I'm laughing at what Eliphaz says in Job 15:2. If you are reading the NIV or KJV you are going to miss it. But if you have the NASB or the ESV you will see that Eliphaz accuses Job of "windy knowledge." Job throws a similar phrase ("windy words") back at Eliphaz in Job 16:3. KJV calls it "vain knowledge" and NIV calls it "empty notions". Somehow these phrases don't convey the same vivid imagery for me as "windy knowledge". What picture does "windy knowledge" bring to your mind?
Wind can be noisy. Pushy. Destructive. And yes, empty. "Windy knowledge" would be when I think I know better than you and that pride erupts into a lecture. When I think you are entitled to my opinion. Isn't that what Job's friends have been doing all along? It takes a much stronger person to be silent in these situations than to speak out.
I think I'll add this phrase to my vocabulary and make every effort to delete the practice from my inventory of habits.
You have put it more eloquently then I could, but I had realized this just a few weeks ago....rather then give my opinion I am learning to keep it to myself and just listen/agree until they ask for my opinion. If they ask then I think I am free to give with love, meekness and grace. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete"Windy" knowledge makes me think of the Santa Ana winds -- a lot of hot, gusty air which makes my potted plants whither, because they have no natural access to water.
ReplyDeleteI've been meditating today on the characteristics of the healthy trees planted by the streams that are talked about in Psalm 1:3 and Jeremiah 17:7-8. One of the things that may relate to your reading is how the tree "is not anxious in year of drought." It's been interesting to me to recognize that the healthy tree isn't immune to the experience of drought (or wind, like Job experienced), but it is able to withstand it and still bear fruit because it's spent its life drinking from and rooted by the stream. I'm so thankful for Job's testimony from the year of drought and wind which is preserved for us and continues to bear fruit even today.