Day 9: Job 12:13-25

With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

This passage is an attempt to corral the ways of God into human terms – a difficult feat, as we know that God’s ways are much higher than man’s. One thing comes out clearly in Job’s words from a hear overflowing with suffering: the way God works isn’t something we can understand. Often He appears to work in contradictions: droughts and floods, spoiling counselors, making judges fools, spoiling princes, overthrowing mighty men, removing the wise man’s speak, removing understanding from the aged, weakening the strength of the mighty, and blessing and then destroying nations.

Where is the light in this? To the earthly mind, this sounds like darkness and confusion. Yet in the spiritual kingdom, it is the mind of the flesh that is darkness and the mind of God that is true wisdom – for we know that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. The more we abide in Him and seek an intimate relationship with Him, the more we come to understand His ways.

Verse 22 of this passage is at once deep, powerful, and beautiful: “He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.”

Death is often thought of as the darkest, deepest, scariest element in existence. Furthermore, the very idea of bringing a shadow to light seems like a contradiction.

Yet where does the shadow of death lurk? Does it not lurk deeply within our own beings, sentencing us all to eventual death? From the moment we were born, we begin the process of dying. We have the sentence of death in ourselves. By our sin nature dwelling within, one could certainly contend that the darkest place in existence is the human heart.

And in a beautiful story of redemption, God who is Light – the Highest and Holiest – entered into human existence, took upon Himself the very form of sinful man, felt the full weight of the darkness and evil that the devil brought against Him, bore all of our sins upon Himself, descended into the lowest parts of the earth, and died – for us. He entered into the very essence of darkness and the shadow of death; He fully experienced the very blackest parts of them all (and rest assured that no doubt the physical death, gruesome and torturous though it was, yet must have paled in comparison to the weight of the spiritual battle in heavenly places of which He was the very centerpoint) – and, in awe-inspiring triumph, rose undefeated by either the darkness or the death.

Truly He brought out to glorious light the darkness and the shadow of death! Now it holds no more power over us. As we receive and abide in Him, we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. We have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live – yet not us, but Christ lives in us. Since we through Him have defeated darkness and death once for all, we can truly say, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil – for thou art with me.” Fear flees in the face of utter victory!

If you are experiencing darkness of any sort in your life today, turn to Jesus the Light! He who has brought perfect light into deepest darkness can certainly lighten whatever you may be facing. Every small struggle or frustration matters to God, and He loves to be your Light and Victory each day of your life!