Job had a really bad day one day because Satan wanted to tempt him to sin. This daily devotional looks at why God may have approved of the testing and what Job’s response was.
Nuggets
- Satan wanted Job to sin by serving God for self-interest.
- Satan set the stage — what he hoped — for Job to sin.
- Job did the exact opposite of what Satan wanted him to do.
I’ve known for a while that my Ladies and I would be studying Job after we finished with Luke. I’ve been looking forward to diving in and looking at Job’s obedience.
I guess it really hadn’t bubbled up yet how this is going to tie into our Redo for Godliness series. It is.
Beard wrote, “The Book of Job asks, in every variety of form, this question, Is there any connection to be traced between a man’s character and his earthly fate?”
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Well, duh. Let’s dig in.
The Test Approved
“Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face’” (Job 1: 8-11 CSB).
Satan wanted Job to sin by serving God for self-interest.
I think we sometimes forget that God was bragging on Job. Would Satan have ignored Job if God hadn’t thrown him in his face? Probably not.
Ker said the whole point of God’s bragging was to show Satan there is goodness in mankind. I doubt that He was showing him that mankind could just be a good person. I think He was stressing that good, in the biblical sense, means God is working within His people.
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Davies took it a step further. He thought God was actually issuing a challenge to Satan.
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That opens up an interesting track. God set up the testing of Job.
We know God doesn’t tempt us. He does not want us to fail. Instead, He tests us — so we can succeed.
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Satan’s response was that Job had an ulterior motive for serving God. Shore identified it as Satan thought that Job was selfish. Satan thought Job wouldn’t serve God if he wasn’t rewarded.
If we thought the sole purpose of salvation was fire insurance, the answer to Satan’s question would be no. It is more than that.
Satan’s question also totally ignores the fact that the Plan of Salvation was built on love. How could it not be?
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
God elected that mankind would receive the free and unmerited gift of grace after we had disobeyed Him. This enabled Him to offer the Plan of Salvation to us.
God wanted to offer the salvation to us through love because He wants to get back to having a hands-on relationship with all of His creation.
Satan missed that.
If the answer to Satan’s question was no — Job feared God for no reason — it would’ve proven Satan’s point. That presents itself in the belief that the purpose of salvation is our individual condition.
Well, salvation is an individual state. No one can make the decision for us. Our salvation is only for us, not for our family and friends.
Shore wrote, “To represent the hope of reward or fear of pain as the continually abiding and sole motive of the Christian life all through, is to ignore nine-tenths of the exhortations of the New Testament — is utterly to misrepresent and pervert the teaching of our Lord — is to deny the truth of countless Christian lives which we have read of or have seen.”
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Salvation has several purposes. It is to save us from our sins. Gabriel told Joseph that Mary would “… bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1: 21 ESV).
We are instructed to hate sin. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12: 9 ESV). Shore said that our spiritual life doesn’t begin until we hate sin.
It may start out that we are only looking to Jesus to save us from the bad. The Sanctification Road quickly changes that. We are all called to then witness to others (Mk. 16: 15; Mt. 28: 19-20).
One reason Satan thought as he did, according to Noble, was that he frequently underestimated mankind. But look at it this way. Satan looks at us as he is — not as we are. He wants us to be like him, so he sees us flawed.
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God, also, wants us to be like Him. But He sees us perfected.
Satan took several swings at Job. When he couldn’t take away Job’s character, he tried calling him a hypocrite. He attacked Job’s motivation when that didn’t work.
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Beard had a really interesting take on Satan’s question. He interpreted it to mean, “Can we serve God without loving Him?”
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We could also swing that around to ask, “Can we be a good person and not love God, and still be righteous? Can we perform works in self-interest and have them credited to a righteousness account?”
We tend to think that Satan is going after Job. But really, Satan is going after God, too.
Bradley contended that, if disciples are only in it for what we gain, God’s attribute of love is stripped away. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 NIV) would no longer be fact. They would be just words.
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We could also turn this around, as Davies did, and ask, “Is Job going to fear for a free gift?” Hey, good stuff for nothing. Satan wants to take the focus off of what it really is.
