Audio Links

Video Links

Job 1:13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge ofthe sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:16 While he was yet speaking, there came alsoanother, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged Godfoolishly.

Introduction

What this book of Job reveals so clearly is the depth of the Truth of this statement:

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he [ the Father] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Last week we saw that everything in the book of Job is being operated by Christ as he brings Satan over to Job, takes down the hedge He had placed around Job and gives Satan very specific instructions:

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

What a demonstration of how God truly is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”! Job is representative of all of us, and God protects us all until it is time for “the trial of our faith”. At that time He brings Satan into our lives to do what evil He deems is needed to prove and try us and to show us just how self- righteous we all are.
Here is how well King David understood this process.

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Wicked men are God’s creation, not Satan’s, and they are “Thy sword”.
So God is, according to Eph 1, “making known to us the mystery of His will” for the purpose of “gathering together all things” in Christ. “All things in heaven and in earth”. His way of doing that is through the death and destruction of our first ‘heavens’ and our first ‘earth’. Job, the spiritual type of each of us, is in the process of dying to this world, so that a “new man” can be brought forth out of the death and destruction of the old Job.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Our first ‘heavens’ and our first ‘earth’ are defiled by our flesh and by the influence which God has given to Satan over our flesh. Remember this verse from Heb 9?

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Christ has entered “into heaven itself”. He has entered into His own rightful throne room. His throne room is our hearts and minds “now to appear in the presence of God for us”. There is “war in… the heavens” for the hegemony of the hearts and minds of mankind.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

This book of Job reveals how this war is being orchestrated by God. This book reveals that it is God who has given Satan the hegemony of our hearts and minds, and it is also God who uses Satan to burn himself “with fervent heat” right out of that position. The beginning and the end of this war is all of God, and it is all by Christ. Both Michael and Satan and all the host of heaven are merely instruments in God’s hand to accomplish “His own will”.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

It is Christ who speaks for His Father (Joh 1:1), and it is Christ who is bringing Satan into this experience which God is working in Job’s life. Job is us, and Christ is working all things to develop in Job the True knowledge of God and His Son and the truth of His sovereignty in “all things”.
In doing this He is developing in us the patience we need and must have to be used by Him to “gather together in one all things in the Christ”.

Eph 1:10 For administration of the fullness of the times, recapitulating all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in himself. (ABP)
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Job developed patience through his trials and afflictions. To what end? James begins his epistle with the answer.

Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Many translations leave off the article ‘the’ in Eph 1:10, and just say “in Christ”, simply because they do not understand the depth of the Truth of these words of our Lord:

Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

So it is Jesus Himself who calls us “His Christ… Jesus of Nazareth”. It is Christ who is “both Lord and Christ”, and it is Christ who calls His disciples “His Christ”.

Act 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

This is the gospel of God from Genesis, with the gospel of the “seed of the woman”, to Revelation with the gospel of “the manchild who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron”.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

This book shows us that even when it appears that Saul of Tarsus is working against God, the actual fact is that He is the instrument of God who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, just as He used Judas to betray our Lord and Joseph’s brothers to betray Joseph “for to do what thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done”.

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

All men see themselves as the captain of their own destiny. That is how Job saw himself. He even felt that he was the captain of his sons’ destinies, and as we proceed we will see that Job considered himself, not God, but himself, to be a very righteous man.

Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

Job is who we all are. We are each by nature, in the Potter’s hand, a mere “brute beast”, who is so presumptuous as to usurp the throne of God.

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

God is in the process of dethroning the beast within His elect. Like that great self- righteous Saul of Tarsus, Job loses everything he had ever worked for, and it all happened in one day.

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Saul of Tarsus began to experience the book of Job while he was on the road to Damascus. Job, from his perspective, is just about to have his ‘road to Damascus’ experience. As is so often the case, our calamity is immediately preceded by mirth.

Job 1:13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

Let’s go back to verse four and remember this was on “his day”, the elder brother’s ‘day’. It was not “his day” because he had cast lots to decide which was “his day”, rather it was “his day” as defined for us in chapter three. Let’s look at how this phrase “his day” is used here in the book of Job:

Job 1:4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
Job 1:5 And it was so, 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 3:1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
Job 3:2 And Job spake, and said,
Job 3:3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

So the book of Job interprets itself for us telling us that the meaning of the phrase “his day” is “the day… wherein I was born”. Here is how The Living Bible renders Job 1:4-5:

Job 1:4 Every year when each of Job’s sons had a birthday, he invited his brothers and sisters to his home for a celebration. On these occasions they would eat and drink with great merriment.
Job 1:5 When these birthday parties ended, and sometimes they would last several days, Job would summon his children to him and sanctify them, getting up early in the morning and offering a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and turned away from God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice. (LB)

For those who are given the ability to accept it, God put this bit of information about Job’s sons celebrating their birthdays here in this story of Job for our own admonition against celebrating the things of this world, our own flesh and all the things that are important to us while we are in these mortal fleshly bodies. As politically incorrect as the Word of God is, it cannot be said that God has not made Himself clear on this subject:

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Ecc 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
Ecc 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Ecc 7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

In one day, the birthday of his firstborn son, Job, because God loves him as “the apple of His eye”, is going to lose everything he owns in this world.

