Job and God

Hey George. I have a question you might be able to answer, scholarly mystic that you are. Regarding the story of Job, Job was God's buddy too. God called him a righteous man. And the bad guy made a bet with God, that he could turn Job against God. And God took the bet. Without going into details, the bad guy/God (I'n not sure which one), gave Job a really hard time - as in brutal, physical psychologically and emotionally heart-rending bad time. Job supposedly remained a righteous servant of God throughout his ordeals. God rewarded him with a lot good stuff. But I just don't get that God would play games with someone who loved him and was a righteous man. Can you explain the lesson here, please?

George Breed Testing of the mettle always happens. Otherwise we sit on our spiritual couch in blob land. We go "down, down, down in that burning ring of fire." How we respond both results from who we are and determines who we are. Job had extremely strong mettle so testing had to be extreme to produce effectual change. What happened was a renewal of a contract -- a renewal at a higher deeper place. You can see the renewal in two verses. After Job's buddies gave all their lawyerly responses, God said (Job 38:3) to Job: Quit groveling around and get up ("Gird up thy loins now like a man") and (here comes the first part of the new contract) "for I will demand of thee and answer thou me." The second part of the new contract comes from Job, as it should, it's a two-way deal (Job 42:4). Job says to God: "Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me." Job gets up on his hind legs as God requested and his first act is to make demands of God. The two. God and Job, now have a tighter relationship. Mutual hearing, mutual demands. Like any friendship. No games.