Such a strong case can be made for the “satan” being a fellow worshipper that there simply must be some truth in it. “There was a day [a set feast] when the sons of God [the believers—1 John 3:1; Matthew 5:9] came to present themselves before Yahweh [before a priest, or other representative of Yahweh, probably at an altar, Deuteronomy 19:17; Psalms 42:2], and Satan came also among them”. Here we have a picture of an early ecclesia [assembly]; scattered believers coming together for a special meeting, the forerunner of our breaking of bread service. As we walk, drive, ride on train or bus, to our memorial meetings, we are repeating what in principle has been done by the sons of God from earliest times. The “satan” says he has been “going to and from in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (1:7). There is good reason, linguistically and theologically, to think that the events of Job occurred early in spiritual history (compare the mentions of “Jobab” and some of the friends in 1 Chronicles 5). There are also many links with the early chapters of Genesis. We should therefore see Satan’s description of himself as being in the context of Genesis 4:12-14, where Cain is made a wanderer in the earth because of his bitter jealousy against his righteous brother. So the “satan” may have been another believer who was in some sense ‘out of fellowship’, and yet still came to the gatherings of the believers to express his envy of Job. The reference to the sons of God coming together in worship before a priest or altar comes straight after the record of Job’s children holding rather riotous birthday parties (1:4). “All the days”, each day, they did this, Job offered sacrifice for them (1:5 AV mg.); but then “there was a day” when the sons of God came to keep a feast to Yahweh. It seems that we are led to connect the keeping of days. It could be that the sons of God were in fact Job’s children. They came together to party and kill their fatted calves, and then they came together to kill their sacrifices; but the difference was, that then they allowed the “satan” to come in among them. Young preachers, take your lesson.
It must be noted that the “satan” never occurs again, under that name. The real adversary of Job was his “friends”; and in God’s final judgment, it is they who are condemned, not “satan”. It is therefore reasonable to see a connection between the “satan” and the “friends” of Job; they too walked to and fro in the earth in order to come to him, as it seems Satan did at the beginning. And we pause here for another lesson. The great satan/adversary of Job turned out to be those he thought were his friends in the ecclesia. And so it has been, time and again, in our experience: our sorest trials often come from the words of our brethren. Without underestimating the physical affliction of Job, his real adversary was his brethren. Rather than bemoaning his physical affliction, he commented how his friends had become his “satans” (19:19) And so with the Lord Jesus, whom Job so accurately typified. Again, without minimizing the material agony of His flesh, the essential piercing was from His rejection at the hands of those He died for.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Duncan Heaster
Keywords: Satanology, Satan, devil, adversary, Job's Satan, Job
Bible reference(s): Job 1:6-9, Job 1:12, Job 2:1-7
Source: “The Real Devil A Biblical Exploration.”
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.