Dirt Proves Satan Wrong

The Book of Job

My favorite books of the Bible tend to be the ones that I've heard God speak to me the most. Haggai, Daniel, Revelation, James, Matthew, Leviticus and Job, to name a few. Although in Job, the pages of my Bible aren't reflecting lots of notes and underlines where my other favorite books are crammed with notes and scribbled thoughts. I love the book of Job because I love the entire breadth of the story and what it does say.

Typically, when I study the Bible, I read one chapter at a time many times staying in the chapter for a week or more daily reading it gleaning more and more understanding. Recently with Job, I read large chunks at a time to see the entire story unfolding in wholeness.

In Job, his sufferings are due to a point being made to Satan by God; a kind of, "Take that, dude!" At the surface, the unfolding drama of suffering seems cruel as if Job is a mere pawn on the cosmic chessboard between God and Satan. However, when you read into those story details, you'll notice that very poignant and precise points are being made by God to Satan, Job, Job's friends, and us.

The throw-down begins with Satan once again challenging God. You get the idea that the Accuser (Satan) is pointing out to God that of all of the humans He created, not one is good thereby belonging to God. To me it almost says, "Well, everyone is as bad as me so what does that say about You and Your abilities to create?"

God points out Job who God Himself states that Job is "blameless, upright, fears (respects/honors) God, shuns evil and there exists no other human on earth like Job." Wow! Powerful acknowledgment by God of Job. Truly. What kind of man was Job to receive that distinction from the very Creator of all?

It's truly hard to conceive this but, what Job endured was really an honor and not a punishment. An honor... hard to imagine and certainly something I'm not looking for, I must honestly confess. Job was selected to prove Satan not only wrong but that he has fallen so low and will never be able to surpass the very dirt of this world let alone surpass God Himself which Satan thinks he can do.

The main point being made is this: take all of God's provisions, blessings and protections away and Job will be like any other human and curse God. Curse God. Shake a fist at God in defiance, accuse Him for everything wrong, spit in His face and walk away from God telling Him you'll do it on your own from here on out because He is not good enough. Curse God.

It seems very probable because we humans associate God with love, blessings and goodness. As long as we are being continuously blessed, then we love God. We think God exists solely to make us happy with the things we want and when we're happy we may love and sometimes acknowledge God. We associate our happiness with God. Almost a "what have you done for me lately, God?" approach.

So Satan tells God that if He takes away all of His provisions for Job, Job will become like any other human and eventually curse God thereby no longer being upright and blameless.

Just the words "upright, blameless, fears God, shuns evil" are very piercing where God is stating to Satan that he is not these things; Satan doesn't possess these qualities of character. God said to Satan, in a sense, you were created with the most ability to be this and yet you chose not to be this; you've fallen so low that even a man made out of dirt is better than you.

It's also interesting to consider the setting of this drama. Satan sees God's face day-in and day-out. He witnessed God in the very act of creation and as chief angel, Satan's job was to gather all of the angels together to witness God in the act of creation cheering Him onward. Witness and acknowledge the truth, stand up for the truth. That is the job of the angels and of men.

We know from various verses in the Bible that before any creation, God existed. He then created the angelic hosts to be His witnesses. God then creates light, darkness, the stars, the cosmos, continuing on until God creates earth where He then focuses on the details of our home planet. God reveals this in Job 38:4-7 especially verses 6-7: "On what were its (the earth's) footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" You can almost see God going, "Watch this! (BAM!)" and the angels shouting and cheering wildly for God, for His ability and what just appeared in front of them created by God!

Satan watched God Himself create our world. He sees God's face daily. He sees God's glory, power, majesty, abilities and yet, Satan chose to rebel. Created the most beautiful of all angels and placed above all angels as leader, Satan eventually thinks he can surpass God and thus begins the great battle of evil versus good. "I don't need you God and I can do this on my own and do it better than you." (Isaiah 14:12-20)

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Morning Star = Lucifer in the Latin Vulgate. Interesting that both Jesus and Satan have the title Morning Star. Both "Sons of God" and yet one chooses God and one does not.
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Throughout the book of Job and throughout all of Job's sufferings, he does not curse God. Job's wife even tells him to curse God and die. (Job 2:9-10) Job's wife said Job should curse God thereby forcing God's hand to deliver the final blow killing Job. There lies the evil - force God to act. When you force someone to act, you are forcing a person to subject himself to your authority. You now surpass that person's authority forcing yourself above that person when you don't have the authority in the first place.

This helps me deal with evil events and actions around me, at times. I confess, when those actions are not directly impacting me. Satan continually tries to force God to act. If he succeeds, then God would be bowing to Satan's demands thereby giving Satan authority over Himself. God won't do that - and praise God for not doing that! Because God knows in advance what Satan will do God, not bowing His authority to Satan, allows the evil to occur yet prepares in advance to use the action as a way to draw men closer to Him sanctifying men in the process. (Romans 8:28-30)

I confess that the conversations - probably heated discussions at times - between Job and his friends are confusing to me. So much of what each man states seems right and yet wrong. Many times it's hard for me to understand the truths being spoken. However, the main point is that Job doesn't curse God because of his predicament. Job states up front that we are to accept the good and trouble from God. (Job 2:10) Our predicament should not define who God is. God's truth should define God to us.

What Job was arguing with his friends is the concept that when good happens to people, it must be because God is rewarding good behavior; when bad things happen, God must be punishing bad or evil behavior. This is not true - as Job contends - because good stuff happens to bad people and bad stuff happens to good people. Instead Job's argument is that he has lived an upright life according to God - he has loved God and loved others - the very basis for our life actions on earth. Naturally, Job wants his "day in court" before God to prove that he did not do anything evil that resulted and warranted this near destruction of his life.

I think its encouraging that God wants and allows us to reason with Him and others about Him. (Isaiah 1:18 - "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.) God allows us to vent to Him our frustrations with this world; that's not a sin. We are asking God to explain why, help us understand, help us become aligned with Him, help us throw off the incorrect way of thinking and understand His ways. That is good news to me as I always want to understand the logic and reasoning behind something.

Yet, Job never curses God.

What I like the most of Job is when God steps in and begins to remind Job (and us) of who He really is. "Where were you when I created the world? Surely you were there so tell me what I did?" (Rose's paraphrase of Job 38:4) I love the way God describes His creations choosing some of the things that seem like odd creations to us and shows how He delights in His creations and why. That is what I love the most of Job, too. To see God's delight in His creation, the reason why He did what He did. You can hear Him laughing and see Him smiling when He watches His ostrich run and run faster that a horse and rider.

Through it all, Job, a man of clay and dirt, does not curse God as Satan claims he'll do and Satan threw everything he had at Job - everything. And Job proved God correct that knowing God, truly knowing Him, allows you to choose to follow His authority and honor Him regardless of our circumstances.

I'm thankful Job proved that point for all of us. I certainly don't want to be called to do that.