The heavenly strategy of hellish punishment against the blameless: What is the story of Job?
I have been following the biblical story of Job in the Bible for quite some time now. It’s a perplexing tale of woe and despair that sends a man who is good and upright in his community to be punished without mercy to prove a point.
Here is the direct text that starts off the Book of Job which is Job 1:
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
In goes into the wealth that Job has amassed in his righteous and pious existence. Job often reflected on his family’s dedication to God and regularly questioned if he or anyone in his family could do better and be more devoted to God.
This is The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica’s direct interpretation of the events in the Book of Job: This legend concerns Job, a prosperous man of outstanding piety. Satan acts as an agent provocateur to test whether or not Job’s piety is rooted merely in his prosperity. But faced with the appalling loss of his possessions, his children, and finally his own health, Job still refuses to curse God.
South Park and the first media interpretation of Job I ever watched
This scripture is something I’ve been trying to understand for years. My first acquaintance with this biblical history in the media was through South Park. In the media, the Book of Job has been a sign of contention and a deep moral conflict with how the story has been portrayed in media versus the actual events, and even the intricacies of its interpretation.
The South Park episode that directly relates to the Book of Job is also covered in a similar vein with the series by Neil Gaiman, Good Omens. In South Park, a young Jewish boy named Kyle is told the story of Job by his parents. This story leads to Kyle questioning the morality of how deeply God allows the destruction into Job’s life. Why does God allow this to happen to such a good man? What is God’s definition of a good man, and how can we be expected to do good things especially if we have everything taken from us?
The cost of losing it all
The absolute shock and abhorrence most people feel after reading this part of the Bible, and how the media deepens that distrust is palpable. It is said that after the bet between the devil and God is over, Job and God’s relationship is deepened and Job is rewarded with a new family, new livestock and everything else he lost.
A truly horrible thing to think of is losing one’s children. How can you go on with a new family after losing the ones you loved for so many years? My partner had made a good point that there seems to be a very strong disconnection from God in that respect. Children are not objects, pawns or possessions that can just be replaced with new ones. We have memories, affection and love for each individual child and our spouse as well. That simply can’t be forgotten or lost just because we have a new child or marry a new spouse.
Grief runs much deeper than this on a human and spiritual level. God simply believes to prove a point that Job will be faithfully executed to His will in love and patience no matter what is done to hurt him, even to the point of utter despair and grief, loss and suffering to one’s health and image.
The next media interpretation of Job: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman
In the adapted series and book Good Omens, an Angel and a demon work together to cross lines between good and evil to make things, (in their minds) fairer, and less painful and to stave off the consequences of man’s actions against God. This is in an attempt to stop the apocalypse/Armageddon. In the episode directly related to Job, the demon Crowley is instructed by God to destroy Job’s children. The Angel Aziraphale is there to also allow all of this destruction to happen. They both silently ignore these orders from the higher-ups and save the children by turning them into lizards, which they turn back into children after Job’s trial is completed. Do you believe the actions of these characters were justified or not? Were they wrong to question God’s plan to enact what they believe is moral and right?
It’s a scary idea to circumvent something as omnipotent and powerful as God’s direct plan to protect your idea of goodness and morality. Isn’t God supposed to be the ultimate authority on goodness? On what is evil and good?
These sort of questions cause Angels in heaven to become fallen angels and live in hell as demons(in Good Omens). To allow God’s will to be done is surely a good thing, right? The floods in Noah’s time and the destruction of a Godly man to settle a bet, all of these things are by all accounts, portrayed as what needs to happen and God’s will. But, what if the story changed and the devil caused the flood that ended most of humanity? What if the devil on his own killed off Job’s livestock and whole family just to see on his own if he would disavow God? The story doesn’t seem so good now, does it?
The Devil strikes to cause harm and sometimes God allows it (as mentioned in the Book of Job)
The devil is a fallen angel as well, caught in the depths of damnation because he questioned the way of things too much and had a very large ego and jealous attitude towards humans and their relationship to God. How exactly are we supposed to know what’s wrong and right?
God tells us what is right and wrong. Such as to honor Thy mother and father and thou shall not kill. These are reasonable commandments that most moral people follow. Yet, when God allows terrible things to happen to his children, (humanity), we are to be self-repentant and praise God no matter what.
The religious interpretation of the Book of Job
The chief theme of Job is salvation by grace alone, but this ‘patriarchal Bible’ reveals many other topics, including the attributes of God, especially His sovereignty, the errors of ‘works’ religion, the absolute need of revelation, the aims of Satan, the purpose of suffering, the vulnerabilities of the believer and his ultimate blessing from the everlasting God.-Peter Masters
It seems that most biblical interpretations state that God’s will and sovereignty is absolute. Everything that is done is done with righteous judgment. It also helps to understand that suffering is a part of life, and that we must remain steadfast in our devotion to God.
Last thoughts on Job’s righteous suffering
I am one who truly understands that suffering is a part of life. To a large degree, I embrace suffering as it has molded me into a stronger and wiser person. I, however, am struggling to understand why and how God would intentionally set cruel things to happen to us even if we are morally right. Why does He allow cruelty if He can bring peace? It is a hard pill to swallow if you use your cognitive reasoning, without the added religious fear of disrespecting God’s will.
It is not my job as a religious art columnist to judge or justify art in its intent but rather on its merit to discuss a serious subject that relates to theology and our relationship to religion. I personally am still weighing on these matters as they mean a great deal of personal importance to me in a moral and religious sense.
I truly believe these types of discussions are very important to understanding biblical scripture and the development of our own personal relationship to God, whatever that definition means to you. I heavily encourage you to research this scripture yourself and develop your account of it, as religion and God are very personal matters.
Poetry on the sanctity of morality, judgment with Job’s suffering and repentance
I will leave you now with two poems I have written about the Book of Job and how I am processing the unfortunate sort of religious trauma and theological subjugation.
In my Vocal account, I have written chartreuse, which explores the depths of Sheol and Job’s understanding of his pain.
I added this line from the Bible that inspired me deeply: “Before I go, never to return, to a land of darkness and gloom [Sheol]”
I have also written Dust, which explores Job’s deeply painful sense of repentance. He feels solely responsible for the suffering and death of his family and livestock yet he is blameless and righteous.
I hope you enjoy these poems. Thank you for reading this theological essay; I hope your religious studies and prayers are truly enlightening and full of light.
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