The Book of Job and the Lessons Taught

The Book of Job and the Lessons Taught

The Old Testament’s Book of Job is a highly controversial part of the Biblical text. The book of Job is part of the collection of Wisdom Literature, along with Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The Book of Job is not simply a story, but a fable, full of meaning and lessons to be learned. Job attempts to rationalize human suffering and the ways of the Lord. The actual Book in the Bible is for its purpose in teaching us that we must endure what troubles we are given, because it is the will of God. This essay will give a brief outline of the book of Job, and exemplify the issues concerning the lessons of humility, prosperity, and the value of suffering.

Job was a virtuous man who lived in Uz with his seven sons and three daughters. He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, and five hundred yokes of oxen, five hundred donkeys and many slaves. Each year, he held a feast where Job would have each of his children purified; for fear that they might have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Meanwhile, on the day the angels came to prove before God, God pointed out to the accusing angel (Satan) how righteous and respectful Job was to Him. Satan claimed that Job's actions and character originated with evil and self-serving motives: Job is so righteous and respectful because he has no reason to act otherwise, but if God were to give him adversity, he would curse the name of the Lord. Satan challenges God to test Job, and unwillingly, God accepts.

On Earth, Job was suffering with misfortune. All his children died of tragedy; his animals were either stolen or struck by lightning. Yet Job did not curse God, he rationalized the act, God gives, and He can also take away. God boasted to Satan about how faithful and righteous his servant Job was. Again, Satan continued claiming that Job was still faithful and righteous because he had not been affected directly by God's test. He persuades God to test Job once more. This time, Job's health is destroyed in a most terrible form. Job is enclosed in boils from head to toe so badly, that he uses a piece of broken pottery to scratch the dead flesh off with.

His wife, who wondered why he is still so faithful to God, then tests Job’s faith in the Lord. As we all know, the hardest part of faith is to believe when others around you do not. Still, Job rebuked his wife and refused to sin. This is another test in Job’s faith that teaches us loyalty and allegiance. Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar came to offer their compassion and grief. A week of prayers, Job gave in slightly and cursed the day he was born. He wondered why life should be given to a person who requests only death, who has ceased to find any value in life, who has lost all hope of escape from permanent terror and torment.

Job’s friend Eliphaz answered him first, saying that Job helped others with heartening words but now that the tables are turned, he impatiently gave up. Eliphaz believed, No man is ever able to have a totally righteous relationship with God; it is a cycle of sin and forgiveness. During God’s lesson of humility he will not change your circumstances and a stubborn refusal to learn from them will result in death. He tells Job to accept God's discipline, he will gain knowledge from it and then God will bless him in many ways. Job still defying his lesson of humility argued that his complaint is reasonable, and if Eliphaz would comprehend his suffering, then he would understand that what God had done to him was wrong. Job wishes God would give him death, so he could die with the comfort that he had remained faithful to God all the way to the end.

Job asks why God treats him like an adversary, why he will not even let sleep ease his pain. Job asks why God is focusing so much interest on him. Even if he did sin, it would not have hurt him in this extreme fashion. Once he dies, it would be too late to do so. Bildad's answers him by saying that God does not alter what is right. If Job repents, God will not give him death but blessings beyond thoughts. Job believes he is without sin. Job agrees that God does not pervert justice but does not understand how he can demonstrate his righteousness to him. Job speaks of God's power in creation and how he works in catastrophic events. These events are all merely the effects of His presence. In all, God does as he pleases, and no enemy can oppose him or even question him. Because of his greatness, Job is helpless to defend himself and if he tried, he would probably be destroyed. In his sight, Job could not even utter a word without sounding guilty. God, in order to test a person’s appreciate, may let the blameless people suffer just like the wicked. This is when Job realizes the all suffering