Does Satan have to get God's permission before he can attack us?

Verses 1-6. Once more the sons of God, and Satan among them, present themselves before the Lord. It must have been immediately after Job's afflictions had come upon him. Probably the Lord called the assembly. The victory is on the Lord's side. Satan is defeated and his defeat is known to the heavenly hosts, who undoubtedly watched the tragedies which had been enacted on earth and who, with joy, had listened to Job's marvellous words. Triumphantly the Lord said to Satan, "And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." Then comes Satan's sneer. He has not given up hope. "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth Thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face." This is bold and horrible language; it shows Satan's knowledge of human nature. And God tells Satan, "Behold, he is in thine hands." What an evidence that Satan can do nothing against the saints of God without His permission. What a comfort this is! Satan is absolutely under the control of God. And if God permits him to do his evil work, he judiciously designs, God's own love and power are on the side of His afflicted people; His own gracious faithfulness will be demonstrated in the trial. The suffering saints still learn the lesson which Job had to learn, his own nothingness, and that God is all in all. But there is a gracious restriction. The Lord said, "Only spare his life." Satan might sift Job; his life he could not touch, for the lives of God's people are in the hand of the Lord.

162 It began, note, with God. He says to Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and an upright man?" God had considered him. Satan says, Well, You have made a hedge about him, so why should he- not fear You? Then God lets Satan loose at him. He lets him take all that he has, his servants are killed, his children too afterwards, his fortune gone; and Job says, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Then Satan says, Skin for skin, a man will give anything he has for his life! Then God says, You can have his body, but not his life. So Satan smites him with sore boils, so that he becomes both wretched, and the derision of his neighbours. His wife wants him to curse God and die, but in all this Job sins not; he has "received good at the hands of the Lord and shall not he receive evil?" So that I get this fact: all that Satan did against Job entirely failed, save that it entirely cleared him from Satan's accusation and the charge of hypocrisy. All that Satan could do he did, but could do no more than he was allowed to do.

Sometimes, as an expression of special displeasure in rebellion, or presumption, or in solemn warning to others, we see death inflicted as a direct chastisement from God (Lev.10:1,2; Num.16:35; Acts 5:1-5; 1 Cor.11:29-32, etc.). In the case of Job we see Satan, under God's permission, using various agencies for Job's extraordinary affliction; but even here Satan is absolutely limited—he may not touch Job personally (ch.1:12); then at the second trial, when permitted to afflict Job's person, he may not touch his life (2:6). It is a fallacy, therefore, to attribute to Satan absolute power to do as he will.

Job in the Old Testament and Paul in the New, and the fact that Satan desired to have the disciples, and Peter in particular, that he might sift them as wheat, are the outstanding cases in the Bible that prove his enmity against the children of God. He had long wanted to crush Job, but he had to confess that God had “made a hedge about him … on every side.” He could not get at him until God made a breach in the hedge and gave him permission to go so far. He went as far as he was permitted, and brought almost unspeakable suffering upon Job, but he was limited. “The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; but save his life” (Job 2:6). He was not permitted to go to the full length of his malice and God turned his evil to great good for Job; and while we have heard of the malice of Satan, we have also heard of “the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; and that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy” (Jas. 5:11).

How perfect the rebuke to man's dream of God indifferent to all! of a mere theory of earth progressing under natural laws! It was Jehovah who here raised the question: Satan could only avail himself of the prosperity of Job to insinuate self-interest. Were his possessions to be touched, see "if he curse thee not to Thy face!" Jehovah gives the adversary permission to put forth his hand, but not against his person. What a comfort that even the enemy's hand is under God's hand! All is measured on the side of evil, infinite on that of good, as we ought to know well, for all things are ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

Verses 13-19. "So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD." The accuser now acts the roaring lion. And now his work against Job begins. But caution is needed here lest powers be ascribed to Satan which he in reality does not possess. Satan is only a creature and does not share the attributes of God. He is not omnipotent; nor is he omniscient, nor omnipresent. If he displays powers it is with divine permission only. Of course here are secrets which we cannot fathom nor fully understand. Questions upon questions might be asked on this subject which the finite mind cannot answer, problems are here which no human can solve. But we know that all God's ways are perfect, yet past finding out.

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.

A matter of great importance is made clearly manifest here. Satan realised that he could do nothing to Job without God's permission. 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 accomplish greater blessing for him than he could have imagined was possible. God would use the enmity of Satan to this end, just as later He used Job's three friends for this purpose.

The devil is powerless to do anything without God allowing it. He is only a creature, as are all his hosts of demons. God is above them, no matter how mighty they may be. So even if we see the devil's hand in what happens, we must not forget to see God's hand above the devil's. God only allows him to go as far as it suits His sovereign purposes, to turn it into blessing for His people.

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the malignity of Satan, God uses him in the discipline of His saints, as in the case of Job, but allows the evil one to go only as far as He pleases. Paul used his apostolic power to commit some to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20. The thorn in the flesh which Paul himself had was a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he should be puffed up because of the marvellous revelations made to him in the third heaven. It is well to remember that Satan is morally a vanquished foe, for he is exposed; and that no Christian can be touched by him except as permitted and controlled by his God and Father in discipline for his good.