The Summary of the Book of Job

The Book of Job is best described as the genre of wisdom. This book begins by introducing the character of Job, and generally explains how God has blessed his life. “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) Shortly after the brief introduction of Job, Satan, to God, initiates a conversation. Satan asks permission to test the faith of Job, for he complains that Job only serves God loyally because God has only ever bestowed blessings and protection upon Job. God grants Satan the chance to prove his theory, and poor Job must suffer the wrath of Satan. “As the book of Job explores the question of why bad things happen to good people, it points out that there is a spiritual realm in which moral agents are involved in a struggle.” (Harbin, pp. 116) In the midst of tragedies such as Job’s losing his health, wealth, and fortune, his friends Bildad, Zophar, Eliphaz, and Elihu try to comfort him and offer advice on how to change his bad situation. “Indeed, they say to Job that what happens to anyone in life-good or ill-is a direct result of whether that person has pleased God or not.” (Fee and Stuart, pp. 241) Obviously this advice was true, but not in the case of Job. His hardship in life was literally a ‘test of faith’. The major point to this Bible book is simply to ‘keep the faith’, and maintain that faith in God in the worst and best of times. Even the most righteous or pious person struggles, grieves, or suffers at some time in his life. When life doesn’t always seem to maintain a positive plan, it is not necessarily punishment from God, but a lesson of faith in a tumultuous trial of life that will inevitably help us to grow spiritually. “The premise of Job is that much of what happens in this world involves issues far beyond moral cause and effect.” (Harbin, pp.