The first test came because of this:
(Job 1:8) 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?
(Job 1:9) Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
(Job 1:10) Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
(Job 1:11) But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
(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.
And Satan did his best--and Job passed test and he did not curse God. the and the 2nd test came about from this:
(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, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
(Job 2:4) And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
(Job 2:5) But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
(Job 2:6) And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
and what happened???----Satan said Job would curse Him to His face---DID HE?-----NO!!!---he passed the second test (he may have erred in some thinking, but the bet was that Job would curse God---and he didn't, not even when urged to by his wife--- so he passed.
He repented of his error and was therefore greatly blessed.
THE TWO TESTS OF JOB
Job had two tests. Whenever you take a test, you get scored on that test. In the reading of the first and second chapters of Job we are caught up with the anguish and torment of Job, and in the process we are blinded to the actual results of the two tests.
The first thing that should come to your observation is the process of the presentation of these two tests. They are virtually word for word in the presentation between the first test, and the second test. What would one obvious reason be for the two presentations being almost identical? One obvious reason would be that we might take note of that which is different between the two tests.
PRSENTATION OF THE TWO TESTS
The following will be a comparison of the presentations of the two tests with the differences highlighted in
blue.
First Test 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.
Second Test Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them,
to present himself before the Lord.
In the first test Satan appears to have been a casual observer, while in the second test you might assume Satan was commanded to be there.
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First Test Job 1:7 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.
Second Test Job 2:2 And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
They are identical.
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First Test Job 1:8 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?
Second Test 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, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
The difference is the first test has already taken place, and Job has passed. Two other things should be noted here. 1. That God did the moving, or is responsible for Job’s tribulation. 2. That Satan’s cause was unjust, Job passed. It does not mention God’s cause for allowing the test.
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First Test Job 1:9-10 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,
doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hand, and his substance is increased in the land.
Second Test Job 2:4 And Satan answered the Lord, and said,
Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
The difference is that the first test has taken place, and God has removed(The hedge) Satan's first reason for Job blessing God.
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First Test Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch
all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Second Test Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch
his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
The difference here is that Satan gives his new reason why Job will fail.
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First Test Job 1:12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold,
all that he
hath is in thy
power; only put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
Second Test Job 2:6-7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy
hand; but save his life. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord,--.
God’s presentation of the two tests is unique in that every word that could be duplicated was, from one test compared to the other test. It is the results of the two tests that will be presented next, and the obvious differences stand out.
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RESULTS OF THE TWO TESTS
First Test Job 1:20
Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Second Test Job 2:8
And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
(Notice that Job does not bless God. This was what Satan had said, that Job would "not bless"
[lo-barak] God to his face.)
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After the first test Job prostrated himself before God and worshipped God. Job mentioned his mother’s womb in a neutral manner, and then blessed the name of the Lord.
After the second test Job sat down and said nothing. The worshipping and blessing of God is missing. When Job finally said something it was in reply to his wife’s question, in which Job replied with a question, “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Notice after the first test Job mentioned his mother’s womb in a neutral manner, but after the second test we hear Job cursing the day he came out of his mother’s womb. (Job 3:1,10-12)
First Test Job 1:22 In all this
Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Second Test Job 2:10 ---In all this
did not Job sin with his lips.
Herein lays the key to the two tests. Job is completely exonerated in the first test. Notice that Job did not sin in any manner. Examine that which is added, “nor charged God foolishly”. Job charged God foolishly time and time again after the second test, but after the first test Job did not charge God foolishly.
After the second test it is recorded that Job did not sin with his lips. Sinning with the lips, or as Satan said it, “cursing God to his face”, was the minimum standards for passing or failing in this test. Job passed Satan’s minimum standards, but ask your self, did Job pass God’s standards?
There is no meeting between God and Satan that is recorded after the second test. After the first test God said to Satan in regards to Job, “--There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil, and still he holded fast his integrity,--” (Job 2:3)
After the second test we do not have God commending Job to Satan, why not?
Here is one other point. There are two ways of sinning as listed in the first two chapters. One is with the heart, as indicated by Job in reference to his sons in Job 1:5. The other is with the lips as mentioned in Job 2:10. Satan’s charge was that Job would curse God with his lips, for that is what is meant by “to God’s face”. The answer to the first test is that Job sinned not (That means Job didn’t sin either with his lips, or with his heart.), nor charged God foolishly.
The answer to the second test is that Job didn’t sin with his lips. That still leaves us with his heart, and with charging God foolishly. Notice that in the end Job says to God, “no thought can be withholden from thee”. Surely Job is speaking of the thoughts of his heart.
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
You cannot deny Job charged God foolishly.