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. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.

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.”

Additional Resources

Traditions that Hinder Healing – Full MP3 Series

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Transcript

The last time I shared with you on a Sunday morning was I’ve been doing a series called Traditions That Hinder Healing. And last time, we talked about Job, and I want to continue today to talk about Job. But really, I want you to understand that what the series is really about is removing the obstacles, the veils, created by religious traditions that hinder us from seeing God accurately. You see, Father is good. Our theme verse for the series is James 1:14, I think it is. I’ll read it to you. 1:17, probably. Yeah, 1:17. “Every good, and every perfect gift is from above.” So how many lousy gifts are from above? I know this is hard, but this is deep. “Every good and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation, nor shadow of turning.”

You know, the New Testament is radical. The ministry of Jesus is radical. And sometimes we want to continue to embrace Old Testament truth, not realizing it’s in conflict with New Testament revelation. And the book of Job would be a case in point, “Well, well, God was controlling the devil’s assault on Job wasn’t he? Didn’t he permit Satan to attack Job.” Well, it’s important that we understand the why of some Old Testament events. Because God had genuinely delegated to man, authority, man had certain privileges. In fact, let’s talk about this for a minute. In the beginning of the book of Job, there’s a heavenly courtroom scene. And the sons of God are coming before God’s throne. And Satan is coming among them. Well, now, why would God create a universe in which he would allow a rebellious being whose very nature is to instigate rebellion in others, to come before His presence into his heavenly courtroom? That’s kind of a strange thing, isn’t it?

Well, how did that happen? Was that the way God created things? Was that God’s intention? Did God say, “You know, I could really use an adversary who will torment my people and come into my presence and tell me what he’s going to do. That would be great. Maybe I should create a being like that.” Well, we know that Satan is a fallen angel. We know that he rebelled against Heaven. Well, if that so, why is he allowed to come before God and accuse Job? And if you answer this question, you really answer the question of why you can never be another Job. Because the answer to that question is the fall of man. Well, let’s put it this way. Adams authority as God’s representative in the earth, as his dominion sub ruler, was to come to that heavenly throne room to get instructions. Right?

God manifested himself to Adam in the spirit of the day. He manifested himself to Adam. He came down to meet with him and he gave him instructions, you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but you shall freely eat of the Tree of Life. Those were instructions, weren’t they? They came when the Lord met with Adam. Well, isn’t it likely that that would have been the pattern for Adam, that he would come and meet with the father, get instructions and carry out his dominion assignment.

But what happened in the fall was Satan took the authority that belonged to Adam. And that meant that if the race of Adam was now subject to the destiny of the fallen angel Satan (unless they get redeemed), Satan knows that God can’t judge him without judging fallen humanity. So Satan arrogantly comes into the presence of God and accuses the saints before God. And so we have this horrible situation. The accuser has taken our right to come to God and stand in His presence, and he’s coming as an accuser rather than as an intercessor. You just got the revelation, didn’t you? Yeah. Because…. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I’m just awfully tempted. Yeah.

So let’s look in Luke chapter four, and see if we can find any evidence that this is so. How many think if you were the Devil, and the Son of God had manifested in a physical body and was walking the earth, and you were going to tempt him, that you’d shoot your best shot. Wouldn’t ya? I mean, you’d pull out your big guns. You know, you’re not gonna say, you know, “You need to over eat, Jesus.” You know, you’re gonna bring some things that have some weight to them that are going to accomplish your purpose. Right?

Well, in Luke chapter four, verse five, “Then the devil, taking him up on a high mountain showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, all this authority I will give you and their glory, for this has been delivered to me. This has been delivered to me and I give it to whomever I wish.” Well, now, if that wasn’t a real temptation, if Satan really didn’t have that to offer, then it’s not a temptation. Jesus would have said, devil get out of here, which is what he said anyway. Notice this now, see, he’s saying, all the glory and authority of the kingdom is of the earth has been given to me. Who was it originally intended to be given to? Adam. whose authority has he usurped? Adam’s. So if that’s so and Jesus said, remember, in the upper room, Jesus said, “Now the ruler of this world is cast out?” What’s he doing? He’s looking to the victory of the cross. And he’s saying this is going to result in the ruler of this world being cast out. Where is he going to be cast out of? Heavenly places.

The book of Revelation, the man child is caught up and guess who’s thrown out. The accuser of the brethren. Now, I want you to think through this because you say, “Well, that’s interesting, Joe, that’s a nice teaching.” But you see, we have many in the church today who are convinced that God is orchestrating the devil’s attacks on their life for a divine purpose. “Well, God won’t allow you to be tempted beyond what what you’re able” You know the Word says that. But it doesn’t necessarily mean what’s interpreted into that, which is this Job scenario, where, “Well the devil can only do what God allows him to do.” Well, that’s a fine setup, God and the devil working together. You know, if the devil knew that what he was doing to you was God’s purpose, he wouldn’t do it. I mean, he is a rebel. He’s in antagonistic hostility to the kingdom of light. He’s not going to willingly cooperate with God to produce God’s divine results.

