The Testing of Your Faith [part 1]: Job-The wisdom of the cross {Job 1:6-12}

Stand for the reading of the word of God [Job 1:6-12]

THE GLORY OF GOD is more important than your or my comfort. That is a statement with which all Christians will readily agree in theory. A Puritan prayer recorded in The Valley of Vision begins:

Lord of all being,

There is one thing that deserves my greatest care,

that calls forth my ardent desires,

That is, that I may answer the great end for which I am made

to glorify thee who hast given me being.…

That is a fine and noble prayer. But it has awesome consequences from which we naturally shy away. Of course, we say, there can be nothing more important than the glory of God. What Christian could possibly disagree with that expression of correct piety? And yet before long we find ourselves recoiling from the implications of this statement.

The introduction of the book of Job in 1:1–5 portrays a world with which Disney would by and large be happy. It is a world in which the right people come out on top. We are ready, as it were, to go home happy, knowing it is all working out as it should. But then the action begins, with four alternating scenes in Heaven and on earth. We’ll look at scene one today and scenes 2, 3, and 4 next week.

The story is told sparingly and brilliantly, as a cartoonist might, as a few well-chosen lines on the page conjure up whole worlds of drama. In this drama we shall see that it is necessary for it publicly to be seen that there is in God’s world a great man who is great because he is good, and yet who will continue to be a good man when he ceases to be a great man. Ultimately, in the greatest fulfillment of Job’s story, we will need to see a man who does not count equality with God (greatness) as something to be grasped but makes himself nothing for the glory of God (Philippians 2:6–11).

Scene 1: Heaven [Job 1:6-12]

After the timeless introduction, ‘there was a man’ which describes who Job was and what he habitually did, we read, “there was a day” (v. 6). And what a day! On this particular day something happened in Heaven that would change Job’s life forever.

The day began in what seems to have been a routine way: “the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD” (v. 6). The expression “the sons of God” speaks here of beings whose existence is derivative from God (hence “sons”) but whose rank is superhuman. The expression literally translated “sons of God” by the ESV is often translated “angels” (e.g., NIV). We meet them again in Psalm 29 (“Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of God,” Psalm 29:1, ESV footnote) and in Genesis 6:2. They form a “divine council” or heavenly cabinet, and we see reference to this in Psalms 82 and 89.

As members of God’s heavenly cabinet, they come “to present themselves” before him (v. 6). The expression “to present oneself” or “to stand before” means something like “to attend a meeting to which one is summoned” or “to come before a superior ready to do his will.” It is the expression used of the wise man in Proverbs: “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men” (Proverbs 22:29). That is to say, he will be a senior civil servant or a government minister rather than just a local council employee. The same expression is used with apocalyptic imagery in Zechariah when the four chariots go out to all the world “after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth” (Zechariah 6:5). First they present themselves for duty, and then they go out to do what they have been told to do.

This “day” that turns out to be so devastating for Job begins with a normal heavenly cabinet meeting. God summons his ministers as an American President might call his senior staff to an early-morning meeting in the Oval Office before sending them out for action.

Only one member of the heavenly cabinet is mentioned individually: “… and Satan also came among them” (v. 6). The expression “the Satan” suggests that here “Satan” is a title, which tells us something about his role. The word “Satan” means something like “adversary, opponent, enemy.” The noun is used to mean an adversary in other contexts as well. When the Lord stops Balaam in his tracks, he does so “as his adversary [satan]” (Numbers 22:22). When the Philistine commanders tell the Philistine king Achish they don’t want David fighting with them against Israel, they say, “He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary [satan] to us” (1 Samuel 29:4). Here in Job 1, it is not yet clear whose adversary Satan is. It will soon become apparent that he is Job’s adversary.

We are not told explicitly whether or not Satan is present as a member of the heavenly council or whether he is in some way a gatecrasher. It is sometimes assumed that because Satan is evil he cannot be a member of the council and must have barged in uninvited. In 1 Kings 22 the prophet Micaiah vividly describes the same heavenly council: “I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him.” Then as Micaiah describes the conversation in the council, “a lying spirit” speaks up and is sent out by the Lord to do his will (1 Kings 22:19–22). So there is apparently no inconsistency in “a lying spirit” being present in God’s council. In the same way, it will become clear that Satan is present at the council because he’s there for a reason.

Though Satan is in opposition and antagonistic towards God and all those who follow God, Satan is still bound to serve as God sees fit. There is not this battle between God and Satan as if there are equals…no Satan is under the rule of God and as we’ll see in a strange way what Satan does to Job will serve the purpose of the Lord. As Luther put it, “the Satan is “God’s Satan.”

