#book of job

[theeldermillennial]

So I've gone to church my entire life, but I'm not familiar with all of the stories in the Bible.

After watching GOOD OMENS 2, I wanted to read the full Book of Job because the series made the story so interesting.

Cue this past Sunday at Mass. I pick up the Bible on the back of the pew and flip to the Book of Job. The series was dead accurate and kept to the source material very well. I'm reading, I'm reading some more...and then I see it.

I swear to you, the way the writers set his name up in the episode made it 100% sound like a ridiculous made-up on the spot name. NOPE! They picked the friend with the most hilarious name!

I nearly started cackling in the middle of Mass! XD

[theshoesofatiredman]

Idk I think Job's wife really went off when she told him to curse God and die. It's interesting how there's no oxygen for her suffering in the narrative. She lost her children too. She lost her home too. Her health was taken from her too. Everything she had was stripped away by God. And yet there's no compassion for her. Not in the narrative nor in the commentaries or the sermons. She isn't even named.

[yicketydah]

ineffable may day eleven: book of job 🫶

[cuties-in-codices]

job on the dungheap, tormented by four demons

illustration from a book of hours, france (rouen), late 15th or early 16th c.

source: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Buchanan e. 3, fol. 55r

[lionofchaeronea]

Job Rebuked by His Friends, William Blake, 1805

[hawt-pants-exe]

Day 11 of ineffable May

Book of Job

I’m crying still trash at drawing humans 🙃

‼️‼️⁉️❗️⁉️⁉️⁉️‼️❗️❗️❗️

[xdestinykey]

Ineffable May Day #11- ✨🐐 Book of Job 🦎✨

This turned into an experiment of using different brushes. Pretty happy with how it turned out. 😊

[drconstellation]

Come Back When You Can Make A Whale

This is going to contain some speculation for S3, so you know what to do! Or not do!

SITIS: What did God say? JOB: Um... I'm not sure. I didn't understand much. Things too wonderful for me. Ostriches came into it. SITIS: Ostriches? JOB: And whales. God's very proud of the whale. Went into some detail about... how great whales are. SITIS: But did They explain? JOB: [shakes head] I think the point was, if you want answers, come back when you can make a whale.

Whales, huh?

If you aren't well read, this could be quite the misdirection. It should be reasonably obvious, given who is doing the talking - Job - what he is actually referring to, then we can join a couple of dots to make some speculative leaps.

You still with me?

No? Then let us start with how do you make a whale?

By giving it another name.

Leviathan.

Chapter 41 of the Book of Job is all about the Leviathan, a great sinuous sea serpent with impenetrable scales and breath like fire. It sleeps beneath the sea until the end of days. Over time it came to be associated with any sea monster, then anything large, and what is the largest animal ever known to have lived? The whale.

The top of the matchbox is also worth a look. We have a skull and crossbones, which is classic Memento mori symbolism, fitting in with the resurrection theme of the Second Coming - but look at the way the address of the pub is spelt! Now, this not the same way it is spelt on the record single Maggie gives to Aziraphale; Goatgate is spelt as one word, not two. A little bit of searching reveals the meaning behind this fictional address that backs up and reinforces the quote on the side of the matchbox.

Strong's Concordance for 66 gives us "wild, savage, fierce." Goatgate is an interesting one, because it turns out to be a relatively modern term from the urban dictionary, and I'm just going to refer to the polite version of it here - it's another word for "mouth." So 66 Goatgate is a "fierce and savage mouth." Yes, that does sound about right - in more ways than one, once you know who it is. (If you want to look up the impolite version, go ahead - I'm sure you will still find the connotations very amusing.)

Our metaphorical Leviathan is Crowley. He gave the game away at the end of S1 during the appearance-swap.

This also means Aziraphale is his counterpart, Behemoth. Why - well, I made a bit of joke in my post here that he was playing at being a "river horse" while he wallowed in the bath of holy water during his part of the appearance-swap scene. Modern day scholars think the description of Behemoth in the Bible may be that of a hippopotamus in real life history. If that is so, I'd still be betting this is what the "dark horse" comment from Nina in S2E1 is foreshadowing.

Maybe none of this new to you if you've been hanging around the the fandom for a while. That's fine, I'm just trying to establish the scene. And the next bit we need to talk about is this one, where Job gets a lecture from God.

During this sequence, we hear lines that come from Job 38 and 39.

GOD: Job, if you have questions for me, I have questions for you. Do you know how I created the earth? Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, Job? Were you there when all the morning stars sang together and all the Angels shouted for joy?

These lines are paraphrasing some of the beginning of Job 38.

Then we have:

GOD: Do you know the rules of the heavens? Did you set the constellations in the sky? Can you send lightning bolts and get them to report back to you? Did you give wings to peacocks, Job, or teach the ostrich to run?

These lines are again, paraphrasing Job, half from 38 and half from 39.

So then, we need to ask, why highlight these lines in particular?

