Understanding the purpose of the Book of Job

Just finished the Book of Job. This blog will describe what I have learned regarding the purpose and personal application from this book in scripture.

From Bibliotheca Sacra (Apr. 1981)
The purpose of the Book of Job is to show that the proper relationship between God and man is based solely on the sovereign grace of God and man's response of faith and submissive trust.

This involves (in a negative fashion) the refutation of "retribution theology" (a dogmatic employment of the concept of divine retribution so that there was an automatic connection between deed and state of being) and its corollary that man's relationship to God is a business contract of mutual claims that is binding in court. This statement of purpose involves the assumption that the relationship between God and man is the basic problem of the book. This problem is articulated in the prologue where Satan challenges the basis for Job's piety by claiming that he served God only for profit (i.e., because he prospers--see 1:9-11; 2:4-5). Satan's challenge is reinforced by the fact that Job's wife urged Job to curse God and die (2:9). That Job refused to curse God (2: 10) was graphic testimony that his worship was genuine and that Satan's allegation was false. Thus Job's suffering as an innocent party was not the main focus but was introduced only as a means of isolating and intensifying the question of the proper basis of man's relationship to God.

From Bibliotheca Sacra (Oct–Dec 1997)
The purpose of the Book of Job should not be limited to an expression of God’s sovereignty. Can a community of suffering saints find other answers and applications here? Yes, because Job’s struggle and ultimate triumph gives those who suffer much more to apply. The following sixteen truths may be gained from the Book of Job.

1. God is not to be limited to a preconceived notion of retribution/recompense theology.
2. Sin is not always the basis for suffering.
3. Accepting false tenets about suffering can cause one to blame and challenge God.
4. A retributive/recompensive theology distorts God’s ways and confines Him to human standards of interpretation.
5. Satan is behind this false concept and delights in using it to afflict the righteous.
6. The devil’s world is unfair and unjust, and even though people may misunderstand the ways of God and the “why’s” of life, having a personal relationship with God is the only way one can know justice.
7. Life is more than a series of absurdities and unexplainable pains that simply must be endured. Instead life for believers is linked with God’s unseen purpose.
8. People do not always know all the facts, nor is such knowledge necessary for living a life of faith.
9. God’s wisdom is above human wisdom.
10. God’s blessings are based solely on grace, not on a traditional, legalistic formula.
11. Suffering can be faced with faith and trust in a loving, gracious God even when there is no immediately satisfying logical or rational reason to do so.
12. God does allow suffering, pain, and even death, if they best serve His purposes.
13. Prosperity theology has no place in God’s grace plan.
14. Suffering can have a preventive purpose.
15. The greatest of saints struggle with the problem of undeserved suffering and will continue to do so.
16. Because God’s people are intimately related to Him, suffering is often specifically designed to glorify God in the unseen war with Satan.

From Gotquestions.org
The Book of Job helps us to understand the following: Satan cannot bring financial and physical destruction upon us unless it is by God's permission. God has power over what Satan can and cannot do. It is beyond our human ability to understand the "why's" behind all the suffering in the world. The wicked will receive their just dues. We cannot always blame suffering and sin on our lifestyles. Suffering may sometimes be allowed in our lives to purify, test, teach or strengthen the soul. God remains enough, deserves and requests our love and praise in all circumstances of life.

As Job was pondering the cause of his misery, three questions came to his mind, all of which are answered only in our Lord Jesus Christ. These questions occur in chapter 14.

1. "Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!?" Job’s question comes from a heart that recognizes it cannot possibly please God or become justified in His sight. God is holy; we are not. Therefore, a great gulf exists between man and God, caused by sin. But the answer to Job’s anguished question is found in Jesus Christ. He has paid the penalty for our sin and has exchanged it for His righteousness, thereby making us acceptable in God’s sight (Hebrews 10:14; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
2. "But man dies and lies prostrate; Man expires, and where is he?" (vs. 14), is another question about eternity and life and death that is answered only in Christ. With Christ, the answer to ‘where is he?’ is eternal life in heaven. Without Christ, the answer is an eternity in “outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).
3. “If a man dies, will he live again?” Once again, the answer is found in Christ. We do indeed live again if we are in Him. “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

Practical Application: The Book of Job reminds us that there is a "cosmic conflict" going on the behind the scenes that we usually know nothing about. Often we wonder why God allows something, and we question or doubt God's goodness, without seeing the full picture. The Book of Job teaches us to trust God under all circumstances. We must trust God, not only WHEN we do not understand, but BECAUSE we do not understand. The psalmist tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect” (Psalm 18:30). If God’s ways are “perfect,” then we can trust that whatever He does—and whatever He allows—is also perfect. This may not seem possible to us, but our minds are not God’s mind. It is true that we can’t expect to understand His mind perfectly, as He reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Nevertheless, our responsibility to God is to obey Him, to trust Him and to submit to His will, whether we understand it or not.


















"Let all suffering end in love. That’s how the Book of Job ends. Job recognizes his mistake of falling into distress because of his suffering. He submits to God’s will in total obedience. He therein discovers love, because an essential aspect of love is obedience. Christ told His Apostles that, if they loved Him, they would keep His commandments (John 14:15). Love means to accept God’s will totally, without complaining that it is too difficult, or too inconvenient, or not “relevant” to the modern world." - Chastity