How the world is governed

What is described for us here is a Sovereign God who rules and everything else serves His purposes. This is important to understand and a little bit heavy and hard as we dive into some deep stuff, but necessary for us to understand fully what is going on here.

This description of the Lord and “the sons of God” gives us an important insight into the way the world is governed, spiritually that is. Presumably this language of God sitting surrounded by a heavenly council is anthropomorphic language. God does not literally sit at the head of a council any more than he literally has hands or feet. This kind of language is used of God because we can understand it, to accommodate to our limitations. But what does it mean?

Broadly speaking there are three models for understanding the spiritual government of the world.

The first is polytheism or animism, is the belief that the universe is governed by a multiplicity of gods, goddesses, and spirits, none of whom is perfect and some of which are exceedingly evil. There is no absolutely supreme god or goddess, although some are generally more powerful than others. The end result is a universe filled with anxiety, in which we may never know in advance which spiritual power will come out on top in a particular situation, in which different deities have to be appeased and kept friendly, much as a citizen in a corrupt society may offer bribes to different officials, hoping he or she gets the bribes right in their amounts and their recipients. This is the world of animism and of Hinduism. In a strange way, it is also the world of Buddhism, where the “gods and goddesses” are within ourselves. Each person is his or her own god or goddess. Who knows who will win?

At its simplest this view becomes a dualism in which the world is governed by the outcome of an ongoing contest between God and the devil, who are thought of as pretty much equal and opposite powers battling it out for supremacy, like the Empire and the Federation in Star Wars. The devil is perceived as having an autonomy and agency independent of God. Some Christians think this way and are practical dualists in a sense. As I’ve already stated Satan is still under God’s sovereignty, Satan is not an equal rival to God.

The second is a kind of absolute monism, in which the world is governed absolutely and simply by one God. What this God says goes, end of story. Above the visible and material universe there is one, and only one, supernatural power, the absolute power of the Creator of Heaven and earth. This model underlies the classic objection to the goodness of God: “If God is God He is not good. If God is good He is not God.”

As I understand it, this is the model of Islam, and many Christians think it is the Biblical model. It is not.

Christian people can veer toward either of these, a dualism or a monism. Neither does justice to the Bible’s picture, which is more nuanced and complex. The Bible portrays for us a world that lies under the absolute supremacy and sovereignty of the Creator, who has no rivals, who is unique, such that there is none like him. And yet he does not govern the world as the sole supernatural power. He governs the world by the means of and through the agency of a multiplicity of supernatural powers, some of whom are evil. That is to say, “the sons of God” represent powers that are greater than human powers and yet are less than God’s power. They include among their number Satan and his lying and evil spirits.

Above the visible and measurable material world of human senses lies a world in which is the one Jesus calls “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31) and whom Paul will later call “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). “The air” here speaks of a region higher than earth (hence supernatural) but lower than the dwelling-place of God himself (Heaven). Our battle does not just take place at the human level (“against flesh and blood”) but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

This model is not dualist; the sovereignty of God is not compromised one iota in this model. But the nature of the government of the world is significantly different than in the monist model. We need to take account of these supernatural agencies, “the sons of God” in the language of Job and other Old Testament passages. And we need to grasp that the evil agencies, the devil and all his angels, while being supernatural and superhuman, are sub-divine, they are under God’s authority. Satan is, to again quote Luther’s famous phrase, “God’s Satan.”

Some will object that since God cannot look at or have fellowship with evil (Habakkuk 1:13), he cannot allow the Satan to be in his presence. But this is to confuse fellowship with government. God can have no fellowship with evil, because he is pure light, and “in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5, 6). But he can use evil in his government of the world, and he does. His having business dealings, so to speak, with the Satan in the government of the world is not the same as suggesting that the Satan enjoys God’s presence in the sense of his blessing, which he does not. [I’ve either help you understand a little how the spiritual world works or I’ve thoroughly confused you] Back to...

The Conversation in Heaven

The writer of the book of Job is a prophet. How else could he know what happened in the heavenly council? As Eliphaz [L-faz] taunts Job later, “Have you listened in the council of God?” (15:8). Of course he hasn’t. But the writer has. And as he listens, this is what he hears.

