Study of Job (Pt. 4)

In chapter 4 of Job, one of his three friends decides to finally speak. Eliphaz points out that Job was a great encourager before his previous dilemma, and was always available to cheer people on in their despair and comfort them.  But now because he is the one that is hurting, shouldn't he have more confidence?  Shouldn't he take his own advice he gave people so many times.  Why can't he cheer himself up and renew his faith?  Eliphaz goes on to explain that in his experience he has never seen good people truly lose everything, but that bad people are destroyed in the end. 

I had to stop after writing this first paragraph because it is not easy for me to write about things I have not experienced or have no real knowledge about.  This is one of the keys to being a good writer.  So immediately after writing this first paragraph (which I wrote the day after I posted Study of Job Pt. 3), I went through some spiritual warfare, took a Deliverance Class, and went through more spiritual warfare.  I had to surrender my entire self to the Lord (once again!) along with the spirit of fear and loathing, the spirit of pride and conceit, and even a spirit of sickness and obesity.  For the latter spirit, as I felt it stirred within me I could not distinguish what it was at first, and the Lord said He would reveal it to me when it was cast out of me. So I no longer gave it authority in my life and the Lord and the Holy Spirit cast it out.  My spirit relieved once more, I read my Bible and the Holy Spirit revealed to me that the final spirit was of sickness and obesity.  God in all His glory did not create man to be too thin or too chunky.  These are too extremes which He never wanted His children to have to live through.  Like with all other spiritual happenings that are manifested in the physical, obesity and a gaunt frame are all caused by a spirit.  It is the spirit of fear and loathing that allows the spirit of sickness and (obesity or gauntness) to come into the person.  The Lord has revealed to me that this is because fear alters your perception of things around you, therefore obesity/gauntness alters your perception of yourself as well as keeps you in fear, i.e. fear of rejection, and fear to have a social life because you are too chunky or too skinny.  Through these tough spiritual times I had to not only rely upon my God, but I had to remind myself of His promises at times when I was lacking in faith.  I had to take my own advice, like Eliphaz told Job to do.  It’s not an easy thing to do, especially when you do not physically feel the Lord’s presence, but you have to remind yourself that most assuredly, He is with you always, and He even goes BEFORE you and battles for you. 

In the beginning of chapter 5, Eliphaz makes a few revealing statements about how spiritual happenings become manifested on earth in the form of curses and constant problems in life.  Job 5:3-7 (MSG) “I’ve seen it myself – seen fools putting down roots, and then, suddenly, their homes are cursed.  Their children out in the cold, abused and exploited…Don’t blame fate when things go wrong – trouble doesn’t come from nowhere.  It’s human!  Mortals are born and bred for trouble…”  So to this speech Eliphaz adds that Job should repent before God, because it becomes clear to him that Job had to have done something wrong to cause all this catastrophe.  He reminds Job of how the Lord is merciful and will quickly save his friend from further hardship and heartache if he will only accept the Lord’s loving correction.  This is true in most cases, yes, but we know from the beginning of the story that Job was innocent of any wrong doing, and he has not cursed God at all even after such a calamity has befallen him and his family.  So how does a righteous man react when he has maintained his integrity and is still being attacked by the enemy?

Next Time: Study of Job (Pt. 5)

Study of Job (Pt. 3)

In Chapter 3, Job finally speaks up about what has happened to him. He curses the day that he was born. He states that God and everyone would just forget the day he was born, to the point where he requests that the day be covered in utter blackness and erased from history. He wishes the day he was born never physically existed, as well as the date of his conception. Job hates the day of his birth so much because he was born into a life with so much heartache and misery. In reality the rest of his life, as far as we know, was a happy and prosperous one, as he had thousands of animals and an estate full of servants. Until recently, his life was quite grand... unless you take into account the fact that Job sacrificed animals for each of his children at the end of their lavish parties. According to scripture, his children threw these parties quite often. Now I am not sure as to the level of spiritual maturity that Job had, but he was considered to be a righteous man, and therefore probably had great faith and little worry whatsoever. I do believe, however, that his children's merrymaking brought him some pain, as they preferred to live an extravagant life and possibly did not heed the commands of their God. So life for Job could not have been totally perfect. The only blissful moments were his personal relationship with God. But did he really talk to God and have a relationship with Him as we now know of relationship? Or did Job simply understand that God is God and who was he to deny Him the reverence He was due? Christ was not born into the world as of yet, but it was not impossible for men in those times to have a close walk with God. Look at the lives of Noah, Moses, and Elijah. They had a close personal relationship with God, because they kept strict obedience to His word and genuine love for Him in their hearts. These same two principles that make or break your life walk with the Lord still apply today.

Job then claims that he should have died at birth. He could be resting in peace, feeling no pain. He questions why God would keep people alive, as they are bound to a miserable life that can be snuffed out to the point of death with no apparent reason to it at all; he wonders why God would keep the human race going if all they have to look forward to is an insecure life of misery and loss. He questions this in particular, of those like himself who have become bitter down to their very soul because of unwarranted calamity. According to Job, if the consequences of life don't make sense (i.e. repaying evil for good, etc.) why should one go on? In his reality, all he sees is that life is unsure, and no matter how righteous of a man you are in your walk with God, calamity and troubles could still come your way, and what is the point in that?

