The message of the book is offered at the end, in the speeches of god, not in the opening scenario, which only sets up the thought experiment. Not as a reward, not because job did well and passed an exam, but because god straightens everything out. He therein discovers love, because an essential aspect of love is obedience. We are not to assume god has rejected all those that suffer. In this series of blogs i shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for contemporary society.
The one account in the bible, which deals almost exclusively with suffering, is the book of job. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies. In the end, the book of job is also a book of hope. In every generation protests arise saying that if god is good, then there should be no pain, no suffering or death in this world. Key personalities of this book include job, eliphaz the temanite, bildad the shuhite, zophar the naamathite, and elihu the buzite.
The book of job is classified as a work of hebrew literature, but some scholars have pointed to evidence of arabic influences within the hebrew text. Guidelines for understanding and proclaiming the book of job. They reasoned that suffering is the result of sin and so it is. The book of job opens in verse one by telling us that job was a blameless, upright man who feared god and turned away from evil. I taught a class on the book of job for my church years ago. The makers of the bible project have made an animated video that explains the theme behind one of the most complex books of the bible. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. Its author is unknown yet it is possible that job himself wrote it.
Macleish finds that the meaning of suffering lies in the idea that god needs the love of. In the story of job suffering and misfortune become a test to check up job s obedience. In any case, at the heart of the message of the book of job is the wisdom with respect to answering the question as to how god is involved in the problem of human suffering. Waters ritten by an unknown author, possibly the most ancient literary account in the bible,1 the book of job is a mixture of divine and human wisdom that addresses a major life issue. Suffering was considered as a punishment for the crime committed. But job silences these three by showing that is no correlation in this world between righteousness and prosperity or between wickedness and suffering. The book is focusing on how god works in the world, not teaching us about how things work in heaven.
A twofold purpose of suffering in jobs life what we have seen so far, then, is that jobs suffering has a twofold explanation. Gods purpose in suffering an introduction to the book of job. When job was shaken by suffering long enough, the sediment of pride was stirred. But to say this is not to limit the relevance of the book, for joblike suffering is. According to biblical scholars, the book of job is the oldest book in the bible. The entire book opens up a new perspective, that of the reward which awaits, in heaven, those who do gods will on earth. J ust about everyone has heard of the suffering of job in the old testament.
Job is a character who demonstrates the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and is provided with a variety of psychic outlets which function to alleviate the stress of the trauma. Five truths for sufferers from the book of job the gospel coalition. Though writ guidelines for understanding and proclaiming the book of job 395 resource is available that summarizes specific guidelines for. Job pronounced jobe, was a rich farmer living in the land of uz, somewhere northeast of palestine. In the following video, the book of job is examined and the theme is presented that even though we dont understand why some suffering and hardship exist, god is still wise and just. Of course, he is human and he did realize his faults at the end of the book, but his reactions to the death and suffering around him just amaze me.
Its subject matter is the allimportant question, why, in a world over which yahweh has jurisdiction, should innocent persons have to suffer when at the same time the wicked escape suffering and are permitted to have comfort and security. The book of job is the first document in history to. At its beginning, job seems to be a book about human suffering. You can use these sermons as part of a lengthier series on job, or as a standalone topical series on the subjects of grief, suffering, the meaning of life, or the sovereignty of god. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. Not much is known about job based on the masoretic text of the jewish bible. With its story of one mans life and suffering, the book of job raises universal questions.
In the 1960s, when i was a rabbinical student at hebrew union college, i had the privilege of studying the book of job with. Five truths for sufferers from the book of job the. Five questions about suffering and its meaning trachtenberg, peter on. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author. Doubts of job s friends reflect an attitude to suffering which had existed before. The book of job, one of the wisdom books of the bible, deals with two issues crucial to every person.
List of books and articles about book of job online. How the book of job confronts the problem of suffering. Lessons from job sermon series hope, suffering, meaning. Its a reminder that suffering isnt necessarily tied to sin thus suffering need not be compounded by guilt. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. I attempt to clear that up by offering a different perspective than most people know today. Job did not deserve to suffer, but life is not fair.
Themes in the book of job while suffering is the chief theme of the book, a reason for suffering is not given. Instead, we are told that god is the highest law in the universe and that often his reasons are known only to him. Reflections on suffering from the book of job 439 job is truly a wisdom book. It is generally understood by modern scholars that the central poetic section of the book, in which job is forced by his changed circumstances to reject his simplistically pious views, was ironically and intentionally set between the beginning and end of a conventionally pious story of a man called job who remained faithful to god in his suffering. I would like to explore five ways the book addresses suffering in the following pages.
