Thomas explores the difficulty of jobs suffering, satans involvement, and gods sovereignty. Job was blameless, meaning no sin was found in him. The first two chapters present a series of descriptions and dialogue about a man named job through the lens of god and satan. In the book of job, how was it possible for god and satan. One day, satan the adversary appears before god in heaven.
Satan is seen as the adversary or prosecutor, an agent of gd, very much part of the divine council, that searches out the individuals. It reveals that satan as a rival god appeared before the true god jehovah in heaven, challenging jehovah in the assembly of all the angels before god. In the latter sense, a solemn thought is suggested by it to those who join in the public worship of god. God rebukes jobs three friends and orders them to make a sacrifice. The portrayal of god as one who wagers with the satan, wipes out jobs family, and refuses to answer jobs questions causes a great deal of consternation for many readers. Even though god is not the author of evil, much good comes from evil, so its not surprising that god allowed satan to test job, and so the lord said to satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand. He certainly isnt raining down sunshine, rainbows, and love. Satan in job is those who oppose gods opinion of righteous job. The steadfast love of the lord is better than life. The book of job is ancient israelite wisdom literature, and its purpose isnt to teach us about how satan and god make bets and leave innocent peoples fates hanging in the balance. We are first introduced to job as a blameless and upright man job 1. Having satan do the dirty work is a very greekmythology thing to doyou know, let a demigod do the dirty work, then assert your dominance anyway.
He addresses the difficult question of the relationship between gods sovereignty and the existence of evil, sin, and suffering. The book of job defends the character of a loving and righteous god in spite of earths obvious evils and injustices. In the book of job, satan is sent by god to torment job. One day, satan presents himself before god and has a conversation with him concerning jobs character. It was orchestrated by god to show billions of people, who would read and hear about this account throughout the ages, that satan can do nothing without gods authorization and consent. This is kiddylevel theology, yet many grownups dont get it. Gods hedge must be lifted which job clearly does not discernjob 3. As soon as satan presented himself before god in heaven the lord did not chase the devil out of his presence, as one would expect. What does this tell us about the place of evil in the world.
God converses with satan overcoming satan in one short. The book of job and satans power i recently began studying the book of job and several things strike me as strange right from the start. Satan is like a roving ambassador who comes to god to give a report on what he has seen and heard. He is blameless and upright, always careful to avoid doing evil 1. In that vision satan was daring god that he can destroy the catholic church. But to do so,satan ask for more power and more time 75 to 100 years. There is no indication at all that jobs children and servants were good followers of god. Given how christians are yet inclined to look for a divine reason behind catastrophes and personal tragedies, i think its a point we have yet to learn. Harold bloom has interpreted blakes most famous lyric, the tyger, as a revision of gods rhetorical questions in the book of job concerning behemoth and leviathan.
Was it unfair for god to allow job to suffer over what was. Years later, in the book of the revelation, the apostle john wrote about a future day when satan will be kicked out. Satan tests job there was a man named job, living in the land of uz, who worshiped god and was faithful to him. Satan smiting job with sore boils, william blake, c. When your calamity comes, may the lord give you the grace to affirm the sovereignty of god, let your tears flow freely, and let god himself be your treasure and your joy. Jobs wife lost what faith she might have had, and told him. Satan answered the lord, from wandering all over the earth.
Job, a pious and blameless man, is perfectly happy and contented. The lesson from the big book of job is 1 that god is sovereign over all our suffering. In the first two chapters we are introduced to job and to yahwehs wager with. The book of job is a book in the ketuvim writings section of the hebrew bible tanakh, and the first poetic book in the old testament of the christian bible. The book of job was an important influence upon blakes writings and art. Even though satan did these things to job, job did not curse. In it, satan is a member of gods divine court who walks the earth looking for sin and reports back to god. The adversary satan insinuates himself among the angels of gods court and argues that jobs virtue is not genuine. Job chapters 1 and 2, part of the bibles oldest book, say that satan has access to heaven.
He cannot go beyond what god permits, and when his time period is ended, god turns the captivity of job job 42. With such power, satan strikes job with painful boils cf. We know this because the next verse says, satan afflicted job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head job 2. It would be hard to believe god dedicated so much of the. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that job a particularly pious manwill abandon his piety and curse god if all his wealth and wellbeing are taken away. Well, god says, lets see, and he gives satan permission to ruin jobs life. As a created being, satan doesnt trick god into anything. The prologue introduces us to the characters and summarizes the theme of the book.
The book of job begins by introducing us to its three most significant characters. But it also makes us think of satan as the bad guy. My thoughts are that god allows satan to torment us in order to trip us in hope to win our souls. Job prays for gods forgiveness of them and god accepts his prayer. First, when god asks job whether he can draw out leviathan with a fish hook or put a rope in his nose job 41. Job is a wealthy man living in a land called uz with his large family and extensive flocks.
