Impatience of Job

Hateful Devotion

God said, “I am furious with you three friends of Job. You have recited cliché instead of speaking from the soul. Job’s ego, his opportunism, his selfishness, hatred, anger, grief, and prejudice: they all led to a ceaseless obsession of Me. I never left his thoughts. Even in opposition to Me, one cannot escape My presence. Wholly absorb yourself in love, in hatred, in peace, in fury; so long as you have the relentless, obsessive determination of Job. In constant contemplation, one may be liberated from yourself and transformed with Me.”

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The Book of Job addresses the timeless conundrum of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Like the depressing question, the Book of Job concludes without compelling answers.

Summary:

• Job is “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” He was healthy, wealthy, and happy. I think wise too (sometimes a wise guy).

• “The Adversary” challenges God that Job is only faithful because of his good life. If his life wasn’t so good, Job wouldn’t praise God. God accepts the challenge. Satan means “Adversary” in Hebrew.

  • Raiders steal his oxen, donkeys, and workers.

  • Fire burns all his sheep and those workers.

  • More raiders steal his camels and kill the handlers.

  • A mighty wind collapses his home, killing all ten of his children.

  • However, this wasn’t enough so Job is inflicted with a skin disease from head to toe.

• Job’s wife taunts him to blaspheme so that he may be struck down. This could be read as mercy.

• His friends come, and, for the majority of the book, Job and his friends debate justice, righteousness, God’s will, nature of God etc.

• The book concludes with God’s arrival and speeches. Job recants his complaint. God restores Job’s wealth, and Job has ten more children. It does not mention curing his skin disease.

Judaism has mixed views of the book. Is he even a Jew, or is he a Gentile? Some claim he is on par with Abraham’s faith. Others think he only praised God out of fear.

Christians’ New Testament suggests faith and patience will be rewarded (James 5:11), but Job actually isn’t patient throughout. Christians say the devil carried out the evil done to Job, but Job and his friends say “God” when addressing Job’s misfortune.

Islam’s Qur’an truncates the story. There is no debate of friends. Rather it focuses on Job’s patience and humility. A final prayer to God is heard, and God restores Job’s previous life.

Many are troubled by the death of the first 10 children only to be granted 10 more. Consolation is that God may not have killed Job’s kids, but rather hid them for the test.

The book is mostly a poem that mixes in narration. It is riddled with allusions to other Middle Eastern stories, symbolism of things forgotten, irony, sarcasm, word play, and wit. However, because of its age, these are extremely difficult to sense, let alone understand (even with footnotes). There’s always the problem of translating of old language too.

It has a range of negative emotions: anger, hopelessness, hostility, disgust, and grief.

Below is my paraphrasing. The poem (Book of Job) has motifs, and I attempt to include a few. For dialogue clarity, each character speaks multiple paragraphs until the next character is explicitly mentioned.

Lastly, I embellish God’s final words (this piece’s opening quote) of chastising the friends with how I understand the book.

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Job’s friends heard of his misfortune and came to console. They did not recognize him at first for boils had swollen over Job’s eyes. His lips were cracked enough to leak their color. His hands would’ve repelled a leper. His clothes would’ve made a beggar charitable.

There was a tree casting shade, but Job stayed in the sun.

His friends sat on the ground with Job as mourners did. They did not speak for one does not speak first to someone in mourning. After the mourning period of seven days, Job spoke.

He cursed, “Screw the day I first made my mother smile. Screw the night that tempted my father into her bed. I wish it was the 32nd of a thirteenth month! I should never have been born.

“If on that day a king liberated slaves; if God cured all sickness; if a son returned safely from war; if a daughter found love; if rains eliminated thirst; if hunger went extinct; if peace on earth was achieved!. . . these are all evil, and I curse it. My birth ruined it all forever.

“Why couldn’t I have been stillborn? Why was I nursed, raised, fed, and taught? Why was I tempted to grow old? Why are we even given hope? Immediate death would’ve been better. Better to sleep dreamlessly forever. Instead, life tickled so that it could torture.

“The shade of that tree brings no relief. Sleep only taunts me. My body rejects rest. I don’t even have a bed, and the earth rips my skin while I lie still. Yes, friends, I groan and roar, but why does God give life only to ignore it?”

His friend Eliphaz said, “Who can stay quiet after hearing that? May I speak now? You’ve always been smart. You’ve always had great advice. You’ve helped so many people through their own troubles, but now you can’t remember? You can’t take your own advice? Where’s your confidence? Were you making it up all earlier? Where’s your integrity? Where’s your piety? I never took you for a liar back then.

