Satan is powerful, but his power has no comparison
to God’s power. Satan is quite restricted and is always under God’s authority. The
book of Job is definitely a clear picture of this.
Job 1:8-12 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant
Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man
who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is
in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Satan thinks he knows more than God???? I know
many of you know what happens next. Satan does touch everything of Job’s except
his wife and Job’s body (at least in the first chapter). Amazingly, and as our
All-knowing God knew, Job doesn’t curse God.
Job 1:20-22 20 At this, Job got up and tore his
robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and
said:
“Naked I came
from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and
the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by
charging God with wrongdoing.
Wow! I don’t think worship of God would be my first response. In reading this passage together as a family last night, my kids agreed. However, Job knew God had all power and all authority. I was reminded that God is always worthy of praise as the All-knowing Father in Heaven! Nothing escapes His knowledge or happens outside His ultimate control.
How will you and I take encouragement from the
fact that Satan is restricted and only God is all-knowing?
