The book of job

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The Book of Job
The book of Job was written by an anonymous author, and it is a combination of the heavenly and human knowledge that focuses mainly on a key life issue. The major issue in the book is to answer the question: why do blameless people endure undeservedly? The book does not mainly talk about Job. Although and his suffering are the centers of the book God is also the center of the book and His relationship to what He created. In this excerpt, I will examine the book of job and how it is a story of empathy and the lesson that his friends learned from him.
The book of job is a story of empathy since it mainly deals with human suffering. But the agony of the innocent people does not cover the writer’s entire aim. The book of Job is also is like a primordial play that is written with an aim of portraying the irrationalities of life, the power and autonomy of God, and the weakness of man. The book of job further shows that a suffering person can at times question and doubt, maintain his unbroken relationship with God, face the difficult questions of life from both the family and friends and finally come to a satisfactory for personal resolution from the underserved suffering. Torment and empathy are the prominent issues that forces people to consider the detailed questions that are posed by these concepts, especially in the cases when it impinges on the lives of the individuals who have a close relationship the true loving God. Several questions including that of the good and iniquity, autonomy and liberty, man, and Satan, blessings and cursing are all intertwined within the framework of undeserving suffering in the book of job (Rosner 286).

Job who was a rich man resided in the land of Uz. He was a blessed man who had 3,000 camels, 500 female donkeys, 500 yokes of oxen, 7,000 sheep, three daughters and seven sons. He was a righteous, upright, blameless and man who respected God and turned away from all forms of sins. Even a single transgression from any of his son could make him sacrifice burnt offerings on the behalf of his sons (1:1). His richness and character had made him be the most respected man in the East.
The book of Job is of empathy since the suffering that job underwent makes the reader sympathize with him. God had accepted the adversary challenges on Job. Satan first attacked Job’s possessions. One can sympathize with Job as he suffers one failure after the other in a quick progression: camels, sheep, oxen, several servants, donkeys, and his ten offsprings were taken. Despite all these problems Job did not resolve to sin against the Lord. Instead, he says, “bare I came from my parent’s womb, and bare I shall go back. God gave, and God has taken away. Holy be the name of the almighty Lord” (Job 1:21, 22).
After all, Job’s suffering did not end there; Satan continued with his work and the second thing that Satan attacked Job was his health. The suffering that Job underwent from the ailing of his body makes us sympathize with him. Job was smitten on all of his body from the foot to the top of his head. On seeing this, Job’s wife who had suffered a lot of losses from the occurrences that had occurred except her health ended up questioning Job’s integrity. Job’s wife told him out of empathy to go on and curse the Almighty God and end up dying. In answering this Job replied “shall we certainly accept from God and not acknowledge adversity?” in his reply Job did not commit any sin with the lips of his mouth (Job 2:10).
On hearing Job’s suffering his close friends came with an aim of sympathizing with him and comfort him. Job’s friends did not say anything; they kept quiet for a whole seven full days due to the suffering and pain that their friend was undergoing. The sat with him quietly. On speaking, Job expressed his deep and hurting depression. “On opening his mouth Job cursed the day that he was born. He asked, why did I not pass on at birth, Come into the world from the womb and die… Why is illumination given to him who is suffering, and existence to the bitterness of heart; who long for passing away, but there is nobody… exulting when they find the grave… I am not comfortable, nor am I calm, and I am not at respite, but mayhem comes” (Job 3:1, 11, 20-22, 26)
From the book, it is vivid that Job’s expressions portray the expression of a person who is seeking the grave. A person who will find relief from the pain that he has undergone in the grave. These kinds of thoughts normally come from an individual with a depressed soul. This makes all his friends and even his wife sympathize with him due to his suffering (Rosner 286). We see job feeling of being left by his relatives, acquaintances, associates and the intimate friends. “He has detached my siblings far from me, and my associates are completely separated from me. My family has failed, and my close friends have forgotten me… All my acquaintances abhor me, and those I care for have turned not in my favor (Job 19:13, 14, 19).
