Holy Prophet Job
by Katie Nimmer (May ’02)
We commemorate the Holy Prophet Job the Righteous on May 6 each year. Many of us are familiar with the story of this man who lived approximately 1500-2000 years before the birth of Christ. A God-fearing individual, Job worshipped the Lord and refrained from sin, both in action and thought. God blessed Job for his piety, rewarding His servant with great riches in the material world and also in his family life with many children. For all of these things and his unassuming approach to life, he was wellrespected within his community.
However, a tremendous test lay in store for Job. Satan proposed that the only reason Job worshipped God was because of all the blessings he had received. The Lord disagreed, knowing Job’s faith, and allowed Satan to remove all of Job’s blessings, including his children. Upon these things happening, Job said to God: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) He did not sin or curse the Lord for his misfortune; he simply continued to worship God.
This wasn’t enough for Satan. He again petitioned the Lord to further test Job, and God agreed on the condition that Satan spare Job’s life. Satan then afflicted Job with hideous sores from head to toe, so severe that his friends did not even recognize him when they came to visit. His friends and his wife all thought that God was punishing him for secret sins he committed, but Job maintained that this was all simply in accordance with Divine Will. As Job said when his wife advised him to curse God, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10)
Job did not turn from praying to God. He did ponder why the Lord should make him suffer so after his friends continued to believe he had sinned. Eventually, Job realized that doubting the Lord was a sin, and repented. He prayed to God for his friends’ salvation in recognition of this. The Lord accepted these prayers, and returned to Job his health and blessings twice over. Job went on to have ten children and lived for another 140 years (248 in total). [Portions adapted from “The Story of Saint Job,” www.oca.org]
Job, who prefigured Christ, has shown us how through trials and tribulations we must remain sinless in not only word or deed, but also in thought. Job sets an example for us — even when we are covered with the “boils of life” and have to “scrape at [our] wounds with a clay piece” this is the time when we must continue to love God and remain sinless. Job was rewarded for his faithfulness and for his unceasing trust in God, as we all shall be if we follow his example.
