Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.The era is unimportant since scripture says, "there was a day". It could be any day, and even apply to those of all ages. Sure, the story pertains specifically to Job but it was written to apply to all those who are faithful, or the story would not even be there. Of course, "the day" was sometime after Job became faithful. We don't know how he became faithful, but the story pertains to how much he trusts the Lord.
The Lord described what trusting in Him is: John 3 reveals that trusting solely in the Lord for salvation is the second birth. Jesus said, "You must be born again." (John 3:7). The second birth is not optional since one "must be". Jesus described that those "born again" are exemplified by the Hebrews who looked up to "Jesus" on the tree in the form of a serpent on a pole. It is assumed that the serpent raised high represents the Lord's defeat of Satan as he promised in Genesis 3:14. The point being made, is that looking forward to the Messiah by the Hebrew people was sacramental. Why so? It was worshiping Jesus before God became incarnate. Since Job trusted the Lord for his safety, Job was surely a Christian.
Why is the faith of Job so important? Because it represents the same faith of all Christians of all times. Just as the serpent on the pole represents safety through Jesus, Job's faith was also in Jesus. Of course, some will respond, "But Jesus wasn't even born yet!" Never forget, Jesus is God and He was always with mankind even since the beginning (John 1-2, 14). My point is that Job knew and depended on God! He was born-again because he had faith in what the Lord would someday do which was die for all mankind, not just those contemporary or the future, but for those who trusted Him even when they could not see Him face to face!
Hence, the story of Job is the story of all Christians. In fact, his test is the same test all Christians face. Of course, Satan paid particular attention to Job but he is not omnipresent as God is. He can only be one place at a time. Job was extremely important. He was a man of great faith. It makes sense that with those of lesser faith, Satan's power would not be needed. It would only take sons of God - fallen angels, for the run of the mill Christians. Satan doesn't normally tempt mankind; it is principalities, powers, and rulers of the dark (Ephes 6:12). Most Christians get off easier than Job did, but again, he is the epitome of great faith matched only by Abraham himself. There was none like Job in all the earth, according to the Lord! Thus, Satan in person was necessary just as he was with Jesus.
Satan accused God of bribing Job to be faithful. The Lord was accused of buying the love of Job. (So much for the prosperity gospel!) Satan challenged God to remove Job's prosperity and find out where his faith goes. The Lord knew the faith of Job and had confidence in him. He took the faith challenge. Later scripture reveals that God set one criterion:
Job 1:12 ",,, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand."
We find that Satan could do anything short of killing Job. All manner of things could happen to him, his household, and his possessions, but Satan could not take Job's life! Satan accused the Lord of placing a hedge around Job. Satan was correct in his assessment. Job was safe because he trusted the Lord. That "safety" would have commenced when he saw the Light about just who the Lord is, and depended on His power. In case the point is not obvious, Job was a "Christian" before Christ was even born! His spiritual condition was "safety" in that Job could have fallen. That was the very point of the test!
Scripture uses the expression "shall be saved" and "should be saved" quite often, for instance in Acts 2:21 which specifically credits that to those who "call upon the Name of the Lord". Of course, the Lord is "called Jesus" so the implication is that God in the Flesh is who saves. "Shall be" is some time from right now to some future time. "Shall be" and "should be" were provided by translators and are not in the original Greek. It is written, "sos" which is the primary Greek word and means "safe". In other words, those who call upon the Name of the Lord will be "safe". We see that Job was safe. How so? He had that divine hedge around him!
Those who are born-again are "safe" in that the Lord will not let Satan nor his emissaries lay hands on them. Job remained in safety because he had "the hope of salvation" (1 Thes 5:8)! Furthermore, the more that he persevered in faith, the closer he was to the "day of salvation" (Rom 13:11). Job's test was not those of pleasure or beauty but persecution. He had material wealth and demonstrated that he did not have the love of money. However, his family was destroyed. Satan is the author of death and he often uses death to frustrate the faith of Christians!
Thus, Job's test, is an example of the Christians' tests of faith. He persevered as Christians are called to do. Job was rewarded with his faith in life when Satan discovered how great his faith was. God was pleased, and knew in advance that Job would pass the test. God, not dependent on time, knew in advance that Job was "saved" because he called Job "a perfect and upright man". Job at times had doubt, and asked "why" often to God and his friends. Doubt is the opposite of faith, and the two together make the whole.
Job kept the faith even when he had some doubts. Satan endeavored to cause him to doubt to the degree that he had no faith. Job knew the Lord and kept the faith. That's what all Christians must do to be "saved". When is he day of salvation? It is either when the dead and living are taken up to Heaven, or when the Christians converted during the tribulation persevere or die. Job hoped to ascend with Jesus when the trump blows. He will be one of the dead who is raised from the grave first because those dead before Jesus died had greater faith than those who came after Jesus's death!
Note that Job could have failed the test even tough he had the hedge of safety around him as Satan pointed out! Likewise, Christians can fail by denying God. Walking in the faith is a daily test, and Satan's emissaries try to raise enough doubt, or diminish the Christian's faith, to the extent that there is no faith remaining. That is called apostasy.
That "hedge" which God places around those who have faith in Him is a spiritual wall such as was around the Garden of Eden. Inside was "safety". Satan was allowed to connive and tempt Adam and Eve but notice that he could not lay a hand on them for he had no hands! His venom, on the other hand, could kill, but by grace the Lord used the blood of an innocent animal as the antidote to the poison of sin. Things are no different now!
The Garden had one gate protected by seraphim. That implies that there was an impermeable hedge or wall around the Garden. With that one straight gate, there was one way to get back inside the "safety" of Paradise. We find from scripture that by one name a person can be "safe". That is the Name of God - Jesus. The hedge around Job is symbolic of the Garden or Paradise. He was essentially in Heaven and only by one means could his citizenship be revoked: if he denied the Lord by taking the Name of God - Jesus - as inconsequential which is that the Lord cannot be trusted.
When Christians need answers to doctrine, the place to look is Holy Scripture. The "hope of salvation" was not for only those after Christ but before. The story of Job is there so that all those who came after him know that salvation cannot be taken for granted; it is conditional. Of course God will never leave us but we can exit the gate and not be able to return, and there is a reason for that:
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.By definition, a person can only be saved one time from one particular event. That event is "saved from perishing". "Saved again" is an oxymoron. A person cannot be "unsaved" nor bounce in and out of salvation. The Day of the Lord is when the earth and sinners perish. That day is the day of our salvation! Because faith is hope, with faith, being saved on that day is my hope! Only one thing stands in my way, the Lord keeps me safe from that, and that is doubt. I always keep in mind that I have safety inside God's hedge, as a provisonary citizen of the Kingdom of God, unless I mutiny by exiting the gate of Paradise. I choose not to do that but Satan's emissaries keep on trying!
No comments:
Post a Comment