Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, and God's Love in the Book of Job

If you want to see the kind of faith the biblical god demands then look no further than the story of Job.

Job's story is fallaciously being used to offer comfort to believers in the midst of the terrible suffering caused by hurricances Harvey, Irma and Jose. "God knows what he's doing" they say, "even if we don't understand his mysterious ways, because his ways are loving and kind."

The lesson however, isn't about God's love or kindness toward us. It's not meant to provide any comfort to us either. The real lesson is that god reserves the right to bring as much suffering into our lives as he wants, even to kill us, for whatever reason he wants, and we are not to question why. We are to have blind unquestioning faith that he has the right to mistreat us at will. He can do whatever the hell he wants to us simply because he's GOD. We're simply to take what he dishes out. It doesn't matter if we're good or not either. This lesson is missed by almost all believers.

In the book of Job god allows Satan to cause a great deal of suffering to its main fictional character, Job. [Come on be serious, who speaks in rhythmic repetitive poetic verse?]

The lesson of Job's suffering is not that believers can rest assured god will take care of them since Satan's power is limited by an all-powerful god, nor that god lovingly cares for them in their sufferings, nor that they can trust god's love for them even though his ways are mysterious.

The answer to why Job suffered is told to us in the first two chapters. Job's god treats him (and his family) as a pawn in a tortuous chess game of human flesh with Satan, to win a bet before the pantheon of his divine sons in the sky. [In this divine chess match, Satan does nothing wrong as a fully credentialed member of the divine court, representative of the barbaric thought-police system still common in some Muslim countries].

To anyone who subsequently disagrees with this game, Job's god comes out of the whirlwind to blast them in chapters 40-42. In these chapters Job's god reserves the right to treat Job (and anyone else) any way he so chooses. We should not question god for playing with human flesh like this. He gives life and he can take it away as he wishes.

Essentially this is what we see:

God to Job: "I can do whatever the hell I want to you or anyone else since I am GOD! You are not to question me but take whatever I dish out in blind unquestioning faith.

Today's tanslation: I can send as many hurricanes as I want since I am GOD. You are not to question me but take whatever I dish out in blind unquestioning faith.

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