Bible Study Chat #19

So we left Job grieving, but still not sinning, proving that we humans can and sometimes at least, will worship God even if it doesn't seem like we're getting anything for doing so. Let's see what happens next: Job 2:1 —On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. * Another day and Satan is up to his old tricks still. Next we read that the Lord boasts a little about Job and how he didn't sin and still worshiped Him even with all the tragedy that Satan brought on him. Note how this is worded though: Job 2:3 —Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” *

This verse is the key to understanding the whole book. Notice that God says here that even though Job had been put through a horrible tragedy, that none of it was his fault. He'd done nothing to "deserve" it. He had not sinned before the tragedy and he did not sin after it either. He was "blameless". Sin was not the cause of anything that had happened to him. Again though, although Job is blameless, and did not sin because of what happened, that doesn't mean that Job never sinned. He did, because he was human just like us. What the Lord is saying is that none of Job's sins were the cause of what happened.

I'm sure that Job probably searched his heart and soul to determine if there was some hidden sin that he was unaware of, just like we all do when some trial comes on us. The difference is that when Job searched his heart, he recognized that thee were no "hidden sins" and knew that God had forgiven all his previous sins because he confessed them regularly. (remember how Job even did that for his children regularly just in case they sinned? If he did that for his children, he certainly did it for himself!) So while Job recognized that he was a sinner, he also recognized that God had forgiven him and that he had maintained his integrity; he realized that this tragedy was not caused by any sin in his life.

Because Job realized that, he therefore did not dwell on it. He didn't doubt himself or God. He knew that the Lord would have revealed any sin to him before causing such a tragedy and given him a chance to repent of it before causing this anyway. So he accepted the fact that this wasn't caused by sin in his life.

He also accepted another thing the above verse shows. That God was in control. That God allowed all of it to happen. As far as most of us are concerned, there's not much difference between allowing something and causing something- it still comes from God's hand. That's really hard for us to deal with, and we'll see that Job is eventually going to have a hard time with it too. For now though, it's enough for us to realize that God is indeed in control, even of the "bad" things. Nothing happens that is outside of His Will.

In the very next verse though, Satan throws God's Word's back at him, and says the only reason Job was still worshiping Him was because God didn't allow Satan to go far enough. Satan tells him that if he were allowed to attack Job personally, Jobs body, then Job would stop worshiping Him. Job 2:4–5 —“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. *But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” * So again God gives Satan permission - with a limit. Satan can strike his body but he cannot take his life. Notice how each time God has given Satan permission to do something, He has also placed limits on what Satan can do. This is very good news for us!

It lets us know that even if we're under a satanic attack, that there are limits to it that Satan and his demons cannot cross. We also know that God never allows us to be tempted beyond anything we're unable to withstand, and that He always leaves a way out of it for us. 1 Corinthians 10:13 —No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. *One of our biggest problems is often that we don't like the "way out" that God leaves us and refuse to use it. The point I'm trying to make here though is twofold: First that God places limits on Satan and his demons. They cannot do whatever they want to, whenever they want to. They are under the Lord's complete control all the time. On top of that, we should also always remember that Satan was completely and totally defeated by our Lord on the cross. (Hebrews 2:14; Colossians 2:15; etc) His biggest weapon against us is deceit. If he can get us to believe that he can hurt us, then he's won; but if we hold on to God's Truth, remembering that he was already defeated once and for all time, then all he can do is annoy us until he finally realizes that we aren't going to fall for his lies anymore.

Satan isn't dumb, and he knows us very well. He is not God though, and does not have the power that God has, although we often act like he's as powerful as God. Satan, as well as God, knows how basically selfish and self centered we are. He knows too therefore that the biggest trial for us is when our bodies are affected in some way that causes pain, disability, and/or disfiguration (to damage the appearance of something). Satan often uses pain and disease to try and draw us away from God, just as he's now suggesting he do to Job.

Those of us who live with chronic pain know how much we can be tempted to sin because of it. We're tempted to blame God, to think He mean or cruel; we're tempted to be angry at Him and to say that we, like Job, don't deserve any of this; we're tempted to even challenge God and say that if He really exists that He should prove it by stopping our pain or healing us; we're tempted to become bitter about the physical cause of our pain - blame it on other people, such as doctors, or someone that may have caused or aided in an accident, or our parents even if it's genetic; anything and anyone just so long as it's not ourselves. We're tempted to deny God, tell Him we don't believe in Him anymore; we're tempted to challenge Him to prove Himself, and test Him. We're tempted then to go in the opposite direction too and start blaming ourselves, believing that it must be because of sin in our lives; we're tempted to beat ourselves up mentally, emotionally and spiritually because of the supposed sin; then when we've confessed everything under the sun and are still in pain, we go back the other way and start getting angry at God again, saying He's not fair. We're tempted to believe that we're not healed because we don't have enough faith too and put ourselves through all kinds of needless torment trying to "increase our faith". All this of course causes us to feel ashamed and guilty, and we're often not even sure of what! We're tempted to take and do things we shouldn't in order to relieve the pain; and on an on it goes....

