Monday, February 16, 2015

Job 2: From Bad To Worse

Having failed to turn Job against God by taking away all of his blessings, Satan ups the wager.  He now proposes that Job's righteousness stems only from his fear of dying.  Satan challenges God to allow Job to suffer a dreadful disease and bring him to the brink of death.  That, he is convinced, will be enough for Job to curse God to His face.  God permits the testing to continue, with the sole provision that Job's life be spared.

By now you may be wondering why God is indulging Satan.  In fact, how is this meeting even possible?  Is the devil really allowed to be in the presence of God?  Is this taking place in heaven?

There is a lot that we do not know when it comes to the spiritual realm.  However, we do know that a time of judgment is nearing when Satan will be permanently removed from God and His followers.  Until that time, Satan has been given leash.  This allows him to do many of the things we see him doing in Job 1 and 2.  He maintains an active presence in the world ("going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.")  He also plays the role of "Accuser" that we so often see him assume in scripture.  Satan is slandering human beings (God's special creation) and insinuating that God is wrong to love them.  He seeks to divide and disrupt, to cause trouble and take away peace.

God, on the other hand, is banking on Job.  He trusts that Job loves Him and pursues righteousness for the right reasons.  He allows the testing to proceed so that everyone can learn what He already knows.

Satan knows he has pushed Job physically as far as he can: he has stripped him of everything he holds dear and attacked his flesh with pain and corruption.  He is desperate to get Job to curse God.  Is it any wonder that he begins working through Job's relationships?  We see Job's wife basically make Satan's argument: "Do you still persist in your integrity?  Curse God and die" (vs. 9).  Has she fallen under the influence of the devil?

Meanwhile, Job has three friends who are on their way to pay him a visit.  They have heard of the troubles that have befallen their friend and have come to comfort him.  Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar arrive in verse 12.  Perhaps the most comforting thing they do is what happens when they first arrive.  They simply sit with Job and share their presence with him.  They have no words.  Unfortunately, they soon will.

No comments:

Post a Comment