Was Job righteous from the beginning to the end?
What was Job’s sin?
No specific sin is attributed to Job. In fact, he is stated to be one of the three most righteous men in the Bible.
Job’s issue stemmed from his lack of understanding and God chose him as a vessel to document an important lesson for others to learn. Job’s mistake was trusting in his own righteousness and good works as the basis for his justification before God. The lesson is that next to God, our Creator, we are not righteous and He holds absolute authority and can act according to His sovereign will.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Ezekiel 14:20 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
Even though Job was righteous among men, he was as a filthy rag next to God. After Job was brought before God, the reality of this set in.
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Once God calls Job out, all he can say is hush my mouth. There is much more to the book of Job but this is the main thrust toward all men. It is where Israel messed up.
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Salvation is never by or in part by our works, our righteousness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Job also answers the question of why men suffer: God uses the suffering to attempt to draw you to Him.
Amos 4:9-10 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. 10I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
It is also a picture, a similitude, of Israel in the tribulation. Notice the book has 42 chapters, and the Jewish Great Tribulation is 42 months or 3.5 years long. At the end of which, God, Jesus, reveals himself to them and they receive their former glory and are established in the millennium as the greatest nation.
I came across an article that caught the essence of one aspect of Job and recommend its reading.
https://medium.com/koinonia/the-most-misunderstood-book-in-the-bible-cac87593f1d7
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