The Satan and His Surrogates!

from Google Images

The satan, vis-à-vis Job’s enemy, has made a wager with the Lord, asking: “Does Job serve the Lord for nothing?” His challenge was that the whole method of the Lord’s treatment of people was a farse. It didn’t reflect reality. It is all about stuff. Job served the Lord for what he could get, not for any altruistic reason. Job wasn’t righteous for nothing. He behaved as he did, because he received blessings of wealth from the Lord. In other words, righteousness was only as real as the Lord’s blessings. Take away the blessings, and righteousness would disappear, as well! However, we don’t hear about Job’s satan after chapter two. In fact, he has no active role beyond Job 2:7. Afterward, his surrogates speak for him, Job’s wife and later Job’s friends.

 

The Lord’s Part in Job’s Trials

from Google Images

According to our present study, it appears that in the course of time, while the Lord rules among the gods of this earth, one or more of these men of rank (human gods according to Psalm 82) may challenge God to prove those whom he judges righteous. Job was righteous, and righteous folks have enemies, in that the unrighteous are jealous of them, even offended in them. Why is this? Many presume, or presume it is thought by righteous folks, that the moral character presents a context that the righteous are better than the unrighteous. One man even complained to me that, because I contended God’s people had his Spirit within them, I was claiming the righteous were more advanced or greater human beings than the unrighteous or those who didn’t believe in God. Thus, the unrighteous seem to be challenged or duty-bound to prove there is no difference between righteous folks and the unrighteous.