Our world has changed dramatically over the last several weeks. We are facing a great trial in our country, not only from the health effects of the corona virus, but the implications for the economy, the government, our way of life, and most significantly, our spiritual lives.
This passage in Job is instructive for us. Chapter one has three main characters in it: Job, Satan, and the Lord God. Job is introduced to us (1:1-6) as both a prosperous and godly man, the “greatest man in the East.” The Lord testifies that Job fears God and shuns evil. Job knows the corruptness of sin; his worry over his children’s hearts reflects one who has struggled with his own heart. Job was an upright man, seeking to walk before the Lord.
We next see Satan (surprisingly) in the Lord’s court. His activity is stated: he goes about the earth for evil purposes (1:7). The Lord challenges the devil concerning his servant Job. The devil is very aware of Job and is sure that Job would lose his integrity toward God if he was allowed to afflict him. The Lord allows Satan to proceed with restrictions on harming Job himself.
Satan leaves the presence of the Lord to target Job. The ominous words, “Now there was a day,” in verse 13 precedes Satan induced calamities; a day Job was not expecting. The devil strategically launches his attack on a day that all of Job’s children were having a feast in the oldest brother’s home.
The devil also coordinates messengers to arrive sequentially to give Job staggering news. The first message is that raiders have taken all of Job’s working stock (oxen and donkeys) and killed all the servants working the fields except a lone survivor who delivers the message. So Job lost many friends and his crop for the foreseeable future in one blow.
The second messenger has a similar report of disaster; this time it is lightning that kills all the sheep and servants tending them. Immediately, a third messenger arrives, another lone survivor of a calamity. He reports that a Chaldean raiding party took all Job’s camels and killed all the servants.
The last messenger is the most devastating. He tells Job that while his children were having a joyful family time, a great wind came and collapsed the house. None survived. In the space of a few minutes Job has learned he has lost almost everything; friends, possessions, and children. Satan has left only 4 servants to torment him with terrible news and his wife who will be used to tempt him later.
We will look at Job’s remarkable response of faith next week, Lord willing. But here we observe that Satan has no limitations to his malice within himself; he knows nothing of mercy or restraint in evil. We must look to the Lord for deliverance, wisdom, and steadfastness. And the Lord has promised to bear his people up, and ultimately destroy all evil. But we must be wary of the devil in this age.
As Martin Luther says in his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God;” “And though this world, with devil’s filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, his rage we can endure, for lo! His doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”
All the suffering Christ’s people endure in this world, the Lord uses to form us into his image. Here are some comforting words Samuel Rutherford wrote for Christians: “Whatever direction the wind blows, it will blow us to the Lord. As we look back to our pains and sufferings, we shall see that suffering is not worthy to be compared to our first’s night welcome in heaven.
You may not know what the Lord is doing in a particular circumstance, but you will know hereafter. Let Christ know of your heavy cares. Let him bear all. Dear brother, do not become weary of your Master’s chains. We are closer to Christ when we suffer. Keep close by Christ, and let the wind blow.
Rejoice in his cross. Your deliverance does not sleep and his promise is not slack. Wait for God’s appointed time of deliverance. You shall lose nothing in the furnace but dross. Not one ounce too much is laid on you. The devil is just a whetstone to sharpen the faith and patience of the saints.”