To the introductory question, Satan replies, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it” (v. 7). This may be evasive, like the teenager who, asked by Mom or Dad what he’s been doing all day, grunts, “Oh, just stuff” (subtext: “it’s none of your business”). And yet the expression “going to and fro” suggests going about with a specific purpose. What that purpose is will become apparent. Satan has a job to do, and he has been doing it, even if he is reluctant to make known his findings.

His task becomes clear with the Lord’s next question: “Have you considered [literally, “Have you set your heart upon”] my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (v. 8). This implies that the Satan’s job, as God’s submissive opposition, is to search men and women to see if there is anyone who is genuinely godly and pious. God claims that there is one and echoes point for point the storyteller’s description of Job in the very first verse of the book.

We might paraphrase it like this: “I wonder if, in your travels looking for genuine piety, you have noticed my servant Job.” The expression “my servant” conveys Job’s honor and dignity; he is God’s covenant partner. It is a title used forty times of Moses, as a general title for the prophets (e.g., 1 Kings 14:18), and of the patriarchs (e.g., Genesis 24:14; 26:24; Psalm 105:6; Exodus 32:13). Job is loyal to the Lord, and the Lord will be loyal to him: “He is a real believer, with integrity and consistency. It is impossible to find in the whole world such a conspicuously pious and consistent believer.”

These fateful words, singling out Job as conspicuously genuine and godly, are to prove devastating in their consequences for Job. The book of Job is not about suffering in general, and certainly not about the sufferings common to men and women the world over. Rather it is about how God treats his friends. John Chrysostom wrote, “Many men, when they see any of those who are pleasing to God suffering anything terrible … are offended, not knowing that to those especially dear to God it belongeth to endure these things.” In the same way God singles out his friend Job for the Satan’s detailed attention. He asks the Satan if he has noticed Job’s astonishing and preeminent godliness.

Satan has. After all, it is his job to notice people like that. But—and this also is a part of his God-given role in the government of the world—Satan puts a different interpretation on Job’s piety. “Does Job fear God for no reason?” he asks (v. 9); or it may be, “Has Job feared God for no reason?” implying that Job was fearing God the last time he saw him. He admits that Job looks like one who fears God; But why does Job fear God? Is it because God is God, because God is worthy of his worship and loving obedience? Or is there another reason?

“Does God’s finest servant, his boasted showpiece, serve him for conscience or convenience?” Satan suggests that it is merely convenience: “Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” (v. 10). Outside Job’s human skin there is an outer skin, a protective hedge put there by God, so that not only his body but his family and his possessions are kept safe. “You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land” (v. 10). Here is a protective hedge that expands as Job’s possessions expand. It is not a hedge that constrains him, but simply one that protects him and all that is his.

Satan insinuates that Job’s prosperity is the only cause of his piety. “Sure, he is pious,” Satan says in essence. “I cannot deny that. I see him in church every Sunday and at the church prayer meeting and active in the service of God. His piety is unquestionable. But why is he pious?” Answer, according to Satan: Job has discovered the prosperity gospel, and it works. He has discovered that if he honors God, God will make him richer and richer. He and his wife will have great marriage. His wife will have children. His children will be healthy and successful. And his bank balance will grow and grow. They will enjoy a lifestyle to make a pagan billionaire envious. Who wouldn’t be pious, if that’s what you get out of it? That is his motive. That is why he is pious. He is pious not because he actually loves God, honors God, or believes God is worthy of his worship; he is pious because piety results in prosperity, and for no other reason. That’s the Satan’s argument. It’s the argument of the prosperity gospel…the book of Job kind of destroys the prosperity gospel.

So Satan continues, “But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (v. 11). The “hand” of God is the Bible’s way of speaking of God in action. When God stretches out his hand, he acts in human history. To “touch” here means more or less to “smite” or “hit aggressively.” “Do that,” says Satan with impudence using the imperative command to God (“stretch out”), and “He will curse you to your face.”

Satan’s logic is impeccable. How can we tell whether Job is pious because he believes God is worthy of his loving worship or whether he is pious because he believes his piety will result in blessing? Does his genuine piety lead to prosperity, or does his prosperity lead to his superficial piety? We must find out, says the Satan. The honor of God depends upon it. And the only way to find out is to take away Job’s prosperity.

Only when that outer skin or protective hedge is breached and the hand of God breaks in to take away what Job has will we and can we know whether or not his piety is genuine. “If we take those things away and he still fears you and turns from evil, then,” implies the Satan, “I will admit that there is a man on earth who worships you because you are worthy of worship. But he won’t. You watch and see. He will curse you to your face, directly, impudently. Just try it and we’ll see.” Says Satan.

