◄ Have You Considered Satan? (JOB-study 15) ►

A Full Study Of JOB

Prayer Link

From the start, we find 'my servant Job' – a man of faith – a Godly intercessor. From the introduction we discover Job interceding on behalf of his dear children. From the beginning, we hear that Job was committed to intercessory prayer. Despite his traumatic circumstances, Job never ceases his prayer-link to the Lord. Regardless of his bitter questionings of God, Job never sins with his lips. And God uses his serious lack of understanding to draw Job closer to Himself. And God uses His faithful, interceding bond-slave to bless his wife and his friends.

God’s Grace

So through Job’s protection, and intercession, God was gracious to his erring wife. And through his faith and intercession, God was gracious to his unteachable friends. In attempting to comfort Job, each friend offered their own, self-acquired wisdom, and like Job, the creed to which they held was was an incomplete reality of God. But unlike Job, they were unteachable about the fuller measure of the truth of Christ. It was the spiritual battle betwixt God and Satan that first wreaked havoc on Job. It was the unseen onslaught from the invisible realm of the enemy, that 'smote' Job. Once the evil leviathan attacked his prey, the old serpent shrouded himself in religiosity, and Satan uses the old sin nature of Job’s friends to continue his wicked works.

Man’s Pride

Satan even subtly uses the pious, religious old sin nature of Job against himself – and though not mentioned later, Satan’s venomous influence permeates Job’s story. The genesis of deceptions was first realised in Eden’s garden – PRIDE. The pinnacle of deceitful pretence will reach its fullness in its revelation – PRIDE. And all biblical battles between are rooted and grounded in satanic deception. And the one escape is to crucify the old nature and to be rooted and grounded in Christ.

Satan’s Subtlety

This same desire to be as gods, knowing good and evil, is evident in the story of Job, and Satan seeks to use this same tool to shipwreck every life desiring godliness. Satan seeks to prevent the fullness of the knowledge of Christ from becoming a reality. Satan tries to halt the deep, intimate fellowship that the Lord desires with His own. And Satan is still seeking to prevent us from understanding what Job finally saw. But how – how can we escape the wiles of the evil one, who seeks to destroy our faith?  How can we prevent the enemy from securing a foothold in his evil designs on us?

Put-Off – Put-On

Well, we are instructed in Ephesians chapter 4 to put off the deceitful lusts of the old Adamic nature, and we are told in Colossians chapter 3 to put off the old man, with all its deceptive religiosity. But how?  How do we once and for all – put off the old Adamic nature and let Christ live in us? Well, we have to understand that it is not a one-time act, but a day-by-day undertaking. It’s not a once for all decision, but a continuous, lifelong, daily commitment.

Die Daily

Believers are instructed to die daily to self.. and day after day, to put on Christ – to honestly ask the Spirit of Truth daily, to search and identify hidden areas of self. But how? How do we die daily to self and crucify the old Adamic nature – the root of pride?  How do we discover the deeper truth and understanding of God, that Job discovered? Well, we must ask Him.  Ask Him to correct any false perceptions of Himself th we may have acquired unwittingly. Ask Him to break down any protective barriers and strongholds we may have unknowingly erected, and deeply desire Him to root out everything that prevents His fullness in us.

Spiritual Understanding

Job unintentionally carried out this process by seeking God and by demanding answers – but it was long, and it was painful, and it was very, very discouraging. In the end, Job surrendered, in his relentless, fierce battle of wills with God. In the end, Job ceased from all his inner striving and all his questionings. In the end, Job quieted all his prideful, argumentative demands – and in the end, he just listened. And in the end, Job SAW. In the end, Job KNEW. In the end, Job UNDERSTOOD.