Have you ever wondered why God pointed out Job? In "Lessons from Dinosaurs and Dragons" chapter 2, "The Accuser" takes a look at the dynamic that happened in the courts of heaven that day. Here is a snippet that may answer some of your questions:
A great portion of Job’s frustration and
confusion was the fact that he had not witnessed the scene in heaven prior to
all of his troubles. He did not see
Satan come before God. He did not hear
the accusation against him. He did not
see Satan go out from God’s presence intent on tearing him to shreds. He did not understand how or why anything was
happening. Job attributed every ounce of
his pain directly from the hand of God alone.
One of Satan’s best tactics is to mask his role
in the world. He gets people to think
it’s all God’s fault or all their own fault without taking any of the blame
himself. Many theologies say he doesn’t
even exits. Bad stuff just happens. We live in a fallen world due to the sin of
humanity; therefore, we should expect bad stuff to happen to us. The choices made in the Garden did bring
death and decay into existence, but is that the whole answer?
1 Peter 5: 8 gives us a wonderful illustration
of how Satan is working. He is prowling
around like a lion just looking for the opportunity to swallow us up. This is the exact description given to us in
Job. He has just come from “roaming
throughout on the earth, going back and forth on it.”
After finding what he was looking for, he came
to the Heavenly Court to present his accusation to the Judge on the appointed
day. In this scene Satan plays the role
of the Accuser—the Prosecutor. God is
the Just Judge who will hear both the Accuser’s case and the Defense. We humans are the defendants.
From other places in the Bible we can piece
together a fuller picture of what went on and learn more about how the heavenly
court works. For instance Christ Jesus
is our Defense Attorney entering a plea of guilty or not guilty. God listens to all the witnesses including
the Holy Spirit, human beings, and sometimes evidence from the earth itself. What happens next is just like a court
room. In fact, our humanly courts are
set up as a reflection of how it works in heaven. God gave Moses a set of instructions on how
to carry out court. It has been a model
for judicial systems for millennia. There
is a hearing of testimony, a judgment and a sentence.
Here in Job we have an abbreviated retelling of
what happened in heaven focusing mainly on the accusation, the conviction, and
the sentence. It starts with the opening
statement. Satan needed a little
prompting to get started—though his silence was probably just a ploy. “Where have you come from?” God asked. And the heavenly court room drama unfolds:
“Just patrolling the Earth checking out what’s
going on there.”
“Have you noticed my servant Job? He’s the finest man in all the Earth.” Wait, WHAT!?
Did God just single out his favorite guy? Why would he do that?
The three Hebrew words interpreted “considered”
or “noticed” in most versions of the Bible are literally “set heart on.” God did not point at Job and say, “Hey, have
you noticed how wonderful my servant Job is?
He’s pretty great, eh? Why can’t
you be more like Job? You want to mess
with him and see if he gives up?” Not at
all! God was telling Satan He knew what
Satan was up to—stalking God’s most righteous servant. God knew Satan had “set his heart on” Job.
In fact the scene in heaven could be read just
like this:
“Satan, where have you been?”
“Oh, nowhere, just the earth.”
“What were you doing down there?”
“Nothing, just roaming about, back and forth.”
“You saw my most upright, perfect servant, Job,
while you were there. I know you’re
interested in him because there is no one like him on the face of the
earth. He is blameless and fears me. He refuses to give into your temptations, and
you can’t stand it. You’ve set your
heart on him, haven’t you?”
From His very earliest dealings with his
creation, God has used questions to help us arrive at the truth. Remember when man had sinned in the Garden of
Eden? The first thing God asked was,
“Where are you?” God did not ask this
question because He did not know the answer, but so that Adam through
conversation would eventually come to the admission that he was guilty of
disobeying God. Admission of the problem is the first
step in restoring our relationship.
Humans have a really hard time admitting our faults—especially when we
think it will get us in trouble. So,
rather than barking at us until we admit our guilt, God guides us at our own
rate to the truth. A truth He already
knows full well. He often instructs us through questions.
That is the same thing that is happening here in
Job. God doesn’t ask Satan where he has
been because He doesn’t know, but in order for Satan to admit what He has
done.
It’s a lot like when Johnny was about four years
old and his momma asked him, “What have you been eating?”
And he, in all his four year old wisdom,
answered, “Nothing.”
She continued to prod, “What’s that on your
face?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve been eating chocolate chip cookies,
haven’t you?”
She knew before she ever asked, that he had been
eating chocolate chip cookies, but she was giving Johnny an opportunity to
admit that he had broken the rules. She
used guiding questions to get to the point because Johnny wasn’t about to tell
on himself. That is what God is doing. He knew exactly were Satan had been and
exactly what he had been doing—and why.
However, Satan had come to God’s throne before,
and he is no small child with crumbs on his face. He had been anticipating this conversation
before he ever approached the Bench. He is
an expert at this game and hadn’t come to the Judge until he was fully prepared. He had a trap that he thought God could not
overlook.
Satan, as
a brilliant tactician, had prepared by looking for a hole in Job’s
defenses. However, Job was protected behind
a hedge erected by the Law of God.
Finding a flaw would be no easy task.
The rules God instituted are for our good, intended to keep us safe and
protected. By following them religiously
Job did not give Satan grounds for prosecution in the Court of Heaven. Through all his obsession and pacing, his
studying and digging into Job, Satan could find no chink in Job’s character; he
was blameless.
He had
surveilled the perimeter of the hedge and could find nothing to accuse. Job’s
defense was flawless. He gave to the
poor and needy. He was just in all his
judgment. He did not steal, or lie, or
covet. He didn’t lust after women. He did not worship any other God but the
Almighty who created the earth. He didn’t
abuse others for personal gain. He
regularly made the prescribed sacrifices.
He believed God and acted on it. He
was dutiful and faithful. He was the
most perfect man in all the earth.
There was only one technicality that Satan could
find. The trap he couldn’t wait to
spring. Satan found an accusation but,
it wasn’t a behavioral issue; it was a heart issue. The only thing with which The Accuser could
prosecute Job was his motivation.
“Yes, but
Job only obeys you because of what you do for him by blessing him with stuff
and protecting him. He doesn’t love you
the way You deserve. He only does what
You want cause he’s scared. It’s not for
Love; he’s just using You. Now, destroy
him for abusing the system!”
God’s answer is astonishing. It’s not at all what I would have
expected. Rather than defending Job because
of all of his good deeds, He says, “Behold, all that he has is in your power,
only do not put forth your hand on him.” [NASB] This word “Behold” is
unfamiliar to most of us these days. In
other places in the Bible it is interpreted “see, indeed, surely.” The NIV interprets it, “very well.” It is a positive affirmation. God in this one little word says, “Indeed, I
see.” In other words, “Yes, I
know.” Job obeys God perfectly, but in a
do-to-get manner.
Satan had his conviction. What sentence did the Prosecutor win? Remove the blessings Job thinks he has earned
with his obedience. Let “all that [Job]
feared come upon [him].” [see 3:25]
There is more to it of course. If you'd like to read the full chapter follow the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gI9JrwU1CBNldvRkJLUlJNSFU/edit?usp=sharing
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