MG If Satan doesn’t exist, how come he’s in the book of Job?
ED Job (pronounced ‘Jobe’) was a God-fearing man who endured horrendous trials, as everything was taken away from him—his possessions, his family and his health. Through the book, we hear his complaints and finally we see God’s answer. In the first two chapters we see that the trials were inflicted by a character called Satan.
Satan is viewed by many as a fallen angel, God’s enemy who is on a mission to lead people away from God. I don’t agree with this: the idea of a fallen angel is a contradiction in terms; the devil and Satan in the Bible are usually a figurative way of describing sinful human nature (which is another subject).
The account of Satan in the book of Job is actually very problematic if you view him as a fallen angel. Why would God allow him into His presence, and give him the permission and the power to destroy the life of a good man? Why would Satan need to use God’s power, rather than his own? Why is Satan not mentioned again throughout the book? And why are we specifically told that Job’s calamities came from God (Job 42:11)?
A better explanation is that Job’s trials were given by God, for a purpose. God tests His servants (for example Genesis 22:1, Deuteronomy 8:2). God instigated the process by asking Satan what he thought of Job (Job 1:8). Satan responded with a suggestion we might all secretly have had in the circumstances—Job is only a good man because he’s been so well blessed
(vs. 9–11). God invited Satan to put Job to the test by bringing calamity upon him. Job passed the test: he maintained his faith and integrity throughout his ordeal. But there was still a lesson to learn. Satan had suggested that Job feared God because he was well blessed; Job believed that he should be blessed because he feared God. In the end, God intervened and taught Job, and the other characters in the book, and us the readers, that not even the best of us can have confidence in ourselves. We have no rights in God’s sight, He is at liberty to do whatever He wants with us, and He does what is right.
Satan was the agent God used to teach the lesson. Who was he? We don’t know. He came among the sons of God (Job 1:6), so he was probably a son of God. ‘Sons of God’ is a term which the Bible uses of believers (for example Romans 8:14). Perhaps he was a jealous fellow believer, maybe even one of Job’s friends who speak with him throughout the book. The term ‘sons of God’ is also used of angels (for example Job 38:7). Perhaps he was an angel—he is presented as inquisitive, not necessarily wicked. Sometimes God uses angels to bring destruction (for example Psalm 78:49). It’s one of those questions the Bible leaves unanswered.