Job 1:6-12 - Satan Roams the Earth

0:00What happens when faith and mental health meet for real? What's up? I'm Grace Graber. Welcome to Breaking Through with Grace Graber, a podcast for honest conversations about anxiety, trauma, healing, hope, and the God who never backs away when life gets heavy. We are going to talk about everything mental health. No pretending, no perfect answers, just real stories, real faith, and a reminder that you're not alone. Get ready. You're going to be absolutely obsessed. Breaking through with Grace Graber, available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Life audio. You're listening to The Bible Explained with Jen Cokal, a P-40 Ministries podcast. Howdy there friends and faithful listeners and hi. My name is Jen. I am the host of this podcast and I've got my coffee, nice and ready here to discuss Job Chapter 1. And today we're going to be talking about a few things.

1:01Firstly, who are these sons of God that are mentioned in God's throne room? Why is Satan there? And also, why does God seem to be betting against Satan? We're going to get into this passage. So make sure to grab your Bible and turn to Job Chapter 1 and also grab a delicious hot beverage if you don't have one yet. And while we're doing that, I'm going to move to an ad break and I'll be back right after that. It is God who directs our paths. I'm Christi Graham, host of the show on the ground with Samaritan's Purse. And I recently talked with Franklin Graham, my father-in-law and president of Samaritan's Purse, about how he stays grounded. Proverbs 35 and 6. Trust in the Lord of all your heart. And they not on your own understanding, but all your ways acknowledge him and he'll direct your paths. To hear this encouraging conversation, listen to this episode of On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse, wherever you get your podcasts. Again, that's On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse. If you're wondering what to give your son or daughter

2:03as they prepare for marriage, give them something that lasts longer than anything on a wedding registry. Prepare to last is a biblically-based online marriage preparation experience, featuring a proven relationship assessment, trusted teaching, and practical tools for a strong start. And when the course ends, the support continues through our online community and experienced marriage mentors. Give them more than a wedding gift. Give them Prepare to Last. Visit PrepareToLast.com. That's PrepareToLast.com. Okay, let's read Job 1 6 through 12. As usual, I'll be reading from the world English Bible or the W E B this morning. So if you don't have your Bible yet, feel free to grab the version that you prefer. You can pause the podcast real quick to go grab that. But if you can't read your Bible right now with me, I always recommend when you have a chance going back and trying to read it for yourself to really see what scripture has to say about this passage. But for now, let's go ahead and read Job 1 6 through 12 together

3:06and let's give reverence to God's Word. Now on the day when God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them. Yahweh said to Satan, where have you come from? Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, from going back and forth in the earth and from walking up and down in it. Yahweh said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you made a head around him and around his house and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now and touch all that he has and he will renounce you to your face. Yahweh said to Satan, behold all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh. So on Monday we opened up Job by talking about who Job was,

4:09how he lived in this land called Oos, which was very likely the land of Edom, how he could have possibly been actually an Edomite king just based upon some of the things that Job himself says and also because of First Chronicles chapter one that mentions an Edomite king named Jobab, who could have been the same person as Job right here. And we also talked about how Job was a very righteous man. He was so righteous that he was even concerned about the well-being of his children. So every time his children had a party and a birthday, Job would call each of them to the house and offer a sacrifice for them and essentially pray for them on their behalf to God because Job would say, it may be that my sons have sinned and renounce God in their hearts. And so Job did this all the time. He was a very righteous man. So now we move past who Job was in the story and we move into what happened to him or rather why God allowed this terrible set of circumstances

5:12to actually happen to Job. So let's start in our passage for today, verse number six. It says, now on the day when God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them. Yahweh said to Satan, where have you come from? So this brings a few questions to the forefront. Firstly, who are the sons of God? Well, we actually talked about that yesterday, interestingly enough in First Peter chapter three, because Peter himself mentioned these spirits that were imprisoned all the way back from the days of Noah and how those spirits in prison could have been the sons of God that are mentioned in, I think it's Genesis chapter five or six. So it's pretty cool how scripture always ties together and how we kind of talked about the subject yesterday. But sons of God, generally speaking, are probably the angels and Satan, also known as Lucifer. At one point in time, also would have been considered a son of God because he was one of the angels.