Job 38 is mainly about setting the boundaries of the universe around us. The Earth might seem impossibly huge to a human, but it started with a single stone at its foundation. Earth and the other planets obey certain laws as they move around the Sun. The patterns of the stars in the sky take so long to change that it seems like they are set and inconstant. Even the chaotic form of lightning respects its Creator and returns to its point of origin.

From the last part of Chapter 38 to the end of 39 God challenges Job with a list of animals. The theme here is about freedom and wildness. Whether it is a noble lion, a loathsome crow, a nimble mountain goat, the head-strong wild ox or the willing war horse, they all flourish upon the Earth under the sight of the Almighty. Even the mightiest and most fierce beasts of all, Behemoth and Leviathan, have a place, although only God has the means to control those two.

None of this needs a human to be involved. We are so often the center of our own universe, and try so hard to control every aspect of the world around us that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Shit happens. Some things are out of our control. That doesn't mean its your fault and you're wicked and damned to go to Hell because of it. And that was the point God was trying to make to Job. The world is a far bigger, wilder and chaotic than you can imagine, but its also incredibly beautiful, and it runs itself within the rules and limits that seem to be set by invisible forces you can't see.

So back to the script from the show.

The first set of questions from God could apply to both of the duo. They were both around when Earth was created and were more than likely there when the "morning stars" (the highest angels, such as Lucifer, Gabriel, Michael and angel!Beelzebub) sang together.

The second set of questions are the ones that seem to have got the most attention so far, with ops cross-matching them to things Crowley does in S2.

Do you know the rules of the heavens?

Did you set the constellations in the sky?

Can you send lightning bolts and get them to report back to you?

Did you give wings to peacocks, Job...

(I make a suggestion this has something to do with Michael, but also see comments below)

...or teach the ostrich to run?

The first three of those questions are fairly straight forward, and I doubt many would dispute what they are referring to. But the reference to the peacock and the ostrich are more subtle and curious, and I would like to take a moment to look at the actual verse - because it is only one verse that is providing both questions - that is being paraphrased here.

Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Did you realize that the King James Version of the Bible is the only one that mentions peacocks in this particular verse? All the other versions mentions the first sentence of that verse in relation to the wings of ostriches: "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly." The ostrich is considered a cruel and witless bird in the Bible, pleased with the way it looks, and seemingly careless about its young.

Why does that sound familiar...

Shax thinks this ostrich feather-clad angel in disguise isn't too smart either.

So using the peacock line is a curious choice in the script. Other than the "eyes" in the tail of the peacock having a connection to Michael's many watchful eyes on the world, it's still not clear how Crowley helped them upwards. Unless both lines are supposed to refer to Gabriel, and how the vain peacock was helped to both fly and run to a distant location in the stars.

Edit: Since I first wrote this, @beebopboom pointed me to some more peacock lore, and this helped me delve a bit deeper into them. Peacocks were associated with wealth and royalty, but they were also associated with immortality in early Christian beliefs. There was a belief that the flesh of the peacock did not decay after its death. The bright colours in its tail came from its eating venomous snakes, which reminded people of Christ becoming sin for humanity's sake (think of Crowley downing the laudanum to save Elspeth from Hell in the crypt in 1827, its a similar action.) The "eyes" on the males tail also represented the all-seeing eye of God. So we have a connection with both royalty and resurrection here.

(Oh - just as an interesting connection here - a number of the newer versions of the Bible not only don't mention the peacock in this verse, they compare the ostrich to the stork! The meaning is meant to be that the stork cares more for their young than the ostrich, but if you read the words at face value, you could take a double meaning away...)

Let us return to questions, answers, and whales.

Questions. Always questions. It's like the proverbial toddler who's always asking a never-ending string of "but, why?" for funsies and you just want them to shut up for a moment and think about the last thing you said first. They, too, are a bit like Job. They are the center of their own universe at that age, having not had much experience of the world. They have no grasp of how far it extends beyond them, and how little even we as adults know.

If at this point you're going "oh, no, no, no, no, op, please don't tell me the point of this meta is it's all ineffable," relax. I'm not.

The point was to set you up for some nice, juicy, awesomely sweet S3 speculation.

Because I believe Crowley will finally get to ask his questions of God.

(oh lordy, I made the mistake of taking a break to have a shower before trying to finish this off, because I was having trouble seeing how to finish this in a tidy way, and that caused me to have "shower thoughts" and now the nice sweet simple speculation has turned into a slightly bat-shit crazy kind-of one, although still on the same track as what I was originally thinking. Here goes...)

We have this three card spread from waaay back at the beginning of S1. We all think its something to do with the three babies.

What if its not?

Because we need something like this to happen again - Aziraphale and Crowley either side of a third protagonist. What if it's the King of Kings, Love personified, Jesus, in the middle? (Or Adam again, I wouldn't discount that option either...)

If you would look at the GIF and the screenshot together again and go, well that makes, sense, white for the angel on the right, and green for the demon on the left, I would jump up and shout at you - NO!

