I finished Job today; this is the story I was waiting for (I thought). Job was a good and faithful man. How many of those have you read about so far? Anyway, he did not get drunk and naked and ruin the story at the end. He did not betray everyone, go against the laws of god or turn to idols or any of the things the "good guys" seem to do previously. There he was, just being good and enjoying life. Until----God makes a bet about how faithful he is. Great. I will not rehash the story for you knowing you all have a copy of the Bible handy. Here's the thing, I think God making him so miserable and killing his children was a bit harsh. However, that is how Job really came through and not only showed his faith, but found out who his friends really were or should I say weren't. It's a great story about how God reserves the right to test his followers and if they keep the faith, he will reward them. I somehow cannot imagine his replacement children somehow make up for losing the originals, but he seemed happy.
Beyond what happened, there are some amazing lines in this book. This is truly great writing. One example I liked is, "Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?"(Job 38:28). Another earlier quote that got my attention was, "I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls"(Job 30:29).
I admire Job for standing his ground and holding true to his beliefs that not only was he a good person who did not deserve the punishment he was receiving, but also to his religion. How many people would have turned to Baal or some other God or decided there was no God? Even when his peers turned on him he refused to change his mind or lie about what was in his heart.
After Job comes Proverbs, but I think I want that as a separate blog entry, so I will leave you with the best part of Ecclesiastes as performed by The Birds. The song has been stuck in my head all day, so I thought I would share it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6jhbtDUZE&feature=related
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