Lessons from the book of Job
Recently, I saw a post on Facebook from a person who said it seemed like the devil is always bothering her. A person who had been reading the book of Job responded and said God allows Satan, the devil, to do things in our lives. And the person says that when God allows Satan to do things, look at it as an opportunity for growth.
Our lessons this morning will be from the book of Job. The first time I delivered a message from Job was in 2006. After I finished, the Lord told me that if I continue to study the book, He would continue to show me things. I am going to share some of those this morning.
Unfortunately, the Body of Christ has developed a doctrine about God and how He operates based on the book of Job. I’m going to share with you this morning some things you probably haven’t heard before. In this lesson, we’re going to see and understand that God doesn’t operate that way with His sons and with His daughters.
Let’s look at what people believe the book of Job teaches.
? Most believe it teaches that God allows or permits suffering.
? And the agent that God uses is Satan. In other words, Satan can only do to us what God allows or permits him to do.
? Most believe Job’s friends were “miserable comforters.” They were much more than that. When you read Job 3 through Job 38, a lot of what they say is what you hear in the Body of Christ today.
? The final thing that people say Job teaches us is that God disciplines us.
Now we need to understand that God does discipline us. But His discipline is through the Word. He corrects us through the Word. God does not discipline us by giving us cancer. God does not discipline you by making your water heater go out. God does not discipline you by having your children in a car accident so He can get your attention. That is not how God works. I don’t like it when people say things about My Father that are not true. My anger rises up when that happens.
We believe God does these things just like the minister whose wife and children died in a car accident. He said “God did that to try and get his attention.” In my mind I’m thinking if God wanted to get your attention, why would He kill your family? If God wanted to get his attention, He could have poured rain from heaven on the man and everything else would have been dry.
Let’s begin with Job 1, verse 1.
(1) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Now, I don’t want you to rush through verse 1. Verse 1 is pivotal. It sets up the entire book.
The word “perfect” means “complete, lacking nothing.” And notice that it’s used with the word “upright.” Job was complete in the way he lived. He lived, to the best of his ability, the way God wanted him to live. Perfect – you can think about it as being “blameless” before God. He had a reverent fear toward God. That is missing in the Body of Christ today.
When I was a child, you couldn’t buy liquor on a Sunday. Do you know why? Christians were against it because they said “God wants us holy and holy people don’t do certain things.”
When I was growing up, my Mom and Dad didn’t even play cards on Sunday. Why? Sunday was God’s day. You can do anything you want on Sunday today. You can even go to a drive through and purchase liquor on Sunday. There is no fear of God in the Body of Christ.
The word “eschewed evil” means “to turn off, decline, depart from or rebel against.” The image it presents is a person sees evil walking through the door and runs in the opposite direction. In other words, he or she doesn’t want to be anywhere near it.
I’m going to make some people mad today, but’s that my job. I care more about where you’re going to spend eternity than how you feel about Barry. There are many in the Body of Christ who are not “eschewing evil.” Many are in bed with evil.
Any time a Christian says it’s okay for a man to marry a man, you are in bed with evil.
Any time a Christian says it’s okay for a woman to marry a woman, you are in bed with evil.
Any time a minister tells you that you the blood of Jesus covers everything and that you don’t have to repent anymore, that person is in bed with evil.
Any time a Christian is okay with taking the life of an unborn children, you are in bed with evil.
And let me tell you something ladies and gentlemen: when you’re in bed with evil, God doesn’t forget that. God notes that. Do you know why? You’re His son. You’re His daughter. You should know better and He notes that and He gets angry about it. When you stand before Him that’s a conversation He is going to have with you. But you can repent now and when you get to heaven, your record will be clean.
I want you to understand how important verse 1 really is.
Lesson #1: Job’s life was one of holiness and complete submission and obedience to God.
If God didn’t like something, Job didn’t like it. If God wouldn’t agree with it, Job would not agree with it. This does not describe many in the Church today.
(2) And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
(3) His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
(4) And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
(5) And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
After Job’s sons celebrated on their day, on their birthdays, he would offer a sacrifice for them just in case they had sinned against God.
Lesson #2: Job interceded for his children.
There are some of you here this morning and the only reason you are here this morning is because you had a Mom, a Dad, a grandmother, etc. on their knees praying for you. Let the church say “Amen.” That’s what parents do.
(6) Now there was day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
Now notice that we’re going from the natural realm to the spiritual realm. We’re changing locations.
(7) And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Do you see that phrase “sons of God?” I’m not going to spend a great deal of time on it. But I will say this: a lot of people believe the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:4 who married the daughters of men were angels just like they are here. It is not. But Bro. Barry, it says “sons of God” here and we know these are angels.
How many chapters come before Genesis 6? Do you read anything about angels in the first five chapters of Genesis? No you do not. So, why drop angels into Genesis 6:4? And somewhere in those five chapters you’re going to find the phrase “after its kind.” Ladies and gentlemen, God designed every living thing to reproduce after its kind. A dog can’t mate with a cat and get a “catty-dog.”
