Житие святого праведного и многострадального Иова

The holy righteous Job, by birth, came from the tribe of Abraham; He lived in Arabia - his place of residence was the land of Hus 2994, which was inhabited by the descendants of Uz, the nephew of Abraham, the first-born son of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Gen. 22:20-21). Job was a man of truth (Job.6:24-30; cf. Job 27:2-4) - he was distinguished by impeccable behavior, justice with goodwill towards everyone and charity, and most of all, fear of God, maintaining the innocence of his heart and removing himself from all evil, not only in his deeds, but also in his inner thoughts. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also famous in his country for his wealth: he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred donkeys and many servants; He took a lively and active part in the lives of his fellow tribesmen and had a great influence on public affairs, for throughout the East he was held in great esteem for his nobility and honesty (Job. 30:5–10; cf. Job 30:1–3). The sons of Job, although they each lived separately, in their own tent-house, but nurtured such strong mutual love and lived in such harmony with each other that they never allowed themselves to eat and drink separately, apart from their related community. Every day, in turn, they held feasts and spent time in a fraternal circle, together with their sisters, among innocent amusements, free from any excesses, alien to drunkenness and excesses. Even their good and righteous father would not have allowed gatherings of indecent people. But since the feasts of Job’s children were an expression of their brotherly love and quiet good behavior, the righteous husband not only did not prohibit them, but even encouraged them, comforted by family peace. Each time, after seven days, at the end of regular fraternal meetings, Job invited his children to carefully, with a sincere conscience, check their behavior - whether any of them had sinned against God in word or thought; for he was very afraid of God, but he was afraid not with the fear of a slave, but with the fear of filial love, and he carefully watched both himself and his house, so that nothing would happen to them that would anger the Lord God. However, the God-fearing righteous man did not limit himself only to observing his household and exhorting them to lead an immaculate life, so that none of them sinned before their Creator even in their thoughts - but every time the circle of feast days ended, Job, in the presence of his entire family, early in the morning offered burnt offerings according to the number of all his children and one bull for the sin of their souls, for, he said, maybe my sons you have sinned and blasphemed God in your heart; This is what Job did on all such deliberate days (Job 1:5). At one time, when in heaven the Angels of God, the guardians of the human race, gathered before the throne of the Almighty God to intercede before Him with their intercession for people and bring Him human prayers for all sorts of vital needs, the devil, the slanderer and tempter of the human race, came among them. Satan, cast down from heaven, by God's permission, appeared there among the Angels, without betraying his fallen nature, not out of a good desire to intercede for good, but in order to spew out his bitterness and blaspheme good. Satanic pride in its inner blindness never reconciles itself with the truth, does not see joyful peace in humility and submissive devotion to the will of the All-Good God; she boldly introduces a revaluation of what exists, according to her gloomy gaze, and into the luminous area of ​​Divine life, alien to her, boldly measuring everything by the measure of her conceit! And the Lord said to Satan, who appeared with the Angels: – I walked on the earth and walked around it all. -Have you turned your attention to My servant Job? You cannot find another person on earth who, like him, would be so blameless, just, God-fearing, and free from all vice! To this Satan answered the Lord: – Is Job fearing God for nothing? Aren't you taking care of him? Haven't you fenced around his house and all that he has? You blessed the works of his hands and multiplied his flocks and spread them throughout the earth. But stretch out Your hand and touch everything that he has, take it away from him, then you will see whether he will bless You? Then the Lord said to Satan: “I put everything that he has into your hands, do according to your will, just don’t touch him.” Satan departed from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:6–12). There was a day on which the sons and daughters of Job were feasting at the house of their elder brother. And then a messenger comes to Job and says: “Your oxen plowed in the field in pairs under a yoke, and the donkeys grazed next to them; suddenly the Sabeans attacked and drove them away, and killed the servants; I was the only one who escaped and ran to tell you. While this one was speaking, another messenger came to Job and said: – Fire fell from