There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

That reading is from the book of Job, chapter 1, verses 1-3. Job had it all. He was right with God and extremely wealthy. Now listen to chapter two of this same book, verses 11-13.

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home . . . . They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

By the end of chapter two, Job’s life had been radically altered. His children were all dead, all of his stock were either dead or stolen, all but four of his servants were dead, and Job himself was afflicted with loathsome sores from crown of head to sole of foot. He was in such a pitiful state that his three friends who came to see him "raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads." These are the actions that people in Job’s culture normally would have would performed only at a funeral. David J. A. Clines in his commentary on Job says, "we must suppose" that these actions are "primarily" due to "the death-like situation they find Job himself in" (Job 1-20, Word Biblical Commentary, 61). In other words, it was like a funeral to see Job in such a destitute condition.

What brought about such a radical and horrific reversal in Job’s life? It all started because of a certain member of God’s divine court, the member in charge of bringing accusations before the Lord. That accuser’s name and role were the same––"satan," for "satan" means "accuser." That member of the divine court was somewhat comparable to the person in contemporary society referred to as a prosecuting attorney. Satan is not yet the full-blown tempter he becomes. Here he performs a legitimate role. Although it can be argued that satan in this story is highly overzealous, it must be noted that his job is the very important one of prosecuting sin before the divine judge of the universe.

So satan came before the Lord, and the Lord said, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil" (Job 1:8). I think the Lord mentioned Job, because the Lord felt that Job was one of the loyal subjects about whom even the great accuser could bring no charges.

But satan apparently had been considering Job. Satan was skeptical about the depth of Job’s faith. He did not believe Job’s faith was genuine. To put it simply, satan had come to the conclusion that Job behaved righteously because Job had learned that he received more blessings that way. Job had learned which side of the bread the butter was on, and he used that knowledge to benefit himself. Such is the accusation of the accuser.

Satan threw down a gauntlet of challenge before the Lord. Satan said to the Lord, "stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

The Lord accepted satan’s challenge. The Lord allowed satan first to take from Job his children, his livestock and his servants. Job’s faith did not break. When Job received word of what had happened the Bible says,

Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord".

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong-doing (Job 1:20-22).

But the accuser was still not convinced. Satan believed that Job’s heart would only be revealed if the pain and suffering were brought upon Job’s own person.

When next satan entered the divine court we have this exchange between him and God:

The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason." Then Satan answered the Lord, "Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life" (Job 2:3-6).

It is after that exchange that satan afflicted Job with loathsome sores that covered Job’s body. Job 2:8 tells us that "Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes." It is while Job was in this terrible state that his wife said to Job, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die."

It seems to me that satan believed that the response of Job’s wife would be the response of everyone, even Job. I think that Satan believed that all integrity, all faithfulness, all obedience of God could be destroyed if the rewards of all of those virtues were removed and the persons who claimed to possess those virtues were cursed instead. I think satan believed that every human relationship with the Lord was a sham, that we are only in it for what we get out of it.

It’s not hard to figure out why satan thought that is it? How many times have we lowered our moral standards when a bit of heat was brought to bear? How many times have we dropped our integrity because it was in the way of advantage? How many times has faithfulness been tossed out simply because it cost too much?

Job struggled with all that happened to him; the remainder of the book makes that clear. Job questioned and he doubted and he wondered how God could have brought all of this upon him. But even his doubtings were the doubtings of a person who was firmly committed to maintaining high standards of integrity and faithfulness. Job’s faith was real. It was authentic. Satan was wrong.

I think satan believes that my heart is insincere, that my integrity and obedience can be destroyed with this pressure or that. Due only to the power of God’s Spirit, I intend to prove satan wrong. Let’s all join together as men and women of spiritual integrity and authentic faith to prove satan wrong. Don’t let the pressures erode God’s divine values within you. Do right because its right and do right time after time after time no matter what because your faith is real.

If you need to come and receive the saving power of God to transform you into a person of genuine faithfulness, please come now as we stand and sing.