The Book of Job: Chapters 1-5

You didn't tell us how much to read, and since it's Hallowe'en and I spent the whole evening at someone's house, I just read 5 chapters.

These chapters deal with Job, a man that was "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (The Book of Job, 1:1). God liked him, but Satan told him that if God were to curse him Job would turn against Him. God tried, but Job stayed pure. The Satan said that if evil were to befall Job he would hate God. He tries, but again Job stays loyal.

There something that I find curious in these chapters; the fact that God and Satan hang out. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord." (1:7) This happens twice (2:1), and I can't help wondering what their conversations must be like.

Satan: How was your day, Milord?
God: Great! I stopped a young soul from sinning, I saved the life of an old matron, and I resurrected my friend's son's daughter's stepsister' neighbor. Yours?
Satan: Just jolly. I burned five villages, I corrupted a King, and I tortured some poor souls in hell.
God: Oh, goodie! More tea?

Seriously, though. What could they have to discuss? And why was God, in a way, corrupted (or at least influenced) by Satan? He starts to torment Job based on what Satan said, which means that he "trusts" Satan at least a teeny-weeny bit...Or he wants to prove him wrong, which is also strange...Why would God care about what Satan says? If someone I have nothing in common with, that has a completely different way of thinking than me, and who is generally annoying, tries to tell me something, I just say, "Uh-huh. That's very interesting. Buh-bye now." Also, haven't we missed something here? When did Satan appear? And now that I think about, who took care of Hell before he arrived? Questions, questions.

There are two quotes I liked in here. Actually, there were more than two, but I'll just talk about the two I found most interesting.

"Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?" (4:17)

" Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom." (4:21)

I think these are important because it's the first time I remember reading in the book, clearly, that there is no way for a man to become close to God. These are important because they tell us that we should never be so arrogant as to presume to rival God, which has become a very important law in Christianity. It also tells us simply to be humble, that there is one Being so superior to us that to say we're great at anything is a complete and utter lie.

Also, I was thinking about what Lorenza said in class today, and I disagree. Hallowe'en is not like Easter. Easter is a time to mourn the death of Jesus, while Hallowe'en is to scare spirits away so as not to become evil. The death part is just a way to scare those spirits away, although I suppose that you could say that Hallowe'en is scaring evil away, and Easter is, in a way, commemorating the evil of men and it's power, and a reminder to us to keep the "badness" at bay...So they are, in a way, similar, just not how Lorenza said.

Another thing is that I think that the scientist that loves scaring little kids 'cause it makes her feel powerful should go see a therapist. I mean, I know what she's talking about. Just last Friday there was a haunted house at my Dad's building in the U.S. Embassy, and he "volunteered" me to help out hiding in the haunted house and scaring the babies. I loved doing it, but that was because I was in an extremely bad mood. My costume was hot (and I tried to to imagine the person full of deadly diseases that had breathed in my mask before me), there was that nerve-wracking strobe light on for hours, my hair was all knotted up, I was thirsty and my vocal chords felt like they were being ripped out every time I screamed, and to top it off the kiddies seem to think it was "cool" to try to slap me, punch me, kick me, bite me, poke me, and try to rip off my mask every time they passed by. It gave me immense satisfaction to see them cowering while I roared at them.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Revenge is sweet,

And so are you.

That was way off-topic, but that story brought back horrible memories and I felt like ranting. I'm sorry.

Hmmm...That's all I have to say tonight. Happy Hallowe'en!