A question about the Book of Job

[Justmerach]

Hi everyone, I wonder if any of you have an understanding about the book of Job?

Once at church a sermon was about John’s gospel being like a court room and the Advocate Holy Spirit being the council of defence in our lives and the prosecuting council is Satan.

I will quote from the sermon
“John's gospel is also a courtroom.
In this courtroom, there is a prosecuting council and the prosecuting council has a name and his name is Satan. And Satan is simply the Hebrew word for the prosecuting council. And in the book of Job, Satan isn't this horrible devil with horns. is simply the prosecutor. And the Greek word which means exactly the same thing the diabolos the devil is also the prosecutor. There is also the council for the defence. Thank God. And the council for the defence literally is the Paraclete. The one who is called to the defence or in Latin the word is advocate.

The Holy Spirit is the council for the defence. So the accusing voice is there in Jesus’ world and it's also there in our souls. You don't have to be a charismatic to be defended by the Holy Spirit. All you have to do is keep faith. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. to pay loving attention to your own life and the lives of those around you. And the advocate, the Holy Spirit, will just turn up.”

My understanding was before in this story that Satan was on earth and God spoke to him from Heaven. However, hearing the above got to me to look at the scripture again. The scripture says that the sons of God where with Satan before the Lord. Where do you think this was in heaven or on earth? When the world was the destroyed the fallen angels was removed from the world is commonly understood in God's world.

I don’t know how they could have made it into heaven Satan?

Job appears to be about divine intervention.

God can have many faces as Psalm 18 tells us-I don’t think it was a Holy being playing the role for this part.

Which Satan do you think was involved in this story with Job?

(Job 1:6)
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 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?

Goodness a lot to untangle there. Over the 'career' of Satan he has had or will have 6 'homes'. The first two of these are now in the past - where he was at the throne of God as the most beautiful of the cherubim, created before the earth was along with the other angels. Ezekiel 28:11-15 As such he was a bearer of the Shechinah glory and closest to the throne of God. He was elevated above the other cherubim in his power and authority. God created him perfect, so the fault of his fall does not lie with God, but with his own free will. Satan was originally holy by nature but chose to become unholy.

The second of Satan's homes was in the mineral garden of Eden (Ezekiel 28:13) Different angelic beings were given authority over different parts of the universe, and God gave Satan authority over the earth (before his fall). This mineral garden was not the same as the garden in Genesis 2-3, which was described as a vegetable garden. The mineral garden was where Satan dwelt before humans were created. There were no seas nor oceans and precious stones exuding light covered those areas. Satan used to walk up and down in the midst of these. (v.14). There's much more about him but it would make this account too long, but interestingly Satan was likely a high priest in heaven and there's biblical reasons I won't go into here.

Whilst in his second home, Satan fell (Ezekiel 28:16-19) and his sin was pride, Satan declared in Isaiah 14:12-14:

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far reaches of the north;c
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

Here Satan makes 5 'I will' statements that describe what he intends to do and have. He led a revolt against God and was followed by one third of the angelic host (Rev. 12:3-4). At this point he invoked God's judgement. This revolt led to conflict between good and bad angels which continues to this day.

According to Ezekiel 28:16 God casts Satan out of the mountain of God and he was removed from his position in the mineral garden of Eden (which was then covered with oceans). (This is why in the future eternal Kingdom there will be no oceans). God casts Satan to his third dwelling place, the atmospheric heavens, where he is today (Ephesians 2:2 and 6:12). Although Satan dwells in the atmosphere he still has permission to access two other places: heaven (where he acts as an accuser) and earth, which is what he was doing during the time of Job.

Satan comes to earth in one of two forms: a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) and an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) - these roles show his hatred (against Israel and the Church primarily) and he uses it for destruction, and deception (where Satan counterfeits God's original word and changes it to deceive the nations).

(Satan's other 3 abodes are yet to come so I'll omit those as not relevant to this discussion).

So at the time of Job, we have an 'atmospheric' Satan.

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. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

The 'sons of God' are the angels, and we see here Satan decides to stick his nose in and go with them, to see God (remember he has permission to access heaven and be an accuser). God questions Satan who gives the predictable answer, that he's roaming on the earth, which is where he has permission to go.

God allows the testing of Job because He already knows the outcome (Satan does not).

Thank you very much Gentle Sheep, this really does help. Thank you for taking the time post such an insightful response.

You're most welcome. I've only found out most of this myself, quite recently.

