Will we ever know the answers? Job: loser and winner - Session 5 i Considering whether our human wisdom is capable of answering the really big questions of life: understanding the universe, why we are here and why things happen to us from Job 28 1 Albert Einstein is regarded as one of the finest minds of the 20 th century 2. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the finest minds since Albert Einstein 3. 1 All bible quotations from HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 2001, 2005 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. 2 http://www.alberteinsteinsite.com/quotes/einsteinquotes.html 3 Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p193. Hawking writes in the forward: Within a few years we should know whether we can believe that we live in a universe that is completely self-contained and without beginning and end.
"However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God." Q1. Are you more like Einstein or Hawking when it comes to understanding the universe and why we are here? Getting back to someone for whom this is a burning question The book of Job starts with a conversation between God and the devil where the devil makes a couple of accusations he accuses God s servant Job of only being in it for what he can get, thereby accusing God himself of buying off Job s love while calling it the real thing. To make it clear that this is not the case, God allows the devil to take away Job s wealth, family and health. Job s initial response is not to accuse God of wrongdoing, because he knows whatever he has is given to him by God, who has the right to take it away. The question that continues to hang in the air is whether Job will continue to fear God for nothing - when he is not blessed in return. Job is deeply grieved by what he has lost, and his friends come to comfort him. They are convinced that Job is suffering because of sin, because in their neat little framework of thinking, this is cause and effect. Their advice to him is to repent of his sin. Job himself rails at God saying Why is this happening to me? I am innocent! And yet at the same time he desperately longs to meet this God who is plaguing him the God he doesn t understand, yet the God he needs and the God he loves. After a cycle of speeches between Job and his friends, we get to chapter 28. Chapter 28 is different from the surrounding chapters. It reads more like a poem, and has a reflective tone. It may even have been inserted by the author rather than being Job s actual words. Job 28:12-22 12 But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? 13 Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living. 14 The deep says, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.' 15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver. 16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires. 17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold. 18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. 19 The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold. 20 "Where then does wisdom come from? 2
It really annoys me when Christians say: we don t know why X and Y happened we just trust the God who does know why. To me that sounds like the greatest cop-out: playing the God card when it suits them. Surely it s better to say: we don t know why, and just leave it at that. Which at least leaves open the idea that we might know why in the future. Where does understanding dwell? 21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. 22 Destruction and Death say, 'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.' Q2. What 2 things characterize the search for wisdom? Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens Q3. What is wisdom, do you think? Job 28:23-28 23 God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, 24 for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. 25 When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, 26 when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, 27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it. 28 And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' " Q4. According to Job 28, how is it possible to be smarter than Einstein? Q5. If we do fear the Lord what will that mean for understanding the suffering that comes our way? Q6. Is saying: we don t know why we just trust the God who does know why, the greatest cop-out? 3
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