ESOCS Devotional 3 October 2024 – Holding on to Faith in the Midst of Suffering
MEMORY VERSE: “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.”Job 2:3
TEXT: JOB 2:1-END
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
3 Then 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, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? [c]Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. 12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. 13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
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It was a day when the sons of God were presenting themselves before the Lord. Satan is still doing all what he does: going to and fro through the earth. He is the roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). As we saw in chapter 1, God’s question was not for his benefit but for the reader’s benefit. God was showing us the motive and purpose of Satan. Then God drew Satan’s attention to Job again. He was blameless, upright, feared God and turned away from evil. There was only one new statement made in this discussion, which is found in verse 3: “He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
God declared that Job maintained his integrity. He had remained blameless and had not cursed God to His face, as Satan declared he would do. Job did not have false motives. Job was not hypocritical. He was faithful to God despite losing his children and possessions. Purse and ponder: if I were in Job’s shoes, what would have become of me? Can these testimonies follow my experience even as a believer I claim to be?
We should also notice that God takes ownership of what has happened. God does not say that Satan did this or God is really upset that Satan did that and now God has to go fix everything. We have learned in our studies throughout the scriptures that there is nothing that happens in this world that is not under God’s rule. We cannot try to justify or defend God by saying that Satan did this action against Job outside of the power of God. Satan is not more powerful than God. Furthermore, Satan needed permission to do what he did. Not only this, God constrained what Satan could do to Job (1:12).
What God said here is important for our consideration of how God runs the world, particularly in regard to suffering. This action against Job did not happen without God’s knowledge or agreement. God takes responsibility for what happened in Job 2:3. God did not say that Satan did it (though he did). Rather, God said that He did it himself: “You incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” But this is not the only time where the book tells us that God did this. Look at Job 42:11. Learn to trust God, come whatever may!
- Let nothing make you turn your back against God. Remain faithful to Him always.
- Lord, help me in my trying moments to remain steadfast in the Christian faith.
Further Reading: Proverbs 10:1-13; Luke 16:19-end; 1 Corinthians 14:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 3 October 2024
