The sufferings of the long-suffering Job. Righteous Job the long-suffering

The holy righteous Job the Long-Suffering is a godly man revered by Christians who lived on earth approximately 2000-1500 years before the beginning of the new era. Otherwise, he is called poor Job, for the trials that God sent him. Almost the only source telling about him is the Bible. The story of Job is the main topic of our article.

Who is Job?

He lived in Northern Arabia. It is assumed that Job the Long-Suffering is Abraham’s nephew, that is, he is the son of his brother Nahor. He was a truthful and benevolent person. But believers glorify him as a deeply religious and God-fearing righteous man. Job did not do evil deeds and did not have envy and condemnation in his thoughts.

He was a happy father of 7 sons and 3 daughters. He had many friends, servants and untold wealth at that time. Job's herds multiplied, his fields yielded good harvests, and he himself was respected and honored by his fellow tribesmen.

Start of testing

The story of poor Job was difficult and painful. The Bible says that one day angels gathered near God’s throne to convey people’s prayers to the Almighty and ask to send good things to the human race. Among them was Satan, who came to denigrate sinners and harbored hopes that God would allow him to punish them.

The Lord asked him where he had been and what he had seen. To this Satan replied that he had walked all over the earth and seen many sinners. Then the Lord asked whether the enemy of the human race saw Job, who alone on earth was famous for his justice, was blameless and fearing God. Satan answered in the affirmative, but questioned the sincerity of the righteous man.

The Lord allowed Job to be tested. Satan reacted to this with special zeal and destroyed all the flocks of the righteous man, burned his fields, deprived him of his wealth and servants. But the trials did not end there; his children also died. The story of Job tells that the righteous man humbly accepted his suffering, reconciled himself to it, but continued to praise the Lord.

Job's suffering

And again Satan appeared before the throne of the Most High. This time he said that the righteous man does not renounce God, because his suffering is not strong enough and only affected his property, without touching his flesh. The Lord allowed Satan to send illnesses to Job, but forbade him to deprive him of his reason and encroach on his free will.

The body of the righteous man became covered with leprosy, and he was forced to leave people so as not to infect them. All his friends turned away from the sufferer, even his wife stopped feeling compassion for him. One day she came to Job and shamed him, saying that due to his stupidity he had lost everything and was now experiencing incredible torment. The woman reproached the sufferer for still loving and honoring God. If the Lord is so cruel and unmerciful, then you need to renounce him and die with blasphemy on your lips, this was her opinion.

The thoughts of Job's wife are not difficult to understand. In her opinion, if God has sent something good, it should be praised, and if it has been subjected to torture, then it should be condemned. The story of Job the Long-Suffering tells that the sufferer shamed his wife and did not want to listen to her any longer. For from God one must accept both blessings and suffering equally with humility. Thus, this time the righteous man did not reject the Lord and did not sin against him.

Friends of the sufferer

Rumors about the sufferings of the righteous man reached his three friends who lived far away. They decided to go to Job and console him. When they saw him, they were horrified, so terribly did the disease change the sufferer’s body. The friends sat down on the ground and were silent for seven days because they could not find words to express their compassion. Job spoke first. He expressed sorrow that he was born into the world and was subjected to terrible suffering.

Then Job's friends began to talk to him, expressing their thoughts and beliefs. They sincerely believed that the Lord sends good to the righteous and evil to sinners. Therefore, it was believed that the sufferer had hidden sins that he did not want to talk about. And his friends suggested that Job repent before God. To this the sufferer replied that their speeches poisoned his suffering even more, for the will of the Lord is incomprehensible and only he knows why he sends blessings to some and difficult trials to others. And we, sinful people, are not given the opportunity to know the thoughts of the Almighty.

Conversation with God

The righteous man turned to the Lord in his sincere prayer and asked him to be a witness of his sinlessness. God appeared to the sufferer in a stormy whirlwind and reproached him for talking about a higher providence. The story of Poor Job tells that the Lord explained to the righteous man that only he knows why certain events happen, and people will never be able to understand God’s providence. Therefore, a person cannot judge the Almighty and demand any kind of account from him.

