A Scene in Heaven: The Adversary’s Challenge
“To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the Church the manifold wisdom of God.’’ — Ephes. iii. 10. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (‘ the Adversary’ m.) came also among them.” — Chapter i. 6.
PER a brief description of Job’s personal character, his wealth, position and family, we have opened suddenly before us a scene in heaven. The veil is drawn aside, and we - are shown Jehovah seated upon His throne in the midst of His council of holy ones.
It is an audience day in the court of the King of Kings. The “sons of God’, or angels, present themselves before the Lord to report upon their various duties.
Satan, the ‘‘ Adversary’’, enters among them in his capacity as “prince of this world”, and ‘“‘ prince of the power of the air”’. ‘‘ He that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole inhabited earth... the accuser of [the] brethren.’’*
Innumerable passages from all parts of the Scriptures confirm, almost in detail, this description of the Lord of Hosts in council assembled.
David speaks of the ‘‘ assembly of the holy ones”’, and asks, ‘‘ Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto the Lord? A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones”’.t
Daniel sees and hears the “holy ones”, speaking one to the other of the purposes of God on the earth, and the sentence upon Nebuchadnezzar was apparently decreed by the whole council of God assembled, and a ‘‘ holy one” entrusted with its fulfilment.
* Rev.-xii. 9, TO, Then Ela bios ob cpl 357
Zechariah sees Joshua the high priest standing before the Lord, and tells how those that ‘‘ stood by” were bidden to remove the filthy garments, and clothe him with change of raiment.
We may clearly gather too that there are degrees of authority in this heavenly assembly of the ‘sons of the Mighty”, for we read of two archangels, Gabriel and Michael, and of ‘‘ seven presence angels”’, besides all the holy ones, or watchers ’’, spoken of by Daniel.
Godet says that the meaning of Gabriel’s name is “‘ God’s hero’, and that he is the ‘‘ active executor of God’s designs for the salvation of men”.. He is the chosen messenger sent to Mary to foretell the birth of her Saviour and Son.
The name of the archangel Michael means “‘ who is like unto God?’ and his work is to ‘‘ overthrow every thing that dares to make itself equal with God”’, whilst Gabriel ‘‘ hastens the realization of His plans”’.*
Gabriel is sent to make Daniel skilful in understanding in the things of God, whilst Michael, “‘ one of the chief princes”’, came to the help of the Divine Man, in His conflict with the opposing forces of darkness, on His way to His interview with Daniel, the “greatly beloved’? and ‘‘ very precious” servant of God.
Again Michael is spoken of as the ‘“‘ great prince” especially entrusted with the interests of the people of God, and the character of his work is referred to also in the letter of the Apostle Jude, where he speaks of Michael as contending with the devil for the body of Moses.
The veil is drawn once more in the book of the Revelation, and we see Michael leading forth the hosts of the Lord against the hosts of darkness, in that great and terrible war in heaven when the rebel prince of the power of the air is finally cast out of the heavenly places, and cast down to the earth, and all his angels with him.
These are but few of the passages in the Scriptures giving glimpses into the court of heaven. We may not linger over others that speak of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, for those who were once far off, and dead in trespasses and sins. ‘The angels after all are but “ministering spirits” sent forth to do service to them who shall be heirs of salvation; for the redeemed among men are called, not only to stand
* Godet’s Biblical Studies, p, 15.
before the Throne, but to be joint-heirs with Him Who has sat down upon His Father’s Throne.
The character of Satan as the Adversary and accuser so vividly portrayed in the story of Job, is also abundantly verified in other passages of the Scriptures, and we cannot question but that the veil is really drawn aside for a brief glimpse into the spiritual world.
The Adversary
“The Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? [he] said, From going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it.” — Chap. 1. 7.
Satan had apparently the official right to enter the presence of Jehovah on an “audience day’’. He is the rebel prince of the earth, the “spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience’; the ‘‘ god of this age’’ who blinds the thoughts of the unbelieving; the leader of the principalities and powers of “‘ the world-rulers of this darkness ’’, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The promise had been given before the time of Job that the “‘ Seed”’ which should bruise his head, destroy his works, and bring him to nought, should come in the fulness of time; but as yet the rebel prince is not deprived of his realm.
He boldly enters the presence of Jehovah among the other servants of the King. To the question ‘‘ Whence comest thou?” he replies that he has come ‘‘ From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it”.
“Going to and fro”’; ‘‘ walking up and down’; so the Adversary describes his occupation. The original idea in Arabic is the ‘“‘ heat of haste”. He has been hurrying through the inhabited earth, ‘‘ as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”?; or as an ‘‘ unclean spirit seeking rest’? and finding none.
This fallen archangel imparts his feverish spirit to those who are yet under his thrall, for ‘‘ the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest... there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”’.