For those of you taking notes, examples of the phrase “after its kind” is found in Genesis 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25, Genesis 6:19 and 20, and Genesis 7:14 and 19. This is God’s design for everything He created to inhabit the earth. Angels were not created to inhabit the earth. Let that sink in folks!
An angel, a spirit being, cannot mate with a person of flesh and blood and produce children.
These sons of God here in Job 1 – look at them simply as created beings.
The word “Satan” means “adversary.” Think about him as being a prosecuting attorney and he’s standing before God, the Eternal Judge, and constantly accusing us of breaking the law.
Notice how it describes him. “Satan came also among them” (among the angels). Think about a crowd going into a movie theater. Everyone purchased a ticket except you but you were able to walk in with everyone else. And notice what God does in verse 7. He singles Satan out. He calls him out.
Lesson #3: Satan likes to be under your spiritual radar.
If he can work in your life and you believe it’s God, Satan is perfectly fine with that. If he can work his way into the presence of God among His created beings, don’t you think he can work his way into a church? He can and he does. Do you know where he’s most effective” Through the person in the pulpit. That’s why he’s called an angel of light. First Timothy talks about men preaching the “doctrine of devils” which they say come from the throne room of God. This is what Satan does ladies and gentlemen.
First Peter 5:8 says “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Here in verse 7 we see that Satan is described as being able to walk about as if he owns the land.
(8) And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.
In the Bible, there are eight other men who received the designation “my servant.” This was said of two of them over and over again: Moses and David.
This word “servant” is the Greek equivalent of doulos, a person who chooses to be a slave to someone else. Job served God because he wanted to serve God.
So, why did God single Job out? God knew that he was a man who was perfect, upright, feared him and eschewed evil. He knew Job. God knows you. He knows whether or not you will stand for him.
If Satan were to walk in the room right now, would God be able to say “Have you considered my servant Sean?” “Have you considered my servant Becca?” Would you be able to stand up under the scrutiny? We want God to do things for us but when the light is shined on our lives, we’re doing very little for Him. For many in the church today, the lives that they are living is not similar to the life that Job lived.
(9) Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
(10) Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
”Yeah, Job is going to serve you God. Look at what you’re doing for him.” Remember this. it’s important because of what we’re going to see in Genesis.
Turn to Genesis 1.
(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Ladies and gentlemen, when God created man, He gave him power and authority over the water, the ground and the air. This applies to us now that we have His life and nature inside of us. .
(27) So God created man in his own image, in he image of God created he him, male and female created he them.
Notice God uses the word “image” three times in two verses. The image is WHO YOU REALLY ARE. The body, the shell, allows you to be here. Once it ceases to function, you will no longer be here. Spirits don’t die. A person is either going to spend an eternity in heaven or in the lake of fire. It’s the person’s choice – not God’s.
(28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Now I want you to really hear what I’m about to say. It is absolutely crucial as we read the book of Job.
God created us to be exactly like Him. If the life of God resides in us, if we have the exact same life working in us that God has working in Him, are we like Job? Who are we most like in this record, ladies and gentlemen? God! Do you see this? You have God’s life and nature. You are not like Job! He had a sin nature, a nature that was NOT like God.
Do you see how we’ve used the book of Job to teach some things that are not doctrinally accurate when it comes to living as a Christian? If you are most like God, turn to Genesis 2:15. Remember how Satan told God that the reason Job serves Him is because He has built a hedge around all Job owns and he couldn’t get to him.
Now look at Genesis 2:15. “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it.”
Do you see the word keep? It means to “hedge about.” It is not the exact same word as the one in Job 1, but it communicates the same thing. Adam had the ability to keep anything out of the garden that did not belong in it. And this is what God was doing for Job – keeping things away from him that could harm him.
So, if we are like God in this record, in terms of our life and nature, and when Satan says I can’t do anything because you’ve got him hedged in, who is he talking to? If Satan is telling God I can’t do anything to Job because YOU WON’T LET ME, and we have God’s life and nature in us, can’t this be the same conversation he has to have with us? Oh let that sink in ladies and gentlemen!
Lesson #4: The way Satan describes the actions of God should be the way he describes your actions.
(11) But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
God has Job shut up and not available to Satan. The phrase “put forth thine hand,” means “to let go, to be open.” So, when Satan says “put forth thine hand,” he’s telling God if you will loosen your hold on Job and give me access to him, when I’m done, he will curse you to your face.
How do we give Satan access to our lives? By opening them up to him. Do you see this?
Job has been used to teach that Satan needed to get God’s permission to attack Job. And it’s true. Why? Because Job was not like God. God could take care of Job because of verse 1. Remember I told you that the first verse of the book was pivotal? We are not like Job. We are sons and daughters of God. We can do this for ourselves.
Lesson #5: If we have the same life and nature that God has, that means we have to allow Satan into our live. We have to give him ACCESS – we have to give him PERMISSION that he does not have.
Now here’s the verse that everyone focuses on.
(12) And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
This is the verse that everyone uses to teach that God gives Satan access to Christians, to those who have the same life and nature that He does. Say it with me “I am not Job. I am a son or I am a daughter of God.”
