A lot of people think Job is about how he never cursed God, and how God knew Job wouldn't curse him, but if you read the book, you will find Job did sin against God after the second affliction.. it took him a while but he did it.
The REAL point if the book is much better than "God beat Satan" or "God controls everything". It is not about how to blame God for things that happen to you that you don't understand. It is also about how much that angers God when people do this!
How many times have you heard at a funeral "It was God's will," or "God wanted it to happen?" The person speaking doesn't know what they are talking about, they do not know what God wills or what he does. Job tried to do this very thing, and God rebuked him for it, and Job repented for what he had said.
Job did it by blaming God for the affliction. He had some friends visit him, all but one of them pointed the finger at Job saying he brought this on himself, and God was punishing him. Job said "I'm innocent, don't blame me for this, blame God," and pointed the finger at God...
At last one other person in this book got it. His name was Elihu. He fussed at everyone for speaking things they didn't understand, then God came in and backed him up and let and utterly rebuked Job and his other friends. Elihu is the only person who spoke with Job that God did not rebuke.
Job did blaspheme God by sinning aginst him with his words he spoke later in the book:
Elihu was talking to Job and said:
Job 33
8 “Surely you[Job] have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
9 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 Yet He finds occasions against me,
He counts me as His enemy;
11 He puts my feet in the stocks,
He watches all my paths.’
12 “Look, in this you are not righteous.
I will answer you,
For God is greater than man.
13 Why do you contend with Him?
For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
God never said he would do the things Job said, yet there Job goes, speaking his blind wisdom. In this, he sinned. This is why he sinned.
Job didn't know the back story, he didn't see Satan go to God and ask to test Job's faith. So Job just assumes God did it. He was wrong. Satan did it by his own accord. God wouldn't punish Job when he was innocence. But Satan would.
Elihu again tells Job how it is.
Job 34
34 “Men of understanding say to me,
Wise men who listen to me:
35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge,
His words are without wisdom.’
36 Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,
Because his answers are like those of wicked men!
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.”
Job 34
10 “ Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
11 For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
12 Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Elihu is clearly saying "Job, God didn't do this to you, yet you foolishly say he is."
Job 35
1 Moreover Elihu answered and said:
2 “Do you think this is right?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
3 For you say,
‘What advantage will it be to You?
What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’
4 “I will answer you,
And your companions with you.
I am shocked that people say that Job is about how Job didn't curse God. I really am. Job again and again said God wronged him because he said, "God punishes me even though I am righteousness while he rewards the wicked...," Of course Job sinned by saying this. He was speaking things he didn't even know about when he said God caused this.
Even God thought so.
Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 “Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
4 “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?\
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
Remember when Elihu said he was contending with God? God thought he was doing that too...
Job 40
1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said:
2 “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”
Remember when Elihu rebuked Job for calling himself more righteous than God? God said that too....
Job 40
6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
7 “Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me:
8 “ Would you indeed annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?
Job's reaction? "OOPS!"
Job 42
1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
So here is the REAL point of Job. Don't go telling people things about God that you don't understand. Job did that, he said God did some wicked thing that Satan did and in doing so put himself higher than God.
