The book of Job seems to be WAY longer than it needs to be to get the point across. It's 42 chapters long - and 35 chapters are devoted to theological discussion between Job and his friends! It's so tempting just to skip to the end and say - "Great - here's what we learn from the story of Job." However, that would defeat the purpose of reading the ENTIRE Bible, so I'm going to try really hard not to skip ahead and just concentrate on the chapters of today's reading. I also read a commentary in order to give a little more flesh and form to some things that were vague impressions to me upon reading the passage initially. It's very long, as it discusses the entire book of Job, but there is some great info in there.
Basically, the first two chapters contain the story of Job that we're used to hearing/reading. Job was "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." (v. 1) He was wealthy (blessed by God) and he had 10 children whom he loved. I noticed that when God was speaking with Satan, it was GOD who brought up Job as an example. Part of me was thinking "Shhh! Quiet!" I thought "Of course Satan is going to want to pick on Job, now that you've pointed him out!"
Satan believed that men (Job in particular) followed God because God blessed them with wealth and material possessions. In order to show Satan that this was not the case, everything was taken from Job. All his wealth and possessions, and even his 10 precious children were all gone in one fell swoop. I can't even imagine how anguished he must have been. To lose one child must be a pain indescribable to bear, but to lose them all... And yet, Job says "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (1:21) Satan was proven wrong.
But then, Satan is not satisfied - an excerpt from the commentary says:
Even after Job remains firm in the first round of tests, Satan does not lose his confidence. His claim is, “stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face” (2:5). From the rest of the book, we know how wrong Satan was. On the other hand, God knew whether His servant would withstand the test or not, and so He takes up the challenge.Job's response? "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (2:10)
As an aside, one thing I really appreciated from the commentary was the portion where it talks about Satan's limitations.
First, he works under the spatial limitations. Unlike God, Satan is not omnipresent.
Second, Satan cannot do anything without God’s permission. That means, unlike God, he is not omnipotent.
Third, he does not truly know Job’s heart and his true unselfish devotion to God. This indicates that Satan is not omniscient, as God is.
Sometimes, I think, we forget that Satan is not God's equal. We give him more power than he really has by thinking that he is also a "god" when he is, in fact, a lesser spirit - a powerful one; we don't want to underestimate him - but he has no power beyond what God allows. He understands human nature and takes full advantage of it wherever he can, but he doesn't see and know our hearts individually the way God does.
Getting back to the story, Job's friends show up. I thought "Wow! They must be really good friends to Job! They wept aloud, tore their robes, and sat on the ground with him for a WHOLE WEEK without saying a word!" Then Job expressed what he'd probably been thinking about for a good part of that week - he wished he'd never been born. I can imagine I might feel that way too. It must have seemed better to him at that time to be dead than to be suffering the way he was, not only physically, but also the terrible anguish of mourning for his children.
The movie "It's a Wonderful Life" came to mind as I read of Job's cursing the day of his birth, and also the first few phrases of his friend Eliphaz's statements. "Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees." (4:3-4) Here was a man who felt things would have been better had he never lived, and here, I thought, was a friend who was saying "Think of all the good things that wouldn't have happened if you weren't here?" But then, it soured. His friend said "shouldn't your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?" (4:6) In other words, someone who does good shouldn't have bad things happen to him. "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it." (4:8) So he's really saying to Job "If these terrible things are happening to you, you must have done something to deserve it. God is punishing you for something." Some friend!
But we're all guilty of feeling this way at times, aren't we? We say "What goes around, comes around." We think "So-and-so got no more than what he deserved!" And when something happens that we feel wasn't deserved, we scream "That's not fair!" If something happens with no ready explanation, we always want to know "WHY?" We, with our extremely limited human understanding, feel that cause and effect should always apply. If you do A, then B will happen. And often, it does.
But praise God and thank Him every day that it doesn't always! If everything were fair and just, then none of us would have any hope of salvation. We are all sinful and we all find ourselves doing things we know are wrong, even as Christians with the help of the Holy Spirit, in spite of our best intentions. Only through the blood of Christ can we be saved. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves.
As for that three-letter word that has caused such suffering and heartache for those of us who feel things should be fair, well, we don't always get to know why. We can't say why a giant earthquake destroyed Haiti last week. We may never know why in this lifetime, but we know in the meantime that when these things happen we are provided with the opportunity to help in whatever way we can or are led by the Holy Spirit. Whether it's prayer, financial support, going down there physically to help, or something else, or all of the above, the opportunity to show God's love to others is in these things.
And when something happens in our own lives that we can't comprehend, remember:
God is not bound by our expectations. We cannot fathom God’s ways, and we cannot comprehend His works fully. And so, we cannot blame God for injustice, but we submit to Him and wait patiently until He takes us out of the suffering and pain. It is better to submit than to demand explanation; it is better to fear Him than to be wise in our own eyes.
I hope I covered the most important stuff - there is so much to take from these passages, as you can see if you look at the commentary. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments!
Tomorrow's readings are from Job 5:1 - 7:21. Click here to read online.
6 comments:
Thank you Miriam!! That was great, wonderful insights. I am always confused over Satan and his power. You touched on it in your post, but I still wonder about it. So does God ALLOW Satan to do things to us? People say that Satan is bringing the sickness, or the loss of a job etc etc, is that people just blaming Satan instead of looking at another reason why these things are happening? What authority or power does Satan actually have?
I have some thoughts and questions...
How did Satan get into Heaven to talk to God? I mean I assume it was in Heaven? Is he allowed there?
There is a song by Tree 63 called "Blessed Be Your Name" it could actually be by someone else too, but I know their version "You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord Blessed be your name" I never really got it until I read this in Job.
