UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE PART 5; THE TRUE NATURE OF GOD IN JOB'S EXPERIENCE

The story of Job is one that is often use to misconstrue the nature of God. People always use this story to show that God can use evil to teach lessons and that God may not be involved in evil but can allow it . Another erroneous belief from the book of Job is that God brings evil to people’s way to ascertain if they truly love Him. Let’s investigate this book and see the truth about the goodness of God in the book of Job.

God is good all the time . God is so good that no evil can be found or attributed to Him . So far in this series, we have seen that the true picture of God can only be seen in Christ. Any knowledge of God outside Christ is fake . We have also seen that in the Old testament book of the Bible the knowledge of God is not clear. Many things done by men and the devil were attributed to God. The coming of Jesus gave us a clear picture of who God truly is.

1 John 5

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Jesus is the true God. He is the exact picture of God. So whatever cannot be found in Christ cannot be found in God.

We have also seen in this series that the entire Bible speaks of Christ and that Genesis to Malachi is interpreted and revealed in the epistles. Therefore whatever we read in Genesis to Malachi about God must be subjected to the God we see in Christ as revealed in the experience of Jesus and the explanation in the epistles.

Kindly ensure you READ the previous parts of this series before you continue. Click below to read UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE:

Now let’s talk about the man Job as recorded in the book of Job. Kindly read through the book of Job before or in the course of studying the post for thorough understanding of our discussion.

As we look at the account of Job, remember Jesus the exact picture of God never in any way tempt any one with evil. He didn’t allow evil to happen to anyone to prove whether the person truly loves and believes in Him. Let’s see what the epistles say about temptation and God .

James 1

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man

God cannot be tempted of evil neither tempt he any man . This is an emphatic statement about the true God. God cannot tempt any man with evil. This means that obviously the experience of Job cannot be God tempting him with evil. We know what God cannot do and we know what God can do. He cannot tempt any man with evil. This we see when God walked the earth as Jesus. He never use evil to tempt any man . God is that good that anything evil cannot be from Him.

Let’s investigate the experience of Job with the truth that God doesn’t tempt with evil. A careful read of the book is required to fully understand the book. Kindly read especially the first four chapters and the last four chapters of the book of Job.

Job 1

1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. note

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.

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.

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. note

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

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.

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

14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, note

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.

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

Job was a wealthy man in the land of Uz. He had seven sons and three daughters and a lot of animals. He was a good man perfect and upright. He was a straight forward man who has reverence for God. Never think that Job was sinless because the word perfect is used. It just means that Job was a good man complete in his dealings with people. Notice verse 5 Job do offer sacrifices for his sins and that of his children. This obviously showed that he was not sinless . Also note that Job was a SIN CONSCIOUS person. This makes him to offer sacrifices to God for sin continuously. Let’s read carefully again verse 5 to 12.

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.

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

Notice verse 6, the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and satan came also among them . The questions that you should ask for proper understanding of this verse and the book of Job are?

Who are the sons of God?

Who is the Lord in this verse ?

What does it mean to present in the verse ?

The sons of God or son of God when used in the scriptures can either refer to humans or angels . The context will reveal the usage . In Genesis 6:2, the sons of God took the fair daughters of men as wives . We know that angels do not marry as Jesus told us. So obviously the sons of God in Genesis 2 will be referring to men . In the book of Job the sons of God here refers to angels . So angels came to present themselves before the Lord.

The question then is WHO is the Lord?

The word Lord is from the Hebrew word Jehovah. That word means the self existing one. Many times in the old testament part of the Bible, angels were called God because they ministered for God to men. In Genesis 32:24-30, Jacob wrestled with an angel who appeared as a man and called him the God. In Exodus 3, Moses saw angel in the burning Bush and called him the Lord . Abraham hosted three angels as men and called them the Lord. Note that whenever angels appear physically to men, they appear as men except the appearance is in a vision. The book of Job is not the only place angels were called Lord/God.

