The Bible holds some weird phrases. This one caught my eye and sent me down a rabbit trail of commentaries. In a long string of advice, Job’s friend Eliphaz tells him to assign your nuggets to the dust.

Which is certainly confusing, until we read the full quote—Assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks of the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

Job’s friends did not always give sound advice, but here Eliphaz pointed in the right direction. In telling Job to assign his nuggets to the dust, he spoke of gold in its raw form, a highly valuable asset in Job’s portfolio. This counselor encouraged Job to turn from trusting in wealth.

Job seemingly had nothing left. All his holdings, not to mention his children, were destroyed by the cruelty of Satan’s tests. Remember his lament, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. But perhaps Job still had some money in the bank? Down to his last few precious stones, the temptation was strong to cling to that gold. Especially as Job heard nothing from the Lord.

Jesus shared a similar encouragement to his followers:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

While I don’t have any gold nuggets laying around, and I’m not enduring the tests of Job, I do possess plenty of treasure here on earth. Eliphaz and Jesus remind me that my soul—my deepest longings—are better off with a handful of nuggets in heaven than a whole cartload in the bank.

Job 22 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Lucas Santos