Yesterday, we saw Larry point out how "Eliphaz in 4:3-4, praised Job for encouraging people and strengthening those who are weak, and supporting those who were falling, and encouraging those with shaky knees; and then ripped him to pieces calling him wicked and sinful?" It's even worse when you look back to what Eliphaz said in Job 22:5-9. He basically accuses Job of doing the exact opposite of what Job really did. In Job 29, we begin to get insight into what Job was really like and why God looked so favorably upon him. James 2:14-18 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."(ESV) We see in Job 29 that Job didn't just have faith in God but that there was fruit coming from his life showing that he had that faith. No wonder God thought so highly of him.
The other thing we see is the fruit of his wisdom. This is why he spends the whole of chapter 28 talking about how precious wisdom is. This is why there is a whole book in the Bible saying the same thing (Proverbs). And what does wisdom boil down to? Job says it in 28:28, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom."(ESV) If we have a fear of the Lord, a true humility without self-rightoues pride, we will have wisdom. We will not be quick to speak like we know it all. Isn't that what Job's friends have been like? But then Job also said, "and to turn away from evil is understanding."(ESV) That means that if we have a fear of the Lord and we get how incredible He is, we wouldn't waste our time with evil. May we seek to have a fear and humility before the Lord and have fruit come forth from our lives showing that our faith is real. And may God get all the glory and attention because our fear shows He's the great one, not us.
The other thing we see is the fruit of his wisdom. This is why he spends the whole of chapter 28 talking about how precious wisdom is. This is why there is a whole book in the Bible saying the same thing (Proverbs). And what does wisdom boil down to? Job says it in 28:28, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom."(ESV) If we have a fear of the Lord, a true humility without self-rightoues pride, we will have wisdom. We will not be quick to speak like we know it all. Isn't that what Job's friends have been like? But then Job also said, "and to turn away from evil is understanding."(ESV) That means that if we have a fear of the Lord and we get how incredible He is, we wouldn't waste our time with evil. May we seek to have a fear and humility before the Lord and have fruit come forth from our lives showing that our faith is real. And may God get all the glory and attention because our fear shows He's the great one, not us.
