Job 2:1-6 – Stay faithful to the very end

Satan’s first attempt at Job’s life proved that God was right about His servant all along.  Though Satan engineered the destruction of his children, livestock and property, his faith in God did not falter. He maintained that God owns everything that he ever possessed. Hence, the Sovereign Lord had every right to do as He pleased. In so doing Job faithfully declared the Sovereignty of God. Like Job we should seek the strength of God and not falter even when we experience loss in our possession.

In Job 2:1 we are told that Satan was again present at the gathering where angels appeared before God to report their activities. Again, God asked the same question of Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan’s response was the same as the previous appearance. He had been roaming “…on the earth and walking around on it.” He had been looking for opportunity to stumble the people on earth, especially the people of God. This mischief-maker has all the time been seeking an opportune time to create havoc in the lives of people who love God, just as he did to the Lord Jesus. The Bible said that though he left the Lord after failing to stumble Him with three temptations, he would look for another opportune time to do it again. So Luke 4:13 tells us that “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him(Jesus) until an opportune time.”  This is so characteristic of him.

Satan was wrong about Job with regards to his first attempt to cause him to blame and malign God. Though he had God’s permission, by inciting God to lift His protective hedge around Job, and created havoc and devastated his family, livestock and property, Job remained faithful to the Lord. When God pointed out his failure at his first attempt to stumble righteous Job, as an opportunist, he again sought an excuse to accuse God. He told the Lord that it was because He did not allow him to touch Job’s life. The wicked one maintained that had he been allowed to inflict Job personally, he was sure he would wilt. So the Lord granted him permission to inflict Job with any sickness but he was not to take away his life. 

What can we learn from the experience of Job? We can tell that Satan is an opportunist. He is always looking for an opportune time to stumble believers. When he fails to get it, he will try again and again. And every subsequent attack could be worse than the previous one. But Satan has no power to offload his rubbish upon our lives unless he has God’s approval. On the other hand, we know that Satan can also attack us when we have cracks in our life, created through consistent uncorrected failures to live according to divine instructions. Such occasions will create opportunity for him to invade our life. However, the word of God in First Corinthians 10:13 assures us that “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Notice the emphasis here is that God is faithful. And He will not allow Satan or his cohorts to take us down. But with every attack God will give the strength to endure it and provide the way to overcome it. Praise His name!