The life of job

You remember Job, right? He was the guy who had everything in his

life taken away. The situations Job encounters are probably

much more difficult than you or I are likely to encounter, but

that does not mean it’s impossible.

Today I will set the stage and introduce the first characters in this

story. The book of Job is probably the oldest book of the Bible.

And so it’s lessons are some of the first one’s God wants us

to learn.

Job probably lived around the same time as Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob, which was a couple thousand years before Jesus. He

lived in a area called Uz. Although we don’t know exactly

where UZ was, it is believed to be somewhere just outside of

Canaan.

There are two different locations where major events take place.

Heaven and earth. We are given a front row seat to a

conversation that God has with satan in heaven. And also, we

get to hear the conversations that Job has, not only with God,

but with some friends who come to “comfort” him, in his misery.

As the story begins to unfold, we get to learn about what kind of

man Job was.

Job 1:1 “1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name

was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one

who feared God and turned away from evil.

That is quite the endorsement from God. Blameless and upright,

does not mean that He was sinless. It means God did not blamehim for being a sinner. God had chosen to pardon him, because

of his faithful loyalty to God. And also, because he feared God

and rejected evil. In this series, we are going to see just how

far job’s loyalty to God will go.

Did you realize that this great and honorable title of Blameless

and Upright has also been placed on you? That is, if you have

surrendered to God and are loyal to Him. Have you repented

and turned away from evil? If you have, God has pardoned

your sins and He sees you as blameless and upright.

And that’s the first lesson. Job is no different than you and I.

Job was not some action hero that can get hit with anything and

not feel it. When things get really bad here in this life, all of us

have our times of fear, doubt and stress. And when I say all of

us, I mean me, Neal, Andy and also everyone in this room. Just

because some of us work as ministry professionals, we are still

just as human as everyone else. Sometimes it gets tough.

The things we are about to see Job go through, can and do

happen to us today. The question is how are we going to react

when they do. I didn’t say if…I said when.

The next thing we learn about Job is that he is very wealthy. So

maybe there are a few ways that job is different than you.

Job 1:2-3

“2 There were born to him seven sons and three

daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500

yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many

servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of

the east.”

Based on the math for how much livestock sells for today, Job’s

net worth would be over $56 Million, and that does not include

any of his land holdings or business profit., which would havecertainly increased his bank account. All of this combined, was

enough for Job to be considered the greatest man in the east.

Next, we learn that Job filled the role of priest for his family. He

was the spiritual leader of his family, as a father and husband

should be. Men, how are you doing in leading your family to

worship God? Are you leading by example? Or do you expect

others to do that for you? Your wife does not have that

responsibility on her shoulders. It belongs to you.

Job 1:4-5

“4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house

of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their

three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of

the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate

them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt

offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It

may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their

hearts.” Thus Job did continually.”

Job’s kids grew up wealthy of course, and that can tend to drive

kids off the rails. Not every time, but it happens often. Because

of this, Job made sure his family were covered spiritually…

especially on their birthday. He was so concerned with their

spiritual standing with God that he offered sacrifices for them, just

in case they did something while partying that was offensive to

God. Job took his responsibility as spiritual leader of his

family very seriously.

This brings us to the end of the first scene in this story. It was just

the setup and main character introduction. Now begins scene 2.

There is a location change and we are introduced to some

additional characters.Job 1:6 “6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to

present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came

among them.

Ok well, hang on. There is a lot in that verse. The first thing that

is obvious, is that God conducts regular meetings, where those

under His authority give account for their work. You can think

about it kind of like a staff meeting. The reason humans do that

kind of thing is because God built into us the same pattern of

authority and accountability.

When I was in business, we would hold weekly meetings to check

on what our employees had been doing, to determine if it is a

good use of their time. That is a very normal thing. So, it should

not surprise us that God established this pattern long ago, where

His Sons would come to meet with Him for accountability.

But here is the problem. This passage says that Satan came

among the sons of God. Now, there are a couple different

thoughts on what this means. I won’t go all the way down the

rabbit hole this morning, but I do in my class called Supernatural,

that I teach a couple times a year. If you are curious, you should

come to that class in the fall.

For a minute, let’s explore the most commonly held belief. And

that is, that the Devil, the old serpent from Genesis, was actually

in the throne room with the other divine beings (here, they are

called Sons of God) having a conversation with God.

This is the way it is explained most of the time. God is so

powerful, that He’s not bothered by the Devil having access to the

throne room even after he was cast out. Is God that powerful?

Yes, but this is not a plausible explanation for this event.Something seems off to me, because the event is presented

so casually. The way it’s written, it appears that there is

nothing out of the ordinary going on here. Which leads me to

believe there is nothing out of the ordinary going on here.

Here is the main issue with that commonly held explanation. This

scene would have been after the fall, and He was not Lucifer the

most perfect angel, any longer. He is a fallen rebellious angel,

who has rejected God’s authority. Do we think after doing that, he

was allowed into this meeting, and he showed up like everything

was cool between him and God??

Another option is that maybe, he slipped in unnoticed and when

God saw him, he got called out? If so, why in the world would

Satan want to go to a meeting like that? And when he got caught,

God was totally OK with it, and started having a normal

conversation with him.

Have you ever gone to an employee meeting at a company you

had been fired from a long time ago, and the CEO said come on

in? Then you start arguing with him…and again, he is Ok with it.

I would like for us to consider another option for what was

going on in this scene. I want to warn you that this may be

unsettling for you if you’ve never really thought about it this way.

But if we are going to understand this entire story, we must have

the proper context for the events. Ok, here we go.