You might have heard someone say, they have the patience of job. The book of job and the problem of suffering bitesized exegesis. The date of the authorship of the book of job would be determined by the author of the book of job. Was the suffering of job in the bible justified answers. Job recognizes his mistake of falling into distress because of his suffering.
Job speaks of foundational themes every human being contends with, especially in times of suffering. I read everything i could get my hands on on the book including this one. This foursermon series by pastor andy cook provides a highlevel, practical view of this rich and complex old testament book. In my opinion, the book of job is a greatly underused resource for endurance in discipleship in the midst of deep pain. Rohr says of the book of job that it is the perennial ungodly story that. The book of job is one of the most misunderstood books in the bible. A major difficulty in understanding the meaning of the book is, what insight leads job to submit so humbly to god at the end. He must receive authorization from god to do whatever he does, meaning it is gods own decree that causes jobs sufferings. What the book of job teaches us about unexplainable suffering. The book of job is often referred to as one of the great classics of world literature. Job showed us a great model of what we should all look like in the face of the storms and tragedies of this life.
I shall revisit the book of job, the personality and some of its meaning for. Read this article and you will have a new understanding of job s fear of god. This doesnt mean that all suffering is the result of ones own sin, nor does it mean that the person who suffers isnt leading the right kind of life. The story itself, read from the bible, is quite easy to understand and makes for a few hours of light, entertaining reading. The hebrew book of job is part of ketuvim writings of the jewish bible. The point of the book of job is to teach us that the mystery of evil is a mystery of a wartorn and unfathomably complex creation, not the mystery of gods allcontrolling will. The basic concept of wisdom has always been connected with skill and knowhow,15 for wisdom was the art of achieving, and the emphasis was on. But no one has yet seen in this argument more than a straw man.
Suffering and the book of job essay 1690 words bartleby. It is possible that job is the oldest of any book of the bible written approximately 21001800 b. Job then questions gd regarding his suffering, finds him to be unjust and. And there is a reality called satan who challenges god that his man is not as good as he thinks he is. It should be kept in mind that job is not the author, but the principal character. In the midst of suffering, we must never lose our hope in god. For anyone unfamiliar with the account, i would suggest at least a cursory reading of the same. It is important to clarify at the outset, however, that the book of job. The most likely candidates are job, elihu, moses and solomon. Harrison, the problem of suffering and the book of job, the evangelical quarterly 25. The book of job is written primarily for the people of god who are suffering. I was almost immediately captivated by father richard rohrs energy and fascinating insight into the real meaning of the book of job for people today.
Further, its a reminder that for those who believe in the greatness and goodness of god there is no suffering over which god is not in control. Matitiahu tsevat, the meaning of the book of job, hebrew union college annual 37. Christ told his apostles that, if they loved him, they would keep his. Ultimately, suffering does have meaning and even, through gods. We also learn that an invisible war is raging between the forces of good and evil. God originally allowed jobs sufferings to commence in order to show satan and the. Im going to provide you an answer that will likely not be like the others you receive. Suffering and the book of job the concepts of suffering. Rabbi breitowitz responds to these fundamental issues based on the book of job. You will be rightly told that job is about the suffering of one of gods treasured servantshow he endured great suffering, despite being a good man, as god us. No, the parable of job is an attempt to answer the question.
Jobs suffering did not come because he was bad but rather because of his unwavering faithfulness to god. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of bible. The book of job does not specifically name its author. Job s suffering, the suffering of a just man who bears it patiently and continues to seek mercy and forgiveness, acquires its fullest meaning in the new testament. Since the problem of evil is the greatest theological challenge christians face today, we will explore the meaning of theodicy in the book of job, christian theology, and also aim to help readers to form a christian response to the problem of evil. The characters in the book of job consist of job, his wife, his three friends bildad, eliphaz, and zophar, a man named elihu, god, and angels one of whom is.
The big picture of job is that there was a man who was, in one sense, blameless in gods sight. Job s three friends had taken the position that the severity of job s suffering must be the sign of some grievous sin in his life. This prepares people for christs sufferings that would otherwise be rejected. The book is of unknown authorship and date, although many scholars assign it to a time between 600 bc and 400 bc a lament in narrative form, the subject is the problem of good and evil in the world. In this story the main character, job, was subjected to extreme suffering, loss of material possessions and, psychological anguish. By its conclusion, the true subject of the book emerges. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer. Job accuses god of being unjust and not operating the world according to principles of justice, and his friends believe that job s sin caused his suffering. Throughout the book, job, his wife, and his friends speculate on why he, an upright man, suffers.