Thank you @GentleSheep for your interesting exegesis. I was pondering on what life-application we could learn from the story of Job.

He was a man who trusted God and continued to praise Him in ALL circumstances regardless of the wiles of the enemy, who can and did appear in all sorts of guises! The enemy is a mere also-ran in the greater scheme of things and we know the war is already won. Praise the Lord! 🙏 However, that does not mean we should ignore Satan's evil and always be aware of the prowling wolves however they may appear.

This God—how perfect are His deeds! How dependable His words. He is like a shield for all who seek his protection.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

I want to fully understand where we stand with Satan in the New Testament. Jesus overcame Satan by coming in the flesh and in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross. I think that Satan no longer can accuse believers to God in heaven and was sent out of heaven in Revelations 12. I wonder does anyone agree this has taken place or does this point to you be something that will happen in the future?

Fallen angels of the Nephilim kind it has been said have been locked up in the abyss somewhere, but clearly Satan was not one of those.

(Revelations 12:9)

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 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've not yet reached Revelation 12 though, in my view. The events in that book are all set in the future. The event spoken of there leads to Satan's move to his fourth abode - the earth "he was cast out into the earth" - from his current residence, the atmosphere. This marks the middle of the tribulation and will last 3.5 years, after which Satan is then thrown into the Abyss for 1000 years.

The fallen angels from the Nephilim incident were long ago sent to another part of Hell called Tartarus, where they cannot get out and they will not join Satan on the earth. They are destined for the fiery pit in the future judgement. The Greek 'Tartarus' is used only once in the Bible in 2 Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment" - the word he used for hell there is tartarus.

Yes Jesus has ultimately overcome Satan but he still remains active as ruler of this world during the current Church age, until all the events have played out as God has decreed. However he cannot accuse those of us who are justified by Christ, that's the power of the Cross, and as you know Jesus stands as our advocate.

There are 3 main views you should understand, I used Google's AI for a quick summary of each:

The Amillennial view

Amillennialism is a Christian end-times view teaching that the "thousand years" of Christ's reign in Revelation 20 is a symbolic number. It represents the current church age between Jesus's first and second comings. Christ reigns spiritually from heaven right now, and his return brings the final judgment and a new earth. This is the traditional eschatological view of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and major historic Protestant denominations.

Core Beliefs

• Symbolic Millennium: The 1,000 years is not a literal span of time, but a figurative way to describe a long, complete era.
• Current Reign: Jesus rules now from heaven alongside believers who have died.
• Bound Satan: The binding of Satan happened during Christ's earthly ministry, limiting his power to deceive the nations completely.
• Simultaneous Events: Christ returns just once at the very end of this age, triggering the general resurrection of all people and the final judgment at the same time.

Premillennial view (which I hold):

Premillennialism is a Christian end-times belief that Jesus Christ will physically return to Earth before a literal thousand-year period of peace, known as the Millennium. Rooted in the Book of Revelation, it teaches that Christ's second coming will shatter earthly evil and set up a visible kingdom. This view is common amongst Pentecostals, Baptists and some conservative evangelical Protestant churches.

Core Beliefs

• Physical Return: Jesus comes back to Earth in person before the thousand years begin.
• Literal Reign: A real, earthly kingdom of peace and righteousness takes place.
• Hardship First: The time leading up to the return involves intense global struggle or a Great Tribulation.

Postmillennial view

Postmillennialism is an optimistic Christian end-times view teaching that Christ will return after a long golden age ("the millennium"). During this era, the Gospel gradually transforms society, bringing peace, righteousness, and widespread Christianization to the world through the work of the church before Jesus comes back. (Far less common view than the other two)

Core Beliefs

• Gospel Success: The Great Commission will succeed, and Christian principles will eventually influence most of the world.
• The Millennium: An extensive, long-lasting era (symbolic or literal) of spiritual prosperity and societal peace on Earth, rather than a time of total global collapse.
• The Second Coming: Jesus Christ returns visibly and physically only after this golden age is complete, followed by the final judgment.

Thank you again GentleSheep, that clears up my thoughts for me.

I think one thing also can take from the Job case is we can see how not to behave to others as that accusing voice. The critic can come in different forms and it is not something that should be embraced.

Yes that's an excellent point. All too easy to fall into that.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Any 'accusing voice' or 'criticism' that is not founded in the Bible, is simply not from God. However, none of us should be so full of ego that we ignore a conviction of heart from the Holy Spirit. 🙏