Job 12:1-2

1 And Job ['Iyowb] answered [`anah] and said ['amar],

2 No doubt ['omnam] but ye are the people [`am], and wisdom [chokmah] shall die [muwth] with you. KJV-Interlinear

12 Then Job responded, 2 'Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die! NASB

People cannot manufacture nor legislate wisdom and presume to make themselves into a nation or even something of significance. There is only one source of wisdom, and God is that source.

There is only on way to get wisdom, and that is to study Gods Word. To ignore God, Christ, and doctrine means that you are looking for wisdom and the answers to life, somewhere else.

Where would that be, television comedy shows, radio talk shows, printed publications, the latest popular songs? And yet you shouldn't be surprised that most people will look to these outlets in forming the basis of their beliefs more so than the Bible.

When truly wise people come into this world, being made wise by God, and then leave this world, wisdom does not die with them. They were never its source, nor does anyone perpetuate wisdom. God does that.

God has a divine plan which is perfect and which was authored in eternity past. God does not depend on the abilities, strengths, or even the ingenuity of man to fulfill His plans, he works without regard to human means. God controls history.

Job finally snaps back at his friends. He has just been accused of being no better than an undisciplined, untamed, wild donkey.

In this book of Job, Job is the man of wisdom, and his friends are men of opinion. Job is the one who has lost his family, wealth, and health. His friends have lost nothing. They are not even suffering in any way.

Job is trying to figure out, reason and understand his situation. His friends, who had initially come to give him comfort, have done nothing but criticize him, purely because of their observations of his very poor health.

Job is trying to be objective. Hs friends ate superficial, opinionated, self serving, and critical not of themselves, but of Job.

Job was the one who has been recognized far and wide, as a very wise man. Gods statement, not mans. His friends had no such reputation, and yet they presume to educate Job. And, their education is not based on facts, but on subjective and very limited observations.

His friends have thrown out nearly a hundred years of their acquaintance with Job, and they have drawn conclusions based on one week of sitting with him. Most of that week was in silence.

Job gives us some insight as to the demeanor of his friends. They are opinionated and arrogant. They know Biblical principles, they have a general awareness of information, facts, ideas, truths, and such, but they lack the ability to apply them to real world situations.

We generally call people like that, book smart, but street dumb.

In this case, Jobs friends are world smart, but application of doctrine to daily life dumb. They probably have not experienced difficult times in life, otherwise they would not presume that hard times are equivalent with being a bad person. None of them considers themselves, bad.

Job was successful all of his life and they considered him good. Now life is hammering Job and they consider him bad, and worse than that, they consider him a fraud.

Job is being judged based on the circumstances of his life, not on facts, and certainly not on wisdom.

His friends consider themselves wise, and as goes their life, so goes truth. Heaven forbid that they should one day die, and with them all knowledge of truth.

But then, they really did die, a very long time ago, and humanity is still here. And so Jobs humor stands while their opinions have faded.

Job is trying to understand his situation. They, in their ego, are trying to impose their opinions on someone else.

Now is the time to post a prayer.