The deepest gold mine in the world is Mponeng in South Africa.
Its depth, two-and-a-half miles, equals ten Empire State Buildings!
It has 236 miles of tunnels which are traversed daily by 4,000 workers, as well as the world’s tallest elevator system.
This mine is located in an area that has produced about half of the gold ever mined on earth.
The engineering and technology involved in creating the mine and extracting the gold is impressive.
In Job 28:1-11, it describes ancient mining techniques.
It talks about miners cutting shafts, using ropes and baskets, and tunneling through rock in order to remove precious metals and jewels.
Miners are the classic treasure hunters that are on a quest for riches.
Then in vs. 12 this question is posed:
“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?”
In Job’s day, wisdom could not be found in all these treasures of gold and the technology to mine them.
Wisdom and understanding are the real treasures.
Their value is far beyond the best and most valuable things we know on this earth.
Colossians 2:2-3 answers the question that was asked in Job 28:12:
“that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
A British treasure hunter discovered a huge stash of Roman coins buried in a field in southwest England.
Using a metal detector, Dave Crisp located a large pot holding 52,000 coins.
These ancient silver and bronze coins dated from the third century AD weighed more than 350 pounds.
They were valued at $5 million.
While Crisp’s treasure may cause us to dream about somehow finding similar riches, we as believers should be on a different kind of a quest.
What we seek does not consist of silver and gold.
Rather our quest is to gather the precious gems of wealth that comes from our incredible riches we possess in Christ!
They are available and accessible to all believers in the Word and we are to claim them.
Since, all, and not merely some, of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are available in Christ; the search for them outside of Him is doomed to failure.
Not only are they in Christ, they are contained in a hidden way.
Therefore, they do not lie on the surface, but must be searched for intensely, as people look for hidden treasure.
How is our treasure hunting going? Christ is the true treasure of our quest!
Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries
I believe many of the mysteries and gems we discover in the character and heart of Christ are gained and discovered through our trials and tribulations when viewing them through scripture.
You are right Barry, I like the way Phil. 3:10 reads in the Amplified Bible: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[a]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope].”