Good morning…
One line haunts me from our recent post, Do You Trust God? (scroll back through previous posts if you missed it). These powerful words, written by Terrance Malick, shed ugly light on the God who so loves us: “The very moment everything was taken away from Job, he knew it was the Lord who’d taken it away.” This condemning statement does not jive with the God I know, so I turn back to the book of Job and I revisit the story.
When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan (a supernatural being whose name indicates he was regarded as the opponent of human beings) was there among them. The Lord asked him, “What have you been doing?”
Satan answered, “I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.” (In 1 Peter 5:8 this concept is expanded: Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.)
“Did you notice my servant Job?” the Lord asked. “There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.”
Satan replied, “Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has—he will curse you to your face!”
“All right,” the Lord said to Satan, “everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.” So Satan left (Job 1:6-12, GNT).
Is it true that the LORD is the One who took everything away from Job? No, it is not. The opponent of human beings, the enemy looking to devour people, the Devil, Satan is the one who tests Job’s faith by taking away everything he has.
Is God a part of this divine drama? Yes, He is. The LORD is proud of Job, marveling at his steady faith. God trusts Job deeply, fully trusting his integrity. He knows that Job’s allegiance is not based on blessings, every good thing going Job’s way. So God allows Satan to have limited power, setting up a protective boundary around the core of Job’s being. “You must not hurt Job himself,” are God’s parting words.
But short of killing Job, what testing tactics does Satan employ?
God’s enemy uses the Sabeans to steal all the oxen and donkeys and kill the servants tending them (Job 1:15).
God’s enemy sends a lightening strike and the sheep and the servants tending them are consumed in a fire (Job 1:16.)
God’s enemy uses the Chaldeans to steal the camels and kill the servants tending them (Job 1:17.)
God’s enemy sends a horrendous wind to knock down the house, killing Job’s seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:18).
God’s enemy covers Job with hideous boils and festering sores (Job 2:7).
God’s enemy even uses Job’s wife, three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) and Elihu to speak harshly against him (chapter after chapter of Job).
Though the enemy of God and opponent of man has limited power, still much pain and inner torment is heaped upon Job. Not by God. But by Satan.
By the end of this Bible book what does Job do? He does not curse God as the Devil predicted, Job stays true to the LORD who is his lifeline. In loving kindness, God eventually renews everything lost, and multiplies more as Job lives on (Job 42:10-17).
I would alter one word in Terrance Malick’s thought-provoking work of art: “The very moment everything was taken away from Job, he knew it was Satan who’d taken it away.” I think God’s manipulative enemy would love to falsely pin our pain on God. The “father of lies” hopes, in wreaking havoc in our everyday lives, that we will turn away, disconnect, and isolate ourselves from the ever-present power of our loving, living LORD.
Unmasking the identity of on our power-limited opponent sheds new light on the challenges we face today. Satan is against us. God is for us.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? (Romans 8:31, MSG).
…Sue…
