But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
The book of Job opens in a divine court scene where God and a figure called 'the Adversary' — Satan, a Hebrew word meaning 'the accuser' — are in dialogue. God points to Job as a model of faithfulness and integrity. Satan's cold response is this verse: Job only serves God because God has protected and blessed him. If you take it all away, Satan argues, Job will curse God to His face. It's essentially a dare — a cynical wager about the nature of human faith. God allows the test. Job loses his possessions, his children, and eventually his health. The book of Job wrestles with one of the hardest questions humans have ever asked: why do the innocent suffer?
God, I don't always know what my faith is truly made of. I want to love You for who You are, not just for what You give. When things are stripped away, be the thing that remains. Help me hold on — even when holding on is all I can do. Amen.
There's a question buried in Satan's words that should stop you cold: Is your faith real, or is it just the deal you've made with God? Satan isn't really asking about Job here — he's asking about every person who has ever claimed to follow God. 'He only loves You because You give him good things.' It's a cynical view of faith, but it's not a stupid one. Plenty of people do walk away when life falls apart — when the marriage ends, when the child gets sick, when God feels absent and the silence stretches on for months. The real question this verse forces is: what is your faith actually built on? Not what you say it's built on in a small group — what it's built on at 3 AM when nothing is working and you can't feel God anywhere. You won't fully know until something is taken. Job's story doesn't hand you easy answers. But it does show something important: honest, raw, even furious faith — faith that cries out instead of quietly walking away — is still faith. Satan was wrong about Job. What would he find in you?
What does Satan's accusation reveal about his understanding of why people follow God — and do you think that accusation is ever accurate?
Has there been a time in your life when something significant was taken from you — a relationship, a dream, your health — that tested whether your faith was real? What did you find?
Is it possible to follow God primarily for what you get out of it without fully realizing it? How would you even know if that were true of you?
How does Job's story reshape the way you respond to people around you who are suffering — especially when there's no clear reason for what they're going through?
What's one practice you could build into your life now — before the hard times hit — that would deepen your faith so it doesn't depend entirely on circumstances going well?
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Revelation 12:10
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Job 23:10
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
2 Corinthians 2:11
But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:5
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
Job 2:9
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 54:17
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:21
But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face."
AMP
But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
ESV
'But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.'
NASB
But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
NIV
But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
NKJV
But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
NLT
"But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what."
MSG