Last week we noted a wealthy man Job with grown children who were also well off and enjoyed life. Job is described as blameless, upright, feared God and shunned evil. Job was a godly man! Before we learn from the rest of Chapter 1 of Job. Since angels are cited, let us remind ourselves of who angels are.
Take a quick look at v6…. We can note the same thing in Job 2:1…. Angels present themselves to the Lord, including Satan.
Turn briefly to Job 4:18-19…. What does this tell us about God and angels? God is in control of angels and will judge their errors!
And where did angels come from? We read in Psalm 8:4-5… what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
And the word angel, either in Biblical Hebrew or Greek simply means messenger. From the Book of Genesis, we note that angels were already created by God before humans and that Satan already defied God.
And so, Angels are created beings by God to be servants and messengers for Him, controlled by God, and they report to God, including Satan. Now who is Satan?
We note from Revelation 12:9… The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
And along with passages from Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12, we can note that: Satan was a super-angel who defied God and was therefore judged and separated from heaven and one-third of the angels in heaven followed Satan (who is Lucifer, the devil) who is still controlled by God but in God’s providential wisdom allows Satan loose for a while.
Let us now read Job 1:6-22…..
Let us summarize what happened…
V6: angels, including fallen angel satan, “presented” themselves to the Lord
Let us note that the original Hebrew word for “presented themselves” mean to set or station oneself, take one's stand. This is like soldiers lining up and reporting to their Sergeant because they are required to. Angels, including fallen angels, are required to report to Jesus!
And what do we note satan reported? Satan said he was roaming the earth back and forth.
V7: Satan is allowed to be loose roaming back and forth on earth!
What do you think satan actually does as he roams the earth? Satan does not come to earth just to have a cup of coffee! Let us learn what Satan can do on earth.
V8: God pointed out Job to Satan to “consider”! It is interesting to note the original Hebrew word for “have you considered” is “hasamta” is only used here in Job 1:8 and in Job 2:3 when God asked the same question to the devil! In context, God was not merely telling satan to observe Job but actually to test his faith!
Let us ask this question but answer it later: Why would God allow satan to test Job?? Think about that for a moment….
Let’s continue with the story… what did Satan mean in v9?
V9: Satan was basically saying that Job was only doing the godly things to get blessings! An application question for us today of course is “Can we be accused of just doing godly things just to get blessings?” Let’s dig deeper into this later. What can we note from v10?
V10: a question from Satan but let us note it is actually a statement of what God can do for people!!
V11: Satan challenged God, but in context we can note that satan is not omniscient! Satan may know a lot as he freely observes everyone BUT he does not know everything like God does!
V12: God allowed satan to change what Job had; but not to touch Job personally.
V13-19: By Satan’s influence, Job lost just about everything; Job lost his animals, servants, and all his children! Did you notice that Job didn’t lose his wife? Was that good or bad? God talks more about her later 😊
But here’s is the important thing…. God notes for us how Job responded…
V20-22: Job, losing just about everything, humbled himself before God and actually worshiped and praised God, in spite of all the loss!
Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing!
There are so many biblical principles to consider in this passage. Let us highlight a few of them for this morning….
1. We are to be alert that angels are all around us, both good and evil! We do not just live in a physical world but a spiritual one as well! There are angels around us right now.
2. The main evil angel Satan is observing all of us; but let us note that God Himself does us well and Satan does not know it all but God does! And satan always tries to make us sin BUT God always protects us and always wants us to be right and holy! Who will we trust? Do not put “blinders” to the spiritual world!
3. We can be attacked by the devil but God will only allow demons to attack us knowing we can resist sin. Let us be mindful of 1 Corinthians 10:13…. We will be tempted to sin as a Christian but,…. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Let us memorize 1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do everything for the glory of God!
This is why God allowed Satan to test Job! God already knew that Job would not sin!
4. What is the motive for us doing the right things for God? We must follow the example of Job who was godly because he loved God and knew God was worthy of our obedience! Here’s an example: People cite often 2 Chronicles 7:14 for blessings - if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. People follow this verse because they are looking for healing and blessings when the verse actually was just a reminder of who the people were and who God is; Solomon and the people already humbled themselves and obeyed God prior to this verse! Do you and I do things for God because we just want blessings? Some of us are studying Philippians; listen to what God states in Philippians 1:29 - For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him; i.e. Christians are blessed with every blessing from heaven but will have troubles while still here on earth.
Will we respond like Job to humble ourselves, worship and praise God, in spite of troubles? Do all for the glory of God and give thanks!
Take a moment to quietly ponder about these things and pray to God….
Benediction – 1 Corinthians 10:13-23…