It isn’t about the good things we get. It is about being saved from our sins and being made spiritually alive.
What just popped into my head was a picture of Satan standing before God, stamping his feet, and yelling, “It’s not fair!” Satan basically is accusing God of not leveling the playing field.
But we have to keep in mind that Job is a child of God. He doesn’t belong to Satan. God said He would protect His own, and He does.
Glossary
What are these hedges Satan talked about? It could be anything from good parents to good teachers to good friends. It could be the discipline we need to keep navigating the Sanctification Road.
Satan wants us to see the hedge as a limitation, not as protection. We need protection from Satan.
But the decision is ours. Are we going to follow God or Satan?
Bottom line — Satan is accusing Job of performing things through self-interest.
Satan said all God had to do was raise His hand and Will it — and all the good stuff would be gone. To me, that is an equivalent of a snap of the fingers.
The prediction was that, so too would Job’s devotion to God be gone.
Caryl made an interesting comment. He wrote, “Satan can only guess at the hearts of men.”
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Satan isn’t omniscient like God is. He doesn’t know everything.
Sometimes, we think Satan is on par with God, don’t we? Isn’t it great news that he isn’t?
So, the purpose of the testing that is going to come in the succeeding chapters is to determine if Job is sincere. Did he make a genuine profession of faith?
A Really Bad Fifteen Minutes
“‘Very well,’ the Lord told Satan, ‘everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.’ So Satan left the Lord’s presence. One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and reported: ‘While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby, the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: ‘God’s fire fell from heaven. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’” (Job 1: 12-19 CSB)
Satan set the stage — what he hoped — for Job to sin.
I love how God did not allow Satan to back Him into a corner. Satan said, “You can take everything from Job.” God said, “No, you do it.”
Why did God allow Satan to tempt Job? Ker wrote, “One object of the Book of Job is to prove that there is something genuine in man, especially when the grace of God has entered his heart.”
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I read that as God wanted to show that He could make a difference in our lives. We’ve said that perfection isn’t about doing; it is about being.
It also isn’t about having things. It is about having God’s character.
The Homilist brought up a good point. There is no way we are going to totally renounce this world. We still live herein these sinful bodies.
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Besides, that isn’t what God asks of us. He instructed us to put Him first. He is our #1 priority.
Devotions in the On Things Above series
Verse 13 says “One day …” (Job 1: 13 CSB). We don’t know if it was the next day, the next week, or a couple of years down the road.
I am thinking it was sooner rather than later. Satan wasn’t going to sit on the opportunity to make Job sin.
Being limited to affecting only Job’s circumstances also meant Satan loaded up the hurt. One messenger was barely finished giving his doom and gloom message, and the next one was riding up to give his. The Homilist felt Satan was trying to shock Job’s moral nature to get him to sin.
Doesn’t Satan still do that? We say, “When it rains, it pours.”
I read this, and I think, “How cruel Satan is!” How can people actually think they are better off not following God and following Satan?
God is love. Satan is hate.
It reads in verse 16 that God was blamed for the fire from Heaven. I guess I can see that. We tend to think God is in control there.
The Homilist noted, however, that God gave Satan the ability to control elements of nature. This not only took out the sheep and servants, but it also leveled the house Job’s kids were in at the time.
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I can see that, too. God told Satan he had to do it. But isn’t it like Satan to work things out so God gets blamed?
When we look at these tests, we see Satan is tempting Job by the circumstances within which he finds himself. That is a favorite temptation of Satan’s isn’t it?
But God doesn’t want us to look at the circumstances. He wants us to look at Him — and give thanks. “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thess. 5: 18 KJV).
Ooo, baby. That can be hard! Thank God when we lose our job. Thank Him when we lose a loved one.
Yes, there are things — even in the most trying and frightening circumstances — for which we can praise God.
God never leaves us. He provides what we need. He is in control.
Take a look at the order of the messages. Caryl thought there was a specific reason they were in this order. Yes, Job was probably upset with the loss of oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants, and camels.
