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10-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Rebel |
10-Your Adversary, the Devil - Satan, the Rebel
Job 1:13-22
Since God is the Creator, all glory, honor and majesty, all power,
dominion and authority belong to Him. The primary responsibility resting
upon the creature is to be in subjection to the Creator. Lucifer, the
wisest and the most beautiful of all God's created beings, rebelled
against that responsibility. His desire was to depose God from His throne
and displace God as the supreme authority in the universe which God had
created. In his rebellion Lucifer led a vast number of created angelic
beings after him and they like him became rebels.
When God created Adam and placed him in the garden of Eden, He placed one
requirement on him: to submit to Him and to obey Him. And so that there
should be an opportunity to demonstrate this submission to the authority
of God, God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the
garden and said to Adam, "Thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Satan, the
rebel, had one burning, consuming passion within himself, to lead Adam
and Eve in his path of rebellion against God. His temptation in the
Garden was the temptation to rebel. Adam followed Eve's rebellion, and
the entire race that sprang from these two was a lawless, rebellious one.
The plan of Satan to lead men in rebellion is perhaps no more clearly
illustrated than in the encounter between God, Satan and Job as it is
recorded in the first two chapters of the book of Job. From the record
there we discover that Satan's purpose for Job was identical with his
purpose for Adam. His purpose for you is the same. Satan's great desire
is to lead you to rebel against God. Satan is as much concerned about
your rebellion against God as any other one thing. He is not so concerned
about getting you enmeshed in some heinous sin as he is in causing you to
rebel against God, since that is the start of every sin. This is clearly
brought out in the experience of Job.
Job had been blessed materially as perhaps no man of his generation had
been blessed. The Scripture records God's blessing upon him in his
family, for he had seven sons and three daughters. In addition, God had
multiplied his material wealth in that he had seven thousand sheep and
three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she
asses and a very great household (that is of servants or slaves to take
care of the flocks and herds and to provide for the family). All of this
was recognized as a blessing from God. Job took no credit for it as
though by his own wisdom, might or power he had accumulated it. In
receiving this wealth, he responded by worshiping God. He recognized that
God who had given could just as quickly take it all away. It was
testified of Job in the first verse that he was a man who was perfect and
upright, one that feared God and eschewed (or hated or was afraid of
being enmeshed in) evil. The evidence that Job was perfect and upright
was that he feared God. His perfection was not only evident to his family
and his acquaintances, but also to God, for Job showed his perfection and
uprightness by abiding in the rightful relationship of a creature to the
Creator. He feared, he respected, he submitted to, he bowed to the
authority of God who had given these blessings to him.
Job's life was characterized by constant worship. He did not come on some
stated occasion to a thanksgiving service to look back over the past year
to enumerate God's blessings. Thanksgiving was his daily attitude, for in
the fifth verse of the first chapter we are told, ". 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 was a
priest in the family and daily he offered sacrifices to God. He
reaffirmed by that sacrifice his continuing dependence upon and
submission to God. As the priest he was declaring that his sons who were
under his authority were also subject to the authority of God.
The thing that Job feared more than anything else was that his sons would
be rebels, for he said, "perhaps it may be that my sons have sinned and
cursed God in their hearts." How would Job suspect the possibility that
his sons might curse God? After all, they had been brought up in his
family and he had trained them and taught them and set an example of
submission and dependence upon God. But Job still feared that his sons
might turn out to be rebels. Job knew what was in his own heart. He
obviously had felt the enticements of Satan to some act of rebellion
himself. Since he, the head of the home, the spiritual as well as the
physical father, felt these temptations, he knew that his sons would be
subject to those temptations. Therefore he guarded against that rebellion
by continued sacrifice to God lest he or his family should curse God in
their hearts. Thus God has shown what kind of a man Job was, a man who
exercised conscious dependence upon God.
Satan could not rest as long as there was a creature who willfully and
voluntarily submitted himself to the authority of God instead of giving
himself to do the will of Satan. It seems that Satan's whole attention
was focused upon this one man to the exclusion of all the other members
of his generation. Satan wasn't concerned with some of Job's friends who
were already rebels. It was Job whom Satan desired to lead in rebellion
and to bring into subjection to himself because of Job's dependence upon
God.
May we point out to you that when any child of God by the Holy Spirit
makes it his purpose to live a life so as to please the Lord Jesus Christ
and to walk in complete dependence upon God, he is exposing himself to
all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Don't think because you
voluntarily submit your will to the will of God that that submission is
going to be the end of struggling with temptation. Unfortunately, that is
the beginning of it. As long as you walk in a path of rebellion against
God, Satan will leave you alone. The Spirit of God won't, but Satan will!
