Why Did God Allow Satan to Make Job Miserable?

Why Did God Do What Satan Did and Make Job Miserable?

{10 Minutes}

This question was sent in by a viewer, and for reasons unknown they have chosen not to make their name public. No biggie and I am excited to tackle this subject! To begin, the premise of this question is false and needs to be corrected. God did not do the things satan did, satan did them and Scripture makes that clear. "And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:12)." So the question actually is why did God allow satan to test Job? Many view this problem along the lines of God wanting to prove a bet to Satan, or that God himself is testing Job but God clearly permits satan to test Job. The quick response to these objections is that if God made a bet, don't you think He knew the outcome of it?

God Exists Outside of Time

The Book of Job is probably the oldest text of the Bible. Its setting is definitely in a patriarchal time period given by the name of God as Shaddai and the animal sacrifices without any temple or strict regulation. We see in verses 6-11 that satan approaches God with a bet that Job is only righteous because God blesses him for it. God tells satan "No satan, I said Job was righteous." Now Job was not righteous like Jesus, this is a more relative righteous in that Job's lifestyle is a repentant God-seeking one. But there's more to that, God said; as in God declares the answer to satan's bet. This means that this situation is a case of large mental constipation on satan's behalf. Satan is defying the only being able to have awareness transcendent to time, what a shame, and my first time reading over that made me giggle at the arrogance in his claims. Besides, God's knowledge of time is as a whole and therefore His perspective is long-term and not present-term like we are, that's part of the reason why we can trust Him, there is another big factor that goes into this.

The Book of Job is Written From an Observational Perspective

The Book of Job records this event from an observational perspective and therefore this event seems like God is making a bet unknowingly to create suspense in the story, it is written from a present-term perspective just like the reader. Even this suspense leaves when one stops and thinks about what is happening here. Job repeatedly declares His innocence before God, but his view of God's nature may have strayed a little.

Job's Understanding of God

The book of Job begins by telling us that Job was upright and blameless (Job 1:1). This again does not mean that Job was perfectly righteous by God's standards like Jesus, the Bible makes it clear that we cannot be perfectly righteous by our works, that is the entire message of the Gospel (Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Gal 2:16; Romans 5:1-2, 11:6; John 3:15 etc.). "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness (Matthew 7:21-23)." Jesus makes it clear that a person can live a good life and not be following God.

Job 1:5 tells us that Job offered sacrifices to God for his sons and daughters who were partying constantly and abusing Job's wealth. His mindset is that if he provides enough sacrifice to God, his children will be with God after death. Once satan comes and Job loses his property and children, Job tore his robe and shaved his head which are ancient norms of expressing intense grief. Job says these words "The Lord has gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." Most plain readings interpret this to be Job's true faith in God, but Micheal Jones says that this may be similar to the prosperity gospel today. The view that God gives us wealth and material blessings as salvation, perhaps Job's routine of sacrificing for his sons and daughters is spilling over here into an expectation that God will bless him no matter what. To my understanding, this view has some substance but I think it still reveals that Job had trust in God, just as God said He would. This is supported by the next verse that says "in this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." Job was hurt and afflicted by what happened, but he remained faithful that God would redeem this.

In Chapter 2 satan afflicts Job with sores that cover his entire body, and Job's wife finally tells him to "curse God and die." Job responds by asking her that if we accept good from God, then why shouldn't we accept affliction from Him? This again shows that Job understands the logical application of original sin and natural cause and effect, but these events are still causing emotions to stir in his heart. The last verse of chapter 2 says "and Job did not sin with his lips." This tells us that Job is not going to declare with his voice what these emotions are towards God. Let's pause for a second, this is so similar to when we experience trouble. We feel the affliction and grief and hurt, but still remain logically sound in understanding that the world is cursed and we exist within a cause-and-effect universe, so natural sin will occur simply because of the fall (Gen 3:17). This raises a key theme in Job, life is unfair and contingent, God is fair and sovereign. In Chapter 3 we see Job's friends visit him for seven days before speaking a word and then they talk about how Job's suffering is because of his sin. This goes on back and forth between Job declaring his innocence and his friends speaking opposite. Eventually, Job's emotional rollercoaster starts derailing and he starts to question God's justice (27:2, 16:9, 9:22-23). But in 27:8 Job is in despair at the thought of God being unjust, the thought discomforts him because he wants to believe God is just and good. Finally, Job demands God to show up and declare His reason for the suffering.

Elihu the Buzite shows up and offers alternate explanations as to why God would be justified in allowing Job to suffer. He says that God could allow suffering to be a warning for people to avoid future sin or teach them valuable lessons. Elihu reassures Job that it is wrong to accuse God of being unjust based on one occurrence.

