In the last part of our series we read these words that God spoke He judged the earth with a great Flood –

“Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.” Genesis 8:21

One of the ‘deep things’ of God is that He knows everything – He is Omniscient. While Noah and his family may have learned a lesson from God’s judgment, God knew that the ‘imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.’ We see that clearly demonstrated through Noah’s descendants. It was only a short time before all of the people who came from Noah and his children moved together from the mountains of Ararat to a ‘plain in the land of Shinar’ (Genesis 11:2). They lived there as one people, with one language, and determined to disobey God’s direct command that they ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’ (Genesis 9:1). Here’s what the people did –

“Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:3-4

This was part of Satan’s ‘deep-laid plans.’ The devil (d-evil) will always promote disobedience on the part of people through deception. He deceived Noah’s family into thinking they could leave their home in Ararat, move eastward to a plain in Shinar, build a city for themselves, and establish their own rule – rather than God’s rule. What was God’s ‘deep-laid plan?’

“But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” Genesis 11:5-9

The people would not obey God’s command to ‘fill the earth,’ so He confused their ‘language’ (שָׂפָה – saphah, ‘lip, speech) so they would not be able to understand other people’s speech. The people stopped building the city with its tower to reach ‘the heavens,’ and scattered all over the world – just as God had planned for them to do.

Genesis 10 contains the genealogy of Noah’s sons including where their descendants went to following the confusion of language. Some families moved east, some west, some north, some south. We know that Nimrod (great-grandson of Noah through the lineage of Ham and his son Cush) became a mighty warrior and established the first ‘kingdom’ following the Flood. That kingdom encompassed much of the Mesopotamian Valley (current day Iraq and parts of Turkey).

“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).” Genesis 10:10-12

What would Satan do next? Was his evil plan finished? Or was it so ‘deep’ that the devil had more in store for the families ‘scattered abroad over the face of all the earth?’

The Devil and Job

The Book of Job answers many of our questions about how the devil interacts with God, other angels, human beings, and nature. Job may have been a contemporary of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. That’s based on some of the names of people and places listed in the Book. He may have lived later than that, but we can’t know for sure – yet. Future archaeological findings may cast more light on when he lived.

What is important about the Book of Job is that it gives us a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at the power structure of Heaven, along with insights into the ‘deep things’ of God and Satan.

Job lived in the ‘land of Uz.’ Some archaeologists believe Uz may have been a region of west Arabia, on the other side of the Jordan River from Israel. Job 1 describes Job as a wealthy man who ‘was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil’ (Job 1:1). He had ten children – seven sons and three daughters. The Book of Job said that he ‘was the greatest of all the people of the East’ (Job 1:3).

The next part is important to read carefully –

“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.’ Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.‘ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” Job 1:6-12

Satan had access to God’s ‘presence’ as he joined with other angels (‘sons of God’). God asked Satan where he had come from and the devil said he had been ‘going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’ God already knew what Satan had been doing because He knows everything, but He put the devil on the record. It reminds me what the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter –

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Satan’s desire is to ‘devour’ God’s people. That’s one of his ‘deep-laid plans.’ God brought up Job as an example of someone who was ‘blameless and upright,’ a man who feared God and shunned ‘evil.’ Satan jumped on that one and dared God to ‘stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has,’ believing that Job would curse God to His face. God told the devil – ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.‘

What we see here may be confusing to some. If God is ‘good,’ why would He allow the devil to do what was evil to Job? Satan used the Sabeans and Chaldeans to raid Job’s children and steal and kill their animals and kill most of the servants. The devil also used ‘a great wind’ to strike the house of Job’s oldest son who was hosting his brothers and sisters for a meal. The house fell on the young people and killed them all.

Satan’s desire is to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’ (John 10:10). However, he needed God’s permission in the case of Job. Job’s response?

“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 1:20-22

That wasn’t enough for Satan. He joined with other angels to present himself to God. The conversation was very similar to the first one, but God added some important insights into the evil of the devil –

“Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Job 2:3

God told Satan that he had no ’cause’ to destroy Job and that Job continued to be ‘blameless and upright,’ an ‘upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.’ God also said that Job ‘holds fast to his integrity.’ That demonstrates the ‘goodness’ of God versus the ‘evil’ of Satan. What did the devil do?

“So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” Job 2:4-7

Job’s response?

“And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:8-10

Satan is not mentioned again in the Book of Job, but what we learn about the devil is that he is evil and strongly desires to ‘devour’ – to steal, kill, and destroy.

[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]

Next Time

God is mentioned many more times in the Book of Job. We’ll see what the rest of Job teaches us about God’s goodness and ‘deep-laid plans’ from Eternity in the next part of our series.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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