Satan knew what he was doing when he said that being allowed to attack Job's body would be the ultimate test of his faith! Honestly, and sadly, many people when they experience chronic pain and or illness, do turn away from the Lord and many, if not most, never return.

(Since I know that many of you taking part in this also live with pain, I'd like to point out here what an honor and opportunity we've been given by being afflicted with pain! Although God doesn't have "favorites", this most certainly isn't something He allows just any Saint to go through. (I know, most of us think most of the time, that we wish He wouldn't allow us to go through it either!) But think about it a moment. We know God has many rewards for us for many things which we'll all receive at the Bema Judgement, and that He also rewards us here at times. We can also know that the harder something is to do or to bear, the bigger the reward will be, and that He never gives anyone anything that they can't handle with His help. Basically what I'm saying is that the pain we live with is an opportunity given us by the Lord to be like David, Moses, Peter, Paul, etc. By choosing to allow God to use this pain to grow us in our faith instead of turning away from Him, we've even already passed the first test with flying colors! From that point on, every step forward we took and continue to take, will only add to our reward. God doesn't give many of His Saints this opportunity friends, so let's choose to cooperate with God as best we can and let Him be glorified by our pain!)

But there are those, who like Job, choose to keep on clinging to God and keeping on, one step at a time. They are the ones who choose to believe anyway, even when everyone says they shouldn't; even when all their circumstances seem to indicate that they shouldn't - they just keep on hanging on to Him. That's what those of us who live with pain have done. Just like Job is.

It's really the same way for other tragedies as well, such as losing a spouse or child. Just like Job, we may not have understood it, we still may not completely understand it, but we "know" God loves us and we love Him, no matter how much pain we're in. We'll see that even Job will have his moments when doubts creep in; when he feels like he just can't take another moment of it; when he doesn't know what to do or what to think; when he feels like his life isn't worthwhile and it would be better if he were dead. We'll see that Job will deal with all these things and more, just like many of us have, and Job comes through the other side, just as one day, we will too. Because the Lord allowed Job to go through all this, we can learn how to deal with it ourselves.

To summarize and conclude, the key to understanding the book of Job is to realize that none of the tragedies that have or will happen to Job were caused by any sin in Job's life. It wasn't Job's "fault". He did nothing wrong. Secondly, we also need to realize that God is always in control -of both the good and the bad. That nothing ever happens that is outside of His Will. Last, God places limits on Satan. He doesn't have a "free hand", he cannot do whatever he wants to. He can only do what God allows. That's also true of any temptations, there are always limits to them, and always a way out of them. This is true of our trials as well. They may feel "endless" when we're going through them, but there will always be an end and the Lord will always be right there with us.

 

Originally Posted by catt: Colossians 2:15
Living Bible (TLB)
15 In this way God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin, and God openly displayed to the whole world Christ’s triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away.
I have heard there is a translation that reads
"Christ has made a laughing stock of Satan"
I couldn't find it, but I think the one above it is pretty good too.
It reminds me of the one in 1 Peter 4:8-10 where He says,
"Control yourselves. Be on your guard. Your enemy the devil is like a roaring lion.
He prowls around looking for someone to chew up and swallow. Stand up to him.
Stand firm in what you believe. All over the world you know that your brothers and sisters are going through the same kind of suffering.
God always gives you the grace you need. So you will only have to suffer for a little while.
Then God himself will build you up again. He will make you strong and steady."
I remember "finding" this one when I was a new Christian. It meant a lot to me.
What a wonderful promise from God.

 

"Christ has made a laughing stock of Satan"
It's the same one you posted I think hon. Here's the NIV translation. Col 2:15 —And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. * This is the NET translation: Col 2:15 —Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. *The words in the original language that these are translated from though indicate something done publicly, is well known and, well let me actually quote what it says: "the deportment by which one becomes conspicuous or secures publicity". Now, add that together with the meaning of the word translated "triumphing" which I'll quote part of here: From the root word meaning a hymn sung in festal processions in honour of the god Bacchus. Bacchus was the God of wine and alcoholic beverages, and was always associated with people having parties and getting drunk. Add the meaning of the word for "disarmed" which is "to strip off", "unclothe" or "disarm". "An undressing or striping off". It can also have the idea of falling into disrepute. In Col 2:15 it: appears to be a case of figurative usage, but it may refer to the stripping away of weapons and hence the removal of authority and power. Anyway, putting it all together, the mood behind what's being said could easily give the idea of making a laughing stock out of Satan.

I did do a search for the word laugh & one for "laughingstock" which would include any word with that in it, and no verses about Satan showed up in any of the 20 plus versions I have. That doesn't mean it's not in one of the versions I don't have though I really dislike the "message" version, but in this case it's kind of funny and you can see the idea of being a laughingstock: Col 2:15 —He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. *

1 Peter 4:8-10 is a wonderful promise to us all!