One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” ~ Job 1:7,8 (NIV)
The angels of darkness and light had come to stand before God to report.
And Satan came with them.
That, right there, should put things in perspective.
Why would Satan and his minions come to stand before God?
Because God is God and they are not.
Though all they do is against all that He is, they still have to do as He says.
So God asks Satan, “Where’ve you been?” And Satan admits what he’s been doing: that thing he’s been doing since he was first cast to earth. That thing he’ll be doing until he’s cast into the lake of fire.
Out prowling around, looking for opportunity.
He’s still doing it. Still roaming, still roaring, still making trouble. (I Peter 5:8)
And get this: still reporting.
There is no battle between God and the devil.
Enemies at war attempt to keep their operations hidden from each other, yes? Yet here is Satan, standing before God, with God asking the questions.
Do you think for a moment God didn’t know?
As with every time God asks a question, He’s asking so the one He’s asking can learn something new.
Kind of like when He was walking around in the Garden of Eden calling, “Where are you, Adam?” He knew quite well where Adam was. He just wanted Adam to know that He knew. It was just a conversation starter.
So, what was this meeting between God and Satan all about?
It certainly wasn’t the devil coming to challenge God. Good grief. Even he knows better. And he didn’t come to God to talk about Job. No, God was the one who brought Job up.
God asked, “Have you considered my servant Job?”
It was like God was baiting Satan, and using Job for bait!
Are you offended?
This is one of those places where you may be tempted to be offended. Especially if you can relate to Job.
And that right there may be one of the reasons the Book of Job was put in the Bible. To cause you to consider: what will you do when you get offended with God?
Now, perhaps, you’re offended with me. Perhaps you think I’m misrepresenting God, twisting the Scriptures to make a point.
But please, study your Bibles. Show me where I’m wrong.
Removing some of these passages from the Bible would make it so much easier to define God and understand the world, wouldn’t it?
Just keep studying the Book of Job and you’ll find out what God has to say about that, too.
Back to the story.
Satan takes up the challenge.
Does he have a choice? It’s a little early in the game for him to just give up. And he certainly knows he can’t make God say “uncle.” But what could he do?
Aha! He could turn Job away from God.
Isn’t that the Enemy’s mission? To turn us away from God? To destroy our trust in Him? Because he can’t overthrow God’s power, he can destroy the ones God loves to bring the All-Powerful pain.
Satan’s response to God’s challenge is, “Remove your blessing from Job. Destroy what you’ve given him, and we’ll see if he still worships you.”
God’s answer?
“I won’t. But you can.”
When our enemy wants to torment us, he has to ask God’s permission and for him to do it, God must say “yes.”
And sometimes He does.
I really don’t like that answer, but I don’t see any other.
When Satan’s first round of attacks failed to move Job from his faith in God, Satan asked for more latitude and God gave it. God let Satan “lay a hand on his person” and Job was afflicted with painful boils from head to foot.
Now let’s bring this closer to home.
Here are some instances where God allows the god of this world to afflict and destroy:
Health and life.
I know people who have had terminal illnesses who have been healed by speaking the name of Jesus alone.
I know of others who stood fast in faith, were surrounded by others who prayed continually, spoke words of healing to their bodies night and day, and died.
Or more heartbreaking? Their children did.
The weather.
Creator God controls the weather. But earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts — called “acts of God” by insurance companies — seem to be weather patterns given into the hands of the enemy.
I know people who have spoken to storms and seen them go around their houses. I’ve heard of those who stretched their faith and asked for an entire storm to dissipate and it has.
But I also know of times that it hasn’t.
People died.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Understanding why doesn’t make it any easier, and superficial answers make it worse.
Like Job’s wife: “You can’t trust God. He’s turned His back on you; turn your back on Him.
Like Job’s friends: “You’re sick because your faith is weak.”
Or the favorite of the church throughout history: “Let’s adopt a doctrine that contradicts Scripture to justify our limited understanding.” It’s spoken in more religious language than that, of course, and it takes libraries to explain it.
The truth is, we don’t know, but God still reigns. Something is going on here that we don’t understand.
The Book of Job is about that.
Although God stood back, in the end, He came close. And although He didn’t answer Job’s questions, He revealed Himself to Job.
And Job — righteous Job — considered it worth it all.
I don’t have it nearly as bad as Job did. Not even close. But as I’m writing this, I’m going through the worst years of my life.
I’ve spent the last few asking “why, why, why,” walking as well as I know how in righteousness and repenting every time I slip. And life just seems to get worse.
I’m still waiting for the day when all that I’ve lost will be restored, but my highest hope is that when this test is over, whatever the results may be, I can say, like Job,
“Now, my eyes have seen You.”
The Book of Job gives me that hope.