Character Study: A Brief Examination of Noah and Job

I read biographies and study characters for the purposes of my personal development. Many of the people I choose to learn about are people mentioned in the Bible. People that we would likely know nothing about had they not been mentioned in the Bible because they are not written about in non-Biblical records. The starting point for this particular character study was a question.

• The prophets were regarded by the people as “holy” men of God. Ever wonder if there were people who the prophets thought were holy?

Based on my research I determined that there were four men honored by the holy men as holy men: Noah, Job, Daniel and John the Baptist.

A summary of my examinations of their lives will be presented in a 2-part post. This first post summarizes the results of my examinations of the lives of Noah and Job.

• The man named Noah in the Bible and the character depicted as Noah in the movie, Noah (2014), which starred Russell Crowe, did not resemble each other at all. In fact, the only thing in the movie that resembled the Bible record was the fact that there was an ark and there was a flood. Noah was a man of faith who preached a message, warning people of a global disaster. The only people who believed him were his wife, his sons and their wives. When the rain came down from the sky, no doubt many wished they had listened to words of that crazy old man. But it was too late!

• Job was actually described by his Creator as “an upright man, who fears God and shuns evil”.  The Bible record of his life tells of a man who had done nothing wrong, yet several calamities happened to him all in one day, including the loss of all of his children. That day of calamities was just the beginning of his sorrows. The things that happened to Job, had they happened to another, that person might have committed suicide or lived to curse God every day for the remainder of their lives. But Job remained faithful. Did he know what the end of the matter would be? It is clear that he did not. One must personally read his story to reach an understanding as to WHY, in the face of such grief and adversity and knowing that he had not sinned to provoke God’s wrath or judgement, why he chose to remain steadfast and devoted to God and not do as his wife urged him to do … “curse God and die!” For me?  There was a lot that Job did not know and/or understand.  But he held on to what he did know.  He knew that God was not his Adversary.
  

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Personal Development, Character Study and Biography | Persona Paper