MDB 22: Job 1

Job 1:8
"And the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is not like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.'"

Familiarity with the story of Job may lead us to overlook this profound exchange between Satan and God, but the author is clear. It is God who brings Job to Satan's attention. Of course, Satan was familiar with Job before his name is mentioned since he is aware of God's "hedge of blessing" around him, but it is instructive to see that while Satan is clearly in heaven in order to work harm, it is God who first suggests Job for Satan's consideration.

We sometimes labor under the largely unexpressed though intuitive held belief that trouble in this life can be traced to displeasure in heaven. While the exact relationship may be somewhat elusive, we naturally assume what the statisticians call a positive correlation between our misery and God's disfavor. While we may not understand the mechanics of it all, as divine disfavor increases, so too go the miseries of this life. We know one of its expressions in the question "What have I done to deserve this?"

But this exchange challenges that assumption. God is not unhappy with Job - quite the opposite. You get the sense that God is particularly delighted in Job, and it is that positive estimation that brings Job under Satan's torments. Samuel Rutherford once said that "he that stands closest to his captain is the surest target for the archers," which we usually understand as saying that the arrows are an unintended but necessary consequence of being close to our Lord. But here, it is Job's Lord who has gained the attention of the archers and thus Job is under fire. We have been conditioned to expect the Christian experience to be like war, and even to expect increasing danger in our proximity to the front lines, but who would have guessed that finding a place next to the Lord, the faithful warrior would be singled out by his commanding officer. Does it look like treachery? Would we accept such tactics from a human commander?

The difference, of course, is that God's folly is wiser that our wisdom and that his intentions are beyond reproach. God knows what he is doing, and pursues our good by what he does. Do you think you know better than God? That will become Job's issue. Do you think you can comprehend what God is doing? The one who made the world, created leviathan, and has walked the recesses of the deep. As God will ask, "shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty" (Job 39:30). Or do you doubt God's goodness? The God who killed his Son so that you could be saved. No, God is wise and God is good, and even in recommending Job in this fashion God knows what he is doing - he is pursuing Job's good.