Let the children of God pay special heed to this self-given description of the Adversary’s character, and note the contrast between his feverish ‘‘ heat of haste” and the calm walk of the Son of God in His life on earth.
The devil rushes to and fro with restless energy through the realms he has betrayed, causing tumult and unrest wherever he goes.
The Son of God walked in calm peace through the world He came to save, and rest and blessing and life were given by Him on every hand.
No feverish heat of haste ever comes from God, and just so far as the soul becomes a “‘ partaker of the Divine nature”’, will it partake of the calm restful power so strikingly manifested in the Man Christ Jesus.
Let us contrast, too, the difference between the movements of Gabriel — moving only to fulfil the will of God, and in obedience to the commands of God — and this restless fallen archangel. Uncentred from his place in the order of God, Satan is a wandering star, aimless and dissatisfied, with no joy in heaven or earth but in tempting others, and bringing them into the same sore plight as himself.
The question of Fehovah
The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job? that there is none like him in the earth ?> — Chap. i. 8.
The Lord well knew what the Adversary’s feverish hurry to and fro in the earth meant! It bode no good to any soul, much less the faithful servants of God.
‘“* Hast thou set thy heart (A.V. m.) on My servant Job?” asks Jehovah, “‘ there is none like him on the earth, a man blameless, true, godly, abstaining from everything evil”?.*
What a testimony to Job before all the council of heaven!
“* None like him in the earth!” Does this mean that he was the ripest, most matured, and choicest servant of God, among all who in his day sought to serve Jehovah in integrity of heart and life? And so the one most fitted to be entrusted
- with the service of suffering; being chosen as a pattern of the
ways of God in the ages to come for all His children in the furnace of trial.
Paul the Apostle understood this privilege of being chosen of God as an object-lesson to others of the dealings of God. “I obtained mercy,” he writes, ‘‘ that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern ’’.+
Even so was Job chosen by God to be an example of His compassion and tender mercy in placing His loved ones in the crucible, that their affliction, which is but for a moment might work for them an “exceeding weight of glory”’.
* Septuagint version. [AO AB han olay.
na
There was ‘‘ none like him in the earth” also to the prince of darkness. Job was a ‘“‘city set on a hill that [could not] be hid”. Of all men he could not live or die unto himself. His fall would be the casting down of many. A target for the devil he needs must be. One upon whom his heart would be set, with unceasing thought and fiendish plans for his undoing.
The Adversary’s reply to the Lord’s question shows that he had considered Job to some purpose. He was prepared with his answer as he quickly says, ‘* Doth Job fear God for nought?”’
True to his character, he sneeringly casts a doubt upon - the integrity of Job’s motives in thus being “‘ blameless, true,
godly and abstaining from everything evil”’. He suggests that Job fears God for all that he gets from Him, and not purely for His glory.
Just in the same way did the serpent suggest to Eve that God was grudging to His creatures in withholding from them the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and in just the same way to-day does he whisper to his subjects that selfish motives needs must lie at the back of all service to God. Disinterested love and service, on the part of God or man, is beyond the ken of the devil, and of those who are in his power.
Satan goes on to prove to Jehovah that his insinuation is borne out by facts, as he adds, “‘ Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side?’? The devil knew well this ‘‘ hedge”? of God’s protecting care, for he had met the Divine environment on whichever side he had sought to attack the servant of God.
Oh word of cheer to every faithful heart. The ‘ hedge” is not only around the praying one, but about his house, and about all that he hath on every side!
Moreover Satan complains that God had not only “set an hedge”? about Job, and protected him, but He had “‘ blessed the work of his hands”, and increased his substance in the land (v. 10, 11). What opportunity was there for Job to prove that his integrity and loyalty to God were disinterested and true. Jehovah might see his heart, and know that he was loyal at the core, but who else could believe this when they saw him with nothing but prosperity and blessing on every side?
The Adversary’s challenge
“Put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce Thee to Thy face.’’ — Chap. i. 11.
Was this challenge the object that the fallen archangel had in his mind when he entered the audience chamber of the King on that occasion?
The Adversary had “‘ set his heart”? upon Job. He had walked around that ‘‘ hedge ’’, and so long as Job had kept within the circle of the presence round about him, he had found no way of reaching him. If Satan could but get that ‘‘ hedge’? removed he thought he could make this so-called “godly man’ as bitterly rebellious against the Lord as he was himself.
This rebel archangel had once sought to exalt his throne above the ‘‘ stars of God’. He had dared to say, “‘ I will be like the Most High,’ but through his presumption he had been cast down to hell. If he who had once been “perfect in beauty’, a day-star and son of the morning, had fallen from his high estate and become the arch-enemy of God, there was hope then that this son of Adam, a member of a fallen race, would be brought down with him. That Job should walk with God in loyal trust and obedience was more than this rebel angel could endure.
