Job: God’s Answer to Satan

We enjoyed our last supplemental study of Thomas Watson’s teachings through the Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer with excerpts from Dr. C.J. Willams (RPTS OT/Hebrew Prof) book, The Shadow of Christ in the Book of Job, to encourage us to persevere because we have the victory in Christ Whom Job typifies in His extreme height to his extreme suffering to his extreme height with even more glory as God’s answer to Satan’s roaming and “ruling” the earth and an encouragement to Christians. From the book: “God’s question to Satan immediately casts a singular light on the role of Job. God is the one who calls Satan’s attention to Job, thereby inviting the challenge that he knew Satan would inevitably make. Job would therefore become God’s chosen point of contest between himself and Satan, and the divine answer to the earthly wanderings of this Adversary … The ultimate purpose of the trial of Job is to give a divine answer to the rebellious wanderings of Satan. That answer will come in the form of a righteous man who endures great suffering, and who is finally exalted and vindicated at last. This divine answer is intended to put the earth-wandering Adversary to shame and break the strength of his power … given their just deserts by God, but the reader is left wondering: what about Satan? The entire experience of Job is a prophetic answer to Satan’s power to roam the earth. Through his humiliation and exaltation, Job foreshadowed the One who would finally “bind the strong man” (Matt 12:29) … The beloved Son, in whom the Father was well pleased …”