One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. – Job 1:6

Today's Scripture Reading (June 29, 2021): Job 1

Christianity has developed a dichotomy in its popular theology. Everything appears to exist in either complementary or opposite twos. For the person, it is body and soul. It is often the body that is considered evil; it is often described as the place of the desires of the flesh, and it is the soul that contains a piece of heaven. The body is mortal and finite, but the soul, for good or bad, is eternal. And everything that we do as humans is either to serve the needs of the flesh or the desires of the soul. The spiritual realms are also divided into two, heaven and hell. In popular thought, heaven is ruled by God, and hell is the domain of Satan.

What is surprising is that this dichotomy is partially the influence of Greek thought on the Christian doctrine. Much of the Hebrew belief is not about dichotomy but unity. As people, we are not made up of two distinct parts, but one with our body and soul, each deeply interconnected and heavily influenced by the other. Heaven is the realm of God and, I get this is hard to believe; it is also the realm of Satan. Satan doesn't rule in hell. According to the Bible, it is his place of suffering as much as it is our place of punishment.

The story of Job takes place in two realms. One is the earthly realm of men, and the other domain is heaven, the traditional home of God. And for the reader to understand the story, we have to understand what is taking place in both realms. It is the inclusion of the conversation in heaven that makes the story of Job, for some, a story of historical fiction. It is possible that Job was an actual person who suffered many disasters and then was finally reinstated. Someone then took it upon themselves to write this story to explain the suffering of this good man.

But regardless of in which genre you might place the Book of Job, part of the importance of the story is what it tells us about Satan. In Job, the word that we have translated as angels is "ben Elohim," literally "the sons of God." "Ben Elohim" is the traditional way of describing the angels. According to Job, the sons of God came to present themselves before God, gathering around his heavenly throne. Among the "sons of God" gathered at the throne of God was Satan. The text seems to indicate that Satan was not just among the "sons of God," he was a member of that group. Satan was an angel, and so he belonged in heaven. Zechariah seems to agree. "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him" (Zechariah 3:1). Satan not only belongs in heaven, but he has access to God.

The story of Job also tells us something else; Satan is not God's equal, and hell is not Satan's domain. Satan is a created being, one of the "sons of God" or an angel. He is not God. Satan is also not "Almighty," and he cannot do anything that God does not allow him to do.

 Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 2