“When has an innocent person ever truly been annihilated? We have seen time and again that God is just. If an evil man planted this shady tree, God would wilt the leaves. The evil may threaten violence, but God makes their threats empty. Careful, my friend. Don’t lose your grip. Keep your noble patience we all know you by. Remember that God punishes evil, and you are not evil.”

Job remained silent. Then he exploded, “You know what? My wife said something similar. She mocked me, ‘Why do you still keep your integrity!? Blaspheme God and die already!’ But, you know what? I will keep my integrity by speaking my mind!

“Late one night as the pain jolted me from my twentieth twilight of almost sleep, I had a vision: God punishing his angels. It made me think. If God can’t trust his own immortal servants, who are we to expect better treatment? We humans deserve to suffer. This is God’s will.”

The same friend Eliphaz responded, “C’mon Job. I doubt you see anything out of those eyes. But you saw angels? Ok bud. . . And why are you looking to angels or spirits or convenient entities anyway? It is God on high who demands our devotion. Don’t be dumb. I’ve seen too many fools ruin their lives with bad focus, and I won’t have it from you. Look to God! Our God who feeds the hungry; who clothes the naked; who saves the weak; who reunites husbands and wives. Be patient. Be faithful. We know this! God is good. Like I’ve said, you’re smart, but your argument here. . . it’s as dumb as an ass.”

Job said, “It’s your arguments that reek of shit. They’re empty platitudes. I’m speaking out of pain! Nobody has enough discipline to endure what has cursed me. How can you say, ‘Don’t be hungry’ when my stomach vomits out anything I eat? How can you say, ‘Stand up’ when my legs don’t work? No clothes can hide my body. Only force could bring my wife back to the reminder of seven sons and three daughters dead.

“I just wish God ended me. I wish he felled this tree onto my deformed skull. Patience? How much longer does an old man like me even have to live?

“Where is your empathy? I thought I had true friends. The truth hurts, and the truth is that a friend should be there for his friend in need, but you’re not even trying to understand me. It’s as if you only cared when I had wealth. Did you come for my feasts? Did you enjoy my wine? Am I that worthless to you? Am I a different man without money? Do you think losing everything means I’ve lost my ability to think too?

“You look at my pitifully. I see it. Actually, I see the disgust you try to hide. It is I who is disgusted. I only hear dishonesty from you. It’s easy to recite conventional one-liners when you haven’t been what I’ve been through.

“I will speak my mind! It is all I have left. I wish God stole my memories like He stole everything else. The unending physical pain cannot distract my mind from all I lost. Unimaginable pain flashes images of all in whom I loved yet still stupidly found trivial faults. How can I forget all the comforts I failed to appreciate when suffering is my new existence? Tell me, what would erase desire for all that I never thought I’d need to desire again. Memory is God’s reward for my righteousness.

“I will complain. I will grieve. I will speak the truth. The same truth that hurts your fragile egos. The truth that scares you.

“You fear I blaspheme? Don’t worry. How can I be brought more pain than I’m in now? I will speak honestly, offend whomever, and die because. . . what have I done?! Nothing. Surely, God would forgive me in my desperation here. Surely, my supposed wicked tongue could be washed by His waters. If not, let me die, like I’ve been wishing. But, none of my wishes are granted. I wish for answers and get deflections. I wish for death and am granted torture. I wish for friends and am left with you.”

Job’s second friend Bildad now spoke. “You’re right about our disgust, Job. I’m sorry, but I have never smelled something as vile as you are now. That’s our gut reaction we can’t hide. However, my nose can get used to your new smell—maybe by day eight. This breeze assaults us with it nonstop. When will it turn?

“But I can never warm up to your windy words. That is the pity you see. That is why I’m upset.

“Have you forgotten our elders? Have you forgotten how the chaste husband is reunited with his loyal wife? Have you forgotten how holy small are made giant? Have you forgotten how the persecuted are rescued? Have you forgotten how the lonely can be comforted?

“You are not defeated. You are not too old. God can uproot this tree and replant in fresh land. It can regrow doubly by His will. It can flourish. It can bear fruit. It can sing in the wind if the words are right. God indeed watches. You may not see, but it’s true. God’s divine scale of justice sees all. Turn to God!

“Have you forgotten how God rusts the swords of evil? Have you forgotten how the thief is thwarted? Have you forgotten how the liar is silenced? Have you forgotten that God collapses the homes of the wicked?”

Job responded, “You dare claim my children deserved death! They didn’t! God steals the supports of the righteous to reinforce the foundation of the wicked.