6:13Now this doesn't mean that any of the angels or Satan for that matter is on the same level as Jesus. Because first and foremost, Hebrews talks about how all of the angels are below Jesus. That's like the first four chapters of Hebrews is making it very clear that Jesus is above the angels and he is supreme above them all. In fact, that is also something we talked about in First Peter yesterday about how Jesus stands above all of the angels and they are under his authority essentially. So the angels and Jesus are not on the same level and neither is Satan in Jesus. There are some religions that believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. But that can't possibly be true because that would mean that Satan is the same as Jesus and Jesus is God, which means that if Satan was the brother of Jesus, he would be God and he is not God. We do not worship him as God. He will never be God. It says specifically in scripture that Satan desired

7:14to be like God, but he never was. That's what made him fall actually was his incredible pride because he was the most beautiful of all of the angels. His pride caused him to sin and so he fell. He was once named Lucifer and now he is Satan, which also means adversary. Now some people do question if there is one particular devil above all of the other demons. Some people say that the term Satan just refers to all the demons in general and there's not one specific like headhuncho, there is no Lucifer. But the reason I think Lucifer does exist is because of Isaiah 14, 12 through 17, which says in the NIV version, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning, How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of congregation

8:16on the farthest sides of the north and I will ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will be like the most high. Yet you shall be brought down to shawl to the lowest depths of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed at cities who did not open the house of his prisoners. And some people say that that passage is not talking about the devil, but it's talking about one of the kings that God was going to essentially banish for hurting Israel. And I could see the argument for that, except for the fact that that king was not ever residing in heaven. And God is making it pretty clear that whoever this Lucifer character was, was actually residing in heaven. And Jesus confirms this in Luke 10, 18 from the W.E.B. version, where he says to his disciples, I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven. So I do think,

9:17based upon scripture that there is a fallen angel, who was once named Lucifer, who became kind of the headhandsho of all of the demons. And perhaps together they are known as Satan. But I do think there's one individual, ahead of all of those fallen angels that hates God, that wants everything that God has, and that is causing such destruction on the earth as it currently stands, but he will not succeed forever. So that's my argument for whether or not Satan exists. But going back to is Satan the same as Jesus? No, absolutely not. He is not a God. It is made very clear in Isaiah 14, that he never was a God, because he wanted to become like God, which shows that he was never God. But scripture says on many, many occasions, that Jesus is God. So Jesus and Satan cannot be related to each other.

10:18That is impossible, because that would make Satan the same as Jesus, and Satan is certainly not God. So he is just one of the fallen angels. He is the adversary. So the adversary came among the sons of God. So that brings us to the question, why would God allow Satan into heaven? Was Satan some sort of spy that went out into the all the earth and told God all the evil things that people were doing and accused these people to God's face? I don't think that obviously God knows everything. He doesn't need Satan to tell him whether or not somebody is not ear nice. It actually says in scripture that God, his eyes roam the earth to search for the righteous person. So I do not think that Satan was coming forward right here as part of the council of God. It sounds more like God was bringing his council

11:18of angels together and that this was an open meeting. Kind of like how you and I could go to a town meeting in our towns if we wanted to. Not that anybody wants to do that because they're boring and terrible, but you could go, doesn't mean that you have any power in those meetings, but you can certainly attend. That's kind of what it seems like is happening here. Here's what it says in verse six. Now on the day when God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them and Yahweh said to Satan, where have you come from? And Satan answers God in verse seven from going back and forth in the earth and from walking up and down in it. That's fascinating because that is specifically what scripture warns us against about Satan that he walks around. If you go to 1 Peter 5, 8, here's what it says, be sober and self-controlled and be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he made a vow.

12:23So Satan goes around the earth, walks around and searches for somebody that he can devour. That is his soul goal in life is to devour the people that God loves. So Satan came to this open council meeting in God's throne room, specifically to try to devour somebody. And you don't think God knew exactly who Satan had in mind. He absolutely knew because here is what God says immediately to Satan. Have you considered my servant Job for there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? So God cuts right to the chase. He says, oh, Satan, you've seen Job, right? And I am sure that is the one reason why Satan was in that council meeting to begin with was because he was gonna come and try to devour Job.

