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43. For there came among men the Mediator between God and Man, the Man Christ Jesus, for the giving an example of living, perfect [ simplex ]; in respect of His rigour towards the evil spirits, upright ; for the exterminating pride, fearing God ; and for the wiping off impurity of life in His Elect, departing from evil . For it is said of Him by Isaiah in a special manner, And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord . [Is. 11, 3] And He did in a special manner depart from evil , who refused to imitate the actions which He found among men, since, as Peter bears witness, He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth . [1 Pet. 2, 22] It follows;
Ver. 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 hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
The old enemy knew that the Redeemer of mankind was come to be the conqueror of himself; and hence it is said by the man possessed in the Gospel, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time? [Mat. 8, 29] Yet before, when he perceived Him to be subject to passion, and saw that He might suffer all the mortal accidents of humanity, all that he imagined concerning His Divinity became doubtful to him from his exceeding pride. For savouring of nothing else but pride, whilst he beheld Him in humility, he doubted of His being God; and hence he has recourse to proof by temptation, saying, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread . [Matt. 4, 3] In this way, because he saw that He was subject to passion, he did not believe Him to be God by birth, but to be kept by the grace of God. And for the same reason too he is in this place said to allege,
Ver. 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 .
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44. For he urges that both himself and his house are hedged about by God; because he could not find an entrance to His conscience by tempting him, He declares his substance to be hedged about, in that he dares not to attack His elect servants. He complains that God had blessed the work of his hands, and that his substance was increased in the land , for this reason, that he pines at beholding that faith in Him enlarges its bounds, in man's coming to the knowledge of Him by the preaching of the Apostles. For His substance is said to be increasing, all the time that by the labours of the preachers the number of the faithful daily waxes larger. Satan's saying this to God, is his seeing these things with an envious eye. Satan's saying this to God, is his grieving at these things with a pining spirit. It proceeds:
Ver. 11. But put forth Thine hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.
45. For He, Whom he thought in time of tranquillity to be under the keeping of God's grace, he imagined might be led to sin by means of suffering; as though he had plainly said, 'One, Who for the miracles which He works is accounted God, being put to the test by afflictions, is discovered to be a sinner, and nothing better,' So the Lord said to Satan,
Ver. 12. Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.
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46. Whereas we are examining Holy Scripture under its figurative import, by the hand of Satan is to be understood not his power, but the extent of his tempting. All, then, that he hath is given into the hand of the Tempter, and he is only forbidden to put forth his hand upon him , which nevertheless, when his substance is gone, is permitted him; for that first Judaea, which was His possession, was taken from Him in unbelief, and that afterwards His flesh was nailed to the stock of the Cross, He then Who first underwent the opposition of Judaea, and afterwards came even to the Cross, in a manner first lost that He had, and then in His own Person endured the wickedness of the adversary.
So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
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47. Just as it was said above, Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord , in that he attained the objects of his desire; for he was in a certain sense in His presence, all the time that on account of Him, he failed to accomplish all that he mischievously thirsted after.
Ver. 13, And there was a day, when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house.
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48. We have said that the sons and daughters of blessed Job were a representation either of the order of the Apostles, or of the whole multitude of the faithful. Now the Lord Incarnate first chose a few out of Judaea unto faith, and afterwards He gathered to Himself the multitude of the Gentile people. But who was the eldest son of the Lord, unless the Jewish people is to be understood, which had been a long time born to Him by the teaching of the Law which He gave? and who the younger son but the Gentile people, which at the very end of the world was gathered together? And therefore whereas, when Satan was unwittingly contributing to the welfare of the human race, and having corrupted the hearts of those persecutors was demanding warrant for the Passion of the Lord, the Holy Apostles were as yet ignorant that the Gentile world were to be gathered to God, and preached to Judaea alone the mysteries of the Faith. When Satan is said to have gone out from the Lord, the sons and daughters are described to be feasting in the house of their elder brother. For it had been commanded them, Go not into the way of the Gentiles. [Mat. 10, 5] Now after the Death and Resurrection of our Lord, they turned to preaching to the Gentiles, for which reason too in their Acts we find them saying, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but since ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles . [Acts 13, 46] And thus these children of the bridegroom, of whom it is declared, and that by the voice of the same Bridegroom, The children of the bridechamber shall not fast as long as the bridegroom is with them , [Matt. 9, 15] are feasting in the house of their elder brother, for this reason, that the Apostles still continued to be fed with the sweets of Holy Scripture in the gathering of the single people of the Jews.