Now, I realized that God can use what the devil means for evil and he can turn it for good. So don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that tests and trials don’t happen and God can’t work through them to mature us. But what I believe is a deception is they’re orchestrated by God. And this is the text in Job that that comes from. You see. Well, Satan comes and God says, “Where have you been?” He says, “I’ve been going to and fro up and down in the earth.” And God says, now this is the verse that’s mistranslated and gives the wrong impression. It says, “Have you considered my servant Job?” In other words, “Satan, look!” That’s what it sounds like, but if you look in the margin of most Bibles, and in Young’s Literal Translation, it says, “Have you set your heart against my servant Job? He’s an upright man, he’s righteous.” And God lists what’s right with Job. And if you read it that way, it changes the whole meaning. It’s not, “hey, you looking for somebody to pick on? Have you considered Job?” It’s rather, “Have you set your heart against my servant.” You see?

But here’s the problem, under the Old Covenant, Satan had the right to oppress humanity, unless they moved into covenantal faith. Now think about it. Hebrews 11, the faith that pleased God, and the righteousness which is by faith began in the Garden of Eden with Abel’s sacrifice. You do remember that in Hebrews 11. So is Job after Abel? Historically now I’m talking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. This is not a trick question. This is just simple. Yeah. You don’t know whether I’m gonna trick you or not. That’s right. But so here’s the deal. So Job is required in the light that he has and in his period, it’s the patriarchal period, so the patriarch of the family offers sacrifices for the family. Right? Yes, that’s right, Joe. I know that, I know my Bible. You’re right. That’s good. Thank you so much for that clarification.

He’s offering sacrifices, and it says He was concerned that his kids might be partying. No, it doesn’t say partying, but it indicates that kind of a thing that they’re dishonoring God in some way. So he’s offering sacrifices. But here’s the thing, how many know when religious things are done out of fear, rather than out of faith, God can’t honor them? You see, there’s three reasons people serve God. One, they hope to be rewarded. Two, they’re afraid of being punished, and three, out of love for God. Religion often serves God out of the fear of punishment. And fear is the opposite of faith. It isn’t faith.

I think I shared with you a couple of weeks ago about the woman who came to me and asked me why her pleading the blood over her relatives wasn’t being effective. And I said, “Well, I, you know, we can talk about it a little bit”, and I wasn’t sure what the answer was. And so I went to the Lord and I said, “Lord, how come that she’s pleading the blood over her relatives, and there, it’s not seemingly, it’s not working. And the Lord said, “She’s pleading the blood over them out of fear, not in faith.” Doing a good thing, but doing it from the wrong heart. See, you’ve got to deal with your fears before you try to exercise authority. See, you want to you want to minister out of your rest in the finished work of Christ, not under your fear that your relatives are going down the toilet.

And Job offered these sacrifices continually. He got into fear. Now Job was an amazingly wonderful man for the time that he lived. And when he said that the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord, he didn’t know, he couldn’t read Job one and two. So he thought it was the Lord, and in the light that he had, he was honoring the Lord. He just happened to be wrong about who really was the source of his problems.

And you see, so many today want to live under the Job mindset. “Well, God allowed it for a reason.” Now let’s think that through. What did God allow under the ministry of Jesus? He allowed the sick to be healed, the oppressed to be set free, the needs of the people to be met in abundance, lives to be transformed. And how many did he turn away because God was dealing with them? Zero. He didn’t turn anyway, because he was doing the perfect will of the Father. So what we have to learn to do is look at the ministry of Jesus, to form our doctrines, because every Old Testament doctrine is subject to the renewing, in the new covenant, and the changes that have come,

I mentioned to you, Revelation 12:11, that the accuser has been cast out. See, he can’t accuse you in the third heaven. He can accuse you from the second heaven, the psychic realm, but he has no authority in the third heaven. And you do. And the Bible says that you and I have come unto Mount Zion, unto the new Jerusalem, unto an innumerable company of angels. Hi, guys. To God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. “Wow, won’t that be great?” Oh, well, maybe it’s great now. Maybe your spirit’s been made righteous now.

In fact, that’s one of the main themes of the book of Hebrews, is the perfection of the human spirit, made perfect through the one sacrifice of Christ. But then he says an amazing thing, “And to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood that speaks of better things than the blood of Abel.” Let’s imagine for a minute the accuser actually could come into that realm. So he comes into that realm and he says, “Joe, you’ve fallen short. You’re not everything you’re supposed to be. You’re not walking perfectly. You don’t have perfect holiness.” And I say, “Look. Blood.” Argument over, unless I give place on a mental level, unless I let him because my mind’s not renewed, I let him torment me, I let him condemn me, I let him shame me. You see, he’ll try to do that. And if he can, he’ll pull me down to walking in that level. But you see that the level I’m called to walk in, is with my spirit in dominion over my soul and my body with my renewed recreated spirit that’s been made righteous. You say, “Well, well, I don’t see the evidence of great righteousness.” Well, you’re not looking deep enough. It’s deep within you. And what God’s trying to do is get the river to flow out, you see, and transformation comes by the renewing of your mind.

