Okay, in Job Satan tells God that Job is only faithful to him because God gives him so much. So why does God start ruining Job's life just to prove a point to Satan? Why should he care what Satan says? This question has been troubling me and I bet somebody here has an answer for me.
2006-08-31 05:52:20 · 25 answers · asked by Chovo 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The story of Job is highly dramatized in some ways. In the first place, God doesn't bring evil on anybody, we bring it on ourselves by our wrongdoing or it is brought on us by the wrongdoing of others or it is a natural consequence of our mortal condition. All of us will go through suffering and trials to prove our obedience to God's commandments. That is part of our mortal purpose. Our trials are geared to our abilities. God will not give us trial greater than our ability to endure it. In the case of Job, he was an faithful person and was blessed for his faithfulness. Then, his trials came upon him to test him to see if he would remain faithful. Yes, God permitted the trials knowing that Job was equal to the challenge. Satan and his evil minions are always going around trying to thwart God's plan and providing opposition in our lives. This evil opposition is requred for us to make choices and to grow from our experiences. Job found out for himself that his faith was stronger than the fiery darts of the adversary. Satan was permitted to give Job trials like he does to all of us. Jobs trials were harder than most of us could bare. Job bore it well and in the end, God blessed him with more than he lost in the beginning.
The thing to learn is not that God inflicted harm on Job but that God allowed Satan to inflict harm on Job as a natural part of Job's mortal experience. Think about the trials in your life. Did God cause you to suffer or was Satan and his evil followers responsible for your troubles. Also, many of the people around us don't know that by harming their fellow beings, they are actually following evil temptations and doing Satan's dirty work. Thus, Jesus acurately stated that all good comes from God and all evil comes from Satan.
2006-08-31 06:06:27 · answer #1 · answered by rac 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It all went down hill from there, but Job remained faithful and Satan lost the bet.
somebody said that in an earlier answer... Satan lost the bet, so why is God gambling with Satan, gambling with a man's wife, home, children, and animals with Satan?
NONE OF YOU ARE ANSWERING THE QUESTION!! He asked why would God let all those horrible things happen JUST TO PROVE A POINT TO SATAN?
the question wasn't "Why did Job keep his faith" or anything like that, you all keep saying that Job remained faithful, blah blah blah. Stop steering around the real question and try to explain why God would just want to prove a point to Satan? Why should he give a flying funk what Satan says? He doesn't want us to do be led astray by satan but he sure was.
2006-08-31 13:10:55 · answer #2 · answered by chris 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
God didn't ruin Job's life, Satan did. And your right. God didn't really care what Satan thought or said. God, being a father to all, including his rebellious child (Satan) allowed a point to be made but even put out provisions that had to be followed. Like Job couldn't be killed and so on for each leg of the book. Those provisions were followed. In the end, Job did lose alot but gained alot to.
I would never want to be Job but understand the course of events. God loved Job. And Job loved God. He didn't wrath against God the way someone else would, over bills or other trivial things. Job that this world didn't matter and that he would be with his family again in heaven. He wasn't going to lose it and give in to Satan. Job is a model for us all.
2006-08-31 13:06:07 · answer #3 · answered by Brandon 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
It wasn't God that started ruining Job's life. The first thing Satan was ALLOWED to do was destroy all of Job's animals. (Sacrifices). It all went down hill from there, but Job remained faithful and Satan lost the bet.
2006-08-31 12:59:22 · answer #4 · answered by Red neck 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, you should read a bit closer. God doesn't start "ruining Job's life." God simply allows Satan to do this. God wants to prove his point. I don't think that he care's what Satan says. He's trying to prove to Satan (and the reader) that a true love of God has nothing to do with material things.
2006-08-31 12:56:22 · answer #5 · answered by Rance D 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Not scripture according to Swedenborg:
"The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; but those books which have not the internal sense, are not the Word. The books of the Word, in the Old Testament, are the five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two Books of Samuel, the two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse. The rest have not the internal sense" (Arcana Coelestia n. 10325 or Heavenly Doctrine n. 266).
2006-08-31 13:11:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My favorite story.
God knew that Job would not blame him for his troubles.
So he let satan have his way to show him he was wrong and God was right.
Also it shows that if you have a question it is ok to ask God yourself instead of relying on others to answer it for you.
He blessed Job for coming to him instead of listening to his freinds who insisted that God was punishing Job for some unkown sin. Job knew he had not sinned and therefore did not blame his troubles on God but knew that it was a tribulation and testing and was grateful for the opportunity to prove his faith.
Again my favorite story in the old testaament.
I also agree with the post that stated that this world did not matter and lasts only a short time, store your treasure in heavan for you will be more blessed there than you ever could be here.
2006-08-31 13:31:14 · answer #7 · answered by eg_ansel 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it's a quite literal reference to what life is like for everybody. Why does God continue to let satan mess with people's lives? Especially the really good people?
I expect it's because those hard times help to solidify our faith, and help us to become better people. You can see that's exactly what happened to Job. It's like, even though satan really tries to mess with God's plan of salvation, he sometimes just ends up helping Him (I wonder if that ticks him off?)
2006-08-31 12:59:32 · answer #8 · answered by daisyk 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In Christian theology, the place od Satan is to challenge believers in order to help them see how far they've come in their realization of the divine. The Hebrew word in Job is actually "Shatan" meaning "obstacle". This was considered such a valuable role in God's court that it was replicate in the Pope's court. There was a bishop sent to test the churches, and he was (roughly, in latin) called the "devils advocate". So the point wasn't to prove something to Satan, but for Job to solidify his faith.
2006-08-31 13:14:53 · answer #9 · answered by neil s 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He wanted to prove to Satan that Job is thanfull and true no matter what happens to him. That either way he will still praise God.
2006-08-31 13:59:05 · answer #10 · answered by Happily Married 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