The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: Exposition of Job 1:6 (Part 1of 4)
A story that begins in heaven will change how you face pain on earth. We open Job 1:6–12 and step into the heavenly courtroom where the “sons of God” present themselves and Satan appears among them. Before Job loses anything, the scene establishes something shocking and steadying: trials are witnessed, permitted, and limited by a sovereign God who is never surprised.
We read the passage and dig into the hedge of protection—why Satan knows it exists, how it proves divine preservation, and what it means for people who feel like targets. The accusation is clear: remove blessing and devotion will crumble. Yet the text counters with tighter logic. God commends Job’s integrity, sets boundaries on what the adversary can touch, and shows that grace, not comfort, is what keeps a soul upright. Along the way we tackle common assumptions about sovereignty, including the modern habit of granting God “permission” to be Lord only when life is smooth. This conversation presses into the harder claim: God can ordain trials without abandoning His people, and limits around suffering are an act of governance, not neglect.
We also explore what “binding Satan” looks like in Scripture—less iron chains, more defined borders—and why that matters for pastoral hope. If your world feels small and stormy, Job’s opening shows you are still inside a hedge. The permission granted has edges. The pain has a purpose. And the God who sets the limits also preserves integrity within them.
If this challenged your view of suffering or strengthened your trust in God’s providence, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more deep dives, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Your reflections help us keep hard questions on the table for honest, hope-filled conversations.
BE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!
Christians. Good evening on this Friday. I hope you're having a good day. And I hope you're preparing for an enjoyable weekend. Tonight, we're going to continue where we left off on the beginning of the book of Job, doing a complete exposition through the entire book. So far, we've gone through an introduction and we've gone through the first five verses. And now we will look to the next verses following, beginning at verse 6. To begin, I want to read verses 6 through 12, having no real expectation that I will be able to get through all of these verses. Um, because the section that we're embarking upon now is a section that I believe deserves your vigilant attention and a serious attention to, because it is going to explain a lot in terms of the way we really understand God, a better way for it to understand ourselves and a better way to understand the connection between how God interacts or his interactions with man, especially when it comes to believers, his children, and the afflictions that they go through. So the goal here will be to uh really examine what the word of God is going to be telling us with regard to God and specifically his sovereignty and providence. So to begin, I want to begin in Job chapter 1, and I'm gonna read from verses 6 through verse 12, and it reads as follows There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before God, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, From where do you come? And Satan answered 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, Have you considered my servant Job? That there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and that eschews evil. Then Satan answered the Lord, and he said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him and about his house? And of all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only upon himself. Do not touch with your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. We see here a very, very powerful passage of scripture, particularly when it comes to understanding biblical doctrine. This is a very powerful and equally profound passage of scripture, giving us insight into the inner workings of our Lord God and how his divinity intersects with our humanity. So it is going to be very important that folks pay attention to this because it's a very heavy subject. And I trust and hope that you will find in it the those things which I have found to be very beneficial to my soul. So before I go on, I'm gonna start as is the custom with those who are on the panel at this moment and ask for your opening remarks regarding the subject. And so I'll start with Brother Jeff, man of God. How are you doing tonight, brother?
SPEAKER_05:I'm fine, my man. You look you look uh you look good. I got cleaned up, I had to shave get shaved. Yeah, I noticed that uh the whiskers are gone. Mine are about a day old, but uh I might shave, I might shave before I go to church on Sunday. I don't know. Tomorrow I gotta watch Ohio steak my pin stake. But anyhow, um it just occurred to me. You know how you when you read stuff and you listen to it and you finally think, you know, I never thought of it this way. When when when Satan tells the Lord that, you know, you you know, well, why shouldn't he be you know on your side? You put a hedge of protection around him. Well, you know, I always just said, okay, yeah, okay, right, whatever. But then I thought, wait a minute, if Satan knows about that, he's tried it. He's tried to go after him and was and had that hedge. It was already in place, and he's saying, Yeah, you put that there, and I know because I tried to breach it and I couldn't. You know, that's basically what he's saying, I think. At least inferring. So that that was my thought on that. I just thought, yeah, that's funny. You know, you know Satan's already tried those defenses. Yep, for sure. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Mr. Joni, your opening remarks. What do you think?
SPEAKER_07:Um, so I love the fact that um God was able to tell Satan, you haven't tried my my boy Job. Because Satan thought that the only reason we follow him is because we get good. And as we know as Christians and followers, that we not are always blessed. Sometimes it seems like there's some interference in there. And matter of fact, I I told you about this one lady, young girl that I have uh in my job. I don't work in that home anymore, but I do go over once in a while. And I was over there the other day, and she says, Joni, will you come and talk to me, please, in my room? So I said, sure. And I went down and she goes, Why does Satan keep at me? I said, Because you're his, because you're gods. She goes, You mean I'm still in the book of life? I mean, we're talking about people that are mentally challenged, right? Like, seriously.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_07:And so I went through it all and then I sang with her um going to the enemy's camp to take back what he stole from me. She goes, Can you find that on YouTube? And sure enough, I was able to find it, so now she has access to that little song. And just anyway, just seeing um the life come back into her that quick, you know?