Job is only going on what is seen, what he knows to be real here in the physical world. He is not looking to the truth that is found in an equally real spiritual world. In the beginning of this book, we are given the knowledge that God has allowed Satan to do things to Job and the things he loves. There is a spiritual battle going on for Job! If Job were to curse God, as the devil thinks he will, then Satan wins. But if Job refuses to curse God for what has become of him, then God is the victor. Job can be angry (even at the Lord), depressed, hurt, ashamed, bewildered, etc., as long as he does not curse God.

I try to be obedient to what my Lord tells me to do throughout my day, and I genuinely love Him. However, since I started obeying God when He told me to write this blog, in particular this study of Job, I have had some troubles come my way, and even towards a friend of mine and her family, as she has helped in the creation of the website. At first, I thought this was spiritual attack because of the nature of our obedience to God. After all, this blog is meant to inspire, teach, and bring people into a close relationship with Christ. But somewhere in the hoopla of getting the site together, advertisements were put in, and recently God spoke to me (when I finally stopped my work enough to listen!). He wanted this site to be a place for Him to speak revelation. A place for His Holy Spirit to speak through me and those who care to comment for the edification of Christ's church. All the ads that were originally put up are an abomination to His work and message. He reminded me of the story of Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers at the temple, outraged that people would try to make a huge profit off of His holy word. I felt so ashamed of myself and truly convicted in the Spirit that I cried in my bathroom (my favorite place to talk to God). I repented of all my sins that I had committed (he also showed me that I was not doing enough to help my husband find work, since I am skilled at typing and creating documents like his resume, etc.). I cried some more, feeling totally brokenhearted at the way I treated my husband and my God. He forgave me and said, “You cannot expect to receive the blessing after the storm if all you are sowing is the weeds of sin and resentment. Like any other weed, these weeds grow quickly with the rain, stifling the growth of the seed that was already planted. They will choke out the harvest I have already prepared for you that is to come when the rain stops.” I immediately thought of Matthew 6: 33-34 (NIV) “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” He was right. I sinned with my greed and wanting to make a lot of money off His site, and I was resentful with husband and my friend, when I needed to help him and she was only trying to help me, even in her time of pain and heartache. I'm sorry, Jason and Maria. Forgive me. (In all God's mercy, He has allowed one affiliate to remain with their ad on the website because I can customize the products advertised, so you will still be seeing that particular ad with Christian books as the main product.)

I was seriously beginning to think that we were living out the story of Job because God wanted us to get a real feel for what he went through, so as to have keener insight into his life. Perhaps. But I do know for sure that even righteous people screw up sometimes and need to repent. I have learned to really look at my life and everything I do in my walk with God, because what might be commonplace in this world could be downright sinful in the eyes of God. This is an obvious hindrance to prayer and the blessings God has in store for you! The spiritual realm, like God, is everlasting. It is to be our permanent home when our bodies die. This unseen world is now becoming more and more real to me than the physical earth we live on. The consequences of denying it are catastrophic. We should continue to look to the unseen, to look to God in all His glory, mercy and grace, so as to know how to live in this world and thrive in the next.

Next: Study of Job (Pt. 4)

Study of Job Pt. 2

Dedicated to my friend, Maria,

who is currently walking in

Job's shoes.

In chapter 2, we see that the angels come to report to the Lord, and once again, Satan tags along. This time, when God brings up Job life as the topic of conversation, He announces to Satan, “You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work.” (Job 2:3 MSG) This reveals to us that Satan's pride has blinded him to the point of him actually believing he can trick or manipulate the One Who Knows All Things. The Evil One's arrogance is really quite astounding, and pitiful when compared to the power of Almighty God.  Satan gives an intriguing response. He states in verse 4-5, the Message translation, “A human would do anything to save his life. But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health?” 

I have heard of instances where martyrs refused to deny Christ in order to save their own lives. And sadly, many people will not surrender to the Lord in order to save their lives either. Therefore Satan lied when stating that a human would do anything to spare their own lives.  Nevertheless, God allows Satan to physically harm Job through illness, but not to the death.  Job was then plagued with oozing, itching ulcers and scabs all over his body.  He then sits “on a trash heap, among the ashes”.  In the Old Testament, people covered themselves with ashes as a symbolic gesture of the  repentance of sins.  You are repentant when you come to the Lord with a broken heart over all the wrongs you have committed against others and against God himself.  He sat among the ashes because he was covered in sores, or what would probably have been considered leprosy in those times.  In order for someone to return to society after being diagnosed with this “unclean” disease, a sacrifice would have to be made to the priest only after it was confirmed that the person was indeed cured. Repentance of sin led to the curing of disease.  Repentance led to being healthy and free of disease.  There is also the story of the boy with a demon that was healed in Matthew 17: 23.  This story describes a young boy that was possessed by a demon, and when the demon manifested itself, the boy was overcome with seizures.  Nowadays, a seizure disorder is fairly commonplace.  In fact, my soon-to-be four year old son has been diagnosed with ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and epilepsy (seizure disorder).  In the passage Jesus rebukes the demon and the child is healed from that moment on.  Now the child may have been without sin yet was still terribly afflicted and I will speak about this in a future blog (promise!).  The point that I am trying to make now is simply this:  whatever physical, emotional, or mental illness that we succumb to in this physical world is a direct result of certain happenings in the spiritual realm.  Now I do not know all the exact happenings that would occur in the spiritual for these things to manifest in our present physical state, but I do know that it can be caused by unconfessed sin, generational curses, (remember the boy with the demon that gave him seizures? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.) and, as in Job's case, the devil creating spiritual warfare with God, trying to get one over on the Lord and God being glorified in the end.

