Job 1:7, commentary and pictures

The question and answer reveal Satan appearing before God to account for himself before he was allowed to turn his hostility against Job. His claim to have been moving about the earth means he never rests but stays constantly watchful for a chance to destroy souls. He stands as an accuser of God's devoted servants, watching for missteps and division to use against them. The affliction that followed proves that great suffering is not always the result of a wrong life, for Job was stripped, bereaved and diseased by God's permission yet was not guilty as his friends charged. Fallen man has no power in himself to resist so terrible a foe, but can stand only as Christ dwells within by living faith, and Job's unswerving loyalty under that test shows that trial borne in faith brings nearness to God and ends in reward.

Context and Meaning

The verse belongs to the account in which Satan was permitted to reveal his hostility toward Job, manifesting his wrath against God's servant. Together with its surrounding passage, Job 1:6-12, it shows Satan present in the heavenly court accusing people. It presents Satan as an active enemy who watches for opportunities to use people's missteps against them, taking advantage of division and lack of love and accusing God's devoted servants before the angels.

Satan's answer that he comes from going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it means he is constantly active and watchful, busy every moment and never off watch for a single moment for fear of losing an opportunity to destroy souls. It portrays him as continually moving over and throughout the earth in unceasing vigilance, seeking whom he may devour and hunting souls as prey. Job's experience introduced by the verse is an example of a person whom God proved, tested, and tried.

Satan's Restless Work

Fallen man is Satan's lawful captive, naturally inclined to follow his suggestions and do his bidding, with no power in himself to offer effectual resistance to so terrible a foe. He is constantly going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it, busy every moment in unceasing vigilance, never off watch for a single moment for fear of losing an opportunity to destroy souls and hunt them as prey. God alone can limit Satan's power, and that limit comes only through Christ. Man can face him only as Christ, the mighty Conqueror, dwells within by living faith, guiding desires and giving strength from above, while every other defense is vain. Earnest prayer of faith baffles Satan's strongest efforts, and the shield of faith quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. God's people must understand this unceasing activity and constant danger and depend on Christ for strength in order to escape his snares.

Satan is earnest and sincere in preventing souls from accepting Christ's invitation to life and leaving his ranks, so he does not merely pretend or wait for prey to come to him but seeks every means to keep his power over souls unbroken. Though after falling from his place as an honored angel in heaven he lost his holiness, he has not lost his power and uses it with terrible effect through legions of angels. His work takes many forms, from open ferocity like a roaring lion to appearing as an angel of light with persuasive arguments and soft whispers. He conceals snares, charms by pleasing deception and flattery of vanity, and makes worldly pleasures attractive, so that after every step downward there is another temptation leading still farther toward ruin. The same kind of accusation and satanic influence shown in the heavenly court is repeated on earth, where Satan works closely with people who profess the truth.

The description of going to and fro on the earth applies to the thousand years when Satan and his evil angels are confined to the desolated earth. They wander over its broken surface and see the effects of Satan's rebellion and the curse it caused. During that time Satan is unable to range to other planets to tempt their inhabitants.

Job's Suffering and Victory

All suffering is not the result of a perverted life, for the Lord permitted Satan to afflict Job. Satan stripped Job of all he possessed, broke his family ties, took his children from him, and for a time covered his body with loathsome sores, so that Job suffered greatly. The verse opens the trial in which Job, as one of God's appointed witnesses, was exposed to reproach and persecution for the truth's sake, being deprived of worldly possessions and so afflicted in body that he was abhorred by relatives and friends.

His friends tried to make him see that a sinful course made him responsible for his afflictions, seeking to prove him guilty before God and deserving of punishment, and by doing so they brought a grievous test upon him and placed God in a false light. Job denied the charge, did not swerve from his loyalty, and maintained his integrity. God rewarded His faithful servant. His steadfastness shows that God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men but causes their devices to work for good to those who in trial and conflict maintain faith and loyalty, and that the experience gained in the furnace of trial and affliction is worth more than all its pain. God brings His children near to show them their weakness and His strength and teaches them to lean on Him to prepare them for emergencies, positions of trust, and the purpose for which their powers were given. Such faithfulness bears witness to the faithfulness of God's promises, His abiding presence and sustaining grace, and the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world by resting in God in the darkest hour.