Look at the cards again! In the Tarot, that's the Ace of Swords on the right - it belongs to Aziraphale. It's a very powerful card, about new beginnings and change.* Lets call the one of the left Knight of Wands, which also represents the element of Fire. Knights are all about movement and journeys. Who owns the Bentley? And look what Gabriel has instinctively done with his hands - he has held his screen-left hand out to Aziraphale, the Sword, the angel who wears green, and his right hand out to Crowley, the Knight of Fire. The yin and yang qualities are actually swapped. That was what I was trying to tell you in this post. They aren't as obvious as they seem at first glance.

And love is the answer, it turns out. Did you see my comment the other day on another post? In Strong's Concordance 25 = to love.

Anyway, we should get a third parallel scene somewhat like this, and like when Aziraphale and Crowley took Adam out of time to talk to him in S1.

Only this time the three of them (with who ever is in the middle) should be having a talk with God about what is or isn't supposed to happen.

JOB: I think the point was, if you want answers, come back when you can make a whale.

Crowley could be a literal serpent (though I would be very surprised if he did manifest that way) but it should be a metaphorical Leviathan that stands before the Almighty to ask his questions and get his answers. And it will be that he has earned the right to be there, because he finally understands the lessons of Job.

@makewayforbigcrossducks I hope this answers one of your questions

*The Ace of Swords speaks of new beginnings, but it is a two-edged sword that can cut both ways. It is strength in adversity, victory out of struggle, good out of evil, a change in the old order on the way.

[unidentifiedlyingobject]

Ineffable May Day Eleven: Book of Job

'I'm a demon.

I lied.'

aaaaghhghghghh that line hits me like a huge cargo ship

This is such an important scene so I thought it was about time I drew it and I think it turned out lovely :D

[don't forget! tomorrow is shuhite sunday!!)

[lordroma]

11. Book of Job

Just Job's kids

[subway-dove]

the book of job is horrible. you are always right next to losing everything you have. not only what matters; it's what matters and all around it. how could this ever happen? how could he let it happen? these things should only happen to bad people, is the desperate argument, is the accusation, because how could the world be so unfair if it's a world worth living in? surely you deserve it, say those who want to think it can never happen to them. they delude themselves. they fear.

after taking away everything that matters, god, or the book of job, or whatever comes when you beg for it all to make sense, to be fair, tells you, more will matter, still. you will live and more will matter. and nobody wants to hear that, because who could ever stand that? it is worse because this is not the coward friend speaking for himself, not here. directly, it is the mystery, the truth, god, in this book, making it so that it will happen anyways. you will always carry your dead with you and yet more will matter and you cannot stop it from mattering. you will eat with people once more and you will love them viciously and the hole inside you will never close and never fill but your totality will not be the hole. it matters so much that it never fills. it matters so much that there is so much more.

the promise, concludes the book of job, because god is of promises, is that the horror will come from the love, and that the love will come from the horror, and that you will always have something you can love. it cannot work any other way. nobody will be spared. love leaves a hole that hurts, pulls, calls, remembers. isn't that wonderful? the love you pour into somebody else never gets to leave you. we will all, in time, become the hole that hurts, pulls, calls, remembers. nobody is spared. it's how it must be.

[axeboy666]

bildad the she/herite and her lovely wife

[cheeseplants]

Just realised that in S1 Flood scene, Crowley says you can't kill kids and it cuts to a shot of some baby goats and children. And now I realise that Aziraphale knows that Crowley is against the killing of both goats and children, which is why he's so sure he hasn't killed them in Book of Job.

[apilgrimsprogress]

job 1:21 (nabre)

[amagnificentobsession]

What can you do when your basic instinct is love?

What other choices can you make?

Where do you stop? Where do you say enough?

How do you say, enough?

When do you put the needs of others above your own?

When do you protect ideals that may not be yours?

When do you lay yourself down for another’s beliefs?

You watch and feel the pain and suffering.

Know you would lay down your life, total being.

To relieve them of that anguish.

When others mock you.

Finding your beliefs so opposite theirs.

They would rather push you to oppression.

When even those that you love cannot understand.

Cannot stand with you.

When you stand alone. In your beliefs. In your truth.

You stand strong. You never waiver.

When loneliness is your friend.

When you know, deep within, it’s right.

It’s for love.

[shutanic-temple-art-gallery]

Welcome to the Shutanic Temple Art Gallery

Welcome to all budding and accomplished artists on tumblr!

May our gallery be a signal booster for your artworks, which have been dropping in well before the opening, much to our delight. Without you, precious artists on tumblr, nothing of this would be possible.

Our gallery is dedicated to Bildad's world: the land of Uz, Sitis and Job, goats and crows, ox ribs, wine, a certain night in Job's cellar, a sweet and devouring angel of gluttony named Aziraphale* and above all our muse and saviour Bildad the Shuhite.

To be featured in the gallery, use our ask button or simply tag us when you post your Shutanic art. You may as well continue to submit your works directly to @bil-daddy or to me.

@loretta-dont-you-oppress-me

Art Curator of the Shutanic Temple Art Gallery

* @uziraphale