The Book of Job: A Look at Satan

My approach to this book is going to be different than most of the rest of our reading. Rather than looking at Job from each day’s reading, we are going to look at the player’s in the story. Let’s start with Satan; after all, it’s him who starts this entire fiasco. It may make more sense to begin with Job, but I for no specific reason would like to begin with Satan. I will be honest up front: I still have many questions regarding this book. My husband and I were discussing the reading a few nights ago, I gave him my list of questions and am waiting for him to give me some answers! Until then, we are going to have to depend on my limited understanding. Take a look at verse six of the first chapter; “One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord asked Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘From roaming through the earth,’ Satan answered Him, ‘and walking around on it.’” If you are wondering, how or why was Satan allowed to go before God, you’re not alone. All I can for certain tell you is that Satan is accountable to God. I do want to clarify one other question that arose for me. ‘The sons of God’ mentioned at the beginning of this passage is referring to angels. Now, let’s get past our questions and look at what we learn about Satan. As we continue to read this exchange between God and Satan, we see that Satan is wanting to prove that God’s people only love Him because of His blessings, not for the relationship with Him itself. What better man to prove this point than Job, the man with whom God has most blessed above all men? We do see in the end, that Satan’s plan backfires. However, what we learn is that the schemes of Satan are really about God, not us. Satan desire is to hurt God and we are his enemies as a result of our love for God. If he hurts us, causes us to fall or doubt or abandon our God, he doesn’t only have victory over us, he hurts the heart of God Almighty. Further, do these verses bring any New Testament passages to mind? Think about 1 Peter telling us that “Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Maybe we just might need to pay a little more attention to the reality of these verses. Satan had been roaming around earth looking for someone to destroy. Ephesians 6 also comes to mind when reading this exchange, “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” What we learn from Job is that there is so much about the spiritual realm that we do not understand nor will be able. Yet, we must realize how serious we need to take the plans of Satan. We are not in a battle against our spouse or parents or friends or kids or co-workers or finances or government. It is Satan who is our enemy. We would be wise to take this player in the book of Job and realize that he is still roaming the earth. Do we fear him? No, but we must be prepared for battle. We cannot stand as children of God, as Job did, if we live oblivious to the war that is being waged against us. I leave this passage feeling as though I could not spend enough time in prayer for my husband, my children, my church and myself.