“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Job -38:2 (ESV)

I love God’s opening line. He knows how to make an entrance. As if the whirlwind was not enough, God starts the conversation with a deep, inciting question and reprimand. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” The NLT phrases the question like this: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?”

Job was said to be a righteous man. Tragedy struck him; his family was killed; his livelihood was destroyed; and eventually, he was struck with a horrible skin disease. As he sat in his misery, his wife said to him, “… just curse God and die.” However, in all this, Job refused to curse God.

Then Job’s friends came to give him counsel and console him. Chapter after chapter in the book of Job, their conversation is recorded, as they shared with Job what they considered to be wise counsel. They told Job there must be sin in his life, of which he needed to repent. But Job’s conscious was clean.

Then God showed up. Finally, we are hopeful of receiving an answer for why this man had suffered! But that is not exactly what happened. God, instead of offering answers, decided to put Job on trial by asking him questions He knew Job would not be able to answer.  

It would be easy for us to think this darkened counsel God is referring to is the misinformed counsel of Job’s friends. However, what God is referring to is Job’s own misinformed self-counsel. God is not in the business of scolding other people’s wrongs or misunderstandings to you; no, He will speak to them about their failures, and He will speak to you about yours. You see, earlier in Job’s story, Job said something very enlightening to his friends. He said, “These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me? And even if it is true that I have erred, my error remains with me. If indeed you magnify yourselves against me, and make my humiliation an argument against me, know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net around me.” (19:3-6). Right here is where Job made his first error. He questioned God’s actions against him, claiming God had wronged him. Job spoke in ignorance. He darkened his own counsel.

Everyone in this story, excluding God, is guilty of ignorance. Job’s wife gave him darkened counsel because she could not understand God, so she told him to curse God and die. Job’s friends were guilty of offering darkened counsel based on their own dismal understanding of God and of how He acts and works in the world. Job himself was guilty of human reasoning when he pronounced it must be God who is in the wrong because his own conscious was clear. This is what happens when we rely on human rationalities. We focus on our own limited view, rather than trusting the God who is bigger than and created all of it.

If we consider the events of our present-day world, we can get a clear picture of what darkened counsel looks like. Hate, division, and fear are running the show and are emerging from human reasoning, rather than from a solid scriptural understanding of who God is and how He acts. Ponder all the philosophies the world is trying to rationalize: Cancel Culture, Critical Race Theory, Marxism, Gender Politics, and so much more. In Human reasoning, these agendas may sound wise – even good, but in light of the scriptures they are all insanity and will only lead to foolishness and depravity.

What about in your personal life? Have you ever received counsel that ended up being bad advice? I have had many friends impart their wisdom to me, and while they may have meant well, their wisdom ultimately fell short and led me in the wrong direction. If the only voice we listen to is the voice of human reasoning being projected by the world, we would truly be living in darkness.

Even with all the noise and distractions in the world, perhaps the most dangerous voice to listen to is our own uninformed counsel. We make decisions in ignorance. There are several reasons for our ignorance: 1) We have only a limited view, our own. We do not know, or see, or experience what someone else experiences. We are ignorant of everything that is not ourselves. Our own experience shapes our beliefs and our worldview; 2) We are being lied to constantly be the accuser, our great adversary the devil, and by all the powers of hell; 3) We are not renewing our minds daily on the absolute, unchangeable truth of God, which is found in the scriptures. If we are falling prey to any of these reasons, we will no less stand in our own darkened counsel, and just as Job did, we will question God’s actions and meet them with disapproval.

In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul shares with us his own radical prayer for the members of the church. His prayer is for spiritual insight, wisdom, and confidence. It is a powerful reminder that we do not have to live in ignorance and darkened counsel, because God can provide true wisdom for us. Paul prays: “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him…” Paul desired the believers at Ephesus to grow in their knowledge of who God is. Paul understood this wisdom and revelation would help them be confident in the hope that Jesus gives and in their position as children of God. It would also help them to realize the incredible power of God.

Paul reminded them that the same power which raised Christ from the dead actively lived in them. This is the revelation that Job did not have. In Job’s ignorance of God, he missed the power and mastery that God has to work and to will in the intricate parts of our own lives. When God displayed to Job His power, all Job could do was announce what a fool he had been and repent. What would have happened if Job had simply asked God for wisdom first, instead of listening to the counsel of others?

“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” James 1:5. So, who is it that darkens counsel? Every voice that is not of God will darken it. Maybe it is time we announce to God what a fool we have been and repent of listening to the wrong voice. To seek Him first. To renew our minds by focusing on God and His Word. To ask Him for wisdom and guidance. I encourage you to pray Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 1:15-23 over yourself and over those you love. Wait expectantly to be surprised by the revelations God imparts. Let us live, not in darkened counsel, but in the enlightenment of truth.