Job 12:12

Zophar spoke with extreme dogmatism, and that no doubt prompted Job to begin his reply on a very sarcastic note. His words, "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you," have almost become a proverb, used against the dogmatism of self-conceit.

God's hand of power holds the life of every living thing, Job says. It holds the breath of all mankind too — not only his own breath, but that of his three friends. He would not let them think of themselves as detached onlookers, free to judge others without being judged themselves. With his ears he tested their words, and he tasted what was fed to him, to discover whether it was palatable or not. So he sets Zophar's claimed wisdom aside by telling him: "Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days."

"Does not the ear test words?" — do you think I cannot hear? — "and the mouth taste its food?" — that I cannot use my palate? "Wisdom is with the aged." There again he shows how little he was inclined to condemn where there was wisdom. He allows that with the aged there is wisdom — "and in length of days understanding" — because there is experience that nothing else can give.

"With Him is wisdom," he says. He turns to God; for, after all, a man profits only a little. "With Him is wisdom and strength" — while the aged man grows weaker as he grows wiser — "He has counsel and understanding."… "He leads counsellors away stripped, and makes the judges fools." No doubt those counsellors and judges were noted for their knowledge, and people took them for wise men too. But there is always a limit in this world, and there is often disappointment where you most rest.

The ancients in this verse are men of long experience. We must not think that these ancients are the same as the New Testament elders. An ancient in Israel was simply a wise old man with long experience. An elder in the New Testament is a brother in Christ who has the Holy Spirit living in him. Of course, an older believer today may not be as spiritually wise as a younger one. But the older one certainly has more experience. Wisdom in the sense of spiritual intelligence joined with spirituality is not always tied to age or long experience.

No doubt it may often happen, as in the case of Job and his friends, that old men say very foolish things. Grey hairs and wisdom do not always go together. It often happens that aged men rely on the mere fact of their years and take a place for which they have no power at all — moral, intellectual, or spiritual… None of that touches the fine moral feeling in Elihu's opening words: "I am young, and you are very old; that is why I was afraid, and did not dare to show you my opinion." This is always right.

It is folly and blindness to set young against old. Better to help the young profit from an experience of great value that they lack. Let the old admire the energy of the young, and let the young acknowledge the beauty of the grey head.