I love the book of Job. It offers great comfort for those who are suffering, but that’s not why I love it. It has a wonderful happy ending, symbolic of Heaven where we will all live “happily ever after”, but that’s not why I love it. It exposes the wisdom of the world for the foolishness it is, but that’s not why I love Job. I love Job for the simple, profound truths encountered in the first 2 chapters that show us the position and power of God over Satan. So many people are quick to claim “spiritual warfare” when things don’t go as they planned. My car broke down on the way to do something for God—“spiritual warfare”. My family got sick at a very inconvenient time—“spiritual warfare”. There is dissention in the ranks of the church—“spiritual warfare”. In 2009 when my three of my sisters died over a 9 month period, someone said to me “Boy, Satan is sure having a field day with your family”. Had I not know these truths from Job 1 and 2 and believed in them firmly, I might have been inclined to focus on Satan, to claim “spiritual warfare” and go into a tailspin feeling like a pawn in a spiritual battle between God and Satan. But I know these truths. They carried me through the pain of 2009 and through many other trials of life. Look at them with me.
First of all, I don’t mean to minimize the danger and threat that Satan presents. Satan is a very real and dangerous force. In Job 1 and Job 2, when God asks Satan where he has been, note his response.
Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Job 1:7b (also identical to Job 2:2b).
Satan wasn’t just roaming as in wandering aimlessly picking daisies and catching butterflies. He is a defeated enemy and he is always looking for ways to drag others down with him. We are warned about Satan in 1 Peter 5:8.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Yes, Satan is a real and dangerous enemy, but we should take note of a couple of things. Satan was questioned by God and had to answer. Satan is clearly shown submitting to God’s authority because he must, he has no choice. God questions him, but not because He needs to know the answer. God never asks a question because He doesn’t know—He is God, the omniscient one. He knows all. When He asks a question, it is usually for the benefit of the audience or to test the one being asked. In this case, it’s for our benefit. Where was Satan? God wants us to know—that, he is on the earth and a danger to us. But God also wants us to know that Satan roams the earth because he has been cast out of Heaven, he has no place else to go. We are reminded of Satan’s defeated status by that question, twice in these 2 chapters.
The second and most important thing to notice is that Satan has to get God’s permission to do anything to Job. In Job 1, God gives permission for Satan to strike everything that Job has, but he draws the line at Job himself. In Job 2, God gives Satan permission to attack Job’s health, but again draws the line saying he must spare his life. These simple transactions between God and Satan show that Satan has no ability to do anything unless God allows it, and only to the limits God sets. Satan has never outsmarted God. He has never overpowered God. He is a finite being, capable of being in only one place at a time while God is infinite and everywhere at once. Therefore, Satan can’t even ‘win’ a battle by striking where God isn’t watching. Jesus reminds us in John 10:28-30 of God’s power to protect and sustain us.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Why are these truths so important to me? What difference does it make when you’re suffering and hurting where the trouble came from, whether from a malicious enemy or allowed by a loving Heavenly Father? It makes all the difference in the world. If Satan has in fact won a battle and struck a blow, then we are no more than pawns in a spiritual battle. But that’s not what Job indicates. God is in charge and Satan is restricted to do only what God allows. When you see Satan for who he is, no more than a dog on a leash, and you see God for who He is, the loving Heavenly Father who holds the leash, then you must approach your pain and suffering differently. You must come back to Romans 8:28, that there is some good intended in this situation.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
It doesn’t mean it will hurt less, or that once you figure out the ‘good’ that your situation will instantly be resolved. It just means that God is still in control and that He has a plan for you, a plan for good in this and every situation. Consider this: Job himself was a prime example of good coming from pain and suffering. Job’s situation was to show that God can be glorified in our pain if we continue to praise Him as Job did. How many have been encouraged by Job’s faith? That is good! Job’s praise of God also frustrated Satan and added another defeat to his record, and that is good!
So when I suffer, when things don’t go as I planned or hoped, when it feels like ‘spiritual warfare’ is going on, I come back to these truths from Job. Satan is a defeated, enemy, a dog on a leash, and God holds the leash. My eyes should always remain focused not on the snarling dog, but on the One who holds the leash. The One who loved me enough to send His only Son to die for me. I will trust Him.
