GOD USES SATAN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEST MAN IN THE EAST
The Almighty God of the Universe is talking to His adversary the Devil. He mentions one of the best men in the world as a challenge to Satan. Job was truly a good man and not particularly self righteous as some think. Scripture says he is righteous and scripture cannot be broken.
Job 1:1 NKJV 1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
Satan as no doubt, God expected, picked up the challenge, eager to destroy people like a pit bull on a leash.
Job 1:8-11 NKJV 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" 9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge around him... 11 "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"
Satan knew from experience that God had blessed and protected Job on all sides and now hopes to get to Job and drive him away from God and His blessings. God allowed him to bring total tragedy to Job and to impoverish him. Yet Job remained faithful.
Job 1:20-22 NKJV 20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Job passed the test with flying colors but Satan was not finished trying to undermine Job.
Job 2:4-6 NKJV 4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 "But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" 6 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life."
Job also passed Satan's second challenge with flying colors. Then three friends came to sympathize with Job; however they got involved in conversations with Job that only made his grieving more painful.
JOBS' THREE FRIENDS AND THE PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION
Jobs three friends believed in a moral order based on the principle of divine retribution. If someone was suffering it must be divine retribution for some hidden sin or offense. Furthermore, if one is blessed it is proof that they are godly.
Job 4:7 NKJV 7 "Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?
They believed that Job must confess his secret sin! This only infuriated Job all the more.
Job's friends adhered to a rigid, mechanical understanding of the retribution principle. This principle is at best an over simplification of God's work among men. It is like the prosperity gospel preached on TV. You send seed money to a particular ministry and God must bless you. It is their only theme. The gospel message is clearly not that simplistic. It is a spiritually hollow gospel message and so also was their advice.
GOD ALONE IS THE SOURCE OF WISDOM AND THE ULTIMATE JUDGE
One of the things that Job most needed was for God to communicate with him. He gets his wish but in a more dramatic form than expected. Job's first response to God is evasive. He is stunned. He does not admit to any sin, neither does he retract any of his former statements. There is neither clear confession nor submission. He is overwhelmed but does not fully understand.
Job 40:1-5 NKJV 1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said: 2 "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it." 3 Then Job answered the LORD and said: 4 "Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. 5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further."
Job had expressed to his friends his innocence and frustration with God's justice in his case. God is now teaching Job that he could not do better than God.
Job 40:10-14 NKJV 10 Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory and beauty. 11 Disperse the rage of your wrath; Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him. 12 Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; Tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together, Bind their faces in hidden darkness. 14 Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you.
Now we can more clearly discern the purpose behind the questions God asked Job. We wonder if Gods' questions about the natural world had anything to do with the concerns of Job and his suffering. The message is clear; if Job cannot grasp control of the natural world that we can see, how can he begin to understand the deeper unseen mysteries such as human suffering? God has control over the vast physical seen world as well as the vast spiritual, unseen world. In no manner can Job understand these vast things more than God. Ultimate justice must belong to God. The book of Job then expresses his admiration for the wisdom of God.
Job 42:2-3 NKJV 2 "I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. 3 You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Job is becoming a better believer and worshiper of God. He realizes that no one can question God's decisions. God knows what is ultimately best for all of us. Job is becoming an even better person.
WE ALL MUST LEARN TO TRUST GOD EVEN WHEN SUFFERING
No one can govern the world more justly than God. Job's new awareness of God compared with his inferior understanding of the past is liberating. He can now see and appreciate what was only vaguely seen before.
Job 42:5-7 NKJV 5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
Job repents of the things he said regarding his suffering. Job now understands that God is still his friend, never his enemy. Job admits to sinning because of what he suffered and could not understand it, but not suffering because he had sinned. His three friends were totally wrong in their blind mechanical retribution approach to suffering. They did not understand God at all and had to repent of their simplistic claims regarding God's motivations.
7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
God restores Job to a position of health and wealth. We assume that Job also knew that the children he had lost he would see again in the Resurrection. God was keeping them safe until that wonderful reunion.
Job 42:10 NKJV 10 And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job was not self righteous but was made into a much better believer of the true God by the difficult test he endured and God's revelations of His greatness to him. Satan was used to make the best man in the East even better with deeper understanding. We all need to ask for better spiritual eyesight.
Ephesians 1:17-18 NKJV 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of Hiscalling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
When we suffer never forget that God is with us and knows what is best in the long run. Jesus said.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
If we do find ourselves suffering we must never forget that God loves us and is in control. God used Satan too help Job learn a deeper level of trust in God. He became a man of greater deeper faith.
James 5:11 NKJV 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord--that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
Noticeably absent from the concluding chapters of Job is Satan. He has been defeated. We all can kneel before God realizing the astonishingly complex creation He made and controls. Job could not see the spiritual side of the story neither can we but God knows all. He knows the wonderful end He desires. Whenever we question God's goodness or justice we need to repent. We need to thank God for his moral leadership of the universe and the knowledge that in the end goodness will win. We believers will win in the end. Pray to help us to appreciate the power of God to constantly be watchful over us. He loves us. We need to thank God for his soon coming resurrection of all saints. All our lost relatives we will see again in a wonderful world. We must all remember the Jehovah is full of compassion and mercy and loves us no matter our current trials.
