And [God] said to humankind, ‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’
Job 28:28
Dear members and friends,
Among all the figures in the Bible, Job might be the one who struggled the most against unjust and incomprehensible calamities. According to the story, Job’s troubles were due to a wager between the Lord and the accuser. Notably, this wager was initiated by the Lord praising Job’s moral integrity by saying, “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” It appears that the Lord granted the accuser the power to bring all calamity possible upon Job except “his life.” Consequently, Job lost all his wealth, his children, and was covered with loathsome sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. However, Job refused to commit any sin and kept his integrity. The first human to come against him was his wife saying, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and Die!”
Job’s three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) challenged his claim to be innocent. Job deeply struggled with them, because each one of these three friends insisted that he could not be innocent if such calamities were brought upon him. At the end of these long and emotionally-tormenting arguments, Job suddenly entered into a mystical and meditative state in chapter 28. He was somehow able to let go of his desire to prove his innocence to his friends and to God, and simply focused on wisdom. Perhaps, we do not need to understand everything to walk through challenging times. And perhaps, wisdom is not about being able to answer all questions or figure out solutions to all conflicts, but finding a way to embrace calmness and thus a sense of peace while living through chaos and injustice. In conclusion, it is written at the end of Job 28, “[God] said to humankind, ‘Truly the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’” Here, the Hebrew word for “fear” should more appropriately be translated as “to revere” or “to stand in awe.”
My brothers and sisters in God, let us take a moment of meditation this week. Find a quiet space and time. Then, let us sink into our hearts finding what reverence we truly have in heart in respect to our God, Creator. Let us lift the Divine Presence up, and pray for guidance and mercy.
Blessings,
Rev. Junchol Lee