13:25Now many of you listening now might be thinking why would God even allow this? Like why would God not just kick Satan out immediately? Why would he allow Satan to come into his throne room? Well, the first reason I could guess is that this might be before Satan fell like lightning. And even though Satan had sinned and was prideful and was not part of God's council before, he still may have been allowed in God's throne room because his time to fall had not yet come. That's the first guess. And that's all it is. I'm not saying it's biblical fact, it's just a guess. But I think there's a much more obvious reason as to why Satan was allowed in God's throne room right here. Here's what Satan says after God mentions Job to Satan. He gets right to the chase in verse nine. Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you made a hedge around him and around his house and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands

14:27and his substance is increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now and touch all that he has and he will renounce you to your face. Satan was accusing two people right here. He was accusing Job and he was accusing God. He was accusing Job of not having a genuine faith in God that the only reason Job actually worshiped God at all was because God blessed him. And he was accusing God of being like all the other idols in the land. That the only reason he blesses people is because they are faithful and that people would never ever want to worship God if he didn't bless them abundantly. Essentially what Satan is accusing God of right here is the prosperity gospel, which proves without a shadow of a doubt that the prosperity gospel is a doctrine of demons. God is worthy of being worshiped

15:28because he gives us nice stuff. And if we just worship him, he will give us things. If we just have more faith, he will bless us with more health. If we just give a little bit more of our time, our money, if we just plant a seed, then God will give us even more stuff. Anything that we want, we just rub the little lamp and poof out comes the genie and we ask the genie for what we want and he will give us everything that we desire. As long as we have faith and worship him in the right way, that is the prosperity gospel. And it's the same as every other idolatrous religion on the planet. Worship this thing and it will guarantee you success. Sacrifice your child to malloc and you will get more children and a better harvest and a better marriage. It's the tale as old as time. Idolatry equals some level of success for yourself.

16:30But God is not like the other idols and this is something you're gonna consistently see throughout the entire Old Testament that God always shows himself different from the idols in this world. He shows he is supreme and he is better than all of these other gods. He shows himself to be the one and true and only God. So Satan presents this doctrine of demons to God and he says, hey, Job is only worshiping you because you give him good stuff. And God says, okay, Satan, if that's what you think, then take away everything Job has but don't lay a hand on the man himself. And I think this is one of the most important reasons why this book is included in the Bible because a lot of people wonder why the heck do we have the book of Job in the Old Testament? It just almost paints God in a negative light that he would allow so much suffering

17:31on one of his beloved servants. It's because the prosperity gospel has always existed. It is from Satan himself and God has nothing to do with the prosperity gospel and neither does Christianity. By the way, true Christianity. Again, we've been going through first Peter and the first three chapters of first Peter are some of the most disliked chapters in the entire Bible because Peter talks about humbling yourself while showing love to other people and possibly even putting yourself into uncomfortable and difficult and sometimes even unbearable situations to potentially lead somebody else to Christ, like your husband or your wife or even your slave master. This is the kind of stuff that scripture mentions that life is not about the here and now.

18:32It's not about this earth. We are not guaranteed prosperity in this life. We are not guaranteed health or wellness. Even if we become a Christian, we are not guaranteed these things. In fact, Jesus tells us the opposite. He said, when you follow me, you will be persecuted. That is the kind of stuff that Jesus tells us. So worshiping Yahweh has nothing to do with gaining success here on this earth. Now, sometimes God is very merciful and he gives us success because it says in scripture that God loves to give gifts to his children and then every good and perfect gift is from God himself. So everything that we have in our lives that is good is from God the Father. It's a gift from him. But we are not guaranteed those gifts at any point in time in scripture because it's not about this life. There is a life to come that is so much better and that is where we are guaranteed prosperity. That is where Jesus tells us to lay up our treasures.

19:34He says, do not lay your treasures up on this earth because they're gonna be corrupted. They're gonna get rusty. They're going to get eaten by moths. They're gonna be stolen by greedy individuals. Instead, lay up your treasures in heaven where you will have them for an eternity. That's where the true prosperity comes in. So it's important to look forward to what's to come instead of here on earth because if we focus only on the things we can get here, we're gonna be miserable individuals. Have you ever noticed that people who are very self-centered, who are very narcissistic, who really only focus on the things that they want and what other people can give them? They are truly some of the most miserable people on the planet. They are never happy. It's never enough for them. Even if they get all of the good things in life, it's never enough. So as Christians, we shouldn't be focusing on the earth.