When you set it as your purpose to walk so as to please the One who
called you unto holiness, Satan will make you his special target. That is
what he did with Job. When the occasion came that Satan was given
audience before the throne of God, it was Job whom God singled out as an
object lesson to Satan. God took great pleasure in pointing to Job as a
man in whose worship He found delight, one in whose submission He found
satisfaction. Satan accused God of having bought Job. He said, "Doth Job
fear God for nought?" (Job 1:9). If God is not worshiped because He is
worthy to be worshiped, then the worship means nothing to God. God is not
honored and glorified until His creatures worship Him voluntarily. That
is why worship is always viewed in the Word of God as a voluntary
sacrifice. Some sacrifices were required. There were also voluntary
sacrifices. God was satisfied through the obedience that brought the
required sacrifices. But God was worshiped through the voluntary
sacrifices that men brought because they loved Him, because they
respected Him, because they recognized His right to worship. So Satan
stood in front of God and insulted Him. He said to God, in effect, "You
bought Job with your blessings; You bought his worship; You bought his
obedience; he would be insane not to continue this ritual so that You
would continue Your material blessings to him." This was Satan's
challenge: "Put forth thy hand now and touch all that he has and he will
curse thee to thy face" (Job 1:11).
What did Satan want Job to do more than anything else? Curse God. Rebel
against God. Satan's concept was that God was not worthy of worship apart
from His gifts. This cursing did not require an oath from his lips. If
Job had lifted his eyes to heaven and had asked, "Why?" it would have
been rebellion. He would have followed Satan's plan. God would have been
dishonored through what would seem to be an innocent question. The
messengers came to Job. The first in verse 14 said that all of his oxen
and asses were either driven off or slain. The second in verse 16
reported all of his flocks and herds and sheep were destroyed. The third
in verse 17 told that all of his camels had fallen into the hands of the
Chaldeans. The fourth, in verses 18 and 19, relayed the news that his ten
children were lost in a storm. Within a few moments everything that Job
had was taken away; Job was a pauper, bereft of his children and his
possessions.
His faith, even in this testing, was unshakable. Even though possibly he
was tempted to do what Satan wanted him to do, "to curse God," it is
recorded in verse 20 that, "Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved
his head." These were signs of mourning. Job was not oblivious to the
facts. Job did not deny that this tragedy had taken place. He did not
move into a world where he was withdrawn from reality. The rending of his
garment shows that he was fully conscious of the import of what these
messengers had brought to him. But instead of cursing God he "fell down
upon the ground, and worshiped." Job was as much a worshiper when
everything had been taken away as he was when unmeasured bounty was
bestowed upon him by God. This is one of the worst defeats that Satan had
ever suffered. Few, if any, had been subjected to the testing to which
Job was subjected by Satan to get him to renounce God. Job was sustained
by his recognition of dependence upon God, upon the goodness of the
character of God, upon the trustworthiness of God's wisdom. Satan had
expected to hear curses of wrath pour forth from the lips of Job.
However, he was humiliated and chagrined to hear words of praise flow
from the lips of this saint of God.
When a man comes into testing it is too late to learn to worship. It is
too late to learn to trust. It is too late to learn to walk by faith. A
man can be triumphant through a testing of Satan by walking with God
daily before the storms and the trials and tests come. Job was able to
worship in the time of trial because worship had become the established
pattern of his life. His dependence of former days continued even during
this onslaught of Satan.
Although Satan had suffered a most humiliating defeat, he was ready to
challenge God again. God once again pointed his finger to Job, the one
individual on the face of the earth whom Satan most wanted to forget. He
asked the question again, "Have you considered my servant Job?" (Job
2:3). To paraphrase that question, God is asking, "Satan, how do you
explain a man like Job?" The only rightful answer could be, "Job
acknowledges dependence upon You because of what You are, and worships."
But Satan had another explanation and he challenged God a second time, ".
skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But
put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will
curse thee to thy face" (Job 2:4, 5). What one thing did Satan want to
produce in Job? Rebellion! Satan suggests that since Job submitted to the
Creator, as Creator He should touch the lips He had created, and when He
did, Job would renounce His right to rule, and rebel.
Once again with God's permission Satan went forth from the presence of
the Lord with the avowed purpose of working to make Job repeat the sin of
rebellion, his own first sin, the sin of the angels, and the sin of Adam
and Eve. And we find in the 8th verse, ". and he sat down among the
ashes." The ash heap was outside the city. It was an unclean place. It
was where the outcasts went. Job had cut himself off from his home now.