heaven and burned all the small livestock and shepherds; I was saved alone and came to tell you. This man has not yet finished his speech, a new messenger comes and reports: - The Chaldeans approached and, dividing into three detachments, surrounded the camels and drove them away, and killed the servants; I was saved alone and came to tell you. While this one was still speaking, another messenger came and said to Job: “Your sons and your daughters feasted in the house of their elder brother; suddenly a terrible whirlwind rushed from the desert, grabbed the house from four corners and brought it down on your children; everyone died; I was the only one who escaped and came to inform you. Having heard these terrible news one after another, Job stood up, tore his outer garment as a sign of his great sorrow, shaved his head, fell to the ground and, bowing before the Lord, said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return to the womb of mother earth.” The Lord gave, the Lord took away! - as He pleased, so it was done; Blessed be the name of the Lord! So in all this, Job did not sin against God with a single foolish word (Job 1:13–22). There was a day when the Angels of God again appeared before the Lord; Satan came among them again. “I was on the ground and walked around it all.” -Have you turned your attention to My servant Job? There is no person on earth who would be like him: he is so kind, truthful and pious, so far from everything evil! And despite the misfortunes that befell him, he still remains firm in his integrity; and you stirred Me up against him in order to destroy him innocently! And Satan answered the Lord and said: – Skin for skin, and for his life a man will give everything he has, that is: in someone else’s skin a person can suffer; in someone else's skin the blows are not so sensitive, even the removal of this skin is tolerable, not painful for him and he can remain calm; But try to touch his own body, stretch out Your hand and touch his bones and his flesh and see - will he bless You? - Here, it is in your hand. I allow you to do whatever you want with him; just save his soul - do not encroach on the basis of his being, free will (Job.2:1-6). Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job’s entire body with terrible leprosy, from the soles of his feet to the very crown of his head. The sufferer had to move out from among living people, since he was intolerant among them due to the contagiousness of the disease that gripped him. His body was covered with disgusting, stinking scabs; a burning internal fire spread through all joints; Sitting outside the village, in the ashes, Job scraped his purulent wounds with a fragment of a shard. All his neighbors and acquaintances moved away and left him. Even his wife lost compassion for him. After a long time, in a state of despair, she one day said to Job: “How long will you endure? - Here, I will wait a little longer in the hope of my salvation; for your memory, sons and daughters, the pains of my womb and the labors with which I labored in vain, perished from the earth. You yourself sit in the stench of worms, spending the night without cover, while I wander and serve, moving from place to place, from house to house, waiting for the sun to set in order to calm down from my labors and the illnesses that now depress me. Do not persist, do not steadfastly defend your integrity; but say a word to God, blaspheme Him and die - in death you will find liberation from your suffering, it will also save me from torment.” So simply and naturally, apparently even satisfactorily, Job’s wife resolved the question of life for him and for herself, without extending beyond the earthly understanding of its meaning and purpose, at the suggestion of Satan - “skin for skin.” Exhausted and morally tired, she was ready to extinguish the last light of true life: “blaspheme God and die.” However, this is not how the sufferer himself, Job, thought about his condition, looking at his human nature not from the point of view of narrow selfishness. Looking at his wife with regret, he told her: - Why do you talk like one of the crazy wives? If we accepted good from God, then can we really not tolerate evil? Let us not accept it! And this time, in this way, Job did not sin before God - his lips did not utter anything blasphemous against God (Job.2:7-10). The rumor about the misfortune that befell Job spread throughout the surrounding countries. His three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shebhaite and Zophar the Naamite 2995, aware of his misfortune, gathered together to go to comfort the sufferer, sharing his grief. But, approaching him and not recognizing him, because his face was a continuous purulent scab, they screamed and sobbed from afar in horror, each tore their outer clothing and in great grief threw dust upward over their heads. They then spent seven days and seven nights sitting on the ground opposite their friend and not uttering a single word, for they saw that his suffering was very great and did not find any means to