Who’s Idea Was It? [Job 1]
6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it." 8The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."9Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10"Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11"But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face."12Then the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.There was a man who was blameless and upright, who feared God and turned away from evil. This man Job must have been a rare sight, a one-of-a-kind. God said there was “no one like him on the earth,” What a documentary on the life of a good man.
So why did God bring Satan’s attention to Job? Why didn’t He just let this good man keep marching through life being righteous? At the end of the book of Job when God speaks we will find out that answer. In the meantime there are two things that seem important. The first one is that Satan did not pick Job, God did. The second one is that Satan acknowledged that God was sovereign and that he could do nothing unless God permitted him to do it. “Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.’" Satan did not have power to do anything to Job unless God gave it to him.
God did give Satan a limited power. “Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’" God even helped to devastate all of Job’s possessions. He sent fire from heaven and a storm, all in one day, to work in conjunction with the Sabeans and the Chaldeans that attacked. But what a response Job gave, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."
We praise You, Father, that You are Sovereign God. You have all power and are in complete control of all that happens. Your enemy, Satan, even has to bend to Your control. He can only do what You permit him to do. We praise You that, even though we don’t understand it, You are completely motivated by Your love; You do everything because of Your great love for us.
Verna McCrillis, 1/13/2011