Job 1:14–15

Four blows fell on Job. Their number suggests the trial the Lord's servant was put through. The first blow fell on his oxen and donkeys, the means of labour, which is the chief source of wealth... The Sabeans were a mixed nomadic race of nearby Arabians. They swooped down suddenly, killed all the servants except the one who escaped to tell the tale, and made off with all the spoil. We can see Satan's work in stirring up the greed of these people, who were always ready to murder and rob. But the supernatural part was the timing. Along with everything else, it happened at just this moment, God permitting it all.

Soon the results of that permission appear on earth. The rest of the chapter shows us disaster following quickly on disaster. Not a finger of Satan appears; yet his hand was in everything. Ordinary instruments carried out these earthly events, and they fell with extraordinary speed. That was no small part of the trial... Job felt, as we too should, that all was under the eye of God. Never let us forget Him. If Satan's hand was hidden under these afflicting strokes, God's hand was above Satan. How sure and great the comfort!

Satan marshalled all his forces against Job. In one day Job had news of four sudden calamities. They stripped him of all his possessions and all his children. The first messenger told him about a raiding band of enemies, the Sabeans. They had killed the servants in charge of Job's oxen and donkeys, and had stolen the animals (vv. 14-15). Satan had allowed one man to live, who carried this message to Job.

In the case of Job we find God saying with authority and permission to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." Here was the limit of the permission; Satan could get no more... Here we see the remarkable extent of Satan's power. But God's absolute power over Satan reaches further still.

The history of the calamities that came on Job lets us see the truth. His sudden losses of flocks and herds and children came from the malice of Satan. To outward appearance, the Sabeans captured the oxen and sheep. The Chaldeans carried away his camels. Fire from heaven burned up his sheep. The hurricane killed his sons and daughters. But the inspired narrative tells us that all these disasters came from the evil plotting of Satan. The Lord permitted that plotting. Yet He overruled it all for the eventual and greater blessing of Job.

Job, in prosperity, was rejoicing not in the Lord but in his prosperity; he was living in circumstances... God had seen Job rejoicing in his circumstances. Job had not reached the height of soul that belongs to someone who walks above circumstances. That uncovers the real root of Job's failure. He was occupied with circumstances, not with the God of circumstances.

The first blow fell upon his oxen and donkeys, the means of labour which is the chief source of wealth... The Sabeans were a mixed nomadic people from nearby Arabia. They swooped down without warning, killed all the servants except the one who escaped to tell the tale, and made off with all the spoil. We can see Satan's work in stirring up the greed of these people, who were always ready to murder and to rob. But the supernatural part was the timing: this raid, along with all the rest, took place at just this moment, and God permitted it all.

In Job 1:15 the error occurs of calling the men of Sheba "Sabeans."

Job's sons and daughters are eating and drinking wine, just like the world today. They give little thought to the sudden destruction that awaits them. The oxen were ploughing, and the donkeys feeding beside them — everything going on its usual way. Happy-looking world! To look at you, there might be no tempting devil in you at all. How quickly and how well Satan did his work... We hear of a dreaded invasion, and men talk about the emperor, the press, and the people. But how few remember the great adversary Satan.

The enemy arranged it with great skill. These disasters were to look like judgments sent by God — judgments without mercy — and yet they came about by outward, earthly means... "and I alone have escaped" — just far enough to tell the miserable news, and so, as the only survivor, to make it all the more painful. If in each case not one had escaped, the news could never have come in this way. The damage was complete; yet Job felt, as we too should, that all was under the eye of God. If Satan's hand was hidden under these blows, God's hand was above Satan. How sure and great the comfort!

It was a most instructive scene. We see three causes and two effects. The great First Cause is God. The second, lesser cause is Satan. The third and still lesser cause — or rather, causes — are the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, and what men would call the forces of nature. The first effect was a complete sweeping away of all Job's family and possessions. The second and final effect was a crushing blow delivered against Job.

The third causes were fire from heaven, whirlwind, evil men, in the case of Job, and the thorn in the flesh in the case of Paul. Behind these in each case lay the power and the hostility of Satan; but behind him, as the first cause, was the hand of God. Job's safety and blessing lay in turning away from the third causes, and even from the second cause, so that he might accept everything from the hand of God. It was the same with Paul.

In the case of Job we find God saying with authority and permission to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." Here was the limit of the permission; Satan could get no more... Here we see how remarkable Satan's power is. But God's absolute power over that power reaches much further.