By Chenxi
“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah. And Jehovah said to Satan, From where come you? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face” (Job 2:1-5).
When God asked Satan again, “From where you come?” Satan still answered like this, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” Pondering over this scripture, I didn’t understand why Satan answered God in a dishonest way? Then I thought of a passage of words a friend shared with me: “In the following passage of scripture, Jehovah asks Satan, ‘From where come you?’ What is Satan’s answer? (It is still ‘From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’) It is still that same sentence. This has become Satan’s motto, Satan’s calling card. How is this so? Is Satan not hateful? Surely it is enough to utter this disgusting sentence just once. Why does Satan keep repeating it? This proves one thing: Satan’s nature is unchanging. Satan cannot use pretense to conceal its ugly face. God asks it a question and this is how it responds. Since this is so, imagine then how it must treat humans! Satan is not afraid of God, does not fear God, and does not obey God. So it dares to be wantonly presumptuous before God, to use these same words to brush off God’s question, to repeatedly use this same answer to God’s question, to attempt to use this answer to confound God—this is the ugly face of Satan. It does not believe in the almightiness of God, does not believe in the authority of God, and is certainly not willing to submit to the dominion of God. It is constantly in opposition to God, constantly attacking all that God does, attempting to wreck all that God does—this is its evil objective” (“God Himself, the Unique IV”). After reading these words once again, I came to know why Satan never answered God honestly. It proves that Satan’s treacherous nature won’t ever change, and its ugly face can’t be obscured. From Satan’s perfunctory reply to God’s question, we can see Satan’s nature of being in enmity to God. It is not afraid of God, it does not fear God or obey God, so it responded to God’s questioning with the same answer. This is the hideous face of Satan.
Moreover, we see Satan’s maliciousness from its other sentence. When God said again about Job’s fearing God and shunning evil, Satan said, “Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face”. In the first chapter of the Book of Job, Satan had tempted Job. Under the circumstances that his livestock was stolen and calamity befell his children, Job said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.” (Job 1:21). He stood witness for God and struck back at Satan powerfully. Satan had seen Job’s integrity, but its nature of being hostile to God drove it to oppose God obstinately and to say the words which are malicious to the extreme. We can see Satan’s determination to put Job to death. Fortunately, God was guaranteeing Job’s safety all the time. Before Satan uttered this remark, God had known that Satan would destroy Job’s life. God drew boundaries for it and told Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; but save his life” (Job 2:6). So then Satan tortured Job violently yet dared not take Job’s life. At last, Job bore a strong and resounding testimony to God. This experience brought Job more true faith and knowledge of God. Just as he said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you. Why I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Through these trials, Job achieved his faith and reverence for God.
Through Job’s trials, we can see God’s love and salvation for humans and come to know that God carefully arranges environments to cleanse us and to save us. The sufferings and trials are touchstones, and those who are to be praised by God must undergo many hardships and refinements, just as the Bible says, “These are they which came out of great tribulation …” (Rev 7:14). At the same time, Satan’s temptations perform service for God. So, we Christians must be cautious in everything we encounter and treat it seriously. We should learn to pray and seek in all things, but not treat the people, matters and objects God has arranged for us according to our conceptions and imaginations. It is of the most importance for us to obey God’s arrangements and guidance.