After this, God, through the righteous man, turned to Job’s friends and commanded them to make a sacrifice at the hands of the sufferer, for only in this way was he ready to forgive them for condemning the righteous man and incorrectly thinking about the will of the Lord. The friends brought seven rams and the same number of bulls to the righteous man. Job prayed for them and made a sacrifice. Seeing that the righteous man, despite his grave suffering, sincerely asked for his friends, God forgave them.

Reward

For the strength of faith, the Lord rewarded the sufferer with great blessings: he healed his weak body and gave him twice as much wealth as before. Relatives and former friends, who turned away from Job after hearing about the miracle of healing, came to rejoice with the righteous man and brought him rich gifts. But God’s blessings did not end there; he sent Job new offspring: seven sons and three daughters.

The end of the life of the righteous

The story of Job the Long-Suffering tells that he was rewarded by the Lord because even in his sorrows he did not forget God and loved him more than himself and his property. Even great suffering did not force the righteous man to renounce God and condemn his providence. After the trials, Job spent another 140 years on earth, and in total he lived 248. The righteous man saw his descendants up to the fourth generation and died a very old man.

The story of Job teaches Christians that the Lord sends the righteous not only rewards for their deeds, but also misfortunes, so that they are confirmed in the faith, shame Satan and glorify God. In addition, the righteous man reveals to us the truth that earthly happiness cannot always correspond to human virtue. Also, the story of Job teaches compassion for sick and unhappy people.

Job is the Old Testament righteous man. The main source for describing his life is the Book of Job of the Old Testament.

According to these sources, Job lived 2000 - 1500 years before the birth of Christ, in Northern Arabia, in the country of Austidia, in the land of Uz. It is believed that Job was Abraham's nephew; was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor.

Job was a God-fearing and pious man. With all his soul he was devoted to the Lord God and acted in everything according to His will, moving away from all evil not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of livestock and all kinds of property. He had seven sons and three daughters, forming a happy family. Satan was jealous of this happiness and, in the face of God, began to assert that Job was righteous and God-fearing only thanks to his earthly happiness, with the loss of which all his piety would disappear. To expose this lie, God allowed Satan to test Job with all the disasters of earthly life.

Satan deprives him of all his wealth, all his servants, and all his children. Righteous Job turned to God and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return to my mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!” And Job did not sin before the Lord God, and did not utter a single foolish word. Then Satan struck his body with terrible leprosy. The disease deprived him of the right to stay in the city: he had to retire outside its boundaries and there, scraping the scabs on his body with a shard, sat in ashes and dung. Everyone turned away from him.

Seeing his suffering, his wife said to him: “What are you waiting for? Deny God, and He will strike you with death!” But Job said to her: “You speak like a madwoman. If we love to receive happiness from God, shouldn’t we also endure misfortune with patience?” Job was so patient. He lost everything and fell ill himself, endured insults and humiliation, but did not grumble, did not complain about God and did not say a single rude word against God. His friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar heard about Job's misfortune. For seven days they silently mourned his suffering; finally they began to console him, assuring him that God is fair, and if he is suffering now, he is suffering for some of his sins, which he must repent of. This statement came out of the general Old Testament idea that all suffering is retribution for some untruth. The friends who consoled him tried to find any sins in Job that would justify his unfortunate fate as expedient and meaningful.

R. Leinweber. Job the long-suffering

But even in such suffering, Job did not sin against God with a single word of grumbling.

After this, the Lord rewarded Job twice as much for his patience. He was soon healed of his illness and became twice as rich as before. He again had seven sons and three daughters. He lived after this in happiness for 140 years and died at a ripe old age.

GOD'S LAW. The story of Long-Suffering Job.

Some people hear the call of God in their hearts from childhood. Such was the Monk Job of Pochaev, who went to the monastery as a ten-year-old boy. Truly, it was a life entirely devoted to the Lord.

