The next example is seen in Job. Here Satan is permitted to consider Job and enabled to stretch out his hand against first, all that he has, and then second, against Job himself. It is in Satan’s dialogue with God that we again see into his malicious heart. He accuses God of protecting and blessing everything that Job has and does. He then charges God to take away all that Job has and contends that he would then curse him. Job does not curse God, instead he worships. He worships when all is lost; Job does not change. He worshiped God in plenty and he praised God when he became naked and desolate.
Satan then ups the stakes alleging that Job will curse God if he is stricken and his health taken. God allows Satan to stretch out his hand against Job. As before, Job will not blaspheme his Creator. The rest of the book of Job is curiously absent of the devil. He vanishes. His work being done, he is not spoken of again. Satan is merely a pawn in God’s grand scheme. The Tempter unwittingly serves God as he disobeys and opposes him. God uses the devil to accomplish his purposes.
Even so, we are interested in Satan’s conscience. He was aware that Job was described as righteous and blameless by God. Job was a man that feared God and turned away from evil. Job even offered sacrifices on behalf of his family. He is the exact opposite of Satan. In an attempt to defame the name of God, Satan incited Job to sin against God. He failed miserably. But in so doing, he showed that although his conscience is dead for the time being, he is ethically and morally aware. The entire idea of trying to get Job to sin, the act of tempting him, reveals that he consciously desires and wills iniquity and defiance against God. There is the realization that God is just and vengeful. He slips off of the scene and continues to go to and fro on the earth awaiting his next opportunity to tempt and place stumbling blocks in the way of the saints. He is also awaiting judgment. His conscience, though seared or dead, may have been activated for a time (as in the garden) to again give him a preview of the torment yet to come. It seems that God may fan these tiny sparks into a small flame in order to irritate and vex the devil in order to remind him of his ensuing banishment.
The last example is observed in the gospels and calls attention to demons crying out to Jesus. One episode is enough to prove the point. In Matthew chapter eight, Jesus casts out demons. These demons “cry out” to Jesus and beg him to not torment them before the appointed time. This shows fear and some sense of conviction. They know that they are deserving of whatever fate Jesus assigns them. Also, they know that they are corrupt and sinning against a holy God and his Christ. They are just minding their own business, possessing men and tormenting them, when Jesus shows up and dispels these demons. A spark of their conscience, a mere ember, seems to be ignited and makes the future judgment a very present reality. Convinced of who Christ is and what he is able to perform, the demons are convicted of their evil deeds and the consequences they deserve. These convictions do not lead to repentance, neither can they apart from the operation of the Holy Spirit. The convictions do result in fear and submission, albeit, a feigned submission and compliance.
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