Old Testament
Joseph and Job are perfect examples of God’s use of power. These two went through a period of suffering according to the will of God. The very same God enabled them to prosper and get out of their situations. As a matter of fact, God blessed them in a much better way than if they would have remained in their previous situations. The sufferings endured by both Joseph and Job show that anyone can go through the same as part of God’s will but what matters is how to get out of that particular situation. Both of these cases manifest God’s use of power as he’s the wisest designer of all creation and maintains the order of the world. He is also the sovereign Lord who never changes as well as being the sustainer of all that He has created (Michael, Carasik).
1. Why both Joseph and Job endured Suffering
In both scenarios of the story of Joseph and Job, the use of God’s power is explicit. First, it was within God’s power to allow these two persons to go through the hardships they had to endure. It was still through the use of God’s power that they were reinstated to even better positions and got much better rewards. For instance, in the case of Job, God allowed Satan to tempt him when he took all that Job had to the extent of tormenting his physical body. As for Joseph, he endured pain from total rejection of his biological brothers who sold him off to strangers headed for Egypt. In Egypt, Joseph was in turn sold as a slave who worked in the King’s palace. This incidence left Joseph in a difficult situation where he was bound to suffer as a slave in a foreign land and he didn’t know if he would ever lay eyes on his family again. But then again, through the use of God’s power, Joseph rose above his hard situation and subsequently became an instrument to save others.
Job and Joseph were meant to endure these sufferings because of predefined reasons by God as shown by the outcome results of both situations. For one, Joseph underwent all the agony because God wanted to test his faith and submission to him. This is confirmed when Joseph refused to sin against God by refusing to have an affair with the king’s wife. In addition, despite the fact that Joseph faced severe punishment by being put to jail after allegations of attempted rape by the king’s wife, he still remained firm and continued to seek God’s interventions.
When Joseph finally proved his faith and royalty to his God, the very same God, through his use of power terminated his sufferings. While still in jail, he was able to interpret dreams. One day he interpreted a certain dream that had ornately bothered the king, and when what he had interpreted turned out to be true, the king was very much pleased with him. He was released from jail and became the King’s assistance. It was while assisting the king that he interpreted one of the king’s dreams that indicated the coming of a severe drought.
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