The future saint (before monasticism, he bore the name Ivan Zhelezo) was born in Ukraine, little is known about his parents - they were small landowners who led a pious life. There were clergymen in the family.

During his short stay at the Ugornitsky Monastery, the young monk earned the love of the brethren and was appointed abbot. Having reached the age of 30, he was ordained a priest. His fame spread throughout the region, and people flocked to the monk for help and advice.

Job Pochaevsky gave soul-saving advice to everyone. In the middle of the 16th century. At the request of Prince Ostrog, Job was transferred to the Holy Cross Monastery. Having served there as abbot for several years, the saint began to feel burdened by his duties.

Feats of prayer

The day came when the monk secretly moved to the Pochaev Monastery. There he retired to his favorite cave, where he spent several days - on his knees praying for all sinners. The Monk Job of Pochaev was elected abbot in the new place. He had to combine monastic deeds with public responsibilities. He did not shy away from hard physical labor: he planted trees and strengthened the dam. At the same time, he wore chains (metal rings on his legs).

For more than half a century he ruled the holy Pochaev monastery. At the same time, he still found time for monastic solitude. Even during Job Pochaevsky’s earthly life, miracles happened around him. So, one day he was in a cave praying, at which time the icon placed at the entrance began to emit a beautiful radiance that lasted for several hours. The traces left by the kneeling prayer are still visible in the cave.

Not a single idle word came out of the monk’s mouth; all his thoughts were occupied with the unceasing Jesus Prayer and the good of his neighbors. Meek and merciful, he always showed love for his brothers in the monastery.

Departure

Saint Job of Pochaev died at the age of more than a hundred years. He was able to predict his day of death in advance, like many righteous people. The death was quiet and painless. His body remained in the ground for several years. Then they began to notice a glow over the grave, and Job Pochaevsky himself appeared in a dream to the Metropolitan of Kyiv and asked to open the relics.

At a gathering of many people, the incorruptible body was removed from the tomb and transferred to the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. In the life, which his disciples began to compile immediately after the death of the saint, there is much evidence of healings. And today he gives grace-filled miracles to those who ask in faith.

The Orthodox Church sings the troparion to Job of Pochaev three times a year and serves him a litiya - on the day of his death, the discovery of his relics and his glorification. On this day the canon and other prayers to the saint are read. It is believed that it is on holidays that turning to the saint will have special power.

Miracles near the relics

Job Pochaevsky is still known for his many miraculous deliverances from illnesses.

The abbot of the monastery where the monk lived became terminally ill. The saint appeared to one of the pilgrims and passed through her a cloth soaked in myrrh. Having applied the shrine, Abbot Dosifei became healthy.
A large monetary donation to the monastery was recorded by Ivan Lobos - he was healed after praying at the tomb of the saint.
Not only Orthodox Christians came, but also Catholics. A strong fever left the Polish Count Jaworski; G. Volyansky’s rheumatism stopped, and I. Ligurri, a gunsmith from Italy, also received healing.

According to the monastery chronicles, only from 1719 to 1830. more than 500 miracles were performed. They still happen today.

What do they pray to Saint Job for?

What do parishioners pray to Job of Pochaevsky? Everyone brings their own trouble. Many people ask for healing from bodily ailments. Helps the saint achieve spiritual perfection, arrange her worldly life, if it pleases the Lord, and delivers her from serious temptations. The cave where he prayed is still preserved.

The relics of the saint are located in the cave church, under the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pilgrims flock here. Today there is an opportunity for visitors to stay for a couple of days in a hotel at the holy monastery. This is done so that you can confess and take communion in a holy place, and pray longer about your troubles. The amounts taken are small, but the spiritual benefits from such a trip will be very great - after all, the Mother of God Herself appeared in the Pochaev Lavra. God bless you!

