Part Three - Job Chapter One



Job is a wealthy man who has seven sons and three daughters and large flocks of animals. He is a righteous man who fears God. One day, when the sons of God (angels) come to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also. The Lord asks Satan from where he has come. Satan replies, “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” 1.7

God asks Satan if he has seen Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and upright man. Satan tells God that the only reason Job is upright is because God has put a fence of protection around him. Take that fence away and let Job experience affliction and he will curse you to your face. God grants Satan the power, or permission, to do whatever he wants to Job’s wealth and family, but not to hurt Job physically in any way. 1.12

Satan, the one who steals, kills, and destroys then destroys all Job’s wealth and kills his ten children. Afterwards Job tears his clothes, shaves his head, and falls on the ground to worship God saying, “ Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” 1.21

We see Satan as the “Accuser” who is constantly accusing us before God. Satan, broadcasting through the air, always broadcasting his thoughts into our minds. The SBN (Satanic Broadcasting Network! Our protection is to intimately know what the word of God says and to hide it in our hearts. We broadcast right back at him with the words of God. We fire God's promises to us right back at him. The YDN or Yehovah Defense Network!

The fact that Satan had to appear before God and get “permission” to afflict Job establishes the fact that God is in control of everything that happens in this world and in our lives. Even though we may not understand what is happening, we can say with confidence, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord.” We know that the Lord teaches or chastises us through this warfare.

At first we may rebel against this truth, but our God is sovereign, He is the potter, we are the clay. The fact is we are in a war. Satan rebelled against God, was thrown down to this earth, and has a limited time to do what he does. God’s eternal plan for man, the earth, and the universe are being carried out. God wants us to understand that we are in a war and in a war there are casualties. Satan hates God and God’s creation--that is man, the earth, and the universe. He is doing all he can to destroy us--but God has a plan of defense.

For six thousand years man has rebelled against God. Only a repentant remnant has truly walked with the Lord throughout history. God is going to reveal Himself and His glory to all mankind at the appointed time, at the end of this age. Man will finally yield to God, but only after seven years of great tribulation and wrath. In the end the nations will yield to Jesus Christ and His millennial rule. Those who have--and will yet--endure to the end, will rule and reign with the Lord in the millennium. We will teach the nations about God Himself. This is why we go through difficulties in this life--we are being prepared for our future job in the millennial kingdom.

Chapter one of Job establishes all of this. God is in control and moving history toward a final glorious end--but unrepentant men must first unequivocally understand who the Lord is. At the second coming the nations will finally know who Jesus Christ really is. God is going to test all hearts, and there will be no question who God is, and who his people are. Every man is going to have to choose. The word of God will “divide” all hearts. Afterwards, the millennial kingdom will be the establishment of God’s New World Order.

Next: Part Four - Chapter Two