The Book of Job Makes Perfect Sense!

Be on guard!  Turn back from evil, for God sent this suffering to keep you from a life of evil. [Job 36.21]

Elihu's statement found in today's OYCB reading is profound!

Who would know Job was about to sin?  Would Job?  How about Satan?

The statement made by Elihu quoted above explains perfectly how God could present Job to Satan as perfect (because that was in fact all that was known of Job at that time) and then allow Satan to wreak havoc upon Job's life.  God needed neither Job's nor anyone else's permission to do what He, by nature, is known for - doing good.  And, even though no one but God saw it coming, evil was apparently on its way into Job's life.

How amazing is the love of God to rescue us before even we know we are in trouble?

So, all the arguments made by Job and his friends were backward-looking.  They were looking at what sin had been committed in the past.  No one seemed to grasp the possibility that the problems Job encountered could be preventing sin in the future!

How might Job's and his friends' discussions have gone had they said, "What is God saving me from?" instead of, "What is God punishing me for?"

In retrospect to my early observation that the whole "God and Satan' thing was going on without Job's knowledge, it occurs to me just now that even Satan had no idea what God was doing!  The story of Job is becoming awesome in my estimation!

Father, never have I felt comfortable with the book of Job until today.  But it all makes perfect sense when I consider that You loved Job so much that You sent suffering to prevent future permanent disaster in Job's life!