Prayer to St. Job of Pochaev

Oh, Reverend Father Job, God-wise teacher of monks in hard-working life, meekness and abstinence, purity and chastity, brotherly love and love of poverty, patience and vigilance from early youth to late old age, tireless ascetic, great zealot of the Orthodox faith and insurmountable champion, God-bright luminary of the lands of Volyn and Galicia and invincible protector of the holy Pochaev monastery! Look with the eye of your compassion on us, your unworthy children, who diligently come running to you all day long and on this God-loving people, gathered before your spirit-bearing and multi-healing relics and falling reverently towards them, and ask for your intercession to the Most High Master of them and all of us, even to life and piety, useful and beneficial: heal the sick, encourage the faint-hearted, console the grieving, stand up for the offended, strengthen the weak and raise up the prostrate, grant to all, by the grace given to you from God, according to each need and need, for the salvation of the soul and the health of the body . Offer up, O servant of God, your all-powerful prayer, may there be peace and quiet, piety and prosperity in our country, truth and mercy in courts, wisdom and good progress in councils, may loyalty be established in good people, and fear and fear in evil ones May they cease from evil and do good, so that in our country the Kingdom of Christ grows and multiplies, and may God, wondrous in His Saints, be glorified in it: to Him alone belongs all glory, honor and worship to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy One Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

In the sixteenth chapter of the book of Job we read the prophetic words: “They opened their mouths against me; cursing and hitting me on the cheeks, everyone conspired against me. God gave me over to the wicked and threw me into the hands of the wicked.”

The Book of Job is read in church during Holy Week, when the suffering of the Savior passes through the minds of believers, and Job, according to the Church, is a prototype of the Savior, the innocent suffering righteous man, the Son of God, God.

No one hit Job on the cheeks, no one threw him into the jaws of the wicked, however, in such a prophetic bright frenzy he already feels the spirit of the God-man on himself and speaks those words that the Apostles later applied in their entirety to the sufferings of the God-man and which were historically fulfilled exactly and are considered one of the biblical prophecies about Christ.

“My face is purple from crying, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death. With all that there is no theft in my hands, and my prayer is pure. Earth! Do not cover up my blood and let there be no place for my cry. And now, behold, in heaven is my Witness and my Intercessor in the highest! My long-winded friends! My eye goes to God. Oh, that man could have a rivalry with God, as the son of man has with his neighbor!

Again the deepest comprehension. The greatest hunger is spiritual, striving a person for a living union with God. This old man, half-dead Job, testifies 2000 years before the birth of Christ that his Witness and Protector in the highest is in heaven, and that the son of man can turn to God the way he, Job, turns to him.

“My breathing has weakened; my days are fading; the coffins are in front of me. If it were not for their ridicule, then even among their disputes my eye would remain calm. Intercede, vouch for me before Yourself! Otherwise, who will vouch for me?

Again an amazing comprehension of the mystery of God-manhood. You yourself must intercede for me, there is no one to become a mediator between me and You, only You Yourself can become one... And again Job’s friends answer, and again Job says to them:

“How long will you torment my soul and torment me with your speeches? You have disgraced me ten times already and are not ashamed to oppress me. If I really made a mistake, then my mistake remains with me. If you want to be proud of me and reproach me with my shame, then know that God has overthrown me and surrounded me with His net.” God did it... You people, you will not understand my hunger and do not enter into this mystery of my life; Do not introduce your human words into this great mystery of the soul. Lord, Lord did it! Gave and took.

“Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, my friends; for the hand of God touched me... Oh, if only my words were written down! If only they had been inscribed in a book, with an iron and tin chisel, they would have been carved on stone for eternity! But I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise this decaying skin of mine from the dust. And I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes, not the eyes of another, will see him.”

What amazing hope lived in him, when nothing seemed to confirm this hope. Truly prophetic aspirations! Job reaches not only the consciousness of the “witness”, not only the “mediator”, but also the Redeemer, realizing that every feeling of his is not pure, that all his words are insignificant, that indeed he is to some extent responsible for his insignificance, in the strength of his very insignificance, that he needs a Redeemer.

