Joseph Smith was
imprisoned in Liberty Jail for a long time.
During this period, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints suffered severe persecution at the hands of their
neighbors. Joseph became very discouraged
and cried out to God:
“O God, where art
thou? And where is the pavilion that
covereth thy hiding place? How long
shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the
eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be
penetrated with their cries? Yea, O
Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before
thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with
compassion toward them?” (Doctrine and
Covenants 121:1-3)
The prophet continued his plea by asking the
Lord to avenge the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. The Lord responded with words of
comfort, explanation, and instruction.
Part of the response God gave to Joseph Smith stated, “Thou art not yet
as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with
transgression, as they did Job.”
(Doctrine and Covenants 121:10)
From these verses
we can conclude Job is an actual person.
God’s character is such that He would not compare the life of Joseph
Smith with that of a fictitious character.
He would use a living being to provide Joseph Smith with peace and
comfort. So it stands to reason that the
history of Job actually took place. I know
I’ve read other modern day revelation that confirms this, but I can’t remember
the reference.
I do, however,
believe the narrative between God and Satan didn’t actually take place. I believe this portion is a metaphorical
section. I think it was provided in
order to help us better understand some of the possible purposes of affliction.
To understand the
incredible faith of Job, you need to know the struggles he faced. Job was a righteous and wealthy man living in
the land of Uz. He had a wife, seven
sons, and three daughters. He also had a
large homestead with an incredible number of sheep, camels, and other
livestock.
There came a time
when all of this was taken from Job. He
quickly lost all of his children and his livestock. He then lost his health. And soon those he knew and probably cared
about most turned against him, accusing him of sin and transgression before
God.
The most amazing
part in this whole story isn’t how he lost everything so quickly. It’s his response to this loss. He didn’t understand it. He seems to grumble about it a little
bit. But in all of it he seems to
maintain the same attitude he presents after finding he lost his children and
herds. It was then that he declares with
faith, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return
thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Here he is, a man
who has lost everything, and he is praising the Lord God Almighty. Job recognized that everything he had was a
result of the blessings of God. He knew
that God had every right to determine Job should lose everything. Job didn’t know why he needed to lose
everything. He only knew that God had a
purpose or it wouldn’t have happened. So
he trusted God and praised Him. What
tremendous faith!
To me the
greatest exclamation of faith Job could have given was provided in that first
chapter when he loses everything and still proclaims the goodness of God. But Job further affirms this faith in the
Holy One of Israel when he declares, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in
him…He also shall be my salvation…” Job
is declaring God could take away his very life and still he would trust in the
Almighty God. And why would he do
so? Because he knew that God was his
salvation. He knew how much he needed
the Lord God.
God heavily
rewarded Job for his faith. Job was
given twice as much as he previously had.
He had herds that were double the size of the earlier herds. He had seven more sons and three more
daughters. He lived another 140
years. But the greatest blessing of all
was that he saw God and received a witness that his life was pleasing to the
Almighty. (See Job chapters 38-42 for an
account of these blessings.)
I have had a lot
of trials in my life. But, if you
compare what I’ve gone through to the life of Job, or even to the life of
Joseph Smith, Jr., you will conclude my trials are incredible small. I’m willing to bet you will come to the same
conclusion if you compare your trials and afflictions to the life of Job.
Job recognized
that all he had was given to him by God.
So he praised the righteousness of God when he started losing
everything. And he continued to have
faith in the salvation brought about by God throughout his struggles. If he can keep his faith in the face of the
terrible adversity he went through, shouldn’t you be able to in the face of
your struggles and adversities? Shouldn’t
I be able to?
That’s the lesson
of faith I find most dear in the story of Job.
And that’s the example from the life of Job that I strive to live up to.
No comments:
Post a Comment