God’s devil: Reflection on Job and African Worldview
African worldview is, in many ways, closer to reality (Biblical) than the man-centred irrationalism currently popular in Western countries. Most Africans believe in unseen supernatural forces that influence us – either helping or hurting us. So does the Bible (Ephesians 6:10-12, Acts 12:6-11, for example). Most Africans believe that God, the Creator of all, is far above his creation – so does the Bible. As King Solomon prayed when dedicating the temple, “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you” (1 Kings 8:27b). Most Africans believe that God is so transcendent (above his creation) that he is inaccessible and uninvolved in daily life. This is where the African understanding of God needs to be reformed by the Bible.
Job is a good book to reshape our thinking about God. As you may know, Job was a God-fearing man, a man of integrity who God blessed abundantly (Job 1:1-5). He would not need Lobola from a young man who wanted to marry one of his daughters because he had so many cows.
Unbeknownst to Job, Satan and God talk in the heavens about Job. God basically says that his servant Job is a true worshipper (1:8). Satan replies that Job only worships you because you bless him. He challenges God to stretch out his hand and take away his blessings (1:11). God responds to Satan, you can take away many of his blessings, but you are not permitted to take away Job’s life (1:12). Under God’s sovereign hand, Satan brings misfortune – Job loses his livestock, servants and large family (1:13-19) yet, in deep pain, still worships God (1:20-22).
God’s providence in allowing Satan to attack a man of integrity may leave us with “why?” questions. It takes 41 more chapters for grief-stricken Job, who wrestles with God, to see God more clearly (42:5-6). But even in chapter 1 we see two things that should reshape our thinking:
The devil is “God’s devil” as the pastor Martin Luther put it. God has the devil on a leash. He sets limits on what the devil can do to people. We see this even more clearly when God in the flesh, the Lord Jesus, exercises authority over evil spirits (Mark 5:13). If we believe this, we will not fearfully seek to control supernatural forces through sacrifices to dead ancestors or other weak means. We will look directly to the Lord Jesus for help – the one who is far above all powers, (Ephesians 2:21) and who died to rescue us from the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13-14) – we will trust him for protection.
God’s pattern is to allow the one who trusts him to suffer. If you read Job carefully, it is clear that Job suffers precisely because he was a man who trusted God and walked with integrity. Job foreshadows the only perfectly righteous man, the Lord Jesus, who suffered for all of us who believe, according to his Father’s sovereign will. So if you are a believer who is suffering do not think it strange. You are following in your Saviour’s footsteps.
If you are exploring the God of the Bible, you do not necessarily need to throw away everything you have traditionally believed about God. But you do need to re-think Jesus. In Jesus, God the Son in the flesh, we see that God, who cannot be contained by the highest heavens, humbly stepped into his creation, suffered for his people’s sins and has overthrown death and evil itself – shown by his resurrection from the dead. When he returns, our Saviour will wipe away every tear from his people’s eyes (Revelation 21:4). In Jesus, we see the triune God even more clearly than Job. He is worthy of our worship.
