Job's Story - PDF

COURSE LEARNING PACKETS Document Code FM-STL-014 Saint Louis University Revision No. 01 School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021...

COURSE LEARNING PACKETS Document Code FM-STL-014 Saint Louis University Revision No. 01 School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021 Page 1 of 4 INSPIRED WORD In the Sacred Writings, Israel reflects on human life in the light of its faith. The book of Psalms, for example, is a collective of hymns and prayers expressing the central themes of Israelite faith. The Wisdom literature (Wisdom, Sirach, Qoheleth, Proverb) offers us religious insights into human behaviour. The book of Job wrestles with a deep human question – the problem of suffering. Read and reflect on Job’s story and the other life lessons that can be gleaned from the book of Ecclesiastes. Be guided by the questions found after each book. A. Job Job tells the story of one man’s troubles. But his situation prompts a series of conversations written in the form of poetry. These conversations between Job and his friends and the Lord focus on difficult life questions. Reading this book will challenge you to bare your heart before God. It is easy to offer God your praises and thanks. But Job will challenge you to offer to God even the many questions and the deepest emotions in your heart. For God alone can satisfy your cries and give you comfort and rest. Watch this short video as an overview of the Book of Job. It is entitled “Overview: Job.” Here’s the link: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQwnH8th_fs) Be guided by these questions as you read and reflect on the stories of Job: 1. What kind of a man is Job? 2. What does Job’s story teach you about life, most especially about faith in God? Job’s Piety, Response, and God’s Blessings In the land of Uz there was a blameless and upright man named Job, who feared God and avoided evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very large household, so that he was greater than anyone in the East. His sons used to take turns giving feasts, sending invitations to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when each feast had run its course, Job would send for them and sanctify them, rising early and offering sacrifices for every one of them. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this habitually. (Job 1:1-5) Then Job answered the Lord and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. “Who is this who obscures counsel with  COURSE LEARNING PACKETS Document Code FM-STL-014 Saint Louis University Revision No. 01 School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021 Page 2 of 4 ignorance?” I have spoken but did not understand; things too marvelous for me, which I did not know. By hearsay I had heard of you, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore, I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger blazes against you and your two friends! You have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job. So now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves, and let my servant Job pray for you. To him I will show favor, and not punish your folly, for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.” Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had commanded them. The Lord showed favor to Job. The Lord also restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the Lord even gave to Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They consoled and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. Thus, the Lord blessed the later days of Job more than his earlier ones. Now he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters: the first daughter he called Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. Then Job died, old and full of years. (Job 42:1-3; 5-17) Job lives in a foreign pagan land in ancient times. His position is enviable: he is a leader of the nomads, somewhat like Abraham and he lacks nothing. In the last paragraph (42:7), we can find the conclusion of the popular story of the holy man Job. Since he preserved his trust, it was rewarded by the just God. Job and Helping Others. (2019). Job deals with the causes of human (https://www.clarion- journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2019/03/job-and- suffering and the role may play in this helping-others-by-bob-branch.html) suffering. Job is described in the story as “a truly good person, who respects God and refuses to do evil”. He trusted God and was blessed with many children, good health, and much wealth. But when Job loses everything and suffers terribly, the book seems to focus directly on the question of why a good and faithful like Job has to suffer. Job invites us to struggle with age-old questions and in the end discover that the mysterious power and ways of God are sometimes beyond human understanding, but God’s presence with us in times of suffering can give us the strength to go on and face the future.  COURSE LEARNING PACKETS Document Code FM-STL-014 Saint Louis University Revision No. 01 School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021 Page 3 of 4 B. Ecclesiastes The book’s title comes from the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word Qoheleth, which means “one who assembles.” The author is not known, but many scholars suggest he may have been a teacher, preacher, or philosopher. The author shares his thoughts on the meaning of life and uses sayings, proverbs, and poems to illustrate his point. Watch this short video as an overview of the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is entitled “Overview: Ecclesiastes.” Here’s the link: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsQ1tc- 2wk) Be guided by these questions as you read and reflect on the story found in the Book of Ecclesiastes: 1. What are the main themes of the book of Ecclesiastes? 2. What life lessons can you learn from this book? No One Can Determine the Right Time to Act There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit do workers have from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to mortals to be busy about. God has made everything appropriate to its time, but has put the timeless into their hearts so they cannot find out, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. I recognized that there is nothing better than to rejoice and to do well during life. Moreover, that all can eat and drink and enjoy the good of all their toil – this is a gift of God. I recognized that whatever God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it, or taking from it. Thus has God done that he may be revered. What now is has already been; what is to be, already is: God retrieves what has gone by. And still under the sun in the judgment place I saw wickedness, and wickedness also in the seat of justice. I said in my heart, both the just and the wicked God will judge, since a time is set for every affair and for every work. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-17) The book of Ecclesiastes is a search for the meaning in life. The writer sees from the point of view that life is full of contradictions and mysteries. Hard work is a gift from God  COURSE LEARNING PACKETS Document Code FM-STL-014 Saint Louis University Revision No. 01 School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts Effectivity June 07, 2021 Page 4 of 4 but work is painful and senseless, because after people die, they won’t have anything to show for their hard work and others will get to enjoy their wealth. There is time for everything, everything on earth is temporary, just put your trust in God or His providence. God is journeying with us throughout. (Ec. 3 :1-15) Ecclesiastes looks at all the aspects of the human condition, one after the other, beginning from the surest: death. Death destroys all illusions of man who tries to forget the lack of meaning in his life. The chosen biblical passages about Job and Ecclesiastes describe how God remains present in the experiences of His people. In the midst of all these encounters, the people of God who remain faithful to Him are assured of God’s presence and company in their endeavor.