Genesis 3:22
God Knows Good and Evil
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
Mark 10:18
Only God is Good
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
Job 2:1-10
Job's Second Test
1On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Romans 16:20
God and Evil
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Job 14:16
Job Has Sinned
16 Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
Job 42:7
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job , he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
The Book of Job explores some of the toughest questions in life...Why is their evil?...Why does God allow Satan to do things?...Why must we suffer?...Why do the people we consider good people and good Christians suffer?...
God knows our questions...God knows all about both good and evil...And we know only God is good...Yet, God allows suffering...He allows the evil one to get into Job's life...The evil one first took Job's family and then he takes Job's health...And in all this God is telling the evil one to take and test Job, Job is blameless and upright, he shuns evil, and he will maintain his integrity during suffering and duress...But Job admits he has sinned...So the author is telling us that Job is blameless and upright for earthly standards, a very good man...
Evil was with Job, and it was still here with us, when Jesus walked the earth...Evil still remains with us today, until the day comes when God will crush Satan under His foot -it will remain with us...Job gets angry with God, throughout his dialogue...God has allowed two attacks, two tests by the evil one on Job...In this sense, God is responsible for the loss of his family and his good health...But Job tries his best not to sin (and be his best)... in what he says to God and his friends, as he talks and continues to suffer...
After all the dialogues of Job's wife, his three friends and Elihu, God tells us what Job said about Him is right...I believe that Job was a good man, but Job's friends, were also good men...Job (in his talk to God) admitted there is evil in this world, and their is human suffering...Job says he wants to see the offense of his sin (Job 13:23)...But he continues to suffer...Job asks many hard questions to God...Job throws his lamentations at God, and God in the end seems to accept the questions and the lamentations...And in the end, he learns some things...
Job's friend's best arguments are that, yes, Job has sinned and this is the reason for his suffering...God says they have not spoken right of Him...
God allows this suffering...At anytime God could crush Satan, but has chosen, at this time, not too...In the end Job and the friends and everyone realizes the complexities, the eternities, and the infinitude of God...Job knew God is God, but he did not understand, the why me (why do I have to suffer)...But through Job's questions and suffering, he continued his dialogue with God, and to trust in the LORD...Maybe the Proverbs says it best: Trust in the LORD, and lean not on your own understanding...Job, especially at the end, when he feels the Presence of our LORD, he trusts completely in Him and is at ease with what is happening to him...So for some reason, at times, suffering can cause a profound understanding, if not some happiness about it...Through Job's suffering, he got to meet God...