See, your mind is like a gate. A series of gates. And the human spirit has all the fruit of the Spirit in it. But when the long suffering flow comes, if there’s a stronghold of anger, that becomes a gate to stop the outflow of long suffering. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So there’s a flow of purity coming out of you, in your human spirit, but if you’ve been conditioned into a stronghold of lust, then your mind will stop the purity of Christ from flowing into your mind and through you, and you’ll act on whatever stronghold is in your mind.

So the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they’re mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds of fear, of anger, of lust, of rejection, all of these issues, because they don’t reflect the true you. You’re a new creation. You’re the workmanship of God. You’re, recreated in Christ Jesus, and God began a perfect work in you in your spirit. He’s trying to get it to take over your soul,and eventually it’ll take over your body, and you’ll spend eternity in that fullness of divine life. But he has begun a good work in you and he will complete it until the day of Christ.

You have been predestined. Now get this. You’re not predestined to go to heaven. You’re going to heaven. If you’re born again, you’re going to heaven. But you’re predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s son. “Oh, won’t it be wonderful over in glory.” No. Well, yes, it will. But, here’s the thing. There’s nothing in the Bible that says he’s postponed this conformity to another age. He’s able to conform us in this age, according to our faith. “well, I’m just too weak, and I’ve always struggled with this. And I’ve always had that problem. My family’s always said this.” Well, you can believe that if you want to. But I would recommend against it. Why don’t you believe the Word? I’m predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s son, and my father is fully able to do it. Now I’m not boasting on me. I’m boasting on my Father. I’m saying, “Well, you know, sure. I’ve got limitations, but I’m not looking to me. I’m not, I’m not depending on me. My hope and confidence are not in me. They’re in my father, and what he does.” Amen. Amen.

And so essentially, in many respects, the Christian life is getting a clear image of the Father and learning how to forget you. You say, “Well, aren’t we supposed to be working on ourselves?” Well, how’s that been working for you? Why don’t you let His grace work in you? See, if his grace works in you, you’ll be changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. In Hebrews, he’s called the Spirit of
Grace. Whoa. So how hard do I have to work, and how much do I have to pray and fast to get the Lord willing to help me? None. Zero. But I do have to believe it. I do have to catch sight of what he wants to do for me and invite him to do it. You see, it’s simple. It’s childlike.

And we recently were listening to Bill Johnson preach. This last week we were with Bill and Randy, in Abilene, Texas. And Bill brought a brilliant message about how there’s these two facets of our walk with the Lord. There’s this faith authority side where we’re boldly declaring that what God has said, and we’re commanding, and we’re releasing the dominion. But he said there’s this other side where sometimes what you need to do is just get quiet before Father and wait in His presence, and just receive as a child. I think we see that modeled in the ministry of Jesus. I think in his prayer life, he was the son waiting on his father for instructions for impartation for life. But in his ministry, he was the bold Lion of Judah, breaking and destroying the works of darkness and commanding everything contrary to Father’s will, to bow its knee.

But you see, we were called to walk in both of those things. That quiet peaceful rest before God, where we wait in His presence,and then that bold authority where we command the powers of darkness to flee, and we command our circumstances to get in line with God’s will for our lives, and we refuse to allow the thief to come and to put up roadblocks to us accomplishing all that God has called us to accomplish.

So Job was a fine man in his day. And his responses were good in his time. But they’re inappropriate for you because you know who the problem was. And the other problem Job had is, even if he did see it was Satan, he had no authority over Satan. In fact, Satan had authority over him. It was only his faith that pulled him out of that place of satanic dominion. But that’s not how it is with you. Your savior has already stripped him of his authority and power. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. How much does that leave for the devil? None. And who are you aligned with? Yeah.

And what’s your assignment? Bring the kingdom to Earth. Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven. That’s what Jesus was doing when he walked the earth, revealing the kingdom. And that’s what he told us to do. To preach the kingdom and demonstrate it with power. So God is good. You’re not another Job. You have authority over the devil. God hasn’t arranged a satanic plot for you. If you think about it, that’s what’s come out of this. But folks, I got good news for you things have changed. God is for us. Satan is defeated. Jesus is Lord. Amen. Praise God.

Now we’re going to conclude here by receiving the table of the Lord. So if you will. You know that the Lord’s table is a great way to release your faith to receive what you’ve heard. If something that was said today, was revelation to you Then, take hold of that as you eat of the bread and drink of the cup.