Mt. Fuji from around Tokyo, 100 km Far
Job's Story and the Mankind in the Corona-Pandemic
The Book of Job presents one of the most significant issues for the Jewish people and others since Nazi's attempt to exterminate Jewish people in Europe during WWII till 1945. Indeed, Nazi demonstrated the greatest attempt of Satan to inflict the Jewish people since the Jewish-Roman wars in the 1st century. Beside, if people in the world are really suffering from the corona-pandemic now, they should really refer to the Book of Job.
The theme of the story of Job is often summarized as follows:
Job is an investigation of the problem of divine justice. This problem, known in theology as the problem of evil, can be rephrased as a question: "Why do the righteous suffer?" The conventional answer in ancient Israel was that God rewards virtue and punishes sin (the principle known as "retributive justice"). This assumes a world in which human choices and actions are morally significant, but experience demonstrates that suffering is frequently unmerited.
Yet, as the main hidden theme of the Gospels or the New Testament is the battle between Christ Jesus and Satan, the true theme of the Book of Job should be related to Satan rather than to divine justice on human beings alone.
We may have to think that the God's concern was more on how to punish Satan, like in the case of the Gospels, than to how to make Job more understand and respect the God. As Job was not the Son of the God, like Christ Jesus, the God must have thought that it was also necessary to promote Job's faith and educate Job through divine hardships, but the matter of Satan must have been much more important for the God, since Satan had been once closer to the God as an angel than a mere soul of Job even if Job had died and his soul had been uplifted to Heaven.
In other words, the Book of Job without the existence Satan and its communications with the God, as depicted in the opening of the story, should have no impact on human beings including ancient Israelites and modern Christians, etc. Satan is the essential player in the Book of Job. Indeed, Job can be replaced by anybody, such as Abraham, or St. Paul or St. Peter, but Satan cannot be replaced by any spiritual entity.
Human beings, such as the Jewish people and Christians, should understand that matters related to Satan are more important for the God than those related to the human beings, such as happiness and blessings. To make Satan get humble and confirm that it is nothing to the God, the God might use one or more people such as Job or even His Son. The God might even use the least faithful man for such a purpose.
If the God had been another Satan, He might have left and forgotten Job who had been used as a tool, after He had completely subdued Satan. But, as the God was not another Satan, He kindly showed mercy to Job even in terms of material aspects not to mention the spiritual aspects.
The lesson we should learn from the Book of Job is that our unhappiness, predicaments, worldly pains, etc. might be simple or complicated effects of the battle between Christ Jesus and Satan, which seems to be still going on since the 1st century, or of punishment of Satan by the God. If you have a complete or enough faith in God to believe that it is impossible that the God is displeased with you, you have to all the more think so. Your unhappiness, predicaments, worldly pains, etc. should be related to punishment of Satan by the God. It should be so, since the God must punish and destroy Satan completely finally someday.
On the other hand, looking from Satan's side, it would try to make as many people as possible unhappy, suffering, and inflicted before it is exterminated by the God.
In this context, although it may sound crazy, when we are unhappy, we should be convinced that we may be contributing, to whatever small degree, to the God or Christ Jesus in His disposing of Satan.
There are three hundred billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, while there are three hundred billion galaxies in the whole universe. How our earth, just one of planets accompanying our sun that is just one of three billion stars in our galaxy that is just one of three hundred billion galaxies in the whole universe, can claim that the God should take care of it in terms of material and physical aspects more than other planets, stars, and galaxies? We are not in the position to claim our priority to the God. We have to be content to have received the Son of the God once 2000 years ago.
Job did not kill Christ Jesus, so that he had no reason for fearing the God. But, the mankind once killed Christ Jesus, thus we may have a reason for fearing the God. A man should surely take revenge on others who killed his son. In this context, it must be unbelievably great love that the God has not punished the mankind yet fully. If the God sent extremely fatal viruses to the mankind in the early 21st century to eradicate them, we should not be in the position to raise a protest to the God.
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Mark 12, King James Version
12 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.'