Job 2:1-10 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD… The trial of Job, as it is portrayed, suggests three truths. I. SATAN IS A PERSONAL BEING. That this is the old doctrine no one denies; but it is asked by many, whether such belief has not been outgrown with all our progress in theological thought. Over against all speculative opinion we have to set the plain teaching of God's Word. The language here is figurative, but it must mean something. Satan is not an abstraction. Observe that Satan here is called the accuser. Milton's story of the fallen angels is only a human invention. The interpretation which makes him a mere personification of evil would make Jesus Christ a mere personification of goodness. II. GOD PERMITS SATAN TO TEMPT BELIEVERS. The great enemy of the soul in its race toward heaven is Satan. III. GOD SETS A LIMIT TO THE POWER OF SATAN. "Behold, he is in thine hand; only spare his life." The tempter could go no further than he was permitted to. But the mystery to Job was that such permission was given at all. If his troubles had come from an enemy, or even from his "miserable comforters," he could have borne them more easily; but that they should have fallen from his Father's hand, that puzzled him. That is the puzzle of human life. Our best relief is that Satan's power has a limit; it cannot go beyond God's permission. No soul needs to be under the control of temptation — it cannot hold the human will; it is not the supreme force in the world. One thing is stronger: the power of God in Jesus Christ, and that power is pledged to every soul in its fight with sin. (T. J. Holmes.) Parallel Verses KJV: Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. |
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