Thomas walks us through the book of job and considers what the bible says about our darkest moments. The majority of the debate section in the book of job is in prose form. 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. Satan is a spiritual being whose limits appear clearly in the story. Satans first attack 6 one day the sons of god came to present themselves before the lord, and satan also came with them. A surface reading of the book of job usually evokes a reaction such as why is god making a bet with the devil. What does the book of job teach us about the coronavirus. At the end of the book, god gives job twice as much wealth as he had before, along with seven sons and three daughters.
God praises job before satan, and satan is unimpressed, claiming that he is only righteous because his life is so comfortable. Job 1 gnt satan tests job there was a man named bible. Job 2 gw satan challenges the lord again one bible. Because, ultimately, this fight is between job and god. Job 2 gods word translation gw satan challenges the lord again.
Satan answered the lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. Select the basic errors with which god charged jobs three friends. The first test satan did was to take away all of jobs animals, killing the servants that were with the animals, and killing all of jobs sons and daughters while they were eating together. The book of job challenges the simple equation of suffering with punishment, by telling the story of one righteous mans confrontation with overwhelming misfortune. The book of job is a lengthy poem set in the framework of a prose narrative. When the bible says that job was blameless, it does not mean that he. The prose prologue chapters one and two and the epilogue 42. Was it unfair for god to allow job to suffer over what was basically an argument between god and satan. Rather, it begins with a typical day in the divine oval office, and the topic of gods just operation of the cosmos is put on the table. There are a variety of views on chance to be found in the hebrew bible, or old testament. The bible pulls back the veil to glimpse heavenly affairs. Satans a catalyst, sure, but the moral of the story lies in mans relationship with god. The book of job is one of the longest books in the bible, at 42 chapters. The book of job in the hebrew bible was crafted to address human suffering and why bad things happen to good people.
Watch full episodes for free in the superbook app or on the superbook kids website. Satan takes the bait and raises a question about jobs sincerity and motivation for serving god. Blake apparently identified with job, as he spent his lifetime unrecognized and impoverished. God boasts to satan about jobs goodness, but satan argues that job is only good because god has. In the end, gods wager with satan actually achieved an incredible coup. The biblical book of job addresses the existence of evil and suffering in a world where a loving, allpowerful god exists. There is an evil spirit, the enemy of god, and of all righteousness, who is continually seeking to distress, to lead astray, and, if possible, to destroy those who love god. Even if god had let satan take jobs life, we know what job would have said. So satan went out from the presence of the lord job 1. Michael the archangel prayer to be prayed right after the holy mass celebration. The first proof comes from the book of job chapter one.
In this chapter we will discuss the book of job and. Can god talk to satan, and can satan talk to god today. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. William blakes illustrations of the book of job wikipedia.
Satan, the thief, has come to kill, steal, and destroy john 10. Instead, god started conversing with satan according to the written word, it was god our father who. Their dialogue, and the suffering that follows, give light to how. Book of job simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Remember, god doesnt inflict anything nasty on job with his own divine power. That is the lesson of the book for anyone who questions god without access to. They stop reading at verse six and conclude that god robbed job and. This is the jealousies of men that contradict the truth of god that job was an upright man, job 1. Satan, whom the bible refers to as the accuser, tells god that job is only faithful because god has prospered him and put up a hedge around him.
The dialogue between god and satan about job was, by no means, a friendly conversation. If job was blameless, why did god allow satan to afflict. It was the lord who initiated the battle by a claim which essentially drew. The meaning of the book of job is found in gods and satans conversation in heaven. Although job was unaware of the interaction between satan and god, job comes to the conclusion that god is just and good. God then allowed satan power over job, but only up to the point of actually taking his life. In the book of job satan was obliged to present himself before god. From roaming through the earth, he replied, and from walking back and forth in it. God boasts about job, whom god considers to be an outstanding example of what a religious person should be.
Satan then made another challenge, saying that job would curse god if he himself were harmed. The book of job by derek thomas ligonier ministries. The book of job god did not give satan power biblebro. Some theologians claim god gives no answers within this book. The book of job begins with a prologue job 12, which describes a wager between satan and god, in which satan the adversary bets god that joba particularly pious man.
The book of job is one of the literary masterpieces of all time, and provides a profound discussion on the suffering of a just man. The entire saga of job and his family and friends was planned beforehand by god, and he just used satan as an active participant and the chief antagonist. Select the things guarded by gods hedge of protection, according to satans accusation of job. You must understand who god is and who satan is, what they know, and what their motivation is. Satan, the grand accuser, is doing what he does best. How could satan access heaven in the books of job and the.