The Letters

“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.” (Job 1:5)

One crucial element to living a victorious life is knowing who we are in Him and our position in the Kingdom. Out of this foundational knowledge comes authority, confidence, and power. Many have to go back and uproot ingrained belief systems, wrong mental-image blueprints, and past “programming.” If the foundation is not laid correctly, the entire building will be lopsided and even dangerous. Religion, and the traditions of men render the Word of God without power in the lives of those affected by it, as it obscures faith and the light of truth. A misunderstanding of what happened to Job has given the enemy a great advantage in the lives of many believers, and this is by design, of course. 

When it comes to Job, the mainstream belief is that God brought His servant Job to the devil’s attention because Job was righteous, and God wanted the devil to try Job. The devil then received “God’s permission” in order to attack him and take everything that he had. This was presumably “allowed” by God in order to test Job and to prove his loyalty. Well meaning pastors, leaders, and fellow believers will tell people who are experiencing extreme hardship and difficulties that God is somehow “allowing their trials” in order to test them or “teach” them something, just like He did with Job. This renders any type of faith to resist the devil’s attacks, void and without effect. This interpretation of the book of Job is rooted in a lack of understanding regarding covenants, and a religious belief system that God is “in control“ of everything that happens on the earth, and that if anything happens, God must have “allowed it” because nothing happens without His “authorization.” But nothing could be farther from the truth. 

Trials are designed by the devil to steal, kill, and destroy. It is the application of our faith during a trial that produces patience, not the trial itself. 

First of all, Job lived under a different “set of rules.” It is believed that he lived somewhere around the time of Abraham, and so this was before the law of Moses, and certainly long before Jesus went to the cross and rose from the dead. It would be wrong to assume that we can apply what happened to Job thousands of years ago, under a completely different covenant, to our present position under the New Covenant. There are several important things that we can learn from Job. One of the main lessons being that he patiently endured and remained faithful in a situation that he did not understand. That is a good lesson to learn. He didn’t walk away from God in pride or ignorant accusation. 

It’s all right to say that we don’t understand something. It is dangerous, however, to promote doctrines and theological belief systems in an attempt to fill in the blanks where there is a lack of understanding, or to support religious culture or tradition. If we don’t know why someone is going through a difficult time we can just say “I don’t know, but I’ll pray for you and ask the Lord for wisdom!” If we are going through something ourselves that we don’t understand, then according to James 1:5, we should ask the Lord for wisdom, and be willing to hear, even if that takes us outside of our preconceived theological constraints. There is no shame in that!

In order to understand what happened with Job, it is important to first understand why Jesus came to the earth and went to the cross. What did He accomplish? How are things different today than it was in the book of Job? How is that relevant to us as New Testament believers? 

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:14‬)

“…For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8)

“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15)

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. To strip him of the power and authority that Adam had given him through disobedience in the Garden. The scripture refers to the devil as the “god of this world.” Man, in cooperation with the devil, is responsible for most of the things that happen on the earth, not God the Father. 

Many believe that God is “in control” of everything that happens on the earth, but this is a misconception. There are legalities. If this were the case, then why did Jesus have to go to the cross? Why did Job himself talk about the fact that he had no advocate at the time? (Job 9:33) For what purpose was the Son of God manifested? Would it be necessary to destroy something that really had no power in the first place, and was not a threat? Couldn’t the Father simply “overrule” the plans and works of the devil that He didn’t approve of? This is what is assumed by many Christians, and even many prominent Christian leaders, but if this were the case then the cross would not have been necessary. The Son of God would not have had to manifest Himself in the flesh, for the Father could have simply taken care of every problem by “executive order,” and intervened as He pleased.

As part of his accusation against Job, the devil told God that Job would curse Him to His face, but this was an accusation rather than a motive. He could have cared less about Job’s integrity. The devil’s motive was to destroy Job so that he could gain control in the Eastern region. 

Job was the “richest man in the East.” This presented a major problem for the devil, as Job was using his wealth for good things, and therefore controlling most of the affairs in the territory. Have you ever heard the saying “He who has the gold makes the rules?” The enemy could not manipulate or control Job, and so police, politicians, and business leaders were not being threatened, bribed, manipulated, or controlled. The devil did not have control over the money, and therefore could not control the population. 

Job was a thorn in the enemy’s side. 

So the devil began to torment Job with fear, guilt, and condemnation. So much so, in fact, that it bordered on paranoia and obsession. Job would offer sacrifices “continually” based on a pure speculation and assumption that his sons and daughters were cursing God and sinning. He had no legitimate evidence of this. It was an irrational and baseless fear, and this is where the problem arose. The devil could not break down the hedge around Job’s house, and he knew that. 

He had to get Job to do it himself! 

