Why Job?
Updated: May 14, 2025
The Bible book of Job gets a lot of bad press including inappropriate quoting and wrong conclusions, but this book just might be one of the most important books of the Bible. It’s unique perspective of life before Moses, Jesus, and probably even Abraham reveals the nature of God, the nature of mankind, and also the nature of life itself in God’s universe. Here are some important takeaways.
This book makes it very clear who is the author of evil. God was not the one putting bad things on Job and his family – it was Satan. God was and is the Protector, the Deliverer, and the Rewarder. He gets no joy out of enforcing the consequences of sin on those who practice it.
By the end of the book, God did not cast Job off for his error but actually gave Job double what he had before. This again showed that the nature of God is to multiply not subtract.
Yet the book says flat out that God was responsible for Job’s issues. So how does that work? Is Satan God’s puppet, doing His dirty work for Him? Is He the all-loving “good cop” to Satan’s “bad cop” routine? The short answer is that God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in His universe. He made it and He owns it, both the good and the bad. But that does not mean that He approves everything that happens there! The scripture is very plain on this point, though most seem to miss this.
This book reveals that God’s universe runs according to the law and order of the King Who created it. Even demons are bound to work within the confines of God’s laws of nature. Yes, even God Himself is bound to remain consistent with His own law. This includes His original Word that gave life to the angels who became demons and to mankind who became corrupt.
Notice how Satan uses God’s law to condemn people: first inspiring them to live contrary to the law, then exploiting the law to ensure that judgment falls on them. God often gets the blame because He maintains the laws of the universe. Can you see why Satan and his kingdom are destined for an eternal lake of fire?
Thankfully, even Job could see that God Himself would one day bring a Redeemer to us at the last days. This is Jesus, who stripped Satan of his authority over fallen man and Who satisfied the law’s requirements for those who would believe. This means that those who are Born Again are no longer subjects of the Kingdom of Darkness – effectively toys for demonic oppression – but we now have rights as members of God’s own family. Never again would Satan have the legal standing to do to us what he did to Job.
(Ezekiel 18:23, James 1:16-17, Psalm 15:4 NET, Malachi 3:6, Job 19:23-27, Colossians 1:12-23, Ephesians 2:19, Romans 8:31-34)