Job: Satan's View Of Job

In the book of Job, Job walks through life making sure his actions and words are carefully chosen, and even goes as far as to burn offerings for sins yet committed. The book of Job, and then later the modern take titled J.B., was a new display from God, showing that bad things can happen to good people. The book of Job made it clear in the bible that God was not giving or taking anything because of our own achievement, but that all things good and bad are from God. Archibald Macleish tries to reenact Job in a more modern version that new readers today might find easier, and although so aspects might be off from the original text, the story of J.B. follows closely to Job’s story line. One area that can be compared when looking at both texts

The view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job's fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job's constancy is only because of God's preferential treatment. Satan tells God, "But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job's life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."(41), and "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(41). Self-pity creeps into Job's thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and

In the book of Job God boasts to Satan about Job’s goodness, but Satan argues that Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Satan challenges God that, if given permission to punish the man, Job would no longer worship him and turn from him and curse God. In one day, Job receives four messages, each bearing separate news that his livestock, servants, and ten children have all died due to marauding, yet Job continues to bless God in his prayers. Satan appears again with another test for job yet this time; Job is afflicted with horrible skin sores. Eventually he is also told by his wife to curse god but yet Job refuses her request and accepts the outcomes.

The book of Job 1:3, in The New Oxford Annonated Bible, states "Job was the

The theme of the Book of Job is the perseverance of the human spirit. Job loses everything but he does not lose his faith in God. “Job refuses to curse God” (Book). Job has not done anything to deserve this, but it is a test from God and Satan to see if Job is actually as

The Book of Job is of wisdom genre. Job was a righteous, rich man. God and Satan have a confrontation regarding Job’s faith in God. God allows Satan to test Job by taking away his family, sheep, camels, and servants. Job was passed the test. Job was tested again. This time it was his health that was taken away. Job speaks to his three friends and curses the day he was born. The four of them have a lengthy conversation as to why Job is being punished. Elihu enters the conversation and becomes somewhat angry with Job’s lack of faith in God. God speaks to Job in question form. Job repents. God speaks the three friends and advises them to sacrifice a burnt offering. Job was them made prosperous and was “given twice as much as he had before” by God.

How do human beings talk about God in the face of poverty and suffering? This is the question the Book of Job raises for us. A moral and honorable man lives a prosperous, happy and fruitful life. As a wager between God and Satan on the issue of disinterested religion, they test to see if his faith and religion are actually disinterested. This leads to another question of whether human beings are capable of asserting their faith and talking about God in the face of suffering in a disinterested way. In his book “On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent” Gustavo Gutierrez makes the point that human beings, especially the poor, are capable of a disinterested faith and knowledge of God in the face of suffering. His application of liberation theology, way of talking about God, and interest in the poor allow Gutierrez to assert that human beings are capable of a disinterested religion in the face of poverty and suffering.

     Job is a man very limited by God. As illustrated, he has only a negligible amount of agency to begin with. By the time God and Satan finish with him, he has virtually no control over his own life. The fragment of agency he does cling to is his ability to choose whether or not to curse God. No one, except himself, could prevent Job from cursing God. Yet, he refuses to curse God, even though He is responsible for his suffering.

As we have seen, God promises a blessing to those who trust in His word and strive to live by it. Christians do not want to miss out on God’s blessing, especially those waiting for Him to reveal something. Now reading any book of the Bible, even Job, one begins to understand that God will bless you as you strive to study and practice His way of life. The Bible prophetically warns of even more pain in many different forms then what is done here Job, and through this we begin to portray God in a different light (Janzen 2012). However, the book of Job reveals God’s level of intervention during such a violent time. Due to the context and dire situation it would be difficult to imagine anything more then the pain for the members of Job’s family and the community at that time. They needed encouragement and the assurance that the trials Job faced would soon be over. The evil powers of Satan that governed Job’s life for a moment would be destroyed, and a triumphant sense of peace would be reestablished. The message of Job was intended for those in a particular time and circumstances of pain. Christians familiar with other violent writings would understand the book's symbolism, for practically everything Job went through was a test that other biblical figures felt during similar times of persecution. Job’s story was written to all people that may face the same trials, and find peace after their

Despite them being righteous men of the Lord, Mephistopheles tempts Faust with earthly pleasures while Satan took everything from Job entailing his health, wealth, and family. Job endured the physical pain while Faust had to ensure both physical pain and the suffering of the multitude. However, when Satan did these things to Job, he expected Job to turn into a bitter man and try to curse God. However, Job remains ardent and adamant in believing in God. Job remains loyal to the Almighty, but Faust succumbs to Mephistopheles

““There are some who say we are not truly human until we have suffered” 1 as said by Katharine Dell. There is also a though throughout the bible that God makes us suffer for our wrongdoings and past offenses. If this is so, then the protagonist of the Book of Job put both of these thoughts to the test while remaining faithful to God. Similarly to Job in “John” chapter nine, Jesus’ disciples question him in regards to human suffering and punishment from God. The idea of punishing a child for their parents sins is an over arching idea in the bible that acts as an explanation to why human suffer. Throughout the Biblical book of Job, despite Job’s friends’ belief of his wrongdoing, Job remains faithful while searching for a reason for his

Much of the same can be said about Job, the book’s eponymous character. Like Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan, he is a righteous man. God goes as far as to call him “a blameless and upright man” and says he is a one-of-a-kind worshipper (Job 1:8). He also endures great suffering, which all came as the result of Satan questioning if Job’s worshipping was true and pure (Job 1:10-11). God takes Satan up on this bet and allows him to cause make Job’s life miserable (Job 1:12). At first, Job stays a righteous man, but eventually he breaks down and curses his birth (Job 3). Job becomes exactly the type of person that Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan was talking about (someone who questions God in bad times), and his friend Eliphaz tells him that. He says, “Your words have supported those who were stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient,” (Job 4:4-5). Eliphaz also believes Job’s suffering is a direct

In stark contrast to God’s presence in Genesis, the character of God in Job strays from the ideal perfection of the divine. The concept of the ideal manifested in Genesis is embodied in God’s moral, reasonable, and rational behavior. In Job, on the other hand, rather than being reasonable, methodical, and creating life, God displays more human characteristics and plays the role of both creator and destroyer. The book of Job begins with God’s boastful bargain with Satan, which subsequently leads God to allow the total destruction of Job’s family and livelihood. Job is even attacked physically with “loathsome sores… from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). In an uncharacteristically immoral decision, God gives Satan the power do

Why does God allow Satan to cause such tragedy in Job’s life, a man whom God has already acknowledged as “my servant Job, that there is none like on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”(1.8) From the beginning, it is known that Job is in no way deserving of his injustices, so a reason must be given. God gives Job an opportunity to prove that under any circumstances Job will still have faith. This simply a test for Job. The whole Book is a “double” journey for Job -- he shows God his faith and realizes the faith God has that Job will not stray from his path. Job knows deep down that God has not forsaken him.

Alas, poor Job is left to ponder why such misfortunes were heaped upon him, for God never really answers this question. Moreover, throughout history, people have been pondering the very same question. Many books and essays have been written on "The Book of Job" in an attempt to try to explain the cause of suffering, but the theories that have been extracted have had primarily western theological overtones.