Job 1:9–12 (ESV)
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
So, I get that God unleased Satan on Job. This is going to glorify Him? How?
The scary thing is that Satan has to ask for permission to attack Job—and God gives it.
Satan makes the point that God has been protecting Job from Satan. He says, “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”
While Satan is the father of lies, he knows that lying to God would be pointless. He’s right when he claims that the hedge is keeping Job safe. Like a dog in a dog park, Satan looks like he’s running around free, but the fences are really in control.
So God opens the gate, and Satan is free to attack Job. The implications of this are creepy. Is Satan always constrained by God? Are all his attacks allowed by God?
Scripture says yes to both questions. Just look at Luke 22:31–32a.
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. (NIV)
That’s even scarier. Jesus is not only saying that Satan got permission to sift Simon as wheat, but that He prayed, not for Simon to be spared the trial, but for him to pass it.
Yes, yes, yes! The implications for the doctrine of God’s sovereignty are huge. Everything that happens—everything—is under His authority.
And Simon’s trial gets a green light. Jesus’s prayer doesn’t ask to prevent it.
Same thing for Job, right? So, what does Satan do next?
It’s pretty gross. All of Job’s children die and his wealth is destroyed.
And how does Job respond?
He takes the hit without flinching.
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. — Job 1:20–22 (ESV)
And then God does something incredible. He describes this as all His doing.
“He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” — Job 2:3b (ESV)
You keep hammering that point. I get it. So, this impresses Satan, right?
Ha, ha. Sure—not. He spins the whole thing as God still protecting Job.
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” — Job 2:4–6 (ESV)
So, God turns Satan loose to thwack him again, even harder this time?
Bingo.
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. — Job 2:7–8 (ESV)
Seems like Job is being subjected to the ultimate test.
No, believe it or not, that’s still to come. The book of Job is a veritable plot-twist factory, and three of those plot twists happen right here.
First, Satan let’s Job’s wife live. Second, Job’s wife is about to bring on the next big test.
But the third plot twist here is the biggie. Job 2:7 is the last mention of Satan in the whole book. His claim that Job would curse God isn’t pursued any more. It’s just forgotten.
Satan is a nobody, and God treats him like an extra in a movie. No one cares what he thinks or what happens with him. The camera is following the action and just pans away.
The fact that this whole plot line is unceremoniously dropped shows that Satan’s claim about how Job would react is not what this book is about. The real action and the real point of the book are yet to come.
So, winning this “gentleman’s bet” with Satan isn’t the “higher purpose” at play here.
Exactly. What I’m shooting for here is the parallel between Job and Ebenezer Scrooge. Job’s character development is everything in this book.
On to tomorrow!