“You tell me to turn to God. How and why? You claim justice, but I see none. Rather, I have seen severe injustice. God hides thieves. He fences their wares. He amplifies the liars’ schemes.

“Turn to God, psh. And what would I say? What should I say? If I were washed in every river; if I were anointed with perfect perfumes; if I were as beautiful as my daughters on their wedding days; God would dip me in mud, spray me with urine, and suck the blood from my virtue.

“You all gag. My words make you recoil, but this is because we are mortal. God isn’t! Why should he be threatened by my words. Is He proud? Are You proud, God?! What a profound power You are: hunting a caged pig; dueling a shackled starving slave; playing with your food.

“God simply tallies our sins for His own excuse to punish as He desires. He is a jaded wife tallying her husbands’ failures until she’s ready. The wife that exaggerates misdeeds to the judge to get the house only to demolish it on my children!”

The third friend Zopher now spoke. “You think that because you speak so much that you’re right? Your wit might confuse others, but not me. With how you talk without thinking, incessantly, I now believe you have sinned. You have sinned so greatly that God has made you forget your sins. You’re in denial, friend. You question his justice? You question his motives? You question too much!

“Accept mystery. Accept the divine. Repent, pray, supplicate, beg, maintain the righteousness that you’re perilously close to forfeiting forever. Then, and only then, with the acceptance of mystery and wisdom can you be saved. Your understanding is irrelevant, Job. You need not know why only some clouds rain. You need not know why a wolf howls. You need not know why the days are shorter in the Winter. What we know is that God reinvigorates the day for Spring. Accept and repent.”

Job responded, “None of you have the slightest idea of my suffering. Again, all you do is quote other people’s ideas. You think I’ve forgotten the elders’ wisdom? Do you think my mind is as corrupted as my body? It isn’t. I am speaking honestly.

“Some clouds don’t rain because angry God saves them to flood whomever he wants. The wolf howls to thank twisted God for more defenseless lambs. The nights grow in Winter because sadistic God enjoys watching people freeze. He revives warmth on schedule so parents shiver, worry, fear, and vainly pray, ‘Please let my baby last one more week until the thaw,’ only to laugh that His subjects exonerate Him, saying all is just and divine and mysterious.”

His friends were protesting vehemently. Job yelled, “Quiet down! I will speak my mind for that is more relevant than mysterious wisdoms of dead men.

“God has created us to sin and blames us for it.

“I’ve heard angels’ weeping. I’ve seen the cherub’s smirk. I’ve seen God roll his eyes. He’d uproot a tree too old to survive to tease it with hope. All hope is lost.”

The first friend Eliphaz spoke again. “You haven’t seen anything of God or His angels. You’re lying, and that is tallied for His Judgement. It is another sin atop of wicked things I now believe you’ve actually committed. Stop! Have you learned nothing yet from your miserable life? Repent already!

“And you are so ready to write us all off, Job. Do you think we, ourselves, have not been tested? Do you think we have not struggled? Are we all ignorant idiots to you now? Are we no consolation? Are we that worthless?

“How cocky you are, Job! You talk enough, so shut up and listen for once. The wicked tree does not perish from age, but that God hides the sun, dries the soil, and burns its roots.”

Job responded, “Blah. Same shit. You’re fake friends. I don’t blame you too much though. If our places were traded, I’d say the same as you. I don’t blame you for looking down on me. The whole world does already. Children insult me instead of respect. Neighbors lock their doors instead of inviting. Mad people call me insane. Godless men call me damned.

“Why stop my honesty though? Blasphemy, you call it? Maybe. But, I have nothing more to lose besides my life (which I want to end). More pain, you say? The suffering is maxed out. Every extra stab is merely a tickle.

“I will look to God. Rather I request a trial—no, I demand it! I demand for all the facts to be laid out. What have I done? What orphan have I turned away? Whose wife have I coveted? From what hungry person have I hidden my food? Did I ever dishonor my mother or father? What traveler have I rejected? What servant have I abused?

“What false witness have I testified? You want me to placate, to submit, to yield, to conform, to lie. But I never did and won’t now. I speak the truth.”

The second friend Bildad spoke again, “Why do you hate us? We are here for you, do you not see? You say God is angry with you, but it is you who are angry beyond reason.”

Job responded, “It is you who hate me. I arouse in you deep, scary, insecure thoughts that you refuse to acknowledge. You should thank me. It is my anguish that has awakened the courage to express what we all think. If you ask an honest man why evil thrives—any man in the street—we all know the answer is: ‘God allows it.’”

