SwoleMan

Is it just me, or did God give Job an extremely lousy explanation of why he was in such a miserable state? It seemed to boil down to "I am God and I've got very large muscles. You are Job and you've got very tiny muscles. Therefore, you shut up!". I certainly wouldn't be satisfied with such an answer.

BDS

See my post about Job's animals above. Job needed to learn piety.

Unbeliever

And yet, in the 4th verse of the 42nd chapter, Job demands of God to "declare thou unto me." So after all that he had been through, it seems he was still pretty tough-minded. I know of no one else in the Bible who ever demanded anything of God! It just doesn't seem to me to be an example of "piety".

BDS

Job is a complicated book.

That's one reason it's so good.

Anat

The book of Job could have ended at 38:1 "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind". It is not important what God said to him. The fact (OK, fiction) that God answered him at all (and not any of his self-righteous 'friends') is everything. The worst fate for a believer is the 'hiding of God's face'. At that point Job knew God was listening, and that's all he needed. See also many of the psalms, where within seconds the author of the petitionary prayer is transformed from the depth of despair to exhuberance. Not because he now has confidence that his worldly troubles are over but because he believes someone had listened to him. God the psychoanalyst?

Amaleq13

I think you are completely misreading the story.

It starts out stating that Job was already incredibly pious:

"was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1, KJV)

And God says nothing about Job needing to learn piety but, instead, clearly declares the exact opposite:

"Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:8, KVJ)

This is not a description of a man who "needs to learn piety".

In fact, his incredibly great devotion to God is central the story because Satan claims he can cause Job to curse God despite his paramount piety.

SwoleMan

Yes, Amaleq13 is right. The initial purpose wasn't to make Job learn piety, but to test the strength of his already existing piousness, that is, to see if he was going to curse God. But Job never did, if I recall correctly.

Joan of Bark

When all is said and done, God comes out of this story looking like an insecure, sadistic creep who can be goaded by the likes of Satan.

Eckz

The real question is why would God ever do a test like this when he knows in advance what the results will be?

DBT

With less understanding of human psychology than your average shmuck.
And possessing about the same level of 'omniscience'...zip.