After reading Stephen Mitchell’s translation and introduction of the Book of Job, I found that as I read the actual poem from the Bible, that I came to understand more of what the writer was trying to get across to the reader. Having grown up in a Christian household, I have heard the story of Job multiple times, but this book made me take a deeper look into the story and as I read the translation it was as if I was reading this story for the very first time. What really interested me was the way that Job and his friends interacted and how it perfectly illustrated the irony of his situation. We as readers know that Job is only being punished because of this disagreement between God and Satan, but throughout the entire book Job’s friends are …show more content…
Job wants to find a way to justify God’s actions, but he can’t understand why there are evil people who “harm the childless woman, and do no good to the widow,” only to be rewarded with long, successful lives (Job 24:21). As of late, I have noticed myself asking this same question. Why do good people suffer? While I was reading this book, I often felt like Job. Not knowing what he did to deserve all of these terrible things that were happening to him, the only difference was that physically I was not sick, but someone that I was extremely close to was. Last June my aunt was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. When my family and I first found out we were devastated but remained hopeful that she would make it through this. Having always been very close to my Aunt Tina, she was always on my mind, and I was constantly calling to check on her. After months of tests and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, there was no sign of the cancer subsiding. It only continued to spread. Not even one week into the new year my aunt decided to stop chemotherapy. I was devastated. Throughout this entire process, I never once saw my aunt’s faith in God waver. She always remained hopeful and trusting in God. While reading this book I came across the phrase, “though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). This verse instantly reminded me of my aunt. Through all the pain and suffering
Second, the story line. Although Archibald MacLeish wrote the play based on the story of Job in The Bible, there are many differences in the story line. In The Bible, Job’s misfortune was spawned by Satan trying to show God that Job was not as holy as God had thought. God gave Satan the power to destroy everything Job had, including his health. Job’s children all died together when the roof of the house collapsed on them while they were all dining at the house of the oldest brother. His wife died also, and all of his possessions was taken from him. Furthermore, he contracted painful sores all over his body. As for J.B., his children died separately, one after the other. The oldest had died in the army. Two were involved in a car accident. One daughter was killed by an explosion that also took out J.B.’s millions. And the youngest was raped. However, J.B.’s wife, Sarah, was not killed, but instead she left him. In The Bible, Job is confronted by his three friends. His friends encourages him to turn against God and to curse him, but he refused to do so. On the other hand, J.B. was confronted with four friends, the first three encouraging him to turn against God but the fourth telling him to pray to God and to praise Him.
...ade to choose him for the spiritual task. Job realized he had to experience loss and suffering in the name of God to pass the test God bestowed upon him. God stated “Who is that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me... Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth” (p.667) God notified Job he was in no position to question the loss he must undertake in order to complete his mission. Job realized the meaning of his life, when he realized the magnitude God went to convince him of his calling. Job forgave himself for his sacrifices, because he realized it was instructed by God.
The Book of Job is a very complex translation in which two images of evil are presented. Steven Mitchell calls them the Accusing Angel (Accuser) and the Serpent. They are both very powerful and portrayed as supernatural beings. His first reference to the Accusing Angel appears early on, however references throughout the story do not exist. Unlike the Accusing Angel, the Serpent is mentioned throughout the book. Disturbing imagery and ideas from the unnamable voice from the whirlwind help to give the reader an accurate perception of the Serpent. Although the context in which they are presented is different, the way that both are talked about, and defined, are very similar and lead the reader to believe that the two may be the same entity.
Overall the Book of Job is a religious book in the bible. We see many dilemmas but most importantly the characters and the awesome events make this book what it is. This book focuses on faith in the almighty god and that is the main part of
After losing his family, Job still worshiped God, and stayed positive. Once he received the skin disease he did not curse God and say his life was over, he remained faithful to God. The story in Job, asks the question. “why do bad things happen to good people?” A frequent answer to that question is that people get what they deserve, although Job did not do anything evil in his lifetime. In relationship to the story of Job, the answer to that question would be people get what happens to you, thus why Job never cursed God’s name. Job knew he was an honest and pious man, and God was just ‘testing’
Sometimes our appreciation and trust in God becomes conditioned on how well things are going for us. When a Christian suffers, they assume that there must be sin in their life. But suffering is not always a result of sin as we see with Job. In most cases, those who are sinners suffer a little while those who are good suffer much. Many people see this as a stumbling block for Christian and ask why God allows suffering. Instead of us asking ourselves “why me” we might be better off asking “why not me.” God often uses suffering to produce righteous character in believers. Sometimes He wants those who suffer to be more dependent upon Him. It may be that He is trying to get our attention. We might even be sinning; however, we cannot always equate suffering with sin in those who love the Lord as we see with Job’s
God blessed him greatly and this made satan jealous. So the enemy began to attack Job with fearful thoughts. Job's fear and worry of losing his family and possessions began to blind him of God's goodness and opened the door to trouble. The enemy then attacked his children, his possessions, and his health. And to top it off, the enemy had him convinced the Lord was to blame.
