O Wisdom (Job 28 & Isaiah 11)

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Summary

This week, we're beginning a new series through the O Antiphons, a collection of seven poems inspired by the Messianic texts of Isaiah. The first week is O Wisdom. Our world's problems are too complicated for us to fix. No matter how hard we try, we can't think ourselves out of this mess. The Old Testament longs for a Savior who's not just wise, but who is Wisdom itself.

Text

Job 28:1–22

[1] “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they refine.
[2] Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
[3] Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
[4] He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
[5] As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
[6] Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.

[7] “That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
[8] The proud beasts have not trodden it;
the lion has not passed over it.
[9] “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
[10] He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
[11] He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

[12] “But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
[13] Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
[14] The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
[15] It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
[16] It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
[17] Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
[18] No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.
[19] The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.

[20] “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
[21] It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
[22] Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’ (ESV)

Isaiah 11:1–9

[1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
[2] And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
[3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
[4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
[5] Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

[6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
[7] The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
[8] The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
[9] They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (ESV)