Job was a man of great character and faith. The Scriptures reveal that he feared God and eschewed evil (Job 1:1). Fear does not mean he was afraid of God, but rather reverenced Him. Eschewed evil means he removed it from his life. Verse 1 also says he was perfect and upright. Perfect does not mean without sin, but rather he was complete. Upright means straight, as we would say Job was straight as an arrow. God said to Satan of Job in verse 8, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?” However, Satan came along and questioned God’s appraisal of Job. Satan claimed that Job was faithful because of the abundant blessings God had given him. God would allow Job to be tested by Satan to prove his faith was true. The following will prove that Job passed the test.
His Prosperity
Job was a man of great wealth. The Bible says he had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys and a great household of servants. Those items might not impress people today, but they demonstrated great wealth in Job’s time. Job was also blessed with a great family. He had seven sons and three daughters. So, how was Job’s prosperity a test? To answer this question we need not go further than today’s world.
We have all been blessed with great material wealth in this country. Because of this, we realize how very difficult it can be to focus on the spiritual in a world of wealth and materialism. Yet, Job passed the test of his prosperity with flying colors.
His Poverty
Satan tested Job’s faith by taking away his prosperity and turning it into abject poverty (Job 1:13-21). In just mere moments, Satan took away the wealth it had taken Job a lifetime to accumulate. His sons and daughters, the jewels in his crown, were also taken. Yet, Job also passed this test as well. In verse 22 the Bible says, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”
His Persecution
Since removing Job’s prosperity was not successful, Satan asked if he could touch Job’s health. God allowed it, but told Satan he could not kill him. Job 2:7 says that Job was inflicted with sore boils. If that was not miserable enough, his wife began to nag him. She encouraged him to curse God and die (2:9). In addition, his friends began to doubt him. They blamed him for his misfortune, and said his sin was to blame. With friends like this, who needs enemies? Yet, Job passed this test as well.
His Perplexity
Job knew he had not done anything wrong. Therefore, like any normal person, he began to ask why. Why God? Why Me? God responded with some questions for Job in chapters 38-40, and Job began to realize he really had no right to question the Almighty. He was perplexed about his circumstance, but he also passed this test.
His Power
In Chapter 42, God restored the blessings that had been taken away from His servant Job. The wealth and health Job had before were now experienced again. Job had passed all Satan’s tests and would now live the remainder of his life realizing that the source of his power was the hand of the Almighty.
