God on Trial
“Have you considered my servant Job?”
Job 1:8
I’ve never really spent much time with Job.
Sure, over the years I’ve heard countless sermons about him and his trials: The trials of Job. These sermons have focused on his losses, his wife’s attitude, his friends, and his responses to the entire ordeal. It’s a painful story that has the ability to speak to us on deep, deep levels. But frankly, I’ve chosen to spend my bible study times in other places.
Lately, Job has been on my mind.
Not because of all the things he went through.
But, rather why he went through them.
Have you ever noticed that it all started because of a question that God asks? Think about that for a minute. . .
Satan does not have an omniscient point of view.
He doesn’t mention Job.
God does.
The question is pretty intriguing: “Have you considered my servant Job?”
I think the question reveals a reality that if we’re not careful we might read right past. It has changed my thinking and approach to this entire book. Too often I’ve focused on Satan in this story. But, I’m beginning to think I’ve had the wrong idea.
Have you (Satan) considered…
Why would God ask this question?
Obviously, He (God) had considered Job.
This is the starting point for the entire drama that unfolds in the book which bears his name. It all begins with God revealing His confidence in one man. So much confidence, in fact, that He invests His character in the character of this man.
So, as we enter into the drama that starts to unfold in Job 1, I think I need to adjust my thinking. I’ve always thought that Job was on trial. After all we refer to the book as the “trials” of Job. But. . .
Could it be that Job isn’t on trial here?
God is.
Satan has already failed at trying to ascend to the heights of God. So now, based upon a question that God Himself asks, he will try to bring God down to His level. If Job fails then obviously God didn’t know him like He claimed: God wouldn’t have an omniscient point of view.
The challenge is presented with a question God asks.
Intriguing it all starts here. . .
“Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?”
Job 1:9
God brought him up.
He asked the question.
In that question He reveals the confidence He has in one man: A man named Job.
Job was no ordinary man. Well, he was ordinary in many ways:
He had normal feelings.
He dealt with the same emotions as anyone else.
He experienced the same longings, felt the same joy, was familiar with pain.
Yet, Job was no ordinary man. You see, he had been extraordinarily blessed:
He was the father of seven sons and three daughters.
Seven thousand sheep pastured his fields while three thousand camels roamed his hillside.
He was the owner of five hundred yoke of oxen. . .
. . . five hundred female donkeys. . .
. . . had a very large household. . .
The list could go on and on.
Extraordinarily blessed.
Job was the Donald Trump or, perhaps, the Bill Gates of his time. He had wealth beyond measure. Certainly, he was a man of means. So much so that Scripture says that Job was the greatest of all the people of the East. Pretty impressive. No ordinary man.
And, God brought him up.
He asked the question:
“Have you [Satan] considered my servant Job?”
Not only does He ask the question but in the asking He reveals the character of Job that results in the confidence He feels toward this man. Listen to the descriptors that He uses to describe Job:
Blameless and upright. . .
One who fears God. . .
[One who] shuns evil. . .
There’s none like him on earth.
Did you catch that? God said there’s none like Job. It’s an incredible statement about Job’s character.
It also makes a startling reality: Every other man, every other woman was not blameless or upright. That there were no others that truly feared or served God. In fact, the whole of humanity seems to be caught up in evil. The enemy was winning, he seemed to have their hearts. But, not Job.
So, God brought him up.
He asked the question:
“Have you [Satan] considered my servant Job?”
And, Satan had considered him.
He had been watching, waiting, wanting.
So, now he responds: “Doth Job fear God for nought?”
Did you catch it?
Could you hear the sarcasm in his voice?
Can’t you just feel the assertions of the accuser as he presents the charge?
Why wouldn’t he serve you?
Of course, he fears you. . .
You’ve blessed him beyond measure.
You’ve placed a hedge of protection around him and all he has.
He’s the wealthiest man in all the East. . .
Why wouldn’t he serve you?!?
BUT:
IF You removed Your hand of mercy. . .
IF he were to lose all that he had. . .
IF Your hedge of protection would be removed from his house. . .
He’d curse You to Your face!
What an accusation!
Read it again, slowly, and think about what he is saying.
Listen closely to what he asserts.
With his crooked, bony finger pointing in the face of God he snarls his lip and speaks:
IF You removed Your hand of mercy. . .
IF he were to lose all that he had. . .
IF Your hedge of protection would be removed from his house. . .
He’d curse You to Your face!
You can almost smell the stench of sulphur as he shrieks: “You’re not worthy of Job’s love, devotion. He only loves You because of what You do for him!”
It’s a dramatic scene that should cause me to examine my life. Why do I serve Him? Because of what He does? Because of what I get? Or, because of who He is?
Just a thought.
Now, back to the story:
God’s on trial.
He’s been charged.
The trial begins. . .
