And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
Between the two waves of Job's suffering, heaven speaks again. God repeats His earlier praise of Job, adds that Job still holds on, and then says something startling: Satan had moved Him to ruin a man for no reason.
What God Calls Job
God repeats the same four-part description He gave at the start. Where the ESV says "blameless," older translations say "perfect." One writer takes the words apart:
William Kelly"That man was perfect." This does not mean there was no evil in him. That is not what "perfect" means in Scripture at all. In the Old Testament it is the word for a man who is completely sound — a sound man, not just a moralist, but a man who was right with God. He was also "upright" with people. "Perfect and upright" showed two relations, one to God, and the other to people. Both ought to go together. The great feature of it was, "fearing God." Another great feature matched these other words — refusing or turning away from evil.
God Answers an Accusation with Praise
Notice who raises Job's name. It is not Satan hunting for a target. It is God pointing to a man He delights in.
Samuel Ridout"Have you considered my servant Job?" asks the LORD, taking up for Himself the description of Job already given. God delights in His beloved people, and in their righteous ways. If Satan accuses, He will commend. It is always this way. Judgment is His strange work. He would rather be taken up with good, and "if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise," He thinks about that.
Still Holding Fast
The one new clause is that Job still holds his integrity. The first wave of loss has passed, and God's verdict has not changed.
An Outline of Sound WordsHow very surprised Satan must have been when he saw Job! He had lost all his property and his sons. Yet there he was, with his torn robe and shaved head, worshipping before God. Satan had predicted that Job would curse God to His face. Instead, Job stayed subject to God in his troubles, and worshipped Him. What a triumph it was for God, and what a defeat for Satan.
The Accuser Behind the Scene
"You incited me against him" points to what Satan had been doing before God. One writer traces that same work of accusation through Scripture:
The Christian's FriendThe last clause of this scripture shows that Satan accuses God's people before God. The Old Testament gives another hint of this work of Satan, which is the opposite of a priest's work. Joshua the high priest once stood before the angel of the LORD, and Satan stood at his right hand to oppose him (Zech. 3:1). Our Lord also tells Peter that Satan wanted to have him and his fellow disciples, so that he might sift them like wheat (Luke 22:31). And the book of Revelation shows that he will carry on his wicked work of accusation until a loud voice in heaven says… "the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God" (Rev. 12:10).
Whose Hand Fell on Job
God does not say Satan destroyed Job. He says Satan moved Him to do it. That settles who held the power.
Samuel RidoutAbout every outward form of Satan's activity we can use our Lord's words: "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above" (John 19:11). In other words, it was not Satan's lightning that struck Job's property, but God's. It was God's whirlwind, not Satan's, that destroyed his family. Job sees only God's hand in his affliction — "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).
Why It Did Not End Here
If Job was innocent and Satan was beaten, the story could have closed at this verse. One writer argues that stopping here would have left Job worse off than God intended:
C. H. MackintoshJob was able to hold fast his integrity. Had matters ended here, his patient endurance would only have strengthened the platform of his righteousness and fed his self-satisfaction… God's aim was to show Job the depths of his own heart. He wanted Job to learn to delight in the grace and mercy of God, and not in his own goodness… Job was a true saint of God, and all Satan's accusations were flung back in his face. But all the while, Job was unbroken material.
So the trial went on, and the danger to Job lay somewhere Satan could not touch:
William KellyHe knew all along where Job was weak and in danger. Satan attacked, but he could not reach it. The LORD reached it through Job's friends.
Summary
- Commended. God repeats His own description of Job: sound with Himself, upright with people, fearing Him, refusing evil. "Perfect" never means a man without sin.
- Accused. "You incited me" points to Satan's steady work as accuser of God's people. He opposed Joshua the high priest, he asked for Peter, and he keeps on until heaven throws him down.
- Answered. When Satan accuses, God commends. God raises Job's name Himself, because He would rather be taken up with good.
- Owned. God does not blame the lightning or the whirlwind on Satan. He takes the act as His own, and Job saw only God's hand in it.
- Unfinished. Satan is beaten, yet the story goes on. Satan could not reach Job's weak point, but God reached it through Job's friends, so that Job would rest in grace and not in his own goodness.