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But if Satan would have started with the loss of the kids, the other losses wouldn’t have been as important to him. This way, Satan kicked Job when he was down.
Meade pointed out that all of the losses were caused by natural causes. (Back in that day it was probably natural for nations to come in and pillage from other nations.)
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Oh, yeah. Satan knows how to chip away at our faith.
Worship — Regardless of Circumstances
“Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything” (Job 1: 20-22 CSB)
Job did the exact opposite of what Satan wanted him to do.
The best laid plans of mice and men — and Satan. Satan wanted Job to curse God.
Instead, Job worshiped. Worship is our personal or corporate response of admiration (confession, thanksgiving, praise, etc.) based on our attitude to God’s presence and our imitation of His character.
This proves that Satan doesn’t know us. I bet he was not only stomping his foot but also throwing things, having a major meltdown.
True, Job tore his robe and shaved his head first. These were acts of mourning. We might say that was the beginning of him processing the situation.
But Job moved quickly to worshiping God.
All during the trials, we need to be doing both of the P words — praying and praising. We have to use the trials to draw us closer to God.
I think verse 21 is real telling. Job had everything in the right perspective and in the right priority.
Yes, I am sure Job was grieving deeply over the deaths of his children. That is expected. Jesus mourned over the death of Lazarus — and He knew he wasn’t going to be dead much longer!
That was Job’s way of saying everything he had was from God and under the control of God. God could do what He would because God was Job’s priority.
Spurgeon interpreted what Job said as, though he may have lost much, he had more than when he was born. But even what he had remaining would not go with him into the next life.
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Job realized whatever happened to him was because God allowed it. Satan is not more powerful than Him. He can’t do something to us that God does not approve.
We can’t expect God to just give us the good stuff and not let anything bad happen. God is all-knowing, so He knows what is best for us. Yeah, and sometimes the best hurts big time.
Through all that Satan there at Job, Job did it right. He didn’t sin. He worshiped.
Making the Connections
Maybe salvation does start out with a selfish tint on it. It doesn’t stay that way.
As we grow to know God, we delight in spending time with Him. Sanctification changes us to be more like Him.
Ker made an excellent point. Even after mankind sinned, we are still made in God’s image. God does have to demolish the house to remodel us into what we are to be.
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Okay, for some of us God does have to strip us down to the bones of our being. But what God is building back up is our character — to be like His.
We just wish these gut-wrenching trials didn’t have to be a part of it. Cannon made the comment that, “next to the ‘man of sorrows,’ Job was perhaps the most afflicted of the servants of God.”
We tend to ignore the benefits of trials. Yes, they can be punishment when we disobey God. But they can also show the genuineness of our faith. It can also help root out any sin we still have in our lives. We just have to realize that is just part of the Sanctification Road.
It does help us to follow the Holy Spirit.
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In a way, we should be thankful that God does correct us. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12: 16 ESV).
But look what Wilson said. He wrote, “The best of men are often exercised with the sorest troubles. Job was a perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil. Those who are nearest God’s heart may smart most under His rod.”
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That definitely does not mesh with our view! Bad stuff is punishment, not reward for being close to God!!!!!!
That just goes back to the belief that, if we aren’t children of God, Satan already has us. He doesn’t have to work for us.
How Do We Apply This?
The Homilist said that “there is a constant warfare going on between these in the universe, in the world, in the soul.”
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We have to be prepared for that warfare. We do that by seeking God. We also have to put on God’s armor.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
- Remember, God has a purpose in everything He does.
- Watch when things are on an even keel. Wilson said we should anticipate changes.
- Watch for deliverance when the trials are in full fury.
- Always look to God for Him carrying us.
- Always stay humble.
- Be careful that we don’t blame God.
- Mourn the death of our loved ones, but use it to grow closer to God.
- Watch when trials come because that is when it is easiest to sin.
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Satan pulled out all the stops but didn’t get Job to sin. But this was just the start. Satan wasn’t through with Job yet.
Father God. May we have the obedience of Job. Help us to withstand Satan’s temptations when he throws everything he has at us. Amen.
What do you think?
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