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_07:But anyway, I I have felt like Job so many times in my life, you know.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_07:And um, and I mean and like when once I got saved, like I've never turned my back on God. I mean, we all know some of the things that have happened to me, like being stranded in the United States of America, which is a pretty scary thing.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_07:If you think about it. Except for I had a father in heaven.
SPEAKER_03:I hear you. I hear you, sister.
SPEAKER_07:That's all. That's all I got. But I think I love uh I love Dope.
SPEAKER_03:So we're gonna get into it. Brother Jeffrey, encouraging servant.
SPEAKER_04:Your thoughts. Well, good evening, Jonathan. Uh, before I get into my thoughts, how's the back, brother? You feeling any better? A lot better, a lot better.
SPEAKER_03:So I'm thinking before I'm thinking by the end of the weekend, I should be to get back into the gym on Monday, but yeah, I'm feeling feeling better.
SPEAKER_04:All right. We'll stay in that uh good direction. All right, brother. Now we know that he has already fallen, he has been rejected from the angelic beings of heaven. He is now Satan, no longer Lucifer. But at the same time, I kind of I've always had a thought and a hint that God is telling him, hey, look, do your best, because your time is coming where I'm going to cast you out. You're going, you are eternally banned. You know, he's he's it seems like at times, Jonathan, and maybe I'm re I've read this wrong, he's almost saying, Look, here's my man uh Job. You ever considered him? And he just he's just kind of playing the devil in a trap because Job doesn't give in. God winds up double blessing him in the end, and the devil's the one that winds up the loser. Right. You know, and again, that's just a thought I've had, but I kind of read it that way sometimes. But anyway, that's my thought, Jonathan, and glad you're feeling better, brother. We love you, so let's get into this.
SPEAKER_03:All right, brother. Thank you very much for that. Brother Kaz. How you doing, brother? Doing well, thank you. Good to hear. Any thoughts on this opening section of the book of Job? Okay, let's see. Uh uh, Meg, how about you?
SPEAKER_08:What verses are we covering tonight?
SPEAKER_03:Uh starting at verse six. I can come back, I can come back to you.
SPEAKER_08:Yeah, let me read through it real quick, please.
SPEAKER_03:I'm ready to go. Okay, Kyle, go ahead, brother. Go ahead. Yes. We're in Job beginning at verse six, and there's no way we're gonna get through verse 12, but verses six through twelve is really one section, but I'll be hard-pressed to believe we'll get past the next two verses. But but go ahead, brother Kaz, what do you think so far? All right, Sister Lisa, how about you?
SPEAKER_00:Well, this verse has always kind of um it's I'm curious about this verse. I'm excited to hear what you actually have to say. Now, the sons of the sons of God, the angels came to present themselves. And I've always wondered why Satan was allowed, um, even you know, obviously he still has to get permission to do the wreak the havoc that he does like to wreak. But um I was I'm always curious about that. So honestly, I don't have any insight. I'm I'm looking for your insight. So I'm I'm looking forward to this.
SPEAKER_03:All right, we're gonna we're gonna get into it. Let me try you again, Kaz, and see. Can you hear me? I can hear you, yes. Can you hear me now? I hear you fine now. Yeah, go ahead. I hear now you just went paused again. You just it just went it just paused again. So I don't know what's going on. Hello? Yep, I hear you.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I was just saying the first part was when you were saying that it was showing that when Satan had to ask everyone, he was talking to him, it was showing that God is all sovereign. So the sovereignty piece was there.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_02:Um and and then um when he said he's the you know he's the purest of the land, it was showing maybe that he was gonna, you know, even through this, through this part of being tempted or through this distress that we go through, um, that we still find the victory through there. You know, so those are the two things when you mentioned that piece was just that he was giving he had asked for permission, and God was saying he was the purest of the land. And so he would be able to battle through with that, with that um sovereignty that got Job saw God through, that he would be able to battle through that um and understand what it's about.
SPEAKER_03:Right. Absolutely. Sister Meg, you want to take a shot?
SPEAKER_08:Yep, ready.
SPEAKER_03:All right, go ahead.
