Job 2:1-13
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroya him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.
SATAN INFLICTS BODILY SUFFERING ON HIM
(vv.1-10),
Another day comes when Satan presents himself to God among the sons of God, and his response to God's first question was the same as in Chapter 1. Then God faces him with the fact that Job had not done what Satan said he would if deprived of his possessions (v.3). Certainly Satan ought to have acknowledged he had been wrong and to have apologised for his manifest error. But Satan is like too many people. Instead of admitting wrong, they want to bolster their pride by introducing another possibility which is just as faulty as Satan's first claim.
Satan's words, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life" are sadly true of an unbeliever, but faith is something that Satan does not understand. He confidently asserted that if God would afflict Job bodily, Job would surely curse God to His face (vv.4-5).
Therefore God gave Satan permission to do as he pleased in afflicting Job's body, while sparing his life (v.6). It may seem heartless on God's part to give Satan such permission, but God's pure love was in this in a way that unbelief cannot understand, for this eventually worked for greater blessing, But Satan did show himself heartless, for he wanted only to accomplish Job's downfall.
We may wonder how Satan has ability to inflict a man with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (v.7), but this does show that Satan can cause physical ills as well as promoting spiritual falsehood, and he will use all of these to the fullest advantage he can. But thank God, Satan cannot steal away the faith of the child of God! In fact, when Satan has done his worst, he vanishes from the scene, for we do not read any more about him in this book. Though he was so completely defeated, we do not read that he ever honestly admitted defeat.
However, we read much more of Job. Sitting in an ash heap, he used a potsherd to scrape the sores that pained him. What a dreadful contrast to his former prosperity and dignity! Also, his wife, his only near relative remaining, was not only no help to him, but practically abusive. She could not understand his uncomplaining attitude, and asked him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity?" But worse still, she advised him to "curse God and die!" (v.9).
How true and faithful was Job's response! - "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (v.10). Job did not call her a foolish woman, but rightly said she was speaking as one. He was careful still to guard his lips, so that in all this he did not sin. This is not the usual way in which men would be affected, and his patient self-restraint is surely to be admired.
THREE FRIENDS COME
(vv.11-13)
Though Satan had been defeated, yet God had serious lessons still for Job to learn, so that He allowed three of his friends to come in order that Job would express to them what was really in his heart, and at the same time that his friends would learn the sin of their own hearts. These friends had made an appointment to come together to commiserate with Job and comfort him (v.11). This was their avowed object, though they actually went further than this.
On arrival they were deeply affected in seeing Job's condition, they wept and tore their garments, sprinkling dust on their heads in token of humbly feeling their compassion for him (v.12). They must have had a great deal of regard for Job, for they sat down with him for seven days, not speaking (v.13).