Job is an interesting and rather unique book. Nowhere else do we get as clear a view of the reality of enemy attack and how this takes place in the throne room of heaven. Many would like to relegate this book to one of allegory, but this is not accurate as we read in Ezekiel 14:14, that Job, along with Noah and Daniel were listed by the prophet Ezekiel as characters who displayed righteousness. Even in the New Testament, James, the half-brother of Jesus alludes in James 5:11 to Job as a real picture of perseverance in the face of trials. Why this is so important, is there are many who like to fictionalize Satan and his influence over the lives of men.

Though our perfect God sees all that we do, because He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (all present), and omnipotent (all powerful), our enemy Satan, though powerful is limited. He is a created being like all of the rest of God's Creation. But he has a vast army at his disposal. We read of Satan's fall in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. We read in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Since Satan is not omniscient, many escape his notice. But he will take notice whenever we step out in faith. When we do so, it is as though a bulls-eye has been placed on our backs and that prowling lion will seek to devour to limit what we can do for God's kingdom. Demonic attack is often viewed erroneously along two lines. Minimize our enemy or relegate him to a fictional character leaves us vulnerable to failure. Notice in Jude 1:9, we read, "Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"." But elevate him and his power also leaves us vulnerable to fear, as we should all realize from 1 John 4:4, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

We read of this encounter in Job 1:6-7, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." Satan then challenges God over the character of Job. We see in the interaction that follows that Satan's power is limited by what God allows him to have. As cruel as this challenge might seem, in the extent of suffering that Job is made to suffer, we must take notice that what Satan uses as a temptation to steer us from our relationship with God, God uses as a trial to refine us and bring us into a closer relationship with Him, as we learn to seek Him and rely more on Him and less on ourselves. After losing more than any of us could ever imagine, we see Job's initial response to the enemy attack, in Job 1:21-22, "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And 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 nor charge God with wrong." Job actually worshiped God in the midst of this devastating trial. When Satan ramps up the attack and now afflicts Job's health, we read Job's response in Job 2:10, ""...Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips."

Many want to dismiss the reality of enemy or demonic attack, but it is real. To deny this would require us to erase a tremendous amount of Scripture and cause us to re-write a tremendous amount of God's complete story as written in Scripture. Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:11-12, "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Paul then speaks about our actual armor in Ephesians 6:13-18, including our fighting instrument in 6:17, "...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;". When Jesus encounters Satan in Matthew 4, we see Jesus as incarnate man employing this tool as He defeats Satan by using the word of God three times, quoting from the book of Deuteronomy. We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." May we read these first couple of chapters in Job and gain a little more clarity of the reality and the spectrum of our enemy. But may we also gain confidence and strength realizing as God's children we are under the protection of One much more powerful than our enemy.