Was Job’s Ordeal Allowed or Appointed? <A broad look into the Book of Job>
In address to the question posed, it is my understanding that God did not appoint any suffering to come upon Job, but rather He allowed it to come to be by the hand of the devil. Within the first collection of verses, we see Job's character beginning to be laid out to us. A devout man of faith, given to worship and obedience, diligent and intentional to sacrifice accordingly and, on behalf of his children, almost abundantly. He had a strong consideration for the Lord, for his family, and one could surmise for those in his employ as well. There is virtually nothing to suggest that any action of his own brought such tragedy upon him.
We know with absolute certainty that God tempts no man, nor is tempted Himself by evil.
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.
If God does not tempt us with evil, why would he appoint evil to befall anyone? Least of all Job, who was highly praised by men and, more importantly, by God.
Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
In retort, Satan swiftly points out God's well treatment of the man.
Job 1:10 Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
While Satan uses this for his argument of Job's concealed hypocrisy, one may glean something quite key about God's approach to an individual such as Job. If God has blessed Job up to this point with prosperity, and nothing about Job has changed, what purpose would God have for introducing such sudden loss to His faithful servant?
Further clues of this as an allowance may be found in Satan’s attack. Upon God's positive mention of Job, Satan quickly attempts to poke holes in Job's character by claiming God has essentially spoiled the man, bringing forth not reverence but complacency.  It is further suggested that Job is only clinging to obedience in response to God's blessings and protection. He claims that if God were to raise His hand against Job, he would no longer praise God, but contrariwise curse Him to His face. This ultimately prompts God to allow Job to suffer. Satan desires for God to lift His hand, to be the one to blame, but God makes no such action. This was an allowance, not an appointed event. He gives " permission " for Satan to test Job. If God had sought to destroy Job, or reprimand him, not only would some explanation be offered, but He likely would not have employed Satan to do so. God is not one to trifle joyfully in the infliction of senseless pain. Just as well, if it were a reprimand, surely some lesson would be learned by the end of the book. But God intentionally remains enigmatic and vague when asked the reason for this allowance, reminding Job and us that not all things revolve around the individual, and even if the knowledge of the universe was not so vast, we have very little right to demand to know everything. And so, this particular occurrence was ultimately an allowance, in which the reasons for may be hypothesized and nothing more.
