The Book of Job is a novel, not a history, written in the post-exilic period. The nation had been destroyed, the people taken into Babylon, and, even after the restoration, the country was a shadow of its former self. Hence the question: where was God in the midst of these troubles? Job dares us to think in new ways about what it means to know that God is for us. The book starts with the Satan (not so much a devil in the story but more of a prosecuting attorney building a case against Job) saying that the only reason Job is faithful is because God has blessed him. Satan answered the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? As the story unfolds Job loses all of his blessings. How is he going to react? Job’s initial response: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!” But stay tuned to see how his relationship with God is challenged.
