The Treasure, the Fire, and the Field: The Sacred Exchange
The sacred exchange between the One who gave all and the one He came to redeem.
One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Job 28.
It’s poetic, elemental, and profound, a meditation on how far man will go to uncover what he deems valuable.
We tunnel through mountains, dangle in darkness, light torches underground, all to find treasure buried deep in the earth.
“Far from human dwellings he cuts a shaft, in places untouched by the foot of man; far from other people he dangles and sways.”—Job 28:4
It’s a striking image: a solitary miner, suspended by a rope, swaying in silence, risking everything to find something hidden.
This is more than human ingenuity—it’s spiritual longing in metaphor.
We mine because we are image-bearers.
We seek because God made us to reflect His glory. Being drawn to beauty, depth, mystery, and meaning, and these desires, rightly ordered, point us back to Him.
But gold and treasure do not have inherent worth.
They are tools of formation and object lessons, crafted into the fabric of creation to teach us what is truly valuable, holy, and enduring.
As John Calvin wrote:
“For who even of slight intelligence does not understand that, as nurses commonly do with infants, God is wont in a measure to ‘lisp’ in speaking to us?”
God lisps to us. He condescends in love, speaking in the language of earth: treasure, fire, beauty, refining, so that we might grasp heavenly things. Gold is not ultimate but a metaphor God uses to reveal deeper truths. He hides value not to frustrate but to form us through our quest.
“The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”Job 28:28
Then Jesus tells a parable that reframes everything:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”—Matthew 13:44
This beautiful parable is not chance or fate. It is the story of Jesus.
The field is the world. The treasure is you….the image-bearing remnant, refined by fire, hidden in suffering, radiant beneath the surface….. Ready to be revealed!
Jesus gave everything, not just to claim the treasure, but to purchase the entire field.
The thorns, the rocks, the wilderness, the ocean depths, the highest mountains..He bought it all.
Why?
Because we are in it.
“For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame…” —Hebrews 12:2
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”—John 3:16
The joy (you and I) was the treasure. The cross was the cost. The world was the field.
But treasure must be purified through fire.
As Job himself says:
“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”—Job 23:10
The treasure is not hidden to mock but to make us.
You are not forgotten and buried but are being refined.
You are the joy set before Him. You are the treasure He gave everything to redeem.
And He has not let go of the field, because you are still in it.
Ask yourself today:
• What am I seeking and what do I value?
• Am I allowing God to refine me in the fire, or am I resisting the process?
The God who hides treasure is the God who refines it.
And you are what He came to find.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”— 1 Peter 1:6–7
But there is something more.
Yes, you are the treasure He came to find.
Jesus is not just the Gold. He is the Source of all value.
The standard by which all treasure is measured. He is also The fire that refines.
The field worth everything. The joy set before us, and the One who endured for the joy of having us.
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”1 Peter 1:18–19
He gave everything for us because we are His joy, and He is our treasure.
He is also the Foundation. The Beginning and the End.
Not just the gold we discover in the fire, He is the fire itself.
“For our God is a consuming fire.”(Hebrews 12:29, quoting Deuteronomy 4:24)
“But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.”(Malachi 3:2–3)
This speaks directly of The center of the story. The Maker of the field and theAuthor of worth.
And now, in a striking reciprocity, you are called to give all you have, not merely to gain treasure, but to gain Him. Like the man in the field, sell all, and buy the treasure. Let go, and be found. Lose your life, and gain the Christ. Let the fire do its work to reveal the treasure. And the inestimable fortune… is Jesus.
Jesus is Creator and Sustainer of all
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15–17
God creates even the destroyer and promises protection
“See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 54:16–17