Job 1:11

True to his character, Satan can only accuse. He cannot deny Job's righteousness, but attacks his motives. Having no motive himself but selfishness, he declares that Job is driven by that alone. Why should he not be righteous? Does it not pay? He is prosperous, blessed in every way, and nothing is allowed to come near him to injure him. Let God only remove that safeguard, and let Job be stripped of all his wealth, "and he will curse You to Your face."

The underlying motive with such people is earthly gain; so they hold that "gain" is the goal of piety. In other words, they teach that Christianity is only a way to improve our condition and add to our worldly advantage. This we know, from the history of Job, is really a suggestion of the devil... Satan's vile suggestion is that no such thing as godliness exists. If a man claims to be godly, it is not that he fears God, or cares for God. He simply knows it pays.

It was a two-handed attack. It was a blow aimed at God, for it meant, "You have created man for Your pleasure, and You can only gain his service by paying him well." It was also a blow aimed at Job, for as "the accuser of our brothers," Satan moved God against him. But was the accusation false or true? That had to be proved for the sakes of all concerned and for ours also. The question was, should God or Satan triumph in the experience of Job?

It was not Satan's lightning, but God's, that struck Job's property. It was God's whirlwind, not Satan's, that destroyed his family. Satan had demanded this — "Stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has" (Job 1:11). Job sees only God's hand in his suffering — "The Lord has taken away" (v. 21). And God Himself says to Satan, "You incited Me against him to destroy him without reason" (Job 2:3).

In the Old Testament the touch expresses God giving His power to people, as with Isaiah (Isa. 6:7), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:9) and Daniel (Dan. 10:10, 16, 18). In Job's case it refers instead to the sending of personal trial (Job 1:11; Job 2:5).

What a perfect rebuke to man's dream of a God who is indifferent to everything! What a rebuke to the mere theory of an earth moving forward under natural laws! It was Jehovah who raised the question here. Satan could only use Job's prosperity to hint at self-interest... Jehovah gives the adversary permission to stretch out his hand, but not against Job's person. What a comfort that even the enemy's hand is under God's hand! Everything on the side of evil has its measure; on the side of good it is infinite.

But God did give Satan permission to do as he pleased with Job's possessions, though not to touch his person. Did God allow this only to prove that Satan was speaking falsely? No, for God had work to do with Job himself, to bring him greater blessing than he could have imagined was possible. God would use the enmity of Satan to this end.

He would put the precious ore into the crucible. He knew how much unsuspected evil lay hidden beneath all that outward excellence, mixed even with the inner piety of this good man. He would show that even piety cannot feed on itself, nor righteousness lean on its own arm.