In our last devotion, we considered the place "the satan" in Job 1-2 in functional terms. My reasoning for doing this was to guard against taking our own existing ideas about who the satan is and reading this back into the text. There are two extremes we need to avoid (which is the case in many areas of Christian thought!). We don't want to be overly fixated on our preconcieved notions of Satan as a powerful and dangerous enemy, nor do we want to dismiss entirely the existance of supernatural antagonists acting in our world.

Nevertheless, there are characteristics we see in "the satan" in Job, which point us to the later Satan we read of in the New Testament (which is why most of our English translations capitalise Satan as a name in Job). His abrupt manner in questioning God hints at contempt and betrays an oppositional posture. His attempted character assassination of the faithful Job reveals his sceptical framework. His refusal to accept God's assessment shows an unwillingness to be persuaded by clear evidence and truth. There is warrant in the text to see the flaming arrows of the evil one aimed squarely at Job in an attempt to undermine faith in the character of God and his blessed name. This is precisely what Satan does: he seeks to destroy our faith in God (see Luke 22:31-32)

Referring to the satan in the book of Job, Sinclair Ferguson writes:

“Is there any book in the Old Testament—indeed, in the whole Bible, that analyzes Satan’s schemes in greater detail than what we find in the book of Job? Job experiences the full force of Satan’s strategies, employed against himself and his family... These scenes portray Satan, the enemy of God and therefore of man, coming into the presence of God and debating whether God can be trusted, loved, and obeyed simply because He is God. Satan points to earth and says to God: “You cannot be trusted, loved, and obeyed simply for Yourself. Anyone who seems to do that does it only for what he believes You will give him in return.” (By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me, p.85).

This of course raises the question of the activity of Satan in our world today, and the possibility of what we might call "Satanic" or demonic attacks in our own life. We will turn to this concern on Friday. But for now, this remains our challenge from the book of Job: Do we worship God and praise His glorious Name, not mainly for what we hope to receive from him, but ultimately because God is God and is worthy of worship for no other reason than that?