Now although Satan’s motives are 100 percent aggressive and malicious, his argument is correct. There is no other way publicly to establish the nature of Job’s piety. Conversely, the same would also be true. If a poor man were pious, it might even be necessary to enrich him to be absolutely sure that his piety were not the result of his poverty.

Satan is not bullying God, nor is he offering him a casual wager, as though Job’s sufferings were just to see who wins a bet in Heaven. No, Satan, for all his malice, is doing something necessary to the glory of God. In some deep way it is necessary for it to be publicly seen by the whole universe that God is worthy of the worship of a man and that God’s worth is in no way dependent on God’s gifts.

Exactly the same logic is present when Peter writes to Christians enduring trials and sufferings. Even though in the present “you have been grieved by various trials” there is a reason. And here is the reason: “… so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

When Jesus returns, the fact that a Christian has gone on trusting and believing even though all the blessings have been removed and he has suffered severe trials will prove to the universe that another human being considers God to be worthy of worship simply because he is God. God will be praised, his glory adored, and his honor seen by the universe because Christian men and women have gone on worshipping him when all the blessings have been taken away. What this teaches us is...

The glory of God is more important than your or my or Job’s comfort. In some deep way the sufferings of Job are necessary to redound to the glory of God. Paradoxically Satan, for all his evil motivation, has a necessary ministry in God’s government of the world for God’s glory. If Satan did not issue this challenge, it would be necessary for God to delegate this terrible task to another supernatural creature. Satan has a ministry; it is the ministry of opposition, the ministry of insisting that the genuineness of the believer be tested and proved genuine. It is a hostile and malicious ministry, but a necessary ministry for the glory of God.

So God gives his terrible instruction and permission: “And the LORD said to the Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand’ ” (v. 12). This instruction does not portray callousness in God, nor cold-bloodedness. We cannot say that God’s insistence that Job’s person not be harmed is a sign of God’s love, for what then of the next heavenly scene, when that protection is withdrawn? Something deeper is going on here. Nor can we say, as some have perversely suggests, that God gives this permission because God himself does not know whether Job’s faith is genuine.

We must not draw too clear a line between instruction and permission. We do not like the idea of God instructing Satan to attack Job, but that is what he does. In all this the Bible insists on the sovereignty of God. It has been fashionable since the late twentieth century to get around the problem of evil by suggesting that God is doing his best and we cannot blame him if he does not manage to arrange everything the way he wants.

In his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Rabbi Harold Kushner “solves” the problem of suffering in this way. Others suggest that God is like a chess grandmaster taking on a roomful of amateur chess players; usually he wins the game against all comers, but once in a while an amateur wins. In the same way God wins most of the “games” but not all. The Bible allows no such idea. God is sovereign. “He [the Satan] cannot touch a hair upon the back of a single camel that belongs to Job, until he has Divine permission.” Satan does what he is told, no more and no less.

What is at stake here is the glory of God. Ultimately the well-being of the universe depends upon the glory of God. A universe in which God is not glorified will be a universe at odds with itself, a self-contradictory universe. Ultimately—and it is ultimately rather than immediately—the well-being of Job depends upon the glory of God. And the sufferings of Job are necessary for the final blessing of Job.

It is not self-centered of God to desire his own glory. For us it is an inappropriate megalomania; for God, it is to desire the most deeply right thing in the world. We may perhaps use a trivial illustration to cast light on this. If I suggest that I ought to be given a Nobel Prize for Chemistry, I am suggesting something deeply inappropriate, for my knowledge of chemistry is very poor. If this prize were to be awarded to me, there would be something deeply wrong with the Nobel Prize committee. But if a brilliant chemist who has done extraordinary work suggests he ought to be given the prize, this is quite different. Indeed, if he is not given the prize there is something wrong! In a faintly similar way, the universe has gone terribly wrong when God is not given ultimate glory. That’s what’s at stake here.

And so at the end of this scene “Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” to do his terrible but strangely necessary work (v. 12). We will pick up on this work next week.

We are left with the question for ourselves. Do I worship God because He is God and it is the proper response to give my all to Him because He is God and He is worthy…or do I worship Him with hopes of getting some blessing in return? That’s what we face today…what’s my motivation in worship? Worship isn’t just Sunday morning for an hour…it’s all of our life, 24/7, living to serve and honor and glorify God. God is worthy of our worship. God is worthy of our lives. We might say yes…but what about when my faith is really tested? Job’s about to face that test. We’ll pick this up next week.