Job 2:1-10 Round Two
Satan is back in Heaven again. God holds Job up again and tells Satan he failed. Satan asks for round two. God agrees, with conditions.
I’m wondering how much time has passed between the previous visit and this one. Has Job gotten his feet back underneath him from all his devastating losses? Has he adjusted to his ‘new life’ or is he still reeling from all the blows? In my family growing up, bad things seemed to come in threes. You learned to wait for the last one before breathing again. Job has had FOUR and number five is on its way. Yikes!!!
Before we go any further I have an observation/question. The first time we are told about Satan coming before God, the way it is told, made me think he snuck in. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6). Today’s account leads me to believe he and the angels were required to come and give an account of their doings from time to time. “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord” (Job 2:1).
Did, or does, God have a ‘check-in’ time with the angels? It isn’t as if He can’t see or doesn’t know what each of them are up to at any given moment. Maybe it is an accountability meeting instead. “And how is your project going” moment. Time to give feedback or redirection. Jesus tells His disciples that the angels of children always have God’s utmost attention. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). Daniel 10 tells us of a war in Heaven that lasted “twenty-one days” and it took the arch angel Michael to turn the tides. Jesus also tells Peter that Satan has asked to “sift you as wheat” (Luke 23:31b). So apparently Satan talked to God. Does he still, now?
When I was writing for the first visit I presumed that Jesus’ work on the cross finished Satan off from visiting Heaven. I don’t have scripture to firmly back this up but I will share what I do have.
We know from Jesus’ own words that He had to make an appearance in Heaven after His resurrection. He told Mary not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended into Heaven. “Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17). He must have done this between the time He met Mary and the time He told the disciples to touch Him. I’m thinking He did it right after leaving Mary.
We also know from Hebrews that Jesus applied His blood to the Heavenly Temple. The high priests, from Aaron down, appear yearly to cleanse the Tabernacle with the blood offered for a sacrifice for the remission of sins. Jesus applied His blood the same way to the original Tabernacle that the one Moses constructed in the wilderness. “Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own” (Hebrews 9:23-25).
And we also know that Satan was thrown out of Heaven when he was defeated. “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Revelation 12:7-11). Being that this was accomplished by the blood of the Lamb, I’m inclined to believe that this happened at the time of Jesus’ death, resurrection and applying His blood to the Heavenly Tabernacle. It was a transition in the ages; from the age of the Law to the age of grace.
THIS leads me to believe that Satan doesn’t get to stand before God anymore. Revelation also tells us that casting out Satan like this made him HOPPING mad! “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12).
Wow! That took a while. Back in our story though, Satan was still coming before God and giving his report. His report was vague, probably on purpose. Funny thing is, God didn’t really need the reports to know what was going on throughout His creation. He likely called them so they could account for their time.
In God’s talk with Satan, He showed Satan His most faithful servant. And Satan laughed. “Sure he is faithful to You. YOOU protect him and keep me away from him. That’s the ONLY reason he obeys you.”
God KNEW Job’s heart. He let Satan have access to Job’s possessions and family the first time. Now He gives access to Job’s physical health. Satan does NOT get to kill Job. “This far and NO farther” says God.
We see Satan attack with vengeance as he covers Job from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head with painful sores. Job’s wife is distraught and angry. She tells Job to “curse God and die” (verse 9b) because of all that he has suffered. SHE is angry and blames God for the state of her fortune and her husband’s health.
“NEVER” is Job’s reply. “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (verse 10a). Score: Satan 0, God 2!
This should have been the end of the question but we will see Satan doesn’t let go so easily. Fortunately, neither does God!
Father God, I SO glad You are in control. I can trust You NO MATTER WHAT Satan tries to throw at me. You are ALWAYS faithful. Help me with the things that I am facing and help me push through them. They are NOTHING compared to what Job went through. Mine is just tiredness and a big work load. Help me accomplish my tasks with QUALITY and ON TIME! Give me wisdom and the skills I need to do the tasks.
