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Satan Attacks Job’s Health
2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered 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? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job’s Three Friends
Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
(ESV)
Job 2 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
There are a few differing thoughts that we naturally progress through as we read the story unfold in Chapter 2. The first is compassion. We empathize with Job. What a horrible situation to be in! Satan has been given the green light to ruin Job short of death. The suffering is unbearable. The torture is relentless. The language conveyed at the end of this chapter (in verse 13) is actually an expression that is used to describe pain as it is increasing.
Job’s friends gather around him in silence because they cannot believe the agony he is enduring. It’s so bad that his wife tells him to die. There is absolutely no doubt we empathize with him. It feels unfair and unjust.
But there is a different thought here that flies under the radar. It is sovereignty. Satan needed permission to attack this child of God. God stopped Satan short of death. God, our Creator and Protector, allowed for this suffering to take place. God concluded that all this should happen rather than not. Is this hard to reconcile in our hearts?
Who is ultimately in control here? It’s not Satan, and it’s not Job either. They are the main characters in a bigger act that’s taking place. The glorification of God is unfolding; slowly and silently infusing itself into the background as the tragic events take center stage and steal our attention. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
“Is this the best way?” we ask ourselves. For those of us who have experienced the living God strengthen our faith through trials, that answer is a resounding yes, even though it may not be an enthusiastic yes. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of looking with a skeptical eye.
It’s not easy, but it’s right. It’s not appealing, but it’s good. In the end, it’s not about us anyway, it’s always about Him.