Job 22:24-25

24 Then shalt thou lay up [shiyth] gold [betser] as [`al] dust [`aphar], and the gold of Ophir ['Owphiyr] as the stones [tsuwr] of the brooks [nachal].

25 Yea, the Almighty [Shadday] shall be thy defence [betser], and thou shalt have plenty [tow`aphah] of silver [keceph]. KJV-Interlinear

24 And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, 25 Then the Almighty will be your gold And choice silver to you. NASB

The word for gold, 'betser' is real gold. But this is gold which you have to work for. You have to find it in the ground, and dig it out. 'Betser' means slivers of gold which are broken off from veins and or from off of other pieces. And though it is valuable, as gold comes in a pure form, you still have to work for it.

Dust is that which is common all over the world. Even on the sea floor and though wet, dust is everywhere and counting it or quantifying it is virtually impossible because it is so common and so numerous. Dust is something which is generally taken for granted. It is everywhere and therefore we tend to ignore it in our daily lives. Except when we are dusting, and then it is a nuisance.

Ophir is a region or a city generally thought to have been located on the southern and western edge of Arabia, along the Red Sea. It was a center of commerce. It was a seaport, a cross roads between Africa, the Middle East, India, and probably beyond.

Ophir was known for its rich gold deposits, said here by Eliphaz to be vast. Even Solomon, who lived some 1500 years later, received annual full barge shipments of gold from Ophir. So its gold rush was not a flash in the pan type of rush, that we are more familiar with in our contemporary history, where the gold ran out after a few years.

Ophir was indeed an extremely wealthy region.

And one more thing here, this gold represents vast wealth, or wealth in terms of possessions for which one has to work in order to obtain.

In contrast, the silver of the next verse represents spending money, or annual income. The two together represent incredibly vast wealth and prosperity.

The stones along the brooks are references to rocks that are washed down from the mountains during flooding seasons. The mountains being the high regions above which man lived. Man living in the lower regions.

All wealth and blessing whether spiritual or temporal, whether you work for it or it just falls in your lap, comes from God.

Now, 'betsar' is used again in the next verse and here it carries a connotation of a defensive posture, a castle, a fortress, a wall which protects its occupants. And in life, gold plays that type of role for its owner. If you have gold then you have the means of providing yourself with a defense, or a protected life. You can pay for things and so forth.

Now I'll bet you think that you have figured this passage out. But you are wrong, or at least only half right.

Eliphaz has suggested that if you turn your life around, replace your carnal lifestyle with a spiritual lifestyle, committing yourself totally and exclusively to Gods Word, and this does not mean that you go live in a monastery, but it does mean that you transform your daily thinking pattern, then the capacity of your soul, will in turn transform into a wealth of gold more numerous than the dust of the earth.

But, and here is the kicker, the gold of the world will become as dust, or something which you disregard, as you advance in your spiritual life toward maturity, and God Himself will become your treasure, more valuable than all of the gold of the world.

And moreover, Gods wealth is far superior, and more vast, and something that you do not have to work for.

In this life you have to work day in and day out for whatever it is that you have. Most folks have a meager existence. But even the wealthy have to fight and work to get and keep what they have.

And even more, Gods wealth is better than the choicest of silver, easier to obtain and spend, is readily available, and comes in unlimited quantities.

Your spiritual life is the single most valuable possession that you can possibly ever have. It comes to you as a gift from God. It is the easiest possession that you can obtain. It is an eternal possession which can never be taken away from you.

Your carnal life is of this world only. It is temporary and will never apply to eternity. It affects your life in this world only.

Your spiritual life is eternal and makes up the vast majority (99.99%+) of your life. Your spiritual life affects both your life now as well as your life in eternity.

The blessings of your spiritual life overflow into your carnal life. The blessings of your carnal life do not overflow into your spiritual life.

Though you may have the wealth of Ophir, gold as thick and numerous as the dust of the world, silver as common as the air that you breathe, its value is nothing (dust) when compared to the wealth of your spiritual life which comes from God.

Transform your life and God will make this destiny, yours. Your destiny is not of this world, but exists in the next life. This life is temporary at best. The next life is permanent and forever.

The Lake of Fire is terrible and all of your work won't keep you out. Believing in Christ (a mere thought of faith) is infinitely better and it comes to you without work. Being saved is good, but advancement to spiritual maturity (via your change in attitude and no muscle work involved) is infinitely better.

So you have a choice as to what kind of future you want for yourself. You can be dirt poor (no salvation) and burn in the fires of hell, or middle class (saved but with little or no spiritual life) and live in heaven as a commoner, or be extreme upper class (spiritually mature) and live in heaven as a multi-multi-multi-multi-trillionaire-gazillionaire.

Moses was the crown prince of Egypt. He was to become the next Pharaoh. He would have possessed the wealth, the extremely vast wealth of Egypt. Moses made a choice. Moses looked at the wealth of Egypt and the wealth of Heaven, chose heaven, and never blinked, never looked back.

You can think about that one and decide where your priorities for life are, and just what you are going to believe and then make a part of your life.

Now is the time to post a prayer.