Bible Commentaries
Job 2

Verses 1-10

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” Comments - Bob Nichols said, “God had faith in the faith of Job. [14] Jesus also had faith in the faith of Peter (Luke 22:31-32). God watches over our faith and knows our strength. He is the one who determines how much Satan can tempt us. Paul writes, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

[14] Bob Nichols, “Sermon,” Kampala, Uganda: Miracle Center Cathedral, 2 November 2008.

Luke 22:31-32, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

Job 2:3 “although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause” Comments - If Satan himself can move God with a petition, how much more will God move heaven and earth for His children. Did not the legion of demons Jesus to enter into the swine and He allowed them? (Luke 8:32)

Luke 8:32, “And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them .”

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

Job 2:6 Comments - Note in Job 1:12; Job 2:6 how Satan is bound to obey God’s Word.

Job 1:12, “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 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Job 2:9 Comments - It seems Satan would have tried to destroy all of Job that he could, especially his wife. Perhaps she was spared because a husband and wife are one flesh.

Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Job 2:10 “In all this did not Job sin with his lips” Comments - In Job 1:22, Job had his lips bridled, as in James 3:2. Thus, Job qualified as a perfect man, just as he is called in Job 1:1.

Job 1:22, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”

James 3:2, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man , and able also to bridle the whole body.”

Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

Verses 1-13

Prologue Job 1:1 to Job 2:13 serves as a prologue to the book of Job, providing the setting for the speeches that are to follow. This opening story describes Job’s prosperity and righteous standing before God. Satan comes before God’s throne and challenges God’s standard of righteousness upon the man Job. God allows Satan to take everything away from Job, his possessions and his children, but requires that Satan spare his life. Still, Job exhibits God’s standard of righteousness.

In the prologue to the book of Job (Job 1:1 to Job 2:13), God reveals His predestined divine plan and purpose for mankind (Job 1:1-5), which is prosperity for those who walk upright before Him; and God calls Job to demonstrate righteousness and prosperity to his generation (Job 1:6 to Job 2:13). Regarding God’s predestination, Job’s godly character and prosperity serves as a testimony of mankind’s divine predestination upon earth, which reflects God’s original divine commission in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:26-28), which is to be fruitful, multiply, and take dominion upon the earth. Regarding man’s divine calling, after prospering Job, God then called this man to demonstrate to his generation the fact that Job’s prosperity was a result of divine blessings, rather than from Job’s own abilities. Thus, it was necessary for God to remove Job’s prosperity entire, and restore it two-fold as a sign to his generation that Job’s prosperity came from God because of his right standing before God. Job’s suffering and restoration of blessings was intended to establish righteousness in the heart of the men of his generation so that He could prosper them as well. Unfortunately, it was necessary for Job to suffer in order to serve as a testimony to his generation.

God reveals His divine destiny and calling to establish righteousness, or full redemption, for mankind through the testimony of Job’s prosperity in every area of his life. However, the method that full, eternal redemption is obtained for mankind will be through suffering, and God called His Son Jesus Christ to suffer loss by divesting Himself of His heavenly prosperity, and taking on the seed of man, born of a virgin, and suffer on the Cross (Philippians 2:5-8), to be resurrected and seated at God’s right hand, and enjoying a greater prosperity by bringing many sons of men to glory (Philippians 2:9-11, Hebrews 2:10). Thus, Job serves as a type and figure of Christ’s redemption for mankind. For this reason, the issue of suffering is immediately presented to the reader in this opening passage of Scripture (Job 1:6 to Job 2:13). Job is called by God to go through a season of intense suffering beyond what any righteous man has endured in the past. However, he will be redeemed by God in the closing scene and be used to redeem his three friends. Thus, we see Job as a type and figure of Christ, who endured suffering so that He might redeem his generation. As we serve the Lord in this way we become like Christ in that we are used as divine instruments to bring about redemption for our generation.

Satan’s Access to God’s Throne The opening narrative text to the book of Job (Job 1:1 to Job 2:13) tells the story of Satan coming before God’s throne and accusing one of His saints named Job. The question is often asked if Satan still has access to God’s throne today as in the days of Job. Revelation 12:10 tells us that Satan, the accuser of the brethren, spends day and night accusing Christians of their faults before God.

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

We also find in Romans 8:33-34 a description of how Jesus Christ stands at the right hand of the Father to intercede for those whom Satan has accused.

Romans 8:33-34, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

Paul also warned Timothy about the adversary’s opportunities to speak reproachfully against those with sin in the lives (1 Timothy 5:14). We ask the question, “To whom is Satan speaking reproachfully?” The implied answer in this passage of Scripture is that he is speaking to God about the faults of the saints.

1 Timothy 5:14, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

This tells us that when we sin, we must be quick to confess our sins so that Jesus Christ is given the authority to intercede in our behalf to the Father. We also have the story in Job 1-2 of how Satan stood before God and accused Job of being unrighteous in his heart. The Lord said, “…and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3) Thus, we see that Satan’s accusations have the potential to move God against us. Job cried out for a redeemer to plead for his innocence, but there was none before Jesus’ First Coming (Job 9:33). However, today we have an intercessor.

Job 9:33, “Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.”

The Work of Satan in Scripture Job 1:1 to Job 2:13 serves as the prologue to the poetic book of Job. This prologue is written as a narrative, and the actual poetic parallelism does not begin until Job 3:1.

Note the destruction caused by the Adversary in chapters 1 and 2 of Job. When comparing this to John 10:10, which refers to Satan as the “thief” that “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”, we see that Satan's works are the same then as they are today.

John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Verses 11-13

The Arrival of Job’s Three Friends Job 2:11-13 records the arrival of Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Although Job’s pitiful condition broke their hearts and move them to sorrow and mourn with him, they still found reason to condemn him. When my mother was suffering from a tumor in her chest, I found myself sorrowing for her while my mind wanted to drift towards a cause of sin for this sickness. However, I quickly brought myself back to her redemption in Christ Jesus and understood that all of her sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus and therefore, they no longer exist before the throne in Heaven. I then focused upon those heavenly blessings that she inherited as a child of God, and understood that the blessing of divine healing belonged to her. I prayed with her in faith (October 2010), looking for divine healing rather than finding a reason for condemnation, which Job’s three friends attempted to find in him.