In the midst of a chaotic world, the child of God stands because we know the Lord understands.
Job continues to assess his friends’ views. Do you really think that “wisdom is with aged men, and with length of days, understanding” (Job 12:12)? No, it’s not automatic. With some people, the older they get, the more confused they get. “The deceived and the deceiver are His. He leads counselors away plundered, and makes fools of the judges. He loosens the bonds of kings, and binds their waist with a belt. He leads princes away plundered, and overthrows the mighty” (vv 16-19). Isn’t that the truth! Those who give investment advice sometimes go bankrupt. Those who have condemned others end up behind bars. People once at the top end at the bottom, and those who performed feats of strength now waste away. Another wise man noticed this: “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all” (Eccl 9:11). Life is a very inexact science. It rarely comes out the way we think it should. However, Job, in his effort to argue that his dire circumstances should not be taken as evidence of his sinfulness, may have gone too far in describing the apparent randomness of life in verses 14-25. Does the Lord actually cause people to “wander in a pathless wilderness” and make them “stagger like a drunken man” ( Job 12:24-25)? Perhaps, but only so they will find that He is the Way! Is it true that He “takes away the discernment of the elders” and “the understanding of the chiefs of the people” (vv 20, 24)? Only so they can realize that He is the Truth! It doesn’t have to be the case that “if He imprisons a man, there can be no release” (v 14). Yes, there is glorious release—before death—if people discover that He is the Life!