The third friend Zophar said, “They thrive for a time, but the reckoning is inevitable. The evil man’s sons suffer his dishonor. The evil man’s strength vanishes when it he needs it most. His feasting on pillaged provisions poisons his bowels. His ill-gotten peace falls into anxiety.”

Job replied, “You, my friends, my closest friends, you know I have lived righteously. You know I have never sinned. You know this! Why do you not take my side? Why do you take the side of injustice and claim mysterious, divine balance? Why do you desert me?”

The first friend Eliphaz said, “You blame us?! You accuse us of deserting you? You’re becoming unbearable.

“I’m sorry, Job. I didn’t know such passion could reveal more than God. Should we add your words to God’s impeccable wisdom? Should we just sit here and agree with you? Will that help? Sorry I doubted your anger. I didn’t know it was wiser than God.”

Job said, “Of course I’m angry. I want justice! I want to know! I want to know why the wicked are free to live and I am punished. You said to call to God, so I say it again. I demand a trial.”

The second friend Bildad said, “Good idea, Job. Call for a trial for justice from He who you claim is unjust and uninterested.”

Job answered, “True! He presses on the scale’s weights however He fancies. He blinds our eyes from the deception and tells us: ‘mystery.’

“It doesn’t matter though. I want to know! I need to know. I am not afraid. What worse can happen?”

The third friend Zophar patted the tree they sat under. “Careful. Digging to understand the roots of a solid tree could collapse the tunnel onto yourself.”

Job said, “Do I need to beat the dead horse? Must I repeat my righteous life and unjust punishments even more? I feel like I’m talking in circles.

“I do not deserve what has cursed me. I lay it before God in protest! I swear an oath of innocence. I have done nothing against my fellow man nor my God. I would carve it into stone if my hands could still hold a tool. I deserve to know. I deserve a trial.”

God spoke from a tornado that kicked up dirt blinding all four. “Who is this who speaks without knowledge? Who is this who claims to deserve what no man deserves? Man up, Job. You claim to speak honestly, so answer as such.

“Where were you when I created the earth? Where were you when I breathed life into man? Were you there when I commanded the sun and moon? When I separated land from sea? When I fashioned each fruit according to its tree? When I melted snow for the earth’s thirst? When I sprinkled the stars into the night? When I set wolf against lamb? When I made sprouts sunder stone?

“Do you know why the baby cries instead of sings? Do you know what has made the thief need to steal? Do you know what fear makes the murderer kill? Do you know why the slave must be shackled? Do you know the nobility of the corrupt? Do you know the poverty of the greedy? Do you know the starvation of the gluttonous? Do you know the loneliness of the envious? Do you know the void of the lecherous? Do you know the insecurity of the boastful? Do you know diligence of the lazy? Tell me, what calm has made the angry furious?

“You know nothing, Job. Shall I entertain every misfortunate man? You have no standing to demand anything from Me.”

Job covered his mouth to yell into the tornado. He opened his eyes but saw nothing. “Yes, I am small. I am young compared to the earth. I shall keep my mouth covered for I have spoken enough, but my ears are still open.”

God replied, “You think my answer insufficient?! Man up! I will ask and you answer. Would you challenge My justice? Would you discard Me so that you may be right?

“Do you have a voice as thunderous as Mine? Can you create a garden of peace? Can you make man from dust? Can you expel your first child forever? Can you flood the wicked when necessary? Can you collapse a tower without touching it? Can you tear the earth asunder and swallow cities? Can your fire burn unending forests? Can you awaken the volcano? Can you calm the storm? Can you revive the slain? Can you strike down the healthy? Can you convince a man it could always be worse? What can you do, Job?”

Job replied, “I know You are all powerful. Nothing is impossible for You. It was I who spoke without knowing, but I do know that things are indeed beyond me. I have asked, and You have answered. I have heard You with open ears, and now I recant and relent for I am just lucky dirt blessed by your presence. Let me forget myself.”

God said to Job, “Now, there is a prayer: to forget yourself.” God then addressed Job’s three friends, “I am furious with you three for you have not spoken from the soul. Job’s ego, his opportunism, his selfishness, hatred, anger, grief, and prejudice: they all led to a ceaseless obsession of Me. I never left his thoughts. Even in opposition to Me, one cannot escape My presence. Wholly absorb yourself in devotion, in hatred, in peace, in fury; so long as you have the relentless, obsessive determination of Job. In constant contemplation, one may be liberated from yourself and transformed with Me.”

Job’s prosperity returned. He fathered seven sons and three daughters. The daughters were named Dove, Cinnamon, and Mascara. Job lived to see four generations of his descendants. He died old and content.