PROVIDENCE in the life of Job,
Elder Mark Green,
“And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life” (Job 2.6).We have long used the saying, “When God hinders, none can move, and when He moves, none can hinder,” to illustrate the power of God in providence. Perhaps no verse better illustrates the first half of this principle than our text. God had straitly charged Satan that he could not harm the life of Job.
“So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown” (v. 7). He tormented Job physically, but what he was able to do was limited or restrained. God sovereignly prevented what he might have desired to do to the prophet.
If God can preserve our physical life – and He can – then can He not also preserve our spiritual or eternal life? “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (Jn. 10.28). The word “man” in the original is supplied, so that the expression would read without it, “Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.”
It is impossible that any man — or any devil or anything else — can make our eternal life become “temporary life.” God gave it and God preserves it. He preserves our natural life and He keeps our eternal life. It is eternal because He keeps it, and keeps us.
The second half of our proverbial expression is seen in Daniel 4.35: “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
When God chooses to act, none can stay His hand. None can hinder Him when He purposes to do something. Indeed, none can even rightly call Him into question for His actions. We have no right to say, “What doest thou?”
When He rises in defense or deliverance on behalf of His saints, all the devils in the world cannot stop Him. When He effects judgment, none can stop Him in His righteous punishment or chastisement.
When God moves, no one can stay (stop) His hand. When God hinders, or says “No further,” none can move. The old saying is borne out by holy Scripture. – Editor