In Chapter 1 v22 it says Job did NOT sin by charging God with wrong doing. I felt a pang of shame, because I do sin by charging God with wrong doing at times when things go wrong. It may only be a brief doubt or question, but I still do it. Yet I haven't lost everything I hold dear to me like Job and yet he DID NOT do it.
Chapter 2v 9 is interesting how Job's own wife is encouraging him to sin. We have people like that in our life. People that should know better, people that are "Christians" which will say to us "oh its ok to lie on your tax return" "its ok to sleep around before you are married" "your husband isn't very nice, best to divorce him now". People who "wink" at sin, people who see us in a bad spot and instead of encouraging us to draw close to God entice us to turn away... We need to be wise, watch who we are listening to.
I've always loved this story, how Job still chose to trust in God even after all that he lost. It is one of my biggest struggles when I watch people turn from God when things aren't going their way. God doesn't promise us an easy life if we follow him, so why do we seem to expect it? We need to trust God, hold on to God, love God NO MATTER WHAT comes our way.
I too have a hard time getting through the rest of this chapter. When my husband and I read through this book together last year, we joked about how we thought it was never going to end! I'm hoping that we all can find things to comment on and keep eachother going. God put it in there for a reason, so I'm sure there's some things we can get out of it.
I believe that God just brought up what He knew was on Satan's mind, but that's just my thoughts. Or maybe there was a reason that God needed this faithfulness proved to Satan at that point in time, we'll never know in this lifetime. Satan has limited access to God until he is bound for a thousand years during the millenial rein and then cast into the lake of fire. But as Miriam said, he is not omnipresent as God is, he cannot be in more than one place at a time.
Nicole-God does allow Satan and his demons to tempt us, and discourage us. God never means it for evil though, he ALWAYS means it for good. Our faith grows stronger through these situations and with Satan being more powerful than us, we have to come to the end of ourselves and finaly reach to God for His strength...if we will let it, these situations can actually bring us closer to God, and be a testimony for others of God's power and strength and peace. Not all things are brought on by Satan. I believe there are no coincidences in life. Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it is God that allows or makes a job to be lost, or a sickness to come. Sometimes these things must happen to bring people to Him. God has to break us down often before we come to Him and accept his son for salvation. Often times, it brings those of us who are saved, to repentence. Sickness is on this earth because of the fall of man...because of sin. We brought it on ourselves, at no fault to God. God can choose to protect us from it if He wills, but not everyone gets sick because He wants us to, or because Satan did it.
Everything happens for a reason...just like in Joseph's situation...God allowed Joseph to be sold and go through very difficult times, so that many lives would be saved. Sometimes we loose a job, or have to move, or go through some unfortunate event that God made happen, to protect us, possible save our life, or bring us to a place that He needs us to be for any number of reasons. In most of those situations, Satan has nothing to do with it, it's just God working matters to suit His will for our lives. I hope that makes sense.
Great thoughts, everybody. I agree with everything you've said.
Here is what the commentary had to say about Satan and the limitations of his power:
First, he works under the spatial limitations. Unlike God, Satan is not omnipresent. When God asks him where he had come from, his response is, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it” (1:7, 2:2). Roaming means going from one place to another, from the place he is to a place where he is not. He can only be at one place at a time. Since he is a spiritual being, his going from one place to another can happen almost instantaneously. That may create the impression that he is everywhere. But in reality, he is not, and he cannot be. The Book of First Peter gives the purpose of his uneasy roaming; he “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He had his sights set on Job, and God knew it; that is why God was the One to raise the question about Job.
Second, Satan cannot do anything without God’s permission. That means, unlike God, he is not omnipotent. Initially, he was able to touch only Job’s property and family; he could not touch Job’s body. The second time he was able to touch only Job’s body, but not his life.
Third, he does not truly know Job’s heart and his true unselfish devotion to God. This indicates that Satan is not omniscient, as God is. Satan boldly argues that Job was serving God because God had immensely blessed him. Satan claimed that if God took away the blessings, “he will surely curse you to your face” (1:11). Even after Job remains firm in the first round of tests, Satan does not lose his confidence. His claim is, “stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face” (2:5). From the rest of the book, we know how wrong Satan was. On the other hand, God knew whether His servant would withstand the test or not, and so He takes up the challenge.
The limitations of Satan have two implications for a believer: First, it brings tremendous comfort to know that God is in control, Satan is not. God would not allow Satan to do anything to His servant that is beyond his ability to bear; “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Second, however, this puts a tremendous responsibility on the believer. He cannot blame Satan for sin in his life. He cannot say, “The devil made me do it.” God has taken away that excuse. Like John says in one of his epistles, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (false spirits), because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Satan gets far more credit for all the troubles in a believer’s life than he deserves!
Hope that answers some of your questions!
Thank you Miriam and Kristi for taking the time to explain things to me!! It does alot! I grew as a Christian in an AOG church that was big on word of faith etc, so I sometimes have to really dig down and look at what I have grown to believe in my 11 years as a Christian and if its really the truth or not.
I am always blown away by Job's response to the devastating news that was delivered blow after blow after blow. He expressed grief and then he worshiped God. WORSHIPED GOD! I think that is incredible. His first reaction is not to ask "Why?". Instead, he worships God. He acknowledges God's previous blessings. He acknowledges God's sovereignty. And he praises God.
You've all made some excellent points here! And I think it's so true - we seem to either give Satan too much credit, or we discount him. We are in danger if we do either! We need to be on our guard against him. But we need not be afraid of him as long as we rely on God because God is in control!
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