Why the Book of Job is important:

This book illustrate God's sovereignty and the importance of remaining faithful to God, even during times of great suffering.

God allows Job to be afflicted by Satan to make an example of faithfulness. Even though Job loses everything that is important to him, he remains faithful to God.

Chapters 1-3, Job was a righteous man whom God allowed Satan to afflict as a test and demonstration of faithfulness. After Job lost almost everything that mattered to him, including his health, his wife told him to curse God and commit suicide. But Job remained strong and faithful and through it all and he did not sin or blame God for his dilemma and suffering.

Chapters 4-37 Job's friends give him a lot of bad advice, and they even blame his suffering that might be on Job's own sins. While it was true that God wanted to humble Job, it was only a test of Job's faithfulness.

Chapters 38-42 God eventually restored Job, and criticized Job's friends for bad counsel, saying that they were without knowledge. For God declares that humans do not know everything.

God also humbles Job by asking him certain questions that could never be answered by anyone other than by God Himself, for example, Have you understood the expanse of the earth? God shows Job, and all of us, that believers often do not understand what God may be doing in their lives.

Job answered by saying, I have declared that which I did not understand. After Job passed God's test of faithfulness, He blessed Job with twice as much as he had before his trials began.

View an index of Old Testament books