SPEAKER_08:So I think there's something really significant. Um, a couple things, but we can get deeper into it as we go through because there is so much more. But um one thing that was interesting is that when God answered Satan, right, what it shows too is that God reveals that he reigns as king and judge over all creation, even Satan, because he had to come to him. The second thing that I noticed that was really interesting is that God says, Have you considered my servant Job? He he considered him as his servant. He also used that in the sense of Moses and David and Isaiah. And so I thought that that was intering interesting saying, he's my servant versus just calling Job any man.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Brother Jeff, man of God, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05:Well, what you know, what I was gonna say was is that you know, I think that he'd already been cast out of heaven with a third of the angels. But like uh like Meg just said, he had to come to God to get permission to do his to do his mischief. I mean, there's probably some amount that he was allowed to do, but when it if it involved attacking a specific person, he probably had to have God's permission. So he was allowed to come and present himself, but he didn't live in heaven anymore. He said, I've I've been to and fro walking on the earth, that's where he was cast down. That's what I'm saying. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you know, um uh so we get to verse six, and again, I'm gonna let me just read just this verse. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And you know, and so in this verse, before we deal with any of the suffering that Job had to incur, before anything happens, before Satan is allowed to go and do his deeds, we see something taking place. And it doesn't start to take place even on earth yet. But what is beginning to take place, how everything starts and how everything unfolds in this entire book, it begins in heaven. It begins in heaven. Now, there are people, many people, and I'm talking about many people in Christianity, people who profess to be Christians. We're not even talking about the unbeliever. There are Christians who get annoyed with the emphasis that someone like myself and maybe some of you put on the sovereignty of God. They get annoyed by it. They don't like hearing it. They think that it is too much for us to do, and that we beat on this drum too often. When in fact, the most the the best condition that a Christian can have in his or her understanding is the sovereignty of God. The closer, the closer you get to the to to understanding in an intimate fashion the sovereignty of God, the closer you are to divinity, to knowing him. Everything that we need to understand is it it shapes itself in understanding the power of God. Paul said about Christ that he seeks to understand the to have the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and to understand the power of his resurrection. In other words, his power in general. And so the thing is, understanding the sovereignty of God is the apex of our faithful understanding about God, his nature, and who he is, and what he does, and how he moves, and how he works in his creation. We need to understand that we are his subjects. Sister Lisa, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was just gonna say, along with what you're saying here, this is the problem with so many Christians that that have created their own God and their own Jesus in their mind. One who is who is not sovereign. They will say he's sovereign, but the thought of him actually ordering hardship or ordering suffering to one of his children is absolutely unheard of. And they many don't look at us, look at it as we're you know having this discussion. I hope that some who are feeling this way are actually in this live tonight and maybe will consider what we're saying here because all of our suffering is for the good, and and and nobody likes it. I'm not asking for it. Um, but I'm I'm understanding as I get closer to the Lord that our suffering serves us well, it it brings us closer to the Lord, that's where we find Him. So yeah, it's against Yeah, it's against everything that that God really is. Many don't believe it, they create their own image in their minds.
SPEAKER_03:So here's what I'll tell you when it comes to the sovereignty of God amongst the Christian community, there are two perspectives with regard to God's sovereignty that any Christian can truly have. One, only one is correct, but there are two. So the one that is correct, I'll start with that which is correct, is simply this God is objectively sovereign over all creation, over all human beings, over everything. And when I say objectively, I mean that his will is objectively imposed on his creation. Objectively, actively imposed. And so that means that his will is that which is done. Always. Always. This is what Job, this is what we are learning in these first in his first chapter of this book. Now, the second incorrect view that Christians have, even though, like Sister Lisa said, that they will admit to his sovereignty, they admit to his sovereignty when they relinquish their will to God and give him permission to exercise his sovereignty over them. This is how m much of Christianity today is. It is, I will give the Lord permission to be my Lord. And when I do that, then he can be sovereign. But that is not the God of the Bible that we know. And here in the oldest book of the Bible, it lays it out clearly. The sovereignty of God is that from which everything flows, and I mean everything. Everything. The number of breaths you take, the day that you take your last breath, every ant you step on, every weed you pull, every lie you tell, every thought that you have that you think no one knows. But there is nothing that goes outside of God's sovereign dominion, and we see that here in the opening passages of the book of Job. Brother Jeff, man of God, go ahead.
SPEAKER_05:It's a minor thing that thought that came to me was you know, you if you want to talk to anybody about that, ask them if they've ever played chess. You know, in chess, you are basically like God. You know, you're over there, you know what your pieces are, you know what they're gonna do. And there's no way that you're gonna win that game without sacrificing pieces, sometimes really important ones. But the thing is, and so you know, it might not be fair. You say, well, how come you sacrificed your queen and not your pawn? Right. Well, that's because you have a strategy, you have a plan. God has a plan. And you know, when people suffer and everything, you know, nobody wants, I don't want anybody to suffer, including especially myself. Right. But the thing is, you know, if if my suffering fulfills his plan, then I'm glad to be a part of it. Because I'm his child. Absolutely. I'm there to do with whatever he pleases. He can let me live, he can take me home, whatever.
