Job 28:7–8

In this section Job speaks of things that are usually hidden from people, but which God brings to light (v.11). There is a path that no bird knows, though it can fly high above earth to observe what is below. No falcon's eye (which is amazingly keen) discerns it (v.7). The proud or fierce lion cannot force his way into it by his superior strength (v.8).

The birds go up into the heights and cross the whole surface of the earth, but they do not venture into the mines where man goes down... There is self in all that. There is what will make a man rich; there is what will bring money and perhaps distinction; but where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Well, it is not on the earth.

No eye so keen in nature as the vulture's; no animal so bold as the lion. But the boldness and long-sightedness of nature are not equal for the path of faith. Only an eye fixed on Christ as its one Object will give spiritual understanding.

True wisdom and true understanding not found in the earth at all! It comes down from heaven. It is found only in Christ... "The sea says, It is not with me... It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the air."

A path that the sharpest natural sight, pictured here by the vulture's eye, has never seen must be a remarkable path. Such was the Lord's path here... That one path was a lonely one for the Lord while He was on earth. Foxes had holes, and birds had nests, but He had no pillow.

"I am he that lives and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore," are His new titles and dignities. By them He has passed into a sphere beyond the vulture's eye, a sphere no bird knows, which the lion's whelps have not trodden, and where the fierce lion has never passed by.

The path of separation is too narrow for the natural eye to discern. The word of God lays down no broad lines to mark the Christian's way through this world. Only the spiritual eye can see the way out of it.

Like the path of death, it passes through a world of sorrow — yes, through the valley of the shadow of death. But unlike the path of death, it leads into the presence of the LORD, where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.

It cannot be that we must live in error, in darkness, or uncertainty. "There is a path," blessed be God, though "no bird knows it, and the vulture's eye has not seen it. The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it." Where is this safe and blessed path? Hear the divine reply: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28)

In this section Job speaks of things more hidden from people normally, but which God brings to light (v.11). There is a path that no bird knows, though it can fly high above earth to observe what is below. No falcon's eye (which is amazingly keen) discerns it (v.7). The proud or fierce lion cannot force his way into it by his superior strength (v.8).

Delitzsch connects this portion (verses 7-11) closely with what goes before, as describing the search after earth's precious stores. Part of it does go into further details. But the similarity of verse 21 to verses 7 and 8 suggests that even this early in the chapter Job is hinting at his main theme — the true riches. Verse 12 confirms this thought.

Job 28 holds remarkable words about man's search after wisdom. In Job's day people mined for iron or copper, for gold or silver or gems, and it may have been a new pursuit then. They dig down, they divert the underground stream, they make paths untrodden by the strongest of beasts or the most keen-sighted of birds. But in all this searching they never find wisdom.

"But where shall wisdom be found?" No, there is no wisdom in all that. There is self in all that. There is what will make a man rich; there is what will bring money and perhaps distinction; but where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

In the path of God's will mere human wisdom and understanding will not help. It is a path no bird knows and no lion has trodden (Job 28:7-8). No eye in nature is as keen as the vulture's; no animal is as bold as the lion. But the boldness and long sight of nature are not equal to the path of faith. Only singleness of eye, with Christ as its one Object, will give spiritual understanding.

The wide deserts, where the proud lion roams with no fear of man, hold no treasure that the heart craves. The hermits, the "desert dwellers," have failed to get peace for their souls by their fasting and punishing of the body.

We turn now from nature to its Author, from creation to God. He knows the way, and He alone can reveal it to man. And it is not merely God as Creator, but as Revealer in the person of His Son — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." … He has seen wisdom; no, He is that Wisdom.

It cannot be that we are forced to live in error, in darkness, or in uncertainty. "There is a path," blessed be God, though "no bird of prey knows it … the proud beasts have not trodden it." Where is this safe and blessed path? Hear the divine reply: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." (Job 28)