20:35Now sometimes that's hard to do because we have families and we go through hurts and we go through problems. And scripture helps us through those times because everybody experiences them. Everybody experiences trouble. It says in scripture that God sends his reign on the just and the unjust alike. So there are certain things that just aren't going to be fun that we all have to deal with. But you might be like, Jen, it seems just a lot easier to not live as a Christian and kind of focus on myself a little bit more. And to that I say, yeah, it might seem that way right now. It might seem a little bit easier in the short term, but it is not going to be easy or nice in the long term. So we have to stop expecting God to bless us with all of the things that we want. He is not a genie here to satisfy our every whim. He is the creator of the universe. And because of that fact alone,

21:35he is deserving of praise. He is the only real and true God. Now to conclude all this, I found a really fascinating quote by Barry G. Webb in his commentary entitled Job. So here's what he says about Job chapter one quote, the way Satan is challenged by Yahweh and the tone and content of what he says all show that his intentions are evil. He is apparently one of the sons of God but has no legitimate role in the divine council. Like the serpent in Eden, he is an intruder with ill intent. It is Job, not he who is Yahweh's true servant and Satan's purpose is to destroy him by turning Yahweh against him for no good reason. Yahweh rightly sees this as an attack on himself as well as Job and a challenge that cannot go unanswered since it strikes at the very foundation of all true religion. If Yahweh is no better than a tyrant who bestows favor on his followers to feed his own vanity

22:36and shore up his shaky hold on power, then he is not worthy of being worshipped. If Job, the best of his servants, serves him only for the benefits he receives, then there is no such thing as genuine piety. In the conflict between God and Satan, good and evil, truth and lies that follows, Job becomes the ground on which the battle rages and on which Satan is finally vanquished. So that's another thing I think some people forget when reading through the book of Job is that God was actually using Job for one of the most important things that could ever happen. By using him to vanquish the doctrine of demons because we have the book of Job, we know that the prosperity gospel and idolatry of any kind is completely false and not of God but of a different kind of spirit. You know, this book really shows how honorable Job was

23:36because if I had been the person, you know, that God wanted to use to vanquish Satan's doctrines, I think I would have failed the test pretty miserably. And I know that because of the trials I've gone through in the past where I can promise you I did not act like Job. I lashed out at God because I was so angry how dare God forced me to go through something I don't want to go through when I have done so many nice things for God in the past. In my heart, I was believing that doctrine of demons that if I do good things for God, he better do good things for me. But Job on the other hand did not do that. So that's another thing we can look at as we study more of Job when we have to go through some sort of struggle or suffering with our health or our family or whatever it might be. How can we be more like Job who did not curse God

24:37even though everything was taken away from him? We will talk about that in the coming chapters. But on Monday, we will finish up Job chapter one and talk about some of the terrible things that ends up happening to Job and how he responds to all of it. So faithful listeners, thank you so much for listening through a little bit of Job chapter one with me. Before I end this podcast, do me a solid and listen to this advertisement. It is God who directs our paths. I'm Christi Graham, host of the show on the ground with Samaritan's Purse. And I recently talked with Franklin Graham, my father-in-law and president of Samaritan's Purse. We talked about how he stays grounded as we respond to man-made and natural disasters that seem to grow increasingly more frequent and more intense over the years. If we lose the sight of our purpose, you get discouraged. And what I mean by purpose, we are there to help people but to do in Jesus' name. We want people to know about God's un-Jesus Christ.

25:41So that's our focus. And if one person gets saved and we're able to help one family, if we can help one group of people, then it's worth it. To hear this encouraging conversation, listen to this episode of On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse, wherever you get your podcasts. Again, that's On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse. If you're looking for a proven, biblically-based, pre-marital resource, your couples will actually enjoy. Prepare to last combines the trusted, prepare-and-rich assessment with engaging online teaching from national marriage experts, giving couples practical tools they'll use long after the wedding day. It fits easily into your church's pre-marital process, whether you meet one-on-one in small groups or in a class. And when the course ends, the support continues through our online community and trusted marriage mentors. Prepare to last helping churches prepare couples for a Christ-centered marriage. Learn more at preparetolast.com.

26:41Well, faithful listeners, I am very appreciative of all of you and thankful that you all were here. I hope you all have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you guys bright and early tomorrow morning as we delve more into 1 Peter chapter four. Talking about living not with our old sins that we used to struggle with, but moving past those things and living in a way that really honors Jesus with our lives. We of course will get into that subject tomorrow on the New Testament side of stuff. So faithful listeners have a fantastic rest of your day. Happy listening and God bless. I just want to take a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on the Bible Explained podcast. In fact, if you go to LifeAudio.com, you will find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more. The love of God is immeasurable. It's unchanging. It's indescribable.

27:42Because God loves you so much, you can sleep through the night. In peace. With a Bied Bible Sleep Meditation, you can fall asleep fast with relaxing sleep stories based on scripture. To start listening now, go to LifeAudio.com or search your favorite podcast app for a Bied Bible Sleep Meditation. You can also download the A Bied app from more Biblical meditations at A Bied.com.