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Job 42:6
6 Wherefore I abhor [ma'ac] myself, and repent [nacham] in dust [`aphar] and ashes ['epher]. KJV-Interlinear
6 Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.' NASB
Dust and ashes are symbols of grieving and/or humiliation. Since man is formed physically from the dust of the earth, then symbolically reverting to ones fundamental components is an appropriate arrogance corrector.
Note that our soul, and human life which resides in our soul, does not come from the dust.
No matter how smart you might be, no matter how talented, witty, fashionable, or pretty, we all come from the same origin - dust.
And here Job teaches us a valuable lesson. When you consider the grand picture of life, we really amount to nothing. God is everything and the source of everything.
Far too often people, and we are all guilty of this at some point in our life, will consider God to be an equal. We pretend wisdom and intimate knowledge of His will. We presume to understand the grand plan of life. We presume that our views are at least, if not better, than those of God.
We tend to approach God with too much self-confidence and an over estimation of our own self-importance. We treat God with irreverence, disrespect, impertinence, mockery, making Him the target of jokes and snide challenging remarks. We hold God accountable to us, for His not performing up to our expectations.
And then …
Life becomes very real to us. We get hammered with some form of hardship or disaster, that puts us right in our place of helplessness, total helplessness. And only then, will we fall flat on our face in great humility.
This type of reaction can come very easy for some, and for those who are arrogant to an extreme, the hardship can be very, very nasty, before they fall flat on their faces before God, with little regard for how folks around them might be thinking of them.
It is too easy to fear the opinions of people more than the opinions of God. Peer pressure is typical and obvious in the lives for teenagers, but it also plays a role in all of our lives, even though it might be a bit more subtle.
Often times its takes a humiliating event in our lives before we learn that the beginning of wisdom, which is really the beginning of our learning experience, starts with our respect (fear) of God.
Dust and ashes is representative of the ultimate emotional reaction of humiliation or extreme grieving. Once you can attain that attitude in your life, without embarrassment because of what others might think of you, then you are beginning the greatest ever, phase of your life. All other things in your life become distant seconds if not much further behind.