console him in such a state (Job 2:11-13). This languid silence was interrupted by Job himself. He was the first to open his mouth: he cursed the day of his birth and expressed deep sorrow about why he was given the opportunity to see the light, which is now covered in darkness for him? Why was life given to him when for him it is a joyless torment? “The terrible thing that I was terrified of befell me,” said the sufferer, “and the terrible thing that I was afraid of came to me.” There is no peace for me, no peace, no joy! ( Job 3:1-26 ). Then his friends also entered into a conversation with him, although with their reasoning, with which they wanted to console him, they only further poisoned his suffering heart (Job. 21:34; Job 16 et al.). According to their sincere conviction, according to their faith that the Just God rewards the good and punishes the evil, they considered it indisputable and undeniable that if anyone is exposed to misfortune, he is a sinner, and the greater this misfortune, the darker his sinful state. That’s why they thought about Job that he had some secret sins that he knew how to skillfully hide (Job 32:1–22, 33:1–33, etc.) from people and for which the All-Seeing God was punishing their friend. They made the sufferer feel this from the very beginning of their conversations and then, in the continuation of their long arguments, convinced him to confess and repent of his crimes. Job, in the consciousness of his integrity, despite all the apparently persuasiveness of his speeches, considered himself internally far from recognizing their reasoning as fair (Job 27:1–7; cf. Job 10:17); with all the strength of innocence he defended his good name. - How long will you torment my soul and torment me with your speeches? Behold, you have disgraced me ten times already and are not ashamed to torment me! Pathetic comforters! – will there be an end to your windy words? ( Job 19:2–3 ; cf. Job 16:2 ). Job explained to his friends and assured them that he was suffering not for sins, but that God, according to His will, incomprehensible to man, sends one a hard life and another a happy life. Job's friends, who believed that God deals with people according to the same laws of retribution according to which he pronounces his judgment and human justice, were not convinced by his justifying words, although they stopped their denunciations directed against him and stopped responding to his words (Job 32: 1-15). At this time, a young man named Elihu, son of Barahiel, from the tribe of Ram, a Buzite, took an active part in the general conversation; with fiery boldness he took up arms against the venerable sufferer “because he justified himself, his innocence, more than God” (Job 32 et al.). Rendering to the Creator justice inaccessible to man, this interlocutor also saw the reason for Job’s suffering in his depravity, even if not noticeable to human eyes. – God is powerful and does not despise the heart of the strong. He does not support the wicked and does not turn His eyes away from the righteous; but you,” Elihu said to Job, “you are filled with the judgments of the wicked, for, in your judgment, the punishment sent to you from God is undeserved, “but judgments and condemnation are close,” touching you so closely (Job 36:5-17). Finally, the sufferer turned to God with a prayer, so that He Himself would testify to his innocence. Indeed, God appeared to Job in a stormy whirlwind and reproached him for his intention to demand an account in the affairs of world government. The Almighty pointed out to Job that for man there is very much that is incomprehensible in the phenomena and creations of even the visible nature that surrounds him; and after that - the desire to penetrate into the secrets of God's destinies and explain why He acts with people this way and not otherwise - such a desire already represents daring arrogance. – Who is this, darkening Providence with words without meaning? - the Lord asked Job from the stormy whirlwind. “Gird up your loins now like a man and answer: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” – tell me if you know. On what are its foundations established, or who laid its cornerstone during the general rejoicing of the heavenly lights and joyful exclamations of praise from the sons of God? Have you ever in your life given an order to the morning and indicated the place to the dawn? Do you know the rules of heaven, can you raise your voice to the clouds, can you send lightning?.. Do you want to overthrow My judgment, accuse Me in order to justify yourself: - do you have a muscle like Me? – Adorn yourself with greatness and glory, clothe yourself in splendor and splendor; pour out the fury of your wrath, look at everything that is proud and arrogant and humble it, crushing the mighty wicked in their places. Then I also recognize that your right hand is strong to protect you. Let him who competes with the Almighty, who denounces God, answer Him. And Job answered the Lord and said: – I know that You can do anything and that Your intention is unchangeable. – Who