Job: When Life Doesn't Make Sense--the satan

Review
What is the main point of Job?
What did we learn about the man, Job last week?

Where does the Satan first appear in the story of Job?
Does his presence in the heavenly assembly seem odd to you?

Every time Satan is mentioned in the book of Job, he is referred to literally in Hebrew as “the satan.” In other words, the term appears in Job more as a title than a personal name.

What significance (if any) do you think there might be in the author of Job calling this character “the satan.”

The word “satan” is employed in two ways in the OT.
1. On the one hand, it describes the activity of a political foe bent on overthrowing the king (2 Sam. 19:22; 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 25)
2. On the other hand, it refers to one who, like a prosecuting attorney, brings charges against another in court (Ps. 109:6, Zech. 3:1-2). Many scholars have taken this lead and posited that this figure was patterned after the court life of a large empire…[Some see this as imagery drawn from the Persian emperor’s use of] secret servants who toured the realm at random to discern the allegiance and behavior of the people and especially of various officials.

Some scholars conjecture that the Satan may be the prosecuting attorney of the heavenly council. If this view is correct, his task on earth was to discover human sins and failures and to bring his findings before the heavenly assembly.

What do you think? Does “the satan” seem more like (1) a servant performing a job assigned to him, or (2) the enemy of God as portrayed in the New Testament? Is there any way to reconcile these views?

Even if one buys into the notion that “the satan” was performing a role given him by God, his behavior in the text seems already to be exceeding his legitimate authority. Instead of uncovering disruptive plans, he acts as a troublemaker, a disturber of the kingdom. He…doubted what God affirmed [i.e., that Job was a good and honest man who served God with integrity] and sternly resisted persuasion to a different viewpoint. In the second scene before [God] the Satan would not even debate the issue of Job’s integrity, but rather denied it in an impudent style by challenging God with verbs in the imperative.

In 1:11 we find the satan essentially arguing with God about Job’s integrity and his reasons for fearing God. The satan consistently asserts that no one fears God for nothing…that if God were ever to take back all the blessings he had given Job, the self-serving basis of Job’s loyalty would be revealed. Whereas Job continually feared that one of his children might have cursed God in his heart,(1:5) the satan projected that Job would become so angry he would curse God to his face. (1:11; 2:4)

If the satan was a servant of God, he was a rebellious and impudent one.

Conclusion:
The most important thing about the satan in the book of Job is not the character himself, but the question he raises. “Will a person serve God for nothing?” What about you? Are you willing to honor and worship God solely because He is God…to give your life for Him whether you get anything in return or not? While it’s probably true that most of us come to God out of self interest (i.e., we either don’t want to go to Hell, or we really want to go to Heaven) the story of Job reveals a better way…a godlier way…for us to live.

What about you, would you serve God for nothing?