He had cut himself off from his wife, the only one left to him. Cutting
himself off from all of his friends, he felt that he had been abandoned.
It is then the temptation came. Notice the subtlety of Satan here. Satan
did not approach directly but he approached Job through his wife, and his
wife became the agent of temptation. Eve was tested as Satan approached
her in the form of a creature. Job was subjected to a greater test than
Eve because this solicitation came from the one who was nearest and
dearest to him. The strategy of Satan is not to use someone who would be
easy to repel but to use the one whom it is most difficult to deny. But
the temptation is unchanged because Satan's purpose is unchanged. Job's
wife came to him and said, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? [thy
dependence upon God] curse God, and die." In mouthing those words she is
promoting the purpose of Satan and is putting a satanic temptation before
him to do the one thing that Satan wants Job to do more than anything
else in this world, to abandon his dependence, his submission, his
obedience; to become independent of God.
How God gloried in Job's response (verse 10). He reproved his wife, and
said, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaketh." Foolish in the
Word of God has to do with one who has left God out of his thinking. He
said, "You are talking like a godless one when you invite me to do What
Satan wants the human race to do." "Shall we receive evil? In all this
did not Job sin with his lips" (Job 2:10). Job refused to declare himself
independent of God because of his faith in the character of God and his
recognition of his responsibility to submit to God.
What Satan wanted for Job summarizes what Satan wants for you and me. It
is not his desire that you should go rob a bank, that you should embezzle
a large sum from your employer, that you should be involved in some great
ethical or moral scandal. That is not his plan for you at all. What he
wants is for you to rebel against God. Say "no" to Him; deny Him His
right to exercise absolute authority over you. When you do that you have
fallen into the sin of Eve; you have robbed God of His glory, His right
to be obeyed and worshiped.
Job was not the only one subjected to such a test. In the 16th chapter of
the gospel of Matthew we see our Lord walking with His disciples. He
turned to them with a question and said, verse 13, "Whom do men say that
I the Son of man am?" The disciples began to repeat the answers that they
had heard. Some explained the person of Christ as John the Baptist: some,
Elias (Elijah); some Jeremiah; some, one of the prophets. Then after
reporting what they had overheard, our Lord turned to the disciples
directly and said, "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter as the spokesman for
the twelve confessed his faith, "Thou art the Christ (Messiah), the Son
of the living God." Christ followed that affirmation of faith with a
further revelation. He told them, in the 21st verse, "that He must go
unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests
and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." That was
all part of the prophecy as to what Messiah would do.
Isaiah 53 had said that the Messiah, whom Peter has just confessed the
Lord to be, was to be the suffering servant who would give Himself as a
sacrifice for sins that through the shedding of His blood He might
provide salvation for sinners. When our Lord, upon Peter's confession,
said, "Yes, I am Messiah and I even now am on My way to Jerusalem to give
Myself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world," Peter reached out and
put his hand on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus and began to shake Him,
so as to shake some sense into Him. So he said, "Lord be it far from
thee: this shall not be unto Thee." Now notice our Lord's reply, "Get
thee behind Me, Satan."
Just as Satan used Mrs. Job as the channel to put temptation before Job
to renounce God's will for Job, so Satan used the disciple who was as
close to Christ as any of the disciples to put his temptation before
Christ. What was it? To rebel against the will of God because God had set
Christ apart to a cross. Turn from the way of God, leave Jerusalem, flee
to safety in Galilee. Jesus Christ recognized that word for what it was,
a temptation from Satan, and He addressed Peter, not as the originator of
that statement but as Satan, the one who had given Peter that thought. He
said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan. Thou art an offence to Me: for thou
savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Satan
had no greater purpose for the Lord Jesus Christ than to divert His feet
from the path of perfect obedience to the will of God. He put that
temptation before Christ through the lips of Peter. It was only a little
while later that our Lord came into the garden of Gethsemane. The tempter
was even there. Christ resisted that same temptation to abandon the will
of God for Him when He bowed before the Father and said, "Not My will but
Thine be done." He was obedient unto death. That is why the writer to the
book of Hebrews invites us to look unto Jesus "the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame ." (Hebrews 12:2). The joy set before Christ was the
joy of being perfectly obedient and submissive to the will of God.
That which was Satan's avowed purpose for Job and that which was Satan's
purpose for Christ - to turn them from submission and dependence and
obedience to God - is Satan's chief desire for you day-by-day and
step-by-step. Be on guard against rebellion. God asks you to continue in
the place of obedience, the place of subjection, the place of a worshiper
as you recognize God's right to your life.
Pentecost, J. D. (1997). Your adversary, the Devil. Originally published:
Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 1969. (85). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.
.
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