Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Satan's question charges that Job honors God not from sincere love but only for gain, serving Him for blessing and reward. It points to the hedge of protection set around him and his house and all he had, the guardianship of heavenly angels appointed to shield the righteous from the wicked one. God answered the claim that affliction would make Job renounce Him by placing all Job had and then Job himself in Satan's hand, sparing only his life. Stripped of possessions, bereaved of children, and covered with loathsome sores, Job still held fast his integrity and loyalty without murmuring and unbelief. His history proves that suffering is not proof of personal guilt or punishment sent by God for sin, but is inflicted by Satan and overruled by God to draw His children near to Him, reveal their weakness and His strength, and witness to the power of faith to withstand evil.
Satan's Charge and Permission
Satan's question accuses Job of not fearing God sincerely and for nothing, but from self-interest, challenging the goodness of his devotion by asking whether he serves God only for blessing and without personal benefit or reward. The charge rests on the hedge God had made about him and about his house and about all that he had on every side, which Satan himself recognized. That hedge is God's shielding of the righteous from the power of the wicked one by the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels, with a guardian angel appointed to every follower of Christ to protect those exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of the prince of darkness.
Satan claimed that if God touched all that Job had and touched his bone and his flesh, Job would curse God to His face, in the controversy waged over Job of Uz, the perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. God met the charge by putting all that Job had in Satan's power and then putting Job himself in Satan's hand, giving the enemy power to try His servant, with the single limit to save his life. So permitted, Satan revealed his anger against God's faithful servant through violence and calamity.
He stripped Job of all he possessed, broke family ties by taking his children from him, and for a time covered his body with loathsome sores that caused great suffering and severe bodily pain. Thus Job was deprived of worldly possessions and afflicted in body until abhorred by relatives and friends, yet his loyalty endured. What was found in him under that trial was a spirit of steadfast integrity and not a spirit of murmuring and unbelief, jealousy and fault-finding.
Trial, Vindication, and Meaning
The question belongs to the Lord's proving and testing of a faithful servant, for Job of Uz, the perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil, was tested and proved. The permission for affliction left him in anguish and perplexity as one seemingly forsaken of heaven and earth, yet in that condition he still held fast his faith in God and his consciousness of integrity. He did not swerve from loyalty, but endured loss of possessions and children and severe bodily pain, showing under trial a spirit of steadfast integrity and not a spirit of murmuring and unbelief, jealousy and fault-finding. His loyalty endured though deprived of worldly possessions and afflicted in body until abhorred by relatives and friends, yet maintaining integrity and loyalty to truth.
His history shows that not all suffering is the result of a perverted or sinful life. Suffering is inflicted by Satan and overruled by God for purposes of mercy, not arbitrarily sent by God as punishment for a sufferer's sin. To treat affliction as proof of personal guilt repeats the error for which God reproved Job's friends. They tried to make him admit his afflictions came from his own sinful course, but he denied the charge and called them miserable comforters. By trying to prove him guilty before God and deserving of punishment, they brought a grievous test upon him and placed God in a false light.
God does not prevent the plotting of wicked powers but causes their devices to work for good to those who maintain faith and loyalty in trial and conflict. The furnace of trial and affliction brings His children near to Him to show them their weakness and His strength, teaches them to lean on Him and rest in Him in the darkest hour, and prepares them to meet emergencies, fill positions of trust, and accomplish the purpose for which their powers were given. Job's steadfastness 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, and God rewarded His faithful servant.
The same question belongs to Satan's ongoing work of watching for the failures of God's devoted people and accusing the faithful before God and before the angels. He uses their missteps and lack of unity and love against them, having accurate knowledge of the sins he himself tempted them to commit and presenting those sins in the most exaggerated light. He claims sinful people as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to destroy them, arguing that God cannot in justice forgive their sins and still destroy him and his angels, and presenting them as just as deserving as himself of exclusion from God's favor. He sees holy angels guarding them and infers their sins have been pardoned, but he does not know that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary above. The heavenly conflict over whether God's servants can be trusted, challenging their integrity as insincere, is repeated on earth when he works through people who profess the truth, deceiving and accusing them.
The Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost to test their confidence, faith and firmness. As he moved Esau to march against Jacob, so he stirs up the wicked to destroy God's people in the time of trouble. Then the world is numbered as his subjects while the little company who keep the commandments of God resist his supremacy, and if he could blot them from the earth his triumph would be complete. He endeavors to terrify them with their past sins and unworthiness, to force upon them guilt and hopelessness, to make their hopes sink and destroy their faith so they will yield to his temptations and turn from allegiance to God.
