Job continued.
“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.” Job 1:1.
The land of Uz lay in the southern part of the Transjordan region, also known as the East, because it lies east of the Jordan River. Uz was renowned for its wisdom literature, which featured debates and discussions similar to those in the Book of Job. While the Book of Job shares similarities with Transjordanian literature, it is more detailed and more skillfully written. The Book of Job has undergone many revisions and edits to refine it and make it uniquely suited to Hebrew religious teaching. According to the Jewish rabbinic Midrash, the main character of the story, Job, was not an Israelite.
The purpose of the Book of Job, the trilogy, is not to present an ideal model of righteous living. No actual person is likely to have experienced what is described in the Book of Job. If Satan represents the Devil himself, then Jews would not say that God made a deal with the Devil. The debates in the Book of Job aim to answer the timeless question: Why do innocent people suffer while the unrighteous prosper? Do innocent people exist, and what is the source of human righteousness? The Book of Job offers no simple answer. It simply shows that God’s ways are beyond human understanding.
Innocence means being free from sin by doing nothing wrong. The book of Job, therefore, raises a question: Could fallen human beings be innocent? Even if they obey the law perfectly, could they still be considered innocent? God, through the prophet Jeremiah, before the book of Job was written, stated, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Paul agrees: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. The fact that those who, by human standards, always do what is right yet still suffer disproportionately has puzzled people for thousands of years. However, through the prophet Jeremiah, God answers, “And if you ask yourself, why has this happened to me? – It is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated.” Jeremiah 13:22. All humans are born sinners because of the sin in the Garden of Eden; therefore, they cannot be innocent and blameless, no matter how hard they try.
Continued in the next blog.