A Short Interpretation and Summary of the Book of Job

Job, His Wife, and His Friends

A man in the Southland was indeed a good and blessed man. In his conduct, his standing in society, and material circumstances, he fully embodied the stereotypical notion of the Deuteronomic Covenant: His life and conduct were godly, glorious, and beautiful in every possible way.

As it happened, God contemplated this man like a parent may consider a beloved, successful, and endearing child. God had called the powers of all creation to compare them to the beautiful and blessed nature of that man, Job of the Southland, and had concluded he was his most perfect creation. While everything in creation was perfect, Job alone was a partner in affecting his perfection. But, among the powers of creation, there was also the Panegyric Faculty - the one who compares all things and lauds only the best ones. By that judgment, Job could not possibly be the perfect creature precisely because he was a partner in his perfection - after all, how could any act taken by anyone outside of God be perfect, and if it was not perfect, how could it create perfection? and if it was perfect, and God was perfection, wasn't this act by definition a Divine one, that is, one belonging wholly to God, and therefore, Job's seeming share of it was fraudulent - a falsehood that ought to mar his claim to perfection.

Nevertheless, God proclaimed: "Job is a perfectly good man! I love him!"

The Panegyric Faculty, or in its proper name, the Accuser replied:

"Well, you are God, a self-sufficient, perfect being. Therefore, you cannot 'love' Job, who is an inferior being outside of yourself; what you mean is 'Job is a perfect tool to showcase my glory through the perfect performance of the Law.' I admit, you did a good job creating perfect conditions for Job to showcase righteousness, but you know what will make him an EVEN BETTER instrument of your glory? If you now break him down and showcase how even the most righteous man falls short of your glory."

God:

"Satan, dear, all that sulfur must have gone to your ears; I love Job. I am God, and my love is perfect. To be perfect, love must be requited. Job perfects my love by reciprocating it. He will stay righteous; the glory will be his- for Job also loves me.

You will see that whatever you do to him, while it will pain him, will not make him stray from me because our love is the one thing that's most important to him."

And so the Accuser went and heaped all the imperfections of the World upon Job's head: His children could not fulfill his expectations, and his ventures failed. His body fail to an ugly, painful and humiliating sickness, and his beloved wife proved to fall short of his faith in her.

One final humiliation did the spirit which finds the fault of all human things reserve to the end: Job's friends, those he invested with love inferior only to the one he gave his wife and God, had come to comfort him - and all their comforts were the denial of Love.

Friends of Job:

"Well, clearly you did something wrong, and therefore, just like God rewarded you for righteousness, he now punishes you. Don't take it personally- it's all business, nothing personal."

Job:

"You don't get it, do you? Me and God have a special thing- we LOVE each other! He gave me good things because He loves me, and I was righteous because I love Him.

I refuse to believe He will betray our love by treating it in a transactional way. So here is the deal: He probably decided His glory would be served best by destroying me. He knows I love Him and will gladly do and suffer anything to increase His glory. So I am going to let Him break me down."

The God of Love, Job's last remaining friend, would abide this no more: He appeared before His beloved out of the clouds of doubt, out of the all-uprooting wind of uncertainty, out of the hail and thunder and lightning of worldly evidence against Perfect Love, all of which Job withstood heroically and called His beloved Job, the only friend God could ever have:

"Darling, sweetheart, my beloved, my child, my one and only, I am so sorry. Please understand that I love you just like before. I have never meant to hurt you, but you must believe me; it was all for the best. Here, wipe away those tears; that's a good boy."

Job's replied:

"Lord, I have never thought myself perfect nor sought perfection. I sought only you. Do with me as you please; I care not. Now that you love me, I can die happy."