And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and escheweth evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3)
What was the purpose of the trial of Job? God’s own words prove that it was NOT because Job had sinned. In fact, God Himself says what happened to Job was, “without cause.” Of course, the fact Job was suffering, “without cause,” is the conflict of the entire book. Job was convicted of no sin. But he was suffering. Isn’t this our conflict in any trial as well? Why must we suffer if we have believed and obeyed God?
The fact that Job could suffer in the will of God – but not because he had sinned – points to the NT Truth of God’s purpose: To form Christ in us; that we might know Him. Job was not being punished – he was being chastised. “Chastisement,” means, “to train a child,” and is necessary for growth, even if we are fully in the will of God. At the end of Job’s trial, he says, “I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not….I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” This is the purpose for which God allows these things: That we may see Him and know Him. This is not punishment for sin. It is the love of our Father to reveal Himself to us.
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