During the suffering of Job, he was visited by his three friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zohar. The three friends offered different reasons pertaining to the suffering of job. They argued that Job was mainly suffering because of evil and unrighteousness that he committed against God. The obvious reasons provided by his friends are based on evil and unrighteous as the cause of the problems and suffering that Job was facing. The three friends claimed that God is just therefore he punishes the unrighteous and evil people in the society. They argued that God punishes the evil while the righteous deeds are rewarded. They therefore argued that Job must have wronged or sinned against God and he was being punished by God. They went to an extent of reminding Job that he used to comfort people and then it was his turned to be comforted due to the pain and guilt he was going through for his wrong deeds. Eliphaz responded to job by reminding him that he never understood the pain that the other people went through while he was comforting them therefore he deserved to pass through the pain due to his wrong doings. Eliphaz therefore strongly believed that the agony Job was going through must have been due to the evil and wrong deeds he committed and he was being punished .He therefore urged Job to seek the favor of God in order to get healed or forgiveness.
Both Zohar and Bildad on the other hand agreed that Job must have committed sin and therefore he was being punished by God. They strongly believed that suffering is as a result of sins and wrong deeds because God is just and can only punish the sinners and reward the righteous accordingly. They argued that Job should stop his blames God and ask for forgiveness. Bildad also argued that the children of Job were responsible for their deaths and it was just for them to have faced death. Zohar added that Job even deserved a more severe punishment from God for what he did.
The three friends of Job strongly believed that the rewards and punishment from God are based on the sins and acts of the people. They argued that God is just therefore the evil and righteousness are rewarded accordingly by God. They therefore argued that punishment and reward are based on the deeds of the people. The evil and sinners are punished by God while the righteous are rewarded by God in the proportion of their acts. The friends of Job argued that doing well is associated with blessings while the sins are associated with the calamity.
The book of job begins to ask questions on how God reward and punish the righteous and evil doers respectively. The questions relating to the nature of punishment and nature of punishment were reflected in the book of God. The book asked questions on the relationship between the nature of the world and punishment of evil by God. The book also asks the relationship between justice and character of God. The dialogue between Job and his friends helped in showing the understanding how different people treated the issue of suffering in relation to the punishment by God and temptations by Satan. The question of innocent suffering also arose in the book of job. This referred to how the innocent people suffers in the hand of a just God.
The book of Jacob also suggests the questions on how evil is punished and the reward of righteousness. The book questions if man can be just with respect [t to their deeds. The righteous of men is also questioned in this book. The questions relating to the temptations and trials on faith are also raised in the book of Jacob and how they related to suffering of Jacob.
Elihu strongly believed that Job spent much of his time in vindicating oneself other than God. He argued that God communicates to people through both physical pain and visions. He also suggested that suffering gives someone an opportunity to understand the forgiveness and love of God when they get well when they realize how God rescued them from death. Elihu therefore believed that the suffering of job must have been as a result of being evil and wicked. He also argued that Job’s talking against God was an act of rebellion against God.
Elihu was apologetic in the way he approached life. His argument was therefore rational in that it took consideration of both sides of the disagreement. He showed sincerity in the way he approached the issue of suffering of Job. He argued that mankind is delivered through payment of ransom in order to deliver them from the pit.God responded to Job’s claims of innocence by showing his power of creation and how complex his knowledge is above that of Job. This made Job understand the limitations of his human knowledge as compared to the power of God pertaining to his creation. The response of God showed how little Job knew about the creation of God. God responded angrily to the arguments of Bildad, Zohar and Eliphaz accusing job. God was very pleased with the response of Job to the arguments of his friend s pertaining to his suffering. He responded to the claims of Job by doubling his previous wealth which got lost due to the temptations of the devil.
In relation to losing a loved one in Jews, compensation was given but in the case of Job’s suffering no recourse was offered when his children died due to the unjust suffering. He suggested that people should be reunited in order to regain their happiness. I think the final message of Jon in relation to suffering and injustice is that suffering aims at showing the faith and temptations. The issue of innocent suffering is also clearly shown in the book of Job. According to job and Frankl, humanity is subject to innocent suffering in order to show the limitations of human knowledge with respect to power of God in creating great things. The suffering is therefore meant to enable human beings understand various aspects of life beyond their understanding. I think the book of Jacob end in a happy tone in the sense that he realized the importance and essence of having strong faith in God. Job therefore realized the he had strong faith in God and this was compensated through doubling his wealth. God also proved to Satan that Job was his righteous servant who could not be shaken by the severe temptations that he was subjected to by Satan.
Victor Frankl strongly believed that suffering is the part of human beings life which cannot be eliminated. He argues that one should concentrate more on their life such that they understand the freedom which they deserve to live. He argued that concentration on one’s life is essential in coping with the injustice in their surroundings. Frankl says that the human beings have the freedom to choose whether to submit to particular choices which are subjected to them. Choice will therefore help in to make decision in relation to the circumstances they face in life.
Works Cited
Koslowski, Peter. The Origin and the Overcoming of Evil and Suffering in the World Religions. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2001. Print.
