Spiritual Combat

Background to the book

• The dispersion

• Exiled Northern tribes 722BC Temple in Jerusalem destroyed 587BC

• Written mostly in Aramaic – 200BC

Tobit acts courageously

• Forbidden by Assyrians to bury their own dead

• Antigone – laws of men vs. laws of the gods

• “We must obey God rather than men”

Sufferings of the just man

• Bird droppings cause cataracts in Tobit’s eyes

• Doctors only make it worse

• blindness

• Goat in the kitchen

• asking for death

Tobias wrestles with the fish

• Fish tries to eat his foot

• Raphael – “God’s remedy”

• Fish’s liver, heart & gall

Marriage contracted before the feast

• Tobias obeyed the Law of Moses – work first party later

Prayer before consummation

• Sarah and Tobias pray as a couple on their wedding night Tobit 8:7-8

• names the demon & relies on heavenly help

Healing of blindness

• Tobit 11:5-15

Tobit 12:7

• “A king’s secret should be kept secret, but one must declare the works of God and give thanks with due honor.”

Canticle of Tobit, ch. 13

For Discussion:

1. Have you ever felt that God had abandoned you in a struggle? What most helpful in that time?

2. What is the most valuable lesson you learned through that suffering?

3. Tobit is healed by his son Tobias. Has a healing come to you through family or friends?