For those who have been following my journey through the Bible and who already know this remarkable book will be aware that we have reached the book of Job.
I'm not totally sure how to blog this book as vast chapters are taken up with a 4 way conversation.
If I may - I'm going to do an outline of the book today to try and see the big picture before going into the book and examine the arguments, because I think that there is a help to be found in the big picture.
Job is a good man, quite wealthy with a large family and a lot of livestock and he has a large household of servants.
As the result of a bet between Satan (in Hebrew the name means accuser) and God, in one day Job is attacked by men and natural disasters and loses all his camels, cattle, donkeys, sheep, servants and his children are in a house when it collapses and kills all his children.
Job, in great shock and mourning declared that "The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD" - God won his bet.
Next Satan and God have another bet Job has not been hurt himself and he still has his health - take that away and Job with curse God.
Satan is allowed to make Job very ill, his body covered with sores but Satan is not allowed to kill Job.
Job, to the disgust of even his wife does not curse God, "Will I accept only good from God?".
Three of Jobs friends turn up, and the most of the rest of the book is Job's complaints and his friends attempts to make sense of what has happened to Job.
In the end another voice speaks up - a young man who comes close to the truth.
Finally God appears to Job and his friends - God does not answer Job directly but challenges with the big picture at which Job lays his complaint down, realising that he does not see or understand the whole picture.
At the end of the story, Job has recovered his health, rebuilt his fortunes and raised a new family.
From the big picture view of this book I notice a few things - bad things can, and do, happen to good people.
Secondly when bad things happen it is often very hard, Faith can very easily be a club used to beat down a person of faith - some people are bound to say "Where is your god in this situation?"
Some people who attack faith use this club rather a lot when there is a natural disaster for instance
Third sometimes there really is no explanation - for life to thrive on this planet certain things that cause natural disasters are actually essential - the earthquakes, hurricanes, tropical storms and volcanoes are vital in keeping this planet hospitable. It is only in the last century or so that our understanding of the planet we live on reached this point.
I'm not totally sure how to blog this book as vast chapters are taken up with a 4 way conversation.
If I may - I'm going to do an outline of the book today to try and see the big picture before going into the book and examine the arguments, because I think that there is a help to be found in the big picture.
Job is a good man, quite wealthy with a large family and a lot of livestock and he has a large household of servants.
As the result of a bet between Satan (in Hebrew the name means accuser) and God, in one day Job is attacked by men and natural disasters and loses all his camels, cattle, donkeys, sheep, servants and his children are in a house when it collapses and kills all his children.
Job, in great shock and mourning declared that "The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD" - God won his bet.
Next Satan and God have another bet Job has not been hurt himself and he still has his health - take that away and Job with curse God.
Satan is allowed to make Job very ill, his body covered with sores but Satan is not allowed to kill Job.
Job, to the disgust of even his wife does not curse God, "Will I accept only good from God?".
Three of Jobs friends turn up, and the most of the rest of the book is Job's complaints and his friends attempts to make sense of what has happened to Job.
In the end another voice speaks up - a young man who comes close to the truth.
Finally God appears to Job and his friends - God does not answer Job directly but challenges with the big picture at which Job lays his complaint down, realising that he does not see or understand the whole picture.
At the end of the story, Job has recovered his health, rebuilt his fortunes and raised a new family.
From the big picture view of this book I notice a few things - bad things can, and do, happen to good people.
Secondly when bad things happen it is often very hard, Faith can very easily be a club used to beat down a person of faith - some people are bound to say "Where is your god in this situation?"
Some people who attack faith use this club rather a lot when there is a natural disaster for instance
Third sometimes there really is no explanation - for life to thrive on this planet certain things that cause natural disasters are actually essential - the earthquakes, hurricanes, tropical storms and volcanoes are vital in keeping this planet hospitable. It is only in the last century or so that our understanding of the planet we live on reached this point.
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