Free-Will and Love

Before we finish off the Book of Job let me get something straight that more thoroughly answers the question as to why God even allows satan to be active in the world. The answer is free will. God wanted to create a universe that consisted of Morally responsible Free-Willed agency that He could love and enjoy a relationship with. When God created the universe and man, His goal was for the eternal relationship. This Free-will agency must be Morally responsible because we are made in the Image of God, His moral likeness. Because we are made in His image, we can reflect, communicate, create irreducible complexity, and much more that sets us apart from animals and matter. So when God created His Angels, they had some level of free will because satan envied God's position as Sovereign and wanted that for himself. In this, God honored satan's free-willed choice and gave him the logical outcome, that being "Go ahead satan, try and rule the world like me on your own and see where that gets you in my universe."

The issue with satan's choice and the consequences has to do with the fact that God is the Necessary Reality, what I mean by that is that at the very base of every possible universe or reality is God. God resides at the base cause for all existence, He is the uncaused cause of the first cause; the universe that came into existence in the finite past! So when satan desired to rule his own universe his own way, God let him try to in the only universe that exists. Satan tempted Adam and Eve (because God allowed him to try and rule, so satan wants all of God's creation to corrupt away from Him, including God's most magnificent and favored creation, Mankind) to disobey God's Will and desire to rule as their own gods aswell. But Man was created for a relationship with God, and yet we still fell, why is that? For God to have the outcome of free choice righteousness, it entails time required for the choices to be made. Once the individuals who chose not to love God and follow His will have been separated from the others, then God can continue with this. The result is a cause-and-effect universe that begs for redemption from those who are actively seeking God's will. God's response to that is salvation by faith in Him. The logical inconsistency is trying to obtain righteousness separate from righteousness because good flows from God's nature, so it doesn't make sense to search for good away from the only place it originates from.

In God's sovereign mercy, He upholds the universe to a degree, in His sovereign justice He punishes all evil, and in His Sovereign Grace, He redeems those who truly seek it. God promises that all evil will be ended one day. God's respect for Free will flow from His Love.

God's Appearencde to Job

After Elihu speaks and Job does not respond, God appears to Job in response to his doubts about His justice and order. God shows Job the vast universe, the hosts of the heavens, how innumerable they are, and how each star is different. God reveals to Job the sheer awesomeness of His power in creating all space-time and energy. He starts questioning Job if he was present when God designed the constants, the earth, and the solar system (Job 38:4). Can Job maintain the natural world, upholding all existence by his power? Did Job design the breeding behaviors of animals and set the natural laws that allow the water cycle? God reminds Job that He has eyes on all of this and then more, that God is running the universe according to His plan of the redemption of mankind, which may entail a cause-and-effect universe for meaningful interaction that may result in natural evil.

God's revelation to Job is that the universe is a vast and complex place and that Job does not have a universal vantage point to judge how God operates the universe. Job's present-term perspective on what's happening tells him God may be unjust and evil, but God sat outside the tent waiting for him patiently. God then asks Job if he wants to rule according to this divine retribution doctrine they lived by. The point of Job is that God's universe has both Good and Bad, Ordered and chaotic, beautiful and dangerous aspects. God's response to us does not directly answer why there is suffering, but it does open up the realization that the universe as a whole is extremely complex and the sequence of life can seem undetermined to those within it. But this invites us to deeper reflection that God exists outside of time, and He makes it clear that this is not His ideal world, it was good. Through Man's desire to have dominion over creation apart from God's direct presence, was the universe cursed and let go. God winded up the universe, and since then it's been winding out. God's universe was not designed to prevent suffering.

Conclusion

God allowed satan to test Job because of free will. This question can be answered by Frank Turek. "I would answer that but you tell me first, if God were to punish all evil, wouldn't He begin with you and me?" God's plan is to redeem man, and by their choice of evil, fish out good. God created a vast cause-and-effect universe where there is a free-willed agency within. We are free to choose, but not free to avoid cause and effect. When you sin, you are forgiven, but not voided from the consequences of your sin in the natural world.

I don't know exactly why God allowed satan to test Job, that reasoning is beyond my existence "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:34-36)." But what I do know is that God has proven Himself to be Just. God invited Job to trust in Him, and then Job apologized for his accusation and admitted to his position. God tells Job that his friend's views were too simple to be correct, but that what Job claimed about God being just was correct. God honored Job's struggle through grief without straying from trust, and his honesty before Him, and Job's prayer and desire to speak to God. Chapter 42 ends with Job being blessed with wealth and family once again, not because Job was righteous, but as a gracious gift from God.

I hope this answers your question, and moreover, I hope it taught you something about the Book of Job. I pray that whatever struggle you are experiencing, that you can humbly rely on the comforter, the rest, the guidance and warmth of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' presence. May we all struggle, but not fall like Job, and remain seeking Christ to bring light to the darkness of the world. Amen

Artwork link: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/job-rebuked-by-his-friends-1757-1827-william-blake.html

Job Rebuked by His Friends, 1757-1827 by William Blake