And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Satan's charge in this verse is that self-preservation governs human nature, so that a man will give up everything he possesses in order to save his own life. By the Lord's permission Satan was allowed to test that charge upon Job, stripping him of his possessions and his children and then striking his body with painful sores. Job's experience therefore proves that severe affliction is not always the punishment or result of a sinful life. His friends erred when they insisted his calamities must have been brought on by his own wrongdoing, and in that false accusation they misrepresented the character and dealings of God. Job himself remained loyal under the trial, and in the end God vindicated and rewarded his faithfulness.
Satan's charge in this verse is that self-preservation governs human nature, so that a man will give up everything he possesses in order to save his own life. By the Lord's permission Satan was allowed to test that charge upon Job, stripping him of his possessions and his children and then striking his body with painful sores. Job's experience therefore proves that severe affliction is not always the punishment or result of a sinful life. His friends erred when they insisted his calamities must have been brought on by his own wrongdoing, and in that false accusation they misrepresented the character and dealings of God. Job himself remained loyal under the trial, and in the end God vindicated and rewarded his faithfulness.