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The Truth about Job
Many Christians miss interrupt the
book of Job. God does not take back his blessings or turn us over to
Satan without cause. That unjustified act would make God just as
evil as Satan. Yet, that is exactly what many Christians believe God
did to Job. To refute that false belief, let's review what God
really did in the first chapter of Job. Unfortunately, this verse in
Job 1:9 is mistakenly interrupted by most people as permission
granted to Satan, by God, to steal Job's "stuff". Yet, in this
verse, all God is really doing is correcting Satan's lie. God simply
states the facts as they already exist, and reiterates to Satan that
he is not to touch Job's "person". God said, "Behold, all that he
has is in your power; only upon him put not your hand".
The verb "is" denotes a "state of being" which already exists in the
present tense. In other words, God is simply correcting Satan's lie
by saying, "Satan, his "stuff" is already in your power. In
Job 1:3, the author had said that Job’s
substance was large enough to make him the greatest man in the
East but what the author didn't say was just as important. The author
did not
say that Job's vast wealth was a blessing from God. Satan was the
one who said that in Job 1:10. However, we cannot take Satan's
words to be factual. Why? Because Satan is a liar and the father of
lies. There is not a single quote from Satan, in the entire bible, where
he did not twist the truth into a lie! He lied to Eve. He lied
three times to Jesus, in the desert. He also lied to God about Job's
situation here. In John 8:44, Jesus says there is no truth in Satan.
He says Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Plainly put, Jesus
said that Satan is incapable of telling the truth. Why, then, should
we believe anything that Satan has to say in the the book of Job? In the first chapter of Job, not only was God correcting Satan's lies, but God was also initiating a much bigger plan and using Satan as his "fall guy". You see, God knew that these so called blessings, which were in Satan's power already, were not really blessings at all. Instead, they were from Satan's own tool box and being used to deceive Job into thinking he had a relationship with God when he really didn't. They were the stolen resources of this world used by Satan to manipulate and apease Job into distancing himself from the most important relationship he would ever have. This stunt is no different than the stunt Satan pulls on many Christians today. It's a stunt designed to provide us with good "stuff" but at the same time its the wrong "stuff" in our lives which keeps us separated from God instead of bringing us closer to him. You better believe that Satan knows how to reward Christians with the stolen resources of this world under his power to separate us from God.
Remember, pilgrim, the entire world is under sway
of the evil one and he can sway the resources of this world toward
or away from anyone he choses. (1 John 5:19) He was willing to sway
the entire world in the direction of Jesus if he had just bowed down
and worshiped him. (Mat. 4:8-9) Job's counterfeit blessings were
actually preventing Job from receiving the true blessings which God
had for him. Now, that's quite a
"statement of fact" and one which many Christians miss. Again, I say
that God was simply setting the
record straight with Satan, by reminding Satan of the fact that everything
Job had was under Satan's control already. Job's wealth and even
his children were in Satan's grasp. Job, however, was
deceived. He believed that every time he did something good, he
would receive a blessing from God. He even falsely believed that his
good works could cover the sins of his children. (Job 1:5) Job had a
"give to get" relationship with God, just like many Christian have
today. When God allowed Satan to take away from Job, that, which
had been keeping him from growing closer to God, it felt awful. This
happened to me and it was a very painful experience. I am sure it
has felt the same for many other Christians as well. God knew that Job's acquired
wealth and even
his godless children were a hindrance, and not a blessing. When Satan
removed these hindrances, he was actually doing Job and God a big
favor. Though painful, this emptied Job's hands allowing him no
place to go, except to God or die. Though it took a while, Job's
eyes would finally be opened to the truth. Unfortunately, many
Christian's eyes remain closed, not realizing that they are closer
than ever to a grand breakthrough. They become bitter or worse,
chose to die. That's a shame because victory is closer than ever
before, if we will only draw nearer to God. (Job 42:4,5)
Satan used the same type of scheming tactic during the second
meeting between he and God. This time it had to do with Job's
health. Satan, again tried to trick God into believing that Job's
health was in God's hands. God corrected Satan again by saying in
Job 2:6 that Job's health was already under Satan's spell. Backing
up several verses, God started this second conversation, by calling
attention to Job's faithfulness, even after Satan had so vilely
destroyed his world. (Job 2:3) Once again, this verse is also widely
misunderstood by many Christians. They believe that God is telling
Satan that he, Satan, had convinced Him to destroy Job. Here is what
I believe is a major reason for misinterpreting what God is saying
here. The
old English verb "movedst", in the Kings James, or "incited" in the
NIV, is routinely taken out of context. This causes many to interpret
the last sentence in this verse to mean that God actually was
convinced by Satan to destroy Job, for no reason. That's not what
this verse is saying. The Hebrew word for "movedst" is "cuwth",
which means, "lure, incite, entice or instigate (in a bad sense).
