Job 2:6
"Very well," said the LORD to Satan. "He is in your hands, but you must spare his life."
Very well
This phrase signifies God's sovereign permission. In Hebrew, the word used here is "הִנֵּה" (hinneh), often translated as "behold" or "see." It indicates God's acknowledgment of Satan's challenge and His allowance for the testing of Job. This highlights the divine authority and control God maintains over the situation, even as He permits Satan to act. It is a reminder of God's ultimate sovereignty and the boundaries He sets, even in trials.

said the LORD
The use of "LORD" in all capitals represents the Hebrew name "YHWH," the covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal, self-existent nature. This name is deeply significant, as it reflects God's unchanging character and His faithfulness to His people. In this context, it underscores that the conversation is not merely between two beings but involves the Almighty, who is intimately involved in the lives of His creation.

to Satan
"Satan" in Hebrew is "שָׂטָן" (satan), meaning "adversary" or "accuser." This term is not just a name but a title that describes his role as the one who opposes and accuses God's people. In the context of Job, Satan acts as the challenger of Job's righteousness, questioning the integrity of human devotion to God. This interaction reveals the spiritual warfare and the reality of evil forces that seek to undermine faith.

He is in your hands
This phrase indicates a transfer of power or authority, albeit limited, from God to Satan. The Hebrew word for "hands" is "יָד" (yad), often symbolizing power or control. Here, it signifies that Job is subject to Satan's influence, but only within the constraints set by God. This highlights the theme of divine permission and the limits of Satan's power, reassuring believers that God remains in control.

but you must spare his life
The command to "spare his life" sets a boundary that Satan cannot cross. The Hebrew word for "spare" is "שָׁמַר" (shamar), meaning to keep, guard, or preserve. This divine restriction emphasizes God's protective nature and His ultimate authority over life and death. It reassures believers that, despite trials, God preserves the essence of life and maintains His protective hand over His people, ensuring that no trial can ultimately destroy them.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The sovereign God who permits Satan to test Job, demonstrating His ultimate authority and control over all creation.

2. Satan
The adversary who challenges Job's integrity, seeking to prove that Job's faithfulness is contingent on his prosperity and well-being.

3. Job
A blameless and upright man, known for his deep faith and righteousness, who becomes the subject of a divine test of faith and endurance.

4. Heavenly Court
The setting where God and Satan engage in dialogue, highlighting the spiritual realm's influence on earthly events.

5. Job's Suffering
The event where Job is afflicted with severe physical ailments, marking the beginning of his intense personal trial.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty and Control
God permits trials but sets boundaries, demonstrating His ultimate authority over all circumstances.

The Nature of Spiritual Warfare
Believers must recognize the reality of spiritual battles and the adversary's role in testing faith.

Endurance in Trials
Job's account encourages believers to remain steadfast in faith, trusting in God's purpose and timing.

The Limits of Satan's Power
Satan's power is limited by God's command, reassuring believers of God's protective oversight.

Faith Beyond Circumstances
True faith is not dependent on material blessings but is rooted in a deep relationship with God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's sovereignty in Job 2:6 provide comfort during personal trials?

2. In what ways can believers prepare for spiritual warfare, as seen in Job's experience and 1 Peter 5:8-9?

3. How does Job's endurance inspire you to handle your own challenges, and what practical steps can you take to strengthen your faith?

4. Reflect on a time when you felt tested beyond your limits. How does 1 Corinthians 10:13 reassure you of God's faithfulness?

5. How can the account of Job help you support others who are experiencing suffering or trials?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 5:11
This verse references Job's perseverance and the outcome of the Lord's dealings, emphasizing God's compassion and mercy.

1 Corinthians 10:13
This passage speaks to God's faithfulness in not allowing believers to be tempted beyond what they can bear, similar to how God sets limits on Satan's actions against Job.

1 Peter 5:8-9
These verses warn believers to be vigilant against the devil, who seeks to devour, paralleling Satan's role in Job's trials.
Renewed Assaults and Temptations of the AdversaryE. Johnson Job 2:1-10
Spiritual Agencies, Good and Evil, in SicknessJ. C. Boyce, M. A.Job 2:1-10
The Afflictions of JobD. J. Burrell, D. D.Job 2:1-10
The Afflictions of JobT. J. Holmes.Job 2:1-10
The Severer Tests of FaithR. Green Job 2:1-10
Man in the Hands of SatanJ. Clifford, D. D.Job 2:6-10
Satan Malevolently Dealing with Job's PersonalityHomilistJob 2:6-10
The Worth of a Good ManJ. S. Exell, M. A.Job 2:6-10
People
Bildad, Eliphaz, Job, Zophar
Places
Uz
Topics
Adversary, Behold, Care, Hands, Power, Satan, Save, Spare
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Job 2:6

     1115   God, purpose of
     1355   providence
     4035   abundance
     4126   Satan, resistance to
     8738   evil, victory over

Job 2:1-6

     5828   danger

Job 2:1-7

     4121   Satan, enemy of God

Job 2:3-6

     4195   spirits

Job 2:6-7

     4124   Satan, kingdom of
     5436   pain
     5561   suffering, nature of
     5568   suffering, causes
     8795   persecution, nature of

