Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

The words cited in the question were spoken by Elihu, who was the only speaker in the book of Job who sought to present God's perspective on Job's situation, rather than agreeing with Job, who insisted that he had done nothing to warrant the adversity that he had experienced (and therefore implicitly questioned God's right to have allowed it, which Elihu characterized in the verse cited in the question as rebellion against God); or agreeing with Job's three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar), who each argued in some way that Job must have done something to deserve the suffering with which he had been afflicted.

However, the rebellion of which Elihu spoke had nothing to do with why God allowed Satan to attack Job. Instead, as indicated by the interplay between God and Satan that occurred in Job 1 and Job 2 (and of which Job was not aware), God had permitted Job's suffering to demonstrate to Satan (and to readers down to the modern day) that those who followed and obeyed God did so (and still should do so) not out of the hope or expectation of any earthly or physical reward or blessing that they might receive for doing so, but merely because He deserves such worship and obedience as their Creator, their Sustainer, and (as fulfilled in the New Testament) their Redeemer (as Job himself referred to God in Job 19:25).

August 06 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Grant Abbott Child of Father, Follower of Son, Student of Spirit

For us to understand the book of Job, we must be careful not to believe everything that Job’s friends told him. Their advice is a mixture of truth and lies. Some things they believed about God are true. Others are false. The same is true of the advice given by Eliphaz in chapters 34 to 37. The verse cited, Job 34:37, is one of those lies. Nowhere in this book are we given any evidence that Job rebelled against God.

God himself is angry with all these friends of Job for lying about God. In Job 42:7 God says to Eliphaz, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” God told them to sacrifice a burnt offering because of their sin. He also told Job to pray for his friends so God would forgive them and not destroy them.

So what was Job’s sin, if any? When God allowed Satan to destroy Job’s family and take away all his possessions, the biblical account says “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). When Satan took away Job’s health and afflicted him with painful sores from head to foot, the bible says “in all this, Job did not sin in what he said” (Job 2:10). In fact his wife wanted him to curse God and die (Job 2:9).

After the first attack from Satan, Job’s response was, “He got up and tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:20-21). After the second attack from Satan, Job responded to his wife with “you are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble” (Job 2:10). This sounds like a man who kept his integrity and did not deny his faith.

But Job did sin. How? By demanding that God explain why he had brought all this affliction upon Job. Job wanted what he thought was justice. If God had something against him, then Job wanted God to reveal it to him. This was not because he wanted to defend his own righteousness, Job genuinely believed he was innocent of any sin, so why was God punishing him? God reveals Job’s sin in his response to Job in chapters 38-41. Specifically God says, “Will the one who contends with the almighty correct him?” (Job 40:2). “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” (Job 41:8)

You see, Job, the created one, was complaining that the creator, God, was being unfair, that God was unjust. Job recognized his sin, confessed it and repented. ”I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Surely I spoke of things I didn’t understand, things too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)

So, in my view, the vital questions from this book really are:
1)	Why did God allow Satan to punish Job if it was not because of his sin? [To show Satan that the faith implanted by God is unshakeable].

2)	When bad things happen to people, is it always because God is punishing people for their sins? [No, Satan punishes everyone who is not inheriting salvation]

3)	Does God use Satan to punish people? [No, God's angels punished Sodom & Gommorah]

4)	When good things happen to people is it because God is pleased with them. [No, the apostle Paul had many hardships in life]

5) Can Satan hurt people whom God has chosen to inherit his salvation [No, God may permit discipline to achieve his will]

You see, the ancient people believed that when good things happened to people (ie they prospered), that the gods were pleased with them. When disasters came calling, it was because the gods were angry at them. This theology is very evident in the advice of Job’s three friends. Even though they believe in one true God who created the universe, they believed this God always operated in predictable ways. That God always blessed the righteous and always punished the wicked.

August 09 2018 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jamal Smith

God did not allow satan to afflict Job. Satan chose to afflict Job because that’s who he is. Job’s sin was in accusing God and blaming God for things God did not do. We tend to believe that because Job did not sin in the first two chapters of Job, as it is written, that Job did not sin at all. Job continues throughout the conversation with his friends to justify himself and say that’s God is the one who placed all the calamity on him when it was satan who did. In the first chapter, Job says that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away but the Lord took nothing from Job. He did not “allow” it to prove a point either as, if this were true, God would have been tempted to do evil and we know, it is written that, God cannot be tempted with evil neither does He tempt any man. 

The devil went around seeking whom he could devour and Job was on his hit list. He knew Job was on his hit list because Job feared satan. He even stated that which he greatly feared has come upon him. When you fear satan, you basically are an open target. This is why the Lord says over 300 times, “Do not fear.” Job feared him and that is what took down his hedge of protection.

God never handed Job over to the devil either. In Job 1, God’s Words are, “Behold, all that he hath is in your care.” This does not mean God is giving all that Job has over to the devil; it was God stating that satan is a liar. Satan, in his nature, accused God of placing a hedge of protection around Job and blessed everything that Job has and that’s the reason Job worshipped Him but take that away and Job will curse you. God had to say, “Look, all that he has is yours” as in, “I didn’t control this. Job is worshipping me of his own will, not because I am making him do it.” God Then adds, “However, his life, you can’t touch.” This is not God allowing satan to afflict Job, this is actually god doing the opposite. This is God restricting satan from doing what satan desires to do which is kill us. 

At the end of Job, when Job was healed, the Bible says that God turned Job’s captivity meaning He freed Job from the prison of sickness. If God was the one in control of it, He would not have turned the captivity. He turned the captivity because it was satan doing all these things.

August 12 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report