Yes, Satan did "entice" God to destroy Job without cause, but that
doesn't mean that God did what Satan was enticing Him to do.
Obviously, He didn't do what Satan wanted Him to do, because Job was
not destroyed. Instead, he wound up in a better position than ever
before.
What the story of Job is actually telling us is this. Instead of
Satan using God, God used Satan against himself, to free Job. At the
beginning of this story, the deceptions of Satan, through the adding
of wealth and the absence of attacks on Job's health were lures from
Satan, not blessings from God. These lures keep Job from drawing
closer to God. Each time Job
made a sacrifice, Satan throw him another bone, making him think his
self-righteous good works
were actually paying off and buying him favor with God. It was only when God tricked Satan
into removing these barriers, that Job's unfailing commitment to
God, was able to finally allow him to recognize that God had
a much richer relationship in store for him. In short, Job had to be emptied of that
which kept him in bondage to Satan's deceptions, before he
could receive the true blessings of God. Since I, myself, have
traveled down a similar path, I can assure the reader that it is not a
pleasant journey. However, it is a journey which can produce
enormous benefits. A closer relationship with God, himself, is first
on that list of benefits. Job 42:5 "I
have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth
thee".
His written word confirms everything I
am saying here. Yet, I realize that what I am saying here is
contrary to what many bible teachers teach. I too, like many other
Christians, believed on God for years, but knew very little about
him. I, like Job, was caught up, in a self-centered way, of relating
to God. I had been born of His Spirit, but I wasn’t knowledgeable
enough in His word to begin to understand Him. We humans easily
become so intent on chasing the tangible things, of this world, but
fail to spend enough time, developing the most important
relationship we will ever have. Christians, hear about God from
their parents, from a pastor, from an evangelist, in a church
meeting, or summer camp, and over the years, begin to think they
know God. The fact is, most Christians know very little about the
nature of God. Satan is a master at giving Christians enough rope to
hang themselves by twisting the truth just a little. Most Christians
receive God’s saving grace, but afterward spend very little time
learning about who God is. The bible is about him, not us! We, too
often, spend our time, on self-improvement programs, centered on
improving our position in this world, instead of the world to come.
All too often Christians use their self-righteous performance, as a
measuring stick, instead of using the perfect pattern of Christ. I
know I fell into this trap, and still do, in some areas of my life.
In this void, created by ignorance, as we become wrapped up in
self-improvement projects, ever learning, but never coming to the
realization of the truth, it becomes very easy, just like Job, for
us to mistake the stolen enticements, offered to us, by Satan, for
the blessings of our Lord. Remember, he enticed Jesus with a gift of
the entire world, and he would, no doubt, have given him everything,
that he, himself, had stolen, in order to derail his destiny. As a
Christian, do you think you would be able to turn down control of
the entire world? Don’t lie! Most of us would be justifying
acceptance of this Trojan horse, by telling ourselves how much we
could do for God, if we controlled the entire world. I used to tell
myself this very thing until one day the Holy Spirit ask me the
following question. "Really", He asked, "Then
why did Jesus turn down that same offer?
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