SPEAKER_03:And see, and brother, what you touched upon is what we need is how is is the exact framework whereby we are to what where we are to understand God's sovereignty, which is this the difference between man and like the beasts, animals, is that God makes us aware of what he's doing. He gives us a consciousness that makes us aware of what he's doing. Making us aware is not synonymous with saying you can do things however you want to do that. No, God is making us aware of what he's doing, and he is giving us the ability to understand his inner workings, not only in the world, but he's giving us the ability to understand that we can be part of that objective reality that he has worked in uh in creation. We belong to him. And it the time will come for those who are his children, those who were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, the time will come where his children will come out of their stupor and they will realize that they are his children. And they will worship him and they will glorify him. And this is what his purpose is in them to glorify him and to glorify his mercy and his grace. However, for those who never come, their purpose is to never come. This is their purpose for God to leave them in the condition that they are in, in order also to show forth the praises of God and the glory of God in his justice. And so it is necessary for men upon hearing the gospel to bend and to subject themselves to the will of God, and that, and by doing so, they know that they are which part or which side of God's uh divine uh providence for the godly, they know where they stand. Sister Maria, welcome up here. I think it's your first time, sister. Uh, you want to add anything to the conversation?
SPEAKER_06:Hi. Um I'm listening right now, and um, when something hits me and the Holy Spirit tells me to speak, I'll speak. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_03:No problem, sister. I appreciate you coming up, though.
SPEAKER_06:Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_03:Brother Mathis, how about you?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, man. Um something just came to thought with the devil Roman seeking who he made to fire. And in the scripture, it says he's reserved in everlasting chains. So that must be like a spiritual meaning. Like he's on earth, but he can only do so much, right?
SPEAKER_03:Man, look, you said something that I'm gonna hit real hard and heavy on this subject. And you're right. The the when we talk about Satan's binding, for example, for example, you know, you we've all heard this many times, over and over again. And what people fail to understand is that Satan is not the kind of a being, like any angel or demon, that you can bind with a physical chain. But you can bind him by circumstances, you can restrict his ability to move one way or another way. And we begin to see this in this very book. And in fact, we begin to see this in the in the verses up that are upcoming. So your observation, Brother Matthews, is a very, very good one. And and and when we come across it, um, feel free to weigh in on it because I intend to elaborate heavily on what you just said. Now it says here that that well, I was pointing out that this scene starts and begins to unfold with the sons of God coming to present themselves before the Lord. And the the narrative here, it transitions uh from the earth that we see in verses one through five where uh where we get we get to we get insight into Job and his and his raising his children and his wealth and and all these kinds of things. We begin to see, we get introduced to Job. Job obviously is a man, and he's the man who's on earth. And we knew that he was a man that was upright, he was perfect, he eschewed evil, and he was a blessed person in the sight of the Lord. And so now in verse 6, it it leaves earth, the narrative leaves earth and it ascends to heaven. And so now we see in heaven the sons of God coming to present themselves before God. And what we're gonna find out is that this is going to put on display that the trials of the righteous are not a result of a chance happening. We all know what Job is gonna go through, but it's very important for us to understand the background. As many people like to say, we need to establish the context. Well, right now in verse 6, the context is being established. We all know Job's story, but herein lies the context. And the context is that on a certain day, or there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. This takes place in heaven. And everything that's going to happen going forward with Job started here. Not with Job, not with Job at all. In fact, even Satan himself testifies that God has put this protective hedge around Job so that nothing bad happens to him. And that Job does nothing displeasing to God. And God, and Satan throws out the accusation to the Lord that it is only because God has this protective hedge around uh Job. So even Satan himself recognizes the kind of a man Job is. And Satan himself also establishes and gives credit to God's doing that Job was protected and that Job was upright, uh was perfect before God and eschewed evil. Even Satan recognizes it. Even he recognizes the sovereignty of God in our salvation. Now let me say something here. If Satan understands as we see here that he does. He understands that God is the preserver of the uprightness of his people. He understands that God is the initiator and the preserver of the keeping of God's people upright and holy before God. Satan understands that. So, and this is the first real instance other than the garden where we get to understand, where we get to understand this. And in fact, in the garden, I don't even think that that is really dealt with there. But here we definitely understand something that Satan understands. You as believers should understand something that Satan understands, which is that we are preserved by the work, by the hand of God, the divine hand. He does it. Satan himself attests to it. He tells God in this instance, he is upright, sure. He eschews evil. Sure. He is perfect.