The Book of Job

In "The Book of Job" suffering was a major theme exhibited throughout. Suffering is unavoidable because it is necessary and part of life. According to the dictionary, when someone suffers, they undergo something painful or unpleasant. For example, when you break your leg, you are suffering from a pain. Also, you can consider being robbed a type of suffering. In "The Book of Job," Job was considered as the greatest man to ever live. God was so surprised, and pleased with him, that he actually bragged about Job to Satan. God told Satan to overlook at what a great man Job actually was. After time, Satan was dismayed by the way Job lived his precious life. Satan believed that the only reason Job was so faithful to God, was because he was always healthy and prosperous. Satan believed if he took everything away from Job, he would no longer respect God as he would have before. God on the contrary, believed that Job would do everything he could to continue and live the same way he always did. Right after, Satan had destroyed everything Job had in his life, including his health and wealth.

In the passage which was assigned to me, Job raises many questions which he spends a great deal of time pondering about it. Job asks, "Is there a time of hard service for man on earth?" When Job asks that, he basically is asking when is life easy? He then asks, "Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?" He compares a man's life with a hired laborer, and says that they are both extremely hard. Job then says, "Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade. And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages." He says that servants are working so hard out in the sun, and the only thing he wants is shade and rest, but he will not actually get what he wishes. The hired man has to wait a long time for his wages, if any. Ultimately, Job is comparing a working man to a human life. Job, like a worker, is working to complete someone else's goals. The work doesn't benefit him in a direct way, just like the work doesn't benefit a worker. Job realizes that unlike a worker who gets paid, he will not get paid for the work he does. This shows that suffering is the only payment for his work. As Job continues, he says that he has been given months of uselessness and nights that are tiring. Job then says, "When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be ended?'