“On the last day He will raise this decaying skin of mine from the dust, and I will see God in my flesh”... - and he prophesies about the future resurrection from the dead.

And further, again and again the friends answer, and again Job says: “Listen carefully to my speech, and this will be a consolation for me from you: Be patient with me, and I will speak; and after I have spoken, mock me. Is my speech to a person? How can I not be cowardly?”

Job clearly explains his cowardice, some of his despair. He does not pour out his soul before a person, but pours it out before God, and the secret of Job’s soul and his suffering lies in the fact that all the words that he speaks to his friends, he does not speak to them, but as some kind of wonderful prayer to God, he longs to hear the answer and... does not hear it, neither in the silent sky, nor in the speeches of his friends. He really feels that he is faint-hearted in the consciousness of not understanding “why the lawless live and reach old age strong and strong. Their houses are safe from fear and there is no rod of God on them.” “Oh that I knew where to find Him and could come to His throne! I would present my cause before Him” (that is, the cause of our human life; Job’s cause is our human cause). “And my mouth would be filled with excuses; I would recognize the words with which He would answer me and understand what He would say to me.” “Would he really compete with me in full power? Oh no! Let Him just pay attention to me!”

Job does not pray for anything, he only prays for the Lord to turn His attention to him, so that he hears in the spirit of God’s closeness, feels this closeness as the apostles felt it on the day of Pentecost, when they were filled with the highest knowledge of God, and their appearance was like drunk on wine. They were drunk with joy and spiritual happiness. Job wants this acceptance of the spirit. He is not satisfied with the external concepts of “truth” and “law”, vaguely feeling that his mystery of suffering can be resolved only in his personal contact with God the Father, that in knowing the Lord only as a Judge, only as a King, only as a Creator, we We cannot understand either the mystery of our suffering or the depth of our life. And only when we understand that we are children of the Heavenly Father, we feel Him, we hear His voice, only then - Job has a presentiment - we will be able to find the answer to all our earthly questions. The righteous, pure soul of Job longs to come to judgment.

“Let me be weighed on the scales of righteousness, and God will know my (Job means the direction of his will) integrity. If my steps have strayed from the path, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if anything unclean has stuck to my hands, then let me sow and another eat, and let my branches be uprooted. If my heart was seduced by a woman and I built forts at the door of my neighbor, let my wife attack another, and let others mock her; because this is a crime, this is lawlessness, subject to trial; This is a fire that consumes to the point of destruction...

And Job is mortally grieved because he, who anticipated this mystery of the sonship of God and wanted to serve God in simplicity, is now being punished for something that he cannot understand. And the only thing he wants to know to the end is why?!

“Have I been deceived in the secret of my heart, and have my lips kissed my hand?” In what a prominent image Job reveals one of the most terrible human iniquities: pride and self-love! This is what most of all takes a person away from the knowledge of God. A person can be devoted to God with his mind, morally blameless, can do a lot of good, but if he “kisses his hand,” that is, self-pleasures with his self, “loves himself,” then he is no longer right, he is lawless.

Job says that in this sense he does not see his sin.

Archbishop John (Shakhovskoy)

The Secret of Job. About suffering

JOB THE LONG-SUFFERING

Open Orthodox encyclopedia "TREE".

Job the Long-Suffering (c. 2000-1500 BC), righteous saint.

The holy righteous Job lived in Northern Arabia, in the country of Austidia, in the land of Uz. His life and suffering are described in the Bible, in the Book of Job. It is believed that Job was Abraham's nephew; was the son of Abraham's brother Nahor.

Job was a God-fearing and pious man. With all his soul he was devoted to the Lord God and acted in everything according to His will, moving away from all evil not only in deeds, but also in thoughts. The Lord blessed his earthly existence and endowed righteous Job with great wealth: he had a lot of livestock and all kinds of property. The seven sons of righteous Job and three daughters were friendly with each other and gathered for a common meal together at each of them in turn. Every seven days, the righteous Job offered sacrifices to God for his children, saying: “Perhaps one of them has sinned or blasphemed God in his heart.” For his justice and honesty, Saint Job was held in great esteem by his fellow citizens and had great influence on public affairs.

