title: no title
text: the most interesting books of the bible for those who arent believers in god are the wisdom books of job and ecclesiastes written from a philosophical point of view they attempt to help people live with suffering and pain while putting existence into context
  book of job 
  job is a devout believer in god who follows all of his rules he has been blessed with incredible wealth and numerous children satan then challenges god by arguing that job is only faithful because of what he has gained and that he would immediately curse god if everything was taken away from him god allows satan to destroy him taking his wealth and killing all of his children
  once the misfortune befalls job his wife implores him to curse god but job refuses instead he openly laments at why god is allowing him to suffer he even asks god to allow him to die
  i would rather be strangled
  rather die than suffer like this
  i hate my life and dont want to go on living
  oh leave me alone for my few remaining days job 
  why make me your target
  am i a burden to you
  why not just forgive my sin
  and take away my guilt
  for soon i will lie down in the dust and die
  when you look for me i will be gone job 
  what do you gain by oppressing me
  why do you reject me the work of your own hands
  while smiling on the schemes of the wicked job 
  he then has a series of poetic dialogues with priestly men in an attempt to explain gods justice job asks some pointed questions implying that those who are eager to sin seem to experience more prosperity than those who closely follow gods words
  the godless seem like a lush plant growing in the sunshine
  its branches spreading across the garden
  its roots grow down through a pile of stones
  it takes hold on a bed of rocks
  but when it is uprooted
  its as though it never existed job 
  when a plague sweeps through
  he laughs at the death of the innocent
  the whole earth is in the hands of the wicked
  and god blinds the eyes of the judges
  if hes not the one who does it who is job 
  just like how there are so many laws in the legal code that you are always on the hook for something illegal there are also so many possible sins that it may be impossible to live a clean life
  whatever happens i will be found guilty
  so whats the use of trying
  even if i were to wash myself with soap
  and clean my hands with lye
  you would plunge me into a muddy ditch
  and my own filthy clothing would hate me job 
  the men that job spills his guts to state that hes sinning in some way and knows nothing about how god works and that he must grin and bear it instead of questioning gods actions
  pay attention to this job
  stop and consider the wonderful miracles of god
  do you know how god controls the storm
  and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds
  do you understand how he moves the clouds
  with wonderful perfection and skill
  when you are sweltering in your clothes
  and the south wind dies down and everything is still
  he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror
  can you do that job 
  god appears and asks job how dare he question his actions even though those actions amounted to an agreement with satan
  who is this that questions my wisdom
  with such ignorant words
  brace yourself like a man
  because i have some questions for you
  and you must answer them
  where were you when i laid the foundations of the earth
  tell me if you know so much
  who determined its dimensions
  and stretched out the surveying line
  what supports its foundations
  and who laid its cornerstone
  as the morning stars sang together
  and all the angels shouted for joy job 
  god goes on to describe his powers and then serves a how dare you argument to job who then accepts his utter impotence
  then the lord said to job
  do you still want to argue with the almighty
  you are gods critic but do you have the answers
  then job replied to the lord
  i am nothinghow could i ever find the answers
  i will cover my mouth with my hand
  i have said too much already
  i have nothing more to say job 
  you asked who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance
  it is iand i was talking about things i knew nothing about
  things far too wonderful for me
  you said listen and i will speak
  i have some questions for you
  and you must answer them
  i had only heard about you before
  but now i have seen you with my own eyes
  i take back everything i said
  and i sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance job 
  other parts of the bible channel job by asking why bad on earth is allowed to continue
  wake up o lord why do you sleep
  get up do not reject us forever
  why do you look the other way
  why do you ignore our suffering and oppression
  we collapse in the dust
  lying face down in the dirt
  rise up help us
  ransom us because of your unfailing love psalm 
  and the usual response is to not question god
  what sorrow awaits those who argue with their creator
  does a clay pot argue with its maker
  does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it saying
  stop youre doing it wrong
  does the pot exclaim
  how clumsy can you be
  how terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father
  why was i born
  or if it said to its mother
  why did you make me this way isaiah 
  after job stopped questioning god he was rewarded with even greater prosperity than before
  so the lord blessed job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning for now he had  sheep  camels  teams of oxen and  female donkeys he also gave job seven more sons and three more daughters he named his first daughter jemimah the second keziah and the third kerenhappuch in all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of job and their father put them into his will along with their brothers job lived  years after that living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren then he died an old man who had lived a long full life job 
  you have to be patient with god
  those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy they weep as they go to plant their seed but they sing as they return with the harvest psalm 
  the lesson of this story seems to be one of stoicism accept your fate dont question it and understand that what you have now can be taken from you at a moments notice if god wants to no matter how cleanly you have lived in his honor ironically this book did more to make me question gods wisdom than any other
  book of ecclesiastes 
  the next wisdom book is ecclesiastes purportedly written by kings david son solomon who amassed onethousand wives during his reign as king of israel his wife collection led to him serving other gods and he was punished for it when god broke up the kingdom of israel ecclesiastes is the book that solomon wrote at the end of his life sharing all that he learned
  everything is meaningless says the teacher completely meaningless what do people get for all their hard work under the sun generations come and generations go but the earth never changes the sun rises and the sun sets then hurries around to rise again the wind blows south and then turns north around and around it goes blowing in circles rivers run into the sea but the sea is never full then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea everything is wearisome beyond description no matter how much we see we are never satisfied no matter how much we hear we are not content history merely repeats itself it has all been done before nothing under the sun is truly new ecclesiastes 
  what is the point of accumulating wisdom in life why work hard
  for in much wisdom is much grief and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow ecclesiastes 
  i thought wisdom is better than foolishness just as light is better than darkness for the wise can see where they are going but fools walk in the dark yet i saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate both will die so i said to myself since i will end up the same as the fool whats the value of all my wisdom this is all so meaningless for the wise and the foolish both die ecclesiastes 
  so what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety their days of labor are filled with pain and grief even at night their minds cannot rest it is all meaningless ecclesiastes 
  all is vanity
  for that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast for all is vanity all go unto one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again ecclesiastes 
  promiscuous and bad women are sent forth as a punishment from god
  i discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death her passion is a snare and her soft hands are chains those who are pleasing to god will escape her but sinners will be caught in her snare ecclesiastes 
  solomon tries to convince himself that evil will not prosper but he cant help coming back to the fact that it does
  when a crime is not punished quickly people feel it is safe to do wrong but even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time i know that those who fear god will be better off the wicked will not prosper for they do not fear god their days will never grow long like the evening shadows and this is not all that is meaningless in our world in this life good people are often treated as though they were wicked and wicked people are often treated as though they were good this is so meaningless ecclesiastes 
  at this moment it seems that solomon goes off the rails by seemingly promoting a life of debauchery
  so i recommend having fun because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat drink and enjoy life that way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work god gives them under the sun ecclesiastes 
  one interpretation of this is that if you live in sin like solomon you will eventually come to the conclusion that life is meaningless all is for naught and the only purpose is to have fun the book may have been included in the bible to serve as an example of what will happen to you if behave as solomon and come to the end of your life thinking that it wasnt worth it i hope this was the intended result because otherwise it would cause you to lose faith in gods own wisdom in justice just like with job
  the wisdom books of the bible raise questions of gods justice and plans for his human subjects why do people suffer or prosper why does life feel like its not being guided by god these questions vexed the jews enough that they honored other gods to get more immediate results and then jesus christ came along to say that it will all be worth itnot necessarily now but in the eternal afterlife as long as you accept him as your savior
  read more the old testaments sexist views on female behavior