Job’s intimate friends instead of being comforters and making him forget the suffering that that he has undergone they add to his hopelessness. Job happens to be in a scuffle in which he is not aware of the reason that made God allow the suffering to come to him. We see him accusing God as the cause of the suffering. Job’s friends accuse him of an unacknowledged sin that he had committed, and that was the reason for his punishment from God (Launer 453). Despite this accusation Job constantly defended his integrity and innocence: he does not know of any sin that he being fairly punished.
From all the sufferings that Job underwent it is clear that Job’s story is a story of empathy. All who knew Job sympathized with him due to the sufferings that he was undergoing. On the other hand, God collected Job’s thoughts in Job 40: 2 God addressed the insurgence of Job by referring to him as a faultfinder and God further asks “will the faultfinder challenge the Almighty Lord? Let him who rebuke God answer it.” Due to God’s questions chapter 40 and chapter 41 Job replies whereby he retracts and agrees to repent in dust and ashes (Norton 740).
Job accuses his friends on emphasizing only on the positive aspects of the bad situation that he was undergoing and minimizing its negative. He also accused his friends of uttering lies with an aim of defending God. We see Job telling his friends: “you go on smearing truth with your falsehoods, one and all switching a patchwork of lies.” (Job 13:4). God becomes angry with Job’s friends since they had given a dishonest and unsympathetic response to Job’s suffering. God was also hungry with them since they had lied to themselves and God. Despite Job’s friend being aware that what Job was saying was legitimate they refuse to acknowledge it to themselves, to God or Job.
There are several lessons that Job’s friends learn from him, some of these lessons include the fact that even with the misery that job went through, and his desire for his life to come to an end, he never considered committing suicide. Therefore despite all the problems and temptations that the friends face they should not resolve in committing suicide. Job’s friends also learn that Jobs endurance glorified the Lord and it helped in answering Satan’s challenges, they also learn that God’s people should serve Him not in return for sequential and spiritual advantages but because of who He is. Job’s friends also learn that despite all the challenges that an individual may undergo he should stay steadfast in the Lord. On addition, they learn that after everyone becomes stronger after being tempted, as in the dealings of God with Job, God had mercy on Job. After every challenge one is rewarded, God multiplied all Job had initially into twofold: camels, sheep, and female donkeys. On addition, Job managed to get seven sons and three daughters (Ash 30). Job was blessed all his sisters, brothers, and friends came to him and they shared bread with him, in the process the consoled him for the suffering that he had undergone. Job was blessed by God, and he lived for another 140 years and he was able to see his son and grandsons of the four generations.
Job’s friends also learned that all forms of pain and suffering that people go through does not at all times mark God’s disfavor. All the challenges that one undergoes through vary in degree and are normally meant to work out a personality that can sympathize with nature. Also, they learn that God was pleased with Job since Job did not fail Him despite all the challenges. Job did not worship God for the material possessions, but he worshiped God for who he was. They also learned that it is imperative for one to repent like Job did (Bediako 740). Despite all the challenges that individuals face they should continue their association with God knowing that everything will be good at the end.
Although Job was a righteous man who feared God, God allowed Satan to tempt him. He lost all his material possessions. Due to empathy his wife advised him to curse God and die but Job still trusted in God, and he did curse God. His friends instead of consoling him, they accused him of doing an unacknowledged sin. Job maintained his relationship with God despite the sufferings that he went through. At the end Job repented, and he was blessed by God by being given everything he had lost in twofold.
Works Cited
Ash, Christopher. Job: The Wisdom of the Cross. Crossway, 2014.
Bediako, Daniel K. “Soul, Spirit, Breath, and Life in the Book of Job.”Philosophy Study 3.8 (2013): 739.
Launer, John. “The book of Job.” BMJ 335.7617 (2007): 453-453.
Norton, David. The King James Bible: A Short History from Tyndale to Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.
Rosner, David J. “Self-deception and cosmic disorder in the Book of Job.”Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 11.1 (2015): 285-298.