The Bible version of Job's story suggests a different answer. A young man speaks up after Job has convinced the three older men of his innocence, and he speaks of the magnificence and omnipotence of God. It implies that God has a system of justice, and that if a man finds himself in difficulties it must be through his own actions. But Job was good all of his life. The point of the Bible's Job seems to be to learn to accept our circumstances, without turning against God because external conditions are the result of complex processes, most of which we do not understand, but we cannot let the external be the basis.
These arguments made by Berish and Job boil down to the question the theodicy, “why do good people suffer? Where is God in all this? Where is justice” (Fox 173). Elie Wiesel provides an answer that parallels once again with the book of Job. Embodied in the character of Sam, who claims that suffering is, “all because of our sins” (Wiesel 134). Similarly Jobs friends give a similar answer to the theodicy question by saying, “Think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4:7). The answer to the theodicy question in t The Trial of God is that suffering occurs because of the sins committed by individuals.
What you could not see and your friends could not see was that God sealed the truth behind the curtain. Edith Schaeffer explains, “In the first chapter of Job, the curtain is pulled back for us, to reveal what was going on in the heavenlies.” In both Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-6, we see that Satan comes to God and challenges him to send trial to you so that you would renounce God. The Lord allowed Satan to bring the trials to you, and even though you could not see behind the curtain you never once renounced him. It is also essential to understand that we live in a moral universe, so the books can be balanced. In Francis Schaeffer’s Job series, disc 2, he states, “If we are not going to live in a total tragedy concerning man, because history is made up of both halves of history the seen and the unseen, the balancing of the books must be a cross of both sections if the world is to be moral.” He is explaining that we can only have a moral world if ‘balancing the books,’ or the future judgement of man,
...n the world. Job questions what god is really doing for him. Then god talks to job in question form about the creation of the earth. This shows that jobs is very small compared to god, so small that he cannot even being to understand some of the the things god is telling him. Chapter 38 proves to job that humans are far below the power of god then in chapter 42 job quickly shames himself for the previous things he said.
If God is all powerful and loving, why is there suffering in the world? God is said to be full of love and power but yet He does not prevent bad things from happening in the world. I think at some point in every one’s life we all wonder why bad things happen in our lives. These pains have been from as little as a failing grade to a disease and death and we have all asked why. Why do bad things have to happen to us if God is so good and powerful? This answer is essential to know to truly realize how good our God is. Everyone sees God as so amazing and wonderful in good situations but as soon as something bad happens we all get question Him. Many people explore this topic but a Jewish man, by the name of Harold Kushner, takes
Once Satan realized that his first test failed he went back to God for another chance to prove himself correct. In Job 2:4-5 Satan says, “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.” As the second test, Job was given boils from head to toe. As a Lupus patient I can say that the first thing I did when I was diagnosed was question God profusely. Sickness is enough to make you want to curse everyone, especially if there is no cure known to man. Even though Job’s wife told him to curse God he refused saying, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). Even through his sickness, Job did not curse God; he just went outside and dealt with the boils. This must have made Job feel like the scum of the earth, he had done no wrong, yet he was given this sickness. Perhaps Job’s daughters felt like this when they were not given feasts, as their brothers were. They had done no wrong, yet all they received were invitations to attend the
I am a big believer in that everything happens for a reason. From within the text, God puts Job through suffering. Rightfully so, Job questions God’s motives. I personally have a story from my life that lead me to believe that everything happens for a reason. Not to make it too long, but my friend’s sister and I became friends back in about October 2014. On June 1st 2015, we began dating. Our relationship wasn’t like the usual because we were friends for such a long time as well. On top of that, we were both each others first relationship. We dated until August 2017, so a little over 2 years. While we were dating, even though we were young
The Book of Job is the perfect portrayal of what faith should be. It starts with a man who is extremely successful, wealthy, and has a beautiful family. The only person that Job thanks for all his fortunes is God. One day the Devil points out to God that Job only praises his name, because of all the good fortune he has brought Job. So for no other reason but to prove a point, God killed all of Job’s livestock, destroyed his beautiful home, and killed all of his children. Job was completely unmoved by the tragedy that stuck him and said, “The lord gives and the lord takes away” (Book of Job). Prior to this instance, Job had never spoken to God