Do you know what we’re reading here in chapter one and that we’ll see again in chapter two? God is pulling back the curtain to show us what’s going on in the realm of the spirit. There is a spiritual world, ladies and gentlemen, that affects the natural one.
What God is doing to Satan is taking away options. He’s putting a restraining order on him. Satan has the power to kill Job. He was a cherub before his fall. So God takes that option off of the table.
IF God can give Satan options, sons and daughters of God, cannot you also not give him options? Satan is a created being and we are the children of the One who created him. Do you see the hierarchy? God. Sons and Daughters. Satan.We’re been so wrongly taught that the order is God, Satan, then God’s sons and daughters.
Wrong doctrine has kept the Body of Christ from exercising the power and authority it has in this world. Satan is under us.
Lesson #6: You have to be careful when you build a doctrine on one verse.
And the doctrine that we have built on this verse is that God gives Satan access to our lives. He does not.
Based on what we have read so far, does Job know anything about what has taken place in the spirit realm or what is about to take place in the natural realm? He has no clue. Remember this. It’s important.
But since we have the life and nature of God, can we make that statement? No. We have the capability of knowing what is going on in the realm of the spirit. Remember Jesus says in John 16 that He was going to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would lead and guide us into all truth?
[Read verses 13-19 without comment]
Who motivated the things that happened in these verses? Satan. We sometimes believe things happen haphazardly. But if Job teaches us anything, we see that it does not. Everything that we read in verses 13-19 happened by the hand of Satan.
Remember when Katrina devastated Louisiana? The major of New Orleans said that the hurricane happened because God was passing judgment on the city’s sinful lifestyle. Is that true? Based on what we read in these verses, who was it that played a role in Katrina? It wasn’t God! It was Satan.
And yet, you have people who say, each time something like this happens, that God is judging the people. No. By the actions of the people, by their lifestyle, they are giving Satan access to their city.
AIDS – that’s God passing judgment on homosexuality. That’s a bunch of baloney. That’s crazy. That’s not scriptural. But if you have it fixed in your mind that those practicing the homosexual lifestyle need to be punished, they you will say such damnable stuff and twist scripture.
Lesson#7: Suffering is not an indicator of your sinfulness or of God’s judgment.
Bro. Barry, how do you know that? Job 1:1 says Job was perfect and upright before God and avoided evil like it was a plague. And yet, all of these things are happening. So, where was the sin in Job’s life? Where is God passing judgment on his life? He’s not.
(20) Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped.
Why did Job worship God? Because, in his mind and based on what he knew, everything came from God so God must have had his reasons. So he worshipped God.
James says you count it all job when trials come into your life. That’s an example of what we see in Job. He worshipped when he had no reason to worship.
(21) And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Is what Job said true? Who did the giving? The Lord. Who did the taking? Satan. So, is what Job said true? No. How do I know this? The context tells me. But people will repeat this verse as if it is a true statement without keeping it in context.
(22) In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job didn’t know any different and that’s why it says he did not charge God foolishly.
[Read Job 2:1-10. Will highlight verses I commented on.]
(3) And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in all the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? And still he holders fast his integrity…
Stop. With everything that has happened to Job and to his family, it did not change Job and how he responded to God. His circumstances did not, now listen to me, did not determine how he felt about God. Do you see this?
… although thou moved still me against him, to destroy him without cause.
How did Satan get God to move against Job? By loosing His hold on Job and giving him access. Remember, we talked about this earlier.
(4) And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.”
(5) But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Satan says “Okay, God. You haven’t allowed me to touch him. If you do, he’ll curse you to your face.”
(9) Then Sid his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.
We read this and we may be surprised, even shocked, that his wife said that. But we need to understand something. When the animals were killed, it affected Job didn’t it? Who did it also affect? His wife. When the house collapsed on the children and killed them, it affected Job didn’t it? Who else did it affect? His wife. Their mother.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have no doubts in my mind that Job’s wife was hurting when she made this statement. I can’t image the pain she was going through. I can’t image the grieve she was going through. She has lost all of her children, her babies. And she suffered in a way that Job could not understand.
To think that her response is being unreasonable is to be unreasonable to her. Every loss that Job experienced, she experienced. And I’m sure that the only way she could deal with some of what she was experiencing was by being angry with him. We can’t be so hard on her like we tend to be.
(10) But he said unto her, Thou speaketh as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hands of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Again, why? Job did not know what was going on in the realm of the spirit. All he saw were the results. He didn’t know that there was a spirit being desiring his destruction.
A point of clarification. First, everything that we read in the Bible is FROM God. Second, but everything we read in the Bible is not necessarily true as it RELATES to God.
We see how Job interpreted the events and we know that his interpretation was not true because we have the advantage of reading the entire record and seeing all of the players involved.
So, what is one of the major lessons the book of Job teach us? Until we are born again and become part of God’s family, we know very little about who God truly is and how He truly operates.
Did you get anything out of this? Everyone please stand.