We have to begin by asking, why is God seemingly totally Ok

with Satan being in this meeting of the Sons of God?

Remember, they have all come to present themselves before the

Lord. Why does it seem like nothing out of the ordinary is

going on?It is absolutely not possible that the Devil could have snuck

into the meeting unnoticed. So, this satan character must have

been invited. But why would God invite the Devil to a meeting

with His Sons? He wouldn’t. So how do we explain this?

The satan that is at the meeting with the Sons of God…is a

different spiritual being than the Devil.

The serpent in the garden of Eden back in Genesis, and the

dragon in Revelation are certainly the same being. He was

originally Lucifer, the most beautiful perfect angel, but rebelled

against God because of his pride. That is the Devil.

But the concept of satan can be different than the Devil. The

word satan that is used here is the Hebrew word for accuser or

adversary. And as a matter of fact, it has the definite article “the”

in front of it. So, in Hebrew it would read “the satan.” This is

the first and probably the most important clue in understanding

who this character is.

Once you know that the Hebrew word satan means accuser and

that it is written with a “the” in front of it, you can see that this is a

job title, not a proper name. I am “the Pastor” here at FUEL.

When someone introduces me they say: “This is the pastor.” It

would be unusual and unsettling if they said “this is the Randall.”

That is a common rule in English. The Hebrew language has the

same rule. You don’t use the definite article “the” when referring

to a personal name. But this is what we see in this passage. It

says “:the satan.” So in this case, it is not a personal name, it’s

a title. It’s used 27 times in the Old Testament.

1 Kings 5:4 “4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on

every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.”In Hebrew it does not say “adversary”. It says “satan.” And it’s

talking about a human adversary. This may blow your mind, but

the word satan is never used in the Old Testament as a

proper name for the devil.

In the New Testament things change. The writers picked up the

idea of the job of a satan as an accuser or adversary and

attached it to the Devil.

Therefore we can conclude that the spiritual being described in

this Old Testament scene is probably not the Devil, but just one

of the Sons of God whose job it was to be…a satan…an

accuser…or a prosecutor.

In a court room you have a couple of main characters. The judge,

the accuser (prosecutor), the advocate (defense attorney) and the

defendant (one who is being accused.) I believe this is the scene

we are seeing play out in the story of Job.

God is the Judge, the satan is the prosecutor and Job is the

defendant. In the New Testament we see Jesus referred to as our

Advocate.

The prosecutor is not the adversary of the judge, he is the

adversary of the defendant. The judge isn’t upset that the

prosecutor is in the courtroom. The judge is the one making sure

prosecutor plays by the rules of the court, so he can make a

correct judgment at the end of the trial.

In this light it makes perfect sense that this satan was just

doing his job. Which was to accuse/prosecute Job when God

brought up his name. You may notice that our English translation

does not use the definite article “the,” but trust me, the Hebrew

does, and that is what we must base our thoughts on.The next verse reinforces the satan’s job as a prosecutor.

Job 1:7 “7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?”

Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on

the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

If this character is actually the Devil, wouldn’t we expect a

different question from God. Maybe, “how did you get in here?”

Followed by an immediate removal from God’s presence. But

that is not what happens. God just asks this being to give an

account of where he’s been, and what he’s been doing. This

would be standard operating procedure if this being is just

showing up for his normal performance review.

The satan’s response is that he’s been wandering around the

earth in search of someone to accuse…because that’s his job.

Basically, he’s come up empty handed in his job this week. So

God gives him a specific assignment.

Job 1:8 “8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered

my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a

blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from

evil?”

God actually asks the satan/prosecutor if he has considered

bringing an accusation against Job. The immediate response is

to defend himself.

Job 1:9-10 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job

fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around

him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You

have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have

increased in the land.The satan accuses Job of being only motivated by selfishness.

As long as God protects and blesses him, Job will serve God. His

excuse for why God’s suggestion won’t work goes like this: “I

can’t accuse Job, You always protect and bless him, so he will

always be steadfast in his worship of you. It’s a waste of my time

to try and prosecute Job…however…”

Job 1 :11 “11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has,

and he will curse you to your face.”

And this is where the satan starts doing his job as an accuser.

He’s saying, “just give me a chance to work on him under my

terms and I’ll prove You are wrong about Job.”

Job 1:12 “12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he

has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your

hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

God accepts the challenge, and allows the prosecutor to go to

work. This is the end of scene two. Now for scene three, we

change locations again, back to the earth. The satan waits until

all of Job’s children were together celebrating a birthday…and

then he goes to work, hitting Job where it hurts the most.

Job 1:13-19 “13 Now there was a day when his sons and

daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's

house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The

oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside

them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and

struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone

have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there

came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and

burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and

I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking,

there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed threegroups and made a raid on the camels and took them and

struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone

have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there

came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating

and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold,

a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four

corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and

they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

After all that, Job reacts the only way he knew how.

Job 1:20-21 “20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved

his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he

said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall

I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed

be the name of the Lord.”

Job reacts as a man in the pain of tremendous grief. He does

three things. The first two are that he tears his clothes and

shaves his head. In the Old Testament, this was a sign that

someone was in a time of deep mourning. The third thing he

did was fall to his face and worship.

What did you do when things fell apart for you? You probably

did have a time of deep mourning. But did you follow it with

worship? Were you finally desperate enough to get on your face

before God and worship Him?

And here is the conclusion of the first chapter.

Job 1:22 “22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God

with wrong.”The satan has lost the first round. Job is holding fast, while

being under more stress than any of us can probably imagine…

but the satan was not finished with him yet.