Job 1:14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Who sent these “Sabeans”?

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now [ It is God’s own hand], and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

So these ‘Sabeans’ are really nothing more or less than the working of God “after the counsel of His own will”, via His own instrumental use of Satan.
This is not a minor loss even for a man of Job’s substance. Oxen and asses and servants to work them were the most obvious signs of the stature of a man’s wealth and influence in his community in Job’s days and throughout history until this modern day. Today such signs of wealth as “oxen and asses” are replaced by huge tractors and combines on farms full of workers, or they are replaced by a Lexus, a Mercedes Benz or a Cadillac with a chauffer, and a mansion with servants and a butler, if one lives in an urban area.
But the catastrophic events that were to happen on Job’s eldest son’s birthday were just beginning. Three more servants were yet to come to Job that day. The way it is worded, it all took place in a matter of just a very few hours.

Job 1:16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Who sent this “fire of God from heaven”? Again we have just been informed how the Lord Himself is orchestrating “all things after the counsel of His own will”.

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now [ Satan is, in reality, nothing less than ‘God’s own hand’], and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

What is so very instructive about this 16th verse is that God grants Satan the power to use “the fire of God… from heaven” to burn up and to destroy all of Job’s sheep and all of his servants who were keeping his sheep. What this tells us is that God carries out catastrophes through the use of “the death angel”.

Exo 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

“The Lord smote the firstborn in the land of Egypt”. There it is. The Lord tells us clearly that the death of the first born of Egypt is the ‘putting forth of His hand’. But that is not “the sum of His Word” (Psa 119:160) on this subject. Who does He send to do that? Who has He empowered to bring death? Who does He declare “has the power of death”.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

So the Lord did it, but once again He did it via the agency of Satan.<<br />
The number of servants and the number of sheep owned by a man in those days were just more symbols of his standing in the community.

Gen 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Spiritually Job, the Old Testament type of Adam with “the pride of life” of Adam that is within each of us”, is but another spiritual symbol of the church of Laodicea within all who have been granted ears to hear what the spirit is saying to the churches”. Here is Job’s and our spiritual condition as it is being revealed to us here in this story of Job.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Rev 3:17-19 is simply the whole book of Job summed up in three verses. This is us and our standing with God while we are faithful keepers of the law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles. This is us while we are yet in the churches of Babylon. But if we are God’s “very elect”, we are not destined to stay in this self- deception forever. Our “gold” is just about to be “tried in the fire… the fire of God”, as we are being “rebuked and chastened” by a “jealous God” who has no intention of playing second fiddle to “oxen, asses… and sheep”, or any other outward sign of wealth and power in this life.

Job 1:17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

Once again we must ask the question, Where did these ‘Chaldeans’ originate? And again we must answer:

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

The appearance of the number three tells us that these actions are part of the process of judgment taking place in Job’s life.
We simply cannot escape this great Truth:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Camels were yet another even greater sign of Job’s position in this world. Camels were beasts of burden designed especially for trade with others in distant lands. They amounted to cargo ships and planes in today’s society. It was by camel that all the riches of distant lands came to Job, as the Old Testament type of who we are.
But the worst is yet to come for Job on his eldest son’s birthday.

Job 1:18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

What more can be required of Job? He has had all that he owns, including all of His ten children, taken from him in one day. The knowledge of the loss of all he owns comes to him through four servants. The four servants who bring to Job the news of his loss, are ‘four’ by design. Four in scripture signifies ‘the whole’ of what is under consideration. In this case these four surviving servants let us know that these four catastrophes, encompass the loss of the whole of Job’s possessions and his whole physical life. For a more in depth understanding of the spiritual significance of the number four, read this study: http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ whole. php
The loss of his ten children indicates the loss of all that pertains to the flesh. The fact that Job receives back double is not to be understood as merely replacing Job’s physical possessions. Job’s restitution is the spiritual type and shadow of something far more precious than physical blessings. Job’s restitution is the spiritual type and shadow of our resurrection with Christ into “newness of life”, and being ‘sealed with the holy spirit of promise’ which, in the end, will lead to “the redemption of the purchased possession”, the resurrection of a new spiritual body (1Co 15: 44-50). For a more in depth understanding of the spiritual significance of the meaning of the number ten read:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ completeflesh. php
But the loss of the whole of our flesh is just a means to an end. God is not working to win our flesh. He wants our love and compassion for all that He is, and He will not be denied. At this point in our study of Job and of ourselves, Job does not have that love and compassion for God or His ways.

Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job has not yet “sinned… nor charged God foolishly”, but Job certainly is confused, as we all are under these conditions, and as we will soon see, we and Job will soon do just that, and will “charge God foolishly” of ‘taking away his and our judgment.

Job 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will understand how God brings us, and Job to “accuse God foolishly” and how He brings us to “contend with the almighty”. We will also be given even more insight into how God works all things after the counsel of His own will and how He interacts with His creation, both His physical creation, and His spiritual creation.

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 2:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Job 2:3 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? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.