So what happened in Job 1 was that some angels came to present themselves before other angels . To present means to set or to station oneself. Some angels were stationed before other angels and Satan was found among them . We see that Job was offering sacrifices and making prayers here they abound to be the activities of angels . We know that before Jesus came, no man has seen God at anytime according to the testimony of John and Jesus (John 1:18, 5:37).

Remember we have the interpretation already in the Epistles. We are certain that God cannot be tempted of evil neither tempt He any man.

The devil was present because Job was given to fears and he was a sin conscious man(see Job 1:5, 3:24-36). These can give place to the devil. Job had so many wrong beliefs and confessions. We know that death and life is in the power of the tongue . This made us know that job was in the hand of the devil already. So the angel told satan, he is in your hand with all he has. The angel(the Lord) didn’t say I give him to your hand. He simply told Satan , he is in your power already. Job in the power of Satan was due to his fears, superstitious beliefs/confessions about God.

Job 1

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.

It was actually out of the mercy of God that Job did not die in the hand of the devil. This is where we see the goodness of God. WHAT DID THE EPISTLES SAY about the experience of Job?

James 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

Note that it was referenced as the mercy of God. The Lord pitied Job hence restraining the devil from tempering with his life. It was not God that was responsible for the trials neither was it God allowing it. It was Job playing into the hand of the devil.

The incidents that followed as started by the devil should have been adverted . Fire broke out and destroyed his animals. A great wind fell the house that killed his children. All these are natural things . Even Jesus while He walked the earth experienced the tempest. He showed us that we can exercise authority over nature . Jesus rebuked the wind which job /his sons would have done.

Note the statement of Job after these sad experiences,

Job

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, note

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.

This means that Job had the superstitious belief that God was responsible for his ordeals. Job believe the Lord takes(destroys). The same thing many persons believe today and play into the hand of the devil. If YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT GOD CANNOT DO, You will worship the devil as God in ignorance. Anything evil can never be associated with God. Christ has clearly showed us who God is.

Job’s friends(Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite) who are called miserable comforters(Job 16:2) also believe that God was responsible for the problems of Job. In fact they were condemning Job instead of comforting him. Only Elihu the youngest of them was wise . See what Elihu said to Job and His other friends.

Job 34

10 Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity

God cannot be associated with anything wickedness. Far be it from God that He should do wickedness.

Towards the last chapters of the book, Job put a disclaimer to what he said and knew about God. Job told us he didn’t know God. He only heard about God by rumor (by the hearing of the ear ).

Job 42

5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Job repents of his notions about God when he finally had encounter with God. You cannot afford to believe the things Job initially said about God when in the same book Job gave a disclaimer about his knowledge of God. The integrity of the scriptures lies in the fact that Job actually made those statements. This does not mean they are true statements. Example of such is “ the Lord giveth , the Lord taketh”. If you believe God takes lives , the devil can play on your ignorance and torment you as God even as he did to Job.

Something to NOTE is that JOB never PRAYED in all these experiences. The first time Job prayed was when his situation turned around. We are told to PRAY in the time of affliction not to be blaming people or to be thinking it is God dealing with us.

James 5

13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms

You pray when you have issues. That is the scriptural way of dealing with afflictions knowing fully well that God does not have hand in the affliction. Where we see God is deliverance from the afflictions.

In summary, we have seen so far the goodness of God in that He had mercy on Job and didn’t allow Job’s fears and confessions to destroy him. Any God that can not be seen in Christ cannot be God. We saw God walked the earth in Jesus. He never tempted any man with evil. He went about doing good, healing all that was sick. He never oppressed anyone with sickness. God is all together good. His power is His goodness.

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BY EMEKE MODESTY OBIAZIKWOR

www.emekemodesty.com

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UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE PART 5; THE TRUE NATURE OF GOD IN JOB'S EXPERIENCE

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