Let there be light

"a lamp is made ready"

Job 12:5

If you like sarcasm (you know who you are) then there are passages of Job that are just for you.  Chapter 12 starts off with one of these.  Job has been putting up with the "wisdom" and "advice" of his "friends" for a few chapters now, and he gives them a taste of their medicine in chapter 12.  "No doubt, wisdom will die with you," he says, and then he tells them a thing or two:  "I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you."  And then, to underscore their arrogance, he gives us today's verse:  "A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease; it is made ready for those whose feet slip."

Now, at first glance, I think the meaning of this verse is a little obscure.  I think I've glossed over it while reading, being content to receive the overall gist of the chapter.  But when I was taught the chapter recently, I understood it better.   {Please note that I'm reading from the New King James Version.  This verse in other translations has the same meaning, but different wording.  But I'm focusing on the word "lamp" for today, so hang with me, won't ya?}

 The point of this verse is that a lamp is for guidance.  A light is for someone who's not sure of what's ahead of them, and wants to be, well, enlightened.   But a lamp is sneered at by someone who is confident.  "Oh, that's only needed by someone who might slip."  And there's the danger.   If you think guidance or direction is unnecessary in any area of your life, then you're relying on you.  And I gotta be honest, that's a big mistake.  No offense.  It's not just you.  It's just that our wisdom is far short of His.   To paraphrase Annie Oakley, "anything you can do, He can do better!"

There's a great passage in the account of Jacob and Joseph, in Genesis 45 and 46.  Jacob had been separated from his favorite son for, oh, about 20 years, when Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers and sent for his father.  Joseph's brothers return home, and tell Jacob the glorious news that his son is alive and waiting for him in Egypt!  So Jacob packs up all that he has, and goes straight to..... Beersheba.

Beersheba?

Yes, Beersheba.  I love that instead of going immediately to Egypt, Jacob went first to Beersheba, where an altar had been built to the Lord.   He offered sacrifices to God, and he waited.  And in the night, God called to him, "Jacob!"  Jacob answered, "Here am I."  And God assured him, "fear not to go down to Egypt.  I will make of you a great nation there."  And only then, when he had God's guidance, did he go to Egypt and see his son.

I don't know about you, but I do a dozen things every day that seem like the right thing to do.  Automatic... a "no-brainer".  But Jacob going straight to Joseph would seem to qualify as a no-brainer, too.   We think we don’t need God.   We have our education, or our talent, or our career, or our financial security, but where do we think we got that from??  You have nothing of your own.

There is nothing more dangerous than being in danger and not knowing it.   There is nothing more foolish than thinking you don't need the light He offers.   His lamp is made ready for us.

~ "You are my lamp, O Lord;

the Lord shall enlighten my darkness." ~

2 Samuel 22:29