Doth the Hawk fly by Thy Wisdom?

God to Job in Job 39.26, KJV. Answer: No. Implication: It is by God's understanding and design that the hawk soars. Man's proclivity is to look only at the construction of the hawk and understand how it soars and what makes it do so. Man never asks why the hawk soars or how it got that way. God says that it got that way because of his understanding, because of his wisdom. Since he created hawks, he would know.

Where Shall Wisdom be Found?

Job asks his three friends—or perhaps asks rhetorically—in Job 28.12: "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?" (KJV). He does not leave us hanging. He answers the question. In 28.23,24, he points out that God knows where wisdom is found. In 28.28, he answers the question that he poses in 28.12 and again in 28.20. Where is wisdom to be found? "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom," answers Job, "and to depart from evil is understanding."

Job sets two prerequisites for finding wisdom. First, wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord. In other words, if you do not fear the Lord, if you do not stand before him with awe and reverence, then you will not, indeed cannot find wisdom. This is why a simple follower of Christ can have more wisdom than a man with great education and training. Second, finding wisdom is integrally related to departing from evil. One cannot live an immoral life, with a general acceptance of evil, and be wise. This is impossible. There is something about evil that blocks us from finding wisdom.

In this fact we differ from the rest of society who looks at a leader in society who has, for instance, cheated on his wife, and says, "that is his private life. What difference does that make to us?" According to Job, it makes a great deal of difference, because a man who lives comfortably with evil is a man who cannot find true wisdom. A nation that is led by such a man is bound to experience difficulty.

Stripped of Glory...by God

"He hath stripped me of my glory," complains Job in Job 19.9 (KJV). While it was Satan who was the immediate agent of stripping all things away from Job, we understand as the readers that Job is indeed correct here. All of this was in God's control and allowed by God; therefore it is God who bears ultimate responsibility; a fact which the Scriptures do not try to hide at all. God accepts ultimate responsibility! He does not seem bothered by the implications of this in the least. It fascinates me that Man attempts to explain this away in order to cast God in a better light (from Man's framework), but God doesn't seem the least bit interested in these attempts.