The Arrows of God and the Deception of the Evil One

He refused. He saw a bitter message of the destruction of his possessions, and he remained like a secure and unconquerable tower. The devil, being bitter in his malice and bitter in his choice, regretted thus having announced it. And pay attention, I urge you, so that the thought of the Evil One does not slip from your mindsays, having observed it closely: For we do not ignore his thoughts.

As he had announced to him, that the pairs of oxen were plowing, and the females of the donkeys were in heat, and the captors had come, he saw Job bearing the message with a brave soul; he regretted that he had announced badly, and the devil said only to himself: I have announced badly, having said to him that men had fought against him. It is possible to reason that if men had fought against him and wronged him, what is that against God? He says, I have shot badly, I did not aim at the mark, the aim failed, the arrows went astray. I said that men had captured; this one is able to say: Why then shall I write the injustice of men upon God? Others are the wrongdoers, and another will be the blasphemer.

In order that he might transfer his mind from men to God, and show him that it is not men who are harming, but God fighting, he says to him, 'Fire fell from heaven.'n.'n.'. You cannot say that enemies threw it from above; that would insult the wrongdoer and blaspheme the fighter. Fire fell from heaven. Why do you worship the wrongdoer, why do you prostrate yourself to the one destroying your possessions? Fire fell from heaven. Job heard, and again brought forth bravely. For his endurance was truly endurance, extended until the end, concerning which the Savior says: But the one who endures until the end, this one will be saved.

Fire fell from heaven. Day by day I labored offering sacrifices for the children; what he, laboring day by day, offered, God received into sacrifice without delay. Fire fell from heaven. If I alone was clothed, I was justly grieved; but if the poor were clothed, is the Master not able to neglect the poor? I know that what he received into sacrifice, He returns fivefold. For were the possessions gathered from injustice? For did I not acquire the sheep from greed? From the fleece of my sheep, the shoulders of the poor were warmed, and the mouth of the widow was blessed.

Let him afflict me. I know what God is doing. Now, let Him take my existence as a sacrifice, for He multiplies my essence into an abundance of virtue. The external arrows do not shake me, because I am being strengthened by the internal ones; rather, the arrows of God strengthen me more from within. For the arrows of the Mighty are being struck, concerning which David said, 'Your arrows have fallen upon me.' The arrows—what kind? The arrow of piety, the arrow of righteousness, the arrow of longing toward God, the arrow of zeal for virtue; with these divine arrows the soul is pierced.

Thus, having brought upon him every trial and having stripped him of his possessions, but not having stripped him of virtue, the devil now moves against his very nature. He violates the cultivation of nature, tearing the branches from the root and crushing the children of the good combatant; he removes the fruit in order to grieve the one who begot him. And what is he doing? Look also at the message of the Evil One, how it is full of irony and overflowing with deception, capable of shattering the soul of the brave man. He says to him, 'Regarding your sons and your daughters who were eating and drinking in the house of your elder son, a great spirit came from the wilderness, and it shook the house, and it fell upon your little ones, and they died.' This word is ironic, capable of inciting grief. He did not say, 'Upon your children,' but 'Upon the little ones,' so that, having heard of the little ones, he might enter into mourning and bend in sympathy. 'A great spirit came from the wilderness.' Again, he slanders the Judge, for a spirit does not obey men, but God. 'It fell upon your little ones, and they died.'

Then Job arose; for thus it has been written. It is a good thing that he arose; for he did not fall by the plague, but arose by the power of piety; he arose and he worshiped. Worship is a reward for afflictions. Being struck, he blesses; being cast into misfortunes, he gives thanks. And he shaved his head. Now, many among us who are mourning grow their hair, but he shaved his. Why? To turn the condition of the one who is striving into the opposite form for the sake of the one who mourns. Wherever hair is honored, the refusal to shave is a sign of mourning. For everywhere an opposite form is sought from those who mourn. And he tore his garments; being drawn toward the passion by the outward appearance, but by the reality...