THE DEVILS DUE

 “…your adversary the devil…” 1 Pet 5:8

Let us now consider another possible influence for Job’s wife’s outcry. We have already examined her state of mind, but were there other forces at work that manifested themselves in her and through her that caused her to speak out? We cannot deny that Satan was personally active in everything that was happening to Job. Therefore, it could be proposed that she was being used by Satan to add further emotional pain to her husband and to drive him to despair—as is the common teaching about her. We know from the Scriptures that Satan certainly can and does make suggestions to God’s people; that God’s people are certainly susceptible to these thoughts and are moved to act upon them—especially in times of desperation. A prime example is that of Peter, who shortly after proclaiming his divine revelation about Christ, was moved by Satan to try and discourage Jesus from doing the Father’s will.

Matt 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Another example is when Satan moved King David to number Israel. There were times when God Himself commanded Israel to be numbered, but this time was a matter of David’s pride and dependence upon human resources.

1 Chr 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2 And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
3 And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?
4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
6 But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

Our third example of Satan’s influence over the children of God concerns the Lord Jesus Himself. In Christ’s temptation in the wilderness the Devil directly tried to persuade our Lord to act contrary to God’s will—although in this attempt he failed.

Matt 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Now, if we can attribute the influence of Job’s wife’s statement to the Devil, what would be his devious purpose in causing her to make such an outburst? First of all, it was the Lord’s initial commendation of Job’s integrity that prompted Satan’s challenge to test Job. Having failed to produce the desired results by causing Job’s suffering, what if his wife could be used to cause him to surrender his integrity? A second purpose might be to fulfill the challenge that Satan made to the Lord on two occasions—that if Job’s possessions and then his health were taken away, that Job would give up his pious belief in God and instead curse Him to His face. Having failed in both of his attempts to bring about Job’s demise, Satan now begins to attack Job psychologically, through his wife, in hoping to bring about his victory against the Lord.

Job 1: 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

The last purpose, and the ultimate victory for Satan, would have been to bring about Job’s death in an indirect way, causing either Job, or God Himself to end Job’s life. Although the Lord had forbidden Satan from taking Job’s life, what if Job could be driven to commit suicide? Or what if Job could be driven to curse and blaspheme; make himself so odious to God, that God in anger would destroy Job? This would indeed have brought great satisfaction and a hollow victory to the Destroyer. It would have been a great irony, if the One who forbid Satan from taking Job’s life, does so Himself.

Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Lev 24:15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

Satan is called the Destroyer, and death and destruction are certainly in his toolbox. From the fall of man, when he tempted the first couple to sin and brought about their death, until the present time, he has used death to try to thwart the purposes of God. To bring about his kingdom on this earth, Satan’s intention has been to destroy the children of God. We need only to trace the history of the Jews, and after that the Christian church, to see that he is not always subtle in his attacks, but often murderous. He sees death as the final end, and throughout much of the history of mankind, death seemed to be his most effective weapon. Even prophetically, his chief purpose was revealed to be the destruction of the Seed of the woman—Christ. It was his top priority, which was seemingly accomplished, when he caused God’s own people to deliver Jesus to be crucified. However, even in this God was accomplishing His will in bringing salvation to mankind. Through the death of Christ, God dealt a death blow to Satan and rendered his chief weapon ineffective. In Satan’s greatest triumph, that of moving the Jews to destroy their Messiah, he himself was defeated in the death of Christ on the cross. Death itself was rendered powerless in the resurrection of Christ and was no longer the final solution to destroy the people of God. On the cross, Christ’s foot was bruised, but Satan’s head was crushed. Satan’s chief weapon, death, was overcome and made of no effect. His power over man was broken to all who believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

1 Cor 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them (the children of Israel) committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 12:1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

1 Cor 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

1 Cor 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Satan may have hoped for a minor victory in causing Job to give up his integrity and to curse God—as was his original challenge to the Lord. Furthermore, he may have thought to use Job’s wife to influence her husband to achieve his purpose; and, as we will later examine more fully, he was in part successful in getting Job to slander God. However, even out of the depth of our defeat the Lord brings forth victory in our lives. We must remember, that it was Satan’s seeming victory over Christ on the cross from which sprang the salvation of man.

Job 3:1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

1 Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In summary then, we may attribute some influence to Satan, who is the chief enemy of God, in causing Job’s wife to make such a statement. However, we must remember that whatever Satan does is not out of the control of God. Throughout history God has used His enemies to chasten His own people and to direct the course of this world. To think that devils or people act out of God’s control is to deny His omnipotence. In the death of Christ His enemies were only doing what God the Father had already determined beforehand to be done; and though they may have celebrated the death of Christ, their seeming victory was short-lived. Likewise, we shall also see that the Devil may have enjoyed some momentary satisfaction concerning Job; but God would have the final victory, both in the life of Job and in showing forth His glory.

Judg 2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

Acts 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.