Book of Job is it an Allegory?

[KWSS1976]

I've never heard anyone claim Satan has equal power to God....

per your quote it does not make since to send satan to hell and let him keep the power God let him have..

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by KWSS1976

per your quote it does not make since to send satan to hell and let him keep the power God let him have..

Actually, he was cast out of heaven and made prince of the air (the Earth).... He hasn't been sent to hell, per say, yet.

Makes me wonder if he has any influence on any other worlds out there. Mmmmmmmm

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by KWSS1976

per your quote it does not make since to send satan to hell and let him keep the power God let him have..

what exactly does that have to do with my post?

[OneAccord]

Well, thank you, Esther, for reviving a very good discussion. Actually, it was Timmy who brought up the thought that the Book of Job could be an allegory. I've heard that before and it is worth considering. It could have been. Whether it was a viable historical event or a parable doesn't take away from the fact that it is an important Book that has significant spiritual applications. And it does teach us a great deal about the heart and nature of God.

My point was that, while we have been taught all of our lives that Job's children died in the first chapter, I find no evidence to support that conclusion. My theory, and its just that- a therory- is that Job was lied to concerning his children. They did not die. Satan deceived Job for the purpose of "testing" his loyalty to God. This brings up the reason we have trials and tribulations. To strengthen our resolve to remain loyal to God and to help us see, and correct, our human fallacies. This was the case with Job. thru out the Book, Job refers to HIS goodness, HIS righteousness about 200 times. In the end, his real victory was that he came to hate himself (his human nature) and caused him to repent of it. Thats the purpose of the Book, IMO. To help us do some self-inspection, or as the NT writer put it, to "examine our selves to see whether we be in the faith". tThe Book of Job is just that: Jobs self-examination to ferret out those human fallacies that could lead to disloyalty to God.

The root of the whole discussion was Timmy's questions regarding Satan's power. I submitted that Satan's one and only power is to decieve. Deception is a powerful weapon- THE most powerful weapon there is.

[Rhoni]

I am a firm believer that the Bible can be taken both literally and figuratively. I believe what happened to Job was very real. There are instances in the New Testament when Jesus referred to what he was saying as a parable/story/allegory. This was not so with Job.

What I have always wondered about is when God tells us that he will restore and multiply what has been taken from us - it doesn't replace what we have lost. So I wonder about that....

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I've never heard anyone claim Satan has equal power to God....

Well, no, no one makes the claim outright, but the implication is there nonetheless.

God creates good.
Satan creates evil.

God makes alive.
Satan kills.

God heals.
Satan makes sick.

God fills.
Satan possesses.

God is truth.
Satan is false.

...and so on. Their power, it seems in some minds, is equal, but on opposing ends of the spectrum. God does signs and wonders. Satan does lying wonders. And there is the point. LYING wonders. Deception. His tool is deception and, if he can make us believe we are possessed, for example, then for all intents and purposes, we are possessed. I do believe in actual possession but this is a rare, very rare occurrence in the spiritual realm IMO. What we usually call "posession" is mental and/or emotional problems, chemical addiction and/or imbalance, or, most often, the simple power of suggestion.

I was in a service once where the evangelist preached on demon possession. A woman in the service had some emotional problems. The evangelist "convinced" the woman she was possessed. He went so far as to tell of instances where he cast demons out of people. During the process he related, the demons talked, screamed, they had to hold the person down while he cast the demons out. The person foamed at the mouth, gagged and did all the usual stuff. The time came. The woman came forward and, guess what? Every sympton of possession he described was repeated because the woman was "taught" thats what demon possessed people do. The power of suggestion is a very effective tool of deception.

[coadie]

Originally Posted by *AQuietPlace*

I'm glad you started this thread, I was going to start a similar one.


My question - could the book of Job be a parable?

Is there anyone who would have a big problem with it being considered a parable, if so, why?

From some reading that I did yesterday, it seems that some scholars of the Talmud believed it was a parable.

It seems that parable or parallel story is considered to be a good story but not true. Why would people think it would not be totally true and accurate?

[Twisp]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Well, no, no one makes the claim outright, but the implication is there nonetheless.

God creates good.
Satan creates evil.

God makes alive.
Satan kills.

God heals.
Satan makes sick.

God fills.
Satan possesses.

God is truth.
Satan is false.

...and so on. Their power, it seems in some minds, is equal, but on opposing ends of the spectrum. God does signs and wonders. Satan does lying wonders. And there is the point. LYING wonders. Deception. His tool is deception and, if he can make us believe we are possessed, for example, then for all intents and purposes, we are possessed. I do believe in actual possession but this is a rare, very rare occurrence in the spiritual realm IMO. What we usually call "posession" is mental and/or emotional problems, chemical addiction and/or imbalance, or, most often, the simple power of suggestion.

I was in a service once where the evangelist preached on demon possession. A woman in the service had some emotional problems. The evangelist "convinced" the woman she was possessed. He went so far as to tell of instances where he cast demons out of people. During the process he related, the demons talked, screamed, they had to hold the person down while he cast the demons out. The person foamed at the mouth, gagged and did all the usual stuff. The time came. The woman came forward and, guess what? Every sympton of possession he described was repeated because the woman was "taught" thats what demon possessed people do. The power of suggestion is a very effective tool of deception.

I believe that God allows Satan to do things, thus making God more powerful. I don't believe that Satan can do anything without God allowing him to.

[coadie]

Chapter 42:14And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.

So at the end of the book of Job, his first daughter recieves her name?

10And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.


If it was an allegory and if the story was a GOOD story but not a true story as written, then the statemenst found there in about the Lord saying something are false.
7And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.


Summary. Lack of details doesn't mean lack of absolute truth.

Back to the beginning, when the tattle tale said the kids were dead, that doesn't mean his line was either true or false. It just means that is what he said.

[coadie]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I've never heard anyone claim Satan has equal power to God....

Isaiah 45:6-7
"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
God also created choice and creates restrictions on evil as he told satin in chapter 1.