Faith and fear cannot cohabitate. There is either faith or there is fear. Faith opens the door for God to operate in a person’s life and fear opens the door for the devil. Job feared, and he continually spoke fear and acted on fear, thereby effectively tearing down the hedge of protection that was around him through his own words and actions (the devil is using this same tactic on people today). Job’s fear was only in the area of receiving God’s judgment on his family and possessions, it was not in the area of him losing his life. 

The devil had a great deal of authority in the earth at the time, as he had received it from Adam, who had received it from God. The devil’s authority at the time also extended into certain heavenly places that would later also have to be purified by blood . 

“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Hebrews 9:23)

Satan even had a right at the time (he doesn’t have this right anymore), to approach the throne of God, which he did in the book of Job. 

The interaction went something like this (paraphrased):

God asked, “Where did you come from?” The devil replied, “From walking around in the earth looking for someone to devour and destroy, like I usually do because that’s what I do!” (of course, he was very disrespectful) God asked, “So you’ve set your sights on Job?” He replied, “Yeah, that’s right, Job is in total fear and that is my department!” “I have a legal right!” “ He’s in my hands!” “I’m going to destroy him and there’s not a thing you can do about it!” And God agreed with him! “Behold (look), he is in your power…” What else could God do? it was a matter of legalities. The devil had the lawful keys of hell and of death. What Job had greatly feared came upon him, but God was not the one who brought it or authorized it.

This is where many struggle. They think that God can just do whatever He wants to do whenever or however He wants. This comes from the belief that He is “in control“ of everything that happens on the earth. But this is not true. For instance, God cannot lie. It is impossible for Him to lie, and therefore it is impossible for Him to violate His own established order because it was right and true from the beginning. He has sworn by Himself regarding the immutability (unchangeability) of His counsel (Hebrews 6:13-19). It would be like a landlord entering his tenant’s apartment without permission anytime he wanted to, and for whatever reason. He would be violating the contract, the lease agreement (at least in most cases). He would be a “covenant-breaker.” Jesus’ entire mission was rooted in legalities. It had to be lawful. We also have to “strive lawfully.” The cross was lawful in every respect. It is finished and complete in its entirety. 

Job was faithful in the fact that he didn’t curse God. He remained in faith. However, he threw around a lot of blame and justified himself (Job 34:37). He even blamed God, which many still do today. Job justified himself as being guiltless, and was later rebuked for four solid chapters by God Himself for not knowing what he was talking about (Chapters 38-41). Job had no mediator or high priest. He had no one to stand in the gap for Him (Job 9:33-34). Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. If He had, and Job knew who he was, and stood in faith regarding God’s promises and the blood, the devil would have fled so fast no one would have known that he had ever been there!

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (‭‭James‬ ‭4:7‬)

How can we submit ourselves to God if we believe that there is even a slight chance that He is working against us? It produces fear, confusion, and double-mindedness, and therefore renders faith void and of no effect (see James 1:6-8). 

When genuine faith is applied, the devil will flee all of the time, not part of the time! One hundred percent of the time! Dealing with the devil is our responsibility, not God’s. Jesus gave us the authority and responsibility in His name, and He is now seated at the right hand of the father. We are here on the earth. How can we have faith in a God who is unpredictable? How can we resist the devil steadfast in the faith if we do not know the Father’s will? Of course we cannot, and we become spiritually impotent, powerless, and easy to control. This is the objective of religious tradition. 

Erroneous belief systems based on the book of Job, II Corinthians chapter 12 (regarding Paul’s thorn), the “sifting” of Peter, and other scriptures have laid a faulty foundation that has left the church vulnerable and weak. 

How does what happened with Job differ from what God did with Abraham? 

Didn’t God “tempt” Abraham? Abraham was not tempted, but rather proved. God already knew what was in Abraham’s heart. He didn’t have to test him to find out. But Abraham had to be proved. To whom? To principalities and powers in heavenly places. To all of the angels. Adam had authorized and given authority to the devil through disobedience. Abraham, through an act of faith, in being willing to sacrifice his son, opened the door for God to be able to send His Son! There was a strategic, transactional purpose involved that had to be demonstrated. Abraham lost nothing. Nothing of his person or of his house was destroyed or damaged. The devil gained no advantage over him even for a moment. In fact, the devil was not even involved. There are times, like Abraham, that God will ask us to lay things down, but he rewards a hundredfold! 

The devil is God’s enemy. God uses him for nothing. He has no camaraderie or partnership with him. 

The devil no longer has access to God’s throne. When Jesus said “I saw Satan as lightning fell from heaven,” he was referring to a future event that would take place after He had finished what He had been sent to the earth to do. He had already seen it through the eyes of faith. God “calls things that be not as though they were.” It actually took place after Jesus rose from the dead. After His victory at the cross, the devil was successfully thrown out of heaven. His influence is now confined to the earth, and it is the responsibility of every one of us as believers, to resist him and keep him out of our affairs!