One day, when the Holy Angels appeared before the Throne of God, Satan also appeared among them. The Lord God asked Satan if he had seen His servant Job, a righteous man and free from all vice. Satan boldly replied that it was not for nothing that Job feared God - God protects him and increases his wealth, but if misfortune is sent to him, he will stop blessing God. Then the Lord, wanting to show Job’s patience and faith, said to Satan: “I hand over everything that Job has into your hands, just don’t touch him.” After this, Job suddenly lost all his wealth, and then all his children. Righteous Job turned to God and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return to my mother earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!” And Job did not sin before the Lord God, and did not utter a single foolish word.

When the Angels of God again appeared before the Lord and Satan was among them, the devil said that Job was righteous while he himself was unharmed. Then the Lord announced: “I allow you to do whatever you want with him, just save his soul.” After this, Satan struck the righteous Job with a fierce disease - leprosy, which covered him from head to toe. The sufferer was forced to leave the society of people, sat down outside the city on a heap of ash and scraped his purulent wounds with a clay skull. All his friends and acquaintances left him. His wife was forced to earn food for herself by working and wandering from house to house. Not only did she not support her husband in patience, but she thought that God was punishing Job for some secret sins, she cried, grumbled at God, reproached her husband, and finally advised the righteous Job to blaspheme God and die. Righteous Job grieved greatly, but even in these sufferings he remained faithful to God. He answered his wife: “You speak like one of the crazy ones. Will we really accept good from God and not accept evil?” And the righteous have not sinned in anything before God.

Hearing about Job's misfortunes, three of his friends came from afar to share his grief. They believed that Job was punished by God for his sins, and they convinced the innocent righteous man to repent of anything. The righteous man answered that he was not suffering for his sins, but that these trials were sent to him from the Lord according to the Divine will incomprehensible to man. Friends, however, did not believe and continued to believe that the Lord was dealing with Job according to the law of human retribution, punishing him for his sins. In grave spiritual sorrow, righteous Job turned to God in prayer, asking Him Himself to testify to them of his innocence. Then God revealed Himself in a stormy whirlwind and reproached Job for trying to penetrate with his mind into the secrets of the universe and the destinies of God. The righteous man repented of these thoughts with all his heart and said: “I am insignificant, I renounce and repent in dust and ashes.” Then the Lord commanded Job’s friends to turn to him and ask him to make a sacrifice for them, “for,” said the Lord, “I will only accept Job’s face, so as not to reject you because you did not speak about Me as truly as My servant Job.” " Job made a sacrifice to God and prayed for his friends, and the Lord accepted his petition, and also restored the righteous Job to health and gave him twice as much as he had before. Instead of the dead children, Job had seven sons and three daughters, the most beautiful of whom were not on earth. After suffering, Job lived another 140 years (in total he lived 248 years) and saw his descendants up to the fourth generation.

Saint Job prefigures the Lord Jesus Christ, who descended to earth, suffered for the salvation of people, and then became glorified by His glorious Resurrection.

I know,” said righteous Job, stricken with leprosy, “I know that my Redeemer lives and He will raise from the dust on the last day my decaying skin, and I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself, my eyes, not the eyes of another will see Him. With this hope my heart melts in my chest! (Job 19, 25 -27).

Know that there is a judgment in which only those who have true wisdom - the fear of the Lord and true intelligence - avoidance of evil will be justified.

Saint John Chrysostom says: There is no human misfortune that this husband, harder than any adamant, would not endure, who suddenly experienced hunger, poverty, illness, the loss of children, and deprivation of wealth, and then, having experienced deceit from his wife, insults from friends , attacks from slaves, in everything turned out to be harder than any stone, and, moreover, to Law and Grace.

Used materials

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1000.htm

TREE - open Orthodox encyclopedia: http://drevo.pravbeseda.ru

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