Everyday Christianity: Testing (7)
So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” Job 2.4-6
A difficult book
The book of Job is unique in several ways. First, it consists largely of dialogs set in verse. Toward the end of the book, a series of three monologues—by Job, Elihu, and God, Who has the longest and most expansive speech—draw the central themes of the book together.
Second, it’s likely Job is the oldest book in the Old Testament, antedating the Law as arranged and composed by Moses. We suspect this because, in the first place, no mention is made of Abraham or the covenant God made with him. Second, the setting of the book is outside the land of promise, and no awareness of that land or the promise or of possessing it occurs. Finally, in the book of Job are more words that appear only one time in the Hebrew Bible—the technical term is hapax legomena—than in all the other books of the Old Testament combined. Put another way, the language of Job is very old.
Third, the conclusion of the book, in chapter 42, brings justice and reward into the situation, with Job’s interlocutors warned and repenting and Job receiving a measure of redress for his suffering. Satan does not appear, as if, in the end (literally, of the book), he is of no consequence. It is as satisfying an outcome as we could imagine.
And finally, in the book of Job we gain understanding of the ways of God and Satan, how, to what extent, and why God allows the Accuser to torment His faithful people; and we learn that the devil is not free to do whatever he wishes, but only what God allows. And what God allows, though it can lead to attack, loss, and great suffering, is mysterious but ultimately accomplishes His good purposes. Job, through suffering, gains years, bounty, and a happy “kingdom”, just as Christ, after His suffering, was anointed King of kings and Lord of lords.
Job is a wonderful book, laced with mystery, misery, meanness, lamentation, majesty, justice, and truth. It offers a handbook for us concerning how to endure and triumph through spiritual attack.
Forms of attack
In Job’s experience we gain some insight to the variety of ways spiritual forces of wickedness work to get us to renounce God and faith. These means are just what we’ve seen thus far in this study of how the Lord tests us every moment as part of our everyday Christian life—temptation, lapse, bodily affliction, and loss. The attacks of Satan have a focusing effect on Job. He knows that, ultimately, God is in charge and God is allowing Him to endure this heightened season of testing. But he doesn’t know why.
And that’s where Job fell into sin. He sought to know what God knows and not merely as God knows—completely, perfectly, and entirely. But this is not man’s prerogative; rather, it is our greatest temptation. When Satan tempted Eve, he offered her the reward of being like God—in effect, of being God. This is what Job sought, that he might know peace. We see him, in chapter 28, rising up from his ash heap, shaking his fist at heaven, and demanding an explanation for his suffering. Only to be met by silence.
What Job sought, God withheld. Instead, God pointed beyond Job’s suffering, beyond the two-bit psychology of his interlocutors, beyond his insistence on knowing like God. He pointed beyond all this to God Himself—His power, Presence, wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness. Job got the point. He repented of his hubris and humbled himself before God, settling into His goodness, love, and wisdom with no promise of anything other than doing what was right.
The devil always seeks to disrupt, dislodge, dislocate, and displace our loyalty to God. He believes—what a blockhead!—that he can overthrow, or at least embarrass Jesus, by leading His servants into everyday acts of disobedience. He twists the truth, appeals to ego and self, floats outrageous hopes before our minds, and, if none of that works, he brings on one or more of the “many tribulations” that God intends to use to broaden and enrich our experience of His Kingdom.
The devil is crafty. He can be crude. Seem credible. But he’s heading for a head-crushing, and you and I don’t want to be on his side when that happens.
Passing the test of spiritual attack
The psalmist wrote (Psalm 66.10-12):
For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.
Look at those tests! Fire. Snares. Stripes. Trampling. Flood. But don’t miss the most important word in these verses: “You”. God is sovereign in and over all our afflictions and tribulation. He tests us every moment, controls the nature and intensity of each test, and provides the wherewithal to pass each one. He is always present with us in the midst, working by His Word and Spirit to bring “us out to rich fulfillment.”
Every day as you rise, greet the Lord Who visits you every morning. Then suit up for a day of testing with all the weapons of our warfare, with the mind of Christ, with the Kingdom agenda of our God, and with the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot know what may lie ahead, and we cannot fully understand God’s reasons. But we can know Him with us and know that He is seeking some rich fulfillment, some larger experience of saving grace and Kingdom presence every moment of every day. So, knowing that many afflictions lie before us, let us enter them as conquerors, not as conquered, so that God is glorified in every aspect and facet of our everyday Christian lives.
For reflection
1. What do we mean by saying that Satan works on our ego and self-interest? What does he want to see happen?
2. How can you prepare each day to make sure you don’t fall into the snare of hubris or self-interest?
3. What can you do to remind yourself of God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and love in every test?
Next steps—Preparation: Write a short prayer that you can use to prepare for, enter, and know victory through every test. You might make it a “breathing prayer”—(Breath in) “Lord Jesus Christ, Giver of tests, (breathe out) sustain me and show me the way of escape and rich fulfillment.”
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast features excerpts from the book, Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column continues our study of “Everyday Christianity”. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
