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Job 1: The Accusation

09/10/2005 01:06 PM Filed in: Theology | Bible Study
Job1
With my understanding of the identity of “the Satan” firmly established, I’d like to move past the setting for the great council and dig into what actually transpired between the Lord and the accuser.

Many theologians have pointed out the fact that God is the one who brings Job up for discussion. The Lord brags on him in 1:8 saying, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

It’s important to note here that by God bragging on Job, He’s really bragging on Himself. There is no righteousness apart from God; Job seeks to please no one but God. Were God not the perfect and benevolent being he is, then Job would not be the “blameless and upright” man who the Lord finds great favor in.

Satan immediately answers God by questioning Job’s motives. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan asks in verse nine. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, to that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.”

Just as God’s bragging on Job was equal to boasting on Himself, so the Satan’s negative accusation of Job is a negative accusation against God. Satan is essentially telling God that the pleasures He finds in His relationships with humans are a farce; they praise God for the works of His hands and fail to see the radiant glory of His face. “But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,” Satan contends, “and he will surely curse you to your face.”

What is happening here, and what Job never comprehends, is spiritual warfare. Behind the curtain of the heavens, God’s ability to compel us by His glory is subjected to questioning. The accusation, once made, must be answered. Even destroying the accuser, the Satan, will not rid God of the indictment. As we see in this passage and throughout the Bible, God goes to war against the kingdom of darkness. As in any war, there are casualties and there are losses.

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