Faith in the Face of Satanic Adversity

Job 2:1-10

   1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?"

    Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."

    3 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? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause."

    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."

    7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

    9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

    10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job had faith in God’s sovereign goodness in the providence even of satanic adversity; though he could not see into heaven where the adversary had tempted God’s grace over His servant, he knew God was not one to only desire great health and wealth.  Both of these were taken from him by satan at God’s consent to test and prove Job’s faith.  We first see satan and the other angelic servants of the LORD coming back in heaven before Him after moving about on the earth.  They were all accountable to God, having to present themselves to Him at certain times.  The LORD then repeated his praise for Job as in Job 1:8, and this time added how he had still held to willing obedience of a holy life in righteous reactions to satan’s assault on Job’s possessions of wealth and children.  Of course, the adversary’s ploy was to increase the assault on Job by making it out that Job had to be physically tested to be tempted to curse God.  He went from wealth to health in the target of his attacks to prove God wrong in his evil thinking, as if such a thing were ever even possible, in order to cause the upright to curse God.  Even the wife of Job told him the same thing, hating God and wanting her husband to curse God and get it over with by dying so she would not have to observe his righteous trust.  It is amazing how the devil will use others close to us to influence our questioning God’s sovereign providence, and to turn away from the right thing to the convenient or self-serving.  The sickness satan hit Job with was extremely painful, covering him completely in burning pus and itch from head to toe.   Yet Job stood firm in faith, calling his wife’s suggestion foolish, and stating clearly that we should accept all circumstances that God allows, good and adverse.  The word here records how he did not sin in his words to question or blame God for all that was happening to him, losing both health and wealth.  He did not name and claim some out of context scripture to justify and demand that God had to make his life prosperous and sickness free again, but waited on God to work through the circumstance.  This is a worthwhile and essential lesson to strengthen our faith to trust our Lord in all things as well (Romans 8:28).  Christ Jesus suffered and died for us; the devil is at war with His children who have His testimony (Revelation 12:17), and we must therefore endure all circumstances with the knowledge which Job lacked.  We now know the wiles of the devil and of his methods of sowing doubt and blame and mistrust of God’s goodness to us (Ephesians 6:10-11, Psalm 22:13, 1 Peter 5:8), the understanding which Job did not have the benefit of.  May we find strength and assurance with faith in facing satanic adversity, knowing it is allowed by God for His glory as we are tested and refined (Job 23:10, 1 Peter 1:7).  Job’s example should encourage us as we suffer loss in health and wealth, for the gospel is none of these, but is trust in God’s grace in Christ alone, knowing His goodness in every trial we endure for His sake and our refinement.