The Book of Job

Today in class, we talked about the first part of the Book of Job. In this part of the story, we learn who Job is. He is a man who devotes all of his faith to God. He is very well off. He has a large family that he can support easily and he possesses many animals that help him survive. He was a successful man. That was until one day, God and Satan, the devil, had a conversation about Job. Satan stated, “why does Job fear you for no reason? Why have you blessed him so greatly?” Shortly after this, Job’s servants and cattle are murdered, yet Job still prays to god. Throughout the story, Satan “curses” Job, yet he still keeps his faith in God. That is until he was cursed with sores all over his body causing him great pain. Job cursed the day of his birth and wishes he died during birth. After this, God sees that Job has lost faith in him. This story is similar, yet different to the other stories we read from the Book of Genesis in class. It is similar because God is testing Job to see if he can keep his faith even through the worst of conditions. This also occurred in the story of Abraham and Isaac. In that story, you see Abraham being tested by God when he is told to sacrifice his son. In both stories, God is testing faith in his most trusted people. Although the Book of Job is similar to other stories in Genesis, it is also different. One thing that is different is that in the Book of Job, the “curses” are really aimed towards Job only. In some other stories, the “curses” or “tests” affect other people involved in the story. In the story of Noah, all of his fellow civilians were wiped off the face of the earth. In the story of the Tower of Babel, all of the people were affected because all of their languages got mixed up. This is how the Book of Job is similar, yet different to some of the other stories we studied in the Book of Genesis.