Lesson 2

The Arena--The Souls of Men

Job 1:1-3 Job 1:6-12

We are in a war. The arena in which this war is being waged is the souls of men. The enemy wants to torture us and has a strategy for putting us on the rack. But we are protected by God, who sets a wall of fire around every believer. Without divine permission Satan cannot penetrate that wall, and we have God's word that any time He allows the enemy in, we can overcome. But we can only overcome through faith.

The book of Job is a treatise on Romans 8:28--on the fact that God is in control of all circumstances, that Jesus Christ controls history, and that God causes everything to work together for good in the lives of those who love Him. The oldest book of the Bible, it tells the story of an Arab prince living near the time of Abraham. He was not a Jew, but he was a believer who for a time became the target of Satan himself and the center of the angelic conflict.

The word "blameless" is from the Hebrew aom, which simply means "mature" or "complete." Job was complete in his spiritual growth; he was a mature believer. "Upright" is yashar, which means "to walk straight" The word is related to ashere, which means "blessing" or "blessed." There is a principle in these two words: the one who walks straight (yashar) will end up blessed (ashere). Job was a man who had walked straight and had been greatly blessed, and his maturity was reflected in his personal integrity and character.

Job's "fear" of God was yare--reverence, respect, and honor for the Lord. The fact that Job turned away from evil indicates that he knew consistent victory in his spiritual life.

The phrase bene ha elohim, "sons of God," is used four times in the Old Testament, and each time it refers to angels (Gen. 6; Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7). Though he has fallen, Satan still has access to heaven. He apparently spends good deal of time before the throne of God accusing believers, and he will continue to have this access until the middle of the Tribulation (Rev. 12:10).

Since Satan is the accuser of the brethren and since he "prowls about ... seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8), he needs information. And he gets it through the greatest intelligence system in the universe.

God, of course, does not need an intelligence system because He is omniscient; He knows the end from the beginning. He knew billions of years ago where every particle of sand on this earth would be resting at this moment. He knew every thought that would ever cross our minds throughout the duration of our lives. Nothing escapes God. But outside of the omniscience of God, Satan has the greatest intelligence system. He constantly gathers information, and he gathers it for no good purpose-for malice, for evil, for destruction.

So, Satan struts into heaven, and God, who obviously knows exactly where everyone is all the time, asks the adversary something like this: "Where have you been, big shot?" And Satan says he has been walking around, walking back and forth on the earth looking for someone to zero in on, for the believer who is giving him the most trouble.

Satan himself never bothers with any but the most advanced believers. He is not omnipresent; he can only be in one place at a time. He does, however, control his entire organization from his headquarters. Satan sends peon demons down to trouble 0 people, but he does not have time to deal with most of us personally.

Now the Lord asks Satan whether he has noticed Job, and of course God knows that he has. He can see that Satan has a bone stuck in his throat and that bone is named "Job." When God says that there is no one like Job on earth, He is pointing out the fact that this man is the most advanced believer alive. God knows that Satan is angry because Job is messing up his plans. O In the Hebrew, God's question is this: "Have you set your heart on My servant Job?"

Satan answers God's question with a charge against His servant. He still does this; he still insinuates that believers only believe because of what they can get out of God. "Your people' s faith is mercenary," he loves to tell God. "They don't love you; they only believe because you are the big sugar daddy in the sky."

At this point, the devil lets out one of the most amazing theological secrets in the bible: Satan himself is powerless in the face of divine protection of the believer. When he says, "Hast thou not made a hedge about him?" Satan is admitting that he cannot touch Job without permission from God. Specifically he is complaining that God has put three hedges around His servant. The first is around his person, the second around his family, and the third around his possessions.

Satan reveals something else here too. He who began his evil career by accusing God of being unjust continues throughout history to make that accusation. Only now, he seeks to get believers to do his dirty work for him. He wants God's own family to do the accusing.

As Christians, we never have to face the enemy alone. We have a defender who has promised "I wilt never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you" (Heb. 13:5). He who keeps us never sleeps (Ps. 121); He is at every moment watching over us for protection and provision.

"He will surely curse Thee to Thy face." Satan makes it clear what he wants to happen, what he wants to hear. What he desires--what would thrill him more than anything else--is to hear us say "God isn't fair" or "How could God let this happen to me?" That is all he wants--a little blasphemy. It reinforces his theory that God's people only serve Him for the gifts, never because they love the Giver. Imagine how he swaggers into heaven when he succeeds in getting us to complain and to rail against God.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him." So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:12)

God still calls the shots. He gives Satan permission to sift Job, but He sets the limits. He says to the devil, "Job's family and his possessions are in your hand. But, do not touch this man. Yet."

In a New Testament counterpart to this verse, Paul tells us that God is faithful and will not let us be tested beyond our ability to endure (1 Cor. 10:13). We are safe in His hands. We need to know that because if we want to have an effect in our world for Jesus Christ, then we will become targets in the angelic conflict.

The advancing believer who dedicates his life to the study and the application of the Word of God is a threat to the enemy. Not because Satan is afraid of any of us; there is nothing that we could ever say or do that would cause him any concern at all. But he is afraid of the most powerful thing in the universe--the Word of God wielded in the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 5:8

Unit 5, Lesson 2

2. The book of Job is a treatise on what New Testament promise?

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3. Who was Job and when did he live? Describe what kind of man he was.

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4. Describe the exchange between God and Satan laid out in Job 1:6-8.

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5. What charge does Satan bring against Job?

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6. What theological "secret" does Satan reveal in his accusation of Job?

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7. What does Satan want Job to do?

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8. Jon 1:12 is an illustration of what New testament promise?

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9. Where is Jesus Christ right now and what five activities is He involved in on behalf of every believer?

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10. Name at least five things the Bible declares that God is able to do and five things He is faithful to do.

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11. How would you explain the arena of the angelic conflict to a friend? What Scriptures would you use to back your claims?

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