The Book of Job Background

The Book of Job Background

The Book of Job in the Bible addresses the sufferings and eventual contentment of a man named Job. The story’s structure is set in form of a prose prologue and prose epilogue. The story revolves around Job, a blessed and wealthy man. Satan is not happy with Job and wants to test whether his devotion to God is embedded in his earthly possessions. Therefore, Satan comes before God and claims that Job is only dedicated to Him due to its material wealth. According to Satan, if Job can be stripped of his wealth, he can no longer keep his faith in God. Satan requests God to test Job’s faith.

God grants Satan permission to test Job. Satan takes everything from Job, but he remains faithful to God. In some way, the book addresses the challenges that people go through. After Job’s wealth was taken away from him, his wife and friends advised him to curse God. Although Job was suffering bitterly, he did not attempt to mock God. The poetic dialogue in the book is portrayed in this part where he is conversing with his three friends. At some point, Job thinks that God is not doing justice to him.

Job speaks to God directly but he is not told the reason for his suffering. The story portrays God as a powerful being, who cannot disclose to humans the basis of their sufferings. Job’s wealth is restored and he cannot hide his happiness. However, the readers cannot understand why righteous people are punished by God. People are supposed to be punished due to their iniquities but the story teaches the readers otherwise.

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