Where is Wisdom?

Photo by Cliff Johnson on Unsplash

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 1:20

“But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.
“From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
“God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Job 28:12-28

As every age does, we search out wisdom apart from God. But we cannot find it. Until we turn away from evil and to God we never will.