Ver. 14, 15. And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them; And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took all away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
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49. What else do we take the oxen to mean in figure, but well-doers; what the asses, but certain men of simple ways? These are properly described to be feeding beside the oxen, because simple souls, even when they are incapable of comprehending deep mysteries, are near to the great, inasmuch as they account the excellencies of their brethren to be their own also by force of charity; and while envy of the knowledges [ sensibus ] of others is a thing unknown, they are never divided at pasture. The asses then take their food in company with the oxen, in that duller minds, when joined with the wise, are fed by their understanding. Now the Sabeans mean by interpretation 'captivators;' and who are signified by the name of 'captivators,' but the impure spirits who lead all men captive to infidelity, whom they make subject to themselves? These too strike the youths [ pueros ] with the sword, in that they inflict grievous wounds, with the darts of temptation, upon those whom the constancy of manhood does not yet maintain in freedom and hardiness. These indeed enter fairly upon well-doing, but while still in the delicate state of a first beginning, they are prostrated beneath the unclean spirits that take captive; these are stricken with the sword of the enemy, in that he pierces them with despair of life eternal.
50. But what is this, that the messenger comes with these words, and I only am escaped alone? Who is this messenger, who, when the rest are destroyed, 'escapes alone,' but the prophetic word, which, whilst all the evils happen, which it foretold, alone returns as it were unharmed to the Lord? For when it is known to speak the truth concerning the fate of the lost, it is in a certain sense shewn to live among the dead. It is hence that the servant is sent to bring down Rebecca, on the occasion of Isaac's marrying; doubtless because the intervening Prophecy does service in espousing the Church to the Lord. So when the Sabeans made their assault, one servant alone escaped to give the tidings, because by means of malignant spirits leading captive weak minds, that declaration of Prophecy was confirmed, which, in foretelling the same captivity, saith, Therefore My people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge . [Is. 5, 13] The prophecy therefore is in a manner preserved safe, when the captivity, which it foretold, is brought to light. It proceeds,
Ver. 16. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from Heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
51. All, who held the office of preaching in the Synagogue, were rightly named, 'the heavens,' plainly because they were supposed to be imbued with heavenly wisdom; and for this reason, when Moses was urging the Priests and the people to take heed of his words of admonition, he exclaimed, Give ear, O ye Heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth ; [Deut. 32, 1] evidently signifying by the Heavens the order of rulers, and by the earth the people under them. There is then in this place no unfitness in interpreting the Heavens to mean either the Priests or the Pharisees, or the Doctors of the Law, who, to the eyes of men, while they attended on heavenly duties, seemed as it were to shed light from on high. Now because they were greatly stirred up in opposition to our Redeemer, it was as though 'fire fell from heaven;' whilst from those very men, who were accounted teachers of the truth, the flames of envy burst out, to the deceiving of the ignorant people. For we know from the testimony of the Gospel, that through envy at the truths which He taught they sought an opportunity for His betrayal, but that from fear of the people they dared not make known what they went about. Hence too it is therein written, that in order to dissuade the people they say, Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? but this people, who knoweth not the Law, are cursed . [John 7, 48. 49.] But what do we understand by the sheep and the servants, save all inoffensive, but still as yet fainthearted persons, who, while they feared to undergo the persecution of the Pharisees and the Rulers, were devoured by the fires of infidelity. So let it be said; The fire of God is fallen from Heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants ; i.e. the flame of envy hath come down from the hearts of the rulers, and burnt up all that there was of good springing up in the people; for while the wicked rulers are claiming honour to themselves in opposition to the Truth, the hearts of their followers are turned from every right way. And here too it is well added, And I only am escaped alone to tell thee ; for whereas the predicted case of wickedness is fulfilled, that word of prophecy escapes the extinction of falsehood, wherein it is said, yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them [Is. 26, 11]; as though it were plainly expressed, 'not only are the wicked afterwards tormented by fire sent in vengeance, but even now they are consumed therewith through envy;' in that they who are hereafter to be visited with the punishment of just retribution, inflict upon themselves here the tortures of envy. And thus the servant flies and returns alone, and announces that the sheep and the servants have been destroyed by fire, when Prophecy in forsaking the Jewish people shews that she has declared the truth, saying, Jealousy has taken hold of a people without knowledge ; as though it said in plain words, 'when the people would not make out the words of the Prophets, but gave their belief to the words of the envious, the fire of jealousy consumed them, seeing that they were burnt in the fire of other men's envy.' It goes on,
Ver. 17. Whilst he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.