The Sovereign God and the Relentless Devil

“And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.  But put forth Thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.”  Job 2:4-6

Heretofore Satan had been permitted by God to destroy all of Job’s possessions, his wealth, and his children which, as Satan assumed, would prove that Job was not the righteous and loyal man of God whom God praised.  As bad as Job’s situation became, he did not turn against God, showing Satan to be a liar and a ruthless fallen angel who only desires to hurt God by hurting those who believe in Him.  But Satan was not about to give up so easily.  He came before God again, who reminded him that his scheme to corrupt Job had not worked.  Rather than giving an excuse for his failure, Satan came up with another plot to force Job to sin.  What is it that most people care more about than anything?  Is it not their own bodies and their own welfare?  People spend small fortunes on medicines, cosmetics, and health clubs to keep healthy and strong.  Satan maintained that Job kept his integrity because his losses didn’t touch him physically, thus, Satan believed that surely a personal and direct challenge would bring out Job’s true feelings about God.  The LORD accepted his challenge but ordered him not to take Job’s life.

Satan didn’t waste any time, but covered Job’s entire body with sore boils, infections just under the surface of the skin caused by bacteria which results in a red, circular bump with a nodule in the center filled with pus, a very painful sore.  Imagine being covered in them.  Not only was it painful, but its appearance was also very grotesque.  To help them heal, the pus had to be released, and Job did this by scraping himself with a piece of broken pottery.  So there Job was–all of his children were dead, he had no money for a doctor, and any who came by to see him would have stayed their distance as if he had leprosy.  His wife was certainly of no help.  She was grieving, too, over the loss of her children.  Apparently, she did not have the same devotion to the LORD as Job for she told him to curse God and die.  Satan was using her to make Job’s situation even worse.  Job accused her of speaking as other foolish women speak.  He asked her, “What?  Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”  Even as bad as it was for Job, he still did not curse God.

Even if a person lives as righteously as humanly possible, he or she is still a resident of a world cursed and filled with sin of which its tentacles reach out and touch all people regardless of their spiritual standing or lack thereof before God.  God created a perfect world, but sin made it extremely imperfect.  No one, other than Jesus Christ, who walked on this earth, is sinless.  Putting aside momentarily the spiritual condition of folks and looking at it from a secular point of view, even the “law of averages” tells us that no one has it good all the time, but suffering comes at various intervals.  God doesn’t create evil.  Evil is man’s doing, but God allows evil because He gave man free will.  It is inevitable that we receive both good and evil, but it is how we react to both which reveals our true faith and humility before God.

Job did have some visitors, friends (and I use that word loosely) named Eliphaz who was from Teman in Edom, Bildad who was likely from Shuah, believed to be named after Abraham’s son by his wife Keturah, and Zophar, a descendant of Esau’s son Zepho.  All three were descendants of Abraham, but not descendants of Jacob and thus not in the line of Christ.  When they arrived at Job’s location, they found him sitting on the ground, with a shaved head, torn clothes, covered in sores, and in a pile of ashes, the customary position of one who is in mourning.  I suppose the last time that they had seen him, he was the picture of health and wealth, so seeing him now must have been quite a shock to them.  In sympathy with him, they sat down, tore their mantles, and covered their heads with dirt.  I venture to say that his condition was far worse than they had imagined.

They all remained silent for a week, and apparently, they were prepared for the long haul.  What could they say?  When visiting a person in the middle of his or her overwhelming grief, it is better to say nothing than to say something which was meant well but was stupid.  A person grieving doesn’t need to hear platitudes, cliches, or, most of all, to hear admonitions and /or criticisms.  It is one’s presence that helps.  Job’s friends maintained their silent presence, but they couldn’t stay quiet forever.  It would have been best for them to remain silent, but folks don’t always do what’s best.

Next week:  Job finally speaks.