In verse 9, Job's wife comes to him and tells him to curse God and give up.  This is a perfect example of Satan manipulating a person to help meet his own evil ends, namely winning this particular spiritual battle against God.  Whether she was possessed or not, I cannot rightly say, but I can attest to the fact that she was being manipulated by Satan at some level, and had not the strength or right standing with God to resist or ask for the Lord's assistance.  Job rebukes his wife by calling her a fool and promptly reminds her:  “We take the good days from God- why not also the bad days?” (Job 2: 10 MSG). 

Job stills says nothing sinful towards God, and three of his friends hear of his shortcomings and visit.  They grieve with him for a week, saying nothing.  It's true what they say, you really do find out who your friends are.

Next up: Study of Job (Pt. 3)

Study of Job (Pt. 1)

Job is one of the most misunderstood and unappreciated books of the Bible. It is the story of a man named Job, who was wealthy and righteous in God's sight because he did not sin. He even went so far as to burn sacrifices for each of his children, in the event that they might have sinned while partying. In chapter 1, verse 6 of 'The Message' translation, we find that the angels report to God on a regular basis, for it reads: “One day when the angels came to report to God...” This implies that there has been more than one occasion ( and will be more) where the angels give a report to God, perhaps of what they are doing, going to do, or whom they are currently watching over. Satan is called the 'Designated Accuser', and must report to God as well. God asks Satan what he has been doing, and he answers, “Going here and there, checking things out on earth.” Now, for those who have the spiritual eyes to see, we know that 'going here and there' does not simply mean roaming the earth. It also includes roaming the 'arid places', or the spiritual realm that is unseen to most humans, yet partially revealed to a few. So by this we know that Satan has free reign to wander not only the spiritual realm, but the physical world as well. (God does the same thing, only in the form of the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost.)

God replies with an almost shocking retort. Our heavenly Father asks Satan if he has noticed Job, and affirms that Job is “honest and true...totally devoted to God and hating evil.” Now why would the Lord deliberately bring up a person, a righteous person nonetheless, for Satan to consider tempting and tormenting? The reason is not because our Lord is a cruel, cold-hearted God that only seeks to entertain himself with the misery of His children, though many may think so. No, no! The answer lies in the relationship that a true servant and child of God already knows in their heart: tribulation allows for perseverance, hope, and strength through the Lord to make it through, and for His glory to be revealed against all adversity. But in order to be filled with His conquering strength, we must be humble (know our place in relation to God), and recognize our weakness, which is a total emptiness or lack of strength. When we are empty, He can fill us, just like you cannot pour tea into an already full teacup. So, in this case, God is choosing Job to be the example in which He will glorify His name and chalk up another defeat for Satan in the process. By allowing us to know of and study the story of Job, God reaffirms that even though bad things may still happen, even to righteous people, He is always there and 'mighty to save', glorifying His name and revealing His love. Realistically, if the Lord just simply wiped out all evil in one 'she-bang' so that nothing bad would happen anymore to good people, most of us would be wiped out along with it, for we are far from perfect, and even a 'little sin' is enough to warrant us a free ticket to Hell. Besides, we would not even recognize or appreciate just how much He truly loves us were it not for the hard times to reveal a comparison.

So now Satan claims that the only reason why Job is righteous is because God does not allow anything to happen to him or the people and things he loves. He even goes so far as to say that if God were to take away everything from Job that he would curse the Lord and no longer love Him. The Lord then allows Satan to do what he wants with all that is Jobs, but that Job himself is not to be hurt.

After awhile, during one of the parties that Job's children were throwing, four messengers came back-to-back to reveal to Job that all his animals were stolen or dead, most of his servants were dead (except for the messengers), and all his children were dead from a tornado that struck the house that they were in. This statement assures us that not all weather catastrophes/natural disasters are caused by God. Apparently, Satan can cause these things to happen to benefit his purpose.

In the Old Testament, people grieved by ripping their clothing, shaving their heads, and covering themselves in ash. Job did this, and WORSHIPED.

He blessed the name of God instead of cursing Him. He did not sin or blame God. We should all be so humble to recognize God's greatness and authority, especially during times of trouble.

Next up: Study of Job (Pt. 2)

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