How Is Power Shown In The Book Of Job

The book of Job comes from the Old Testament in the Bible and serves the purpose of teaching one to steadfastly serve God even in the toughest of times. Although God promises to watch over his people at all times, he never promises that life will always be easy. Job lives a prosperous life, which suddenly takes a turn for the worst when the devil intervenes in an attempt to weaken Job’s faith in God. Though many important themes are apparent in the book of Job, a major theme that is blatantly present is the idea of power. Although most think of power as a mighty word or a word containing a strong, authoritative connotation, the book of Job goes to show that having power does not always mean having the upper hand; power can also be humble.
This opposing view is seen fervently through Job himself. All Job’s life he was “blameless and upright and feared God and shunned evil” (1) and in return he was given an abundant life with really no issues to speak of. Job did his best to be a Godly man and do what he knew was right by the Lord. Not only did Job make sure that he himself was a worthy man of God, but he When God gave the devil permission to torture Job, Job experienced pain and loss like he never had before. He became infected with a horrible skin disease, he lost all his sheep, camels and children, and he became the outcast of society all in a short period of time. The devil conjured up the most horrible things he could think of and inflicted them upon Job in hopes to break him down and make Job turn against God. However, after all these horrible acts were done against Job, he still vowed that “as long as [his] breath is within [him], and God’s spirit in [his] nostrils, [his] lips [would] never speak evil” (111). Job’s internal fight to persevere in the face of evil in hopes of getting to speak to God about the trials he has been facing, shows true power in it’s humblest form. Job is broken physically and emotionally yet he still looks to God and turns his head from