Satan's question charges that Job honors God not from sincere love but only for gain, serving Him for blessing and reward. It points to the hedge of protection set around him and his house and all he had, the guardianship of heavenly angels appointed to shield the righteous from the wicked one. God answered the claim that affliction would make Job renounce Him by placing all Job had and then Job himself in Satan's hand, sparing only his life. Stripped of possessions, bereaved of children, and covered with loathsome sores, Job still held fast his integrity and loyalty without murmuring and unbelief. His history proves that suffering is not proof of personal guilt or punishment sent by God for sin, but is inflicted by Satan and overruled by God to draw His children near to Him, reveal their weakness and His strength, and witness to the power of faith to withstand evil.
Satan's Charge and Permission
Satan's question accuses Job of not fearing God sincerely and for nothing, but from self-interest, challenging the goodness of his devotion by asking whether he serves God only for blessing and without personal benefit or reward.
The charge rests on the hedge God had made about him and about his house and about all that he had on every side, which Satan himself recognized.
That hedge is God's shielding of the righteous from the power of the wicked one by the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels, with a guardian angel appointed to every follower of Christ to protect those exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of the prince of darkness.
Satan claimed that if God touched all that Job had and touched his bone and his flesh, Job would curse God to His face, in the controversy waged over Job of Uz, the perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil.
God met the charge by putting all that Job had in Satan's power and then putting Job himself in Satan's hand, giving the enemy power to try His servant, with the single limit to save his life.
So permitted, Satan revealed his anger against God's faithful servant through violence and calamity.
He stripped Job of all he possessed, broke family ties by taking his children from him, and for a time covered his body with loathsome sores that caused great suffering and severe bodily pain.
Thus Job was deprived of worldly possessions and afflicted in body until abhorred by relatives and friends, yet his loyalty endured.
What was found in him under that trial was a spirit of steadfast integrity and not a spirit of murmuring and unbelief, jealousy and fault-finding.
Trial, Vindication, and Meaning
The question belongs to the Lord's proving and testing of a faithful servant, for Job of Uz, the perfect and upright man who feared God and eschewed evil, was tested and proved. The permission for affliction left him in anguish and perplexity as one seemingly forsaken of heaven and earth, yet in that condition he still held fast his faith in God and his consciousness of integrity. He did not swerve from loyalty, but endured loss of possessions and children and severe bodily pain, showing under trial a spirit of steadfast integrity and not a spirit of murmuring and unbelief, jealousy and fault-finding. His loyalty endured though deprived of worldly possessions and afflicted in body until abhorred by relatives and friends, yet maintaining integrity and loyalty to truth.
His history shows that not all suffering is the result of a perverted or sinful life. Suffering is inflicted by Satan and overruled by God for purposes of mercy, not arbitrarily sent by God as punishment for a sufferer's sin. To treat affliction as proof of personal guilt repeats the error for which God reproved Job's friends. They tried to make him admit his afflictions came from his own sinful course, but he denied the charge and called them miserable comforters. By trying to prove him guilty before God and deserving of punishment, they brought a grievous test upon him and placed God in a false light.
God does not prevent the plotting of wicked powers but causes their devices to work for good to those who maintain faith and loyalty in trial and conflict. The furnace of trial and affliction brings His children near to Him to show them their weakness and His strength, teaches them to lean on Him and rest in Him in the darkest hour, and prepares them to meet emergencies, fill positions of trust, and accomplish the purpose for which their powers were given. Job's steadfastness 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, and God rewarded His faithful servant.
The same question belongs to Satan's ongoing work of watching for the failures of God's devoted people and accusing the faithful before God and before the angels. He uses their missteps and lack of unity and love against them, having accurate knowledge of the sins he himself tempted them to commit and presenting those sins in the most exaggerated light. He claims sinful people as his prey and demands that they be given into his hands to destroy them, arguing that God cannot in justice forgive their sins and still destroy him and his angels, and presenting them as just as deserving as himself of exclusion from God's favor. He sees holy angels guarding them and infers their sins have been pardoned, but he does not know that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary above. The heavenly conflict over whether God's servants can be trusted, challenging their integrity as insincere, is repeated on earth when he works through people who profess the truth, deceiving and accusing them.
The Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost to test their confidence, faith and firmness. As he moved Esau to march against Jacob, so he stirs up the wicked to destroy God's people in the time of trouble. Then the world is numbered as his subjects while the little company who keep the commandments of God resist his supremacy, and if he could blot them from the earth his triumph would be complete. He endeavors to terrify them with their past sins and unworthiness, to force upon them guilt and hopelessness, to make their hopes sink and destroy their faith so they will yield to his temptations and turn from allegiance to God.