How does the Book of Job apply to us today?

Answer 1

A:In the Book of Job, Satan is the loyal assistant of God, tasked with testing the righteousness of the faithful - not at all the adversary of God in later Christian tradition. The story begins when the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord, with Satan one among them. This description could apply to modern Jews, who continue to see Satan as a loyal assistant of God, but would be difficult to apply to Christians.

God asks Satan where he has been and then asks whether Satan has tried to tempt Job, the most upright man on earth, and Satan says no man is beyond temptation. Undoubtedly Satan's wisdom applies to us today.

God then challenges him to tempt Job, allowing him to harm Satan's property, family and servants but leave Job unharmed. The story tells of all Job's losses but his continued refusal to blame God, who had actually brought about his calamities. When Satan returns unsuccessful, God gives him another dare, allowing him to harm Job, as long as he does not kill him. Still Job refuses to blame God. Finally, God in anger that Job dare be so righteous, demands whether Job thinks he is as great as God himself. This narrative would seem to apply literally only if we see God and Satan as both capricious and evil, using humans as mere playthings for their own amusement. Most would say that this description could never apply to God, in which case the book of Job, a post-Exilic Jewish novel, could never apply to us in real life.

In spite of all the harm done to him, Job shows himself to be modest and obedient, in fact the one character in this story to be worthy of our emulation. He does not seek justice, but eventually God relents and grants providence that Job have a new wife for the one he lost, seven new sons and three daughters, and greater wealth than before, living to a hundred and forty years.

This story begins with Job as the most upright man on earth, but ends with Job forgiving even God for the evil done to him unjustly. If we believe that we would ever need to forgive God as Job did, then perhaps this story applies today.

Another Answer:

The Book of Job has invaluable information for understanding 'El Shaddai' God Almighty. Prosperity Ministers/Preachers today would do well to read it.

Job emphasizes the sovereignty of God, refuting the simplistic understanding of divine retribution - assumes that there is an automatic connection between one's spirituality and prosperity on earth. This was the basics of Satan's accusation in the prologue - Job serves God only for his own profit (1:9-11). Even Job's two friends, Eliphaz and Bildad, gave this same advice to him saying he must of sinned somewhere in his life to be punished so by God. But God refutes this false claim (38:1-39).

Almighty God claims He is completely sovereign. He has no obligation to bless those who obey Him. His nature is based upon His grace and free will. The Book of Job is a refutation of Satan's challenge that prosperity is connected to people's goodness, consequently people's suffering is connected to their sin.

Job teaches that the Lord is not bound to anyone's preconceived theological system. God, speaking to Job, lowers Himself to Job's level in order to answer his question. In the process, He reveals to all people that He is completely free but is totally and truly good. God is the sovereign and benevolent Creator who determines the course of the universe according to His great plan. As His creatures, as Job discovered, we must learn to submit to the 'El Shaddai' and accept by faith and trust, that He has a wonderful plan for all mankind. If all living today would only understand this basic concept of their Creator God, the world today would be a much better place - IMO.