Why Did God Allow Job To Suffer So Greatly?

Q: Why did God allow Job to go through so much suffering and loss? Is that question ever answered in the book of Job?

A: The question is answered in the book of Job. God allowed Job to go through what he went through because He was using Job to teach angelic beings a lesson. A lesson about God, a lesson about man, and a lesson about God's working in the universe.

I know some people say that's completely insufficient and that God has no right to do that. But I think God has every right to do that. Job never knew that reason. Or, if he did, some people think Job wrote the book of Job. If he did, he knew it later. But Job didn't know that reason at the time, even if he came to know it later. That was God's reason in allowing it.

At the beginning of the book of Job, you have Job, who is a blessed, happy, fruitful, and wealthy man. At the end of the book of Job, he's more blessed, he's more happy, he's more fruitful, and he's more wealthy. How did he go from this to this? It was through the great trial and agony that he had. So, God had a purpose for it both in God's big work, cosmically speaking, but also in His work in Job's individual life. The same thing is true with us and with the church today. God had a reason.