is this one who darkens providence, not understanding anything? - It was me who spoke about what I did not understand - about things that were wonderful to me, which I did not know. I heard about You before only out of the corner of my ear, but now my eyes see You; therefore I renounce and repent to dust and ashes; I am insignificant and what will I answer You? – I put my hand on my mouth (Job.38-40). And after that there was a commandment from the Lord to Job's friends, so that they turn to him and ask him to make a sacrifice for them, for only the face of Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I will accept, so as not to reject you because you have not spoken about Me as truly as My servant Job (Job 42:7-9). The friends fulfilled this command of the Lord and brought seven bulls and seven rams to Job for sacrifice. Job offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for his friends. God accepted his intercession for them, restored his physical health and gave him twice as much as he had before. Job's relatives and all his former acquaintances, hearing about his healing, came to visit him and take comfort and rejoice with him, and each of them brought him a gift and a gold ring. The Lord rewarded Job with His blessing: after that he had fourteen thousand small livestock, six thousand camels, a thousand pairs of oxen and a thousand donkeys. Job had seven sons and three daughters in place of those who died; and in all the earth there were no such beautiful women as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers (Job 42:10–15). The Lord did not double the number of Job’s children, just as He doubled his shepherd’s wealth: this is because no one would think that his first children who died died completely - no, although they died, they did not perish - they will rise at the general resurrection of the righteous. Job, after patiently enduring his trials, lived one hundred and forty years (in total he lived on earth for two hundred and forty-eight years), and he saw his descendants up to the fourth generation; he died full of days at a ripe old age ( Job 42:16–17 ); now he lives a life that is not aging and not painful in the kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One Glorified God in the Trinity, for even among the misfortunes he suffered on earth, he had already seen, like Abraham, the great day of the Lord, he saw it and rejoiced (John 8:56). “I know,” he said, struck by a stinking ulcer, “I know that my Redeemer lives and He will raise from the dust on the last day this decaying skin of mine, 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 ) Righteous Job confessed this before his friends, inspiring them to “fear” not physical suffering and deprivation of earthly blessings, but “the sword of the Lord,” the wrath of the Almighty, “Who is the avenger of unrighteousness.” “Know that there is a judgment (Job.19:29) 2996,” he preaches to instruct us, “a judgment in which only those who have true wisdom—the fear of the Lord and—true reason—shunning from evil will be justified (Job.28:28). Having seen the wealth of the virtues of Joblich, the wiles of your righteous enemies have stolen it, and having torn apart the pillar of the body, the treasure has not been stolen by the spirit, but you have found an armed immaculate soul. Having laid bare my captivity: having preceded me before the end, deliver me, the flattering one, O Savior, and save me. For you are true and righteous, godly and immaculate, and sanctified, the all-glorious, true servant of God, you have enlightened the world through your patience, most patient and most kind: in the same way, all God-wise, we glorify your memory. The land of Hus was located southeast of Palestine, beyond the Dead Sea. They came from the descendants of Esau, otherwise “Edom” (see Gen. 36:1–43). The subject of the book of Job is the solution to the question: how to reconcile with the existence of God’s Providence in the world that not uncommon phenomenon on earth that virtuous people spend their lives amidst disasters, while the wicked prosper? His friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar learned about the misfortunes that befell righteous Job; They came to visit the sufferer, and when they saw their friend on the rotting heap, they silently mourned him for seven days. Then they entered into a conversation with him: starting from the general idea for the Old Testament times that all suffering is a punishment for some untruth, in their speeches addressed to Job, they developed the idea that if he suffers now, then, without a doubt, for some of his sins, which, therefore, he must repent of. Distressed by the speeches of his friends and feeling that he was right before God, Job, complaining that the hands of the Lord were heavy on him, expressed faith in the inscrutability of God’s destinies, before which the thought of man is powerless, as well as the desire that the Lord Himself would judge him. God appears to Job in a storm. Having denounced Job for his reckless demand from Him for an account in the government of the world, the Lord inspires Job with reverence for the vast and incomprehensible ways of God’s Providence, which directs everything to good deeds. In conclusion, the Lord commands Eliphaz and his comrades to ask for prayerful intercession from Job for the sin of his unjust condemnation, and reward Job doubly for his losses and suffering. The question of the writer of the book of Job is controversial. St. Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom were inclined to think that he was Solomon. But it is difficult to reconcile with this the general impression one gets from the book, which speaks of its incomparably earlier origin. It is completely silent about the laws of Moses; at the same time, its presentation reveals the features of patriarchal life, in which signs of a highly developed social life are already visible. Job, as a noble warrior, prince and judge, lives with considerable splendor and enjoys honor during frequent visits to the nearby city; in the book, in addition, there are indications of the correct forms of legal proceedings, the ability of Job’s contemporaries to observe celestial phenomena and draw appropriate astronomical conclusions from these observations; talks about mines, large buildings, as well as major political upheavals. All this gives grounds, with a very significant degree of probability, to attribute the time of Job’s life to the time of the Jews’ stay in Egypt. Job, after days of prosperity, having experienced the loss of property, children and a severe illness, and then again and to a greater extent (Job.42:10) receiving from God what was lost, serves as a prototype of Christ the Savior, who humbled Himself to accept the shameful death of the cross and for this was exalted by God the Father (Phil.2:7-9), - who accepted that as a crown for the redemptive feat for humanity the glory which He had with the Father before the world was (John 17:6). St. Hieromartyr Zinon, Bishop of Verona, who lived in the 4th century, finds other more specific similarities between the prototype and the image. “Job, in my opinion,” says St. father - was the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. Comparison will explain this truth to us. Job was righteous - our Savior is truth itself, the source of our righteousness, because it was predicted about Him: “Behold, the day will come... the Sun of righteousness will rise” (Mal.4:1-2). Job was true - Our Lord is the genuine, perfect truth: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Job was rich, but whose wealth can be compared with the wealth of our Lord, to Whom the whole universe belongs, according to the testimony of blessed David: “The earth is the Lord’s, and what fills it, the universe and everything that lives in it” (Ps. 23:1)? Job was tempted by the devil three times (deprivation of property, death of children and illness); in a similar way, according to the testimony of the evangelist, the devil tempted our Lord three times (Matthew 4:1-11). Job, deprived of all his possessions, became poor - our Lord, out of love for us, descended to earth and left heaven with all its blessings, and also became poor in order to enrich us. The children of Job were killed by the enraged devil - the children of our Lord, the prophets, were beaten by the insane Pharisee people (Luke 13:34; Acts 7:52). Job was stricken with plagues - our Lord, having taken upon Himself our flesh and the sins of the entire human race, at the same time accepted all the impurities and wounds of sin. Job was attacked by his friends - the high priests and scribes, who should especially honor Him and be His friends, rebelled against our Lord before everyone else. Job, stricken with leprosy, sharpened by worms, sat on the ashes outside the city - Our Lord, having taken upon Himself all the sinful ulcers of the entire human race, turned in this unclean world among people filled with vices and seething with lusts, who betrayed Him to a shameful death outside the city. Job, through his invincible patience, again acquired both health and wealth - Our Lord, having defeated death by His resurrection, gave those who believe in Him not only health, but also immortality, and received from God the Father power and dominion over everything, as He himself testified: “all things were handed over to Me by My Father” (Luke 10:22). Blessed Job died in peace - Our Lord, having left us peace, purchased at the price of His blood, ascended in meek and peaceful glory to His Father. In view of such educational significance of the life of the righteous Job, the Church from ancient times established, on days dedicated to the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ, to offer readings from the book of Job to the attention of believers. - Parimies from the book. Job on the days of Passion Week are as follows: on Monday, at Vespers Job. 1:1–12; on Tuesday, at Vespers Job. 1:13–22; on Wednesday at Vespers Job. 2:1–10; on Maundy Thursday at Vespers Job. 38:1–23, 42:1–5; on Great Friday at Vespers Job. 42:12–17. You might be interested in: