(Confession is good for the soul. :> Reading a summary is actually a smart strategy. No shame in that. MH)
I guess I should start this journal off with a bit of a confession… I had to read a summary of the Trials of Job on the Internet in order to fully understand it. While I did get a lot out of reading it, the language really prevented me from being able to completely wrap my mind around what was being said. Reading the summary really cleared that up for me. Good. Now that my confession is out, my conscience feels cleaner!
After reading the Trials of Job and the summary of it, I found yet another parallel (I keep finding so many of these… ). This parallel is, once again, between the Old Testament and the New Testament and it has to do with perseverance. I found that Job’s perseverance when Satan began to test him was very similar to Jesus’ perseverance when Satan tempted Him in the desert.
A little flash-forward for anybody who doesn’t know the story of Jesus in the desert… Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert and during that time, Satan tempted him immensely. He told Jesus that He had the power to turn stones into bread, that angels would break His fall if He jumped off the top of a temple, and that He could have all the kingdoms of the world if He simply bowed to Satan. Jesus, however refuses all of these temptations, relying on God the Father to provide for him.
Back to Job now… At the beginning, as Satan tortured him, Job continued to believe in God’s grace and did not rebuke Him. However, as time went on, Job did begin to curse his birth and become angry with God but he did not reject Him, as Satan had wished. Still though, he did become weak and give in a bit, unlike Jesus. This can obviously be attributed to the fact that Job was not divine like Jesus. Clearly, both of these stories were intended to demonstrate to readers that, while Satan may be very powerful, the power of God can never be overwhelmed.
I guess I should start this journal off with a bit of a confession… I had to read a summary of the Trials of Job on the Internet in order to fully understand it. While I did get a lot out of reading it, the language really prevented me from being able to completely wrap my mind around what was being said. Reading the summary really cleared that up for me. Good. Now that my confession is out, my conscience feels cleaner!
After reading the Trials of Job and the summary of it, I found yet another parallel (I keep finding so many of these… ). This parallel is, once again, between the Old Testament and the New Testament and it has to do with perseverance. I found that Job’s perseverance when Satan began to test him was very similar to Jesus’ perseverance when Satan tempted Him in the desert.
A little flash-forward for anybody who doesn’t know the story of Jesus in the desert… Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert and during that time, Satan tempted him immensely. He told Jesus that He had the power to turn stones into bread, that angels would break His fall if He jumped off the top of a temple, and that He could have all the kingdoms of the world if He simply bowed to Satan. Jesus, however refuses all of these temptations, relying on God the Father to provide for him.
Back to Job now… At the beginning, as Satan tortured him, Job continued to believe in God’s grace and did not rebuke Him. However, as time went on, Job did begin to curse his birth and become angry with God but he did not reject Him, as Satan had wished. Still though, he did become weak and give in a bit, unlike Jesus. This can obviously be attributed to the fact that Job was not divine like Jesus. Clearly, both of these stories were intended to demonstrate to readers that, while Satan may be very powerful, the power of God can never be overwhelmed.