Whenever we begin to discuss God’s willingness to heal the sick, one of the first questions raised is “what about Job?” The Book of Job raises questions in the mind of the sincere seeker after truth and we will devote three podcast episodes to this subject.

1. What is the lesson of the book? 
2. Why does God allow suffering and disaster? 
3. Did God put Job in Satan’s hands? If so, why? 
4. Does God “allow” sickness and trials to teach us? 
5. If it was God’s will for Job to suffer for some mysterious, divine purpose, can we be sure we’re not “another Job?” 

According to 2 Tim. 3.16, we can profit from the book of Job. Tune in to this episode, pulled from Pastor Joe McIntyre’s series, “Traditions that Hinder Healing.”

• Airs on 3/4: Part 2
• Airs on 3/11: Part 3

Additional Resources

Traditions that Hinder Healing – Full MP3 Series

Free PDF Outline

Transcript

I have been sharing with you on the Sunday mornings a series that we’re calling Traditions That Hinder Healing. There are a number of things that men have taught that that really, are roadblocks. And really, it’s larger than talking about hindrances to healing. It’s talking about seeing God as he really is, as opposed to seeing him clouded by tradition. It’s hard to have consistent faith in a God who you don’t know is consistently good. And so our theme verse for this series is James chapter one.

So we’ll look at that before we dig into the lesson today. I’m just hoping to bring clarity to our hearts, so that we see God the Father, we’ve heard a lot prophetically this morning about God’s invitation to dance before His throne, come up on his lap. How his heart breaks, because his children don’t believe enough to come. They draw back because of fear. And God wants to bring the cure. In James, chapter one, verse 17, it says, Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation, or shadow of turning. This word is brought through James, the Lord’s brother, who did not believe he was the Messiah, or the Son of God, while he was alive. His family tried to get him to stop preaching, they thought he’d lost his mind. They actually came and stood outside one of his meetings, and they had come to take him away, thinking that he was losing his mind. And he made a statement at that time, they came in and they said, “Your family, your brothers and sisters are outside, they want you to come.” And he said, “Who is it that is my family, my mother, my brothers and my sisters, but those who do the will of God.” And in a sense, he repudiated his natural relationship to affirm his godly relationship. And you know, sometimes you have to let go of your earthly heritage to fully embrace your divine heritage. And not in the sense of disowning your family, but in the sense of disowning the sinful heritage, and all of the dark things that come through the family line. You’ve been given a new family line, and your DNA is really good. It’s from God.

And James came to see after the resurrection, it says he appeared to the twelve and unto James. Can you imagine what happened after all that time of thinking that your older brother was just slightly off and was getting off into some kind of fanaticism? And then you find out that the religious leaders have recognized this fanaticism, and they’ve crucified Him, and your brother’s died because of his fanaticism. And you’re saddened, you’re aggrieved, and you tried to warn him, you tried to help him. And then he appears to you in His glory. Can you imagine how James felt when all of a sudden it dawned on him that his brother really was the Son of God really was the Messiah and now was really gloriously raised from the dead? Wow. It brought him into a whole new experience of God through his big brother. I mean, it’s really amazing to think about this stuff. You know, we just kind of get into a religious rut and we just think, oh, James, the Lord’s brother, yeah, he wrote the book of James. This was the guy who didn’t believe in the Lord. This is the guy that didn’t believe till he encountered the resurrected Christ.

Now if you’re born again, you’ve encountered the resurrected Christ. You see? You know, you may have heard he died for your sins, but the reason you’re saved is because he rose from the dead. Paul writes in Corinthians, If Christ isn’t risen, we’re still dead in our sins. So the resurrection is an important key. But James came into a new relationship with God the Father through Jesus, and it unveiled to him the father in a new way. And so he wrote this, and he said, Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there’s no variation. There’s no shadow of turning. He’s consistently good.

