God must have a sense of humor. It is even evident in the placement of books. I read a "Daily Bible" which has Old Testament passages, Psalms, Proverbs, and New Testament passages for each day. One day the passage in Job finished with, "And thus ends the words of Job." The first verse in Psalm that morning was, "Hallelujah!" Couldn't help but chuckle.
Now we just finished Job in the OT part, and go directly to Ecclesiastes 1:16
16 I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." (Solomon)
A Hall of Fame pitcher, Dizzy Dean was said to have first pronounced. "It ain't braggin' if it's true." (Some have, "if you can do it." Same thought.) Well, Solomon was not braggin' or exaggerating or any other type of puffery. We just finished the grandiose prognostications of a young man in Job. His name was Elihu.
He started out pretty well. Job 32:6
"I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.
Too bad he didn't stop there. But he goes on a little later: Job 34:2
"Hear my words, you wise men, And listen to me, you who know."
He is getting on a roll now: 36:2
"Wait for me a little, and I will show you That there is yet more to be said in God's behalf."
It is a good thing that Elihu was here to defend God, with his overwhelming logic and eloquence. I can hardly wait. 36:4
"For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge is with you." (Himself, humbly.)
Growing up, we used to have an old saying back on the playground at Stratton Public, "Well, La de da. You must have hit the fountain of knowledge." Notice Elihu's claim: "perfect knowledge."
A few hundred years later, we read of one who was just about perfect. And he is not preening and prancing around, parading his supposed superiority. In fact, he is quite befuddled, because having the greatest intellect, most wisdom, and a lot of gold was not satisfying him. Something was missing.
One of the biggest enemies of knowledge is that we do not know what we do not know and that we do not know it. If we don't know that we don't know something, we do not miss it. If a repair man leaves a lug nut or two off or loose on your car, it will drive just like it should. That is until the pressure snaps a bolt or two and the wheel starts to wobble or come off entirely.
The first comment out of a driver's mouth in this instance is, "I didn't know it was loose."
And what he didn't know that he didn't know could have caused a serious accident. Solomon was keenly aware that he did not know something. That is the first step in learning. Elihu blathered along for six chapters. (32-37) He probably had several more to go. The end of chapter 37 is not an ending. It is abruptly terminated by the Lord in chapter 38. (Thank You, Lord.)
And notice the first five words: (38:1)
Then the Lord answered Job...out of the whirlwind and said....
After all of the argumentation, accusation, allegations, recriminations, and denunciations (ran out of "a's") God ignored everything that they said. (This is why I do not take much theology from Job. God did not even comment on it.) And, for that matter, He did not refute or rebut Job's comments either. There are about 48 questions (depending upon punctuation) that the Lord rhetorically posed for Job, none of which were, or probably could be answered. And God was not exhausted when He stopped. Job was. (As are we.)
The most profound thing that anyone from earth said was 42:6:
"Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes."
And he was wise enough to stop there. Maybe I better follow suit.
God doesn't laugh at or mock us, despite our abysmal ignorance. He just waits for us to recognize that we don't know what we don't know. And get to know it.
You know?
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