Library
February 24 Evening
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?--JOB 2:10. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.--O Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.--It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.--Whom the Lord loveth
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Resignation.
"What! shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"--Job 2:10. "Ich hab' in guten Stunden." [50]Christian Furchtegott Gellert. transl., Sarah Findlater, 1855 I have had my days of blessing, All the joys of life possessing, Unnumber'd they appear! Then let faith and patience cheer me, Now that trials gather near me: Where is life without a tear? Yes, O Lord, a sinner looking O'er the sins Thou art rebuking, Must own Thy judgments light. Surely I, so oft offending, Must
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

It is Indeed a Greater Fight of Patience...
9. It is indeed a greater fight of patience, when it is not a visible enemy that by persecution and rage would urge us into crime which enemy may openly and in broad day be by not consenting overcome; but the devil himself, (he who doth likewise by means of the children of infidelity, as by his vessels, persecute the children of light) doth by himself hiddenly attack us, by his rage putting us on to do or say something against God. As such had holy Job experience of him, by both temptations vexed,
St. Augustine—On Patience

Whether Death is Essential to Martyrdom?
Objection 1: It seems that death is not essential to martyrdom. For Jerome says in a sermon on the Assumption (Epist. ad Paul. et Eustoch.): "I should say rightly that the Mother of God was both virgin and martyr, although she ended her days in peace": and Gregory says (Hom. iii in Evang.): "Although persecution has ceased to offer the opportunity, yet the peace we enjoy is not without its martyrdom, since even if we no longer yield the life of the body to the sword, yet do we slay fleshly desires
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

Illness and Patience of the Saint. The Story of a Priest whom She Rescued from a Life of Sin.
1. I forgot to say how, in the year of my novitiate, I suffered much uneasiness about things in themselves of no importance; but I was found fault with very often when I was blameless. I bore it painfully and with imperfection; however, I went through it all, because of the joy I had in being a nun. When they saw me seeking to be alone, and even weeping over my sins at times, they thought I was discontented, and said so. 2. All religious observances had an attraction for me, but I could not endure
Teresa of Avila—The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus

The Christian Described
HAPPINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN O HOW happy is he who is not only a visible, but also an invisible saint! He shall not be blotted out the book of God's eternal grace and mercy. DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN There are a generation of men in the world, that count themselves men of the largest capacities, when yet the greatest of their desires lift themselves no higher than to things below. If they can with their net of craft and policy encompass a bulky lump of earth, Oh, what a treasure have they engrossed
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

Touching Jacob, However, that which He did at his Mother's Bidding...
24. Touching Jacob, however, that which he did at his mother's bidding, so as to seem to deceive his father, if with diligence and in faith it be attended to, is no lie, but a mystery. The which if we shall call lies, all parables also, and figures designed for the signifying of any things soever, which are not to be taken according to their proper meaning, but in them is one thing to be understood from another, shall be said to be lies: which be far from us altogether. For he who thinks this, may
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Of his Cross what Shall I Speak, what Say? this Extremest Kind of Death...
9. Of His cross what shall I speak, what say? This extremest kind of death He chose, that not any kind of death might make His Martyrs afraid. The doctrine He shewed in His life as Man, the example of patience He demonstrated in His Cross. There, you have the work, that He was crucified; example of the work, the Cross; reward of the work, Resurrection. He shewed us in the Cross what we ought to endure, He shewed in the Resurrection what we have to hope. Just like a consummate task-master in the matches
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

Jesus Defends Disciples who Pluck Grain on the Sabbath.
(Probably While on the Way from Jerusalem to Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 1-8; ^B Mark II. 23-28; ^C Luke VI. 1-5. ^b 23 And ^c 1 Now it came to pass ^a 1 At that season ^b that he ^a Jesus went { ^b was going} on the { ^c a} ^b sabbath day through the grainfields; ^a and his disciples were hungry and began ^b as they went, to pluck the ears. ^a and to eat, ^c and his disciples plucked the ears, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. [This lesson fits in chronological order with the last, if the Bethesda
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Elucidations.
I. (The Shepherd of Hermas, p. 85.) Here, and in chap. xx. below, Tertullian's rabid utterances against the Shepherd may be balanced by what he had said, less unreasonably, in his better mood. [999] Now he refers to the Shepherd's (ii. 1) [1000] view of pardon, even to adulterers. But surely it might be objected even more plausibly against "the Shepherd," whom he prefers, in common with all Christians, as see John viii. 1-11, which I take to be canonical Scripture. A curious question is suggested
Tertullian—On Modesty

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Adam's Sin
Q-15: WHAT WAS THE SIN WHEREBY OUR FIRST PARENTS FELL FROM THE ESTATE WHEREIN THEY WERE CREATED? A: That sin was eating the forbidden fruit. 'She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband.' Gen 3:3. Here is implied, 1. That our first parents fell from their estate of innocence. 2. The sin by which they fell, was eating the forbidden fruit. I. Our first parents fell from their glorious state of innocence. God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' Eccl
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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