Boldly does the Adversary challenge the integrity of Job in the full assembly of the council of heaven around their King, saying to Jehovah — ‘‘ Thou sayest that Thy servant is upright and true to Thee, prove zt by touching all that he hath. If Thou dost take away all that Thou hast given him, he will cease to serve Thee, he will renounce his allegiance, not in secret, but to Thy face’’.
What else could Jehovah do but accept the challenge, and allow His servant to be put to the test? The council of heaven have listened to the debate, and have heard Jehovah’s estimate of His godly servant, and the insinuating sneer of the fallen angel as to his integrity. This daring accusation cannot be overlooked. The word of Jehovah is in question. The loyalty of Job shall be proved. All heaven shall know that Jehovah can be loved and worshipped for Himself, even by a son of Adam.
With joy the Adversary sees the challenge accepted. The “hedge” of the Lord’s protection around Job is removed by the words — * Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand” (v. 12).
“* So Satan went forth....”
The Adversary’s devices
“It fell on a day....”’ — Chap. i. 13-19
In brief and vivid language we now have described the Adversary’s attacks upon the possessions of Job. His plan had been carefully thought out with all the skill that had been gained since he tempted Eve in Eden.
Job must be taken unawares, and under the pressure of sudden loss forced to an impulsive renunciation of God. The devil well knew he would not do it coolly and deliberately.
The character of a man is generally revealed in the hour of sudden crisis. With no time for recollection, what is in the heart will suddenly break out — especially under the pressure of great anguish and pain.
Times of joyous festivity too, are times when men are not so likely to be on guard, and ‘‘ bad news” in the midst of mirth is always more appalling.
The time is carefully chosen by the subtle Adversary, and on a day of festivity among the young people, a messenger comes to Job to tell him that the ‘‘ Sabeans”’ have suddenly fallen upon his cattle in the field, taken them away, and slain all the servants with none but the messenger left!
Ere the man had finished speaking another arrives with the news that fire from heaven has fallen, burned up sheep and servants, with only the messenger escaped to tell him! Yet a third arrives to say that other bands of robbers have carried away the camels, and slain the servants with the sword, save only the one particular person spared to carry the news to Job.
All this means utter ruin as far as earthly substaince is concerned. The coincidence of each thing happening so closely together, and each group of servants being slain with only the one escaped to tell the tale, might well have suggested to Job that more than natural causes lay behind these sudden blows, for the soul that walks with God learns to understand and recognize the supernatural powers that lie behind the surface of things in daily lie.
But this touching of Job’s worldly goods was not all. His real treasure was in heaven, and ‘“‘ a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth”’.
The devil had reserved his keenest blow to the last. Ere Job had time to realize that all his wealth was gone, another messenger arrives to tell him that in the midst of their festivities a strong wind had smitten the house in which his children were, and buried them and the attendants in its ruins. ‘* They are dead,” said the servant who carried the news, and again, ‘I only am escaped alone to tell thee’’. No softening of the sorrowful story! ‘‘ They are dead’’ is blurted out. This is the greatest blow of all, and upon its effect the subtle foe had counted.
Children swept away into eternity in the midst of their festivities! No time to say farewell, no last prayer, no last message —
“Then Fob arose... fell down upon the ground, and worshipped: and he said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb,* and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the Name of the Lord.”’ — Chap. i. 20, 21.
How little Job knew of the cloud of witnesses looking on! What sympathy and joy in His servant’s faithfulness there must have been in the heart of God, for in all this adversity He had been no adversary, and He had not afflicted willingly, nor grieved this man among men.
Job had stood the test. The Adversary was defeated. Instead of rebellion Job had worshipped. ‘The sudden blows had found him stayed upon God. In one moment his anchored soul had found its refuge. He had “‘ rent his mantle’? and “shaved his head” as the outward signs of his deep sorrow, but in his hour of trial, his spirit worshipped the God Who had blessed him hitherto.
‘In all this Job sinned not, nor attributed folly to God” (v. 22, A.V. m.). Rather, ‘‘ allowed himself to commit no folly against God’’.t Job instantly confessed that nothing he possessed was actually his own. It was the Lord Who had given him wealth, and his children had been laid upon the altar, by faith, along with the burnt offerings he had offered to God for them continually. He had nought but that which he had received; out of dust he had come, and unto dust would he return; he had brought nothing into the world, he could carry nothing out. The Lord had given him everything and the Lord had the sovereign right to take all things away! Whichever He did, Job would bless the Name of the Lord.
* Poetically the earth, the universal mother. Eccles. xii. 7 — Fausset. Fausset.
Job, Chapters ii. 1-19, iii. 1 to end.