You see, in the Old Testament, the Prophet saw God in part, and they had peeks of revelation where they understood who he was, but sin was so darkening the minds of men. And there was so much idolatry and worship of other gods, and there were so many things influencing Israel, that they didn’t really see God as He really was. Nobody saw God as He really was, until the Son of God was manifested to clearly reveal him. And you see, sometimes, we want to understand the Bible. And of course, of course, we want to understand the Bible. But sometimes we don’t realize how radical the change is between the Old and the New Testament. The New Testament is a New Covenant, sealed in new blood. The old covenant was established on the blood of bulls and goats. This covenant is established on the blood of God’s Son. One perfect sacrifice. And the effects of that sacrifice are, as Hebrews says, a better covenant, better promises. You see, we’ve come into something new and something better.

I want us to look, if you have your Bibles this morning, turn to the book of Job. For you newcomers, that’s not the book of Job. The Book of Job is an interesting book, and much religious tradition has come out of it. And I want to attempt this morning to help you reevaluate this book. Because you see, Job, didn’t know Jesus as his Savior. Job didn’t have the new covenant. Job didn’t have a covenant with God at all. Because he was even before the law. He was a contemporary of Abraham, historically, in the time setting. He was still offering sacrifices as the priest of his family, which once Israel came into the covenant under Moses, they had a priesthood that offered the sacrifices and the patriarch of the family no longer offered sacrifices. But we see in Job chapter one, that job is offering sacrifices. So we know that this predates the law.

Why is that important? Well, because even under the law, there was an offer of divine protection. Even under the law, if you walked uprightly, every blessing would overtake you. And if your enemies came against you one way they’d flee from you seven. So if Job had lived even under the Law of Moses, this would not have happened to him. I want to just do a selah moment here. Because to bring this over to the new covenant, and say Job’s experience is supposed to be the experience of any new covenant believer is to totally misunderstand the New Covenant, or even the Old Covenant. Because the Bible says here, let’s read about this, “There was a man in the land of us, not Uz.” Some Christians have been going to the Land of Oz when they read this and they. So I hope to get you out of Oz into Uz. Because we is going to win. “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, and one that feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also, his possessions were 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys and a very large household so that the man was the greatest of all the people of the East.”

Now, this man is blessed. You may not think 500 Donkeys would be a blessing but in that day 500 Donkeys was a blessing. “And now his sons would go and feast in their houses each one on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And so it was when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise up early in the morning and offer 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 Job did regularly.”

Now let me just say that Job was an amazing man for the period in which he lived. He was an he was an awesome guy. In the days before there was much Revelation, he lived upright, he feared God, he turned from evil. If you read later in the book, he really had a heart for the poor and the needy, and he was an example to people of benevolence and kindness. But notice here, that he’s begun to get into fear concerning his family. A woman once came to me and she said, “You know, I keep commanding the enemy to leave my nephew alone, in the name of Jesus, and it doesn’t seem to be making any difference. Could you tell me why?” And that was a pretty good question. Because we taught strongly how the there is authority in the name of Jesus, and we have the God given right to use that name in spiritual warfare. And so I went to the Lord, and looked to the Lord about it, and the Lord said, “She’s doing it out of fear.” You see, she’s praying out of fear. “Maybe my nephew is sinning. I better try to stop it.”

Now, that’s not based on covenant, that’s trying to act out of fear. And fear doesn’t produce the results of faith. This is really important, because sometimes people do spiritual warfare out of fear. They don’t recognize it, but they’re actually motivated by an enemy’s influence, and they’re acting on the influence of an enemy. “Oh, fear has come, I better do something.” Well, when you act out of fear, you’re not acting in faith. And without faith, it’s impossible to please God. So we have to recognize the subtlety of the enemy who tries to get us to do something out of fear. And make sure that we give the care of the situation to the Lord, so we’re not operating in fear, before we enter into any kind of manifestation of spiritual warfare, because authority comes out of peace. Peace comes out of a careless, a carefree heart. You see, God says, “If we let our our requests be known to the Lord, with thanksgiving, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds.” And out of that peace, we can exercise spiritual authority, but in fear, you undermine your own authority. Well, I want to just suggest to you that Job is already in fear. He’s a wonderful man. But like the rest of us, he had concerns about his family, and was tempted to get in fear about them.

