The Devil's Strategy and the Unshakable Athlete

Regarding being persuaded by the woman. Because of this, that one was not persuaded by the woman, so that he would not become like him. That one, clothed in incorruptibility, as his Creator knewso that he might be persuaded by the woman, became naked and was judged. This one was naked and was not persuaded by the woman, and so that he might not be persuaded by the woman, he put on the crown-bearing of the angels.

That one, so that he might be persuaded by the woman, fell from the delight of paradise, and made the mother earth a place of thorns, and inherited death; this one, so that he might not be persuaded by the woman, took freedom from toil and from plagues, and inherited the kingdom of the heavens. That one, defending himself to God, was saying: 'The woman whom you gave to me, she gave to me, and I ate.' Oh, what a defense lacking in forgiveness! She said, 'Eat'; I said, 'Do not eat.' Why then did you listen to the woman and fail to listen to God? But the blessed Job was not so.

But how? After striking back, he said: 'You have spoken like one of the foolish women.' There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. Why did he name the land Uz? Because of you, so that you might learn that the fellowship of sinners is not able to make the righteous sin, but the choice of the pious must have a stable and firm opinion. For this is the land of Arabia, a dwelling place of weary and corrupted men. All were lawless, all were God-hating, all were unstable, all were proud, and descendants of Isaiah, and bearing many sins; but such a sea of impiety was not able to extinguish the shining one of piety; such a land of evils was not able to stifle the beautiful breath of endurance.

Therefore, the devil attempted to approach him. Why? Because he saw him becoming rich through alms rather than through money. Listen to him saying truthfully: 'I was an eye to the blind, and a leg to the lame'; and again, 'I wept for the helpless, and sighed seeing a man in necessity.' And not only through words, but also through works he was exceedingly rich, a whole treasure of goodness being found for those in need. For what does he say elsewhere? 'I did not go out from my house begging with an empty womb; the mouth of the widow blessed me; and from the fleece of my sheep my shoulders were warmed.'

Thus it is clear that a complete treasure flows through all things: through words, through works, through alms, through the protection of the penitent, and through the assistance of those who pray. But observe what the devil does: he first snatches away all that previously belonged to him, and lastly he takes the children. He took first the herds of camels, he took the flocks of sheep, the great number of donkeys, and the largest herd of oxen; he removed everything, and lastly the children.

Why? Pay attention then with all precision: first he took all his possessions, then the children; he took the hereditary things, and then he destroyed the heirs, so that he might strike him in every way, even through the children. First he began to make existence vanish; first he began to snatch the hereditary things while the heirs were still living, so that while the sons and daughters were standing, he might take advantage of the loss of the properties to strike the righteous man with despondency. For the evil demon aims lest, with the children having been lost beforehand, he should even come to the realization of the loss of the properties.

But the truly unyielding and brave athlete—he who is much struck and yet is crowned through all things, he who receives many arrows and through those very arrows pierces the devil, he who, being armed on both right and left with the weapons of righteousness, does not grow weary, does not weep, and is not shaken—he neither was bent by the loss of the properties, nor did he allow the death of the children to plunder his piety. Instead, he remained like an unshakeable tower, being uprooted from below upon the earth and yet being established, and secured even unto the heavenly heights.

A first angel came and says to Job: The pairs of oxen were plowing, and the raiders came and plundered them, and they killed the servants with swords. While this one was speaking, another angel came and says to Job: Fire fell from heaven and burned up your sheep, and the shepherds were likewise consumed. Look what the devil does. For because he saw him standing bravely in the first and second plague, and not at all shaken from his tribulations, fighting and not flinching, he devises some device...