “Sons of Thunder”. (Mark 3:17)

(Mark 3:17 NKJV) —17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;

55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

James and John were zealous for the Lord, but they were not being led by the Holy Spirit. They were most likely being led by their own human spirit. They were concerned about defending Jesus, but weren’t concerned for the people that Jesus was concerned for. In their zeal, they wanted to destroy people.

Just like Bildad and his friends.

It’s pretty cool that God would give John another chance to call down “fire” upon the Samaritans, but in another way altogether.

Philip the evangelist went north to Samaria to preach the gospel and many Samaritans were getting saved.

(Acts 8:14–17 NKJV) —14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

John got to pray the “fire” of the Holy Spirit upon them.

How gracious of God to give John a chance to do it right!

26:5-14 Job: God’s Greatness

:5 “The dead tremble, Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.

:6 Sheol is naked before Him, And Destruction has no covering.

:6 Sheol is naked before Him

Sheol is the place where all the dead went during Old Testament times.

There were two compartments in sheol, the place for the righteous (“Abraham’s bosom” or “paradise”) and “hell”, the place for the wicked.

David wrote,

(Psalm 139:7–8 NKJV) —7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

God is everywhere.

Nobody hides from God, not even in Sheol.

:7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.

:7 He hangs the earth on nothing

An interesting idea about the earth being in space, and it was written around 2000 BC.

:8 He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.

:8 binds up the water in His thick clouds

God puts the rain in the rainclouds.

:9 He covers the face of His throne, And spreads His cloud over it.

:10 He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, At the boundary of light and darkness.

:11 The pillars of heaven tremble, And are astonished at His rebuke.

:12 He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding He breaks up the storm.

:12 He breaks up the storm

storm – rahab – storm, arrogance; mythical sea monster

Video: Star Wars – Always a bigger fish

Job is going to talk about animals that we would call dinosaurs. Could it be that he’s talking about a giant sea creature (dinosaur)?

:13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

:13 By His Spirit He adorned the heavens

Job challenged Bildad in 26:4 about the “spirit” that he is speaking from so critically.

In contrast, God’s “Spirit” adorns the heavens.

:14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

:14 whisper … thunder

God communicates in different ways.

The best we know of God (Job says) is just a whisper.

When God speaks loudly (thunder), we don’t understand.

When Elijah was running from Jezebel, a small whisper was all he needed.

(1 Kings 19:11–18 NKJV) —11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

I think sometimes we would do well to pay attention to the whispers of God and stop expecting the thunder.

27:1-6 Job: I am innocent

:1 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

:1 Job continued his discourse

This would be the time when the third friend, Zophar, would speak up.

Apparently Zophar doesn’t want to speak anymore, so Job continues.

:2 “As God lives, who has taken away my justice, And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

:2 God … has taken away my justice

Lesson

Blaming God

Though Job never curses God, he does have some things wrong.

He’s concluded that God is infinitely unfair. He’s concluded that God is out to destroy him.

We do this today as well. What do insurance companies call earthquakes and tornadoes? Acts of God.

Sometimes we are simply blaming the wrong person.

Video: Crazy Old Lady Pranks (edited)

The problem with Job is he doesn’t see the bigger picture.

He doesn’t know that God is showing Satan that Job will follow God even when life gets tough.

He doesn’t know that it’s Satan that has caused all these calamities, not God.

God will one day speak up:

(Job 38:1–2 NLT) —1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?

God is saying to Job, “Pal, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Be careful about blaming God for all your problems. It’s possible that you don’t see everything that’s going on.

:3 As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils,

:4 My lips will not speak wickedness, Nor my tongue utter deceit.

:5 Far be it from me That I should say you are right; Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.

:6 My righteousness I hold fast

Lesson

Stop your sin hunting

Some Christians are always looking to find something wrong in their life.

Sometimes it is because preachers like me are so good at making people feel guilty.

Sometimes we are going through a difficult time like Job, and we are looking for the cause for our trouble.

If you are indeed guilty of sin, there is a remedy for it.

(1 John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you are doing things that are not pleasing to God, you need to turn from those things and ask God for forgiveness.

But after you’ve done that, you need to receive God’s forgiveness and thank God for forgiving you.

And when a preacher like me is talking about sin, guilt, and condemnation – then you should understand that for the moment he’s not talking about you.

Does this mean you’ll never sin or need forgiveness again?

Not at all.

But when you have asked God to forgive you, you need to drop the condemnation and humbly walk in God’s forgiveness.

I think that we ought to learn from Job that when we’ve been living correctly, we don’t need to apologize for it or pretend that we’re not living a godly life.

27:7-10 Job: Wicked Enemy

:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.

:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life?

:9 Will God hear his cry When trouble comes upon him?

:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?

:7 May my enemy be like the wicked

Is Job talking about his friends? It might be.

It’s also possible that a crowd has gathered to listen to these debates and there are people cheering for Job’s friends.

27:11-23 Job: Judgment for wicked

:11 “I will teach you about the hand of God; What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

:12 Surely all of you have seen it; Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

:13 “This is the portion of a wicked man with God, And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:

:13 the portion of a wicked man with God

Job is going to remind his listeners what they actually already know.

He’s going to talk a bit about the final end of a person who rejects God.

Keep in mind, this is what Job’s friends have been talking about, but they’ve been saying that Job was wicked and that what he’s going through now is God’s judgment.