But you know, concerning your relatives that you’re praying for, you need to put your foot down and say, “It’s not the will of God, that they should perish, but that they should come to repentance. I’ve asked according to the will of God, and the Bible says, if I asked according to the will of God, God hears me and if he hears me, I have the request. So I call my relatives saved and restored to God and walking upprightly in the kingdom of God in Jesus name.” That’s not a prayer of fear. That’s a command, a declaration of faith. We want to be moving in faith, not in fear.

So as we look at the book of Job, we find that he’s operating in fear. In verse six, it says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them.” Now this requires a little knowledge of the word about this, but what we haven’t understood, I believe, about job is that there’s always been a place in heaven for the people of God to come to the throne of grace. In that place, there’s also angelic beings. But because of Adam’s sin, that heavenly court has now or did allow fallen rebellious beings to come before God as well. Why? Because man was created for that place in God. And when man fell, Satan usurped his authority and usurped his position. How do you know that Joe? Well, because in the book of Revelation when the manchild comes into heaven, the accuser is thrown out. Now some make that a future event. But I think Jesus is the manchild that went into heaven. And when he went in and took his blood into heaven, the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, he cleansed the heavenly sanctuary, and that means the end of the enemy’s accusation before the throne of grace, and his access to the throne.

But here, Satan, the accuser, the adversary comes into the presence of God and arrogantly operates. How can he do that? He knows that if God judges him, he has to judge all the creatures that have bowed to him. So he’s confident he won’t be judged. But, of course, he doesn’t see what God’s going to do through Jesus. But you see, he comes and he accuses Job before God, but now here’s something, well let’s read it, “And Satan came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking back and forth on it. And then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job that there is none like him? A blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” Now, most translations say, “Have you considered my servant Job” as though God is saying, Satan, Look at Job! Isn’t that kind of what it sounds like? Well, if you looked, I have in the margin of my Bible, footnote on the word considered, and what it actually says is, have you set your heart on my servant Job? Now that makes a lot of difference in what that saying means.

But let me read it to you. From the translation that I didn’t bring. I thought I had it in my notes. But one translation says, “Have you set,” it has a little old English, “Have you set thine heart against my servant Job?” In other words, God isn’t pointing Job out to Satan. He’s asking Satan if Satan has set his heart against my servant Job because he’s an upright man who hates evil, shuns evil, and fears God. In other words, he’s asking Satan if Satan has targeted Job because he’s an example of righteousness in the earth. Now, that really changes the meaning of the introduction to this book. And it really puts a whole different perspective on it if you grab it, because God isn’t saying, “Here, attack Job.” He’s saying, “Satan, you’re going to and fro on the earth, have you set your heart against my servant Job? He’s an upright man. He fears evil. He fears God. Excuse me, he doesn’t fear evil. But he’s beginning to fear evil in his kids lives. And it’s opening a door for him.

And Satan, of course, says, well, he won’t serve you if you take away his goods. And so he comes and attacks his goods. And they come back and report in verse 16, “While he was still speaking, another came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven, and burned up the sheep and and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” It’s interesting that even in that early time, when evil happened, they thought it was God. How many know there wouldn’t have been evil if there hadn’t been a fall. You see, God never ordained evil. God isn’t the author of evil. God’s the author of grace and kindness and mercy. Evil’s in the world because of sin. And it’s not judged yet because of God’s long suffering, because he wants to see people saved and not receive the condemnation of the enemy.

So we have to live in a world that’s still riddled with the effects of sin and fallen beings, because God wants to save multitudes of people out of that, and not condemn them. Because he sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save the world. God so loved the world, he sent his only begotten son. His heart is to save people, and he’s long suffering about evil, because he wants more people to be saved, and they can’t be saved if he brings judgment now. If you judge the evil now, all those that have not repented would have to go to the lake of fire with Satan and his angels. And God, our Father doesn’t want that to happen. So we have to endure a world in which evil is still attempting to fight against the kingdom of God.

