We are looking at the question of human suffering which with a large majority of people shapes their perception of God and how He relates to humanity.
James 5:10-11 NKJV My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. (11) Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
- These verses tell us to be inspired by Job’s patience, perseverance, and endurance, and the mercy and grace of the Lord that brought great deliverance.
Things we need to know about God:
- God is in a class all to Himself. (No one compares to Him.)
- God is Omniscient. (All knowing)
- God is Omnipotent. (All powerful)
- God is Omnipresent. (Everywhere)
- God is Sovereign.
Sovereign – having supreme rank, power, and authority.
Things we need to know about Satan:
- He is a fallen angel.
- He is not in the same class as God or human beings.
- He is not omniscient. (All knowing)
- He is not omnipotent. (All powerful)
- He is not omnipresent. (Everywhere)
What Was Happening in the Throne Room?
Job 1:6-7 AMPC Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them. [Rev 12:10] (7) And the Lord said to Satan, From where did you come? Then Satan answered the Lord, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.
- God DOES NOT ask questions because He does not know the answer.
His questions are always rhetorical.
1 Peter 5:8 NKJV Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Job 1:8 AMPC And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?
- God does not throw people under the bus as it seems that He did with Job if you casually read this on the surface.
In the margin of the NKJV there is a reference for verse 8 that reads: “Have you (already) set your heart on Job…” This is the accurate translation.
Job 1:9-10 AMPC Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear God for nothing? (10) Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
- Satan DOES ask questions because he does not know the answer.
The only way that Satan can figure that Job is so prosperous is because God has a covenant hedge of protection around him. But remember, Job is not part of God’s covenant family through Abraham.
This gives us a clue as to what Satan does in his wandering in the earth – he is probing to see who has a hedge of protection and who does not AND can he get in.
- Job did not have a covenant with God and therefore did not have a covenant hedge of protection.
Supernatural protection is only afforded to those that are in covenant relationship with God.
Job 1:11-12 AMPC But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face. (12) And the Lord said to Satan (the adversary and the accuser), Behold, all that he has is in your power, only upon the man himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
Even despite not having covenant protection, God still placed a limitation on the devil – in that he could not destroy Job personally.
- Satan was seeking an access point into Job’s life to bring destruction and move Job to curse God. (1 Peter 5:8 – MAY devour)
But there was still something that allowed the enemy to have access to Job and that was the Fear Factor.
The Adversary and Accuser
Job 1:6 AMPC Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them. [Rev 12:10]
- During the dispensations of the Old Testament and the Church age, Satan has limited access to God’s throne.
Luke 22:31-32 NKJV And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. (32) But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Revelation 12:9-10 NKJV So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (10) Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
In Heaven there is praise and worship going on but in God’s presence in His throne room, it is more like a courtroom situation.
Satan comes into the presence of God with a handful of notes. He is constantly collecting information on us.
Let’s notice something about this courtroom situation. The Judge is your father, and the defense attorney is your elder Brother, Jesus.
Satan, the prosecuting attorney is no relation to any of us and in fact is an outsider.
1 John 2:1 NKJV My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus Christ is our advocate. He fights for us.
Advocate (Dictionary) – One who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person; a person who pleads for or on behalf of another person; counsel for the defense.
When we sin, Satan tries to bring it before God and accuse us, but we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. He is our defense attorney and pleads our case before God.
If you have confessed your sins before the Father (1 John 1:9) when Satan comes into the courtroom to accuse you, the Father immediately informs him that the sin has already been paid for, cleansed from your record and the case is thrown out. All of the work that he did to gather that information is for nothing!
Legal Principle of Double Jeopardy – Someone cannot be tried and judged again on the same or similar charges.
Colossians 2:12-15 TPT For we’ve been buried with him into his death. Our “baptism into death” also means we were raised with him when we believed in God’s resurrection power, the power that raised him from death’s realm. (13) This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins! (14) He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. (15) Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his!
- You can never be tried and judged again for your sins because Jesus our Defense Attorney paid the price of our punishment for us.
The Adversary and the Accuser no longer has a case against you!!!