There is truth in what Job is saying, but it’s about the ultimate, final judgment of the wicked before God – not necessarily what is going to happen in their own lifetime.

:14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

:15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death, And their widows shall not weep,

:16 Though he heaps up silver like dust, And piles up clothing like clay—

:17 He may pile it up, but the just will wear it, And the innocent will divide the silver.

:17 He may pile it up

The wicked person may indeed live in prosperity on the earth, but there will be a day when their wealth will be given to those who walk with God.

:18 He builds his house like a moth, Like a booth which a watchman makes.

(Job 27:18 NLT) The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

:19 The rich man will lie down, But not be gathered up; He opens his eyes, And he is no more.

:20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night.

:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; It sweeps him out of his place.

:22 It hurls against him and does not spare; He flees desperately from its power.

:23 Men shall clap their hands at him, And shall hiss him out of his place.

:23 shall hiss him out of his place

Lesson

Caution in judging

We need to be careful when we, like Job’s friends, find ourselves judging and condemning those in difficult times.

The same words we use to criticize will often come back to haunt us. We will be judged by the same principals we judge others with.

Jesus said,

(Matthew 7:1–5 NKJV) —1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Jesus didn’t say we could never make judgment calls about people – but we’d better look first in the mirror to be sure we aren’t really talking about ourselves.

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Sometimes the things we criticize about others are actually the things that we struggle with.

28:1-13 Job: Where is wisdom

:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver, And a place where gold is refined.

Job is going to talk about how valuable things are found.

: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.

(Job 28:3–4 NLT) —3 They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore. 4 They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.

: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.

Wild animals don’t know how to get these precious gems.

:9 He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots.

Men know how to overturn mountains to get to precious metals and stones.

:10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing.

:11 He 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.

:13 Man does not know its value

Lesson

True Treasure

Sometimes we have our values all goofed up.

Illustration

CLOTHING SALE?

The sign in the window said: Suits $5.00 each; shirts $2.00 each; trousers $2.50 per pair. Bubba says to his pal, “Clevis, Look! We could buy a whole lot of those, and when we get back home, we could make a fortune. Now when we go into the shop, you be quiet, okay? Just let me do all the talking cause if they hear our accent, they might not be nice to us. I’ll speak in my best Texas drawl.” They go in and Bubba says, “I’ll take 50 suits at $5.00 each, 100 shirts at $2.00 each, and 50 pairs of trousers at $2.50 each. I’ll back up my pickup and .....” The owner of the shop interrupts, “You’re not from here are you?” “Well...yes,” says a surprised Bubba. “How come you know that?” The owner says, “This is a dry-cleaners.”

Some of us will work hard to save a few bucks here and there and get the best price for something before we buy it. We might visit several stores, check out the internet, and wait for a great deal. Yet there’s something we ought to be more concerned about than getting some kind of new “stuff” for cheap.

God is concerned that we acquire wisdom.

28:14-19 Job: Wisdom’s value

:14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

: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.

:19 Nor can it be valued in pure gold

You can’t buy wisdom.

Nothing can compare with the value of real wisdom.

Solomon wrote,

(Proverbs 16:16 NKJV) How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

28:20-28 Job: The source of wisdom

:20 “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

You can’t dig wisdom out of the ground like gold.

: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.

God is the only one who knows where to find wisdom.

: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.

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

:28 the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom

Job is the one who said it first, but this principle is picked up over and over in Scriptures.

The Psalmist:

(Psalm 111:10 NKJV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Solomon, the wisest man wrote:

(Proverbs 1:7 NKJV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Proverbs 9:10 NKJV) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

(Proverbs 15:33 NKJV) The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, And before honor is humility.

Lesson

Finding wisdom

It starts with a healthy respect of God.

We call it a “fear” of God.

Wisdom comes from God and without having a proper attitude toward God, you’re not going to find it.

Solomon also wrote,

(Proverbs 4:5 NKJV) Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

(Proverbs 4:7 NKJV) Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

(Proverbs 19:8 NKJV) He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.

We spend so much of our lives looking for things that don’t really matter in the long run.

Wisdom matters.

Let’s do a test. Can you tell which of these sayings is wise?

Before attempting to remove stubborn stains from a garment always circle the stain in permanent pen so that when you remove the garment from the washing machine you can easily locate the area of the stain and check that it has gone.

Not wise.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

Wise (from Will Rogers)

For X File fans. Create the effect of being abducted be aliens by drinking two bottles of vodka. You'll invariably wake up in a strange place the following morning, having had your memory mysteriously 'erased'.

Not wise.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.

Wise (from Will Rogers)

High blood pressure sufferers. Simply cut yourself and bleed for awhile, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.

Not wise.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n putting' it back in.

Wise (from Will Rogers)

James also tells us about how to acquire wisdom.

(James 1:2–8 NKJV) —2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James says to ask God for wisdom, and He will answer that prayer.

He also says it is important to have “faith”, to trust God to give you wisdom when you ask.

I also think it’s important to think of wisdom in the context of verses 2-4 – enduring trials.

Much wisdom comes when we endure trials.

Will Rogers said,

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

Job is going to be gaining some wisdom.

James gives us a description of wisdom, to know if we’ve gotten it or not.

(James 3:17 NKJV) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

If you are trying to make a decision based on wisdom, try running your choices through this verse.