So it wasn’t the fire of God, but that was the perception in that day. And if we look over in chapter two, when all of these things happen in verse 20, it says, “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said, naked, I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return, the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Now, I want you to know, well, let’s read the next verse there. “And in all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” In his understanding, God took away. But remember, Job couldn’t read Job one, and two, to find out who really took it away. You see, he’s operating in a lack of knowledge. He’s operating in a time when there’s not that clear a revelation of God. And so he thinks God took it away, but we know because we read job one and two, that it was Satan that took it away.

But we have to actually get to know that and stop blaming God. Well, “God allowed it. God called the devil’s attention to Job.” No, he didn’t. And in a sense, I mean, this is a controversial thing, sometimes, especially with theologians. But you see, God limited himself. When he gave man authority over the earth, He limited himself. And how many of you noticed that God doesn’t intervene in your life unless you ask him? Well, I thought God was benevolent and good and kind, can’t he just intervene any place he wants to? No, because it would violate our freewill if he intervened in our lives without us asking him. You see, when God made us free, he made us free to choose good or to choose evil. Because if our choices were not free, then we would just be robots programmed to do good and to choose good. But he made us genuinely free, so we could really choose good and evil. And that’s why it’s a delight.

See, how many of you are married? Well, do you realize that you had to make a choice of your mate above every other person on earth? And doesn’t that feel good to know that somebody thought you were worth spending the rest of their life with? And isn’t it great to understand that they freely did that, you didn’t make them do that? Well, how much meaning would there be in love if God forced us to love him? So what does he do? Well, he says, I’ve given the authority of the earth to man, but if they’ll call on me, I’ll intervene. And whenever men call upon the Lord, he’s good and kind and gracious, delivers them, helps them. Even in the history of Israel, who are God’s people, they would go off into idolatry and every other thing, and he wouldn’t make them come back, but the judgments would come. They’d reap what they sow, and there would be consequences. They were under the law. And they would come back, and whenever they came back, God was merciful and first part of that was that God had human intercessors.

Now, let me show you how this works. Israel has has gone in. Twelve spies go into the land and ten come back and have a bad report and evil report. Now, let me tell you what their evil report was. They believed more in what they saw than what God said. And God called that an evil report. And we ought to be glad we’re not under the law because he was going to judge them under the law. And he comes to Moses, and he says, Moses, get out of the way. I’m going to destroy them, and raise up of you a new nation. Think of how you’d feel. Yeah! They don’t like my leadership, and God’s gonna cream ’em. Yay, God! That’s the temptation that Moses faced. But Moses had the heart of Jesus. He said, Lord, if you’re gonna blot them out, blot my name out of your book. Spirit of Christ operating in him totally identified with the people of God. That was in Exodus 33, and I have been referring to Numbers 13.

But what happened was, God says, Get out of the way. But Moses said, Lord! Now, in Exodus 34, the Lord comes to Moses, he says, Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord says, I will come down and proclaim My name to you. Meaning, his glory is revealed in his name. What’s his name? What does he reveal? “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, abounding in mercy and truth, keeping covenant for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, but by no means clearing the guilty and visiting their sins upon them to the third and fourth generation.” Now, when I quote that, I leave that part out. You know why? Because everybody who has the judgment on them, they only have it because they’ve rejected the mercy. Because he says, he would be merciful to their iniquities, their transgression, and their sins, which would cover anything that any human was doing. So the only way that that judgment comes is if you reject the mercy of God.

But that’s the name that God revealed to Moses. And so in numbers 13 and 14, when the spies come back, and God’s ready to bring judgment. Moses says, Lord! Essentially, what he says is, do you remember what you said about yourself? Merciful and gracious, long suffering. Blot out their sin, Lord! And the Lord says, Moses, because of your word, I will spare them. What did Moses do? He took the revelation of God back to God in prayer. And God said, he doesn’t say it this way, but he’s well, I’m bound to honor that. That’s how I’ve revealed myself. And he’s bringing how I’ve revealed myself to me, I cannot turn him away. You see, there’s a higher law than judgment. But it takes an intercessor. When there’s no intercessor, the judgment falls. But now we’re under a new covenant with better promises.