Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (New International Version)
This verse means that perseverance comes from the testing of faith. Without this testing, there would be nothing to persevere through. If person perseveres through their life their life will be complete. This perseverance is evident in the dwarves of Tolkien's book, The Hobbit. From the beginning of their existence, the dwarves were never the favored species in Middle Earth. Their beginning starts with Iluvator, the deity of Middle Earth, and his servant Aule. Aule created the dwarves as a race that came before the chosen races, the elves, and the humans. Iluvator chastised Aule for his actions. This lessened the dwarfs' status in Middle Earth even more (qtd. in Brackmann 1). It was only through perseverance that they were able to get past the prejudice against them, and create a mighty race under The Lonely Mountain. Like the dwarves, people have been prejudice against based on different traits. The dwarfs' trait was the trait that they were not made by the ultimate deity of Middle Earth. It is only through a strong perseverance in faith in God that a person will be able to get through this strong prejudice against them. The dwarves would be an incredible group to have on a life journey because …show more content…
Each person has his or her own flaws. The dwarf company and the Jews have many flaws. One flaw both the dwarf company and the Jews have is the flaw of being complacent. Both constantly complain about their situations. The dwarves complain throughout the book. An example would be when Bilbo joins the company. They do not fully trust Bilbo and are not sure whether or not he can be a good burglar. Their respect for him is very little at the beginning of the book (Tolkien 20). Another example is when Bilbo tells him his plan to get out of the elf kingdom. The dwarves start to complain about being stuffed into barrels instead of thanking Bilbo for helping to get them out (Tolkien 165). The last example is when the dwarves are trying to into the mountain. They start to grow impatient about the door into the mountain. They started to doubt Bilbo could do what they brought him along to do (Tolkien 193). Just like the dwarves the Jews also complained in the Bible. This shows when they are in the desert and do not like their situations. Numbers 21:5 says, "And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is not food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." (English Standard Version). The Jews did not trust God to do his job and the dwarves did not think Bilbo could accomplish the task. It is in these instances of doubt that people