Moses wrote the book of Job during Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. It is one of the oldest books in the Hebrew Bible. Since it says that there was “no ones like him in all the earth” it is apparent that Job lived well after the time of Abraham, who was uniquely described as “God's friend”. This places Job at a time after the death of Joseph, but before the time of Moses.
Job’s name means “Object of Hostility” or "Hated", and his experiences recorded in this account answer two important questions....”Why do innocent people suffer?” And “Why does God allow suffering and wickedness?”
We have the complete Bible today, which is something the ancient Jews did not have. The identity of the “original serpent” mentioned in Genesis is not clearly identified until Revelation 12:7-12.
What the Jews did, or did not believe is inconsequential as we know that they were incorrigibly flawed in their understanding of scripture anyway. How else could they have missed their own Messiah and introduced man-made traditions that supplanted scripture? (Matthew 15:7-9)
Jesus and his apostles cleared up any misunderstandings the disciples may have had concerning their Messiah.
Jennifer Love Hewitt Ariella Ferrera which he and the apostles proved scripturally to those who wanted to listen. The Hebrew writings were the only scripture they had. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The original "serpent" in Eden was identified as the one who tempted Eve in the garden. No ambiguity there at all.
Job's experience was to demonstrate the limits of faith that an imperfect human is capable of enduring.....nothing could sway this man's faith in his God and his absolute trust in his ability to save him out of those dire straights, (the origins of which he was not privy to) even if it was by death. Since he believed in the resurrection, he knew that death was not the end of life. (Job 14:14-15)
Job was not the only man tested if you read what the devil actually said concerning him....
"And Jehovah said to Satan: “Have you taken note of my servant Job?
Jehovah was taking note of the fact that satan was already observing Job's faithfulness and may well have already been plotting a plan of attack to undo him?
"There is no one like him on the earth. He is an upright man of integrity, fearing God and shunning what is bad. He is still holding firmly to his integrity, even though you try to incite me against him to destroy him for no reason.” 4 But Satan answered Jehovah: “Skin for skin. A man will give everything that he has for his life. 5 But, for a change, stretch out your hand and strike his bone and flesh, and he will surely curse you to your very face.” (Job 2:3-5)
What do we see here? Since God was not responsible for any of Job's trials, even though incited by the devil to afflict him.....God confidently gave the man over to satan to test him as he saw fit, he put provisos in place for each of them. Satan was permitted to go so far...and no further. But in the second instance we see something different in satan's approach that demonstrates why God allows the righteous to suffer....
Satan said "Skin for skin. A man will give everything that he has for his life." He did not say that
Job would give everything he had to save his life"....but extended it to "everything
a man has he will give in exchange for his life"...that, by extension, includes all of us. If we have the same faith as Job, no matter how severe the trial, we will maintain integrity as Job did, not abandoning God or cursing him when the going gets tough.
Proverbs 27:11 gives us the principal reason....
"Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, So that I can make a reply to him who taunts me."
This is how we answer satan's challenge when he taunts God because of our actions and beliefs. Do we let satan win, or do we stick to God no matter what?
What is not widely known is the end result of Job's trails....
Job 42:12-16....
"So Jehovah blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the beginning. . . .He also came to have seven more sons and three more daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Je·miʹmah, the second Ke·ziʹah, and the third Kerʹen-hapʹpuch. 15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this Job lived for 140 years, and he saw his children and his grandchildren—four generations. 17 Finally Job died, after a long and satisfying life."
Since Job believed in the resurrection, he will be joined by all 20 of his children in the new world to come, no doubt happy to have played a part in proving that satan is a liar....that we do not serve God for selfish reasons. Job represents all of us, but only if we act like he did.